"They used to be rational, and they had their own language and writing." Ash suddenly spoke up from the side. "When they enslaved us before, they were somewhat mad too, but we could still communicate normally. Now... who knows."
"Mm, I'll continue researching that. What I mean is, we could try using Fishman skin as the outer covering for airships."
Theus frowned. Thinking of the slimy, wet, revolting look of Fishman skin, he had to admit that it did seem... rather suitable.
Their skin was highly resilient, and since they lived in the sea, it had excellent waterproofing properties. Fishmen also had smooth skin and large bodies, while their limbs were pitifully small in proportion. He had never paid much attention to it before, but now that he thought about it, they were the perfect source of leather.
Fishmen had always been more like beasts, and now they had lost even their last shred of reason. People of this era would not feel any moral burden over skinning Fishmen, and there were plenty of them too...
It actually... seemed pretty good.
Wait. Theus suddenly froze. "Don't Fishmen turn into pollution after they die? How are we supposed to use their skin to make airships?"
"Just don't let them die," Chloe said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Don't let them die? Turn them into airships while they were alive?
Theus and Alexei both took a step back. Only then did he remember that the person before him was the continent's foremost cult leader. He had actually been worrying about morality on her behalf just now...
"Well, th-that might be a little too extreme..." Theus was already wondering whether he should stick to the fixed-wing aircraft route after all. Still, developing internal combustion engine technology would