Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 302 Nora's Break

“No problem!” Ken nodded immediately. “What would you like to hear?”

Hughes narrowed his eyes: "Tell me where you all went first."

“Yes, my lord. We were found by Finel at the port of Riften this time, and she brought us to Castel. Before that, we had almost circled the Storm Ocean!”

"It circled the Storm Ocean?!"

"Yes, at first we went to Blood Harbor as you instructed, dropped Josh and the others off, and they took the goods they had bought on credit to Blood Harbor to sell, while we continued north."

Josh, Hughes had almost forgotten this name. He had borrowed a batch of soap and a boat on credit from Hughes. It just so happened that Hughes wanted to build up some power, so he gave him a very lenient policy.

He should have been in Bloodharbor for half a year now. Josh's plan was to sell soap in Bloodharbor and establish a trading company, but Castell disappeared. After so much turmoil, no one knows what became of him.

"Then we stopped again near the North and dropped off Mr. Isaac and the others. Josh kept in touch with us afterward, but we lost contact with Mr. Isaac."

Hughes nodded. Isaac had been Chloe's second-in-command, managing logistics at the Firemoth.

At that time, Castells had just begun building his intelligence network. Isaac went to the mainland in the name of the Chamber of Commerce. Now, half a year has passed. If everything went smoothly, he should have gained some influence by now.

After all, Isaac is a dual-path superhuman.

Hughes was deeply impressed by Isaac; he was a man of few words, but every time he spoke, he hit the nail on the head.

He judged Castells' development based on administrative efficiency, a theory that even surprised Hughes. His meticulous observation and rigorous logic showed he was born to be an intelligence whiz.

Try contacting him sometime; I wonder what surprise he might bring to Castells.

"After this stop, we went straight to the North, where we met Nora—at that time, she had not yet broken with the Silent Sanctuary."

"Wait, Nora has broken with the Silent Sanctuary!?" Hughes's eyes widened.

This was something he never expected. Nora was willing to risk her life to cooperate with Hughes for the mission of the Silent Sanctuary and to find a place for the refugees in the North.

She could have believed that Hughes was a cultist, but even so, she didn't give up, even though she was wearing heavy armor to meet him.

Would such a devout believer, or even an extraordinary being, break with the Silent Church?

She has never been afraid of death, so what could possibly make her betray?

No. Hughes suddenly frowned.

Or perhaps it's the other way around: what if it wasn't she who betrayed the Silent Sanctuary, but the Silent Sanctuary that betrayed her?
Tell me more about it.

Ken scratched his head: "We don't know much either. When we went there, the relationship between the two sides was still okay. At that time, she gathered a large number of refugees and wanted to leave the North, but she was entangled by the three dukes of the four northern territories. In the end, she had no choice but to lead the refugees to hide in a forest to protect themselves."

"Why are the lords of the North stopping her? Wouldn't it benefit their territories if she took the refugees away?"

Ken scratched his head. He was more skilled in mechanical technology and his understanding of the situation was still superficial.

Jeremiah spoke in a low voice: “Because the people of the Silent Church are with the refugees.”

"The Silent Sanctuary escorted the people of the White Raven Duchy as they fled from the north. Their original territory was almost entirely abandoned, which means they must have taken a large amount of wealth with them."

Hughes frowned.

Although the Silent Church moved south with its wealth, they are not easy to deal with.

The Holy Priest, clad in heavy armor of the Icefield, is not even afraid of the Imperial Royal Army. How could those Grand Dukes of the North possibly defeat him?
All of them combined were overwhelmed by the Queen. If they hadn't surrendered quickly enough, they probably would have been wiped out by the Queen in one fell swoop.

How dare they? "Refugees."

Jeremiah said in a low voice.

“They naturally wouldn’t dare to cause trouble for the Silent Church, so they’ve set their sights on the refugees. These refugees are the Silent Church’s core base, and the Church can’t afford to give them up.”

Hughes nodded in realization, then a flash of anger crossed his face.

These vampires not only refuse to take in refugees, but they also forcibly detain them to threaten the Silent Sanctuary.

Nora was in a hurry to bring the refugees over as soon as possible, so she set off without packing her things, but she ended up being harassed by them in the North.

"What happened next? Why did they break up?"

Jeremiah shook his head: "I don't know about that. I heard in Riften that after the Queen's death, the Silent Church was taken in by the Empire, and several churches joined together to manage the Empire."

The Silent Sanctuary was taken in by the Empire, but Nora broke with the Silent Sanctuary for some reason.

this.
How is Nora now?

"I heard she's still organizing resistance in the North. She and those refugees are hiding in the woods, and it's become a major worry for several of the North's grand dukes."

Hughes's expression turned serious: "Then we must contact her as soon as possible. I made a promise to her to harbor refugees from the North on my territory, and now is the time to fulfill that promise. I will organize a fleet to go to the North."

Jeremiah looked up, his expression slightly complicated.

He wasn't quite sure how he felt about this lord. Hughes was willing to send a fleet across most of the Storm Ocean for a verbal promise, which he found hard to understand.

But at least he is willing to keep his promise.

Jewel Bay has been destroyed, and Jeremiah's pirate ships have nowhere to dock.

Hughes promised to hire him and give him a bigger ship in the future, so perhaps that promise still stands?
No, there's no need to ask for so much. It's enough that Castells can dock the Black Pearl. It's the last pirate ship in the Stormy Ocean. Jeremiah will stay with her no matter how big the ship is.

Jeremiah glanced at Ken out of the corner of his eye.

Of course, it would be even better if a steam engine were added to it.

Ken then interjected with some enthusiasm, "We brought some refugees back with us too!"

"You brought refugees with you too? Aren't those lords refusing to release them?"

"They dare not stop the Pirate King's ship!"

Houston was speechless. So, does that mean these grand dukes dare not touch anyone except the refugees?
"The pirate king is at sea, so what are these land lords afraid of?"

Jeremiah scoffed: "The pirate king is at sea because the Empress and her Royal Army are on the mainland. As for those grand dukes? They just surrendered to the Empress quickly enough."

How come even though the empress is dead, her reputation can still be used to intimidate these nobles?

Hughes sighed.

"What then?"

"Later, we met the 'prince'."

(End of this chapter)