Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 304 Idealists

In the office, Hughes rested his chin on his hands on the table.

Ken and Jeremiah had recounted their entire experience, and Hughes now had a general understanding of what had happened at sea.

The drying up of the seawater was limited to the Storm Ocean; the Sea of ​​No Light, opposite the Corridor of Despair, remained unaffected.

That makes sense, since the two seas are not connected, the seawater from the other side won't flow over.

The reaction of ordinary people to the drying up of the sea was strong, with many seeing it as a sign of the end of the world. Cults also took the opportunity to spread despair, while official organizations did little to respond, creating a stark contrast.

After all, it was a journey that lasted nearly half a year, and the story lasted for several hours. Monica had fallen asleep while lying on Gaia's lap, Gaia gently combing her emerald green hair as she quietly listened to her brother's adventures.

Hughes sighed.

"What an amazing experience! I have one last question—what kind of person do you think that prince was?"

The prince occupies very little space in their story; they only met once, but both were deeply impressed by this lord of the Duchy of Tis.

Without a second thought, Ken said without hesitation, "The prince is a very kind person. He was willing to help us find Castel and send troops to help Nora. People have always misunderstood him. He later successfully assassinated the queen!"

Hughes blinked. "How come I remember he allied with the three Grand Dukes of the North? Helping Nora shouldn't be as difficult as assassinating the Queen, right?"

Ken's expression froze.

“But he did send ships to help us find Castel. I spoke with his steward, Euan, and I still believe he is a kind man; it was just a misunderstanding.”

"cough!"

Jeremiah cleared his throat, glanced at Ken, and said in a low voice, “I think that prince is a bit too naive, foolish though he may be, but he offered his help out of good intentions. He's like, like…”

Jeremiah opened his mouth as if to say something, but then he was stuck. He couldn't find a suitable word to describe the prince, who was a completely different person from him. This was the first time he had ever tried to describe such a person.

“An idealist?” Hughes asked tentatively.

"Idealism? What is that? That prince is a bit like Ken, he looks like a fool who would throw his life away for some lousy piece of crap."

Ken glared at him, but Jeremiah glared back, and Ken quickly looked away.

Hughes frowned. Even Jeremiah had not denied the prince’s kindness, and even went further, believing that such kindness would only harm him.

But can this kindness alone allow one to stand against the empire?

Perhaps the two only knew one side of the story. It would be strange if the prince, who had endured for many years, hadn't used some tricks to successfully restore his kingdom.

It's unknown whether this prince will become Castel's friend or foe.

"Alright, you two, I know what you've been through. You must be exhausted from the long journey. You can go and rest first. I've prepared rooms for you, and the Guardians will take you there later—just follow Gaia."

Both of them nodded, and Ken asked curiously, "The Guardians of the Church? The Church has come to Castel too?"

“It’s Castell’s own church. In fact, we’re right here in the church. You’re free to explore later. You can rest these next couple of days; there’s no need to rush to work. You may have noticed that Castell has changed a bit; you can get used to it first.” After saying this, Hughes looked at Jeremiah: “Captain Jeremiah, we might need to use the Black Pearl soon. I wonder if…”

“No problem,” Jeremiah replied without hesitation. “I will compile a list of various knowledge about sailing at sea later. Ken knows quite a bit too; he’s been on the ship the whole time.”

Hughes looked up at Jeremiah, nodded, and calmly put the contract aside. He smiled and said, "That's great. A new shipyard has been built on the island, but the engineers don't have much sailing experience. I'll have Tata connect with you. If the captain is interested, we can also open a sailing course."

He had previously signed an employment contract with Jeremiah, and he originally wanted to renew it this time—Jeremiah was, after all, a pirate, so cooperation wouldn't be a big problem, but if he were to join Castells and be subject to various restrictions, he might not be happy.

After all, pirates are said to yearn for freedom.

But Jeremiah’s attitude was very firm, so Hughes also intended to accept him as a member of Castel.

The two sides had cooperated quite a bit before. This pirate captain was truly capable, didn't resist learning, and had a good impression of Castel.

More importantly, Gem Bay has been destroyed, so Hughes doesn't need to worry about him being a traitor.

Therefore, Hughes went along with it and extended an olive branch to him.

Castel was a large enough ship to accommodate a foreign race like the Banshee, so how could it not accommodate pirates?

The era of the Pirate King is over; it's time for the Stormy Ocean to have a new master.

Let's show this pirate from the old era a ship from the new era.

He'll like it.

"There has been no news about the airships sent to Blood Harbor before. This time, the island has sent another ship there. It's the kind of foreign ship you saw at the dock. Judging by the days, it should have arrived by now."

Many banshees had previously followed the ship to Blood Harbor. They would not show themselves there, but instead took on the task of periodically delivering intelligence. Banshees were much faster at sea than sailboats, and even foreign ships could not match them.

After all, the banshee is a real marine creature.

The newspaper that Hughes started these past few days has finally come in handy. Currently, the newspaper's main function is to report on Zoe's group's progress daily. Their group includes a Firemoth superhuman. Bloodharbor isn't very big, and the nymphs can directly communicate with the banshees in the sea using their abilities.

If everything goes smoothly, that's fine. But if trouble arises, the Black Pearl might be needed to provide support.

Foreign ships are ultimately products of rushed construction; neither their speed nor their passenger capacity can compare to the Black Pearl.

Yes, although foreign steamships were steam-powered, they were not faster than sailing warships like the Black Pearl.

Steam engines are inherently inefficient, and the speed of outer ships is among the lowest. The Black Pearl, as one of the last pirate ships, had a very mature design, and its biggest advantage was its lightness and speed.

This led to the awkward situation where steamships were not as fast as sailboats.

“Mr. Jeremiah, if we encounter any trouble, we may need you to go out to sea.”

"no problem."

(End of this chapter)