Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 306 Blood Harbor is seizing ships?

Zoe thought about it carefully for a while, and then felt a chill run down her spine.

"You mean Blood Harbor is more dangerous than pirates?"

“We’ll find out soon, Miss Zoe.” Erwin said nothing more, turning to direct the Guards to take up their firing positions.

Not long after, the ship from Blood Harbor arrived nearby, and even Zoe sensed something was wrong—it wasn't one ship, but two.

The two ships were deliberately lined up in a straight line, one in front of the other. Zoe and her group could only see the ship in front of them, and only when they got closer did they realize that there were two ships.

Why hide the existence of another ship?
Zoe's heart leaped into her throat.

As they got closer, the opposing ship slowed down a bit; Castell's ship had clearly taken them somewhat by surprise.

First of all, there was no mast. While there were indeed foreign steamships in this era, they were a minority.

Secondly, there were just too many people.

Generally speaking, cargo ships don't have many people accompanying them, and Castells's foreign ship didn't look like a passenger ship at all. After hesitating for a while, the other side sent someone to the bow to wave a flag.

"Mr. Erwin, what do they mean by this?"

"I do not know either."

"what?"

“I’ve only been here a few times before, I’m not a crew member.” Erwin shrugged.

Castel is far too remote, lacking even a large port. The islanders' only contact with the boats is fishing. Even pirates recruit more from Gem Bay, and while some islanders occasionally become crew members, most go elsewhere.

The previous group of sailors had also mostly gone to sea with Jeremiah's Black Pearl.

Among this group heading to Blood Harbor, there wasn't a single crew member. It would have been better if Jeremiah had returned a few days later, but unfortunately, they didn't make it in time.

This meant they couldn't recognize the flag signals from the other side at all.

With no other option, Zoe had to move closer and talk to the other side.

This time it was the other side's turn to hesitate. In their view, this strange ship without sails did not respond to the flag signals and sailed straight towards them, which was actually the behavior of pirates.

Even when pirates plunder, they openly hoist black sails. The stormy ocean is the backyard of the pirate royal court, so when have they ever hidden themselves?
But with Blood Harbor at their backs, they couldn't escape even if they wanted to, and soon the three ships drew close together.

"What are you doing here?" someone shouted from the ship that came from Blood Harbor.

“We have come to Bloodharbor to visit Grand Duke Tiss on the orders of Border Earl Hughes Corsica Simons Stuart. Please guide us.”

Erwin shouted.

The Christian guards on the ship came out, standing on the ship with long guns on their backs and stern faces.

Firearms had long been spread across the continent with the Imperial Army. Although the Christian Guards did not recognize the bolt-action rifles they carried, they knew from their design that they were firearms.

The entire force was armed with firearms, making them an elite force even within the Imperial Army. Aside from anything else, the amount of gunpowder consumed just to maintain these musketeers was enormous; poorer lords simply couldn't afford it. Even a vast empire like the Empire relied on constant expansion and plunder to survive. The two ships from Blood Harbor were quiet for a moment, then someone shouted again, "We need to go back and report to the port!"

Erwin grinned. "Go ahead."

The smaller boat turned back, while the other boat remained stationary, watching over them. Even Zoe could sense their tension.

Castells had more men on his ship and far superior firearms. If Castells were indeed pirates preparing to attack, they would probably all be fish food by the time Bloodharbor reinforcements arrived.

After exchanging a few words with the guards beside him, Erwin began to try to communicate with the other side: "How is Bloodharbor doing lately? Our Earl still has a caravan left there."

There was no reply from the other side, and Erwin called out a few more times before giving up and focusing on waiting for news from the port.

Zoe became a little nervous again, and she cautiously approached Erwin: "Do you think there's something wrong with them?"

“That’s wonderful, Ms. Zoe.” Erwin pointed to the ship opposite. “I don’t know much about navigation, but there are obviously too many of them. You don’t usually see this many people on a ship.”

"You mean they're targeting us, planning something bad for us?"

"It's not necessarily targeting us. When they came over, their actions were too practiced, as if they had done it many times before. I suspect Blood Harbor is seizing passing ships."

"Huh? Why would they do that?"

"Hey, that's easy to guess. I heard that the prince assassinated the empress. The empire will definitely not let this go. There will definitely be a war. Who do you think will win?"

Zoe frowned: "Of course it's the Empire. The Duchy of Tis can't compare to the Empire. They're hugely different in size."

“Yes, those merchants probably think the same way. Do you think they will support the Empire or Tiss? If they don’t support Tiss, they wouldn’t have helped the prince in the first place. In that case, why not just detain and arrest him?”

"This...this isn't a good idea."

"It's not good, but the empire has no other outlet to the sea now, and the four northern territories are allies of Tiss. The Duchy of Tiss can actually control the entire Storm Ocean. Just arrest the merchants and replace them with our own people."

Erwin gritted his teeth: "Of course, now that Castells is here, their idea is doomed to fail."

"Will they try to take control of the Storm Ocean from us?"

"That depends on whether His Highness is smart enough. Based on my understanding of Lord Hughes, if the other side is willing to have a proper conversation, there shouldn't be a direct conflict. Castells doesn't need war to prove itself. We just need to sell our goods here, and they will collapse on their own."

Zoe looked at Erwin with some surprise. The leader of the Guardians of the Faith had a much deeper perspective than she had thought, and his views were not limited to the military.

"The advanced course I chose is economics—Lord Hughes said that financial warfare is also warfare, so he transferred me from mechanical engineering to economics. This theory was actually proposed by Lord Hughes; I'm just repeating it to you."

Zoe had heard about this. The islanders were so interested in mechanics and chemical engineering (explosives research) that some less popular advanced classes were hard to find, making it difficult to even start classes. In the end, the lord had to manually adjust the schedule.

However, Lord Alexei's deputy was an economics major, and Alexei was also the chief clerk.
"Ah, here they come."

Erwin pointed to the sea in the distance; the ship that had just headed to Bloodharbor had returned.

(End of this chapter)