Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 356 The Resistance of the Secret Order
Almost instantly, the cavalry vanished from sight along with the prince, and it was only then that the Secret Order and the Mother Goddess followers slowly realized what had happened.

Did the prince escape with his soldiers?
Yes, upon closer inspection, it was indeed the right choice. The Mother Goddess's followers filled the streets, far beyond what this small cavalry squad could handle. There were more of these cultists than bullets they carried.

Moreover, this group had just witnessed the monster's true form, and they were clearly somewhat disoriented and demoralized, so it was hard to say how much combat power they could muster.

But... they just ran away like that?
The prince was Grand Duke Tiss, the true master of Bloodharbor, with a long list of titles, but upon realizing he couldn't defeat him, he turned and ran without hesitation—he didn't even leave behind a few harsh words or offer any high-sounding reasons.

He seemed to care nothing for these noble titles and identities, discarding them without the slightest hesitation.

The knights who followed him did not question the order and carried it out immediately, which shows that this cavalry unit was indeed an elite force.

Josh and Zoe, who were on the Secret Order's side, were stunned. They had just arrived after receiving the news when they witnessed Prince Fei's strategic retreat.

The two looked at each other, not even having time to be surprised; their faces were filled with blankness.
They were just firing when they went up to fire, and now they've disappeared.

It was the wailing of the monster on the other side that brought the Secret Order back to their senses. After the prince left, the Mother Goddess's followers did not follow him away, but instead turned their attention to the Secret Order, which was on high alert.

The members of the secret order immediately tensed up. What if these followers of the Mother Goddess attacked them?

The Mother Goddess's followers moved slowly but steadily toward the secret order, while the monsters mixed among them howled.

Josh's heart skipped a beat. Oh no, have these people gone mad?
He quickly stood up and shouted outside:

"I am Josh, the high priest of the Steam and Deep Sea Secret Order! The prince just fled in that direction!"

Josh pointed in the direction the prince had just left. He felt no remorse for betraying the prince's whereabouts—the prince was a lord, and although the Secret Order was a heretical sect, they were still considered his subjects.

If a lord abandons his people, he shouldn't blame them for turning their backs on him.

Besides, this doesn't count as betrayal. The Secret Order isn't a military organization, so it's not their place to deal with rebellions; that's the job of the Port Guard.

The Secret Order is, after all, a cult; it's good enough that they don't rebel themselves.
However, the Mother Goddess's followers on the other side showed no intention of communicating. No matter how Josh threatened or promised, they continued to advance in this direction, their meaning was quite clear.

"Damn it, these lunatics are completely insane! Cultists are never to be trusted!" Josh cursed as he turned to the followers beside him. "How many weapons do we have?"

"High Priest, we have indeed stockpiled some weapons, but we have not really considered such a large-scale battle. We have dozens of muskets, but we don't have much armor. We do have plenty of melee weapons, though." The believer's voice was somewhat anxious.

"Sigh, there's nothing we can do. Who would have thought we'd have to go head-to-head with the Church of the Mother Goddess?" Josh sighed, then suddenly realized something was amiss: "Wait a minute, where did all these dozens of muskets come from?"

Firearms were already widespread in this era, but widespread means that they could be seen, not that they were everywhere.

A proper musket requires a craftsman to spend a great deal of time forging, and many of its components can only be manufactured by the Empire. This means that only the Royal Army can have organized musketeers on the battlefield.

Okay, here's the question—where did he get all those muskets?
Josh looked completely bewildered, and it was only after several of his fellow Castells explained things to him that he understood.

“Josh, you’ve been busy with the organization’s affairs ever since you established the Secret Order. These were sold to us by the Port Guard.” “The Port Guard? Sold to us?” Josh’s eyes widened.

"That's right. We've been trading soap for food, which caught the attention of the port guards. They didn't have any surplus food, but they still wanted our soap. The Secret Society isn't something we can just bully. After we talked to them, they used this batch of muskets as collateral for a shipment of goods."

As Josh listened to his companion's story, his eyes twitched involuntarily.

The prince had not been in control of the Hong Kong Guard for very long; before that, the armed force was essentially rotten to the core.

They even secretly participated in the last rebellion. When faced with the rebellion of the Mother Goddess's followers, they simply pretended not to see it. In the end, it was the prince who decisively cut through the mess and controlled the army with a combination of kindness and severity.

While Josh was speaking, the muskets had already been distributed to the believers, but Josh had no idea how useful they would be.

The biggest advantage of firearms over bows and arrows is that they are quick to learn; ordinary people can use them after a short period of training, unlike bows and arrows which require long-term training.

Even a short training period is still necessary. Although the Secret Order has its own armed forces and conducts daily training, it has never conducted live-fire exercises. This is Blood Harbor, after all, and firing guns in the city would cause a lot of trouble.

Although the believers were somewhat flustered during the process of loading gunpowder, they managed to complete it. The prince and his men had just gone forward to fire, and it would take some time for the Mother Goddess's followers to reach the Secret Order's barricades.

Josh and his companions kept maintaining order, issuing instructions, and also lending a hand to a few believers who had forgotten the steps.

boom!
One of the believers accidentally discharged his gun, and upon hearing the sound, the others hurriedly raised their guns and began firing as well.

This wave of attacks had a very poor hit rate, even worse than the prince's cavalry. Although the Secret Order had more than twice as many muskets as the Secret Order, the believers' proficiency was simply too low.

Some people didn't even grip the gun properly; the moment the gun fired, the shock caused it to slip from their hands, and the bullets flew off into the distance.

Several failed to fire, not to mention one believer whose chest exploded—his face was covered in blood, and he was being carried away by other believers while wailing in pain.

Only a few followers of the Mother Goddess fell; the rest continued forward. As the monster moved forward, it reached out and pulled the fallen people over to tear them apart and swallow them whole.

The Secret Order members began another round of reloading, and the entire front was in a flurry of activity.

"What happens after the gunpowder is loaded?"

"Damn it, where's my pass?"

"Why did you load the bullets directly? You didn't add gunpowder!!"

Josh glanced at the cultists and his companions who were trying to maintain order, then turned to look at the Mother Goddess followers who were moving forward, biting his thumbnail anxiously.

A little calculation would show that these people alone would be absolutely no match for the enemy's offensive!

(End of this chapter)