Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 380 Ironclad Ship

Interview? Report?
Josh listened to the two words in confusion, searching his memory for a long time before finally finding a few corresponding details in the rumors about Rhine.

It seems to be some kind of biographical work? It's said that there was a fashionable thing called "newspaper" in the Rhineland, and Castells had one too?
This must be some kind of serious record, Josh thought, straightened up and nodded: "It's an honor."

"No, no, no, it's my honor! I've wanted to see you in person for so long!" Nini was clearly excited. She picked up a notebook with one hand and held pens in the other five, ready to take notes at any time. She looked at Josh with eager anticipation and licked her lips.

Josh shivered inexplicably, feeling as if he were being watched by a terrifying being. However, remembering the identity of the person opposite him, he nodded in understanding—this must be the legendary killing intent. A warrior as powerful as her could probably turn someone to stone with just a glare.

"Okay, Mr. Josh, may I ask where you came from?"

"Hmm, it's over there, near Zoe."

"Zoe?" Nini's eyes lit up, and she frantically took notes in her notebook with all five hands.

Josh's eyes gradually filled with confusion. How could someone remember so much from just one name?

“Oh, don’t worry about me, Mr. Josh, please continue.”

“Alright, alright. Our secret society didn’t actually do anything. We were almost breached when the rebellion first started, but thankfully the prince arrived with the port guards.”

“The prince led the port guards to break through the encirclement and saved you at the last minute.” Nini wrote again.

"Well, it wasn't just him who saved me. The Secret Order's barricades were breached, so there were bound to be casualties. I'm very grateful to him, oh, and Galahad too."

"Galahad!?" Nini's eyes widened. "He even brought Galahad with him? You guys are going this far?"

Josh looked puzzled, but nodded nonetheless. "Yes, Galahad was there too, but I left quickly and went to the clock tower with Zoe."

"The prince risked everything to reach you, but only saw the back of High Priest Josh, his knights wounded beside him, yet he wouldn't even glance at them." Nini's five hands left afterimages. "Wait, what did you say? Climbed the clock tower with Zoe?"

"Yes, yes," Josh's sense of foreboding grew stronger.

"Okay, so which of you jumped?"

"???"

"Nobody's jumping?" Nini looked disappointed.

"Of course no one jumped!" Josh was covered in sweat. He had always been indifferent to life and death, but now he suddenly felt that there were things more terrifying than death.

Is this the world of the strong? Even without the use of force, they inspire such fear. They truly are extraordinary beings!
"You basically know what happened next: the prince set a trap, the Mother was resurrected, and Mira and the Mother died together in the final bombing." As he said this, Josh suddenly felt his throat go dry.

"Mira."

Nini put away her pen and notebook, a complex look in her eyes: "She seemed to have some difficulties, but the disaster she caused was undeniable. In any case, she killed many people, and she died because of it—which is fair."

The banshee's gaze passed over Josh and fell upon Blood Harbor, this decaying yet once bustling city that had buried countless conspiracies and cries, now reduced to nothing but ruins.

The people on the ship moved about in an orderly fashion, bustling about, bringing a touch of life to this ravaged land. "...Lady Nini?" Josh called out tentatively. The tall banshee sighed and turned to look at him.

“It’s alright. Castel’s greatest strength is getting back up after disasters. What was that saying of the Lord again? It’s like, ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’” Nini shrugged. “We’re like the [Mother] too, constantly getting stronger.”

Josh nodded in agreement. He was a Castelian, having been one since childhood, and he had witnessed firsthand how the island was growing stronger.

He bought a shipload of soap on credit and set sail because he saw the potential in the area and was planning to try his hand at being a sea merchant. Little did he know that soap would play tricks on him, and he would inexplicably become the leader of a cult.

Josh froze, realizing he still owed a shipload of soap!
He doesn't have any money.

Never mind, he doesn't care whether there are two or three nooses around his neck.

Josh looked around. Airships, ironclad warships, Banshee machine guns—the changes on the island in the past few months were greater than in the previous decades.

"Truly... an unbelievable creation. When that colossal celestial beast tore through the sky, I genuinely thought a god had descended."

"You'll get used to it. Castel has plenty of these things. You haven't even seen a Stellar Furnace yet. There's a real evil god inside one of those things."

Josh was stunned.

"The less you care about gods, the easier it is to get close to them. This world is really absurd. Maybe that's why Hughes always emphasizes that he is not a god."

Nini sighed.

"Indeed, take this ironclad warship for example. It's unbelievable. It's three times the size of an ordinary ship, isn't it? And its design is so unique. With so many small boats hanging around it, are they going to be launched into the water and used to charge during battle?"

Nini's expression turned strange.

Ironclad warships do look impressive, but Nini is a banshee who roams the seas around Castel all day long.

The shipwrecks that the shipyard has salvaged have almost filled up that area of ​​the sea.
Some boats have an uneven center of gravity, causing the bow to lift up and break when started; some have flawed watertight compartment designs, resulting in larger waves inside the compartments than outside after water enters; and some are designed to be too narrow, causing the boat to float upside down with the deck facing down when a wave comes.
Castells' ship designers eventually compromised and designed a huge, boxy ship. Due to insufficient structural design skills, the entire ship was covered with extremely thick steel plates, resulting in this monster.

Hughes had little experience in ship design, but he was quite surprised to find that this thing looked very much like a container ship on Earth.
These ships are known for their stability; they are very difficult to capsize at sea.

As expected, designs eventually tend toward an optimal solution, and Castells has come full circle back to this point.

Aside from looking a bit dull, like a coffin box, it doesn't really have any major drawbacks for transportation.

And it looks quite intimidating, after all, it is really big, the whole ship is made of steel.

The Bloodharbor rebellion broke out too suddenly, and Hughes was completely unprepared. He had no choice but to use this ship, which "didn't seem to sink for the time being," as a makeshift vessel. The small boats hanging on both sides were actually lifeboats, in case the ship suddenly sank.

Nini was genuinely surprised that Josh had come up with so many nonsensical ideas, and her expression turned awkward for a moment.

Fortunately, the awkwardness didn't last long—the negotiations between Hughes and the prince seemed to have ended, and the two walked out together.

(End of this chapter)