Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 399 The People of the Secret Order
Josh slammed his hand on the table in anger, the gust of wind even causing the newspapers spread on the table to tremble slightly.

Zoe, who was in the distance, looked over with some surprise.

This is Blood Harbor.

After Hughes's review, the secret society was not disbanded immediately, and even Josh temporarily assumed the duties of the high priest.

To be honest, this surprised Josh quite a bit. The believers didn't react much to it. Although Hughes personally denied that he was a god, the members of the secret order still secretly chanted his name, but no longer worshipped him publicly.

This matter was even somewhat tacitly understood; believers seemed to treat it as some kind of test, without truly shaking their faith.

After the reconstruction of Bloodharbor began, the prince reassigned a territory to the Secret Order, which was right next to the Upper Town and not too far from the docks, a very good location.

Zoe and her diplomats also established a foothold here, which may become the prototype of an embassy in the future.

The main members of the Secret Order were all from the North. Most of them had previously served in the Nora Rebellion. Jeremiah's Black Pearl transported these people from the North, and they were the earliest members of the Secret Order.

As for those who joined later, many were refugees from the North, and Nora's name was very well-known among them.

In short, almost no one in the North was unaware of Nora; the rebels she brought gathered most of the refugees and carved out a path to survival for them in the chaotic North.

In the eyes of the followers of the Secret Order, Nora is second only to Hughes. If Hughes is an unattainable god, then Nora is the saint who shelters them from the wind and rain on earth.

This status is even slightly higher than that of Hughes, after all, the believers only know of Hughes as their lord from the doctrines, but Nora's help has truly benefited them.

The refugees in the North would risk their lives to join the secret order if they could have a bowl of hot porridge, let alone Nora, who had personally saved them and sent them away from the North.

Now, Nora is dead, and even her head has been cut off and sent over.

Upon hearing the news, the prince immediately chose to sever ties without hesitation, even at the cost of breaking the alliance.

If the Secret Order members knew that the prince was standing with the lords of the North, they would probably immediately repeat the rebellion of the Church of the Mother Goddess.

Josh's hand trembled slightly as he held the newspaper. He knew what kind of uproar this news would cause within the Secret Order if it were told to the believers.

As for Castells' attitude—which goes without saying, the newspaper's assessment was very brief, consisting of only one line:

"eye for eye."

Without any further explanation or verbal threats, just as the prince had directly executed the envoys sent by the northern lords, Castel had no intention of engaging in dialogue or resolving the matter through diplomacy.

Castells came to make friends, but not everyone deserves his friendship.

Hughes felt that the Silent Church's diplomatic approach was more reliable in the face of the provocations from the lords of the North—to let the yoke fall on their heads and smash their doctrines and reverence into them.

Josh was stunned into thought. Castells was already prepared for war and ready to respond to the provocation with war.

The newspapers said that an expeditionary force would be organized from among the Christian Guard and would travel there aboard newly built ironclad warships.

All of this was not transmitted via coded messages, but through publicly published newspapers.

The implications were self-evident, and only now did Josh truly understand the prince's actions—initially, he was somewhat bewildered when he learned of the prince's fierce and resolute stance. Was such an extreme response really necessary, considering the prince was, after all, an ally?

In retrospect, the prince's political acumen was indeed keen; he may have anticipated Castells' reaction long ago. The prince's relationship with the four northern lords was rather awkward, but by taking the initiative to declare war, he regained the upper hand.

"High Priest! Josh! Big brother who's cooking porridge! Snap out of it! Snap out of it!"

Josh then noticed a small hand waving in front of his eyes.

He looked down and realized it was Gwen.

The little girl had miraculously survived the last rebellion, but she didn't seem to have learned much from it, still running around everywhere every day, which always gave Josh a headache.

"What happened? Why are you spacing out?" Gwen opened her white eyes wide, tilted her head slightly, and let her snow-white hair fall down.

This is the typical appearance of people from the White Crow Principality, where people always prefer white, even their hair is as white as snow.

Josh hurriedly gathered up the newspaper, forced a smile, and patted Gwen's head: "It's nothing, go out and have some fun."

Gwen's gaze fell on the newspaper, then returned to Josh's face. Just as Josh's heart began to pound, the little girl suddenly smiled and said, "Hmm!"

She ran out the door with a pattering sound.

"What is that hiding like that?" Zoe noticed his earlier actions and glanced over curiously.

Josh walked to the door and watched Gwen's figure disappear into the alley before closing the door and handing her the newspaper.

Zoe picked up the newspaper and quickly scanned it; soon, her fingers clenched tightly.

Her chest heaved violently a few times, and she let out a long breath to barely suppress her anger, but she still gritted her teeth as she put down the newspaper.

Josh sighed and walked towards the door: "I'll go and announce this to the believers."

"Wait! Are you just going to go like this?"

Josh paused, then asked, "What else do you need?"

“That’s Nora, the protector of the refugees in the North. It’s no wonder the believers will do anything when they hear she’s dead!” Zoe strode toward the door, grabbing a coat at random. “Come on, let’s go to the lord and ask him to give the Secret Order a few more spots from the expeditionary force to the North!”

Josh hissed, "Will the lord agree?"

“If they don’t agree, the believers should organize their own teams and set off. You’ve dealt with the people of the North for so long, don’t you know what kind of people they are?”

Josh fell silent. The White Raven Duchy in the North had always been somewhat backward, and had not even introduced modern weapons like muskets to them. Yet, even the Empire at its peak had suffered a crushing defeat here. Those brave and fearless warriors were like stones frozen in the snow, making the Empire's musket troops grind their teeth in frustration.

They wouldn't make a ruckus to seek revenge; they would simply line up quietly and march onto the battlefield one by one.

Thinking of this, Josh didn't even bother to grab his clothes and hurriedly followed Zoe out of the room.

(End of this chapter)