Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 465: What happened to physics?
"How is it?" Hughes asked with a gloomy face.

"We tried coyotes, rabbits, sharks, snakes, and filefish, and they all mutated." Nini flipped through her notebook. "We didn't prepare any experimental animals, so these are all we have for now. We plan to catch some birds and insects later and see how they are."

Hughes stared at the coyote, which was larger than a horse, with a serious expression on his face, which was covered in dark circles.

There really is a problem with electricity in this world!

He had always thought it was a misunderstanding, that people in this world didn't have a deep enough understanding of electricity, which led to this mix-up.

It turned out that he was too naive; the previous researchers were fine, the problem was with this world.

Hughes was no stranger to electricity, so he didn't bother to find something to electrify, but tested the basic properties and then stopped.

No one was electrocuted during the entire experiment, so no problems with the electricity were discovered.

Hughes conducted some emergency experiments, temporarily creating a chemical battery and carrying out numerous experiments.

He hasn't tried many things yet, but he has already drawn some preliminary conclusions—the physical properties of electricity in this world are not much different from those on Earth; both can release heat through resistance, electrolyze water, and so on.

However, creatures that are electrocuted will turn into evil beings.

Hughes felt like he was going crazy. How could the directional movement of charged particles change life forms?
These evil beings, Hughes, conducted some simple tests, and even brought over Ash's pet wolf for comparison; they were basically quite similar.

They grow larger and undergo certain changes in appearance, allowing them to come into contact with and get close to physical contaminants.

It conforms to the characteristics of organisms that survive pollution and erosion, but it does not conform to Hughes's understanding at all.

Hughes's current feeling is that "physics no longer exists."

Electricity isn't something that can only be created in a laboratory. Living organisms naturally possess bioelectricity; electrical signals in the nervous system are a prime example, and there are even organisms like electric eels.

Well, it's hard to say whether electric eels actually exist in this world.

It's hard to say for sure why these bioelectric currents didn't turn the animals into evil creatures, but there are some vague guesses.

These experimental animals did not immediately turn into evil beings upon being electrocuted.

For example, relatively large creatures like coyotes require longer periods of sustained electric shock compared to other creatures.

The shark was electrocuted in the same pool as the filefish, but the filefish underwent the mutation very quickly, while the shark took much longer.

Later, when the reaction in the battery was almost over, the released current decreased, and the animal's mutation process slowed down. In fact, the coyote hadn't even completed its mutation after being electrocuted once. Some acid was poured back into the battery's reaction vessel before it could continue to be electrocuted and mutated.

In conclusion, we can easily draw the following conclusion: the electrical energy required for animals to transform into evil entities varies, and is positively correlated with body size.
In other words, the larger the size, the more electrical energy is required for the mutation. Somehow, this strangely aligns with the law of conservation of energy.

Hughes was quite exhausted; this world was just too outrageous.

It's one thing for living things to be eroded by pollution, but to be eroded by electricity? Is there any connection between electricity and pollution?
More experiments are needed to determine the specifics, but based on the current findings, electricity is not unusable, but it is extremely dangerous.

The idea that "I can tell if someone has electricity just by touching them" no longer exists; touching someone would turn you into a monster.

This characteristic.
Hughes was suddenly startled; why did it feel vaguely familiar?
The properties of electricity in this world seem strangely similar to radiation.

Excessive exposure to radiation can lead to mutations, and uranium is a dangerous but highly valuable substance.
If electricity in this world is as dangerous as radiation on Earth, then could there also be radioactive materials in this world, and how terrifying would those things be?
Hughes pondered for a long time, and finally sighed. Blue Star can utilize radiation, and Castel can utilize electricity. No matter how dangerous something is, as long as you can find the patterns, you can find a way to utilize it.

However, given the dangerous nature of electricity, coupled with the effect of cognitive interference, pursuing knowledge in this world is absurdly dangerous.

Hughes felt that the Fire Moths had lived up to their reputation as the number one cultist.

"From now on, all electrical-related experiments must be approved by me and fully protected and planned before they can proceed. Fortunately, the moths that chase fire know the dangers of electricity and have never had any mishaps, otherwise it would have been a real problem."

Wireless equipment used to be quite safe, as it used low voltage levels and posed little harm to people, but that's no longer the case.

Who knows what you might hear that you shouldn't hear, or you might get an electrical leak and be sent to your death on the spot? The danger level of future communications soldiers can be described as extremely high.

Even so, Hughes was determined to grit his teeth and continue his research; the application of electricity was simply too important on the technology tree, and...
Hughes had a sudden thought: Could the Mechanical Sanctuary find a way to avoid the "evil" in the electricity?
When I go to Rhineland in the future, I will definitely have a good chat with them. The mechanical society of that time was willing to share knowledge, and they must be very happy to do so as well.

It's okay if you're not happy. Castells made these weapons to make everyone more friendly. What can't we talk about?

Moreover, aside from all that, Hughes had a vague premonition that the fact that living beings mutate when exposed to electricity might be something that could be put to use.

The Pirate King of yesteryear caused Castel quite a bit of trouble, but now he's the one powering the entire island; who knows, he might even be able to integrate evil creatures into the power grid someday.
Evil brings pollution, and the pollution is used to generate electricity in a steam engine. Electrocution turns creatures into evil, which sounds a bit like a perpetual motion machine.

It's possible that some animals like coyotes will be consumed along the way. Hmm, does this mean that the focus of future technological advancements will be on developing animal husbandry?
It's alright, much better than relying on archaeology for technological development.

All of this is still far off. Hughes has only given Nini stern instructions several times. Still feeling uneasy, he sent a new announcement in the main group of the Mind Link, tagging everyone.

The first group of banshees to provide support in the North are ready to depart, and Hughes needs to inform them before they leave.

The leader of this group of banshees was Nini. She arranged the banshees into shifts, taking turns to go to the Northern Territory. This way, although the total number of banshees in the Northern Territory was relatively small at the same time, it ensured that there would always be banshees there to participate in the battle.

According to Hughes's calculations, the three banshees, working together to provide cover, could change the course of the battle, provided that the battle location was not too far from the river—something Hughes wasn't worried about.

The entire forest where the resistance was located was within the coverage of the river; they couldn't possibly fight their way into the city, could they?
(End of this chapter)