Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 485 Interrogation
Hunter felt as if he were dreaming.

In the morning, he was still in the siege camp of Sladedinburgh, listening to Viscount Frey talk about the adversary he craved; in the evening, he arrived at Bloodharbor and met the prince.

Everything in between felt like a nightmare, or perhaps he had never truly woken up.

Damn it, this is the easternmost blood port of Tiss? A blood port half a month away from the North? This morning he was complaining about how cold the North was, and now he's being blown by the warm sea breeze of the port.

Because these prisoners brought in extremely valuable intelligence, they were immediately evacuated and driven directly to Blood Harbor in a spare locomotive. It wasn't even dark when Hunter got out of the car.

Hunter prides himself on being a learned scholar, but what happened today shattered all his understanding of the past years.

Terrible weapons that bring death from the sky, armored trains as large as houses, and the terrifying transport capacity that can take you from the North to Bloodharbor in a single afternoon.
He had never heard of any of this before, nor had he ever imagined it even in his wildest dreams.

But at this moment, they suddenly appeared before our eyes.

Before stepping off the train, Hunter thought he would no longer be surprised; he had seen far too many bizarre creations.

But after getting out of the car, he remained frozen in place.

He got off the train at the Blood Harbor station, the most industrialized part of Blood Harbor.

A forest of steel and concrete suddenly burst into Hunter's eyes.

The roaring steam engine hummed, sounding as if it were arguing with the boiler operator. The piercing steam whistle, if you listened carefully, seemed to follow a certain rhythmic pattern. Boxes of containers, big enough to fit his entire horse-drawn carriage with room to spare, were pushed into the adjacent cement factory, and mountains of steel were transported out by train.

Is he still in this world?

As dusk fell, the lighthouse at sea lit up with its huge searchlight. The light swept across Hunter for a moment, and for that instant, he felt as if he were facing the sun directly.

Hunter's legs were trembling; fear made his body feel like lead. He was like a small animal being dragged out of a cave, seeing this vast and terrifying world for the first time.

He was too weak to walk, and the other prisoners of war were not much better off. He even felt that his shackles were somewhat superfluous. After seeing such a magnificent creation, who could still have the thought of escaping?

Soon, Hunter saw a face that looked somewhat familiar.

"Your Highness William!"

Hunter had seen this only son of Grand Duke Tiss at a banquet in the North; well, he should be Grand Duke Tiss now.

At that time, the two talked very happily and regarded each other as good friends.

But all that could be heard in response to their shouts was a cold stare.

After a moment, as if searching through his memories, the prince slowly replied, "Lord Hunter, it's been a long time."

After saying that, she stopped looking at him and turned to talk to another person.

He was a young man, perhaps even younger than him, with dark hair, and his occasional glances were so profound, as if he could see through all of his secrets.

“Are you Hunter?” the man asked.

“Hunter Godfrey Watts, son of a powerful count under the Duke of Alvarez, whose family has some illustrious lineage. He is now a scholar,” the prince whispered beside him.

Hunter nodded hastily. It seemed that the person opposite him was also a nobleman, but he didn't know their identity. Although he had been captured by the other party, he could not be disrespectful according to the rules.

However, he didn't recognize the other person's identity, and Grand Duke Tiss made no attempt to introduce him. Just as Hunter was hesitating about what etiquette to perform, the other person spoke again. "Tell me everything you know about the Resistance."

Hunter nodded hastily. This was what he, as a captive, should do. Wars between nobles often did not result in death. Even if someone was captured by chance, as long as their family could afford the ransom, they could be redeemed.

He should cooperate with the other party's reasonable demands in exchange for treatment commensurate with his noble status.

This is the rule among the imperial nobility, and it has always been this way from ancient times to the present.

But Hunter felt a sudden tremor in his heart for no reason, and he felt a little flustered. The person opposite him was also a nobleman. Shouldn't he follow the rules of the nobles?

It seems that only the deceased Empress did not abide by these rules. She treated everyone equally and did not care about anyone, whether noble or commoner, she could kill them at will.

The rest of the nobles, regardless of their birth, all complied.

Looking at the two people standing in front of him, Hunter tried to clear his mind of all the jumbled thoughts.

It's one thing to have one oddball like the Empress, but surely he won't encounter another one. Besides, there are two people in front of him. Even if one of them wants to kill him, the other will try to stop him.

After leaving that hellish battlefield, reason gradually returned to Hunter's body. He had always been a coward, so naturally he began to fear death again.

"The resistance forces captured Sladedinburgh about six months ago and have been holding out there ever since."

After saying his first sentence, Hunter was somewhat bewildered to find that the expressions of the two people opposite him were rather strange.

What's wrong? Is this strange?

"Did they succeed in capturing Sladedinburg?"

"Yes, they took the castle almost effortlessly. I don't know much about the specifics, but in the end, Count Bazel's personal guards helped him escape."

On the other side, Hughes and the prince exchanged a glance, and then both looked at Isaac.

They had always thought the resistance was finished or was beginning to flee, and used that as a basis to gather information. Now they were being told that the resistance had completely wiped out the other side.

The usually composed Isaac was stunned, and then his face gradually turned red.

"Bazel informed Octavia of this matter, seemingly wanting to make some secret deal. However, he was ambushed in the woodlands of the Canary Mountains, losing all his elite troops and having no strength left to deal with the resistance. So the three dukes formed an alliance to assist Earl Bazel in suppressing the rebels."

"Wait, is Bazel still alive?"

"Yes, we were actually planning to go find him this time."

Hughes rubbed his temples, feeling a bit of a headache. The North was too chaotic, with too many false rumors circulating. Although he had managed to get some specific information about Bazel, none of it was very credible.

"Then why did you attack us first?"

"What attack?" Hunter asked, somewhat surprised. "We didn't launch an attack."

“My men reported that you were coming to attack the expeditionary force, so they ambushed you and fought a battle.”

Hunter paused for a moment, then, thinking of the train he had just ridden, his eyes suddenly lit up: "You mean the steam locomotive? Viscount Frey has no idea that it's one of your subordinates. He thinks the armored locomotive is some kind of monster that he's preparing to exterminate."

(End of this chapter)