Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 489 The Steel Ship

This is already a pretty good ending.

Hunter heard from the secret society members guarding him that the others who were captured along with him were punished more severely, with one even sentenced to life imprisonment.

This is mainly because his crime was relatively minor.

According to the reclusive Chief Judge Chloe, although he participated in the Allied forces' siege of the Resistance, his actions were not particularly egregious. He only helped manufacture siege equipment such as catapults, which were hardly ever used under Viscount Frey's deliberate control, since the Allied forces did not actually intend to breach Sladedinburgh.

And so he left the courtroom.

Looking at the sunlight before him, Hunter was almost incredulous. Since being captured, his fate had been full of twists and turns. After several moments of despair, he had actually survived, even though he would have to stay in that Castel for a full fifteen years.
Wait, now is not the time to relax. As a scholar, he still has a vague impression of Castel. It seems to be an island on the far frontier of the empire. He heard it is desolate and remote. What can he do after he goes there?
He studied mechanical engineering; is he going to teach a horse mackerel how to make gears?

I doubt there are many literate people on the entire island, let alone those who understand mechanics.

Moreover, since it's detention, he'll probably be doing some heavy work. With his physique that gets out of breath after just a few steps, can he really endure fifteen years?
Isn't this still a dead end?

Hunter began to despair again.

What could he do? His noble status? The lords here had made up their minds not to care about noble status anymore, so there was no point in discussing it further. Besides, he was just a scholar, not that important to his family. It was already good enough that they were willing to pay the ransom. It would be much more difficult for them to cross the northern border and the Duchy of Tis to come here and rescue him.
Forget it.

Hunter knew his own worth; he wasn't worth that price.

Lost in thought, Hunter was escorted onto a ship. The sound of the ship's horn as it set sail startled him, and he looked around to snap out of his daze.

Well.
Hunter found himself seemingly being watched.
Hunter was surrounded by young people, around his age. As for why they were watching him—

Only Hunter was in shackles, and there were two men who looked like guards standing beside him.

This is the lower deck, a large hall inside the ship's cabin, where they are queuing for food.

Hunter felt a little embarrassed. He subconsciously looked at the young people and soon noticed something interesting: they all seemed to be carrying a booklet.

The booklets were quite uniform in format, and these young people seemed to care about them a lot, with many queuing up to take a look.

This piqued Hunter's curiosity, and he squinted to decipher the words on the booklet.

"The Empire. The Holy Scripture of Truth?"

He understood the holy scriptures, but what was this imperial truth all about?

He had seen the power of empires, he had seen armies, he had seen bayonets and gunpowder, but he had never seen the truth.

Moreover, the combination of "truth" and "holy scripture" feels strangely incongruous.

Wait a minute, since these are all sacred texts, does that mean these people are from a certain church?
Hmm, it must be that church related to the sea god, right?
Hunter looked around, hesitated for a moment, but curiosity eventually won out, and he asked in a low voice, "Are you all from the church?"

The young people followed his gaze to the holy book in their hands and suddenly realized, "No, you misunderstood. We did not join the Imperial Truth. It's just that everyone who goes to Castel for further studies receives a copy of the holy book."

"Huh?" Hunter looked at his empty hands and turned to the guards on either side.

“You’re an inmate, not someone going to Castells for further studies, so naturally you’re not eligible,” the guard said indifferently. Hunter lowered his hands sheepishly, but the next moment, a booklet was handed to him.

"Although I didn't send it to you, there's no harm in looking at the Holy Scripture. The Holy Scripture of Imperial Truth is completely open to the public—just like self-evident truth."

Hunter took the holy book from the guard, his heart filled with mixed feelings. His gaze swept over the holy emblem on the guard's chest.

That should be the emblem of Imperial Truth. Since leaving Blood Harbor, the guards watching over him have been replaced, which makes sense, as the people in Blood Harbor seem to be members of some secret order.

"Thank you." Hunter said his thanks and was about to open the holy book to take a look, but the guard pushed him away. "Don't look at it yet. It's your turn. Go get your food first."

When Hunter looked up, he realized he was at the food distribution window. He hurriedly stuffed the Bible under his clothes, and the burly woman at the window handed him a plate of food that had already been served.

Hunter took the plate with both hands, but suddenly froze.

"What's wrong? Don't stay here, hurry up and catch up, the people behind us still need to get their food!"

Hunter's gaze fell on the plate in his hand.

It was a metal plate, square and with a very smooth surface, made of high-quality steel.

Stainless steel? Dinner plate?
Such a combination is quite rare. Hunter has seen far more expensive tableware before; he has a whole set of sterling silver tableware in his family that is far more expensive and exquisite than this.

But the plate in front of him always gave him a strange feeling, something vague, as if it were right in front of him, but if he thought about it carefully, he couldn't find any trace of it.

He had no choice but to keep walking forward, and soon followed the group to a box.

The box was also made of stainless steel and was filled with forks, spoons, and a metal rod that people occasionally used, somewhat like tweezers.

The sense of incongruity intensified, so Hunter also took a set of cutlery and sat down at the table with the two guards.

The tables and chairs were fixed to the boat, which is understandable, as the boat would inevitably rock, and fixed tables and chairs would be safer.

At this moment, the strange feeling in Hunter's heart finally reached its peak.

He discovered that the table and stools were also made of stainless steel.

Steel is a very valuable strategic material. A blacksmith shop that spends all day smelting iron ore can only produce two or three thousand pounds of it—that's the annual output.

Forging pig iron into steel requires a lot of manpower and time. Once forged, it can be called steel. The tableware and chairs in his hands are shiny and have a fine and uniform texture, which is the best quality steel.

Hunter looked around. Everyone had a plate and several pieces of cutlery in front of them. At the food serving window, several baskets were piled high with stainless steel cutlery.

If the whole family put their efforts together, they could certainly build a restaurant like this. But why?
With so much refined steel, how many weapons could be forged? How many soldiers could be armed? How much land and money could be gained in return? And yet, it's all wasted like this?
Hunter was so engrossed in his thoughts that he dropped his fork on the ground with a crisp clinking sound.

He bent down to pick it up, but stopped when his hand reached for the fork.

This floor seems to be made of stainless steel as well.

(End of this chapter)