Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 501 Castel Doesn't Care

Hughes himself was surprised by this conjecture.

The prince's identity was indeed shrouded in mystery, and Hughes once suspected that there might be other hidden secrets.

After all, in other people's accounts, it was mentioned that the prince's personality had changed before and after, so Hughes speculated that this "prince" might have been a different person.

But even in his boldest speculations, he never imagined that the prince would be involved with the queen.

"The prince went to assassinate the queen, but it's very possible that the current prince is actually the queen in disguise???"

"But...why? Such a vast empire, just thrown away like that?"

"Ahem, my lord, everything at this point is just speculation, and speculation without any evidence at all."

Alexei's expression was also quite interesting. He was usually decisive and efficient, but at this moment he even seemed to lack confidence when he spoke.

"But if we look at it this way, many things can be explained. For example, the Empress died too suddenly, the entire empire fell into the hands of the Church almost instantly, and the 'prince' escaped with extraordinary ease."

Alexei quickly listed a long string of doubts, showing that this matter had troubled him for some time and he had pondered it repeatedly in private.

“Indeed. Indeed,” Hughes paced quickly around the room.

"She decided to break away from the empire and change her identity for some reason, and therefore deliberately indulged the church. The assassination and escape of the 'prince' were also secretly manipulated by her. She must have made sufficient preparations, and even brought her own knights with her."

Hughes took a deep breath, trying to suppress his surging emotions.

"However, these can only explain her actions, not her motives—what could possibly force the most powerful empress on the entire continent to resort to a conspiracy like faking her death to escape?"

“This is also my dilemma, my lord,” Alexei said in a deep voice.

The Empress was already at the very top of power, and this power was not obtained for nothing, but rather fought for little by little over more than a decade. When she ascended the throne, the empire was merely a dying body clinging to life, but when she died, the empire had swept across almost the entire continent.

She is by no means lacking in ability and skill, yet she has chosen not to use her power to solve the problem. Given her position, what trouble couldn't she resolve?
“If the empire has no enemies left, then it is very likely that there are problems within itself.”

Hughes said in a deep voice.

Alexei paused for a moment, pondered for a while, and then slowly nodded.

He never saw any signs of decline while the empire was in power, but what happened after the empress's death truly revealed another side of the empire.

The Papacy took control of the entire empire with almost no effort, and the upper nobility disappeared without a trace, with little fanfare. The Duchy of Tis and the North immediately declared independence.

If the empire was truly a unified entity, how could it have fallen apart so easily?

"Looking at it this way, there is actually a good chance."

"Yes, my lord, that's what I'm worried about too. If all of this is true, the Queen must have some grand scheme in mind. Isn't it very dangerous for us to cooperate with the Duchy of Tis like this?"

"Alexei, do you think we should break off our cooperation with the prince?"

"Yes, he's just posing, taking on the identity of a prince. How can we trust him to cooperate with us?"

Hughes didn't answer, he just looked at him with a smile.

Alexei paused for a moment, then his eyes widened: "You, you mean..."

“I am cooperating with Grand Duke Tiss, and whether Grand Duke Tiss is William or Isabella is none of my concern.”

Alexei gasped. "But..."

“Listen, Alexei, the reason I was able to cooperate with the prince is because he is intelligent enough and has demonstrated sufficient value, nothing more. As for who is inside his body, I don’t care.”

“As long as he can continue to support my industrial development, help me deal with external troubles, and bring a continuous influx of people, then Castells is his friend. Nothing else matters.”

Hughes stepped forward and gently patted Alexei on the shoulder: "Just like Hunter, I summoned him to the island not because of his illustrious past, but because he is a scholar with the potential to be nurtured."

"You don't need to worry too much. We just need to continue developing. Ambition and intrigue won't make them withstand another dragon breath cannon."

Hughes sat back down in his chair.

"Don't tell anyone about this. I'll have the Secret Order send people to investigate. Whatever the prince's identity may be, it won't make any difference to our future. Even if he comes from the Papacy, as long as he can help us develop, he's Castel's friend."

Alexei stood up, wanting to say something, but unsure how to begin.

He was an orphan, yet he managed to obtain a noble status, witnessing the coldness and warmth of human relationships along the way.

There were many people who claimed not to care about their background, and every time Alexei went to get to know them with great enthusiasm, he was always met with disappointment.

But things were different for Hughes.

The lord is always different from others; some people worship him as a god, but Alexei doesn't agree with that from the bottom of his heart.

Those people unconditionally worship everything about Hughes and blindly obey him, which actually hinders their understanding of the lord's thoughts.

Alexei had a feeling that the Lord's thoughts were more important than his creations.

"Alright, let's not talk about that anymore. Let the Secret Society take care of the prince's affairs. Let's take a look at this."

Hughes tossed him a document.

Alexei took it and unfolded it, and almost jumped up after just one glance.

"We've finally made contact with the resistance!?"

Let's rewind to one day earlier.

The mother-in-law and Isaac arrived near the Canary Mountains after a series of close calls and dangers.

—The danger was that of other superhumans. The two of them had set foot in many towns while gathering information. There were unexpectedly many investigators in the North. They wondered what the Church intended to do here.

Isaac stared expressionlessly as the superhuman in front of him gradually disappeared into the distance, until he could no longer sense the other's figure, before turning around and returning to the house.

This is their temporary hideout in the town.

"Isaac, why waste your breath talking to them? Just blast them with a cannon and then leave."

The old woman said while wiping the Dragon Breath Cannon in her hands.

She gently brushed every inch of steel with a piece of cloth, patted it after wiping it, her eyes full of affection, before splitting her body open at the shoulder and stuffing the Dragon Breath Cannon inside.

"That would cause trouble. You don't want to be attacked by multiple superhumans, do you?"

As soon as Isaac finished speaking, he regretted it. He couldn't see any hint of "not wanting" in his mother-in-law's slightly expectant eyes.

(End of this chapter)