Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 574 People's Choices
Hughes looked helplessly at the banshee beside him.

She was covered in heavy armor, with almost everything except some scales on her tail hidden beneath it. It was difficult to see not only her face but also her eyes.

This is a new type of armor designed by Castel for the Banshee. Its design has undergone significant changes, including a large, exaggerated shoulder armor to accommodate the Banshee's six arms, and a cylindrical storage compartment on the back.
Based on Hughes's initial design, the armor coverage area was increased, and the armor thickness was enhanced. Even the weakest points now exceed 30mm in thickness, a level comparable to tanks from World War I.

The Banshee is now a real human tank.

Such thick armor can completely withstand the fire of heavy machine guns. Now, when the Banshee charges, she no longer needs to deliberately avoid the fire from the mortal troops behind her. She can truly rampage across the battlefield.

Although he couldn't see the face, Hughes could easily know the appearance beneath the cold steel mask through the symbiotic contract.

"Una, even you've gone astray."

Hughes looked heartbroken.

In his memory, Una had always seemed timid and socially awkward.

But for some reason, after putting on this full suit of heavy armor, she became inexplicably much more cheerful. In fact, she has two different personalities online and offline.

It would be great if they could stop talking bad about themselves while on duty.

"Una, I'm actually quite curious, how do the banshees view me?"

"Uh, my lord, can't you see us talking in the telepathic link?"

"I can't keep up!" Hughes said helplessly. These banshees were too talkative. Apart from the work group, their regular chat groups were always flooded with messages as soon as they were opened.

"Especially that 'the banshee family is one big family' message. After I finish reading one message, dozens of others appear on the feed. I can't possibly read them all!"

Moreover, the banshees don't just have one group; the hundred banshees have created far more than a hundred chat groups, and they're all chatting enthusiastically. Giving them the mental link is truly a worthwhile investment.
Hughes couldn't help but look up at Una again. She was calm, indifferent, tall and quiet, like a statue.

Who would have thought that she was calmly chatting with a bunch of people in group chats at the same time?

"Well, most people don't really care about that. Whether you are a god, a sage, or an ordinary person is not important to us. When you first said that you were not a god, we already knew your will. That is much more important than your actual identity."

Hughes raised an eyebrow upon hearing this; he was genuinely somewhat surprised.

Banshees seem to be the least concerned about their origins. After all, they were born slaves and broke free of their shackles with their six hands. What they care more about is their own will—what kind of person they want to become.

Hughes did not wish to become a god; he was merely a mortal, and that had never changed, so the banshees no longer cared.

"Of course, some people care a lot, like Nini. She was furious, saying that some great news material had disappeared."

Nini's underground newspaper has been unusually quiet these past two days, which is of course due to Hughes's orders. Castells and Bloodharbor are already in turmoil, and if she writes a few more reports, they'll explode.

Ta-ta-ta-ta.

There was a knock on the door. Una glanced at Hughes, then went to open it, and Gaia squeezed in carrying a pile of documents.

"The political commissars in each factory have finished talking with the workers, and this is their report. Oh, this is the table of contents; the detailed report could fill about half a room."

"So many?" "That's really a lot. The workers were very enthusiastic when the political commissar was talking to them. They were vying to express that they didn't mind changing their faith at all, and they wouldn't let go of our political commissar."

Did you tell them I wasn't?

“I’ve said it before, I’ve said it before, you’re not a god, and you have nothing to do with any cults, evil gods, or old gods, but whether the workers believe it or not is another matter.”

"Don't they believe it?"

Gaia chuckled: "Boss, almost all of your workers have received advanced training, and most of them have joined Imperial Truth. Some of them can even recite the Holy Scriptures by heart. The Holy Scriptures clearly explain things like the extraordinary and the cognitive. You taught them yourself, didn't you?"

Hughes covered his face.

Indeed, in order to cope with cognitive interference, his workers are all highly educated, and strictly speaking, they are not much less educated than the workers on Earth in the 21st century.

After all, factories on Earth don't need to understand the principles of the entire production process when hiring people.
This certainly brings advantages such as a low accident rate and strong initiative, but it is also clear that they are not easy to fool.

"Has no one directly raised any questions?"

"Basically not. The workers are very easy to talk to. I feel like they're treating you like a machine spirit."

There's no definitive answer on how to deal with the machine spirit, but most of the workers have come to the same conclusion—

You have to coax them.

"Whether it's Castel or Bloodharbor, your prestige is still sufficient. Even before the Tribunal incident, there were some messy secret societies. So there was no trouble, and the stability even improved. According to the political commissars, the factories are more organized, which seems to be a good thing."

"It's not a good thing. If they really treat me like a god, it will increase my authority but weaken the authority of science—my authority cannot supersede the laws of physics."

Gaia paused, frowned, and thought for a moment before slowly nodding: "You mean..."

"We should increase our efforts in science education, organize workers to study together, and encourage them to continue their studies and pursue further education."

"It sounds like a vicious cycle—the more workers learn, the more they question, which leads to more problems."

“We must persevere! If we compromise for the sake of convenience in ruling, we will eventually degenerate into another church. At that time, the brilliance of imperial truth will be gone, Castel will be occupied by a church, and they will declare science as heresy—can you accept such a future?”

Gaia pursed her lips, her gaze gradually hardening.

"I understand, my lord."

She was loyal to Hughes himself, and also to Castells.

Before this, she had also had concerns, after all, Hughes's behavior in the courtroom was indeed very unusual, if the lord really did have a second identity.
The people of Castel had their own guesses and choices, but ultimately they all pointed to their lord, Hughes, who believed in them.

Gaia was just a fisherman's daughter, and her original path in life was simply to marry another fisherman. Hughes changed her life, and she was willing to repay him with her life.

In retrospect, her choice was not wrong.

(End of this chapter)