Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 639 Isaac is missing?!
All eyes immediately fell on Erwin.

"I entered the Empire through official channels. The letter was delivered to the headquarters of the Mechanicus, and I personally handed it to the Mechanicus priest. I can guarantee that," Erwin said in a deep voice.

"As for the reply, it was delivered to me by the Mechanical Sanctuary. I had Isaac check it afterward, and there were no traces of supernatural influence."

Silence fell over the room, and the situation became increasingly perplexing.

"So, the situation on Erwin's side is completely normal. Chloe, do you know anything about the Mechanicus? What would their reply be like?"

There are two possibilities: either they completely disdain us, writing a letter to mock our overestimation of our abilities and attempting to covet their sacred knowledge; or they covet our technology and arrogantly demand that we hand over our knowledge.

Hughes glanced at the friendly reply in his hand.
Therefore, this letter is neither from a candlelight vigil nor a mechanical church, but rather resembles the old mechanical society, a group of people who loved mechanics and technology, though sometimes acted in extreme ways, they genuinely cared about technology.

"I'm now very suspicious of what's really going on in the Empire. If this letter is a trap, that's too low a tactic; anyone who's dealt with either of those organizations would be suspicious. But if they're really this friendly and humble... well, kill me then. I don't believe those two churches could change."

Churches often have a strong inertia; it is extremely difficult to change the old systems and practices that have been established. In just a few years, they can completely change.

This is impossible.

This letter may or may not contain a conspiracy, but I am certain that this trip to the Rhine will be extremely dangerous. I even think that it might be safer if it were a trap, at least we would know who our enemy is.

Gaia and Zoe exchanged a glance, both seeing the seriousness in each other's eyes.

Hughes pondered for a moment, then looked at Elwin: "What about Isaac? What did he say?"

"He didn't read the reply, but I conveyed the general attitude of the Mechanical Sanctuary to him. When I left, he was preparing to investigate himself, but I don't know the result."

"Looks like he noticed the anomaly too, Isaac? The Candlelight Church's methods can't hide it from him, but there are ways to keep a mortal completely in the dark. I'm not sure what happened at the Mechanical Sanctuary, but with Isaac's dual-path supernatural powers, if he can't find out, there's nothing I can do about it."

Hughes then remembered that Isaac was actually a dual-path superhuman, theoretically the strongest superhuman.

All he remembered was that Isaac was beaten up by Lina.

Thinking about it this way, Isaac is much stronger than ordinary superhumans, and Lena is stronger than Isaac, while Gwen is even wary of Lena.
What exactly is this "named person"?

"In that case, let's wait for news from Isaac. Erwin, did he go to investigate before you left?"

"Yes, he had already set off by then, and theoretically, his intelligence should have been transmitted back very soon."

Isaac's intelligence transmission uses a different system. The Fire-Chasing Moths can relay intelligence across vast distances in the Sea of ​​Ignorance through the Moth Lord.

Later, the Lord of Moths could not be contacted for some reason, but the transmission method could still be used inexplicably, although it was a little less efficient. Chloe and the others were puzzled, while Hughes had a vague idea.

It is estimated that his worker-like body, that of Hughes, acquired the power of the Moth Lord to some extent, and those silk threads were perhaps the manifestation of that power.

Speaking of which, why does the Moth Lord's power seem so much like a relay?
"Then let's wait here for a while. If we calculate the time, we might receive the intelligence today."

Hughes glanced at the clock on the wall and said. So everyone waited anxiously, but none of them expected that this wait would last for several days.

Hughes tried to contact the Ash Alliance, but each time he asked, he received no news of Isaac.

A few days later, they finally had to accept the fact that Isaac was missing.

As a dual-path fire-chasing moth, it excels at concealment and escape. For an experienced intelligence leader, disappearance almost always means the worst possible outcome.

A gloomy atmosphere immediately settled over the faces of the entire delegation.

What exactly happened in the Rhine? Should the Mission of the Mechanical Temple go or not?
Hughes summoned the group to his office again.

"Everyone, I want to hear your opinions."

“My lord, we have already discussed it, and we are going to take a look,” Elwin said.

Hughes chose him as the military officer. He had the most dealings with the Empire in Bloodharbor, and he was the one who went to deliver the message this time. He knew the way well.

They have also been in contact with the Ash Alliance. Whatever problems Rhine may have, or whatever trouble the delegation may encounter, Erwin is the best choice.

Hughes raised an eyebrow in surprise and looked at the group: "Tell me the reason."

Erwin's face showed composure and determination. This young man, who had been tempered by several wars, was already capable of standing on his own. Given his usual caution, he must have been confident before he spoke.

"First of all, this letter was sent through public channels. We have read all the information you provided. The Candlelight Church is a church that values ​​its reputation very much. Since they have mentioned that the Pope will be there, they will not do anything underhanded in this regard. Although Pope Joan is just a puppet, he still represents the Church."

"Secondly, I think Lord Isaac may not have perished; he is simply trapped and unable to return for the time being."

"Ah, that's what I told them," Chloe interjected. "The extraordinary beings of the Firemoth, if they prepare the ritual beforehand, can leave their souls in the 'Cocoon' after death, to be cared for by Lord Kesch. But there's no soul in the 'Cocoon'."

Given Isaac's cautious and meticulous nature, it's impossible that he wouldn't have set off without preparation. The fact that there was none within the cocoon means either he didn't even have a moment to activate the ritual before his death, or he was still alive.

"Is he sure he can start the ceremony?"

Yes, I'm almost certain, unless the opponent's strength far surpasses his.

"Lina?"

"Well, that's hard to say, but it can't be such a coincidence that he just happened to run into Lina, right? You know, he went to the church to investigate, and didn't they send a letter specifically before the candlelight vigil, openly and subtly targeting Lina?"

Hughes stroked his chin, deep in thought. The Mechanical Sanctuary, the Candlelight Church, the Pope, Lina... The situation was getting increasingly bizarre.

"Alright, then you can proceed with your visit as planned."

(End of this chapter)