Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 667 The Birth of a Named Person

Gaia looked down at the bullet hole in her chest, her eyes gradually becoming vacant.

Her hand slipped, and she fell off the rope.

Below, the investigators continued firing their muskets.

"Michelle, this won't do! They're getting higher and higher; they're about to fly out of the musket's range!"

"Damn, damn!"

The young priest shouted angrily, his clothes stained with blood and mud, his initial composure long gone.

"That airship is clearly a balloon, how come it didn't burst after taking so many shots?!"

The investigators nearby glanced over but remained silent.

They were all superhumans; they could clearly see the sparks from the bullets hitting the airship's airbags, which at least had protective plates on the bottom.

Several more salvos followed, but aside from shooting down a few of Gaia's clones, they achieved nothing. Zoe had just pulled Beatrice into the cabin, and now Gaia had also climbed in. They no longer needed to use her clones to block bullets, and they were completely helpless against this airship.

"What do we do next, Michelle?"

Michelle turned around, but before she could speak, she heard a commotion outside.

The investigators turned around and saw a group of soldiers wearing the emblems of the Candlelight Church—the church's mortal auxiliary force had arrived.

"These useless idiots, why are they only arriving now?!"

Michelle's face darkened. She wanted to say something, but seeing the stares from those around her, her lips twitched and she remained silent.

This incident cannot be blamed on the mortal auxiliary army at all, but these extraordinary beings have to explain themselves to the Council of Keepers of the Secrets.

"What are you looking at me for? Do you think the Keepers of the Secrets will eat us? These people can't even leave the house. Doesn't the church still need us to function?"

"But isn't this a rebellion? We'll be put on trial!"

Bang!
Michelle casually tossed the gun to the ground, her face hardening: "What rebellion? A rebellion is one that fails! The church's high-ranking officials have all been killed by the Mechanical Temple; they are the losers! As for us, we quelled the Mechanical Temple's rebellion; that's a feat!"

He looked around at the people: "The extraordinary are the foundation of the church, and we represent the Candlelight Church!"

The investigators exchanged glances but remained silent.

Michelle's voice softened somewhat.

"The high-ranking officials who oppressed us this time have all been eliminated. The Keepers of the Secrets Council will have to rely on us to manage the church, which is a good thing for us!"

After saying this, he took one last look at the airship that was almost out of sight above him, and stepped out through the collapsed wall.

"Come, follow me to the Sanctuary of the Keeper of Secrets!"

The investigators glanced at him, hesitated for a moment, but still followed. The mortal auxiliary soldiers also obeyed the order and followed along.

The Council of Keepers of the Secrets is the highest judicial body of the Vatican. All decrees originate from here, and their words determine the direction of the entire Vatican.

The Candlelight Church has seven Keepers of the Secret, the largest number among the four major churches, which establishes its transcendent status and allows it to occupy the entire continent.

Michelle, along with the investigators and the mortal auxiliary army, marched in a grand procession toward a rather inconspicuous building.

Unlike other churches with their grand spires, this place is quite simple.

If there's anything special about the building, it's that it has no windows at all.

The guard posts on both sides were already empty. Michelle stood at the door, took a deep breath, and pushed open the door.

This is a matter of life and death; he now has to convince the Council of the Keepers to recognize their status.

“I am…” Michelle started to say loudly, but then suddenly stopped.

He stood at the doorway, his whole body slowly trembling. It was a little earlier, before the guests in the banquet hall had even had a chance to turn on each other.

Upper Rhine, the Vatican's forbidden library.

This is the Candlelight Society's library, which contains almost all the historical materials from the continent, and the forbidden room contains various records about the extraordinary.

The knowledge contained in these books is often tainted; even just flipping through them, or sometimes just seeing the title, can lead to its corruption.

The Candlelight Church's doctrine is to collect dangerous knowledge and seal it away, so you can imagine how many secret histories are hidden within.

At that moment, footsteps suddenly echoed in the empty forbidden library.

With a steady and powerful stride, without the slightest hesitation or pause, he walked deeper into the forbidden library.

Soon, the footsteps stopped in front of a bookshelf.

Then, a hand made of steel parts reached up, pressed against the spine of a book, and gently pulled it out.

The Birth of the Named Person

The book was a bit old, with obvious signs of being turned over on the pages. The hand opened the book and ran over the dense notes in the blank spaces.

"it's a pity."

A soft sigh came from above.

"Beatles, you didn't listen to me."

The mechanical arm suddenly clenched its fist, and the book, which was just ordinary paper, was crushed into a small ball with a tooth-grinding sound.

Immediately, a stream of crimson flames shot out from his palm, burning the paper to ashes.

"I told you not to believe in anything beyond humanity, but unfortunately you also misunderstood the definition of 'humanity'."

"Fortunately, I will correct these."

He opened his palm, and ashes slipped through his fingers. After a while, footsteps sounded and gradually faded away.

The forbidden library fell silent once more.

The man walked forward, pulling open the hood and trench coat that were covering his face as he went.

The body, composed of mechanical gears, was revealed.

But unlike the other mechanical priests, he did not wear a red and black mechanical priest's robe. Instead, he wore a white robe with wavy gold trim—symbolizing the sacred candlelight.

Despite being made entirely of machinery, he was a member of the Candlelight Order.

If you look closely, you'll see that he's holding a long metal scepter, with the top shaped like a candle, and even the metal is used to create the radiating light, which is actually a series of radiating needles.

This makes it look somewhat like a long-handled hammer with spikes.

However, anyone who sees it and has even a slight understanding of candlelight will know its value—it is a symbol of the cardinal.

Cardinals hold almost the highest position of power in the Candlelight Vigil, above only the Pope, who is also chosen from among the cardinals.

The man, however, paid little attention to the appearance of the scepter in his hand. He casually held the scepter, letting the sacred candlelight rub against the ground, raising a string of sparks.

After passing through long corridors and churches, and pushing open heavy wooden doors, the man finally arrived at a somewhat cramped room.

An antique long table was placed in the center of the room, with seven hooded figures sitting on either side.

At that moment, they all turned around and looked at the man.

"Jules, what are you doing here?"

(End of this chapter)