Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 750 Isabella is Stealing Food

"How's the seawater intrusion situation going?" Hughes asked old Connor as he sat in his office, flipping through reports.

Recently, Castells and Bloodharbor's bureaucratic system has been fully established, so old Connor no longer needs to handle his paperwork all day long, and Hughes himself is also less busy.

Now he only needs to make major decisions and no longer needs to keep an eye on everything.

He now has more time to help with research and development, and...
Let's give a lecture using the body of the worker, Hughes.

Lately, he could clearly feel that there were more and more threads listening to his whispers.

He initially forced those people to attend the classes, but later they came and went voluntarily.

Many people listen to it once and never come back, but those who continue to listen later will mostly keep listening.

Hughes no longer cares so much about whether his lectures are effective or not. He just enjoys giving these lectures, and it would be even better if there were people listening. Moreover, if these people are near Blood Harbor, these popular science lectures can help them quickly complete their general education.

If these people are in more distant places, or even in areas controlled by the Vatican, it helps them broaden their horizons and understand how the world works from another perspective.

In short, there's no downside.

At least that's what Hughes himself thinks.

"Our test site is located north of Blood Harbor, in a desolate wasteland. There are several old river channels there, all of which are dry valleys. There's no need to worry about the incoming river water developing into a flood," Old Connor explained calmly.

"I heard they used a new plan?"

"Yes, the solution provided by Ms. Gaia's research institute is to first build a water-filled tank by the sea to store water, and then pump the seawater in the tank into the river to prevent too much seawater from rushing in at once and destroying nearby buildings."

"How's the effect?"

"It's not bad. With the tsunami generator, it can continuously and stably divert river water. According to the construction team, they have already irrigated several rivers, but they have encountered some minor problems."

Hughes looked up and took the report from Connor.

"Huh? It disappeared midway down the river?"

“Yes.” Old Connor nodded slightly. “At first everything went smoothly, but soon the river water that was flowing in decreased rapidly. The construction site sent a banshee to check, but she didn’t find anything wrong.”

"I saw in the report that there is suspicion of an underground river?"

"Yes, we recruited a group of carpenters to carve targets, intending to have the extraordinary beings of the Fire-Chasing Moth mark them and refill them with seawater, so that we can follow the marks to find out where the seawater went."

Hughes nodded; the plan seemed plausible.

As a superhuman, the [Nymph] possesses an ability called [Self-Binding], which allows it to see directly into an area by looking over obstacles within a certain range.

It's perfect for checking underground cavities.

Once the target provides a general location, you can activate your ability nearby to view the entrance to the underground river.

Combined with the banshee's ability to sense water veins, they were basically able to investigate the underground river thoroughly.

"I'll talk to the Banshee team later and ask them to cooperate and report any problems at the construction site to me immediately."

The project of extending the river to the Rhine is of paramount importance. The prince has already begun a full mobilization, and the first batch of soldiers has been deployed to the battlefield.

The Duchy of Tis and the Empire have been at war for a long time, with the battle lines stretched thin. The additional soldiers the prince has sent have put the other side on edge, and the Papacy has also deployed a significant number of mortal troops. It's rumored that there are even superhumans on the battlefield. However, Tis has not launched a full-scale attack. The reason...
"Isabella hasn't come out yet? Is she planning to stay inside?"

Isabella was supposed to be out in a few days after entering Bloodharbor's energy hub, but she ended up staying for more than a week.

At first, the prince would go and check on things, but later he became busy with the war and logistics, and couldn't take it anymore.

Connor sighed helplessly, "Young Master Hughes, why don't you go and talk to her yourself?"

Although Isabella is nominally inside the furnace, this is merely a transcendental concept; there is no actual person inside.

Even the stoker at the energy center couldn't communicate with her directly.

Superhumans are an option; Zoe has been there a few times. However, the Empress doesn't seem to like her much. She gives her a few perfunctory words, saying she's busy with something, and then ignores her.

Hughes was also troubled by this. He didn't know what Isabella had done, but the entire Bloodharbor's energy center was now operating at less than 20% capacity, and the rest had mysteriously disappeared—most likely because Isabella had secretly drained it.

They thought that with a new Pirate King-like fuel source, Bloodharbor could finally see its electricity meter reversed, but Isabella went into the furnace and didn't come out, instead absorbing all the original energy.
It's a losing proposition.

"I'll talk to her later. By the way, how's the prince doing?"

The prince now is a true prince, namely Grand Duke William of the Duchy of Tess. He endured humiliation and went alone to the Rhine to assassinate the Queen. Hughes actually admired him to some extent.

But to be honest, Hughes didn't have high expectations for his abilities.

Just kidding. If he were good enough, he wouldn't have needed to personally go and trade one for one with the Queen. Putting aside everything else, he definitely doesn't have much talent in military affairs.

But Connor, on the other side, gave a strange look.

"His honest assessment is that it's quite good."

"Not bad?" Hughes doubted his ears. "How so? Isabella was controlling him remotely?"

"No, due to my position, I've had a lot of contact with him and his staff. Most of Grand Duke William's men were chosen by Isabella, and they're all quite capable. Even if William himself didn't do anything, nothing major would go wrong, but..."

“William himself took on a lot of work and did a commendable job.”

Hughes raised an eyebrow with interest.

"Take the recent mobilization and logistics, for example. This part is quite complicated and affects the whole situation. It requires a central hub for overall planning, and His Excellency William has done a very good job."

Old Connor's expression turned serious: "Putting aside his identity, I think with his talent, he's more than capable of managing the entire Bloodport."

This is already a very high rating.

Blood Harbor is not just a city, but a complete industrial system.

From logistics to factories, and then to various supporting facilities and people's livelihoods, only a few people at the very top of Castells could manage to understand this whole system.

"That's strange. Why has his reputation always been so bad?"

William was nicknamed "Prince" partly because he surrendered outright, and partly because his management of his territory was quite poor.

(End of this chapter)