Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

The three of them walked quietly down the street, each lost in their own thoughts.

Josh was the first to break the silence, forcing a smile. ”At least we’ve accomplished our original goal. That ‘prince’ intends to send a ship to Castel to take a look.”

”His name is William.”

Jeremiah and Josh both turned to look at Kenn, who stiffened his neck and avoided their gazes.

”Kenn, that ‘prince’… Forget it.” Josh hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to continue.

That ‘prince’ gave them a truly contradictory impression—he had reached out to them without hesitation, offering aid without expecting anything in return, and rescuing refugees selflessly. If they didn’t know his past, they might have actually believed he was a saint without personal ambition.

”Mr. Jeremiah, do you think that ‘prince’ will really help us?” Kenn asked, somewhat conflicted.

”He will.” Jeremiah sounded quite certain. ”There are plenty of nobles like him—after doing bad things, they’re plagued by guilt and come up with all sorts of ways to make amends. Some donate money to the Church, others engage in acts of charity. Besides, this man even swore an oath in the name of his ancestors, and we didn’t force him to do it.”

At this point, Jeremiah let out a cold chuckle. ”The fact that he even thought of that is amusing. If his ancestors knew what this ‘prince’ had done, they’d probably be so enraged they’d come back to life.”

Kenn fell silent. It was true. That ‘prince’ had outright betrayed the old subordinates of Grand Duke Tis and turned around to sell the principality to the Empress. If the Grand Duke ever found out, he would surely be furious.Especially now, when the ‘prince’ was planning to visit Rhine and meet with the Empress, who would officially grant him the title of the nominal lord of Tis.

The ‘prince’ had promised that once he returned, he would head to the Northlands to rescue Nora, while the investigation into Castel had already been delegated to his steward, who immediately dispatched people to look into it. After all, Blood Harbor wasn’t far from Castel, and their fates were intertwined. Jeremiah was preparing to set sail and follow along with the investigation.

As for sending troops to the Northlands, Jeremiah wasn’t taking it seriously. Given the ‘prince’s’ ability to prioritize self-preservation, he’d probably find an excuse to back out once he realized how difficult it was.

By wagging his tail at the Empress, this ‘prince’ had managed to protect himself, and under her protection, he could continue playing his little game of enforcing justice. Jeremiah found himself reassessing the man slightly.

But in the end, none of that had anything to do with them. No matter what the ‘prince’s’ true motives were, the fact that he was willing to help investigate Castel was already an unexpected stroke of luck.

”Captain, do you think the ‘prince’ will really send troops to the Northlands?” Kenn hesitated for a long time before finally asking in a low voice.

Jeremiah snorted, not even bothering to answer. The ‘prince’ didn’t even have soldiers under his command—how was he supposed to persuade the Empress to send troops? If anything, the slaughtering of refugees might very well have had the Empress’s hand in it.

Let’s see how that ‘prince’ explains things to his ancestors.

”Don’t worry, Kenn. Even if the ‘prince’ doesn’t send troops, Lord Hughes won’t just sit by and ignore Nora’s situation in the Northlands,” Josh reassured him, patting his shoulder.

Jeremiah actually agreed with that. Castel was waiting for an influx of refugees, and Hughes, both emotionally and logically, had every reason to send people to the Northlands.

”But… Castel doesn’t seem to have many soldiers either, does it?” Kenn hesitated. ”Lord Hughes is devoted to peace and has always focused on construction. Can we really stand against the dukes of the Northlands?”

The three of them furrowed their brows simultaneously. It was true—Hughes seemed to be a little too dedicated to peace. He had never had any conflicts with neighboring forces.

Could Castel… really fight?

”Ladies and gentlemen, take a look at this—Gatling gun.” Hughes, beaming with excitement, directed the banshees to bring out a heavy firearm.

The Gatling gun had a long history. It had been imported as early as the Qing Dynasty’s Tongzhi era and was the first machine gun in the world to be widely used. Hughes had made some modifications to the classic hand-cranked Gatling gun, and the one before them had a firing rate of over 300 rounds per minute.

The principle behind a machine gun wasn’t particularly complicated; the real challenge lay in the ammunition. From the primer to the shell stamping, there were numerous technical bottlenecks. Even in the modern era, many countries still lacked the ability to independently manufacture bullets.

Hughes had managed to produce bullets thanks to the technological breakthrough triggered by the lifting of the technology lock. He had been lucky enough to overcome most of the technical difficulties at once. Although the quality control of the bullets wasn’t perfect, he had at least solved the fundamental problem of creating them from scratch.

Hughes now had a love-hate relationship with the technology lock. Most of the time, it strangled progress, but once lifted, it triggered a surge of technological advancement.

However, this kind of restriction also led to technological black boxes. Without intermediate-stage results, it was difficult to determine whether a given technological path was the correct one.

Fortunately, Hughes was a transmigrator. He knew which technological routes were viable. With the advantage of foresight, the benefits of the technology lock’s bursts of progress outweighed the downsides.

For instance, this latest wave of technological breakthroughs had directly led him to producing bullets. If he had chosen the wrong technological path and stubbornly pursued rifled muskets, he might have ended up heading down a bizarre route—something like… steam rifles?

Hiss.

A sudden thought struck Hughes.

Steam rifles… mechanical priests… Could these technologies, unheard of on Blue Star, be the result of people following the wrong technological tree under the constraints of the technology lock?

That actually made a lot of sense.

In any case, while research had slowed down again recently, the technology lock hadn’t yet been reimposed. Hughes was now racing against time to develop airships and cannons.

The people in the room whispered among themselves. This Gatling gun was entirely Hughes’ own design. Alexei, Chloe, and the others had no idea about it. Even Gaia had only been responsible for manufacturing the bullets. She might have had an idea of what she was making, but she definitely didn’t know just how powerful it was.

”Our southern railway has been completed. A hand-cranked Gatling gun will be mounted on the front of an armored locomotive.” Hughes patted the newly built firearm. ”Of course, we’ll replace the wheels with a fixed mount.”

At this point, Alexei had mostly figured it out. He looked at the machine gun and asked, ”Lord, is this… a weapon that soldiers can carry?”

The Gatling gun was entirely made of steel. With just a glance, Alexei could tell that it was far too heavy for a soldier to carry.

Even with wheels, moving it across a battlefield would be extremely inconvenient. Was this thing really necessary?

Judging by its structure, especially the multiple barrels, Alexei guessed that it was a firearm capable of firing multiple rounds at once. Such weapons weren’t unheard of. They were usually designed with a flared muzzle, allowing shots to be dispersed in multiple directions. Pirates were particularly fond of them, as they solved the problem of flintlock guns only firing a single shot at a time.

The drawback was that these weapons were essentially disposable—there was no time to reload them in battle. Additionally, they had terrible accuracy.