Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

“No problem!” Kenn immediately nodded. “What would you like to hear?”

Hughes narrowed his eyes. “Start with where you all went.”

“Alright, Lord. This time, we were found by Feniel at the harbor of Rift Valley City. She brought us back to Castel. Before that, we nearly circled the entire Storm Ocean!”

“Circled the Storm Ocean?!”

“Yes. At first, according to your orders, we went to Blood Harbor and dropped off Josh and the others. They took the goods they got on credit and headed to Blood Harbor to sell them, while we continued north.”

Josh… Hughes had nearly forgotten that name. Back then, Josh had requested a batch of soap on credit from him, along with a ship. Coincidentally, Hughes was trying to cultivate some external forces at the time, so he gave Josh rather lenient terms.

It had probably been half a year since Josh went to Blood Harbor. His plan was to sell soap there and establish a merchant guild. But after that, Castel disappeared, and so many upheavals occurred—who knew what had become of him?

“Then, we docked again near the Northlands and dropped off Mr. Isaac and several others. We stayed in contact with Josh for a while, but we lost touch with Mr. Isaac.”

Hughes nodded. Isaac had once been Chloe’s assistant, handling logistics for *Moths Chasing Fire*.

Back then, Castel had just begun building its intelligence network. Isaac had gone to the mainland under the name of the merchant guild. Now, half a year had passed—if everything went smoothly, he should have established some power by now.After all, Isaac was an extraordinary of the dual-pathway type.

Hughes had a deep impression of Isaac—a taciturn man whose every word struck at the heart of the matter.

He once judged Castel’s development based on administrative efficiency. His theories had surprised even Hughes. Detailed observations and rigorous logic—he was born for intelligence work.

He should try to contact him when there’s a chance. Who knew what surprise Isaac might bring back to Castel?

“After that stop, we headed straight to the Northlands. That’s where we met Nora—at that time, she hadn’t yet broken with the Silent Sanctum.”

“Wait, Nora broke with the Silent Sanctum!?” Hughes’ eyes widened.

This was something he hadn’t expected at all. Nora had risked her life to cooperate with Hughes in order to fulfill the Silent Sanctum’s mission—finding a refuge for Northland refugees.

She could have seen Hughes as a heretic back then, yet despite that, even armored in heavy gear, she still came to the meeting without hesitation.

Such a devout believer, an extraordinary, would break with the Silent Sanctum?

She didn’t even fear death—what could possibly make her betray them?

No… Hughes suddenly furrowed his brows.

Perhaps it was the other way around. What if she hadn’t betrayed the Silent Sanctum—but the Silent Sanctum had betrayed her?

“Tell me in detail.”

Kenn scratched his head. “We don’t know too much. When we arrived, the relationship between both sides was still okay. At that time, she had gathered a large number of refugees and was trying to leave the Northlands, but the Three Grand Dukes of the four northern domains kept interfering. In the end, she was forced to hide with the refugees in a forest for protection.”

“Why would the dukes stop her? Wouldn’t taking the refugees away benefit their lands too?”

“This…” Kenn scratched his head again. He was better with machinery than politics and had only a shallow understanding of the situation.

Jeremiah spoke in a low voice, “Because the people of the Silent Sanctum were with the refugees.”

“The Silent Sanctum was escorting the people of the White Raven Principality south, abandoning almost all their original territory. That meant they were bringing a large amount of wealth with them.”

Hughes frowned.

Even if the Silent Sanctum was relocating with their riches, they weren’t easy to deal with.

The priests of the Sanctum wore icefield heavy armor—they weren’t even afraid of the Imperial Royal Army. Could those Northland dukes really take them on?

Even together, those Grand Dukes had been beaten down by the Empress. If they hadn’t surrendered fast enough, they’d probably have been steamrolled.

How did they even dare?

“The refugees.”

Jeremiah’s voice dropped lower.

“They didn’t dare touch the Silent Sanctum directly, so they targeted the refugees instead. The refugees were the foundation of the Sanctum’s followers—there was no way the Sanctum would abandon them.”

Hughes nodded in realization, a flash of anger crossing his face.

Those bloodsucking nobles weren’t willing to shelter the refugees themselves, but they still used them to threaten the Silent Sanctum?

At the time, Nora had rushed to pick up the refugees, barely gathering her things. Yet in the Northlands, she was entangled and blocked by them.

“And then? What led to the actual break?”

Jeremiah shook his head. “That I’m not sure about. I only heard in Rift Valley City that after the Empress died, the Silent Sanctum was taken in by the Empire. Several Churches united to jointly govern the Empire.”

The Silent Sanctum was taken in by the Empire, but for some reason, Nora broke with them?

This…

“How is Nora now?”

“Rumor has it she’s still organizing resistance in the Northlands. She and the group of refugees are hiding in the forests and have become a serious headache for those dukes.”

Hughes’ expression grew solemn. “Then we must reach out to her as soon as possible. I once promised to shelter the Northland refugees on my territory. Now is the time to honor that promise. I will organize a fleet to sail to the Northlands.”

Jeremiah lifted his head, a complicated expression on his face.

He wasn’t sure how he truly felt about this lord. Hughes was willing to dispatch a fleet across half the Storm Ocean just to keep a verbal promise—that was hard to comprehend.

But at least he kept his word.

Gem Bay was already destroyed. Jeremiah’s pirate ship no longer had any harbor to return to.

Hughes had once promised to hire him and give him a bigger ship. Judging by this, maybe that promise still held?

No—he didn’t need that much. As long as Castel could let the *Black Pearl* dock, that would be enough. She was the last pirate ship left in the Storm Ocean. Jeremiah would stay with her—no matter how big the replacement, he wouldn’t trade her.

Jeremiah glanced at Kenn from the corner of his eye.

Of course, it would be even better if she could be fitted with a steam engine.

Kenn suddenly chimed in with some excitement, “We also brought back a few refugees!”

“You did? Weren’t those lords blocking everyone from leaving?”

“They wouldn’t dare stop the Pirate King’s ship!”

Hughes was speechless. So, those dukes wouldn’t touch anyone—except the refugees?

“What, just because the Pirate King is on the sea, they’re not scared?”

Jeremiah snorted. “The Pirate King stays on the sea because the Empress and her Royal Army rule the land. Those dukes? They only survived because they surrendered fast enough.”

How was it that even after her death, the Empress’s name still struck fear into those nobles?

Hughes sighed.

“And then what happened?”

“Then… we encountered the ‘Prince’.”