Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

Hughes sat wearily back in his office chair.

For the past half year, he had spent most of his time working in Blood Harbor, while Alexei managed things over in Castel.

Blood Harbor was currently undergoing rapid development. By right, Castel also had plenty of potential to expand, but there was one major problem—the lack of population.

The islanders of Castel were only so many. As a town, it was too large; as a city, it was too small; and as an earldom... best not even mention it.

No matter how Hughes improved efficiency or promoted education, relying on just a few thousand people from Castel made it difficult to accomplish anything significant. Thus, he shifted his focus to Blood Harbor.

Over this period, Castel had made heavy investments in Blood Harbor. Factory output and profits were secondary—the true goal was to ensure a steady influx of people.

These newcomers were individuals who had received basic education and could be directly integrated into industrial production. For that reason, Hughes devoted his greatest efforts to all kinds of schools.

When the first batch of Literacy Class students graduated, Blood Harbor began constructing factories. These graduates gradually took on simpler jobs.

They also spread the factory’s internal systems—its welfare, treatment, and discipline—which attracted a large number of free citizens.

Some came for Rio, some for knowledge, some for the chance to climb upward, and others for the rare sense of fairness under Castel’s system.

At that time, Blood Harbor was well prepared. The first shipment of cement was used to build the docks; the second, to build schools.

Castel’s grand-scale construction naturally drew in waves of people. When they learned they were building schools, excitement spread like wildfire.

Hughes had long made it known that the Literacy Classes would always be free. The Advanced Classes would charge only a small fee; for families in hardship but with excellent students, an agreement could be signed with the factories—subsidies would be provided, but upon graduation, the student must serve the factory for several years.

To the poor boys from the slums, such good fortune was almost inconceivable—education without cost, and a job guaranteed after graduation.

As for whether the factory work would be hard or whether they would lose their freedom—truth be told, such questions were luxuries beyond the reach of the truly destitute.

Even the most backward sweatshops of Rhine had people lining up to get in.

—Entering such a factory might mean dying of exhaustion by thirty, but not entering might mean starving to death by tomorrow.

With conditions that generous, it was only natural that people flocked in droves. The Prince had initially worried whether Castel could handle so many people, but soon realized that his concern was needless.

Even his own Harbor Guard had people sneaking off to work in the factories or schools. The Prince found himself in an awkward position—he couldn’t stop them, but he couldn’t let it go either. It was quite a headache for a time.

Castel was determined to expand outward. If there weren’t enough schools, they built more; if there wasn’t enough land, Hughes went to the Prince to get some. Ship after ship of cement and grain arrived, and they managed to absorb that overwhelming enrollment wave.

There were over five thousand new people—an astonishing number even for Blood Harbor. Yet Castel displayed an impressive level of organization.

It had been a difficult period, with endless troubles, but they managed to endure it all.

Now, in the newly built factories of Blood Harbor, most of the workers were from that batch of graduates, with only a few core members and technicians coming from Castel. Blood Harbor already possessed the fundamental basis for industrialization.

Castel itself had benefited as well. The workers who had once been transferred to Blood Harbor had long been replaced. The population of Castel had now surpassed ten thousand—over eleven thousand permanent residents.

And that was after many had joined the Expeditionary Army or gone to Blood Harbor to become teachers.

A knock came at the door. Hughes didn’t even bother to lift his eyelids; he already knew who it was. The messages through the Mind Link had been coming in non-stop.

Nini: “Open up! Open up! Open up!”

Nini: “Old Lord, I’ve got urgent business with you!”

Hughes: “What urgent business could you possibly have? If it were truly urgent, you would’ve said it through the Mind Link already. Since you’re here in person, it clearly isn’t urgent.”

Nini: “Hey now, I just wanted to show my sincerity!”

Hughes: “If it’s nothing important, then head back. We’re not that close. I’m tired—going to sleep.”

Bang!

The door burst open. Nini squeezed her way in, wearing her usual sycophantic grin.

“My Lord, great master of Castel, ruler of the Storm Ocean, commander of the Grand Expedition, and Lord of Blood—”

“Stop, stop, stop. My office is too small to fit all those titles. Just tell me what you want.”

Hughes rubbed his temples. Both eyelids were twitching at once.

That was definitely a bad omen.

“Boss, last battle—I didn’t even manage to charge before the enemies all died!”

“They weren’t all dead. Hunter’s still alive, isn’t he? And besides, you’re part of the War Correspondent Team—why are you charging forward anyway?”

“How else are we supposed to conduct interviews if we don’t get close? We were too far back last time, that’s why the interview failed!” Nini said, face full of regret.

“So, Lord, can we go out and conduct interviews on our own this time?”

Hughes let out a cold laugh. “And when you’re done interviewing, will there still be anyone alive? What do you interview with—Gatling Guns or Dragon’s Breath Cannons?”

Nini’s eyes widened.

“You—you can’t say that! I’m serious about interviewing, not killing!”

“Then who do you want to interview?”

“Nora.”

Hughes closed his eyes. His eyelids finally stopped twitching.

His heart sank completely.

As expected—Nini was here to stir up trouble.

“You want to interview Nora, and you need to go all the way to the Northlands for that? Oh, the big Nora, huh? And how exactly do you plan to interview her? She doesn’t even have a mouth. Will you have her speak through her shield or her flail?”

“Ahem, I was just giving an example. Actually, I wanted to interview the Resistance Army, maybe Gwen, for instance.”

“To interview Gwen you need to go to the Northlands too? Oh, the big Gwen…”

Hughes frowned, thought for a while, then surprisingly nodded.

“That might be possible. The Resistance could use someone to observe and offer some support… but won’t your group be a bit too conspicuous? Won’t the Church mind?”

“Church? How many divisions do they have?” Nini sneered, reaching to her waist to mimic drawing a Dragon’s Breath Cannon—only to grasp at air. She’d forgotten she wasn’t on the frontlines anymore.

Hughes nodded. “Fair point.”

The Church did have many troops, and its number of Transcendents was beyond count—but the Church was in the Empire.

Hughes’s Expeditionary Army had already extended the railway deep into the Northlands—what did the Church have to do with that?

If they had the nerve to send troops to hunt down the Banshees, they’d first have to fight through three of the Four Grand Dukes of the Northlands on their way. Wouldn’t that be a treat?

As for Banshees encountering Transcendents—Hughes wasn’t particularly worried. Their frontal combat power was terrifying; clad in specially forged heavy armor and armed with Dragon’s Breath Cannons, they were unstoppable.

Over the past six months, Granny had made quite a name for herself across the Northlands, wielding two Dragon’s Breath Cannons alone!