Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

Hughes himself had been startled by this speculation.

The Prince’s identity indeed had many peculiarities. Hughes had once suspected whether there were other hidden circumstances.

After all, in the accounts of others, everyone mentioned that the Prince’s personality had changed before and after, and Hughes had therefore guessed that this “Prince” was very likely replaced.

But even in his boldest conjectures, he had never imagined that the Prince would be connected to the Empress.

“The Prince went to assassinate the Empress, and then the current Prince was very likely the Empress in disguise???”

“But… based on what? This enormous Empire—how could she just throw it away?”

“Ahem, my Lord, everything is still only a hypothesis, and one completely without evidence.”

Alexei’s expression was quite spectacular. He had always been decisive and forceful in temperament, yet at this moment he even lacked confidence when speaking.

“But if we follow this line of thinking, many things gain some explanation. For example, the Empress’s death was far too sudden, and the entire Empire fell into the Church’s hands almost instantly. The ‘Prince’ escaped with abnormal ease…”

Alexei quickly listed a long string of suspicious points. It was clear that this matter had troubled him for a long time, and he had privately mulled over it many times.

“Indeed… indeed.” Hughes paced rapidly within the room.

“For reasons of her own, she decided to separate herself from the Empire and change her identity. Therefore she deliberately indulged the Church, including the ‘Prince’s’ assassination attempt and escape. She must have operated behind the scenes. She must have made ample preparations—she even brought along her own knights.”

Hughes took a deep breath, pushing down the surge in his emotions.

“But these can only explain her actions. They cannot explain her motive—what exactly happened… what could have forced the most powerful Empress on the entire continent to rely on a fake-death conspiracy to escape?”

“That is also my confusion, my Lord,” Alexei said in a low voice.

The Empress had already stood at the very summit of power. And that power had not been given freely—she had fought for it bit by bit over more than a decade. When she ascended the throne, the Empire had been a dying husk barely clinging to life. When she ‘died,’ the Empire had already swept across nearly the entire continent.

She would never lack ability or means. Yet she did not use her authority to solve the problem. In her position, what trouble could she not eliminate?

“If the Empire had no external enemy left, then the problem most likely appeared within.”

Hughes spoke in a deep tone.

Alexei froze, pondered for a while, and then slowly nodded.

He had never seen any signs of decline while he was within the Empire, but everything that happened after the Empress’s death had indeed revealed another face of the Empire.

The Church had taken control with almost no effort. The upper nobility disappeared without much resistance or protest. The Principality of Tis and the Northlands immediately announced independence.

If the Empire had truly been iron-solid and unified, how could it have collapsed so easily?

“Looking at it this way… it does seem somewhat possible.”

“Yes, my Lord. And that is exactly what worries me. If all of this is true, then the Empress must have a significant scheme. Wouldn’t it be dangerous for us to cooperate with the Principality of Tis like this…?”

“Alexei, do you think we should sever our cooperation with the Prince?”

“Yes! If he is an impostor occupying the Prince’s identity, how can we possibly trust him?”

Hughes did not answer—he only looked at him with a smiling expression.

Alexei was stunned for a moment, then his eyes gradually widened. “You… you mean…”

“I am cooperating with the Duke of Tis. As for whether the Duke of Tis is William or Isabella… I do not care.”

Alexei sucked in a cold breath.

“But…”

“Listen, Alexei. The reason I was able to establish cooperation with the Prince is because he is intelligent enough and has displayed enough value. That is all. As for who exactly resides in that shell of a body… I do not care.”

“As long as he continues supporting my industrial development, helps me deal with external troubles, and brings continuous population inflow, then Castel is his friend. Everything else is unimportant.”

Hughes stepped forward and gently patted Alexei’s shoulder. “Just like with Hunter—I summoned him to the island not because he once held some prestigious identity, but because he is a scholar with the potential to be cultivated.”

“You don’t need to worry too much. We just need to continue developing. Ambition and conspiracies cannot help them withstand even a single shot from a Dragon’s Breath Cannon.”

Hughes sat back into his chair.

“Do not speak of this matter to anyone else. I’ll have the Mystics send someone to investigate. Whatever the Prince’s true identity is, it makes no difference for our future. Even if he came from the Church—so long as he can help us develop, then he is Castel’s friend.”

Alexei stood up. He wanted to say something, yet could not find the words.

He had been an orphan, yet had clawed his way into becoming a noble. In that journey, he had witnessed too many faces, too much warmth and coldness.

Many people claimed not to care about background. Alexei, full of hope, approached them—and received disappointment again and again.

But with Hughes… it was different.

The Lord was always unlike others. Some treated him as a god and worshipped him. Alexei actually disagreed in his heart.

Those people worshipped Hughes unconditionally and obeyed without thought, and such blind devotion instead hindered their understanding of their Lord’s thinking.

Alexei had a feeling: the Lord’s thoughts were even more important than his creations.

“All right, enough of that. Let the Mystics worry about the Prince’s matters. Come look at this.”

Hughes tossed over a document.

Alexei took it, opened it, and after just one glance nearly jumped up.

“We finally established contact with the Resistance Army!?”

Time shifted back to one day earlier.

Granny and Isaac had traveled with danger and close calls all the way to the vicinity of the Canary Mountains.

—The danger came from other Transcendents. Because they needed to gather information, the two had entered many towns. The number of Investigators in the Northlands was unexpectedly high; who knew what the Church wanted to do here?

Isaac stared blankly at the departing Transcendent until even his senses could no longer detect the person. Only then did he turn and return to the house.

This was their temporary hiding place within the town.

“Isaac, why waste words on them? Just fire one shot, blow them away, and leave.”

Granny spoke while wiping the Dragon’s Breath Cannon in her hands.

She gently brushed every inch of steel with a cloth. After finishing, she patted it lovingly, then split open her body at the shoulder and stuffed the Dragon’s Breath Cannon inside.

“That would bring trouble. You don’t want to face multiple Transcendents besieging us, do you?”

Isaac regretted his words the moment they left his mouth. From the hint of anticipation in Granny’s eyes, he could not see even a trace of the phrase “don’t want.”