Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 234 The Pope Joins the Group Chat

"Your Holiness, please sign here."

Beatrice picked up the pen woodenly and signed her name in the corner of the document.

She has been Pope for several days.

Everything went unexpectedly smoothly. Unlike what she had imagined, there was no bloody storm - at least none of these storms involved her in the slightest.

That day, she ran into the Candlelight Order's army in front of the palace. She took the triple crown from Hela, the nun in black veil, and became the Pope of the Candlelight Order.

The "prince" assassinated the queen and escaped, breaking through the encirclement of the palace guards and the church army, but Beatrice remembered that he was just an ordinary person.

And the throne just remained vacant.

The nobles of the Rhine settled down. The aristocratic parliament, which used to quarrel over trivial matters, was now as quiet as a chicken. The throne was left vacant and no one said anything about it.

But outside the Rhine, the dukes of the empire did not seem so safe.

Beatrice had recently issued a number of documents, many of which were accusing several lords in the territory, and the harsh wording was so surprising that even she was surprised.

Perhaps the empire would soon be in chaos. No, it had already been in chaos a long time ago, but she just couldn't feel it because she was staying indoors in the Rhine Church.

“Lord Ruoan, thank you for your hard work.” Hela took the signed document from the table and was about to leave.

“Hela, what about the thing I asked before?”

Beatrice asked nervously.

Of course she knew that she was only the Pope in name only, but she still tried to make some requests that were not too excessive - to help her investigate what happened to Castel. This was both a temptation and what she really wanted.

There was no trace of Castel in either the Corridor of Truth or the Sea of Unconsciousness, which was very abnormal.

“Your Holiness, the Holy See is currently in a state of contraction. We do not have the power to extend to the Ocean of Storms. Please be patient.” Hela’s voice was as steady as ever. Her tone was flat and her words were precise. Thinking of her face full of mechanical gears under the black veil, Beatrice felt a sense of fear for no reason.

It was like facing a machine disguised as a human.

Hela tilted her head, looking confused.

"I see."

Beatrice took a deep breath and sat back in her seat woodenly. After Hela left, she sat quietly in the room alone.

She really had no other choice.

Investigators are very powerful supernatural channels that can enter the Corridor of Truth under almost any circumstances. They can even stir up historical fragments and force a way out when there are no clues at all.

But in this church, in this room, she seemed to have become a mortal and could do nothing.

This place seems to be blank, history is blank, the sea of unconsciousness is blank, the past and the future are blank, no matter how she uses her abilities, she gets no response.

In the church—no, at least in this room, she was completely unable to mobilize her supernatural powers.

This is the cage of despair that trapped her.

Come to think of it, the Candlelight Society certainly knew that she was an investigator and was fully aware of her abilities. Any struggles she could make would not be beyond the church's expectations.

She is the Pope, and she can only be the Pope.

Her eyes gradually became empty, but suddenly, her body trembled.

"Gwen, are you still there?"

An inexplicable voice echoed from deep within her heart. Beatrice tensed her muscles, trying not to show any abnormality. Hallucination? No, she hadn't had any hallucinations since entering this room. So, what was this voice?
"Gwen?"

Who is Gwen?

Before she could think carefully, a buzzing sound suddenly rang out in her mind.

hum!
Like the light in the skull, it instantly illuminated the connected people. Beatrice suddenly realized that there were four people here, and the investigator's extraordinary ability was inexplicably activated. She vaguely sensed the positions of the other people.

It seems that one is in the North, while the other two are at sea?
"Wait, someone else is coming in!?"

"Hello, my name is French Fries, and this is the captain. Putting everything else aside, do you have any way of rescuing Gwen?"

Beatrice took a deep breath and felt her pupils tremble.

She looked around and found herself still in the room in the church. This was the headquarters of the Candlelight Society of Rhine. As a transcendent being, she couldn't even reach the Sea of Consciousness. How could someone speak to her in her heart?
Telepathic communication is a supernatural ability. She had heard that certain channels had this strange power, but, but couldn't this place block supernatural abilities?

Beatrice forced herself to calm down. She tried to gather her extraordinary strength to overcome the high wall of reality - but in just a moment, she knew she had failed.

The reality here was as solid as a rock, a chasm she couldn't cross.

"Hello, can you hear me?"

Beatrice was silent for a moment, then began to reply in her mind: "Yes."

"What are your names, please? Oh, you can use a pseudonym. For example, I'm French Fries, and that's the Captain, and there's Gwen. But she seems to be in big trouble."

Is it a pseudonym?
Beatrice hesitated for a moment before coming up with her own name.

".Scepter."

"A scepter? What a strange name. Well, let's not talk about that. We need to think of a way to save Miss Gwen."

Beatrice listened quietly to French Fries's slightly anxious introduction. After a while, she said thoughtfully:

"Miss Gwen should be in the North, where daylight comes later. Don't worry, she may not have woken up yet."

"Daytime arrives later? What does that mean?" Fries asked curiously.

"The further north you get, the later the day arrives. In the Forgotten Temple of the White Crow Principality, there are even dedicated night watchmen. They live in the far north, where day never arrives, and the world is filled with only long nights."

Beatrice said, recalling the past.

This was some basic geographical knowledge. Her previous tutor was very interested in it and had told her many similar stories.

Jeremiah and Ken on the boat looked at each other in surprise. Ken asked with a look of amazement: "Mr. Jeremiah, is what she said true? Have you ever been to the North?"

Jeremiah shook his head. "I've been to the North, but the place the scepter mentioned is in the Far North. The sea there is frozen shut, and even ships can't pass through. I've only been to the seaport of the White Crow Principality."

French Fries: "Okay, this is a magical phenomenon. When will it be dawn over there?"

Scepter: "Very quickly. Given her location, there isn't much of a time difference."

Suddenly a low voice was heard, and Jeremiah, who had been silent all the time, also joined the discussion.

Captain: "Can you tell me where she is?"

Scepter: "Yes, and I know that you two are now at sea, near Castel."

(End of this chapter)