Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 280 Gem Bay

The most important thing for industry is population. Without people, other things will actually have little effect on the current Castel. Although Zeus asked Ash to take the banshees to explore, his main goal is to get some ships.

Zeus didn't hold much hope for Gem Bay. According to Chloe, the Pirate King dragged the entire Gem Bay into a dream, and there was a high probability that there were no living people there.

People may not be able to obtain it, but treasure is likely to be indispensable.

The word "pirate" in the Pirate Court is not written casually. They must have accumulated a lot of wealth. Moreover, the pirates in Gem Bay are blockaded by the Empire, so even if they have money, they can't spend it.

This is wonderful.

I guess all the treasures plundered by the Black Sail Fleet went to Castel.

Hughes had gone to great lengths to establish connections with Beatrice, simply because he wanted to find a way to dump goods through the Rhine and make some money.

After all, Castel is still too small an island. The population here is too small and the consumption capacity is quite limited. It is difficult to maintain the economic cycle in the long run. If it were not for the war with monsters that started later and entered the rationing mode, it is estimated that Hughes would have started issuing bonds by now.

These treasures can solve these practical problems very well.

Besides the treasure, Gem Bay itself is a treasure trove.

Castel does not produce coal mines, nor did it produce saltpeter before. Although a rich saltpeter mine was obtained in that space, it will eventually be mined out.

But there are saltpeter mines in Gem Bay.

An important channel for obtaining saltpeter is biological feces. If you are inland, you can make saltpeter in pig pens and horse pens.

On the islands, there is an even more magical way: guano.

Many islands are fixed resting places for migratory birds, and large amounts of bird droppings accumulate over the years.

Don't underestimate these bird droppings. They are actually very valuable resources. The United States even introduced the "Guano Island Act" specifically to seize the islands in the Pacific that are full of bird droppings.

Many islands produced saltpeter, which was needed to make explosives, but the guano had an even more important function.

These guano accumulated over the years can become extremely high-quality fertilizer with a little processing. They often exist in the form of phosphates. As long as Caster can control these islands, there will be no shortage of food on the islands.

Fertilizers can bring about a qualitative change in food production. With a large amount of high-quality fertilizers, large-scale farms can be developed. It just so happens that Castell has a high level of industrialization, so it is not difficult to produce agricultural machinery.

One of Castres' biggest shortcomings is the lack of coal mines. Coal is the foundation of industry, and without fuel, there is naturally no industry to speak of - this is made up for by pollution.

Another shortcoming is food shortage.

There is not enough food, far from enough food. Whether it is fishing in the sea or farming, the efficiency is very low. Before the technology tree of trawlers and chemical industry reaches the stage of fertilizers, there is almost no good solution.

Even if Nini can use her fish-herding magic to feed thousands of people, what will happen if there are more people in the future?
There is only one Nini. Even if she has six hands, her magic has a limit. Moreover, fish cannot completely replace the staple food. After all, they still have to farm.

Although fertilizers are simple to talk about, they are actually a product of the late stage of the chemical industry chain. The ability to independently produce fertilizers is often a symbol of an industrial country. Castells' current industrial foundation is quite weak and extremely biased, and there is still a long way to go to solve this problem.

But this guano is different. With this readily available phosphate, producing fertilizer only requires a simple process. Coupled with the large-scale application of agricultural machinery, Castell will soon be able to achieve food freedom.

With food freedom, fuel freedom, and independent territory deep in the ocean, Castel will never be controlled by others again.

Therefore, Gem Bay Xiu Si was determined to obtain it. In comparison, the treasure was just a bonus.

In fact, ever since the war ended and Castel returned to the real world, Hughes knew that nothing could stop Castel's rise.

The most difficult part of industrialization is going from zero to one. Once it is successfully on the right track, any enemy that blocks the progress of this steel behemoth will be crushed.

Ash received the order and left. These banshees could swim directly across the sea. Although the range of the mental connection returned to its original state after Monica was stripped of the sea god's soul and could no longer affect the entire sea, the banshees' movement speed in the sea was very fast, and it would only take a few hours to go back and forth to Gem Bay.

Adding the time for exploration, we can get preliminary results in one or two days.

In addition, Hughes also plans to send people to find the Black Pearl.

Jeremiah and Ken accepted Beatrice's advice and did not stay in Blood Harbor. Instead, they decided to head north. Hughes had to send someone to intercept them in advance.

Theoretically, it shouldn't be a big problem. After all, the Banshee is much faster than a ship in the sea, but it is very difficult to operate in practice.

To put it simply, the sea is too big.

Even if all the Banshees were sent out, one hundred Banshees would not be enough in the entire Ocean of Storms. Without the specific location of the Black Pearl, finding it would be as difficult as looking for a needle in a haystack.

Therefore, Zeus decided to return first, and then descend into the body of the worker Zeus to take a look and roughly determine where the Black Pearl is.

With a general direction, it should be much easier to find them. You can also listen to their conversation. Maybe Jeremiah and Ken will tell you their location themselves.

Hughes locked himself in the office again.

On the other side, Ash left Castel through the sea with more than 30 banshees.

This number is close to one-third of the Banshees. Ash brought so many people with him on one hand for safety, and on the other hand he planned to explore thoroughly.

They came from the sea under the eastern caves. Originally, the banshees entered the sea from the caves under the manor, but the webway leading there had not been cleared in time, so they finally chose to walk directly to the seashore.

The banshees jumped into the sea from the cliff of the cave, making a crackling sound like dumplings being dropped into the sea. After entering the sea, the banshees couldn't help swimming around and laughing and playing.

Ash did not stop her people. These banshees had been trapped on the island since the war entered the second half. The sea was full of pollution and monsters, and they had no chance to enter the water. These banshees almost thought they were creatures on land.

After swimming happily for a while, the banshees followed Ash to the Gem Bay.

These curious banshees couldn't wait to see what treasures the Pirate King had.

(End of this chapter)