Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 410 Why are there so many subordinates?

"Your Highness, Galahad has returned."

"Alright, let him rest for a bit and then come report to me." The prince smiled and nodded at Yu'an.

The old butler nodded and then left the room.

The prince waited a moment, making sure the footsteps had faded into the distance, before turning his head to look at the sky to the side: "Do you think he believed it?"

"Perhaps not. But at least they're willing to work for us." The prince's soul sighed.

This was his insistence. Previously, his butler, Euan, had immediately seen through the "prince's" deception. At that time, the situation in Bloodharbor was unstable, and Isabella chose to imprison Euan directly.

According to her, he should have been killed to prevent future troubles, but the prince's spirit disagreed and even tried to threaten her—although she had nothing to use as leverage.

But at least it made her laugh, and Isabella was in a good mood, so Ewan survived.

Now that there is no other voice in Blood Harbor, it doesn't matter if we release Yu'an. So the two of them cooperated and acted out a scene where a strange soul tried to possess someone but was killed by him, making Yu'an believe that the prince is now the prince.

"Alright, I don't have time to play these little games with you anymore. How's the investigation into the Church of the Mother Goddess going?"

The desks in front of the two had been replaced; they were much longer than the previous ones, and the desks were densely covered with various documents.

This is a new feature recently developed by Isabella. Although the prince's soul cannot affect the real world, it can still access documents.

For matters that require a high degree of secrecy and are not suitable for others to know, Isabella can ask the prince to assist her in handling them.

Therefore, although the real prince is dead, he has even more work to do.

This is said to be an advanced experience that Isabella learned from Castel.

Believe it or not, dead people are indeed more useful than living people. They are tireless, never get tired, don't need to eat, drink, or sleep, and can enjoy their work to the fullest.

Every time Isabella wakes up and sees the prince still working overtime, she feels refreshed.

As expected of Count Hughes, how come she didn't think of such a great invention?
Perhaps she should also build a monument in Blood Harbor.
The prince showed no sign of being exploited; he honestly began to recount the information he had compiled:

"I've compiled the information from various investigations, and the Church of the Mother Goddess does indeed have some hidden secrets."

"How to say?"

“Isn’t Mira the high priestess of the Mother of Life? She seems to lack experience and doesn’t know the greed of the Mother of Life. In order to gain power to help believers, she has fed too many souls to the Mother of Life.”

"That's normal. The Church of the Mother Goddess of Life doesn't have any experienced priests; they're all just expendable resources."

"She meant well, but unfortunately she took the wrong path."

Isabella's expression twisted into a grimace, as if she had just thought of something: "Good intentions gone wrong? I'd rather she had never been kind at all."

The prince sighed.

"So she lost control?"

"It's even worse than that. She was controlled by the 'Mother Goddess' instead. To be precise, the entire Church of the Mother Goddess was affected, amplifying their emotions and causing them to sacrifice themselves one after another without fear of death."

Isabella was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke: "Enlarge?"

"Yes, I have many records of interrogations of believers here. They had already broken free from the influence of the 'Mother' at that time, but they were still willing to sacrifice, just not as steadfast or as fearless."

After the prince finished speaking, a look of confusion appeared on his face: "I don't quite understand why they chose to die for an evil god?" Isabella pursed her lips: "Because no one else has helped them."

The room fell silent.

After a long while, Isabella rubbed her temples and spoke again: "So what exactly did Mira do wrong?"

"She tried to forcibly suppress the growth of the 'Mother of Love' and feed her with her own soul instead of the believers. This was successful at first, after all, she was a superhuman and her soul was far stronger than that of the believers."

"But that evil god wasn't just devouring souls; it was constantly assimilating its followers. She was completely unaware that she was being controlled, and she just thought that everything was about to succeed."

"She truly believed that by sacrificing her own soul, she could satisfy the appetite of the 'Mother Goddess.' Although this would leave the Church of the Mother Goddess leaderless, she had also found a home for these believers."

"Castel?"

"How did you know?" the prince asked, somewhat surprised.

"Besides that island, where else can she call her home? No wonder she was so eager to contact the outside world; she knew she was going to die."

"Yes, it was a great sacrifice. He found a bright future for his followers, but he was willing to die on the eve of dawn—unfortunately, it was all just an illusion."

“To die in the darkness before dawn,” Isabella murmured to herself, lost in thought.

"We all know what happened next. The [Mother], who had grown to an enormous size, brought destruction to Bloodharbor. That is the whole truth."

No one spoke inside anymore; only soft sighs could be heard.

dong dong dong.

A knock on the door interrupted their thoughts. Galahad opened the door: "Your Highness?"

His gaze then fell on the extra-long and enlarged desk, and he asked in a puzzled tone, "What's going on here?"

The prince stood up from his chair, beaming. "It's just a small improvement. Don't worry, you might have a chance to experience it in the future."

Galahad shuddered inexplicably. Why was he, a superhuman, afraid of a mere mortal like the prince?

Is this the legendary aura of a king?
"Galahad, you've returned just in time. How's Castel doing?"

Galahad's expression turned serious: "I took Lady Nora's head with me, and Count Hughes immediately mobilized his troops; it seems he's preparing to launch an attack."

The prince nodded, agreeing with his assessment. Not to mention Hughes, even he himself would have wanted to send troops to flatten the North upon seeing the head that had been sent.

Therefore, he did not hesitate to break the alliance and immediately sever ties, fearing that Hughes would misunderstand if he was too late.

"Do they need any help? I remember Castel's ships aren't very reliable, but we have some ships we can use."

At this point, the prince couldn't help but sigh. A navy is not something that can be built simply by throwing money and resources at it. When he was still the empress, he had high hopes for the Imperial Navy, but it turned out to be no match for the army.

Therefore, the prince understood the difficulties Hughes faced in building the ship and even wanted to offer him some words of comfort, feeling a sense of shared hardship.

"They have a new ship about to be launched, so they shouldn't be short of ships. I also heard that there's a big project in the feasibility study phase, but it might not be approved."

"Big project? How big can it be?" The prince curled his lip. "It's just a ship, it's not like I haven't built them before."

(End of this chapter)