Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 542 Something's Going Wrong
Zoe looked at Hughes, who had suddenly lowered his head, with some confusion. After a moment, Hughes raised his head with a serious expression.

"Is it that serious? Tell me in detail."

"A while ago, well, a long time ago, one day I suddenly connected with someone and was able to communicate with them!"

"Is it a kind of telepathic link, like the Banshee?"

"Yes, yes, that's it! But it seems there's no distance limit!"

"That's an amazing ability, so what?"

“Then, uh, then I connected with a few strangers, they…” Zoe gritted her teeth. “Sorry, I can’t say their names. They helped me a lot and never harmed Castel. I hope you can let me keep their information!”

Hughes glanced at Zoe with some surprise; she was indeed loyal to her friends.

"It's alright, please continue."

"Oh, you...you agree? Then I'll continue."

Zoe briefly recounted what the group had discussed earlier, the content of which Hughes naturally already knew. She spoke earnestly and did not conceal anything.

As Hughes listened to her story, he suddenly felt a pang of emotion. In his eyes, it was a lighthearted and amusing farce, but for Zoe, it was a different story.

She had never heard of this strange link before; the people inside were all very capable and willing to share information.
If it were Hughes, a mere mortal who suddenly joined a chat group of superhumans, would he be willing to report this unexpected advantage to the lord?
Thinking of this, Hughes's gaze softened. Zoe had always given people the impression of being timid and weak, but the decision she made was surprisingly bold.

I don't know how much courage it took.

Hughes listened patiently to Zoe's story without interrupting.

"In short, I feel that the woman is extraordinary, but the two men should not be."

Hughes nodded, stood up, and said solemnly, "Miss Zoe, thank you for telling me this. It's very valuable information, and I will keep it a secret. As for whether you are a superhuman, Richard will give you a check-up later."

Seeing Zoe's worried expression, Houston paused for a moment and then reassured her, "You don't need to worry too much. Just having this kind of connection doesn't mean you've become a superhuman. Look at me, I can also form a mental link with the Banshees. Aren't I just an ordinary person?"

Zoe's worry deepened, and she hesitated before speaking, "My lord, it seems I have more than just these abnormalities."

"what?"

Zoe looked around, picked up a plate of pastries from the table, and took a bite.

She bit off a piece of the pastry, and also the silver plate.

Hughes stared blankly as she chewed the plate and pastries together.

"Well, once when I was eating in the cafeteria, I accidentally bit into a stamped steel plate, and then... as you can see, I... I think someone who could bite through a plate isn't an ordinary person."

Hughes paused for a moment, then suddenly realized: "No wonder the school has been reporting so many cases of people maliciously damaging plates lately. I thought they were encountering cultists performing some kind of evil ritual."

Zoe's face flushed, and she lowered her head, whispering, "I... I was so scared then, that's why I did so many experiments."

Have you recently come into contact with anything extraordinary? Or read any strange books, or participated in any unusual rituals?

"I don't think so? Do you count Nini's newspapers as books? I don't think any books she writes are stranger."

Hughes frowned, sensing that something was very wrong.

Could it be that his act of pulling Zoe into the link led her to the extraordinary?

That shouldn't be the case. Jeremiah and Ken were also connected, and they were fine. Besides, Richard had investigated this matter before, and at least none of them had shown any abnormalities.

How did he suddenly gain superhuman power? Hughes remembered Chloe saying that it wasn't difficult to access the Sea of ​​Ignorance; one could achieve it by causing a large enough upheaval in reality. However, acquiring superhuman power was not a simple matter.

Orthodox churches need to use a lot of resources to create extraordinary individuals, while cultists, although they can take a different approach and do not need such extravagant resources, still have strict requirements for rituals.

Mira, the high priest of the Church of the Mother of Life, sacrificed almost half of the lower city, but still didn't produce many superhumans.

How come Zoe obtained some supernatural powers so easily?
Ta-ta-ta-ta.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

Hughes glanced at Zoe across the table and nodded to her.

Zoe walked to the door and unlocked it.

"Gaia?"

It was Gaia who knocked on the door. She was wearing a hood that completely covered her face and cautiously peeked in.

"What's wrong? Is something wrong?"

“Well, I have some things to do, but…” She glanced at Zoe and gritted her teeth.

"But I need to report to you separately!"

“You can say it. Zoe is trustworthy.” Hughes didn’t send Zoe away. She had already proven her loyalty by revealing such important information. Hughes knew her character well. Although she was prone to indecisiveness, she was not truly weak. She possessed courage and determination.

Gaia hesitated for a moment.

Hughes was somewhat surprised. Zoe was indeed prone to hesitation, but Gaia was not.

After Chloe was half-dead, she became much stronger and more silent, no longer the naive and ignorant little girl she once was.

Later, her management roles in the explosives production line and even the arsenal allowed her to mature rapidly.

Hughes hadn't seen her hesitate like this in a long time, and now his expression turned serious.

"What's wrong? Is there some trouble?"

Gaia took a deep breath and finally gritted her teeth and said:

"That's right, I... have become a superhuman."

"Oh, I've heard about this from my mother-in-law. Congratulations." Hughes breathed a sigh of relief. This matter was indeed important, but it had already been planned.

Gaia is very talented in learning and loves to explore knowledge. She was spotted by Chloe and recruited into the Firemoth.

Then they set about preparing the materials for her superhuman advancement ceremony. Because the required quantity was large, they hadn't been able to gather them all until they obtained the Pirate King's treasure.

It's said that some rituals were still missing, and Gaia herself was quite busy, so she hadn't been promoted yet. I didn't expect it to be completed so quickly, without even telling me.

Wait a minute, Gaia's ascension to the superhuman realm, wouldn't she tell him, the lord, about something like that?
Hughes suddenly had a bad feeling.

She looked up, and Gaia, who was also looking over, spoke with a complicated expression:

"I didn't undergo an advancement ceremony, and I inexplicably became a superhuman."

(End of this chapter)