Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 573 Is he the one who uses a pseudonym?
“But your situation is clearly different. A person who is completely corrupted cannot maintain even a little bit of rationality and will fall into permanent madness. I guess this is related to the fact that you have signed too many symbiotic contracts, so I have no way to judge your exact situation.”

Richard sighed and adjusted his monocle.

"Do you feel like something's wrong?"

"Absolutely not."

"Then there shouldn't be any problem."

Silence fell over the room.

Seeing Richard's evasive gaze, Hughes felt rather helpless.

"Perhaps those bones are related to the pollution? You know I have the ability to purify pollution."

"Yes! That must be it!" Richard nodded quickly. "Then how should I prepare a report for you?"

"Go out."

Hughes didn't say much. He knew that this idea was very unreliable. If purifying pollution could block attacks from the supernatural, then banshees would be invincible. They could also obtain some of Hughes' ability to purify pollution through a symbiotic contract.

However, after countless trials in the testing grounds, they found that this ability had virtually no effect on attacks from supernatural forces, let alone any weakening effect.

The lord blocked the attack.
Richard quickly suppressed the fearful suspicion in his mind and continued writing the report.

Blood Harbor, the ducal residence of the prince.

After the upper district was destroyed, he did not spend the effort to rebuild the Duke's mansion. Instead, he simply cleaned it up and settled down there. According to him, Bloodharbor would soon be replaced with new houses, so there was no point in replacing it now.

Galahad cautiously peered out the window, and only after confirming that no one was around did he slam the curtains shut.

He then pulled on the door to make sure it was locked before looking at the prince, who was sitting in an armchair deep in thought.

"Your Highness."

"Galahad, what's your opinion on this?"

"To be honest, I was shocked. We all noticed that Bazel was not in good condition, and I also noticed that the superhumans around Hughes were prepared. They acted the moment the assassination occurred. Even if I were standing next to him, I couldn't have done as well as Nini and the others."

"Go on."

“Your Highness, I don’t know how to describe that attack. If I were the one doing the assassination, even if I had drawn my sword and stood right in front of Count Hughes, my attack would have been blocked by the superhumans beside him. But that attack was too fast. I have never seen such a fast attack before.”

"Can other types of superhumans do this?"

“Absolutely impossible. That exceeds the reaction limits of any extraordinary means. Perhaps a being like the ‘Keeper of Secrets’ or the ‘Chrysalis’ could do it, but as you know, they cannot transcend taboos.”

"In other words, that was an attack that completely surpassed that of an ordinary superhuman, yet Hughes managed to block it."

"Yes."

Galahad swallowed hard.

The prince fell into thought again, and after a long while, he slowly spoke: "Could it be the [named one]?"

"It's unlikely. Since the events of a thousand years ago, no new [named individuals] have appeared in the world. You don't actually think Hughes is an old guy who has lived for over a thousand years, do you?"

"What Hughes said..." The prince thought about his actions: the various wondrous creations, the complete system of institutions and methodologies, factories, schools.
They successfully defeated the Pirate King, destroyed the Sea God Church which had transformed into monsters, and directly killed the fully-grown "Mother of Mercy." They then conquered the Northern Territory, spanning the entire Duchy of Tis and vast wastelands.
"It's not impossible," the prince sighed.

“If he really is a [Named One],” Galahad said hesitantly. “Every time a [Named One] appears, it brings disaster to the continent. Therefore, all churches will exterminate the Named Ones as soon as possible and list them as taboos. That’s all I know. There is no more information in the Royal Library.”

"Then shouldn't we..."

The prince did not answer; instead, he turned and took a gun from the decorative shelf on the wall.

That was the gun Hughes had given him; Galahad fired a few shots during the Bloodharbor rebellion, and then hung it on the wall as a decoration.

"Galahad, can you dodge bullets?"

“It’s difficult, Your Highness. I can only barely move the vital parts away or block it with my hand—the bullet’s power isn’t great against superhumans, but it’s too fast.”

"How does that bone cone compare to the speed of a bullet?"

"A little faster, but only slightly faster."

"What about the Gatling gun? You should have tried their heavy machine guns by now, right?"

“This…” Galahad hesitated for a moment. “If I had been prepared in advance, I might have been able to find a way to escape, but if it were on the battlefield and I were targeted by multiple Gatling guns, I’m afraid I would have a hard time surviving.”

"If the assassin who killed Hughes was another [named person], this assassination must have been planned for a long time, and the only attack the other party could muster was a fast bullet, which was already the limit."

The prince patted the rifle on the table.

“Castel can produce many of these weapons in a single day. They’re shipping those heavy Gatling guns to the North by the truckload. How many Gatling guns can one [Named Person] be worth?”

Galahad opened his mouth, but did not answer.

"Just as Castel's strength lies in industry, not the Banshee, even if Hughes is a [Named One]. No, even if he is some kind of god, it won't affect the overall situation—no matter how many secrets he himself has, they are not as important as knowledge and industry."

"and"

The prince shifted into a more comfortable position on the chair and smiled.

"If the [named person] brings disaster to the mainland in this way, then it seems not so bad."

"To be honest, I'm very interested in this. I think the world just needs a little more disaster like this!"

Hughes was reviewing official documents at his desk.

Beside him stood a banshee clad in full armor. The assassination attempt in the courtroom was far too dangerous; had he not inexplicably blocked the attack, he probably would have succeeded.

Therefore, his security level was raised several notches, and he would be inseparable from guards for a short period of time.

Hughes looked at the document in his hand, his eye twitching slightly. He glanced at the banshee beside him but said nothing.

After a while, he took a deep breath, placed the official document on the table, and looked at the harbinger of death beside him with an unfriendly expression.

"I'll say it one last time, I'm not a god, and I can hear you speaking in the mind-link group!"

"."

"Praying to me is useless! I won't grant your wish! Besides, you even wished to slack off, so tonight's night shift is yours too. Stay here and work overtime!"

"No, I am not an evil god either!"

(End of this chapter)