Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 675 Hughes' Day

When Hughes opened his eyes, he found himself lying in bed.

The quilt cover was made by Castells II Textile Factory. Although it was not as smooth as silk, Hughes liked it very much.

Yawning, Hughes stood up and casually pulled back the curtains, letting the morning sunlight stream into the room.

Hughes squinted and quickly pulled the curtains back halfway, so the sunlight wasn't so glaring. He looked up at the window.

A gentle sea breeze blew the curtains, and a few seagulls swooped past the window, circled a few times over the cargo ships at the port, and then suddenly swooped down towards the students on their way to class in the dock area, snatched a French fry from their mouths, and started a chorus of angry curses.

Downstairs, a group of Secret Order night watchmen had just finished their patrol and were heading towards the fish and chips shop. Petite Betty, wearing an apron, was putting fish into the fryer.

She stood on a holy book—originally four books were needed, but she had grown two centimeters taller that year, making the holy book three times thicker.

Next to the fish and chips shop, a female demon was hawking newspapers along the street. A worker and a member of the friars passed each other, exchanging smiles and greetings. Not long ago, they had been sitting in the same classroom, scratching their heads in confusion.

Hughes raised his gaze and saw that Blood Harbor was bustling with people, chimneys stood tall, factories were connected to factories, and railways were connected to railways.

This is now an industrial city.

"so good"

Even though it's something he sees every day, Hughes is genuinely happy every time he sees it.

In their previous lives, they were nothing more than ordinary, even outdated, industries that polluted the environment; but here, they are symbols of hope.

On the table in the room were ironed newspapers and tea. Hughes picked them up casually and sighed.

Old Connor was incredibly stubborn in these matters. Even though he had dismissed all the servants, the old butler would still do these things, so Hughes simply let him be.

As he flipped through the newspaper, Hughes casually brought a cup of black tea to his lips, but then suddenly stopped, as if he had remembered something.

He cautiously flipped through the newspaper to make sure it wasn't a special edition for Nini before putting the tea in his mouth.

"Hmm, two testing grounds in Gem Bay were bombed, Castells' hospital is overcrowded and undergoing emergency expansion, and the strike at Blood Harbor's inquiries failed. Not bad, another peaceful day."

Hughes put the newspaper aside, satisfied, and walked out of the house, heading downstairs to the cafeteria for breakfast.

This is his recent habit; he no longer has breakfast delivered to his house, and eating breakfast in the cafeteria gives him a more homely and lively atmosphere.

As for safety—Hughes is least afraid of poisoning. With the symbiotic contract in place, it's virtually impossible to poison him to death.

Moreover, there were female demons protecting him.

Thinking of the Banshee, Hughes turned and headed towards the Banshee's duty room.

The duty room was noisy, with a pile of playing cards on the table in the middle—that was Hughes's doing, but unfortunately, the subsequent situation was beyond his control.

After all, the banshee has six arms, so she can play cards with herself.

The banshee created a game with extremely complex rules. Hughes had watched it and felt it was more like a fight than a card game.

"Four circles connected to the tip!"

"No."

"Seven Kings with five Sixes with four Threes with two Jokers!" Nini slammed a bunch of cards onto the table.

"Xiao Wang, can you take that? Take it away, take it away!" Monica slammed her hand on the table angrily.

Hughes watched as Nini deftly switched five cards while Monica wasn't looking, tossed two more under the table, grabbed a handful of fries, and wiped the grease off his hands on the tip of Monica's tail.

Monica was still staring intently at the cards in her hand, completely oblivious to Nini's subtle movements. Hughes nudged Monica's waist.

"Eek!" Monica's tail snapped shut, and she turned to look at Hughes angrily. "What are you doing! Don't disturb my card game!"

While Monica turned her head, Nini slipped two cards from under the table into her hand, and now it was Hughes's turn to widen his eyes.

Monica turned back to look at the cards in her hand, and irritably tugged at her hair: "It's all your fault, I feel like my cards are getting worse and worse!"

"Monica, I have a suggestion for you."

"Ok?"

Seeing Nini's hands starting to wander again, Hughes solemnly said, "I suggest you throw the cards in her face and then pounce on her and beat her up."

Nini froze.

"Hmm, that makes sense!"

Hughes ducked his head, dodging Monica as she flew overhead. Ignoring the clattering noises behind him, he took a can of iced drink from the freezer, humming a tune as he walked out of the duty room.

"Do one good deed every day."

Unfortunately, as a lord, despite having a whole system of civil servants to assist him, Hughes still had a lot to do. Even during a meal break, he casually approved two official reports.

However, he had no complaints, because he was much more relaxed than the prince next to him.

The prince was also in the cafeteria, and he was much busier.

While he ate, he listened to Yuan's report, while Galahad and several civil officials lined up next to him.

After all, the prince's territory was much larger and he was much less manpower-intensive—he didn't have Castells's complete education system and often had to contend with a group of officials who hadn't read many books.

Hughes sighed. Despite being so busy, he still wouldn't let anyone bring him food and insisted on coming to the cafeteria. He really went to great lengths.

Sure enough, upon seeing Prince Hughes, his eyes lit up, and he immediately abandoned the people around him and rushed over.

"Speak up, what's the matter now? You've been waiting here for me, haven't you?"

The prince grinned, but instead of replying, he asked, "How's the delegation you sent to the Mechanical Sanctuary doing?"

"It's still unclear. It's too far away over there, and it's difficult to send messages over."

Hmm, speaking of which, I should log into worker Hughes's account and check out the chat group.

When Hughes visited last time, there seemed to be no progress. The Mechanical Sanctuary was probably stalling for time. I don't know what they were thinking. Maybe things will have changed this time.

The prince nodded. He hoped for a quick result, so that he could start the war regardless of whether the talks succeeded or failed.

He felt really uncomfortable all over, having not fought a war for a year.

After finishing his meal and declining Monica's offer of a stargazing cake, Hughes returned to his office.

But his office door wasn't opened early today.

"Ash, I have a bit of a headache. I'll rest for a while. Can someone help me stop them and tell them to come later?"

After giving his instructions, Hughes found a comfortable position and closed his eyes.

Worker Hughes, land!
Soon, Hughes from the North opened his eyes.

(End of this chapter)