Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 721 Hughes, are you also afraid of death?
"How are the preparations for the lighting ceremony going?"

Hughes sat behind his desk, leisurely flipping through the report in his hand.

This is Bloodharbor. After explaining Beatrice's situation to Zoe, he came here immediately to take charge of the work.

Zoe was originally in charge of the Bloodharbor clerkship, but now Erwin is acting as his deputy. Josh was actually a better choice, but Hughes wanted the Secret Order to operate independently of Castells' bureaucratic system, so he didn't let him get too involved.

Besides Erwin, Tata is also here. He is mainly responsible for the construction of the energy hub and has to coordinate with many projects.

"There's nothing wrong with my side. The energy center has been debugged and will be ready to use as soon as Bazel moves in. This time, there's been plenty of redundancy, so there's absolutely no chance of anything going wrong," Tata assured him, patting his chest.

In fact, the ignition of the stellar furnace was not entirely smooth sailing. It was just that enough materials were piled up during construction, leaving room for all kinds of unexpected events.

No matter how much the sea god tossed and turned in the furnace, it was impossible for him to get out.

Hughes glanced at Tata. He was quite confident in this regard. Tata was best at piling on materials. The new ship he designed before had been equipped with a ram, catapults, a flight deck, and machine gun emplacements, reaching a length of one kilometer, which left a very deep impression on Hughes.
Castel's industrial products have stood the test of time; even Poseidon was burned in them, so what kind of trouble could a little Bazel cause?
Hughes turned to look at Erwin: "What about you?"

"The setup is complete. The outer perimeter is guarded by the Secret Order, while the inner perimeter is handled by the Guardians of the Faith. Two teams of judges have also been dispatched from the Inquisition."

"Wait a minute." Hughes rubbed his temples. "What's this about the Inquisition? What are they doing here?"

"Oh, after Bazel attempted an assassination during his trial, they felt the courtroom wasn't safe enough, so they started training the judges in combat. Now they can conduct armed trials, and that was approved by you."

Hughes thought about it and realized that it did seem to be true; Chloe had mentioned it to him.

However, the judges are all clerical staff and few in number, so how much combat power do they have?

"Alright, let them come if they want to. Is everything else going smoothly?"

"The prince declined to attend, saying he had more important things to do."

"Something more important?"

"Yes, those are his exact words. By the way, his lord's manor has recently been sealed off, prohibiting anyone from approaching."

Hughes frowned as he listened, wondering what was going on this time.
Could it be that they are about to rebel?

Hughes was amused by this idea. Putting everything else aside, even if the prince really went mad and wanted to betray him, what would he rely on to start a rebellion?
His port guards could only maintain order. The troops he had recruited were all outside Blood Harbor, and the secret society's infiltration of the lower classes in Blood Harbor was absolute. If the prince really wanted to rebel, he couldn't even get people to join him.

If we disregard the mortal army, what about summoning an evil god?

Nashius was overjoyed. One Bazel wasn't enough to burn, and he could add some more fuel. What a stroke of luck!

"Forget it, let him do whatever he wants. It's just a lighting ceremony." Hughes shook his head with a smile. "What about the others?"

"The Secret Order, Castel, the Moth of Fire, and basically all the other major organizations have been informed."

Does anyone have a problem with this?

"Yes, the Banshee side hopes to finalize the name of the second furnace as soon as possible, and has sent you some names for consideration, about three thousand in total, which are listed in the appendix of the report."

Hughes's eye twitched; no wonder the report was so thick.
"Any more?"

"No one has any more opinions except for Bazel."

Bazel? Hearing this name, Hughes smiled even more broadly: "Let's go, let's hear Bazel's opinion." Bazel, a border count of the Saint Mil Empire, now a prisoner, was in his cell, looking up at Hughes.

Hughes looked into his eyes and felt uncomfortable all over.

After all, a skeleton, with no flesh and blood except for its eyeballs, looks rather eerie.

"How did he grow eyes? Wasn't he just a skeleton before?"

"Well, that's a long story." Elwin's expression was very strange.

"He refused to accept death."

"Huh? If you refuse to accept death, you can grow flesh and blood?"

"Ordinary people might not be able to do it, but he seems to have extremely powerful strength. Although he himself cannot use it, he can create many strange effects. And now he is extremely stubborn in refusing to accept death, so death has really stayed away from him."

"So, he's been resurrected?"

“Yes, I had a superhuman examine him. If he continues to be so stubborn for a few hundred more years, he might actually be able to be resurrected.” Erwin shrugged.

There is still a danger; if he burns in the furnace for hundreds of years, he might be resurrected.

However, Hughes felt that if Bloodharbor developed for hundreds of years and still couldn't handle Bazel, it would be better to hasten its demise.

So he didn't really care and just trusted the wisdom of future generations.

"Why is he so stubbornly unwilling to accept death?"

"Well, what he actually can't accept is the Queen's death."

Upon hearing the word "Empress," Bazel's gaze shifted, and he went completely mad: "Your Majesty, Her Majesty Isabella is not dead! Her Majesty will never die! She will accept my eternal loyalty!!!"

As he spoke, he pounded on the iron gate, the sound of bones hitting steel crisp and clear.

Even Hughes's expression became complicated.

Whether the Queen is dead or not is hard to say, but even if she is not dead, what does it have to do with Bazel?

Hughes had already sent people to investigate Bazel's past. He was indeed a genius, but there were countless geniuses in the empire, and his talent was not even worth mentioning.

In terms of birth, he and Hughes were both illegitimate children, but there are differences between illegitimate children. Hughes' status as a border count was obtained by Duke Cohen from the Queen, while Bazel? He got it by luck.

During that period, border counts died too quickly, and supplies became scarce. Just then, Bazel, a staunch supporter of the royal family, stepped forward and obtained this identity.

On the contrary, it was his ability that truly established his position in the North. If he hadn't so distortedly believed that the Queen was not dead, but instead had diligently managed his territory, perhaps he would have unified the entire North by now.

Unfortunately, now he can only unify the entire Bloodharbor's energy supply system.

Sensing the pity in Hughes' eyes, Bazel suddenly calmed down. He stared intently at Hughes and said in a cold voice, "Count Hughes, what difference is there between you and me? Aren't you also refusing your own death?"

(End of this chapter)