Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 751 Burning the Queen's Energy Center

In retrospect, he was either hiding his true abilities or Isabella's teaching was simply too effective.

Thinking about it carefully, Isabella was essentially playing on her own behalf; what teaching method could be better than that?

Moreover, on the other hand, the prince's subordinates back then were all a bunch of useless nobles, while the current bureaucratic system of the Principality of Tiss was built by Isabella herself, and its quality and level are much higher than before.

Perhaps Prince William is not good at building systems, but only good at utilizing them. There are quite a few people like this, who can play a significant role if placed in the right environment.

However, the impact is not significant. Prince William's side is relatively easy to deal with; the key issue is Isabella.

"I think I'll go check on the energy center at Bloodharbor." Hughes thought it over, but still felt uneasy. "How's the situation there?"

Old Connor's expression turned strange: "Well, there's good news and bad news."

"What's the bad news?"

"Ms. Isabella and the Machine Soul don't get along very well."

"What's the good news?"

"The Machine Soul can't out-argue her."

"."

Hughes didn't delay any longer and soon arrived at the energy hub of Bloodharbor.

Tata was also brought over by him. Tata is currently assisting in the debugging of the tsunami generator, while he himself is here in Blood Harbor observing the effects. As for the research and development of mechanical modifications, Gaia has taken over.

On the one hand, there is a genuine shortage of manpower, and on the other hand, if Tata were to build a Gundam that resembles a coffin, Hughes might not be able to accept it.
The two boarded the energy hub together.

Unlike the Stellar Furnace, the supporting facilities here are not yet complete. At least the elevator is not yet built; there is only a crane for transporting goods up and down.

Unfortunately, the energy center is located quite high up; it takes a long time to climb the light stairs to get there.
After Hughes and Tata climbed onto the platform where the main control room was located, both of them were panting heavily.

"Do people usually climb this high?" Hughes peered over the railing; the platform here was already over 100 meters high.

That's equivalent to climbing thirty floors.

"There's nothing I can do, the main facilities are all here." Tata sat down on the ground, panting. As one of the few mortals among the high-ranking members of the Firemoth, his physical strength was really lacking.

Hughes nodded and looked around.

Although Blood Harbor has developed well, it is not at the point where every inch of land is extremely valuable, and not many high-rise buildings have been built. The energy center, a coffin-like structure several hundred meters high, is already among the tallest.

Looking around, the only things that can reach this height are the towering chimneys of factories everywhere.

Hughes patted the steel railing, but he didn't sense any will within it; the machine spirit of this energy hub ignored him.

This is rather strange. Hughes has been to many factories, and the machine spirits of all kinds of equipment have always been very fond of him. Why is he suddenly being treated coldly today?

I'm still not used to it.

Hughes turned to the stoker who was following beside him: "How's the situation with the machine spirits over here?"

"Not bad, but he always argues with that lady." The stoker looked somewhat hesitant.

To prevent any unforeseen complications, Isabella's situation hasn't been made public yet, but it can't be kept secret from the workers here, since they deal with the furnace every day. "Arguing isn't bad?" Hughes raised an eyebrow.

"Well, my lord, I come from Castel. I've worked on the Stellar Furnace and other steam engines."

The energy hub is, after all, the most important project in Blood Harbor, and most of the workers here were transferred from Castells, and they are experienced and skilled workers.

"No matter what kind of machine spirit it is, it takes some effort to appease it, and these machine spirits often have their own characteristics. For example, some like No. 43 machine oil, while others find it too greasy."

“But this big guy,” the stoker patted the side panel, “is very easy to get along with. It’s not hard to please him at all. Just help him curse the thing in the furnace.”

"what?"

"That lady is quick-witted, but also very sharp-tongued, showing no mercy whatsoever. Ji Hun is always arguing with her, but he can never win an argument with her."

"So you're asking for my help? Isn't that bullying?"

"No, strictly speaking, she bullied us. Even if we all joined forces, we couldn't out-argue that lady. She called us over so we could all get scolded together," the stoker said honestly.

"Pfft." Hughes couldn't hold back any longer.

Is Isabella really that strong? No wonder she's an empress; she can even easily handle a machine spirit.
Isabella's mechanical skills are actually quite good; the rifle that Hughes gave her that time really provoked her.

She single-handedly studied the entire mechanical section of the holy book.

Hughes was shocked when he heard about this. The sacred text of imperial truth was no longer just general education; the difficulty of her task was no less than self-studying advanced mathematics.

Oh, the Bible does indeed contain advanced mathematics; Isabella really did learn advanced mathematics on her own.

She truly lived up to her reputation as an empress who was strong-willed throughout her life.

Hughes had asked her this question before, and Isabella snorted and raised her head: "There are only two things in this world: what I will do, and what I am doing now."

Perhaps what truly pleases the machine spirit is her stubbornness.

When Hughes and his companions arrived at the furnace gate—which shouldn't have been there—the furnace usually only needed a manhole for maintenance, as there were dedicated pipes for adding fuel.

Of course, the furnaces in Castel generally don't need to be refueled; in fact, they can even pump fuel outwards.
Hughes just passed by that pipe; there wasn't a trace of contaminant flowing through it. Not only that, the energy center was clearly operating at full power, yet its output was less than half of the design specifications—Isabella had taken it all.
I wonder what's going on inside the furnace.

Hughes gently placed his hand on the outer wall of the furnace, extending his will into the steel, trying to communicate with the machine spirit.

Generally speaking, at this point, one can sense the presence of a magnificent will—the machine spirit possesses an enormous steel body compared to humans, and most people feel their own insignificance when communicating with the machine spirit.

But this time, Hughes was somewhat stunned.

Something doesn't seem right.

It wasn't that the furnace was in a bad state, but rather that it was very noisy inside. Before he could even extend his will into it, he could already sense several beings inside.

The first thing you perceive is the machine's soul.

This was, after all, the furnace itself, where the soul of the machine was condensed in every inch of steel, and it immediately welcomed Hughes's visit.

Yes, it was a very warm welcome, at least a little too warm.

There's also a feeling of relief?
(End of this chapter)