Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 97 How did you figure this out?
What Zeus said in the woods was not only for the banshee, but also sent a positive signal to the fire moth.

He knew that this group of people could hear what he said - the Fire Moths were very good at escaping and hiding, and Xiu Si felt that they must have left some spies to investigate.

So Hughes spoke out openly, and the subsequent dinner invitation was his signal.

This group of people chose to ask him for help in times of crisis. It can be seen that they were sensible. At that time, they thought that Zeus was some kind of strange existence and they were about to be destroyed. Going to find Zeus at this time might not save them, but it might save Caster.

This group of people summoned the evil god and brought about their own destruction, but when they saw the situation getting out of control, they were at least willing to try to save it. This is the basis for cooperation.

It is precisely because of this that Xius is willing to give them a chance.
As for whether they would come to participate - Hughes was not worried about that.

This is his territory. It is impossible for so many people to disappear out of thin air. As long as he wants to find them, so many banshees can definitely plow through Caster.

Besides, his invitation was sent to Chloe.

Coupled with the hint he left for Fire Moth, they wouldn't do anything stupid as long as they were sane.

Although it was unknown why Chloe believed that he had summoned the evil god, this group of people were still worth winning over, as they definitely possessed a lot of knowledge and information.

"It seems tomorrow's dinner is destined to be lively."

Hughes muttered to himself.

"You mean you broke the Type II?"

In the study, Xius looked across the long table in surprise.

He had just informed the banshees in the laboratory that he wanted to bring the Type II machine to the manor to entertain the dinner party tomorrow night. In fact, he just wanted to try to see if he could sell this thing.

It doesn’t matter if it can’t be sold. As long as he promotes the fact that the soap is a product of this new type of steam engine, he can successfully raise his profile.

——Just like the wealthy and powerful on Blue Star pursue pure handmade traditional production methods, the top nobles in this world must also pursue the attributes of "scarcity" and "luxury".

What's the most luxurious thing now? The steam engine. This thing can easily cause pollution. Who can afford it if they don't have a lot of money?
Then, I'll find a few noble socialites to endorse the project, and have Zoe write a few drafts boasting about how "it came off assembly line number seven," "it can only produce ten pieces a day, or the line will explode," and "the coal used to fuel the boilers is imported from White Crow, and carries the fragrance of northern snow."

Isn't this selling like crazy?
When he asked, the banshees hesitated and finally said that Monica broke the steam engine.

Monica was standing opposite, a guilty look on her face.

Although this place is connected to the cave where the banshees live through a secret passage, no banshee has ever come up here except Monica.

One reason is that the existence of the banshees has not been made public, and it is somewhat risky for them to appear in the manor.

The second reason is that this passage is really narrow, and only children like Monica can enter and exit it easily.

The kid opposite is still a kid.

Zeus opened his mouth but didn't say anything to reprimand. Monica took advantage of the other banshees' group action to play with the Type II machine and broke it. Although this was a bit bad, the other party didn't have any bad intentions after all, so she could be punished according to the rules.

"You are now going to copy the safety regulations ten times, in full. Don't miss a single word. You are not allowed to use six hands at once. Write each word one by one."

"You don't have to pay for the broken steam engine. It was originally used for experiments. It's okay if it breaks. Just be more careful next time."

"Besides this, you will also be fined. I will pay for this. But you should know that this is not because I am showing you mercy, but because I am your guardian. Do you understand?"

"I see." Monica whispered.

Xius stared at Monica for a while and sighed: "Monica, now that you understand, tell me why I want to punish you."

"I broke the Type II machine." Hughes shook his head and pulled out a booklet from the table. This was the safety regulations he wrote. Monica frowned subconsciously. She was fed up with this and always felt it was troublesome and useless.

"Article 9 of Chapter 1 prohibits single-person operation of a running steam engine in non-emergency situations."

"I know you don't like these rules, but the machine doesn't care whether you like it or not."

"I hope you know that the power of a steam engine far exceeds the limits of human endurance, including the Banshee. When it's not running, the worst that can happen to you is that you damage the machine. But when it's running, damaging the machine is the best outcome."

"If the boiler explodes, you'll die. The symbiotic contract won't save you, and it might even cost other people their lives. If the flywheel is thrown out at high speed, that huge iron plate will smash through everything in a straight line, whether it's living or dead. This will affect more than just you. You don't want others to be injured or even killed because of you, right?"

Monica's eyes turned red and tears welled up in her eyes.

Hughes stood up, took a box of handkerchiefs from the shelf next to him, walked over to Monica and handed it to her.

Monica snorted and turned her head away.

Hughes blinked, put the handkerchief box on the table, turned around and walked to the fireplace, picked up the long-handled axe and poked the mechanism.

The entrance to the secret passage closed with the sound of gears rubbing against each other, and a cry of "Ouch!" came from the fireplace. In the mind link, several banshees who loved to join in the fun quickly went away.

Oh my goodness, it turns out there was more than one peeping person. How did they squeeze into the secret passage?
Monica cried out "Ah!" and wiped her nose loudly with a handkerchief.

It's really strange that these sea creatures can shed tears. They shouldn't need to keep their eyes moist.

"Hey, don't cry, Monica. I just wanted to show off the Type II at the banquet. Maybe I could get a few more gold coins from the nobles. Wait, don't wipe your nose on me!"

After a while of arguing, Zeus slumped back onto the bench and panted, "So how did you manage to break the Type II? How could something this big and heavy break? Did you use your flesh magic to crash into it?"

"of course not!"

"That is how the matter?"

"We tried burning some pollution before, but it didn't work. It's impossible to burn that stuff."

Zeus said "hmm". He knew about this and felt a little disappointed. The pollution was indeed getting smaller during the burning, but the speed was too slow and the calorific value released was not high enough. Many banshees were interested in this matter. They tried for a long time and discovered some characteristics of physical pollution.

First of all, this kind of physical pollution will require a long period of calcination before it starts to burn and provide calorific value.

Secondly, they will actively pile up together in the furnace, extending the calcination time.

Finally, the temperature they require is extremely high, almost approaching the melting point of steel. What kind of boiler can withstand this?!
All of this makes it a very poor fuel.

"I've discovered a way to make pollution burn better."

"Uh-huh?"

Hughes sat up straight. This was a big deal. If he could really use physical pollution as fuel, he might be able to solve the energy problem.

"How to solve it?"

"Scold it."

"??????"

(End of this chapter)