Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

Hughes had already conducted many tests here today, mainly because of Monica’s influence.

Machines could now have souls injected into them, so perhaps his bodies could also contain souls. If he didn’t research this in advance, he might suffer losses in this area in the future.

So, he made a list in advance, writing down all the test methods he could think of before returning to the Golden Throne to test them one by one.

For example, right now, he was preparing to test the Mind Link.

He had just tested the Symbiotic Contract, and the conclusion was that it could not be brought up.

This was easy to test because all the Sirens had signed the Symbiotic Contract with him.

Theoretically, he was the core of the contract, and without him, the vitality would not circulate in the Sirens.

Therefore, he did not hold much hope for the Mind Link either.

『Ash?』

『Nini?』『Monica?』

『Anyone, if you hear me, please respond.』

He waited for a while but received no reply. Hughes nodded.

”It seems that the Mind Link cannot be used either. Next, I’ll test that priest’s body.”

He had studied the priest’s body for some time, but no matter what method he used, he couldn’t successfully descend into it.

Hughes turned his head to look at the white-robed priest. The priest remained motionless, staring at the table like a puppet.

”Still not working. What could be the reason?”

Hughes lightly tapped the table. By now, he had gained a deeper understanding of the extraordinary world and formed his own theories.

”This priest’s body has a Sacred Emblem on it. I’ve never seen this symbol before, so it probably doesn’t belong to the Orthodox Church.”

The emblem was pinned to the collar of the white robe. The design featured a burning torch, Hughes had even used it as a reference when designing Castel’s trademark.

Although the patterns weren’t exactly the same, there were some similarities. Perhaps one day, a related organization would reach out to him because of it.

As for trouble? What trouble could there be?

No matter how powerful this church was, it couldn’t be stronger than the Orthodox Church.

His territory alone had two Orthodox Church branches: the Candlelight Order and the Silent Sanctum. He wasn’t afraid of cultists coming after him.

Oh, Chloe didn’t really count as part of the Candlelight Emblem… but Beatrice should, right? There was no way she was a disguised cultist.

Besides, he had deliberately printed the emblem out in the open to probe the surrounding organizations.

So far, at least, Chloe hadn’t reacted to it at all. Maybe this organization had already disappeared, leaving only the white-robed priest behind.

”Church… Priest…” Hughes stroked his chin. ”Could he be an Extraordinary? And Extraordinary bodies cannot be directly descended into?”

It seemed that each church possessed its own Extraordinary powers, and they varied.

The Candlelight Church had [Investigators] [Secret Keepers], while the Silent Sanctum had [Burier], each mastering different kinds of supernatural powers.

Hughes himself had little interest in Extraordinary powers, or rather, he wasn’t interested in possessing such powers himself.

The Sirens’ magic was undoubtedly useful, but he never intended to learn it himself.

He was already exhausted from handling territory affairs and teaching the advanced class every day. Where would he find the time to study the Extraordinary?

He didn’t need to go to war, nor did he need to be an Extraordinary to explore the unknown.

Now, though, it might be worth looking into. This white-robed priest’s body might hold some secrets.

Hmm, if it were convenient.

Becoming an Extraordinary was a low-priority matter for him. After all, it was just a theory, he could consider it when an opportunity arose.

Hughes then turned to look at the other bodies.

The middle-aged man and the old man, the bodies he had descended into when he first transmigrated, had both died due to various accidents.

After death, he would return directly to the Golden Throne. If it weren’t for Worker Hughes’ situation, he wouldn’t have even thought about descending into the bodies of the deceased.

Now was a good time to try.

Looking at the middle-aged man, the man slowly lifted his head, revealing an honest smile.

Hughes’ vision suddenly went black, and he felt himself falling rapidly.

A few minutes later, Hughes returned to the Throne.

He repeated the process several times. Every time he descended into the middle-aged man or the old man, it was the same: complete darkness, and he couldn’t move his body at all.

Hughes suspected that these two bodies had already been buried underground.

”Alright, now I’ve basically figured things out.”

”First, regarding Extraordinary abilities, the Extraordinary power granted by the Symbiotic Contract cannot be used in any other body, and I also cannot use it here.”

”I don’t know if actively ascending to the Extraordinary would be the same, but I suspect it might be different.”

”Secondly, whether a body is dead or alive does not affect my control over it. Only at the moment of death am I forcibly returned.”

This point was crucial.

Lord Hughes’ current identity was extremely important to him, making him somewhat constrained. After all, this body was just a mortal one, it would get tired, fall sick, and eventually die.

But the death of a body didn’t mean he couldn’t control it. Worker Hughes was proof of that, the gaping hole in his chest remained, yet he could still be controlled.

This suggested that he might only appear alive, while in reality, death had little impact on him. Even his corpse wouldn’t decay, remaining intact.

That opened up many possibilities.

”But I should still avoid taking risks. Count Hughes’ identity is too important, if my body dies and someone discovers it, that would be troublesome.”

”And then there’s the white-robed priest. Even though Worker Hughes’ body was transformed into a god, capable of hearing believers’ prayers, it didn’t stop me from descending into him. Yet, I can’t descend into the white-robed priest. This body must be hiding a great secret. I should keep an eye out for clues about this Sacred Emblem in the future.”

”Alright, that’s about it. Now, I should check on Monica.”

Monica had summoned a whole bunch of souls and couldn’t send them back. Hughes hadn’t even had a chance to see them yet.

He had come to the Golden Throne first, making sure his body and soul were fine before dealing with anything else.

At worst, if the souls couldn’t return, they would just be extra fuel for the boilers. But if something happened to his soul, that could be real trouble.

Throne Hughes closed the Mind Link, turned his head toward Lord Hughes, and was about to descend.

Then, he suddenly stopped.

Just now, when he had called out through the Mind Link, no one had responded.

That was fine, but—

”How was I even able to activate the Mind Link?”

The Mind Link was an ability granted by the Symbiotic Contract. The fact that no one responded to Hughes’ call didn’t mean he couldn’t use it.

It worked like making a phone call, if the other person didn’t pick up, that was their issue. The Symbiotic Contract, however, determined whether he had the phone in the first place.

”This doesn’t make sense. The power of the Symbiotic Contract shouldn’t carry over here.”

”Unless… Throne Hughes has also signed a Symbiotic Contract with someone?”

(End of Chapter)