Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

Hughes thought for a moment. It indeed made sense. With the Resistance Army now on the verge of collapse, it would already be fortunate if they could hold out in the forest. Worrying about losing contact with them seemed entirely unnecessary.

His gaze steadied—time was short. It was best to try out this plan first.

“Ash, how many Banshees can go into battle right now?”

“All twenty squads are ready.”

“Squads?” Hughes paused. Seeing Nini’s eager expression, he remembered. “Ah, the War Correspondent Team. How’s the selection going?”

Nini quickly replied, “All selected! But the structure of the squad consists of one Banshee and many Holy Guards. The Holy Guards can’t exactly go out to sea right now.”

“So that means there are twenty Banshees in total?”

“That’s not counting the medical team. All together, about eighty or so.” Nini thought for a while, then exchanged a rapid burst of communication through the Mind Link with Ash before answering.

“That number includes those willing to fight—actually, everyone wants to go out and have some fun. But the Banshee Duty Room still needs people on standby, Castel’s shipyard also needs staff. Tata desperately needs us to provide firsthand data from shipwrecks, and Richard’s shooting range also requires assistants.”

Hughes nodded. “Eighty people is already plenty. Divide them into groups and send them in rotation. The Winter Wolves only number a few hundred at most—I think twenty Banshees clustered together could easily crush them.”

“No need!” Nini proudly raised her head, six hands on her waist. “One of us equals six men! Twenty Banshees make a hundred and twenty hands—Banshees can fight ten to one!”

Hughes blinked, almost fooled by her arithmetic. “But each person already has two hands—you’re double-counting.”

“I can reload with one hand. The Winter Wolves can’t!”

“...”

In the end, Hughes decided to have the Banshees travel along the coast toward the Northlands.

Extraordinaries could not usually fight on the battlefield because individuals could not counter a whole army—but if there were enough of them to form an army, that was another matter entirely.

“Bring plenty of ammunition and supplies. As for weapons, there’s no rush. Against Pistol Cavalry, you don’t need overwhelming firepower—sustained fire is more important.”

After some thought, Hughes added, “Try to make as much contact with the Resistance as possible. Send any critical intel back immediately. We desperately need battlefield information right now.”

“Intelligence, huh...” Nini frowned. Fighting or providing support was fine, but intelligence work wasn’t exactly a Banshee’s specialty.

Though Banshees could communicate via the Symbiotic Contract, their sheer size and the fact that they were non-human made it impossible for them to carry out infiltration missions.

“I’ll try to contact the Ashen Alliance or the Resistance. Sending intelligence back won’t be a problem. But going into towns to gather rumors? Spare me.” Nini swished her tail irritably, then suddenly remembered something.

“If we appear on the battlefield like this, won’t it attract the Church of Candlelight?”

“Let them come.” Hughes sneered. “Make sure to tell them Castel’s location, so they don’t get lost.”

The memory of being slain by the Candlelight Church was still vivid. Hughes’s opinion of the Church was already deeply negative.

Still, after a pause, he turned toward Richard. “How many Extraordinaries will the Candlelight Church send? Are they a big threat to the Banshees?”

The Moths Chasing Fire had long been the Candlelight Church’s rival. Richard didn’t even hesitate before replying. “The Church usually sends one Investigator for each anomaly. A diocese is lucky to have one or two Extraordinaries at all. Back during that disaster a decade ago, they mobilized every Investigator they could—just a few dozen in total—and most of them died there. They still haven’t fully replenished their numbers.”

Hughes was genuinely surprised. “You mean the Church has only a few dozen Extraordinaries in total?”

“Not quite. It’s probably over a hundred—but that’s just the ones on the surface.”

Hughes nodded. In that case, the Banshees truly were a considerable Extraordinary force.

“And in direct combat, Banshees have a huge advantage over Investigators.”

“When Banshees face Investigators head-on, it’s total domination in every aspect. The only issue is tracking—they’re poor at pursuit. I’d say it takes two or three Investigators to counter a single Banshee.”

Richard adjusted his monocle. “Besides, Banshees have this trait—their combat effectiveness rises exponentially with numbers. The Mind Link and shared vitality might seem like support abilities, but they provide enormous tactical benefits in real battle.”

Hughes knew that well. He had long studied the advantages of Banshees in combat.

“So, I’ve basically got a hundred Banshees—almost equal to the entire Candlelight Church?”

Richard gave a wry smile. “Not quite. Direct combat between Extraordinaries is actually rare. You yourself seldom deploy Extraordinaries directly onto the battlefield, right?”

Indeed, Hughes had long realized that the Banshees’ Mind Link and the Self-Binding of the Chrysalis were far more practical than their raw combat power.

“Only those like us—hard to track—draw the Candlelight Church’s Investigators. But if they encounter heretics like Mira, the Church just uses regular human troops.”

“Extraordinaries are never the main characters of war.”

Hughes nodded.

“So the Candlelight Church’s infiltration can only target isolated individuals. They have no real countermeasure for a fully organized Banshee unit. That puts my mind at ease. Ash, assemble the team for the Northland support mission.”

“Understood.” Ash nodded simply.

“That’s all for this meeting. The Expeditionary Army will make corresponding adjustments. I’ll notify the relevant leaders later. Meeting adjourned.”

After everyone left, Hughes rubbed his temples. To be honest, the Northlands’ situation was far beyond what he had expected.

The biggest issue lay in intelligence.

Castel’s delayed intelligence flow was a real headache.

Castel had little foundation outside its island, and most information about the Northland expedition still came from the Prince’s side.

Although the Prince shared intelligence freely, the era’s technological limitations were simply too great.

The Prince had a well-developed intelligence system, and reports from the Northlands came regularly—but by the time they arrived, they were already severely outdated.

For instance, this latest Resistance Army report was delivered directly by one of Isaac’s men, who rode nonstop from the Northlands. Luck had been on his side—smooth travel all the way, avoiding all trouble.

Yet even so, the information was already fifteen days old.

On the Prince’s side, intelligence usually arrived with about a one-month delay—and that was in ideal conditions, which was already impressive for this age.

There was simply no helping it. The distance was too great, and the only way to deliver intel was by human couriers. Quick delivery was a fantasy.

A one-month-old report was still fine for adjusting the Expeditionary Army’s marching plan—but for urgent reinforcements?

By the time help arrived, it would be a month and a half later.

The limitation was simply too severe.

Having lived on Blue Star, where information spread instantly through networks and radio waves—where an airplane crash today meant videos everywhere tomorrow—Hughes found this medieval pace of intelligence unbearable.

Moreover, depending solely on the Prince’s network also carried risks.

No, he had to develop radio transmitters as soon as possible.

A month’s journey might be long for couriers, but for shortwave radios, it was merely a few atmospheric reflections away. And with no electromagnetic interference in this era, the radios might perform extraordinarily well.

Radio technology wasn’t exactly high science. Given Castel’s current level of industrialization, they had already reached the threshold—it was worth attempting.

Hughes decided to sketch the schematic now and have the researchers tackle it immediately.

But suddenly, he froze mid-stroke.

“Is this radio really safe?”

“If there’s a Sea God’s corpse in the ocean, could there be... something else in the atmosphere too?”

“What if my radio starts picking up... strange things?”