Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

As the boiler burned, the water in the steam chamber gradually heated up, and the piston let out a few strange noises before slowly starting to move.

Soon, the flywheel began to turn.

Ken let out a deep breath and smiled.

"My lord, we succeeded."

Succeeded? Perhaps, but now was not the time to relax.

Hughes still held onto Ken’s shoulder, not letting go.

The normal operation of the steam engine was only the first step. The most critical concern was ensuring no pollution descended afterward.

『All units, take note. The steam engine has started running. Stay vigilant.』

『Understood.』

These trainees had already received some subtle hints, making them aware that the lord had stationed additional personnel here.

Hughes planned to first test their attitudes, if they were receptive, he would consider publicly revealing the existence of the Sirens.

Hughes was fairly confident about this. These trainees had been carefully selected for their interest in learning and scientific research, meaning they were relatively open-minded.

It seemed there wouldn’t be much issue in revealing the Sirens to them.

Previously, Connor, Alexei, and Zoe had all interacted well with the Sirens, which made Hughes optimistic.

But this matter could not be rushed. Hughes planned to probe gradually, moving too fast might break their cognitive barriers and cause contamination.

Besides the Sirens, there were many other things to address, such as preventing pollution, cognitive interference, and cognitive barriers, all of which Hughes intended to disclose at an appropriate time.

After running for some time, the steam engine was shut down. The trainees stepped forward again to inspect both the engine and its stabilizing mechanisms.

Once they confirmed everything was in order, they all broke into genuine smiles.

Hughes took a step forward, clapped his hands to get their attention, and then announced with a smile,

"The ignition was a success! Your hard work was not in vain. Tonight, I’ll have food sent over, and we’ll hold a celebration here!"

The trainees erupted in cheers. Hughes had previously informed them they would need to stay here for an entire day, this was a measure to prevent cognitive interference.

Speaking of which, the Moths Chasing Fire seemed to have more advanced methods for dealing with pollution. It was a good opportunity to learn from them.

Hughes glanced toward Chloe in the crowd.

Yes, Chloe had also joined the advanced class and was now studying alongside the trainees.

Hughes had chatted with Chloe briefly before, and the result had surprised him, Chloe had an in-depth understanding of steam engine structures and even proposed improvements for multi-stage exhaust utilization.

This had been an unexpected delight. If all the members of the Moths Chasing Fire cult were at this level, then deeper collaboration was entirely possible.

He could provide them with land and protection while they pursued their beloved scientific research, as long as they didn’t spend all their time trying to summon an Outer God, everything was negotiable.

As for their loyalty? That wasn’t much of a concern. The world was vast, but there were few places where the Moths Chasing Fire could find refuge.

According to Chloe, they had even tried to establish settlements in uninhabited wilderness, only to abandon them later, they still relied on human society for experimental materials.

In fact, their arrival at Castel this time was to explore whether they could find a small island to serve as their cult’s headquarters.

Their vision was to locate a resource-rich island and maintain connections with the outside world through trade caravans, this way, they could stay away from human society while still obtaining necessary supplies.

It had to be said, their idea aligned perfectly with Hughes’ own plans for Castel.

Sensing Hughes’ gaze, Chloe subtly moved closer.

"What is it?"

"I want to know how you avoid knowledge pollution. I want to compile a set of guidelines for handling dangerous knowledge."

"You need that?"

Chloe looked surprised. "I’ve told you so many dangerous things before, yet you haven’t been affected at all. I was about to ask you how you avoid contamination."

"That’s different. I’m special—I have a way to purify pollution."

"Purify pollution!?"

Chloe’s eyes turned red with envy. "That’s amazing."

If they had the ability to purify pollution, they wouldn’t have to go through all the trouble of summoning an Outer God, and so many people wouldn’t have had to die.

She almost couldn’t resist the urge to ask more about it. But such precious knowledge was likely beyond what they could afford.

Hughes scratched his head at this. He didn’t know why pollution was automatically purified once it entered his body, but he had to admit, this ability had saved his life more than once.

In fact, this ability could even be shared with the Sirens. If he developed it properly, perhaps more people could use it in the future.

After all, the runes drawn with his blood could already stabilize pollution within a boiler.

"If I had a way to purify pollution, I could study whatever I wanted, how wonderful that would be."

Chloe muttered to herself, the envy in her eyes almost dripping out.

"Actually, your current teaching method is very effective. Teaching all knowledge from the ground up, with no missing gaps, is actually the best way to prevent knowledge pollution."

"Oh? Then I was lucky. Initially, I only taught in such detail to avoid cognitive interference."

"Cognitive interference? That’s an accurate description." Chloe nodded. "Most polluted knowledge consists of ancient secrets or cutting-edge research findings. If you can truly have these trainees learn everything from the basics, in theory, they should be able to avoid knowledge-induced pollution."

At this point, Chloe’s expression dimmed slightly, as if recalling something unpleasant.

"Unfortunately, this requires a complete educational system and uninterrupted long-term learning, which is nearly impossible."

Why would that be impossible? Hughes frowned. Large churches and even the royal family should have such foundational structures, right?

Wouldn’t throwing money at the problem solve most of it?

Oh… wait. Perhaps they already had internal academies training a group of specialized personnel, but they simply didn’t make it public?

"Large organizations hoarding knowledge, monopolizing it?"

"Yes."

Chloe nodded bitterly. "The knowledge we risk our lives to uncover might be common sense to them, but they keep it locked away. Only the highest-ranking members of their organizations have access to it. Even when we manage to steal small fragments, we can’t study them properly because too much foundational knowledge is missing."

Indeed, systematic professional knowledge required long-term study, if you lacked the basics, even having research papers thrown in your face wouldn’t help…

Wait. Did she just say they stole knowledge?

Hughes’ expression darkened.