Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord-Chapter 99: Soul and Shell

Chapter 99: Soul and Shell

“No, let me take a moment, let me take a moment.”

Hughes clutched his heart, his face filled with a complex expression.

He had always considered himself a reformist and couldn’t stand those stubborn conservatives, but now he suddenly felt that being a little conservative wasn’t so bad.

At least he wouldn’t have to have heart-to-heart talks with a steam engine.

Don’t be picky, just use the local coal properly. Who said imported coal has a higher calorific value? That’s all nonsense.

—Just thinking about this felt bizarre!

But looking at it from another angle, it might not be a bad thing.

In the past, when machines broke down, it took a lot of effort to repair them. Now, could he just ask the steam engine which parts needed replacing?

In other words, would repairing machines become like diagnosing illnesses?

If machines could be repaired like treating a patient, would talking therapy and placebo effects also work?

Going further, could he manipulate machines into running on their own even without fuel?

Hughes took a deep breath.

If that were the case, would the steam engine need to learn the principles of steam engines? Would it experience cognitive interference?

No, for now, this Type-II machine should still be sealed away. There were too many unstable factors. He would wait until their relationship improved before putting it into production.

Perhaps in the future, he really would have to start a new course on how to please machines.

“Monica, you are indeed very creative. I will grant you an extra bonus, and you can use it to buy whatever you want.”

“Wow! Does that mean I don’t have to copy the safety regulations anymore?”

“A reward is a reward, and a punishment is a punishment. You still have to copy the regulations.” Hughes’ expression was serious.

Though in the future, the regulations might have to be rewritten. Now that machines could think, how engineers would repair them and how workers would cooperate with them all needed to be re-explored.

Every machine might even have a different personality, and such non-standardization was an industrial nightmare.

Forget it, he would take things one step at a time.

Who knew? Maybe Monica would come up with something unexpected again and somehow solve this problem.

Monica.

Hughes suddenly realized that whether it was utilizing entity pollution or granting machines souls, both ideas had come from Monica.

How did she come up with so many ideas?

If Monica continued at this rate, he felt like the technology of the territory would become increasingly... unconventional.

Not that it was necessarily a bad thing, many of these ideas were actually useful, like the combustion method for pollution.

It was just that the way they were being used was a bit too bizarre.

“I actually have a few more ideas I haven’t had the chance to try yet…”

“Don’t try them for now. Let’s first stabilize the existing ones, like the Type-II machine and the use of entity pollution, before moving forward!”

To be honest, Hughes was getting a little scared. The speed at which Monica was coming up with new ideas was beyond his expectations, and he now felt like he was being chased by knowledge.

He had truly become a "man pursued by knowledge."

And all this knowledge was just too strange.

Perhaps this was the true form of a scientist in a world where idealism shaped reality. Hughes sighed, feeling somewhat outpaced by the times.

“You can go now. Keep conducting experiments, but first, you must follow safety regulations, no more dangerous operations. Secondly…”

“Every new idea you have must be reported to me before you put it into practice!”

“Yes, even arguing with the steam engine. Especially arguing with the steam engine!”

Monica looked a bit guilty as she walked toward the fireplace.

“Then, I’ll go shopping.”

“Buy whatever you want, but you must report it to me.”

“Alright, alright.”

She opened the fireplace, chased away the banshees who had been eavesdropping on the other side, and left the study in pursuit of them.

Hughes slumped into his chair, feeling utterly drained. This world was still too ahead of its time for him.

Just a while ago, he had been worried about cultists, but now, even though they seemed much more agreeable, at least they were still summoning eldritch gods in a traditional way, something within his realm of understanding.

Who knew? Maybe in the future, cultists would start summoning a steam god instead. Better cherish the present.

Hughes thought absently.

Suddenly, an idea popped into his head.

Since the summoning spell worked on the steam engine, could it be used on other things as well?

For example… muskets?

Could he make a gun aim by itself so that he only needed to pull the trigger?

Or have the gun vibrate at a high frequency to give the bullet a rotational force, allowing it to curve around obstacles and hit enemies behind walls?

That sounded pretty good. Just thinking about it made Hughes excited.

“Why not give it a try?”

“I wonder how long these summoned souls will last.”

Hughes was actually curious about another thing, would different people summon souls with different personalities?

He had noticed before that the same spell produced different effects depending on who cast it.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

For example, Nini had practiced for a long time before she could successfully use "Fossil to Mud" on steel.

He had thought that would open a new era of spells for the banshees, but this innovation seemed to have stopped there.

Many other banshees were interested in it and had tried for a long time, but none of them succeeded.

These spells seemed to have some kind of invisible threshold, not everyone could perform them.

In other words, each banshee’s spell effects were not entirely the same.

Maybe only Monica could attach summoned souls to machines.

“Speaking of which, what exactly are these souls, and where do they come from?”

Hughes vaguely recalled testing the summoned sea serpents before and discovering that they had a certain level of intelligence.

Could an intelligent soul be created out of thin air? Or did they have their own realm of existence?

Moreover, why did these souls always feel strangely familiar to him?

Wait, these souls were being summoned and then placed into machines or the bodies of sea serpents.

This felt very similar to…

Similar to how he had descended into a body?

Could he descend into these machines as well?

Or, conversely, could the souls Monica summoned descend into his body?

Hiss—

Hughes suddenly realized that this matter was even more complicated than he had thought.

Because his body was not ordinary.

If it were just a steam engine, at worst, it would stop working.

But if it were the worker Hughes’ body…

That body could hear the prayers of followers.

Hughes had always suspected it had already gained some divine characteristics.

If a soul were summoned into it, what would happen?

A shiver ran down Hughes’ spine.

『Monica, hold off on summoning any more souls for now. Let’s fully understand this sea serpent summoning spell before using it again.』

『Huh?』

『Do you understand?』

『I understand, but…』

『But what?』

Hughes suddenly had a bad feeling.

『It’s just that I’ve already summoned quite a few, and now they don’t want to leave.』

(End of Chapter)