Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord-Chapter 89 : Oh No, I Became a God

After a while, Hughes opened his eyes again from the throne.

This chapt𝒆r is updated by frёewebηovel.cѳm.

He had just descended once more to confirm that Worker Hughes no longer had any abnormalities. It seemed that he had truly become nothing more than an ordinary shell.

After pondering for a long time without coming to any conclusions, Hughes had no better options and could only prepare to descend into the body of Lord Hughes.

But when he looked at Lord Hughes, he subconsciously glanced at Worker Hughes.

He hoped everything would go smoothly.

Hughes suddenly froze.

Where did that voice come from?

Who was speaking?

"I am about to read this forbidden knowledge. May the Lord bless me so that I am not polluted."

"Lord, please let the cafeteria not serve fruit porridge again at lunch today!"

"My Lord, please grant me 3,000 Lios to repay my loan."

What was this strange voice?

Why did it sound so much like… a prayer?

Alright, it was definitely a prayer, but the key question was, why could he hear it?

What did this have to do with him?

He was still sitting on the Golden Throne!

Hughes had always thought that the only connection between this place and the mortal world was his ability to descend into a body. But now, could prayers reach him as well?

Hughes felt an immense shock, no less than discovering that soap had turned into olive-flavored food.

Subconsciously, he shifted his gaze away from Worker Hughes.

The voices disappeared.

Hughes took a deep breath.

He looked at Worker Hughes again, and the prayers sounded in his ears once more.

When he moved his gaze away, all those scattered voices vanished completely.

Hughes fell silent.

"So, it really is coming from this body…"

It wasn’t hard to guess the source of these voices. It had to be believers praying to a god, right?

But why could he hear them?

First, he wasn’t a god.

Second, he had no followers.

So why had these prayers reached him?

Looking at the gaping hole in Worker Hughes’ chest, Hughes couldn’t help but frown. It seemed that this body held even more secrets than he had imagined.

The voices he had just heard were both male and female. Though he hadn’t caught every word clearly, he was certain they hadn’t come from those workers.

If they weren’t from the workers in his past life, then where did these believers come from?

Could they be followers of the Candlelight Church?

That seemed possible.

The Candlelight Church had killed Worker Hughes and deliberately transported him to this remote island. No matter how one looked at it, there was some kind of conspiracy involved.

Hughes stroked his chin.

He could only hear these prayers when looking at Worker Hughes, so what would happen if he fully descended into that body?

As soon as he thought of it, Hughes acted. Very soon, he was back inside the coffin.

"Lord, please forgive my sins."

"I hope my novel sells well."

"I pray that the book I stole from the library is never discovered!"

The prayers poured in continuously, even clearer than when he had heard them on the throne.

Hughes’ eyelid twitched. He silently returned to the throne.

"Oh no, this body… could it be…"

"That it has become a god?"

At the long table in the study, Hughes slowly lifted his head.

He didn’t move immediately but instead stayed still for a while, as if waiting for something.

Then, he let out a long breath.

"Good, I can’t hear the prayers anymore."

If he had still been able to hear the prayers after descending, that would have been a huge problem. It might have meant that the body was affecting him instead of the other way around.

But for now, it seemed fine. The bodies remained independent from each other, and hearing prayers was only related to Worker Hughes.

"Still, this is way too bizarre… How can I suddenly hear prayers?"

Logically speaking, the most likely conclusion was that, for some unknown reason, Worker Hughes had become a god and could hear prayers.

Then, when Hughes purified the pollution inside Worker Hughes, he also somehow gained divine power.

Of course, this was just speculation based purely on imagination, he had no real evidence.

For example, this so-called divine power only let him listen to prayers. He couldn’t even respond, let alone use any other abilities.

Besides, Worker Hughes’ body had previously moved on its own, but now it couldn’t. Hughes strongly suspected that whatever had controlled it before had been purified along with the pollution.

In other words, he hadn’t just purified the pollution, he had also purified the god that had been in there.

Of course, this idea was so outrageous that even he didn’t believe it.

How could a god be purified so easily, without even the slightest resistance?

Regardless, he had now acquired a strange ability to hear prayers.

"Although it’s useless… it does point me in a direction."

The Candlelight Church must be plotting something.

What exactly had happened after Worker Hughes’ death?

He had to find a way to investigate.

Hughes narrowed his eyes.

"Alright, let’s go check on that body first."

He activated the Mind Link, and countless points of light emerged in his consciousness.

『Ash.』

『I’m listening.』

『Can you come to me? No, I’ll come find you』

Hughes turned to look outside.

His experiments and purification process had taken quite some time. It was already dark.

"Nighttime? That works out perfectly."

It didn’t take long for Hughes to reach the church, accompanied by Ash.

"Can you see inside the church from here?"

"Not very well. My perception abilities also struggle to penetrate the stone walls. Plus, the church seems to be under some kind of passive protection, something that was established when it was built."

Ash’s words were a bit unclear, but Hughes still understood what she meant.

He had noticed when entering the church that it had been carefully designed. The confessional even contained traces of hidden Extraordinary power.

The Candlelight Church’s churches had a certain level of defense against supernatural perception.

That made sense.

A remote church like this might have to deal with cultists or other threats. Of course, it would need some means of self-preservation.

By now, it was already deep into the night.

Sister Chloe’s room had long gone dark, and no sound could be heard.

But Hughes didn’t dare to be careless.

The box containing his body was buried in the churchyard, directly visible from Chloe’s window.

It was too close.

Even the smallest noise might wake her.

Hughes wasn’t confident that he could complete this operation in total silence.

But he couldn’t just storm in and knock her unconscious, could he?

Brother Kaeski was ill, but that didn’t mean he was incapable of fighting.

A direct confrontation was unnecessary.

Hughes planned to dig the body out quietly.

As for how to do that…

Hughes looked around.

He and Ash were currently hiding in the woods near the church.

There was a wall between them and the burial site, but the direct distance was only a few dozen meters.

『Ash, are you good at digging holes?』

Ash froze for a moment.