Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord-Chapter 92: Undercurrents Surging

Hughes returned to the manor smoothly.

For some reason, he felt an inexplicable sense of unease.

The mysterious disappearance of worker Hughes’ corpse weighed on him like a heavy stone pressing against his chest.

Who could have swapped it right under the Candlelight Church’s nose?

Wait, under the Candlelight Church’s nose…

Hughes suddenly furrowed his brows.

That corpse had been full of pollution.

It took Hughes a long time to purify it before he finished.

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If the Candlelight Church knew about this, it made sense for them to bury it in such a remote place.

But during today’s burial, there had been no ritual or any sort of procedure, just a simple, direct burial.

That was odd.

Did the Candlelight Church knowingly bury a polluted corpse?

Did the church possess a unique purification method, or...

Did they already know the coffin was empty?

Hughes took a deep breath.

The ominous feeling grew stronger.

"No, I need to ask Connor!"

A maid peeked in at the doorway, then quickly ran off to find Connor.

Connor had been busy these days, especially with tomorrow’s banquet.

He was currently in the reception hall, directing the servants in their preparations.

After a while, he arrived at the study.

"Young Master, you called for me?"

"Tell me about the Candlelight Church’s burial rituals. Yes, specifically about today’s burial of that cultist."

Connor was a bit surprised.

"Today’s burial ritual? It didn’t seem like much of a ritual, they just buried the body directly.

The church lacked manpower, so our people handled everything."

"I already know that. What I want to ask is, does the Candlelight Church always bury cultists this way?"

This question was clearly beyond his knowledge.

Connor thought for a long moment before shaking his head.

"I’ve never seen other cultists being buried. They don’t seem to have public burials. Come to think of it, isn’t it strange? Aren’t cultists usually executed in secret? Why bring one here for burial?"

Hughes’ heart sank.

So the Candlelight Church didn’t have such a tradition.

Then what were they really trying to do?

"Young Master, are you worried that—"

Hughes hesitated for a moment before decisively speaking.

"I’ll be direct, the coffin I checked was empty!

There was no cultist inside!"

"You checked it? Wait, wasn’t it already buried?

Hold on, empty?!"

"Yes. I’m worried someone stole the body. I don’t know what for, and it was buried only this afternoon. By evening, it was gone. There’s a high chance—"

"A high chance that something’s about to happen!"

Connor couldn’t sit still anymore.

He quickly strode towards the door.

"I’ll go inform Miss Beatrice!"

"Wait a moment."

Connor turned around, confused, only to see Hughes sigh lightly.

Hughes didn’t dislike the idea of letting Beatrice, the investigator, handle the issue.

But thinking it through, there were too many doubts in this matter.

First and foremost, did Beatrice, or rather, the Candlelight Church, even know about this?

"Stealing a body right under our noses in a single afternoon, how difficult would that be?"

"The burial site was only a few meters away from Sister Chloe’s room. Swapping the body without alerting her was nearly impossible."

"A more likely scenario is that the Candlelight Church already knew about this." Connor opened his mouth but ultimately remained silent.

Indeed, it was more likely that the Candlelight Church staged the entire act.

Perhaps there had never been a cultist’s corpse to begin with.

If Hughes went to Beatrice now, even just to probe, there was a significant chance he’d expose himself.

They might have used this body as bait, waiting for Hughes to take the hook.

Both Beatrice and the Candlelight Church were likely in it.

"And even if Miss Beatrice doesn’t know about it, do you think she could really do anything?"

Both of them had seen Beatrice’s records.

She was a newly promoted Investigator with no prior experience handling extraordinary affairs.

That was why Hughes had been able to easily manipulate her into staying behind closed doors.

When it came to dealing with these kinds of problems, Hughes had far more experience than she did.

After all, pollution had already descended more than once.

"Do we still have firearms? Aside from that one?"

Hughes gestured toward the gun holster at Connor’s waist.

"We do, but only long rifles."

"Get them ready. If cultists are involved, we might need them."

"Understood, Young Master."

"Also, increase security at the manor. Make sure there are enough night watchmen. If cultists plan on making a move, this place could be in danger."

On the island, only a few locations were valuable targets.

The northern residential area had a dense population.

The manor housed him and the Candlelight Church’s investigator.

Then there were the factories, but Hughes wasn’t too concerned about those.

Factories could be rebuilt.

Besides, he was planning to upgrade them with Model II machinery anyway, which meant partial demolition was inevitable.

Connor acknowledged the orders and left.

Hughes then activated the Mind Link.

『Everyone, get ready. Level III alert. Keep several squads on standby near the beaches, ready to deploy at any time.』

『Activate two battlefield channels. Report any anomalies immediately!』

The Sirens raised their heads in surprise, exchanging glances before rushing to the hall to grab their weapons.

A Level III alert didn’t require full mobilization.

Most Sirens only needed to prepare themselves.

Apart from a few landing squads, the others just had to carry their weapons with them.

"Ash, is there another pollution event?"

Ash looked up, eyes filled with concern.

"No… it might be even worse."

Hughes paced quickly in his room.

He had considered letting the Sirens take control of the entire island, but ultimately held back.

If they showed themselves, they would almost certainly clash with the Candlelight Church.

That could startle the real cultists into hiding.

It was better to wait and observe.

Besides, he wasn’t completely out of options.

『Ash, you take over command for now. I have something to handle and will be back soon.』

『Understood.』

Ash’s response was always firm and reliable.

Hughes couldn’t help but breathe a little easier.

He sat in his chair, then lowered his head as his expression gradually became blank.

That’s right, he planned to return to the palace and descend into worker Hughes’ body.

No matter whether the cultists were scheming or the Candlelight Church was baiting him, the key to everything remained the same: the corpse.

He knew the least about this situation.

Yet he had the one advantage, he could control the corpse.

No one knew he could descend into it.

That was his ultimate trump card.

Wasting no time, Hughes scanned the Golden Throne’s surroundings.

Nothing seemed out of place.

He immediately turned his attention to worker Hughes.

Worker Hughes slowly lifted his head.

His expression became lively, revealing a slightly shy smile.

Darkness swallowed his vision.

When he opened his eyes again—

A place brightly lit…

Wait, wasn’t he supposed to be inside the coffin?

Where was this?!