Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord
Chapter 657 : The City of Dreams
Gaia had not guessed wrong. The three of them soon received an invitation to the banquet.
And the negotiations, which had previously been dragged out endlessly, suddenly became efficient. The Mechanical Sanctum finalized the transaction procedures at remarkable speed and requested that they transport the traded goods—the Steam Rifles and other Holy Relics.
As for the materials to be provided by the Mechanical Sanctum, it was said that they would be handed over personally by His Holiness the Pope (Female). The exchange would take place during the banquet, as a demonstration of the importance both the Church of Candlelight and the Mechanical Sanctum attached to the matter.
The moment Gaia and Zoe heard this arrangement, their hearts skipped a beat.
Why did this procedure sound so strange?
Could it be that the Mechanical Sanctum intended to swallow their Holy Relics and simply seize them outright?
Erwin did not hesitate in the slightest. He immediately found an excuse to leave. Anyone could guess he was going to make preparations.
After all, he was merely a Mortal, while Zoe and Gaia were Transcendents. If trouble truly arose, he would only be a burden.
Gaia remained worried, but Zoe was as relaxed as ever, still attending the lectures of the Gear Sage every day.
Finally, on the eve of the banquet, Zoe was stopped by Gaia on her way back to their room.
Seeing Gaia’s anxious expression, Zoe could not help but smile.
“What’s wrong?”
Gaia fell silent for a moment, then shook her head in frustration. “Zoe, you traveled to Blood Harbor as an envoy before the Mother Goddess’ Rebellion. You should have more experience, right? Yet you still look completely unhurried. Do you know what the Mechanical Sanctum is really up to?”
“Not exactly.”
“Huh?”
“But yesterday, I went to the plaza—the place where the Airships dock. The supplies on the Airship haven’t even been unloaded yet.”
Gaia raised her brows in surprise and bit her lip thoughtfully. “You mean—”
“If the Mechanical Sanctum truly intended to seize our traded goods by force, they would have urged us long ago to unload the cargo. Yet they only made the request, with no follow-up.”
“And, Gaia, think about it. If you wanted to take our Holy Relics, what would be the most important preparation?”
Gaia’s eyes lit up. “To make sure we don’t notice.”
“Exactly. But their demands and the banquet invitation were delivered together. They made no attempt to hide anything. So—”
“They’re not targeting us?”
“Yes. I even think this is a kind of reminder. They’re being far too open about it. This banquet is probably not simple.”
Gaia was not foolish; she merely lacked experience in negotiations. The reason Hughes had sent both of them was precisely so that Zoe could make up for that shortcoming.
After thinking for a moment, Gaia lowered her voice. “Do you think this is between the two Churches?”
“Very likely. The Mechanical Sanctum and the Church of Candlelight theoretically govern Rhine together. Yet in Upper Rhine, all we’ve seen are the spires of the Church of Candlelight. We’ve barely seen any churches of the Mechanical Sanctum. And this time, we’re trading with the Mechanical Sanctum, but the one we’ll meet at the banquet is the Pope of the Church of Candlelight.”
The Mechanical Sanctum had risen with royal support, but when Empress Isabella was assassinated, it defected to the Church of Candlelight. Now it seemed the two sides were hardly united as one.
This banquet might very well be the scene of their struggle for dominance. If nothing unexpected happened, they would witness quite a spectacle.
“Will this affect our trade?”
“It shouldn’t be a big problem. Don’t forget—the procedure states that Beatrice Joanne will personally hand the technical materials to us. That should also represent the stance of the Church of Candlelight. We just need to watch the show. Whoever ultimately controls Rhine, we trade with them.”
Gaia nodded. In her heart, she had already made her own judgment.
Compared to the enormous entity that was the Church of Candlelight, the Mechanical Sanctum’s scale was somewhat insignificant. If nothing unexpected happened, this Church would soon be reduced to a puppet.
This banquet was likely its final struggle.
“No, that’s not right. The Mechanical Sanctum has no Transcendence Path and no Transcendent combat power. Although they can barely contend with Transcendents through mechanical force, the number of their Holy Relics…”
Gaia suddenly reacted. She did not know what contingencies the Mechanical Sanctum might have, but on the surface, their combat strength was completely crushed by the Church of Candlelight.
After all, the Church of Candlelight controlled the entire Empire. It had over a hundred Transcendents alone, and this was Rhine—the very core city of the Church.
“So something is bound to happen… Ah—Erwin’s back!”
Gaia turned around just as Erwin opened the door.
“Any progress?”
“Good news and bad news.” Erwin hung his coat on the rack and adjusted his hair as he spoke. “I tried to trace Frey’s whereabouts, but found nothing. However, my movements are restricted. It doesn’t necessarily mean something has happened to him.”
The three fell into silence.
They understood Rhine’s situation all too well. The entire city was almost entirely under the control of the Church of Candlelight. If Frey had disappeared as soon as he entered the city, the odds were grim.
“And the good news?”
“I might know the reason for Isaac’s disappearance.”
“!!!”
Zoe and Gaia were both startled. Isaac was the leader of the Ashen Alliance, and a Transcendent of Dual Transcendence Paths. If they could truly trace him, it would greatly help their current situation.
“I got in touch with members of the Ashes’ Alliance. They said… there’s been another change in Samorasem recently.”
“Samora… what?”
“Samorasem. The name of a city. You probably don’t recognize that name. Let me use another one—the City of Dreams.”
“Hiss—”
The two of them inhaled sharply, exchanging shocked glances.
Samorasem—the City of Dreams from which none could ever awaken. The scar of the Empire. The anomaly that had nearly buried half of the Church.
Even Gaia and Zoe, who had only recently become Transcendents, had heard of it. It was considered one of the most dangerous anomalies in history.
Their deep impression of the so-called City of Dreams came from the Mother Goddess’ Rebellion in Blood Harbor.
During that rebellion, High Priest Mira of the Life Mother Church sacrificed herself, nearly all the Followers of the Mother Goddess, and half a city’s civilians to summon the Heretical God, the Compassionate Mother. If not for the timely arrival of the Celestial Behemoth, that infinitely growing Heretical God might have become unstoppable.
And the summary given by the Moths Chasing Fire for that anomaly had been: “Second only to the City of Dreams in danger.”
Gaia, as a member of the Moths Chasing Fire, had personally participated in that discussion. Richard and Chloe had both believed that if Castel had not intervened, and if the Compassionate Mother had continued to grow, it would have resulted in another City of Dreams—one that required Transcendents to fill it with their lives.
“That anomaly happened decades ago. Almost all the Transcendents who went there to provide support died. Only two survived.”
“Isaac… and Euler.”
If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.
ReportUse arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter
Loading comments…