The newly built ship had set sail.
Hughes took advantage of the crowd to publicly announce the newspaper and the opening of trade routes. This was a spur-of-the-moment decision, but the result turned out even better than he had expected.
Kyle, who was as burly as a bear, had reddened eyes. Zoe also wore an expression of resolute determination. The rest of the Holy Guard were all so excited, it was as if they were ready to die for Castel.
Even Hughes himself felt a little helpless.
The most probable scenario was that Connor didn’t know Blood Harbor had declared independence from the Empire, and had gone directly to negotiate with the prince—only to end up detained.
If that were really the case, then friction between Castel and the Principality of Tis would be inevitable. If things could be resolved through negotiation, that would be ideal. But Hughes feared that the prince might already be resorting to any means necessary in preparation for war against the Empire.
In that case, the newspaper—able to follow the entire process and report it—could help Hughes shape public perception on the island. No matter how the matter unfolded, he would stand justified in the eyes of the law.
That prince had a good reputation, and Hughes admired his years of endurance and scheming. If possible, peaceful negotiation would still be preferable.
Even though Castel had unlocked quite a few war-related technologies, Hughes still hoped to befriend the surrounding powers—because war would affect his ability to dump products into foreign markets. With Castel’s level of industrialization, earning loyalty through exporting goods to neighbors was far more efficient than conquest.
If free trade could solve the problem, then why resort to knives and guns?
Of course, if the other party refused free trade, that would be a different story.
And none of this could happen without the support of the newspaper’s publicity.
That was why Hughes not only wanted to run a newspaper, but to run it on a grand scale—ideally selling it all the way into neighboring countries to seize the power of public discourse.
Opening up trade routes followed the same logic. Making money from selling goods was obvious, but another major goal was to attract more population. Even back when Castel’s industry hadn’t yet taken off, Hughes had already sent Nora to the Northlands to recruit people. Now, with an even more urgent labor shortage, population growth was essential to expansion.
Moreover, the smooth flow of trade routes also meant Castel’s influence could spread outward.
Castel now had all kinds of industrial products, a range of advanced systems, and considerable overall strength, yet its influence outside was practically nonexistent.
That was because it had too little contact with the outside world, and nothing facilitated contact better than commerce.
So developing trade routes was essential, and bringing back the families of islanders would also effectively boost cohesion.
Over the next few days, Hughes mobilized a large number of mechanical engineers to the shipyard. Although the shipyard had only just begun construction, several ship designs were already under planning.
The main focus for now was cargo ships and armed cargo ships. While there were designs for purely military battleships, he didn’t plan to build too many of those.
Hughes had a hunch that Castel’s future battlefield might not be at sea.
Of course, for the time being, a few warships would still need to be built for the sake of appearances.
Shipbuilding required a massive amount of steel. Hughes hadn’t even considered wooden ships—despite Gem Bay having a large stockpile of usable timber.
Clinging to outdated production capacity would only lead to rapid elimination. Castel didn’t have a large population and couldn’t compete with other forces in that regard. So technology had to aim high-end.
Fortunately, Castel had been tempered by war. Ironworks stood in great numbers, and steel production had now reached an astonishing level.
To put it simply, the only factor limiting Castel’s steel production now was the mining speed of ore.
Steam power had been introduced early on at the mines. Although miners were still required, machines had replaced most of the heavy labor. Additionally, most of the island’s veins were open-pit, so the efficiency of ore extraction was quite impressive.
Every day, several trains left the southwestern mining areas, transporting different categories of ores to various smelting factories.
On another front, in the main cathedral, Castel’s first newspaper office was officially established.
Hughes had originally considered putting Zoe in charge, but she had recently joined the Mind Link. Plus, Hughes had discovered an even better option—a group of people more suited to running a newspaper than Zoe.
The Banshees.
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These Banshees had long been used to idly chatting in the Mind Link all day. Many of them were natural gossipers, and some had even become self-taught journalists.
Once the newspaper project was announced, a large flock of Banshees eagerly signed up with excited chatter.
Their professionalism was top-notch. Writing articles came easily to them, and with the Mind Link in place, all their output could be instantly displayed before Hughes.
He had to admit—this race was born for this.
However, Hughes didn’t bother assigning specific staff to the newspaper office. He didn’t have time for such details anymore. Something more important needed his attention—
Monica was about to wake up.
It was Richard who came to find Hughes and informed him that Monica’s condition had basically fully recovered. The Banshees had also taken it upon themselves to watch over her in shifts.
Through the connection of the Symbiotic Contract, Hughes could feel that Monica was indeed out of danger.
After briefly contacting the Banshees, Hughes walked toward the Banshees’ adjacent duty room.
Monica was there.
Though called a duty room, it was closer to a large activity center.
The design of Castel’s main cathedral had considered the Banshees’ ease of movement, with most of the ceilings over four meters tall. The Banshees felt no sense of confinement moving around inside.
The duty room itself was spacious. Besides the work areas, there were many recreational facilities—like long tables specially made for waxing scales, or a solid steel platform strong enough to support six hands arm-wrestling at once.
The place where Monica lay was a modest-sized bed, taken from the human barracks—just the right size for her.
Right now, the wide rest area was packed with Banshees. Every Banshee on the island had gathered here.