Chapter 597 : Something’s Wrong—Did the Holy Text Come True?
Chapter 597: Something’s Wrong—Did the Holy Text Come True?
The Machine Soul of Ten Thousand Engines?
Everyone’s eyes lit up.
The name felt inexplicably fitting, giving them a sense that “it was always meant to be called this.” It was as if they had not coined a new name at all, but had instead retrieved an original designation from their memories.
And as Hughes’s words fell, every steam engine in Castel, countless pieces of steel that had given birth to machine souls, and even the Gatling inside Gwen’s box all fell silent for a brief moment, as though lost in remembrance.
In the next instant, a grand sound resounded across the skies above Castel.
Like tens of thousands of great bells tolling in unison, all of Castel’s machines erupted into jubilation. The roar of boilers, the blare of steam whistles, the meshing of gears, the friction of bearings, and the clash of steel all rang out at once, like the unified, devout praise of believers.
The people of Castel raised their heads as if by shared intuition. There was nothing special in the sky, yet they all felt as though they had witnessed the birth of some colossal existence.
“The Machine Soul of Ten Thousand Engines.”
Workers, clerics, Church Guards, researchers, mentors—perhaps influenced by the earlier Mind Resonance—people of entirely different professions now found their thoughts uncannily aligned. That God of Ten Thousand Machines was born from the aggregation of their wills. Whether human, banshee, or machine soul, all of them felt, without exception, a sense of intimacy.
The Machine Soul of Ten Thousand Engines—an incomparably vast, indescribable existence—yet to the people of Castel, it felt almost like… a child.
If a child was the continuation of its parents’ lives, then the Machine Soul of Ten Thousand Engines was the continuation of Castel’s will. It had been created by the will of the people, and it would inevitably carry out the will of Castel.
“Gwen, you might really have created something incredible,” Hughes murmured to himself.
“Is that so?” Gwen scratched her head, revealing a slightly embarrassed smile, and asked softly, “Then… then I should be able to find a job in Castel, right? Um, I mean, at least I won’t starve to death?”
“Then you’ll have to work plenty of overtime,” Nini said, crossing all six arms over her chest. “Machine souls, cult leaders—anyone who comes to Castel has to work overtime. Don’t even think about running away.”
“Ahem, don’t listen to her nonsense,” Hughes shot Nini a fierce glare. “Castel, in principle, doesn’t encourage overtime. Chloe? That was voluntary—personal interest.”
After saying that, Hughes hurriedly pulled Richard over. “You’ll follow him and do research for a while. You don’t understand research? That’s exactly why we need you not to understand research. Just go with your instincts—whatever you think of, just do it!”
Richard forced a complicated smile. “Right, try it first.”
“But before that, you still have one task,” Hughes said, his gaze shifting to Nora on Gwen’s chest.
“Go to the hospital first—to the priests of the Silent Sanctum.”
Today, the people of Castel were particularly unable to focus on work.
The earlier emergency assembly, and the sudden appearance of the Steel Ark at sea, had already drawn everyone’s attention. But the subsequent Mind Resonance was the real highlight.
The only silver lining was that no additional explanations were needed. The Mind Resonance allowed all island residents to clearly understand everything, and even the Machine Soul of Ten Thousand Engines that appeared afterward was something they could vaguely sense.
Who could still focus on work after this?
So, aside from a few people left at the most critical posts, most factories on the island temporarily took a holiday.
What? Would this affect production?
The workers had already explained things properly to the steam engines. The production lines could just let the steam engines keep watch themselves. Wherever a part went wrong, the steam engine could just curse at it a few times.
As a result, Castel was unusually lively today. The coastline was packed with people, all gathered to watch the massive Steel Ark.
And there was no need to worry about blocked views—the ship was so large that it was almost like a second Castel.
No… not just almost. The way people looked at it, they had practically already treated it as another Castel.
Besides the people on the shore, the sky was just as crowded. This was almost certainly the largest number of airships to take off simultaneously on the island. People crowded around the observation windows, pressing their faces to the glass, gazing intoxicated at the enormous steel creation.
There was no helping it—it was simply too perfectly aligned with Castel’s aesthetic.
Rust-eaten steel, an immense body, cold and razor-sharp lines.
Oh, and those steel sails and the massive paddle wheels.
Whether it was practical or not didn’t matter—it truly exuded the raw power of industry.
Jeremiah was already swimming in the sea, staring endlessly at the great ship, until the Black Pearl used a raised section of its deck to toss him straight into the water.
Besides the islanders, there were also several ships with a more outdated style.
The Prince stood by the railing, holding binoculars and gazing at the distant Steel Ark, letting out a sigh.
Then he lowered the binoculars, looked at the somewhat decayed wooden deck beneath his feet, and sighed again.
“Sigh… Galahad, do you think I’m just not suited to dealing with ships? The navy before was already like that, and now… sigh.”
Galahad forced out an awkward yet respectful expression. Even for him, whenever the Empire’s navy was mentioned, what came to mind were various jokes.
And then there was the Steel Ark before them.
Longing appeared on Galahad’s face.
This ship was incredible.
If he could have this ship, aside from betraying the Empress, he would be willing to do anything.
Naturally, when his gaze landed on Gwen, a trace of jealousy surfaced.
They were both Transcendents—so why hadn’t he been able to summon a Steel Ark like this?
Hm?
Galahad’s eyes suddenly lit up. Gwen was a Transcendent, and so was he. Maybe he could summon one as well. Perhaps it was just a matter of the summoning process?
No, he had to find an opportunity to talk to Gwen, to ask her how to summon it.
Next to the Prince’s ship, several smaller, old-style ironclad warships were anchored.
These were all models that had been phased out by the Castel navy and had now been handed over to the people of the Mystics.
Josh was standing on the deck at this moment, staring blankly at the two massive black silhouettes in the distance—Castel, and the Steel Ark beside it.
He began to doubt his own life choices.
“High Priest Josh, I told you—Lord Hughes really is a god, right?” a believer beside him said with a face full of fervor.
If this had been before, Josh would have scoffed. After all, those Holy Texts of the Mystics had all been compiled by his own hand. Whether Hughes was a god or not—how could he not know?
But now, he realized that perhaps he truly did not know anymore.
At the moment the Machine Soul of Ten Thousand Engines was born, he too had felt that colossal will. As a person of Castel, he could naturally sense the part of that will that was the same as his own.
This was yet another miraculous creation of Castel.
Just how many miracles did Castel have? Josh could not count them.
Could it be that the Holy Text he had compiled was actually real?