Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord
Chapter 226: Another One Who Only Listens Without Speaking

Hughes was delighted. This idea seemed very promising.

As long as he randomly pulled in two people from different places, they would naturally exchange a lot of information while getting to know each other.

And he only needed to listen from the side. No matter what they discussed, it would be far more useful to him than the monotonous prayers.

Acting on his thoughts, Hughes decided to find two people to test this out. For the first attempt, he chose those with a higher chance of success.

Though Extraordinary individuals often knew more secrets than ordinary people, their knowledge also made them more wary of strange methods of communication.

So, if he chose mortals instead… Hughes quickly picked two people—Kenn and Jeremiah.

Both of them were ordinary mortals and were among the group that had left aboard the Black Pearl.

That meant they would easily recognize each other and wouldn’t be too guarded.

Kenn was young, simple-minded, and would easily lower his guard.

Jeremiah, as the captain, must know a lot about the sea and hold valuable information.

Moreover, they were most likely still on the ship.

By now, they should be returning from the Northlands.

The two of them might end up discussing the sea, or at the very least, they would talk about their own bodies—after all, Hughes had once been aboard the Black Pearl.

Hughes clumsily searched through the white threads—each representing someone connected to him.

After a while, he frowned in confusion.

"Strange, why can’t I find anyone from Castel Island?"

He could find plenty of people outside the island, but no one on it.

Was Castel Island’s isolation from the outside world so strong that even his body’s abilities couldn’t break through?

Oh well, if they weren’t there, they weren’t there.

Right now, what he needed was external information.

He already knew most of what was happening on the island, so it didn’t matter.

Before long, he found the threads belonging to Jeremiah and Kenn.

He tried tying the ends of the two threads together, then gradually immersed his consciousness into them.

—

At this moment, aboard the Black Pearl.

After lunch every day, it was time for Kenn’s lessons.

Jeremiah would always attend and sometimes even force the crew to join.

But today, he was the only one there.

"Mr. Jeremiah, is no one else coming to the lesson today?"

"Let them be."

Jeremiah wasn’t really in the mood for lessons either, but he still showed up.

He wasn’t sure why, but whenever he felt restless, listening to Kenn talk about machinery would gradually calm him down.

It made him feel like he still had a purpose on this ship.

Jeremiah glanced at Kenn, thinking to himself.

When he left Blood Harbor, Kenn had actually followed him.

Jeremiah had hoped Kenn would stay behind.

The boy didn’t belong to the sea and had no need to risk his life.

But since Kenn chose to follow, Jeremiah wouldn’t say anything.

As a captain, his job was simply to lead the crew forward.

Whether someone boarded the ship was their own choice.

Everyone had to take responsibility for their own decisions.

‘I hope everything goes smoothly and we find Castel.’

Watching Kenn explain something with a blueprint in his hands, Jeremiah frowned slightly.

Something felt off.

But he had spaced out for a moment and couldn’t pinpoint what.

"So, that’s today’s lesson—about how material deformation affects overall strength. Mr. Jeremiah, do you have any questions?"

‘Ah, please don’t ask anything. I just want to grab something to eat—I wasn’t full from lunch.’

Kenn was speaking, but in Jeremiah’s mind, another sentence surfaced.

Jeremiah’s eyes widened instantly.

He forced himself to stay calm and act as if nothing had happened.

After a moment of thought, he spoke.

"I was distracted and didn’t hear. Can you start over?"

"Ah?"

‘Nooo! I don’t want to go over it again! He didn’t even listen properly!’

Jeremiah raised an eyebrow.

"Alright, I’ll explain it again."

—

Hughes listened for a while and started to feel a little numb.

The first half of the experiment went as he expected.

Kenn indeed talked about many things.

At the very least, Hughes confirmed that they were both still on the ship and looking for Castel—

Wait.

Why were they looking for Castel?

Did they get lost?

But then, things went off track.

Hughes was sure that Jeremiah was right next to Kenn.

Kenn had repeatedly said things like "Mr. Jeremiah, I don’t want to do this lesson anymore," yet Jeremiah hadn’t responded at all.

And from Kenn’s words, it was clear that Jeremiah had not only realized they could communicate directly but had even begun testing the exact conditions of their connection.

In other words, Jeremiah was deliberately staying silent, just listening to Kenn the whole time!

Hughes was speechless.

This was completely different from what he had expected.

He had planned to eavesdrop, but Jeremiah had the exact same idea—staying silent and listening in.

This was nothing like what he had read in novels.

Other protagonists who got chat groups as their golden finger always talked actively and made full use of them.

Why was everyone he encountered so cautious?

Thinking back to the two people who had immediately severed the connection upon hearing his voice, Hughes didn’t dare force Jeremiah and Kenn to speak.

If they cut the link, it would be troublesome.

The biggest problem with pulling people into a conversation like this was that they could leave whenever they wanted.

They could simply ignore him.

After some thought, Hughes tried vibrating the two white threads while repeatedly focusing on their presence.

Buzz!

A sharp hum echoed in Jeremiah and Kenn’s minds.

For a moment, they became acutely aware of their connection.

‘What just happened? Mr. Jeremiah?’

‘I don’t know.’

The two of them froze, then widened their eyes simultaneously.

‘!!!!’

"Mr. Jeremiah… just now, that was—?"

Jeremiah’s expression darkened.

After a brief hesitation, he decided to be upfront.

"You heard me speaking, didn’t you? In here."

He tapped his temple.

"I’ve been hearing you too—for a while now."

‘You can hear me?’

‘I can! I can hear you, Mr. Jeremiah! This—this is unbelievable!’

Jeremiah and Kenn stared at each other in shock.

They were both silent, yet they could hear each other.

This was the first time they had ever experienced something like this.

‘This is amazing… truly amazing.’

—

Hughes couldn’t help but chuckle.

He had long since gotten used to online chatting.

Back when he talked to the banshees, it hadn’t felt like anything special since they were naturally adept at psychic communication.

But now, he finally realized how shocking this kind of telepathic link was to ordinary people.

These two were acting like they had just witnessed a divine miracle.