Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

"You're back? Well, sit down. No need to change your shoes, it's your house anyway."

Shangluo sat on the sofa, his hands hanging down. A teacup sat before him, and a pot of tea sat on the stove. While Phaethon was brewing the tea, she opened the curtains in the room to let in some air and put the broom back in its place. Only then did she take the teapot and pour tea for Shangluo.

"Oh." She sighed.

"This is the 15th time you've sighed so can you answer me now? Why are you in my house?"

"Oh." She sighed again, poured herself a glass, and sat on the sofa diagonally opposite Shangluo.

Shangluo noticed that her once golden hair had disappeared. It had turned black, just an ordinary black. The hair was of ordinary quality, slightly curly, even less wavy than Qi Yuan's.

After looking at the teacup for a while, she raised her head slightly:

"sorry"

"It's ok"

The atmosphere was a bit awkward, but Shangluo didn't know how to answer her.

"So, what's your situation now?"

"I don't know." She held the teacup and shook her head. "I remember my memory stopped after I took those pills. I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. Did that incident have any effect on you?"

"It doesn't matter. But you, did your memory stop after that? What about in the middle?"

"I had a very long dream. Ha, believe it or not, I even dreamed that you wanted to eat me."

"."

【.】

"I made a stupid mistake, absolutely stupid. Not only did I let you down, but my father must have been very disappointed. He never gave anyone the chance to make mistakes, because keeping his word was his bottom line. I violated his bottom line and his teachings, and I must have been abandoned. I thought it must be you who let me go and let me out of that stone statue."

"Um, what happened after you woke up?"

"When I woke up, I found myself in a jar. Inside the jar was some kind of breathable liquid. Two golden dolls were outside, holding my clothes. After handing them to me, they left. The hall was empty. I only saw the door open, and no one responded to me."

"Wait, didn't you hear anything at that time?" Shangluo wanted to confirm whether Daozu spoke to her.

"No. I only saw the Jinyiwei after I went out. They saw that I was wet and had already prepared me. They put a blanket over my clothes, gave me a hot meal, and told me to wait there. After a while, someone who seemed to be an alchemist came. He took me to the subway station and told me to come to this address. Yes, he also gave me the key. I came in and saw the photo and knew it was you. You seemed to have not been home for a long time, and there was dust everywhere. So, I helped you sweep the floor, that's what I thought."

"So you didn't hear anything?"

"What sound? Are you talking about inside the hall? No."

"Apollonia, try."

[Hey! Hey, hey, hey! Phaethon, you little fool! Sister Apollonia is calling you.]

"It's my aunt."

You're so ridiculous! Why do you always pick on me because of my age?

"Stop, I just want to test the sound."

When Apollonia was angry, he kept looking at Phaethon. Her expression did not change at all - before this, Shangluo remembered that she could actually talk to Apollonia. But now.

Her hair turned the color of a common Roman, and her ability to communicate with the divine machine disappeared.

"What are you looking at me for? Is it Aunt Apollonia talking to me?"

[It’s my sister! My sister!]

"She asked you to call her sister"

"But she is obviously my father's sister, even though she is younger than me, what else did she say?"

【Omitted.】

"She said... Forget it, it's better if you don't listen."

"Well, I knew that was the case. She used to have this temper. I used to chat with her occasionally, but now... I can't hear anything. This is probably part of the punishment. It symbolizes that the sun god's golden hair disappeared, and I can no longer hear the voices of the gods. Probably, my identity as a demigod disappeared along with it. Sigh"

She lowered her head and took another sip of tea.

"Wait a minute, let me ask first."

He called Zhu Xianxun. If he guessed correctly, he thought that Phaethon's presence here was arranged by Zhu Xianxun, the "alchemist".

"Hmm? Phaethon is at your house, right? How is it? Any surprises~~" Zhu Xianxun replied.

"No. So why is she at my house?"

"I don't know. It was arranged by Daozu. Daozu said that I would leave it to you to handle, and asked me to help find a place to live. I thought, if you are going to handle it and find a place to live, why not just live in your house?"

"Isn't this still arranged by you???"

"Oh, this is a matter of heaven, and you are responsible for matters of heaven. Daozu didn't let me tell her what happened, and I'm not good at perfunctory talk, so you can handle it. Bye, I'm refining the elixir, see you later."

Chapter 269 Plan

Chapter 269 Project Ω

"Okay." Shangluo put down the phone. "Now I roughly understand what's going on. So, first of all, let me tell you one thing—your father didn't abandon you."

Although Zhu Xianxun was told not to talk about this matter, it was a matter of heaven, and Shangluo had his own plans for it.

After all, he saw Helios take out his daughter's heart with his own eyes, and he didn't want to hide it. He wanted Phaethon to know that she had a good father.

He told Phaethon what had happened that day.

"So that's it, your father gave his heart."

Shocking, sudden information hits my brain.

"Impossible! How could my father be such a coward? He's not that kind of person. Even if he left me here, even if he really fed me to you, he would never give me his heart."

"Is this how you view your father?"

"Of course. I'm proud of my father. He was a steadfast leader. Both as a god and as a man."

"Wait, Helios, was he once human?"

When Shangluo asked this question, he realized he hadn't paid much attention to it before - when did Helios become "Helios"? He hadn't thought about it before because it happened before he was born anyway, and it was already part of the "world order."

And judging from Phaethon’s account, it doesn’t seem like that long?

"So, you've seen Helios as a human?"

"Of course, he's my father, and of course I've met him. It's just that he had to participate in a project codenamed 'Ω (Omega)'. He had to ascend to godhood, donning the armor of the 'Helios' of our time, in order to complete the Ω Project. It was Rome's top secret, a grand plan, enough to put Rome on par with Cathay again. If you knew the full story of the Ω Project, you'd be as moved as I am."

"What's the [Ω Plan] you're talking about?" Shangluo speculated, feeling he probably knew. Rome no longer had any secrets in the mortal world; even the Holy Fool had become less important.

"It's the plan to end all plans."

"Oh, it's the Lighthouse Project, right?"

"??????"

The pupils trembled violently, and the whole world seemed to be shaking:

"How do you know!"

"Because, um." Shangluo considered his words, "Because it has already started."

"What??? The Lighthouse Project is only in the Alpha phase of testing right now, and it'll take at least five more years of iterations to reach the Omega phase. It's only version 5 right now, how can it possibly be launched right now? If New Antioch finds out, aren't they afraid of a civil war?"

Shangluo's eyes were full of "this is the fact", and it didn't look fake at all.

"This year, what year was it? How long have I been in there?"

A huge fear descended from the sky. If I hadn't slept for ten or eight years, it would be impossible for such a big change to happen.

"You've only slept for over a month."

"I don't believe it."

"Tsk, then I'll turn on the radio for you to watch?" Shangluo suggested.

He didn't wait for Phaethon's consent and turned on the radio next to the dining table.

Listeners, CCTV reporters are reporting live from Hadrian's Wall. Just now, the last soldier of the 13st Regiment of the 281th Legion retreated inside the wall. Wait, we see the flags are being lowered over there! The double-headed eagle is down! The red dragon flag of Britain is being raised. Let's talk to the centurion next to you: Roman friend, where did you just come from?

[I don't know, it's a military secret.]

Where are you going?

I don’t know. I haven’t heard of it.

Why are you here? Why did Constantinople order you to withdraw?

[I really don't know. I don't know any more than you do.]

[Okay. Thank you for your response—my listeners in Kinai, he said he knows nothing.]

"."

Sitting back down, accepting the reality, Phaethon fell into deep thought.

"In the end what happened."

"Because the Forest King lost control. When we were attacking the Forest King, we encountered an invasion by elves."

"what"

Phaethon raised his head and said, "That's not strange, that's not strange."

The words stopped abruptly and she drank a sip of tea silently.

"Well, even though it's only been a month, things have certainly progressed quickly. What do you think?"

"I blame myself. If I had been there, if I had rushed over to help, things might not have gotten to this point. Now, all the Romans are dead."

"Yes, but that's from the previous version. This version of the story is that we will all enter the Black Stone together, and then those who remain outside will pull everyone back out."

"??????"

His hand trembled violently and Phaethon's teacup almost fell to the ground.

Five minutes later, Phaethon understood what Shangluo had discussed with Victoria earlier.

"Huh," she took a sip of tea slowly, "feeling better."

"What are you thinking about now?"

"I feel like it's worth it for me to become a mortal again - but it doesn't seem to have anything to do with me. But I'm also thankful that I didn't make an irreversible mistake."

"No, it has something to do with you."

Shangluo had no intention of hiding the matter of Pao Tan.

He pointed to his hair.

"You dyed your hair? It's very fashionable, right? Wait a minute??? Is this the white hair of a celestial being? Did you succeed in your foundation-building pill? No, that's not right. Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!"

She understood immediately: "This is a trap! I made your furnace!"

"Yes, that's it."

Shangluo admitted it bluntly: "We are honest people and don't do shady things. I have explained to you everything that happened. As the price for breaking the contract, your divine power was refined by the Dao Ancestor, allowing me to successfully establish my foundation."

"Tsk." She took a sip of tea. "I feel like I've lost out. I need to drink a few more sips of your tea to make it back."

She tilted her head back and drank the tea in her cup in one gulp. "Ah, that's enough. The alchemist was right. I've found the answer I need in you. I don't blame you, nor do I blame your stance. My current situation is my karma. Well, I'll be going back now. See you later."

She stood up and said goodbye to Shangluo.

"Okay, see you later." Shangluo didn't hide anything, and told her everything. Phaethon knew this was her "karma," and while it was a pity, she wasn't in a hurry now that the crisis of Rome's demise had been resolved. Not at all.

"See you later." Shangluo also waved at her, "Do you want me to see you off?"

"No need. I'll go to the embassy and then return from the Liuli Tower."

Phaethon took a step and walked towards the door.

step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

"Wait! Wait, wait! Did you say something at the beginning?!"