Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

"I won't spend a penny that I shouldn't spend. What's the point of treating you to a meal?"

Zheng Shijie was caught in the middle and dared not say a word because both sides were people he couldn't afford to offend.

"Oh, yes, yes." Zheng Shijie suddenly looked up. "Miss Phaethon, I heard you're staying at Shangluo's house, right?"

"Yes, I work in his house."

"What does Shangluo usually eat? I want to send him something, but I don't know what."

"He usually"

Phaethon originally wanted to take the contents of the two bags.

But thinking back to the previous scene—the contents of those two bags were not only treated as chicken feed, but even Ah Huang didn't seem to even look at them.

It’s better not to say anything.

"He usually eats meals made from five grains: rice, millet, sorghum, wheat, and beans."

"Oh~~" Zheng Shijie nodded thoughtfully, "It really is worthy of being called a celestial being's meal, it's so high-end. Third Uncle, do you usually eat like this? Do all celestial beings eat like this?"

"Look at the look of the man next to you, and you'll know what we usually eat—it doesn't matter what we eat. Shangluo wants to eat these, probably because he has a deep blessing, so he has to eat some virtuous tribute."

"Oh, I see. If I eat these, can I become immortal?"

"If the opportunity hasn't arrived yet, don't even think about eating these. Even if you take the Foundation Establishment Pill, it will be useless. The Foundation Establishment Pill that Shangluo took took even more effort to make than mine. But... it will be done soon. After this, we will know if there is any result. If the pill can really be refined, are you really willing to try it?"

"I've invested, so of course I have to try it myself first."

"Okay." Zheng Yin sighed, "If anything happens, who will take the position?"

He asked the whole family directly.

"To my sixth brother, please ask my third uncle to pass it on for me and take care of other things." Zheng Shijie replied, "No matter what can be refined, I have decided to try this pill."

Chapter 384 Angel

"Well, I just checked, all the seniors are ready. They are eating now, and will come over after we break down the negotiations. Phaethon is also eating there. Oh, by the way, does Phaethon not like seafood?"

"No," Apollonia thought for a moment. "It wasn't that she didn't like it before, it was that she simply couldn't eat it. She used to like instant noodle sauce packets, so she wouldn't be opposed to seafood. What did they eat?"

"Let me show you." Shangluo showed the screen to "Golden Bean." Apollonia had emerged from the pod, now a floating golden bean. This was work attire, but it prevented her from operating Shangluo's phone; she had to hold it in front of her to see it.

The picture was taken by Fu Yuanshan. At either end of the round table, the three of them sat drinking on one side, while the two non-drinkers sat at the other. Yanqiu's eyes were filled with meat and fish.

"Hmm, that's in the middle jar, Buddha Jumps Over the Wall? That should suit his taste. The Romans loved it, too. This high-end seafood stew has been popular in Constantinople since ancient times. As for why she didn't eat it, she was full."

"Can you tell that?"

This girl's expression is so easy to guess. This look of 'feeling hopeless because of something she missed out on' must be because she ate a lot somewhere earlier. Judging by her face, she must have eaten a lot of meat.

"You can see all this?"

How could she possibly be so stuffed with vegetarian food in her current state? It must be something good with lots of meat. Maybe even greasy barbecue.

“Is there a barbecue restaurant near our house?”

[Yes, yes, there is one. Turn left and walk 200 meters.]

"How do you know better than me?"

"Because I was browsing the forums last night. There were so many interesting posts there, and I devoured a bunch of them when I woke up this morning. It's pissing me off. I'm going to beat up those idiots and make them spit out all the posts! Are you ready? Let's break off the negotiations! I'm going to attack!"

"Hey, little girl, you're obsessed. That's too extreme. Generally speaking, it's better to negotiate first. Mushrooms grow everywhere, and it's quite troublesome to deal with them. If you come across a mushroom with brains, at least you can try a more cost-effective solution."

The Ministry of Thunder's current funding was limited. Although Guoxing had agreed to provide sponsorship, Shangluo did not intend to allow the Lanfang Company to participate too much in the operation of the Ministry of Thunder.

Because the Thunder Department will become the Thunder Department of the Heavenly Court in the future, not Lan Fang's Thunder Department. Although Guo Xing is one of us and Lan Fang is an inner vassal, brothers still have to settle accounts.

He only planned to accept sponsorship from Lan Fang for the Wanxiang Gate project, mainly for operating expenses and awards.

Especially in terms of operations, because Wanxiang Gate needs to burn oil, and Lan Fang is one of the most important oil suppliers in Kinai.

Lan Fang produces oil, but their specialty is refining. Oil from the Persian Gulf is processed at refineries in Singapore, with a small portion remaining locally to supply ships with fuel, while the majority is shipped back to the mainland. This is one of Lan Fang's pillar industries.

After receiving sponsorship from Lan Fang, Shangluo planned to request some specialized oil from Guoxing—oil sourced from specific locations and containing a higher concentration of minerals. If used in the petrochemical industry, this oil would be no different from any other oil. However, at the Wanxiang Gate, one bottle might be more durable than ten.

"Tsk, but when I think about the fact that a lot of the metabits we provided were fed to these fungi, I feel a bit at a disadvantage. Wouldn't it be better to reduce the number of mushrooms?"

"Hey, hey, hey, you're still calling me too extreme. You want to reduce the number of those bacteria. Do you want them to commit suicide by jumping into the sea en masse? You're being much more extreme than me! How are you going to convince them to commit suicide?"

"It seems halfway through isn't bad. But now that I have a brain, I feel like I can't eat it anymore. Forget it, let's talk about it first. Former young general, I'll leave it to you."

After all, if the younger brother calls, then the younger brother will answer. If he handles everything in person, he doesn't act like a person in charge.

It seems that there is no need to deal with this kind of fungus yourself, just let your little brother do it.

"Here they come." The mushroom-man, with a green shadow above his head, looked up from the stone tablet. A dark shadow was approaching from the distant sea. Just appearing on the horizon, it was about the size of an island. As it approached, the shadow grew larger, and its outline gradually became visible.

"Yes, it's an angel! The angel is coming!"

The myconids exclaimed in unison. Just like before, faced with the sudden onslaught, they all agreed: This is an angel.

"Wait, this isn't just any angel!" The older myconid, with greenery above his head, looked up at the upper level, where information was coming from. Just as the myconids here relied on it for their thinking, he also relied on the myconids above for his thinking.

The information he received shocked him so much that he even began to tremble.

"What is that? What frightens you so?"

"That is—the left hand of God! The ancients said, this is the hand of God!"

The mountain-like left hand whipped up a wave taller than the mountain itself. A golden giant hand floated on the crest of the wave, charging at it at unimaginable speed.

From the horizon to right in front of you, it happens in a flash.

With a loud "boom", God's Left Hand suddenly stopped in front of the Tower of Babel. The compressed air formed a storm and swept through the first floor of the Tower of Babel.The huge wave that followed rushed to the height of the 99th floor——

"Wow!" Han Xingzhi screamed again.

"Why are you howling suddenly?" In the cafeteria, Lu Liang, who was sitting across the table, rolled his eyes at him.

"The forum just emptied out! It was like a toilet flush! Wow, wow, wow, four or five pages were flushed away! They were all gone!"

"Maybe they've started repairing it."

"This destructive power is too great! Can you please take it easy?"

----

"Good guy." Shangluo was shocked.

Suddenly, dozens of Feixin messages appeared on his phone.

"Hey, former youngster, can you hear me? You're moving too much! Take it easy! There's a complaint, you know?"

----

Only a few scattered myconids remained on the first layer, all submerged in the seawater. When they looked up again, the shadow of the god's left hand had obscured the sunlight, blotting out most of the sky. The golden armor covering the left hand reflected everything like a mirror, and the myconids saw their own terrified expressions and pitiful forms.

The elder leaned against the stone tablet. He had only been able to avoid being swept away because of his good positioning. Otherwise, the residual power of the God's Left Hand would have blown him away like a piece of paper. Although the higher-ups hadn't told him how to express his emotions at such times, he could feel everything slowly darkening.

Looking around, the first layer was no different from the ocean. The fungi that had luckily not been washed away floated helplessly on the water, unable to do anything.

"Yes! Got it!" The God's Left Hand spoke, but it wasn't talking to them. "The post is fine, it's just flooded. We'll fix the flood right away. Please wait—God beats you. Drink water!"

The water began to recede, pushing back toward its source. But it wasn't a gentle receding tide, but rather a violent flushing of a toilet, sweeping away a significant portion of the remaining myconids from the previous layer. The water from the upper layers followed suit, pouring down like water from the ceiling, forming a waterfall around the first floor. Countless myconids were also entwined within the waterfall, many sporting even more shades of green, some even entirely green. But before the might of the God's Left Hand, they were all swept down without exception.

The entire first floor was plunged into darkness. The darkness was filled with the shouts of the myconids—but it was all over soon.

The water has receded.

"The water has receded! God has forgiven us!" The mushroom people made the same sound again, as if they only had one brain.

"Fools!" The elder, his head covered in green, was still half submerged in the water. What these ignorant people saw before him had nothing to do with the wisdom of the ancients. He declared in the words of the ancients: "Whether the water recedes or not, it has nothing to do with us. Whether it saves or destroys, it has nothing to do with us. Is this the power of God? Or is it just the power of angels? God, why did you create us? Why?"

Chapter 385 Attack

"None of it has anything to do with us? None of it?"

"It doesn't matter."

Suddenly, the water surface began to tremble, like a sign before a storm came -

"I am the deputy lieutenant general of the Left Wing Thunder Army's Vanguard Battalion. I speak to you on behalf of the Thunder Department's Heavenly Army: you are encroaching upon Thunder Department facilities. Chishijun and the Marshal order you to leave within 3000 base ticks."

The benchmark tick is the smallest time in this world—though it's still quite large compared to Planck time, as it's not quite as detailed. Comparing time here with the outside world is meaningless, as the speed of time flow depends entirely on whether there's enough tar.

At the current flow rate, 3000 base ticks is roughly 3000 seconds, which is less than an hour.

"Is this a test? Elder, is this a test from God for us?" The mushroom people repeated the question mechanically.

"How many times have I told you this!" the myconid with green shadows above his head shouted angrily, "We are just the remnants of creation. You should clearly understand your own position and recognize your own humbleness. The gods didn't choose us, let alone test us. The only one who can help us is the Serpent Lord. Only by saving the Serpent Lord can we be saved."

Apollonia was shocked.

These little creatures, seemingly driven by their distaste for their bodies, have established a grotesque and pessimistic worship of light. They believe that everything in this world is meaningless, and that only the world of light holds meaning. Even individuals themselves are meaningless, as ordinary myconids are merely repetitive.

"To some extent, they're quite smart, that's for sure. But judging by this, it seems even more unlikely that they'll leave. It seems like they have no negotiating value anymore."

So the negotiations broke down before they even started?

"Given their mentality, success is nearly impossible. They're like the stereotypical immortal cultivators, willing to sacrifice anything to transcend the mortal world, because there's nothing in this world worth their lingering attachment. They're even willing to debase themselves to worthless scum. This is even more cruel than the world of immortal cultivators—because their only chance of 'my destiny is in my own hands, not in the hands of Heaven' is this tower."

[It sounds like some kind of miracle has occurred, attracting all the major sects to gather here to search for treasure.]

"They've only been around for so long that they haven't formed a group yet. But they all seem to agree on one thing: this is their only chance, and there won't be a second one. So, I suspect they won't leave easily. Let's get started."

[Which level of force should be used first? ]

"Let's send out the Thunder Master first."

He didn't want to hire someone directly, because hiring someone required prestige, and prestige also cost money. The only valuable asset the Thunder Department had right now, besides this world, was prestige, so he had to use it with caution. He planned to try a low-cost approach first; if it didn't work, he would have to increase his investment.

Therefore, we can let the employees of the Lei Department take the lead first.

[Wow, you're becoming more and more like a villain. The big boss doesn't take action himself, but lets his subordinates take charge first, right? Don't raise any protagonists, they have the talent to change fate.]

"Let them be. A storm in a teapot is still just a teapot."

Suddenly, in the action group's discussion group, Fu Yuanshan sent a question: "I see that some posts have been restored. Has the action started? Is everything going well on your end?"

Shangluo gave him a thumbs-up emoji in response, raising his thumb confidently with white gloves.

"Then let's continue eating. This black sesame sponge cake is delicious. We ordered one and will have Phaethon bring it back for you. Everyone gets a share of the meal, so even though you didn't come, you should still have some—then let's continue eating, and you can keep fighting."

Shangluo put down his phone: "Then, let's get started."

[Then, the left-wing Lei Zhen Army vanguard battalion! Prepare to eliminate the demon!]

"Elder, why is God's left hand not moving?"

"He should be negotiating with the higher-ups, etc.! There are no negotiations! The news from above says that our message has not received any response!"

"What have we done wrong? We haven't done anything! Is it a sin for us to live? Are we born with original sin? I won't accept this! I won't accept this!"

The elder mushroom with green shade above its head fell silent. He thought the same.

However, his silence lasted only a few seconds before the situation changed.

The sky suddenly brightened—the left hand of God was slowly leaving.

"Gone! Gone! The angel is gone! That's great!" A joyful voice came from the mushrooms.

"No!!!" Elder Mushroom held out his hands in sorrow, "He's gone! The angel is gone! This is our only channel of communication with God! He's gone!"

"So, what does this mean?"

"It means God doesn't want to communicate with us anymore! Here they come! The army of angels is coming!"

Overwhelming clouds were approaching from the horizon. Boundless, endless. The white clouds cast an impenetrable black shadow over the sea.

"Those are hands! So many hands! Elder! So many hands! The angel's are in the shape of hands!"

"That's it!" The elder mushroom recognized those hands:

"Those aren't hands! Those are... expressions!"

"what expression?"

"This is a sacred symbol used by the gods to communicate. Each of their five fingers has its own meaning, and they can be combined into various gestures to express meanings beyond language. This is extremely profound divine language, and no one has yet grasped its meaning, but annotations are available. The thumb represents appreciation, and the index and middle fingers represent the sword."