Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

"Is this some kind of performance art?" Phaethon noticed. "They're using tools they could have hand-made in two hours to coordinate tank and infantry attacks? Should they call in air support? Should they try some squad-based tactics? They... my goodness! They've started digging trenches! Who taught them this?"

Around two o'clock

Chapter 438 Malaka

"Lord God! Please save us!" The skinny little monkey ran over again.

"I know, this isn't something you should be dealing with. Let me handle it. I just caught someone, you guys deal with it."

"I see. Do you want to kill him?"

"." Shangluo frowned.

"God, do you mean, kill?"

"The word 'kill' shouldn't come out of your mouth. It's too early for you. Now is not the time to shout about fighting and killing. Don't kill him. Tie him up and put him aside until I can deal with him. Leave it to me to decide whether to kill him or not."

The fire has been lit, but for now, at least, Shangluo doesn't want the world to see another "Axe." This would prematurely lead the world to the stage of organized nations, causing unnecessary conflict. While this could indeed bring snake pills, Shangluo doesn't want to be constantly rushing in to clean up the mess, as that would be endless. They're evolving slowly according to their own inherent laws of development, so this isn't a big deal.

After all, the imperial court wasn't in a rush to get a few celestial beings to help them out; they had plenty of time. There was no need for them to bother with all this; Shangluo was here to investigate their living conditions.

Now it seems that their lives are going well, so there is no need to bother them anymore.

"I will help you deal with the things here. Maybe this world does not belong to you, but your life belongs to you. I will return everything to you in its original state. Then, live well. Remember to come to me if you need anything."

"Thank you! Thank you, God!" The water tribe members knelt on the ground, watching Shangluo walk up to them, and then fly into the air - he put his hands behind his back and slowly rose to a high place.

He had a complete view of the Carnage army. They were indeed an army, their movements rigorous and organized, their tactics centered around stone-throwing chariots, backed by crossbow-wielding soldiers. And the chariots weren't just sitting there in the air. In just a few moments, they were actively building defenses, attempting to prevent the enemy from approaching with trenches, bunkers, and chevaux de frise.

"They did a pretty good job." Phaethon followed behind and took a step up.

"Perhaps this is the gift of their myconid origins. They are indeed gifted warriors. I hope that one day they can make good use of this innate ability."

The Kanigi army's actions did not stop even after Shangluo took off. They regarded Shangluo as their target.

"Aim! Fire!"

The crossbow bolt shot upward, but an invisible barrier surrounded it. The bolt shattered and broke in mid-air, falling back to the ground. However, the Carnigian army on the ground remained unwavering, continuing to fire into the sky.

"That's enough, that's it."

Shangluo reached into his arms. Instead of taking out his sword, he took out—

Ball number two.

"Hidden Water, come out."

"No, I'm ball number two."

"Do your duty, at least. They are yours."

"No, I am guilty. I have no right to command them."

"Meritorious service can reduce the sentence."

"Eh? Is that okay? But...it's strange. You never told me the prison term, but why am I willing to come out just because you said I could get a reduced sentence if I performed meritorious service? Why?"

"How would I know what you're thinking?" Shang Luo shook his head. "Anyway, you decide your own sentence. I trust you. This prison is for gentlemen, not villains. If you feel you've done something useful for your people, you might as well reduce your sentence."

The water where "I" hide is still hesitating.

"When you still have the chance to make a choice, don't let yourself regret it."

With a cold sigh, Qiuwan shuddered for a moment: "I understand. Then, please bear witness."

There was no light, no sound. The entire battlefield was silent. Everyone stared blankly at the sky, at the blue ball. Time seemed to freeze at that moment, but it resumed its flow in the blink of an eye.

The entire army laid down their weapons, knelt on the ground, and chanted in one voice:

"I am guilty of a great crime!"

"Plop." The water cup fell from the captain's hand onto the table. He saw the image coming from the front. What a failure.

Straightening the cup, he looked at the image on the screen. "So, another one? Earlier, the priest who held an earth dragon hostage, who is this? A water dragon?"

"According to our intelligence, there are no water dragons in this world. According to the legends of these indigenous peoples, the water snake did not choose to wear a crown, but hid somewhere in the world." The mechanical voice was cold and calm, as if it came from between the gears.

“.”The captain fell silent.

The idle crew members on duty were all beside him, looking at him. There were only two words in their eyes: go home.

"Okay." The captain opened the water cup and took a sip first:

"We can't let the situation get any further out of control. We must ensure that we have control of this place—just as I promised you before we set sail, I will definitely bring you home safely."

After saying this, he put on his military cap, supported himself on the table with both hands, and stood up:

"All ships, enter combat position! Establish sympathetic barriers! Prepare for jump!"

The crew's commands began to echo in the channel:

"15 layers of sympathetic barriers have been established and are functioning normally!"

"Phlogiston containment established, Gazing Crystal activated, working normally! Warp ready!"

"Yes." The captain picked up the speaker, "Signature torpedoes, get ready too."

"Captain, do you want to take those with you? That's not in our operating procedures." A question came over the channel, different from the loud command.

"Bring it on, start everything!"

"Understood! Marked torpedoes 1 to 32 are ready to launch."

舰长再次抓起讲话器：“校正航道至坐标至(00，01，6)，准备突入战场！5！4！3！2”

A huge splash of water leaped up from behind, as if something huge was rising from the water.

"What the hell?" Shangluo turned around suddenly. "How could there be something underwater in this freshly-blasted pit?!"

Before he finished speaking, two fireballs rose into the air from the water column that had not yet dissipated and rose directly into the clouds.

"Wait. That's it!" Phaethon stared at the fireballs until they disappeared into the clouds.

"what is that?"

"Malaka (Greek)! That's a Marked Torpedo! Bring out the Spear of Apollo! Quick!"

Shangluo didn't ask any more questions and just threw the Spear of the Sun God over.

Phaethon caught it with her backhand. She remained in that position for three full seconds, seemingly observing something.

Then he threw it fiercely towards Shangluo's back.

"what?"

Shangluo suddenly turned around. There should have been celestial soldiers maintaining the barrier fifty meters away, and indeed they were there. But there also appeared a "torpedo" the size of a small boat, with a red head and a black body. At some point, that torpedo had somehow penetrated the barrier—and was shattered head-on by the Spear of the Apollo.

The sound of glass breaking rang in my ears, followed by a silent sigh.

The torpedo stopped. But Phaethon did not stop, she pulled out her spear and immediately threw it in the opposite direction - there was also a torpedo in the other direction, and the warhead was penetrated at the same distance.

There was another "crackling" sound of glass breaking, still ringing directly in the ears, as well as that creepy sigh.

"What the hell is this?!"

"This is a Signature Torpedo, a sympathetic weapon guided by a Sigma-class Vulcan Core, specifically designed to hunt down high-level psychic entities. The larger the psychic entity, the easier it is to establish a sympathetic link with it. Ordinary people simply can't lock onto it—you're a Celestial Being, so while you can lock onto it, it's very slow, which is why I was able to stop it. Once you're locked onto it, you can't escape unless you destroy it."

"Wait, how do you know so much?"

"Because it's the Athenian Navy's phlogiston submarines equipped with these things! They're the Oracle's fleet!"

"Captain! The Marked torpedo was stopped! It was stopped!"

"Malaka!"

The captain slammed the table and stood up. Behind him was the only light on the ship—a symbol of an owl with wide eyes. The owl, head tilted, eyes wide open, displayed a thirst for knowledge. This was the emblem of Athens and the symbol of the Athenian navy.

"For Apollonia, for Rome! We must go home! Fire all the bombs! Blast those damned spirits to death!"

"(Jinling Yayan)!" Shangluo pointed at the water. "How come they fired two more rounds? If they're one of us, tell them to stop! What are those idiots doing?"

"It's useless! The phlogiston submarine will raise the sympathetic barrier as soon as it starts fighting. They can only see the phlogiston vision and can't see people or hear any sound at all."

"What a stupid design! What a blind eye!"

"Ahhh! Stop cursing!" Apollonia hugged her head. "I didn't design this. It's always been like this."

"It's okay." Phaethon panted. "The cost of a Marked torpedo is as high as that of a cruiser, so we only have three for each ship. At worst, if we destroy one more, they'll be helpless. This is the only thing on that ship that can pose a threat to you."

"Wait, they just fired two rounds!"

"How is this possible?" Phaethon also looked back. "Malaka! Two indeed! How can there be so many on this ship! Malaka! Two more! Four! Eight, ten! What the hell! How can this ship store so many Mark torpedoes!"

"Run!" Shangluo looked at the two of them, "Why are you still standing here?"

"It's useless." Apollonia shook her head. "Once the Marked Torpedo establishes a sympathetic link with you, your 'phase' will be locked onto it. No matter where you run, it only needs to attack the 'phase' you left behind, and the damage will be transmitted to it through the sympathetic link. They will first rise into the clouds, then start to jump under the power of the Vulcan core, and then fly towards you from any possible angle outside your field of vision."

"So the only way is..." Phaethon fired a shot over his head, and another one exploded. "Just blow it up! But I can't fire that many shots! It's over! Here it comes again!"

"Give it to me." Shang Luo reached out and took the Spear of the Sun God from her hand. "How long can this thing fly?"

"What happens after that?"

"After that, it will automatically be released once the Vulkan Core's spring has finished running. It will only last for a day at most."

"That's easy! Show me the magic weapon!" Shangluo took the Spear of the Sun God and unfolded the map of mountains, rivers, and states—but facing him, with the side depicting the sun, moon, and stars facing outward. He swung the flag in a circle, enveloping himself within it.

Just like opening the hatch of a space station, everything in this world began to compress towards the "singularity", and all the flying mark torpedoes were sucked into the map of mountains, rivers, and the country.

Just like Zhen Yuanzi used the universe in his sleeve to collect Tang Monk and his disciples, dozens of torpedoes were all collected, and there was no sound at all.

Chapter 439 Peach

"Heh, I have an emergency exit here. It's too early to hit me. I'll take this torpedo."

Shaking off the flag, Shangluo rolled it back onto the Spear of the Sun God.

"Where did those torpedoes go? Did they go to the lounge?" Phaethon asked.

"No. Last time, we were swept up along with the flagpole, and we were ejected due to an error. This time, I'm facing the enemy head-on, so we won't be sucked in. Everything is normal. I'll take the torpedoes, haha. So many Vulcan cores, should I keep them for myself or ask for a ransom~~ Tsk tsk, good deal."

"Hey! Wait! There's one more shot!"

"Where is it? Look at the magic treasure! One more won't be too much! Eh? Where's the torpedo?"

He watched as the torpedo floated and spun in the sky, not heading towards Shangluo.

"What is that thing looking for?"

"I don't know. Until we find it, it will just stay there, until the Vulkan Core winds up."

After a while, the mist dissipated. The phlogiston submarine emerged from the spray. Like a black fish, it lay quietly on the surface—then slowly turned sideways, its hull scraping against the glass with a sharp, piercing noise, like a cat scratching a blackboard.

Shangluo asked, "How did they get here? The water level in this pond isn't even high enough to stop a boat, only enough to boil an egg."

Phaethon covered his forehead with his hands. "Those idiots, they probably saw it through the camera. They mistook the lake's mirror for the water level and jumped right in. When the phlogiston submarine raises its sympathetic barrier, it can dive into any area of water and then emerge."

As he was speaking, the big black fish had completely flipped over in the lake, which was not deep enough, with its belly exposed.

"Will they run?"

"It can't escape. Being spotted is the most direct form of sympathetic connection. When you're watching it, it can't escape no matter what. Sympathetic barriers, regardless of optical invisibility, are its biggest weakness. That's why this ship is designed to be submerged, where it's less likely to be spotted. Eh? Wait a minute. Why is that torpedo overhead coming down? Why is it locking onto them?"

"Ahhh! Captain! Our boat capsized!"

"Who entered the waterway?! This isn't a lake at all! The water here is only deep enough for a bath!"

"It's over! We're going to be captured!"

Suddenly, a shrill buzzing sound was heard from inside the ship.

"What's going on!" The captain, standing upside down, grabbed the intercom hanging in the air. "Why are we being targeted? Who targeted us?"

"It's locked within sighting range. It's a torpedo!"

"Malaca!" The captain threw the intercom aside. "That thing is unreliable! Unreliable!"

"Wow, wow, wow~~ Captain, what should I do? I'm not married yet. Lady Apollonia said I'd never get married in my lifetime, and she was right!"

The captain grabbed the speaker that was still dangling in the air and said, "There's nothing we can do. It seems we can't go back. It's a pleasure to work with you all. See you in Elysium."

"Captain, that psychic entity is coming again."