Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

[Help me! I'm fed up with these bullshit people. They only accept the results they want, and when they don't succeed, they keep repeating the divination. I'm so fed up with them! You can hear me, right?! You can hear me, right? Help me! Please! Just recite silently, no need to speak.]

"Why should I help you? Are you a monster?" Shangluo muttered in his heart.

Before you lies the Infinite Divine Machine, Apollonia. The Maker of Destiny, the Pioneer of the Future, the Divine Machine of Light and Prophecy, the Wisest of All Divine Machines, the Most Eternal of All Wise Men.

"My house can't accommodate so many people."

[Okay, okay! I'm Apollonia, and Apollonia is me. A poor wretch in need of help, and you're the only one who can hear me. I need your help.]

"Wait, you haven't explained why I should help you."

As you can see, those coin-flipping tricks just now were all my power. These fools only know how to perform magician's tricks; they have no idea what a true miracle is. For example, I can help you escape now. Believe it or not, they don't actually intend to let you leave alive. There are assassins everywhere. If you don't believe me, you can find an excuse to leave. Or how about this—Shangluo, use the piss escape!

This line had an inexplicable sense of familiarity, which made him feel a little strange. However, Shangluo decided to give it a try, because he really didn't trust these barbarians.

He looked up and asked, "Excuse me, where is the restroom?"

Jefferson still had a smile on his face. "Oh, Mr. Merchant, things here will soon be over. How about I teach you how to use the miracle now? Or maybe I can tell your fortune?"

“But I really need to go to the bathroom now.”

"Please wait a moment. It will be over in a moment." Jefferson stood up with a somewhat unhappy look on his face.

"What did I just say? He doesn't want you to leave this room at all! Do you believe it now?"

"What should I do now?" he asks for advice from a mysterious voice calling itself "Apollonia."

Let's do some divination first. Divination can determine your fate through observation, and then we can decide the path.

"it is good."

The cards were right in front of him, and Shangluo drew two.

Two clowns were smiling at him, one was the king and the other was the clown.

"What does it mean to draw the Joker?"

[What else could there be? King bomb! No taboos, just rush out!]

“Is there a trump card in the tarot deck???”

"If I say yes, then yes. No taboos! No taboos! Just charge in and it's over. Or are you going to sit here and wait for death? Those twenty or so gunmen outside are the real deal."

"Okay. Should I just rush in directly, or do I need to make some preparations?" Shangluo hasn't lived enough and doesn't want to die here.

There's a pistol in the first drawer on the left side of his desk. Perhaps taking that gun with you will give you some peace of mind. Next to the gun is a music box, which is my true form. Take these two items and rush out immediately.

"Mr. Xiao Shang?" Jefferson asked again, "Why are you standing there? Check if there's anything wrong. Stop! Why are you going in?"

Shangluo walked towards the desk without saying a word, and then reached out to the first drawer on the left.

"Hey, what are you doing!" Jefferson knew better than anyone what was inside and rushed over to intercept it. But Shangluo was closer to the table. He opened the drawer and found a pistol inside.

A silver pistol.

The 0.50cm self-defense pistol "Gradius" was standard issue for the Roman Army. However, unlike other Roman weapons that bore regimental insignia, this pistol lacked any markings identifying its owner.

The safety was unlocked, and the pistol was ready to fire, ready to be taken out and fired at any time. But when Shangluo's hand touched the gun, the gun itself seemed to provide more information.

A box-shaped white music box also lay quietly next to the pistol.

"You said there are no taboos, right? I won't die no matter what?" Shangluo made the final confirmation.

"That's right, once your fate is observed, it's set, just like when you guessed correctly 15 times in a row. Now you have no inhibitions. Hey! What are you doing? Where are you pointing?"

When he touched the gun, he already knew its condition, but the man in front of him didn't know.

"Well...no taboos, right?"

Facing Jefferson, Shangluo looked at him with a smile.

"What are you going to do?"

After checking again, it was confirmed that the gun seemed to have a cold. Shangluo raised the pistol, pointed it at his temple, and pulled the trigger.

He heard the sound of a hammer striking a target with a click. This kind of mechanical movement would usually be drowned out by the sound of the gunpowder exploding, but now he could hear it clearly.

Jefferson heard it too. He was stunned.

"You just drew the Joker and the Jack... and then you said 'nothing is forbidden.'" Jefferson's voice began to tremble. "You can talk to angels? Are they protecting you?"

"That's right, that's right." Shangluo walked over step by step - he reached out and picked up the deck of cards.

"Let me borrow your cards."

Shangluo walked out the door, and Jefferson, who was standing there talking to himself, did not stop him.

Outside, the door creaked open and Shangluo walked out slowly.

Sure enough, there were twenty-four gunmen outside, no more, no less. They were all squatting in the corner, leaving a path between them.

Shangluo walked out of the door, turned around and closed the door gently.

"Thank you for your hard work." He nodded to everyone and then walked through the center with a swagger, as if he worked there.

Among the twenty or so people, a few returned the salute, while most remained leaning against the wall, their guns clutched. But no one raised a hand to stop him, and few even watched Shangluo leave their sight. After all, Senator Jefferson hadn't given any orders.

After taking two steps, I came to the T-junction of the tunnel, with two forks in the road.

"Well, men go left and women go right, so let's go left."

He turned to the left and ran head-on into Franklin, who had brought him in earlier.

Franklin was walking through the corridor carrying an orange cardboard box. He was startled when he saw Shangluo, because Shangluo was obviously not supposed to be there at this time:

"Why are you out here? Hey, I'm talking to you, why are you out here? Come back!" He tilted his head and poked his head out from behind the cardboard box and shouted, but Shangluo walked forward regardless. With a playing card in his left pocket and a music box in his right pocket, he moved slowly down the corridor as if taking a stroll.

"Hey, hey!" Franklin yelled twice and threw the orange cardboard box to the ground. He walked to the door of the senator's office in two or three steps and said, "Someone, catch him! Bring him back!"

The 24 gunmen glanced at him but remained unmoved, just standing there quietly holding their guns.

"Hey! Do you realize you've let the most important person go? Don't you want to live anymore?"

"Stop shouting." Jefferson opened the door from the inside and stood at the entrance. "They can't understand your official language. These soldiers recruited from London are different from you. They only speak English."

"Senator, he's escaped! Get these guys to catch him!"

"You can't stop him." Jefferson shook his head. "The angels are protecting him. You can't stop him. Let him go and save some dignity for ourselves."

"Senator, we worked so hard to invite him here. Are you just going to watch him leave like this? This is ridiculous!"

"Alright," Jefferson sighed. "It's come to this. I can't just accept my fate. Humanity is always struggling in vain."

He cleared his throat and gave the order to pursue in English.

[You just scared him.] Apollonia made a sound, but it did not echo in the narrow corridor.

Shangluo can be sure that this sound probably does not exist physically.

"But it didn't scare me. I'm not one to mess around with my life. The gun told me it jammed, and I was just trying to scare him. I can't just believe everything you say."

"No wonder you can talk to me and feel simple consciousness on simple machines. Then, with me, you should be able to feel 'infinity'."

"Infinity? What's that?"

"It's nothing. You better get out first. Someone's chasing us." Apollonia warned.

The sound of dense footsteps echoed from behind. This underground stronghold wasn't actually very large, so finding him was only a matter of time.

"Does what you just said about no taboos still apply? There's a fork in the road ahead, and I can go either way."

You can be more casual, but fate might have a different view of "no taboos" than you do. After all, no taboos can guarantee your survival, but whether your body can remain intact...

"Strange. I can't tell if you're lying to me. The other machines are clearly very sensitive to emotions. So are you really sure that if you draw a king bomb, everything will be fine?"

First of all, I am not a machine. Please understand this first. I am the creator of destiny and the pioneer of the future...

"Stop, stop! You're so powerful, and these guys are just playing coin toss with you? Shouldn't they be asking how to cast a fireball? Or how to ascend?"

How do you know no one has asked?

"Um???"

Her answer made Shangluo stumble. But he didn't have time to care about others now; he himself was more important.

I turned to the left—there was a corridor on the left, and at the end of the corridor was an iron door. According to the fire regulations, the iron door was marked with a green escape exit sign.

"You're pretty reliable, you know? You can just walk to the entrance?"

He reached the door and was about to open it—it didn't budge. It wasn't locked, it was just rusted shut.

"Hey! This door has a stale smell. No one has opened it in at least five years! Are you sure this is the right way?"

【Rest assured, absolutely reliable.】

The footsteps behind me were getting closer and closer, and there was even the sound of bullets being loaded.

"Hey, hey, hey, Miss Apollonia, if you have any ideas, tell me now, otherwise I will have to die here today."

[Fate is determined once observed. If I'm not mistaken. 5, 4, 3]

Shangluo vaguely sensed something, and quickly hid in the corner, crouching there with his head in his hands.

With a "bang", the door-breaking bomb blew off the door lock and the entire iron door.

A whole team of soldiers wearing matte scale armor rushed in, each holding a compact Taihe 12-year type 0.9 cm submachine gun.

The submachine gun did not have a silencer, but a speaker - only by retaining the sound of the gunshot could you know that it was the Jinyiwei who came to search your house.

An officer, not wearing armor but a flying fish uniform, strode in from the armored guards. He was so muscular that the loose-fitting suit stretched out, and a scimitar-shaped sword was tucked into his belt. This was standard Jinyiwei attire. According to regulations, Jinyiwei could only conduct investigations with the presence of a military officer wearing a flying fish uniform and carrying a scimitar-shaped sword.

This is a tradition that is deliberately preserved and exaggerated, because only in this way can you know that it is the Jinyiwei who came to confiscate your property.

The cadet in the flying fish uniform roared into the corridor with a larger handheld megaphone:

"Jinyiwei is investigating the case! All outsiders, please disperse! Hand over the hostages, or I will leave no intact body! I repeat, hand over the hostages, or I will leave no intact body!"

Chapter 5 Hot Soup

Outside, sirens blared loudly. Warm lights were on in the police car.

It was already dark. Police cars and red and blue spotlights flashed alternately outside the window. Infantrymen carrying heavy weapons were shouting orders outside. The outside was bustling with activity, but the car's soundproofing kept the noise out.

Suddenly, the door to the seat next to him opened, letting out a commotion. The military officer, dressed in his flying fish uniform, hunched over and squeezed into the car, taking the seat next to Shangluo. Although the space was tight, he closed the door to prevent the noise from startling Shangluo, who had just emerged from the cave.

The car was quiet again, but there was a soldier as strong as a calf, who almost occupied Shangluo's entire vision.

"Drink it while it's hot. It's quite damp down there, it'll warm your body." He hooked it with two fingers and handed over a field lunch box.

Shangluo took it. Inside was a bowl of seaweed and egg soup. The seaweed was freshly boiled seaweed, the egg was dried egg powder, and there were chopped green onions floating on it. By military standards, the soup was actually quite good-looking.

"Thank you." He took a sip and found it quite delicious. It was a standard, stable, modern processed food that reminded him of Yingtian's city life, with its lingering smell of gasoline.

"You seem surprisingly calm?" The military officer in his flying fish uniform sat sideways, one hand resting on the headrest of his seat. This posture made him look more approachable.

"I knew someone would come to rescue me. But I didn't expect it would be the Imperial Guards."

Yes, he had never expected the arrival of the Jinyiwei. It was like ordering takeout from Lan Fang Yuan, a chain of tea shops owned by the Zheng family in Nanyang, and the person who delivered the food was the Prince of Yanping himself.

But it is not impossible that the Jinyiwei appeared here, because the Jinyiwei could appear in any corner of the earth.

The Jinyiwei is arguably the most famous secret service organization of all time. Founded in the 4th year of the Hongwu reign, a period so ancient it's unimaginably distant. Furthermore, the Jinyiwei have frequently appeared in various literary works since the Wanli reign, let alone today, the th year of the Shaoping reign.

Everyone knew about the existence of the Jinyiwei, just like Rome had its own "Cryptius" inner guard. But knowing the existence of the Jinyiwei did not mean that everyone knew what they were doing - this also meant that the Jinyiwei could appear anywhere.

Based on limited public information, the Jinyiwei had two branches: the Southern Town and the Northern Town. The Northern Town Jinyiwei were more common, as they were often photographed by reporters on the scene of law enforcement. Furthermore, according to regulations, Jinyiwei officers, wearing flying fish uniforms and carrying embroidered spring swords, were always present when investigating cases.

The Jinyiwei of Nanzhen were much more mysterious. Because Nanzhen was not a government agency, they were sent by the emperor. No one knew what the Jinyiwei of Nanzhen did, except during the imperial examinations.

The day of the imperial examination was the only time the Nanzhen Jinyiwei could appear in the newspapers, and it would always be on the front page. This was because the examination papers, from printing to grading, were all conducted in the courtyard of the Imperial Prison. Since the papers could not be completely graded, the examiners at the Imperial College were not allowed to leave, including the chief examiner himself.

Only then could the media capture a corner of the Imperial Prison through the open iron gate—and that was just a corner. Because the Imperial Prison itself was a prison, its gates were linked. When the outer gate opened, the inner gate would always close.

But now, Shangluo knew he had seen something powerful. He caught a glimpse of the military academy's badge.

A patinated ivory waist plaque. The characters "Jinyiwei" were inscribed on the top, "Nanzhenfusi" on the right, and "Number 26" on the left. In the middle was a nine-fold seal script inlaid with cinnabar. Its meaning was unclear, so it was probably a code.

"Are you the Jinyiwei from Nanzhen?"

"Yes." The military academy didn't avoid the question. "Because of some problems in Yangzhou, we are currently on a business trip there. Anyway, everything is fine now. I will send you back later. I have already contacted your guardian."

"Can you contact Lao Shang?" Shang Luo looked up at him.

"You call him Lao Shang? Never mind. This is your family's business. This kind of father-son relationship is pretty good. Anyway, I'm in San Francisco now, so you can rest assured. I promised your father, so I will definitely take care of you."