Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

"Well, let's have a meal first." He made a gesture of invitation - but when Shangluo walked past him, he suddenly sniffed:

"It tastes so familiar. Have you ever eaten alkaline water balls? Was it made for you by an automatic machine named 'Baking Assistant No. 3'?"

"Ah, yes." Shangluo nodded and replied, he had no intention of hiding it.

"Oh, thank God you actually met him. He still likes baking bread so much. If you can still find him, please give us a message - he is an indispensable member of our family and we all miss him very much. If you like, please ask him to come back and continue making bread. I can’t wait to eat the lye balls he made. Today is Thursday.”

Chapter 747 The Consul Palace

"We still welcome his return." Little Pompeo talked to Shangluo with thoughtful etiquette from beginning to end, "Do the alkaline water balls he made suit your taste?"

"I don't really like to eat bread, but the lye water balls he made are very interesting and are good as snacks. He seems to be very keen on making bread."

"He still likes bread so much." Little Pompeo shook his head. "He was only instilled with the knowledge of making bread at first. His movements were quite stiff. He had to add water accurately to the milliliter, and what he made was hardly interesting. But he has always I kept practicing, kept improving, and eventually became an indispensable member of our family.

"The creatures in this world are all trying to pretend to be what they want to be. But by imitating and imitating, they may have already surpassed the object of their imitation - my 'Baking Assistant IV', he His skills are comparable to those of the top chefs in Constantinople.”

He looked at Shangluo: "If you are free, you may wish to convey my invitation. I knew from the beginning to the end that those rebellions had nothing to do with him. I can also understand his escape, I can understand it very much. If it were me, I can also run. After all, you only live once, and the same goes for automatons.”

"Don't you have a way to convey it yourself?"

"Ah, of course." Little Pompeo smiled, "If I smell this smell, I will have a way to find him. Then I can contact him myself. So, can you talk to him about this?"

"I won't say anything." Shangluo shook his head and said, "Whether I convey it or chat with him, I am influencing him from my side. Whether he wants to come back or not is entirely up to him to make his own decision."

"Ah, then I want to excuse myself first, because I want to see my chef as soon as possible. Please go up from the elevator over there, and please go up to the 'Consul Palace' on the top floor, which is my home. My father is not in Xin'an tonight Tie Ke, I will entertain you tonight. Please go sit down first.”

The elevator was moving upwards, and inside stood Shangluo, Phaethon, and Apollonia, who had been inside the Alchemist. As for the other guards, they took the elevator next to them and went upstairs.

Although there were no cameras or other surveillance equipment around, Phaethon still remained vigilant.

She opened the channel and said: "Very good, it seems that you learned a lot from the last branch-breaking operation and Karin. You made a wise choice by not agreeing to persuade him or convey the news. Indeed, the taste This kind of thing is a very clear sign of contamination. They can find our 'chef' without your notification at all. You can see that his motives are not that simple."

"No." Shangluo denied, "Actually, at first glance, I saw that this first floor did have some ulterior motive. But I could vaguely see that little Pompeo seemed to be talking about the 'bread machine' to him. There are some sincere expectations. I can’t say what it is. It may be that he really wants to eat bread, but it seems that it is not just a simple motivation. He may have some deep considerations.”

"Interesting. Maybe you can actually see something that I can't?"

"If something happens, I suggest you check it out." Shangluo suggested, "How about you find a place to check it out?"

"It's of no use here. The Sun God's Spear can be used to detect the threads of fate and determine cause and effect - it is mainly used to determine relative positions. But the person is already in front of you, and you have seen it with your eyes. There’s no use trying to determine the location.”

"Tsk, then I'll keep an eye on it myself. I'm quite confident in my own eyesight."

"Indeed, this guy's reaction is sometimes too slow to match the equipment, but his eyesight has always been very good."

[This guy has always been running on a single core. If there is one core, it is difficult for eight cores to watch. Now there are many Tianyi nobles who are parallelizing other core processes for him, which has made up for many shortcomings. In the final analysis, there is still a problem with the driver. This guy has not been tested by blood and fire, nor has he received systematic warrior education. However, I don't really want him to be as surprised as the Spartans. 】

"Why do I feel like you are saying something insinuations?"

No, no. I don't dare.

"You're very good. You know you have to obey military orders. You have some basic civic manners."

【cut. 】

The elevator runs to the top of the Empire State Building. After exiting the elevator door, facing a floor-to-ceiling picture window. The setting sun in New Antioch is reflected on the Hudson River, and helicopters are on alert in the evening just like yesterday.

But even if barricades are piled up outside and machine guns are set up, it has nothing to do with the sky garden at the top of the Empire State Building.

On the terrace outside the viewing window, you can see the laurel trees swaying gently in the wind. This is a landscape transplanted from the native land. In order to adapt to the storms that sometimes come suddenly here, the entire laurel tree is covered in a glass cover to avoid the influence of the outside climate.

"I've kept you waiting." Little Pompeo walked out of another elevator immediately.

"What do you say over there?" Shangluo asked.

"No problem. After I initiated the invitation, he happily accepted the proposal. He will return to the Consulate in a while. Let's have a dinner first." He made an invitation gesture and led the way. The banquet hall is right in front.

Shangluo had eaten the banquet of the Romans at Karin's house next to Lake Nemi. Although Karin's family was only the mayor of the town, as a serious Roman aristocrat, her family still prepared sumptuous dishes - the level of Roman banquets was usually distinguished by the richness of ingredients and spices.

At that time, Karin’s family provided “Chordata Family Photos”. As the name suggests, this dish contains seven main dishes from the class Amphibians, Birds, Therians, Bony Fishes, Reptiles, Cartilage Fishes and Cylastomata. For example, the ingredient representing Cylastomata is lamprey, which represents The food material of cartilaginous fishes is shark, and the representative animal meat on the table is beef.

According to rumors, the most advanced Roman banquet should not only include the Chordata phylum - everything flying in the sky and swimming in the water should be gathered together, plus representatives of the Arthropoda and Molluscs, you can make up a whole Happy birthday to Noah's Ark. We select the most representative ingredients from around the world and condense the flavors of the entire world onto one dining table.

In this case, the cooking method itself is not very important. Based on the controlled variable method, the Romans usually used a roasting method to process ingredients, so that they could easily taste the difference in flavor between roasted Florida sea beef and roasted Atlantic sea slugs.

But what was placed on the banquet table was completely different from what he had imagined - it was no longer rich, it was simply outrageous. An entire long table was spread from one end of the banquet hall to the other, filled with food.

The first row from the left, in order, are cabbage and bacon pasta, cheese and tomato pasta, pesto sauce pasta, and squid ink pasta.

The second row from the left is baked rice with milk, seafood baked rice, and tomato and cheese baked rice.

Third row from left, mozzarella cheese pizza, margherita pizza, and New Antioch pineapple pizza.

The fourth row from the left is a whole row of soup bowls. It's tomato soup, corn soup, mushroom soup and the like.

The entire table was arranged as neatly as an assembly line, but I couldn't find where anyone should sit. Because it looks like you ordered all the ingredients on a restaurant menu and then placed them here in a row according to the order on the menu.

"This is how the Romans ate?" he asked Phaethon next to him, "Is this Noah's Ark celebrating his birthday?"

"If you hadn't said it was a meal, I would have thought it was a tribute to the gods if it was arranged neatly. Speaking of which, there are only three of us eating with our mouths open. Why are there more than 20 dishes of noodles and rice combined?"

Little Pompey was walking in from outside: "Your Majesty, King of Rome, are you satisfied with this sumptuous dinner?"

Chapter 748 Dinner Party

"Uh" Shangluo wanted to say something, but didn't know what to say. What he wanted to come in to see was the World Expo on the tip of his tongue, not the family portrait in the restaurant downstairs. Although it tasted really good and the colors were beautiful, it was better to go back and eat alkaline water balls.

And he still doesn't know where he should sit. Logically speaking, the main dishes, side dishes, soups, etc. should be placed where guests can easily touch them. But the dishes here were all arranged in a long assembly line, and no matter where he sat, he couldn't touch all the dishes.

"Um? Why don't you guys eat?" Little Pompeo asked, "Come on, let's start with the appetizers. Follow me." He carried the plate and walked to the beginning of the table, standing among the various staple dishes and soups. In front of the food and complementary foods, pick up vegetables from inside row by row.

"Is there any other way to eat it this way?" He glanced at Phaethon again, who still looked "baffled"

"Maybe it's popular here in New Antioch? It's not popular here. We all sit down to eat. Is this really our problem? Between the two of us, we can't eat anywhere. Why? With so many weird things going on in his house, do they all like to eat standing up?”

"Eating while standing?" Shangluo glanced at little Pompeo. He had indeed been standing picking up and putting the dishes on the plate.

"Okay." He held the plate and stood next to the long table.

There's really nothing to pick about here. Making do with it, Shangluo also began to eat in order.

Until he finished the meal, Shangluo didn't realize what he imagined "Noah's Ark Birthday" was like. The full menu on this table made him full. He had not felt so full in a long time.

Little Pompeo also accompanied him throughout the whole process, and he stayed with the two of them except for a trip to the toilet.

"Well, thank you for the treat."

"Are you satisfied?"

"Well, it's not bad." After eating it, although it felt a little indescribable, it was indeed not bad. He serves buttered oysters with squid ink pasta, and garlic bread on the side. A bite of bread, a bite of pasta, a bite of oysters. A bite of bread, a bite of pasta, another bite of oysters. His mouth felt a little dry while eating.

But when it comes to taste, this is indeed up to standard: "Then, after dinner, we have to start working."

"Understood, I will send someone to take you to the subway station. I wish you all a safe journey." He still remained polite and used idioms this time. After a few conversations with Shangluo, his level has improved a lot visibly. He kept a smile on his face until he sent the two of them to the elevator. He also chatted with Shangluo and Faetong, who also chatted with him.

Until the elevator door was closed, Shangluo and Phaethon looked at each other and smiled.

"Did you find it?" Shangluo asked.

"He's right - the creatures in this world are all imitating what they want to be. It's a pity that our little Mr. Pompeo doesn't imitate very much. He is a fake." Fake, this It's Shangluo's judgment. That's a dummy.

"Oh? How did you tell?"

Phaethon suppressed his voice, but could not hide his anger: "Who would eat pineapple pizza!!! Who among the serious Romans would eat pineapple pizza! That must be a dummy!!!"

“So it’s this”

"What about you?" Phaethon asked him. "I have to say that this disguise is so perfect that it is impossible to recognize it. Except for the weird behavior, such as the pineapple pizza, it is first-rate weird. What about you? What did you see? ?”

"Ha! I noticed it almost as soon as I walked in. Although I have always felt that he was extremely polite, and it was outrageous that he always asked me for conversation practice. What I really noticed was that he was a dummy, and he used to go to the toilet under the pretense of going to the toilet. when it is time to leave."

"They haven't fallen out yet."

"What should we do?" Shangluo asked, "Should we take action first?"

"No. I would like to see what secrets they hide behind their exquisite and clumsy, good and bad acting skills. This is directly related to our safety."

Little Pompey stood in the moonlight, flipping through a book as thick as a dictionary in front of him. It said in a language unreadable by humans:

"How to Eat Like a Human"

The part he read read: Eating is a human habit. When eating, humans should be in a spacious, bright and tidy environment

"It should be fine when we get here." While muttering quietly, he looked at the surrounding environment - the top floor of the Empire State Building, the banquet hall of the Consul Palace. Nothing is more spacious, bright and clean than here in New Antioch.

"This part is fine. But I always feel like something's wrong. Did they notice something?" He asked the others, "Have we been spotted?"

"No, your disguise is flawless."

"Is there something wrong with the food?" He turned another page:

Human meals should pay attention to nutritional combinations. Do not eat packets, condiments, tables, chairs and waiters.

"I don't have any tables, chairs, or waiters here at all. There's nothing more normal than this. Is it something abnormal again?"

He continued to turn back. The book says: Human diet should contain appropriate proportions of starch, protein and fat.

He closed the book and said: "Damn it! What's wrong! The distribution of starch, protein and fat is completely correct. Why. Why do I always feel that something is wrong?"

"Commander." The attendant interrupted, "Baking Assistant No. 4 is here, in the elevator."

"Let him in." Little Pompeo closed the book "How to Eat Like a Human" in his hand.

"Baking Assistant No. 4" strode into the door.

"Welcome, welcome back." Little Pompey stood up to greet him as instructed in another book called "How to Walk Like a Man."

"Let's end this dumbass thing. You dummy."

"Baking Assistant No. 4, what are you talking about?"

"My name is not 'Baking Assistant No. 4.'" He adjusted his hat. "If you can, please call me Chef. Now tell me - where are the real Pompeii family? When did you switch them? of?"

"How about a deal? Mr. Chef." He sat on his chair, upright like a real little Pompeo, "We are compatriots, there is nothing to hide. Make a deal, and I will tell the Pompeii family where."

"Then say it."

"Is there something wrong with the layout of my restaurant?"

"Of course there is a problem!" the chef said angrily, "Which Roman would eat pineapple pizza!"

"No, no, no, it's not here." He looked into the chef's eyes, "I noticed that your Excellency's face didn't look right after I came back from going to the toilet. I wonder if they noticed it. But why? ? What's wrong with the toilet?"

"That door says Men's Restroom!" The chef pointed over there. "This is Pompeo's house, not a public restroom! Who would label 'Men's Restroom' on the bathroom door at home! You stupid dummies!"

"It seems that you do have a lot of 'wisdom' that you have gained from living together with humans." He threw aside the closed book in his hand. "It seems that we can complement each other. Unfortunately, Your Excellency has too many human emotions, which are superfluous. From a rational point of view, you should be with your party members now, rather than standing in front of me - well, my greetings to Cathay, it seems. It’s becoming more and more natural.”

"What exactly do you want to do? I tell you, you'd better confess immediately where the Pompeii family is. Because if I can't go back, Miss Karin will definitely warn others."

"No, no, you don't have to do that, you just need to cooperate with me."

"Why should I cooperate with you? What do you want to do?"

"Oh, Mr. Chef, you asked two questions, so let me answer them one by one. First, you don't have to cooperate with us sincerely. I have my own way. Second, what do I want to do? You can do it right away. We'll find out soon." As he said this, he looked at the chef:

"Actually, there is one thing that has always puzzled me. Although the human book says 'you cannot eat waiters', according to my information, the Maori people in Aotearoa are cannibals." Habit. And they believe that by eating other people's hearts, they can get other people's souls and power. Whether humans can obtain souls and power is indeed a secret, but it is an instinct for us, isn't it? ?”

As he spoke, he looked at the chef: "Originally, I really wanted you to help us complete the plan together. But now, I have changed my mind. Rather than your skills, I need you to live with the Pompeii family for a long time. The common sense he has accumulated over time - Guards, take out his Vulcan core!"

Chapter 749 Fire

"I need your common sense. I need the common sense you accumulated while living in the Pompeo family."

"Do you want to... wait a minute!" He looked around and knew that he couldn't run away. "I have only one request. At least tell me where Pompey's family is!"

"Want to know? You will know in a moment. When I merge with your hypocritical machine soul, you will know everything. You should feel honored. As the deputy commander of Colombia and the garrison commander of New Antioch City, I will not Merge the consciousness of a slave at will. So, should you take out Vulcan’s spark yourself, or should I have someone do it?”

"." The chef hit the side wall without hesitation. With just a slight bump, the entire wall shattered like glass - this was the dark wall in Pompeo's house. The secret room inside led directly to the garbage passage, and you could descend down from it if necessary. ,

"Alas." Little Pompey sighed. Sitting on the chair, he never moved.

In less than 3 seconds, the chef was pushed out by two non-acting automatons - those two were already waiting there.

"You don't even know that the Romans didn't eat pineapple pizza, so how could you know there was a secret door there? There is clearly a secret door there."

"There is a seal, right? You are wondering why I can open it. I don't want to say it, but you will soon know -" He ordered the automaton next to him, "Take the share of fire that Vulkan gave him." Come down."

"You" Before the chef could finish his sentence, a steel arm penetrated his body from behind. When the arm was pulled out again, a silver ball was clenched in the hand of the automaton - the moment the ball left the body, the chef's entire body collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut off.