Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

"Can I take that literally?"

"No! It's just a favor in the usual sense, nothing else."

"Brother, you don't need to say anything, we all understand!" Han Xingzhi jumped onto Shangluo's back like a monkey, "Brother, you are really...really amazing~~ You are good at dancing with long sleeves, you are good at dancing with long sleeves."

"Get off!" He rolled over and threw Han Xingzhi aside. "Anyway, now that we have this gold, it will naturally have its uses. You can all get some of it when the time comes."

"The alchemy room doesn't have enough gold." Wen Yuan nodded. "I know that. The emperor didn't approve much gold for the alchemy room because he wasn't very interested in the 'golden elixir', and the alchemy room's recent research direction is not in this area. I don't think the Jinyiwei will ask the national treasury for gold - if you hadn't sold a 'favor', it would be difficult to get so much gold."

"By the way, how much gold is in our treasury?"

"How would I know?" Wen Yuan shook her head. "This is a secret. Gold is an important reserve, and it is related to the national economy and people's livelihood. But no matter what, the national treasury can't give you 1000 tons of gold at once, and let you use it at will without specifying the purpose. That's why I said that you and Victoria really have a close relationship."

"Ah~~ That's great~" Han Xingzhi echoed, "I wish I could have a brother like you"

Before he finished speaking, a familiar, cold chill suddenly emerged from the side.

The familiar feeling and extreme fear made him look towards Shangluo suddenly. He saw Shangluo was throwing and catching a date that came out of nowhere.

"!!!" He took a step back and bowed his head, "Brother, I was wrong! I was wrong!"

"You know what the consequences will be if you continue talking, right? I have no choice but to ask you to eat some dates, Master Han. Perhaps this will allow you to sleep peacefully for a while longer."

The huge fear made him not dare to delay for a second, and he immediately began to beg for mercy: "I was wrong! I won't dare to do it again! Quickly withdraw your magical power! I won't dare to do it again."

"Is this thing so powerful?" Wen Yuan asked in surprise.

"Eat it. You'll know once you eat one. The image of Zhu Bajie being eaten is still circling in my mind."

"What's this Zhu Bajie and Sun Wukong?" Wen Yuan was a little confused, but he could guess the situation from the look on his face. This guy was now like Sun Wukong who had heard the spell of tightening the hoop, and he seemed to be really scared.

"You two, come with me first." He looked at the two of them. "When there are good things, of course we should digest them first, right? I plan to make a batch of weapons for the heavenly soldiers and generals later. You two can look at the catalog and pick one for yourselves. There will be one for everyone, and there is enough gold for now."

[Then take the gold and become cannon fodder, and get beaten by Fu Yuanshan. Hehehe.] Apollonia said with a fierce smile.

Chapter 919 Maintenance

"So now the problem is back to you." At dinner, Phaethon brought back employee meals from McDonald's.

Life returned to its previous state in a short period of time, and it seemed that nothing had changed, but everything was about to change.

"Yeah," Shangluo nodded while eating a hamburger.

"Any news from New Antioch?"

"Those automatons are still making bread. But it seems that there is still some time before the number of toasters explodes exponentially. We still have a chance to clean up the internal problems first."

"Is this considered a PVE novice tutorial mode?"

"Maybe." Shang Luo shook his head. "However, I guess the chef doesn't have any bad intentions, otherwise he wouldn't have accepted the interview with Jin Yiwei. Although he couldn't say anything except 'I want to make bread', he didn't seem to do anything else. However, I won't let my guard down. Before I came back for dinner, I asked Jin Yiwei to bring back an automatic machine."

"'Bring' one?" asked Phaethon.

"Just kidnap one. Capture one and bring him back. I want to find out what's going on and see if we should be more conservative or more radical."

"I guess what's the conservative solution? 'I think you're being too conservative.' So what's the conservative solution?"

"Blast it again."

"Then you should reconsider it! It's not easy for New Antioch to survive! After Pompey and Alexander the Great, one-sixth of Rome is gone. If you destroy it again, you won't be able to rebuild it."

"I know, I know. That's why I sent out spies first. This person is very conservative - the radical kind of conservative. Sometimes I feel that I am so conservative that I am like an antique, because there are many people in the court who want to destroy everything at any time."

"I say, the reason why I asked you to take over this position temporarily is because you are a good person?"

"That's right! Compared to many of the ministers, I am a very kind person, extremely kind."

"You are quite steady." Although he didn't want to admit it, Shangluo was the only one who could speak for both sides, because he was not on either side, but was a guest, but the nature of the guests was different. In Rome, he was a guest, and in Daming, he was a child staying with distant relatives.

Although Shangluo would definitely stand on the side of the Ming Dynasty, Victoria did not regard Shangluo as an outsider.

This delicate relationship between inside and outside allows him to sit firmly in this position with the right identity.

This delicate identity is just right for maintaining this delicate relationship. For example, whether to drop bombs on Xin'antiaoke again, if someone else in the court was in charge, they would probably just drop bombs when Zhu Xianxun was not around. But Shangluo can see that Xin'antiaoke has the potential to become a helper, and it may come in handy in the future.

"Eat more." Phaethon handed Shangluo another hamburger.

"Oh, that's fine. I can't eat any more. They're just burgers anyway."

"Eat another one. I'm afraid you'll get hungry and throw bombs at New Antioch. Now that you have the hammer in your hand, you may see other things as nails."

"Okay." Shangluo shook his head and ate the hamburger handed to him by Phaethon.

He wasn't very hungry until lunch the next day.

"Eh? Shangluo, you don't seem to have much appetite today?" Qi Yuan asked him while tidying up the books on the table.

"Ah, I'm full."

Qi Yuan lowered his voice and asked, "Is it related to cultivation? I also found that after I broke through to become a true Qigong practitioner, I always felt that my appetite began to decrease. But when I eat spiritual roots, I don't feel as full as before."

"That's true." Shang Luo nodded. "As far as I know, this happens to many Qigong practitioners. Because as their realms break through, their reliance on material things becomes less and less. Until they reach the Golden Core stage, they can completely rely on the Small Circulation to function without the need for the Big Circulation. At that time, they really only need to drink the northwest wind and collect a wisp of purple air between heaven and earth."

"Wow, wouldn't that be boring?"

"It's not that you can't eat. Immortals are free and unrestrained, so eating or not is just a choice. As far as I know, let alone the Golden Core Stage, some people start to regulate their appetites when they reach the Foundation Establishment Stage - while some people start to eat excessively after reaching the Foundation Establishment Stage."

"Are you talking about General Bai Feng? I've heard that he often eats for free and often treats people. It seems that he can eat eight meals a day. By the way, is he also practicing confrontation with the court now? Has the court found a good solution?"

"Not yet." Shangluo shook his head.

Suddenly, he remembered something -

"Oh, by the way, squad leader. Don't we have to rush to the cafeteria to grab food now? Why are you still sitting here?"

"Don't worry, the cafeteria has been restructured. There is now a lunch ticket vending machine in front of the cafeteria. After buying the ticket in advance, just go to the corresponding window to get your meal. The meal is now automatically served, fast and accurate, and your hands don't shake when you serve the food. If you say 2 taels of sweet corn, it's exactly right, with an error of 3 grains of corn."

"Oh, no wonder everyone is not in a hurry. Now we can eat it as long as we go there, right? Then we can choose the lunch coupons, right? Don't we have to fight for the delicious set meals?"

"It's strange, it's like the cafeteria knows what each of us likes to eat. There are 5 kinds of set meals, but they always sell out all 5, so everyone can basically have what they want. This is amazing, I feel like the cafeteria knows me better than I know myself. How does it know what I want to eat today?"

[It's data analysis. It seems that the supply system of your school cafeteria has been automated. If I'm not mistaken, it may be that a lot of Tianyi Guiren are used. ]

“Is the effect so good?”

[Northern Zhili uses this system for central planning, which can achieve the best balance between demand and supply. Solving the lunch problem for a group of students is not a small matter - although the problem itself is very complicated, because "what do you want to eat today" is completely metaphysical. But the Tianyi nobles are also the product of metaphysics, and using metaphysics to solve metaphysical problems is quite wonderful. ]

"This is a good thing. When everyone ascends to heaven, everyone can be free and easy. As for cooking in the cafeteria, if you want to cook, then do it. If no one likes it, just let Doudou do it. I don't think there's anything wrong with that."

[However, there are also problems that Doudou cannot solve. 】

Chapter 920 Lunch

"What is the problem that Doudou can't solve?"

[You will see it when you open the window. You were too relaxed when you were in school. Now if you feel it a little, you will feel this resentment. ]

"Hmm?" Shangluo turned his attention to the window——

"Hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry." The overwhelming hunger almost broke through the window, but because there was no malicious intent, it did not trigger Shangluo's conditioned reflex.

He opened the window and looked down, and saw Han Xingzhi squatting there.

Seeing Shangluo sticking his head out, he also looked up: there was a hungry green light in his eyes, and he didn't look like a human. He even had the energy to chew on the green belt.

"What are you doing squatting here?"

"I wanted to see when you could come out, big brother. But you were talking to your squad leader, and I didn't dare interrupt."

"What do you want to do?"

"Brother, have you forgotten? Curse the date, curse the date. I'm so hungry. I really don't want to eat panda food today. I want to eat something that everyone likes."

"But didn't I show you everything before? My cursed date technique is very dangerous now, and it may cause you to encounter unexpected things. Maybe you will see Zhu Bajie again right after you eat it."

"Ah! I can't stand it anymore. It doesn't matter if I see Zhu Bajie again. When I mention Zhu Bajie, I want to eat pork knuckle again! I haven't eaten pork knuckle for a long time! I'm so hungry!"

Qi Yuan also poked his head out: "What's wrong with him?"

Shangluo briefly introduced the situation to Qi Yuan - Han Xingzhi could only eat cakes made of grains when he was hungry, the kind that pandas eat. When he was thirsty, he could only drink rootless water, which he brought in a water bottle.

Originally, he could have asked Shangluo to treat him to some cursed dates, but now Shangluo’s cursed dates had been contaminated by the heavenly calamity and could no longer be eaten.

"Ah!" Qi Yuan thought, "If that's the case, why not go ask the almighty cafeteria? Now just put your student ID in and the vending machine at the door will recommend one of several meal sets. They're usually delicious."

"Then let's try it. Let's go, let's go." Shangluo climbed out the window, grabbed Han Xingzhi by the scruff of the neck and pulled him up, then brought him all the way to the cafeteria.

The vending machine was indeed right at the entrance of the cafeteria.

There is a row of buttons on the vending machine, and the menu is placed next to it. 12345, you can choose from five menus. Generally, 123 menus are a set meal of four dishes and one soup, and and are some kind of noodle soup or dumplings, wontons, etc. The staple food is a meal other than rice.

Interestingly, although you have to pay for lunch at school, as long as you put your student ID card at the reading window, all the lights will light up automatically. At that time, just press the button to light up the lights and a meal ticket will be printed out. After entering the door, you can take the meal ticket to the fixed window.

As for how much money to pay, the bill has already been calculated separately, and students do not need to put coins into the vending machine.

"In fact, I thought at first that there was someone hiding in here." Qi Yuan stood in front and said while swiping his student ID card, "Then I realized that it was probably Tianyi Guiren in there."

As she said this, she turned around and accidentally bumped her elbow into the robot, pressing the first button on the right.

"Ah! I haven't chosen yet, how come I accidentally pressed number five. What is number five? Beef noodle set meal? It's okay, let's have this today."

She took out the coupon and motioned Shangluo to come forward: "It's your turn."

Shangluo put his student ID card on it——

With a bang, something inside the machine seemed to vibrate.

The lights on the machine lit up like a marquee. The marquee spun around and around, until all the lights flashed simultaneously, as if someone had won the lottery. It was a lively scene.

Before Shangluo could make his choice, the machine hummed and spit out a golden meal coupon.

"What is this?" He picked it up and took a look.

[This is Doudou's special invitation ticket. They knew you were coming to eat today, so they prepared a special set meal for you. ]

"Um, it's okay." He didn't really care what to eat for lunch. He didn't have much appetite today, but it was still nice to have someone treat him.

He moved aside and motioned for Han Xingzhi to put his student ID there as well.

"Zi"

There were no lights on, no scrolling lights, no sound, light, or video effects. The machine silently spat out a ticket in black and white.

"Eh??? Why?" Han Xingzhi was stunned. "Why don't you let me choose? Why does even the vending machine bully me?"

Shangluo probably knew what was going on inside - this seemed to be a special treat from the Doudous.

He put his hand on Han Xingzhi's shoulder, held the meal ticket for him, and went into the cafeteria with him.

"Ah, this beef noodle is even better than I thought." Qi Yuan was very happy. This beef noodle was not only delicious, but also had a lot of meat. There was a thick layer of meat on top. Her appetite was smaller than before, but she was able to eat more meat with her limited stomach, and she was very satisfied.

The food on Shangluo's plate was much simpler than that on Qiyuan's table.

There was only a bowl of grape-flavored jelly topped with various assorted fruit pulps. There was also a small piece of fruit cake on the side. The drink was a glass of lemon juice with ice.

【This is a special treat for the Beans. 】

"Very good." He thought Doudou was going to serve him a family meal, but he didn't expect it to unexpectedly match his mood today. "I just don't have much of an appetite today, so I just want to have some snacks. Very good, very good, I'll give everyone a chicken drumstick later."

When my eyes turned to Han Xingzhi, he looked as pale as death.

There are 7 panda-shaped ones, with panda steamed bread lying on his plate. The pandas are sticking their butts out, stretching, eating beads, and making various cute shapes.

“Uh,” Shangluo pressed his forehead, “Maybe the Beans know that you can only eat this, so they made the shape a little more delicate for you.”

"Why is it made in the shape of a panda? Pandas give me a headache now. To prevent me from regretting after eating it, it is made into a bite-sized size."

"Uh" Shangluo didn't know how to answer, "Maybe it's the persistence of the Doudous. Panda food must look like a panda. Eat it, don't waste it."

"Oh okay." He reached out and picked up a piece, chewed it, and swallowed it.

"How about it?"

"Among all the steamed breads I've ever eaten, these are the best. The seasoning is just right, and each steamed bread seems a little different. This one has a little more salt, that one is a little sweeter, and this one is a little more fragrant. Well, they created a little different flavor within the limited space, and I really have to thank them. But..."

“But it’s still steamed bread?”

Han Xingzhi nodded helplessly: "It's sour, eat it. But when I think about not having even this kind of steamed bread for dinner, I feel miserable. Who can save me?"