Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

The military academy student smiled casually: "My name is Lu Huaiyang. Perhaps your father has mentioned me to you?"

"Ah, you are Captain Lu?" Shangluo remembered that there was indeed such a person.

When "Old Shang" was still around, he'd call this Lu Qianhu every now and then, with long pauses between each call. Now that I think about it, those were probably transatlantic calls using submarine telephone lines, hence the long delay.

"It seems he didn't avoid you when he called. Your father... Old Shang is really inconsiderate. He shouldn't tell those things to children. I can contact him now. Do you want to call?"

Shangluo could sense that he was carefully choosing his words, not trying to impose "father-son righteousness" on him.

"No need. He left without saying goodbye. He must have something urgent to do."

Shangluo still remembers it, that was two months ago. That "Old Mr. Shang" said he was going out to buy a pack of cigarettes two months ago and never came back.

If he hadn't sent back a postcard from Alexandria, Shangluo would have thought he was missing. The postcard showed a photo of him and the Lighthouse of Alexandria, which was indeed there.

"You guessed right. It is indeed a big deal, and it is extremely urgent. The plan is highly confidential. It is also a long-awaited joint operation between Yujing and Constantinople. Have you finished drinking? Yes, drink it all and don't waste it." He waited patiently until Shangluo finished drinking it all before reaching out to take the lunch box.

"I always feel like you're not safe. How about... this?"

Lu Huaiyang suddenly made a decision. He took back his empty lunch box with one hand and untied the badge from his waist with the other. He put it behind his back, his fingertips flashing with a barely perceptible electric light. Only after the electric light faded into the badge did he hand it to Shangluo.

"Take my badge. As long as you're within San Francisco, I'll come to rescue you within half an hour."

"But you gave me your badge, what are you going to do?"

"Your safety is important, and I have other forms of identification, so you don't have to worry. But I have one last warning for you: don't use my badge for anything strange. If you do, I'll definitely find out. Your father did it, so I'm warning you again. I'll definitely find out what you're doing with it."

Chapter 6 Plowing the Court and Sweeping the Cave

After saying that, Lu Huaiyang pulled the door handle. The car door opened a crack, and the noisy movement came in from outside again.

"Wait a minute!" Shangluo suddenly stopped him, "I have a question. How are you going to deal with those people?"

Lu Huaiyang paused. He turned slowly and said, "As long as you ask, I will answer, because the Chinese people have the right to know. But I'm afraid this will put some moral pressure on you, so you must be mentally prepared."

"You tell me, I'm prepared."

Hearing this, Lu Huaiyang sat back down and closed the door. This time, his expression was much more serious:

"According to the relevant laws, our response to kidnapping is to plow through the house, burn everything, and then sprinkle salt on the body, regardless of whether the victim is dead or alive."

He paused, then continued, "If you are murdered or suffer other irreparable harm, all perpetrators will be skinned and strung up on straw, then hung from the city gates. All of these actions will not require a joint trial by the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court, or the Censorate. Instead, they will be carried out immediately by the local garrison, beheading first and reporting later. After that, everything will be plundered and the graves emptied. I hope this doesn't hurt your young heart."

"No, not at all. I'd like to know why." Shangluo's heart beat faster. After all, it was the first time he experienced such a thing.

"Because you have an order from the imperial court. If we attack you, we are attacking the imperial court. This is how the imperial court treats barbarians. We never show mercy."

A quarter of an hour later, the returning police cars, lights on, swayed along the road. Except for this one, all the others were still at the scene.

Shangluo stared out the window. The scene of the incident grew farther and farther away, but the brightness didn't diminish. Just then, arc spotlights had been set up, illuminating the scene brighter than the center of a stage, visible even from the horizon.

Shangluo had been watching that place the whole time, because when he left just now, he saw the heavy infantrymen already in firing position, and the signalman had already taken out the small flags for command from the box. Calculating the time, it was almost time to "plough the courtyard."

Suddenly, without warning, a red fireball burst from the white spotlight. One, two, three, and then a continuous barrage of fire. Rockets, trailing red flames, shot across the black field, striking the "nest" illuminated by the spotlight.

The black night sky lit up again and again, illuminating the endless green fields on both sides of the road. The dull sound of explosions traveled along the loose farmland, shaking the car windows and the roadside nurseries.

Taihe 32nd-year-old individual rocket launcher, Imperial Guard model. The signature weapon of the Imperial Uniform Guard, its fuel-air explosive warheads were designed to devastate the enemy. Dozens of these explosives would melt even the strongest stone.

But it wasn't just the car window that was shaking. He noticed something in his pocket was vibrating as well.

It was that music box, and it was Miss Apollonia, who had a very long name and called herself "Endless Divine Machine".

But when I think about it carefully, it seems that the chattering guy hasn't spoken until now.

【.】

"Why do I feel like you're scared?"

【.】

"Hey, say something."

[Was that someone from the Imperial Guard just now?] Apollonia's voice was trembling, and much softer than before.

"Why should you be afraid of the Jinyiwei? They are not coming for you."

[He was radiating the light of another divine machine. It was as dazzling as the sun. Although it only flashed for a brief moment and was behind him, my vision is still blurry.]

"You're not the only Shen Ji? Are there others? How many others like you are there?"

"Divine machines aren't something you can find everywhere. Each one possesses unique powers. For example, I possess one of the three great powers: 'divination.' Just like Apollo delivered the oracle at Delphi, I can deliver the oracle. But I'm afraid you're the only one who can hear it. If you can't hear my voice, then I don't exist. So, will you come and help me?"

Shangluo was silent for a long time, and finally spoke:

"I'm sorry. The conflict between you and other gods is a war in heaven. What happens in heaven has nothing to do with me. I only care about things on earth. I need to make sure that you are harmless to 'my country' before I can trust you." Although he was not born "here", Shangluo felt that life here was not bad.

He sighed. "But I don't like to owe anyone anything. You did me a big favor—even though they kidnapped me because of you. Since they said I can fix you, I'll try. But it won't be for free."

I know I will pay you a reward worthy of your labor.

"very good."

Shangluo then looked out the window. Yangzhou had little light pollution, and the night sky seemed almost artificially bright. Looking closely, he could make out the faint silver outlines of the nurseries lining the road, their green leaves gleaming with dew.

Despite the day's events, the sight of the wheat fields outside the car window suddenly reassured him. At least no one would starve to death here. Lush green wort was a popular health food in Yujing. The radishes grown here were a popular vegetable exported far and wide to the capital.

After relaxing, his mood improved a lot. There was a Jinyiwei driving ahead, and after a tiring day, he finally had a chance to rest for a while.

"Hey, wake up, wake up."

Shangluo was shaken awake. When he opened his eyes, the light yellow lights in the car were already on.

"We've arrived. Get out of the car quickly." An armored Jinyiwei stood outside the car. He had already opened the door for Shangluo.

Shangluo got out of the car yawning, "What time is it now?"

"It's 2 a.m. I stepped on the gas all the way to get you back."

"Ah, thank you." Shangluo realized then that this Jinyiwei didn't sound much older than him, but he was actually a head taller. This really matched his impression of the Jinyiwei, as they were all from military families and had always been taller than their peers.

Although his voice sounded immature, Shangluo knew that a military household of his age had already received at least 10 years of military training. Training began at the age of 7, which was longer than the entire service period of soldiers in many countries. However, for a military household, this was only the beginning of their military career.

After all, the Royal Army couldn't possibly recruit a bunch of children to fight. Before adulthood, military training was just that, training. And it focused on non-combat areas, like driving. The man in front of me might have been driving for five or six years.

"Thank you for bringing me back." Shangluo bowed. "Your driving skills are really good. Those barbarians took half a day to kidnap me, and you brought me back in just two hours. The whole way was through wild land, and I was still asleep. What's your name, brother?"

Chapter 7 Wen Yuan

"My name is Wen Yuan." Wen Yuan gave her name politely. "Can I take what you just said as a compliment?"

"Oh yes, I was indeed praising you."

"That's great! I have a practical report for the holiday and need someone to write a review for it. Could you write one for me?"

"Practice report? What's that?"

"It's the rules of the training academy. We're on spring break now, our last before graduation. We have to prepare for graduation when we get back, and we have to intern at the guard post during this break. I'm a member of the Jinyiwei, so I'm working for them during spring break. But the Nanzhen Jinyiwei don't go out at all, so you're the first living person I've met."

"Alas." Shangluo sighed, "If I hadn't come to Yangzhou, I would probably be busy with graduation matters like you. I remember this as well."

"Which school did you go to? I remember you were a carpenter?"

"Mount Wutai Training Institute."

"Oh! What a coincidence! I'm from the Wutaishan Training Institute. We're classmates, and our campuses are connected. Oh, now I remember, are you the Shangluo with the seven-orifice mind? I heard you can talk to dogs! That's amazing! Can you show me?"

"Who said 'talking to the dog'? That's a lie!"

"Um, so you can't talk to dogs? What a shame. Well, it's getting late, so I'll take my leave now. See you later."

"See you."

The two said goodbye.

Wen Yuan turned and walked to the car door - suddenly, he remembered something:

"By the way, I need a small favor from you. My pocket watch is broken, could you help me fix it?"

"No problem, do you have it with you?"

"Here." Wen Yuan took out the brass pocket watch from her waist bag and threw it over.

Shangluo took it and said, "It's a small problem. See you tomorrow. I'll go back to the Acropolis and deliver it to you tomorrow."

Wen Yuan waved her hand, opened the car door and got in.

Sitting back in the driver's seat, Wen Yuan held the steering wheel steady with both hands, sitting there:

"Master, I gave him the pocket watch, which seems to be the seed of the cause. How was my performance when we were chatting just now? Was it natural enough? Will I get a higher grade on my internship report?"

"It's unnatural." Under the yellow light, Lu Huaiyang was sitting in the passenger seat with his eyes closed, resting. "The Training Institute and the Teaching Institute are two different institutions, but they are both in Wutai Mountain. Under normal circumstances, you two will basically never interact in this life, and you are not even classmates. Even if you try to build relationships, you won't be able to do it like this."

"So he noticed it?"

"He's a man with a very clever mind. You should know what that means. It means he has six more minds than you."

"Master, are you still suspicious that there's something wrong with him?"

"I wasn't there to direct the plowing and sweeping of the caves, but instead accompanied you to send him back. It wasn't to test your poor driving skills. I read his fortune and found something unusual about him. Even if the root of the problem wasn't him, it was definitely closely related to him. So I sealed the thunder technique in a waist badge and gave it to him. Firstly, to protect his safety, and secondly, I wanted to see what he was up to."

"Then Master, why don't you just take him back to the guardhouse and interrogate him?"

"You, remember my words." Lu Huaiyang opened his eyes. "The Jinyiwei of Nanzhen are sent by the emperor. We represent the emperor. So no matter what, no matter what, we cannot arrest civilians at will. Although he is indeed a suspect, it is not necessarily his fault. So, don't force him. Blame those demons."

"Yes, Master, I understand." He nodded, took out a small notebook and wrote down what Lu Qianhu had just said.

Lu Huaiyang suddenly sat up. "Besides, if he really has a problem, you might not be his match in a fight."

"Ok?"

"What I want to tell you is that if his suspicion is confirmed, you must not act rashly. You can't deal with real evil on your own. This is real war, and you can lose your life if you're not careful. This isn't armor combat or chariot racing you and your classmates play. In war, people die. Don't be afraid of death, but none of us should die in vain."

"I understand. The country doesn't support us as scholars just to be served as dinner for demons. Even if I die, I will definitely replace him."

"Tsk." Lu Huaiyang shook his head. "You're quite arrogant. You're the only one who wants to 'change'? Wait another 30 years, at least until you're my age. You're going back after spring break, right? How are the preparations for the chariot race going?"

"Not really. I just received a telegram saying that Che You from our group passed the exam and has transferred to Bai Ludong Academy. Now it's all over. I don't know where to find new teammates in such a short time. Everyone else has already formed a team by now."

"Tsk, that's not good." Lu Huaiyang looked ahead. "Let's drive and go back first. I'm sleepy too. Tomorrow I'll ask some old friends for you to see if they have anyone there—Hey! I told you not to floor the accelerator! This is a car, not a bumper car you drive at home. Don't you know how fast this gasoline engine reacts?"

The military vehicles were getting farther and farther away, and so were the sounds.

Inside the store, Shangluo's hand was on the switch.

【So, as you wished, I let you listen to their conversation.】

"What do you think?"

Your life seems interesting. Is what they just said true? Is your school really that fun?

"Well, maybe the schools over there are more fun. They have armor combat and chariot games, which is simple and direct fun. It's more complicated here. There's a car championship between the training centers, and you have to build everything yourself except the wheels."

[Sounds like fun! Are there any prizes for winning?]

"The winner of the training academy can join the Imperial Guards; if we win, we can join the Imperial Craftsmen's Academy. Both sides also have spots for admission to the Imperial College—but not many people go there these days. After all, there aren't many ministers among the students; ministers all come from the White Deer Grotto Academy and the Donglin Academy. The students are just assistants to them, so most of the winners have been poached."

You seemed very happy when you said these words.

"How did I act happy?"

It's not about what you describe. It's about how everything seems full of hope, a vibrant and vibrant place. Like the original Victoria, but much brighter.

"Indeed. Wait! What is the Victorian era? How did you know that?"

You'll find out soon enough. Take a look at my questions first. I've already figured out how to repay you.

Chapter 8 The Ultimate Question

"No wonder you were so anxious to see a doctor. It turns out there's such a big hole."

At his familiar workbench, Shangluo was inspecting the interior of a music box. He was using all the lights in the house, which wasted some electricity. But it didn't matter; there wasn't a meter yet, so he didn't have to pay for it.

With the help of the bright light, he opened the bottom of the music box, and the first thing that came into his sight was the "big hole".

Like a bullet, the densely packed components of the music box neatly vacated a space along its trajectory. Gears chipped, levers twisted like springs.