Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

"Eh? Then can he..."

"Split 50 when we meet, right? Not likely. That guy is actually very stingy. He won't give a penny that he shouldn't give. We even pay for meals ourselves. Okay, no problem. I'll add you first. Zheng is a bit busy tonight. His nephew needs to see him, so he just took the Ninghe flight back to his home in Pontianak. The Ninghe flight has a bad signal, so I'll add him after he gets off the plane."

"Ah, can I interrupt for a moment? Have you heard of the urban legend of Yujing?"

"I remember hearing a lot of similar rumors when I was a kid, and later I discovered that more than half of them were actually true. The transfer student's intelligence network is really interesting. A lot of these things are actually true, too. For example, Xiamafang subway station does lead to a secret base, and Brother Jack the Ripper really does exist."

"Yes, that's right. I just want to ask, who is Brother Jie? Why do you call him Brother Jie?"

"Your question is a bit confusing. Brother Jie is called Brother Jie, of course, because his name is Brother Jie. Mengge, Yesunge, Alibuge, this is Brother Jie, according to the standard translation. But this is an older version. Now it seems that Jack is more common because of the distinction between unvoiced and voiced sounds. It's up to you what you like, it doesn't matter what you call him, as long as you know he exists."

"I understand. If I have any further questions later, can I ask directly?"

"You can ask via Fetion, or you can come find me here. I might be drinking tea here. Feel free to use longer text when discussing with me via Fetion. Unlike those younger generations in the Qi training stage, I type very quickly when using Fetion. I can type all day without getting tired. Compared to the Five Decays of Destiny that will only arrive in nearly two hundred years, I'm more concerned with the fate in the present moment. So if you have any questions, just ask me. I'm almost always available."

After the Fetion issue was settled, Fu Yuanshan's expression suddenly darkened.

"Now that we've addressed your doubts, we have to move on to more serious matters. Your Dao Qi, or furnace, is also known as the cauldron. I previously asked the General to come out of seclusion to examine it for you. We are certain that the furnace truly contains a golden elixir. The moment it merged with the Dao, it was refined by lightning and transformed into the stone statue it is today. As long as we can uncover the furnace, we can extract the golden elixir. It is the elixir that will help you reach the celestial realm, this is certain."

"So, what about the Queen of Heaven?"

"That golden elixir contains the Dao's potential. I'm afraid its power goes beyond simply allowing you to reach the heavens, for it traps a ray of heavenly light within. As long as you refine it, you'll be able to see the path that leads directly to the Great Dao—of course, you don't necessarily have to follow that path. But it's a glimpse of the Heavenly Dao into the mortal world, more important than anything else. Perhaps, it's the seed that will lead you to a higher realm."

"I see. Is there any way to crack it open now?"

"Destructive measures will be saved for last. We are helping you experiment with magical methods. But we won't keep trying forever, because our methods are not endless. As for what's in your hand, that's the Spear of Apollo, right? Helios's artifact."

"The Jinyiwei actually knew?"

"This isn't common knowledge within the Imperial Guard, but I know it because I've had a lot of dealings with the Romans. The Spear of the Apollo is your trophy, so keep it safe. If our magic doesn't work, the Spear of the Apollo will be our last resort to open the furnace. But that's a destructive measure: I don't mean destroying the furnace, I mean destroying you. Attracting Helios's attention might lead to complications and unnecessary trouble. So, don't use the power of the Styx unless it's absolutely necessary. As for other plans, we can keep in touch at any time, and I'll notify you via Fetion if there's any new progress. It's best for you to come by yourself when you're free."

"I know. I was actually planning to go there on Sunday afternoon. But I seem to be carrying some 'event trigger' with me. It could also be Wen Yuan."

Chapter 100 Secret

"This is real, not your feeling." He answered Shangluo directly:

"That's one of the troubles associated with Helios. You know that story about the 'Three Fates' there? They say there are three goddesses who constantly weave fate, using silk threads to connect all the causes and effects in the world. Anyone associated with the Great River Styx will unknowingly bring out some of these 'threads,' and these threads will float around. According to safety regulations, if you have loose threads on you, don't step into a factory with rotating mechanisms, otherwise the machinery will entangle your threads and pull you in."

"That Imperial Prison"

"Yes, the Imperial Prison is a place where many causes and effects converge, and the furnace is inside the prison. In terms of silk threads, it's as densely packed as the Pansi Cave. So Lu Huaiyang was right to advise you not to go in the short term. As for Wen Yuan, that's his fault; he's always been like that. That's why he can never enter the Imperial Prison."

"When will these threads on my body disappear?"

"You might need to fulfill a vow, or ask someone on the same path. I can't offer advice on things you can't see: Oh, by the way, you have an Introduction to Occult class on Saturday, right? You'll understand after that. You probably understand better what's happening to you yourself."

Make-up classes on Saturday.

Shangluo noted the schedule. Although he didn't know when to start the furnace, he vaguely felt that he was not ready yet.

At least his mentality wasn't what a celestial being should be. He always felt he needed to be more fully prepared before he could accept the power of the Foundation Establishment Pill.

Yet, does General Bai Feng, standing across from him, look like a celestial being? He appears perfectly ordinary, like any citizen of Yujing you'd see on the streets. Even Lu Huaiyang looks more like a "foreign expert." Perhaps this is a return to nature, or perhaps this is the true celestial way of life.

"Alright." Fu Yuanshan took a sip of tea. "We're all trying to help you with the foundation-building matter. Right now, there are only two celestial beings, and the court is often short of manpower. If you can successfully build your foundation, the entire empire's combat power will leap forward. Perhaps His Majesty the Emperor foresees that you will enter the core ranks of the empire in the future, so he's given you some memorials to review. Have you finished reading them?"

"Uh..." Shangluo didn't know what to say. He had just been flipping through the first chapter, but the contents of these memorials were too complicated to describe.

"Have you seen it, General?"

"They were sealed when they were delivered. Even I, a celestial being, cannot read them privately. But His Majesty the Emperor said I must hear your opinion. So, tell me—what exactly do these memorials contain?"

"It's about wonders, every single one of them. The first one is about the Yangshan Stele? Someone petitioned to build the Yangshan Stele? What is that?"

"It's a massive piece of Qixia limestone, excavated by Emperor Chengzu from the slopes of Yangshan Mountain near Tangshan. At the time, it was so heavy it was impossible to measure or transport. A few years ago, it was calculated to weigh 3 metric tons. With the technology available during the Yongle era, it would have been impossible to transport it to and erect it in front of the Xiaoling Mausoleum. But now, during the Shaoping era, our technology is sufficient. So, someone suggested completing the remaining work on the Yangshan Stele and transporting the 3-ton, 78-meter-tall monument to the gate of the Xiaoling Mausoleum and erecting it there to demonstrate His Majesty the Emperor's filial piety."

"."

Shangluo was unable to recover for a long time:

"Whose idea was this?"

"He's just a minor official from the Ministry of Works. I don't know who pushed him, but maybe it was his own decision. His Majesty the Emperor would like to ask for your opinion."

"If you ask me, I'd say no. It's expensive and not cool at all. Speaking of moving big stones, the ancient Egyptians did it to build the pyramids. Speaking of erecting stones, the ancient Britons erected Stonehenge. We can't just treat moving bigger stones and erecting heavier stones as a spectacle, right? At its core, it's still just a piece of stone."

"Great, next one. Take a look, it'll be quick."

Shangluo nervously opened the next memorial, but the title stunned him:

Petition for the Construction of the Wenchang Spaceport in Qiongzhou

"Huh? What is this?" He showed the memorial to Fu Yuanshan opposite him.

"If you look further ahead, there will also be the Jiuquan Spaceport, the Three Gorges Dam, the Xiaolangdi Yellow River Sand Removal Project, and the Bohai-Yellow Sea Reclamation and Construction Project."

Shangluo took a look and saw that these were indeed the ones at the back.

"I understand." Apollonia saw through Zhu Xianxin's thoughts. "He wants to confirm these projects and their feasibility with you. Because, in your opinion, these projects may be 'completed.' They may sound outrageous, and they are massive projects that could shape the Earth. But as long as it's feasible, there must be a way to achieve it. It's like Lan Fang's rocket development: first, the extraordinary people pave the way, confirm its credibility, and then civilian technology can follow, and then universalization and mass production can be achieved."

"So that's how it is." Shangluo immediately understood. This was the legendary exhaustive method, which was to open up a path from top to bottom. If he said it was feasible, then the emperor would probably really study the feasibility of these plans.

He looked up. "General, these matters are extremely important. Can I take some notes and then think about them later?"

"Okay. Take notes."

Shangluo took out his cell phone and took photos of the memorials one by one - and also let Apollonia "take a look" at them.

Good guy, good guy. Good guy.

Apollonia muttered one sentence every time she looked at one.

"Have you finished taking the photos?" After receiving confirmation, General Bai Feng put the memorial back into his briefcase, but he didn't ask any further questions about the photo shoot. As Lu Huaiyang had said before, the Jinyiwei wouldn't ask too much about the "little secrets" of their fellow disciples. Everyone who practices Taoism has their own little secrets.

After exiting the teahouse and bidding farewell to Fu Yuanshan, who was about to continue drinking tea, Shang Luo felt his entire body grow heavier. No one had assigned him any homework, but it was clear he would have to write a report on every memorial.

[The Zhu family is really good at ordering people around. Do you want to write about it?]

"It's the only thing I can do, so I'll help you. It's just writing two words." He looked down at his phone. It was not yet time for the subway to close, so he could still take the subway back.

Moonlight streamed down from the roof of the alley. Turning the corner, the Confucius Temple subway station was not far away. It was already past rush hour, and the place was much quieter than during the day, devoid of a soul.

He was walking in the alley carrying a heavy schoolbag.

"Hey, wait a moment!" Suddenly, someone patted his shoulder from behind.

"Friends from Aurora! I'm from Rome. The one behind me is my photography slave. I see you're carrying a schoolbag, so you must be a middle school student, right? I'm a photographer traveling around the world, and I'm so happy to be able to visit the capital of an ally, another civilized country in the world. Can I take a picture of you?"

Shangluo turned around suddenly and looked at the source of the voice.

"Wait! We've met before! Ah! I remember now!" The Roman was overjoyed. "I've been waiting for you here. I've printed your photo and sent it to you."

He rummaged through his waist bag. "Eh??? Where are my photos? Where's my film? It should be right here. Wait a minute, let me look for it. It's weird, lately I keep finding film and photos out of nowhere, and sometimes even my bag is gone. Sorry, sorry, I'm a bit of a forgetful person sometimes."

Chapter 101: Holy Lie

"Strange, where is the film? Please wait a moment." The Roman muttered as he searched in his bag, not noticing that Shangluo in front of him had froze.

[My name is *Jinling Yayan*! It's him! How could it be him? Why didn't I recognize him at first? It's him, photographer Akejeus!]

The photographer, known only as Akejeus, was still rummaging through his bag.

"Is he a bad guy?" Shangluo asked quickly.

"No, he's a good man. He really is here to give you the photo. But you'll be in trouble if you stay with him! He'll attract the Ripper! Turn around and run. Don't worry about him! You can't save him! It seems too late to run now, but you should run first!"

"Sorry! I have something else to do. Let's talk next time!"

Shangluo yelled and turned to run—he didn't think much of it. While this person was a good person, he wasn't familiar with them at all, and they weren't a lovely young woman, just a middle-aged Roman. Since this place had become a troubled place, the best option was to run away.

"Wait, I almost forgot." He took out his cell phone from his pocket while running, "I should call the police. Oh no, call the Jinyiwei. This kind of thing should be handled by the Jinyiwei. So what is the story behind the Ripper?"

"Don't ask! I told you to run because I was afraid you'd know. This is the holy lie I mentioned before. As long as you don't see the Ripper..."

Apollonia's voice suddenly stopped:

Ah, it's too late. I knew it was too late.

A slender figure appeared at the alley entrance, wearing a black trench coat that looked out of place in Yujing, a tall black hat, and white gloves. This form-fitting, narrow-crown dress originated in Germany, but was also a popular style in Rome. Roman nobles, aside from attending Senate meetings, would often wear this form-fitting dress.

But this man was clearly not a tourist. Blood seeped from his white gloves, seeping from the fingertips covered by the gloves. The gloves were stained red, and blood dripped down the tip of the knife drop by drop.

Every drop of blood that hit the ground would create a plum blossom-like pattern of stains, each equidistant from the next. His hand was like a bottomless leak, dripping drop after drop of blood, but there was no telling when it would stop.

The slender figure didn't stop by Shangluo's side, merely brushing past him. The two even exchanged glances. Then, step by step, bloodstains trickled down his spine.

The photographer also saw this scene - at first he didn't react, until he saw the face of the man in black clearly.

He wanted to turn around and run into the subway station, but found that his legs had already given up the strength. Blood continued to seep from his hands, then his feet, and back.

Blood filled his lungs, and the photographer pleaded in a wheezing voice: "You, let me give him the film. Let him publish it."

Before he could finish his last word, the photographer had already collapsed face up onto the ground. A gash had already appeared in his chest. It was as if the gash had been there all along.

The man in black walked forward silently, reached into his chest, and pulled out a sharp skinning knife with his bleeding right hand.

Finally, the blood stopped dripping from his right hand. The cause and effect of this disembowelment ended here.

In the blink of an eye, the Ripper disappeared.

Shangluo didn't even notice the moment he disappeared, as if he had never appeared.

He couldn't even remember the chronological order of events after their encounter. During this process, he was like an observer, silently watching what had "happened," without even a thought of going to the rescue. It was as if the entire murder had already occurred. Only after the Ripper disappeared did the linear flow of events resume.

When Shangluo walked up, the photographer was still breathing.

"I killed me"

"I saw it." Shangluo nodded.

"Film. Film." His voice was drowned out by the roar of blood.

"I know. I will definitely find the film, print it out and publish it in your travel notes." Shangluo held the bleeding hand.

After hearing the assurance, the light in the photographer's eyes gradually solidified and froze at this moment.

"I killed me."

Shangluo repeated this sentence. In fact, when he saw the Ripper's eyes, he realized this.

"Apollonia! The Ripper and the photographer are the same person?"

【.】She fell into silence.

"Apollonia?"

[*Jinling elegant language*.]

"I got it right?"

"By Mithras! How could the Hydra troops allow this to happen on the land of Cathay? What are they doing? So yes, you guessed it, you witnessed the collapse of the Holy Lie. I knew that with all their efforts, something bad would happen one day!"

"So the Holy Lie is, wait! What did you say before? There were three centers of occult science in Rome, and three more subcenters? Constantinople for the theurgy, Alexandria for alchemy, and Delphi for astrology. The subcenters were Syracuse for physics, Rome proper for sociology, and the ideal city of 'practice'—New Antioch in America."

So you understand why, don't you? Why Rome, seemingly so corrupt, could stand shoulder to shoulder with Cathay and rule the world. One Rome wouldn't do, of course, but there weren't just one Rome, but six! Constantinople, Alexandria, New Antioch. These cities not only recreated the structure of Rome in foreign lands, but also recreated the very existence of the Romans. Rome split itself, creating six empires, advancing simultaneously in six different realms.

"Whose original body is it? The one from Constantinople?"

The original could be anyone. Even the so-called "insiders" in the Senate don't know if they are the "original" or a replica. Just like a photographer who is completely unaware that he has already died once.

"Knowing that there are six of you living in the world at once, wouldn't that drive you crazy???"

Therefore, there will always be unexpected insiders. Once or twice, it's not a big deal, as there are always two people in the world who look alike. Sometimes, when you look through photos, you might even find a friend who resembles a historical figure. But any magic leaves traces, just like a key is required to lock a lock. Even if you destroy the key, the keyhole remains. There will always be someone who discovers anomalies in life, someone who will independently decipher the holy deception. Rome has a Golden Book, and only those on the Golden Book participate in this "great practice" of splitting into six. They keep a record of everyone.

"So how would the Romans deal with these bugs?"

Similar to the Imperial Guard, Rome had its own internal guards trained to handle such matters. Specialized in dealing with the Holy Deception were the Hydra Corps, controlled "Awakeners" who deployed in groups of six. As long as the original body survived, even if the other five perished, they would reappear on their own, much like the beheaded Hydra—and they would consume the "EITR" potion, preserving the continuity of their consciousness during rebirth, allowing them to return with all their memories from before death, rather than being "rationalized" by nature. Each member of the Hydra Corps was fearless, for they truly could not die. By constantly consuming the "EITR" potion, they could repeatedly trial and error in their actions, finding the optimal opening to complete their mission. Their opponents would see only waves of death squads charging forward, each one stronger and more cunning than the last. Like the venom of the Hydra, it would slowly erode from within.

Chapter 102: Report

"Wait, if the Ripper completes his plan, won't he also become like the 'Hydra Force'?"

[It's quite possible, because they're the perfect criminal team. Team Xudela has never lost. Give them time, give them enough EITR potion, and they can do anything, because they have countless opportunities to try and fail. Even if they only have a spoon, they won't tirelessly hit you on the head with it day and night. No matter how hard you hit them, they can't be killed, and no matter how hard you try, they can't be driven away.]

"My Emperor Wanshou, can the celestial beings defeat them?"