Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

"Don't even mention me. Even General Fu Yuanshan, who has been a god for decades, doesn't know. When he was thinking about the 20 sailors, he was actually thinking about you."

"Well," Zheng Shijie paused, "I have a good relationship with the emperor, and it seems that he doesn't tell me everything."

"Dragons can hide themselves, so it's normal that you can't see them when they're hiding."

"But now because of Xu Fu's matter, Long Gong will probably have to come forward in front of everyone, right?"

"Not necessarily." Shangluo replied, "I don't think the Dragon King himself has this intention. He seems to think that if he keeps hiding, it will be more suitable for the future development of the Dragon Clan."

Zheng Shijie replied: "When it is big, it will create clouds and mist, and when it is small, it will hide its shape; when it rises, it will soar into the universe, and when it hides, it will lurk in the waves. It is a great thing to do at home."

"You're not happy with them?"

"Because they are the elephant in the room! I finally figured it out now. I always felt that there was an invisible hand on the water controlling the situation in the North Sea, East China Sea and South China Sea. Every time I was about to find out the truth, it always slipped away. Now I finally understand! It turns out that there is such an invisible hand! It turns out that there is a group of dragons who like to trade stocks and manipulate the market there."

"Is there still this?"

"That's right! Who knows how much money they have! The money they have might be more than the grain stored in the Ministry of Revenue's Taicang warehouse. But they seem to like spending money more than saving it. They don't just want to accumulate money, they want it to flow. Wherever the invisible big hand reaches out, liquidity will overflow - I can save money from them, so I think I'm pretty good."

"So do you still want to meet the Dragon King?"

"Actually, it's not necessary to see them." Zheng Shijie paused. "It's better not to see the invisible hands. I'm afraid they'll keep me in their sight. Maybe they don't care who I am—no, not maybe, they never care who I am. They are the invisible hands. So just knowing they exist is enough to satisfy me."

Zheng Shijie had always been very measured. Shangluo had noticed that Zheng Shijie never made demands, but instead enjoyed providing convenience to the court on various occasions. Although his call this time was partly to ask the imperial army to protect the Zheng family's assets, the support he promised was genuine.

"By the way," Shangluo asked, "has the cannon been built?"

"It's hard to say whether it can enter orbit, but bombing targets on the ground is no problem. It's quite simple."

"What about guidance?"

"There will be a monk sitting on the cannonball to guide it."

"???"

"Is this weird? As a spaceflight facility, this thing was originally designed to carry Qigong practitioners, so of course it can carry people. After arriving above the target, the Qigong practitioner manually calibrates the target and then ejects himself. The rest is up to gravity."

"It's not surprising. But compared to the space bomber last time, your shells are more powerful."

"By the way, Shangluo, are you free now? Are you interested in sitting inside a cannonball?"

"Huh? Why?"

"Because the crew is just about to start filming that commercial. We were planning to take you to Pontianak for a tour soon, but we didn't expect to run into the Xu Fu incident. Why don't you come over quickly, and we'll spend the whole afternoon filming the commercial, and then you can take a test ride on the lunar cannon? It will definitely not waste your time, because the cannon will only take you four hours to get you back."

[Why is it so slow?] Apollonia asked, [The flight only takes one or two hours.]

Shangluo conveyed this question.

"That's the situation - the Lunar Cannon's firing angle is only about ±1°."

[Ah!] Apollonia understood. [Considering that it was a huge gun several hundred meters long, a 1° shooting angle was already quite impressive. If it was one degree to the left and one degree to the right, it meant that the muzzle had nearly 10 meters of space to turn. This was amazing engineering!]

"Thanks for the compliment. But even so, the cannon will have to perform multiple orbital maneuvers in space to reach the entire globe. So the time will be extended to one or two hours."

"Eh?" Shangluo suddenly thought, "How did you change your trajectory in space?"

"Through additional Torch Engines. However, the amount of fuel that can be carried is very small, because considering the impact during launch, we have to protect the internal structure. After launching into space, the Qigong practitioner in the cockpit will start the trajectory change maneuver according to the flight plan."

"Have you ever considered the waverider solution?"

"Waverider? What is that?"

"A hypersonic vehicle design. By increasing its supersonic lift-to-drag ratio, it uses its own flight to generate a lifting surface shock wave."

"." Zheng Shijie paused, "Sorry, I don't understand. Tianzi and I are both from the Department of Chemistry, and we don't understand these cutting-edge physics research very well."

"That's it!" Shang Luo slapped his head, "It's flying swords! You give the warhead an initial velocity, and leave the rest to the Qigong practitioners. Let them fly swords and surf at the edge of the atmosphere!"

Chapter 1033 Action Group

"Is there such a plan?!" Zheng Shijie asked in astonishment, "How much faster can this be?"

"If we launch from Pontianak and put it into orbit, we will enter space, and then use the 'Flying Sword' to ride the waves during the re-entry phase. If it's fast, it will take more than ten minutes, and if it's slow, it will take less than half an hour to reach Edo."

"Shangluo!" Zheng Shijie suddenly raised his voice, "Please come here! Please come and give us some instructions on how this 'waverider' should fly."

"Of course you can." Shangluo nodded, "Then when will I..."

"Now! You can come now. See when you are free. We are all waiting for you. When you come, please bring Yanqiu with you. We can't start the filming without the heroine."

"Wait a moment." He instructed Apollonia, "Help me check the schedule."

[When did I become your secretary? There are 5 things to do regarding the Demon-Subduing Order. ]

"Then tomorrow." Shangluo replied, "Tomorrow morning. The emperor requires the army to set out as soon as possible. After coordinating the troop deployment today, it will take a few days for the army to be mobilized. So I will help you with the adjustment tomorrow morning."

Shangluo estimated that there was actually no specific work for him to do. Because the "heavenly soldiers" and "sea soldiers" belonged to the imperial court and the Dragon Palace respectively, both places could operate on their own and did not need an outsider like him to guide them. He only needed to issue orders.

The key part is in the following part: because he was the only one who received the order to "attack Xu Fu", and there were almost no people in the court who knew about it; although everyone in the Dragon Palace knew about it, the Dragon Palace did not exchange information with the court. So in the end, when it came to the specific part of attacking Xu Fu, he had to do it himself, with the core strength of the Jinyiwei and some support from the Dragon Palace.

This is the highlight of his mission. And he must keep it secret while carrying out the mission.

After hanging up the phone with Zheng Shijie, Shangluo walked back to the door alone. Whether it was the Jinyiwei or the Xiaolingwei, everyone here was familiar with each other. He felt like he was at home wherever he went. No one would take special care of him, but no one would stare at him either. Just like the researchers who tracked pandas in the wild, the pandas would be curious at first and sometimes wary, but later they would turn a blind eye and treat them as part of their lives.

After closing Grani's car door, Shangluo leaned back and said, "So, now I have to decide how far this news will spread."

This is something that needs to be prepared before the action begins.

[This really needs to be considered carefully. How far it spreads depends on the harm of the information leak - will this information leak bring any harm? ]

"In fact, the matter of the First Emperor was not that serious - or rather, the harm of the matter itself was not that great. The First Emperor was not as farsighted as the emperors who came after him, and he himself had a grudge against Xu Fu. The key is later: if all the sages of the past dynasties 'rose from the ground' and were brought back to the mortal world by the elixir of life, this would certainly bring us opportunities. But this kind of opportunity is still not the best."

[Yes, indeed.] Apollonia, who was sitting next to him, nodded, [A crisis is both a danger and an opportunity. But considering that this danger may bring about earth-shaking, unpredictable changes, it is better not to let this crisis happen.]

"Wait, are you misinterpreting the metaphor? The Chinese word for crisis doesn't seem to mean both danger and opportunity. If I remember correctly, this seems to be some kind of success story misinterpreted by missionaries."

【Really? I checked. It's true. I need to learn more. But I think this idea makes sense - you are not Rome, so there is no need to really call back the sages of all ages. Because the sages of all ages in the Palace of Muses in Rome are basically philosophers, and there is only one real monarch, Alexander. That one Alexander has already turned the world upside down. If you call back a lot of monarchs, it will be a lot of fun. In fact, I think the most terrifying thing is not the kings of the previous dynasty, but the kings of your current dynasty, right?】

"So," Shanglu concluded, "Xu Fu must be treated with caution. Once this news is leaked, although it is not 100% certain, once it brings about changes, there will be no turning back. This is how you explore the map. First, explore the forks that can be turned back, and then go to the main road that cannot be turned back."

"What are you saying? From the secondhand information I've read from you, I sometimes can't follow your train of thought. Well, it's not that I can't understand it."

"Compared to this, why are you sitting in the car?" Shangluo asked puzzledly, "I've been wanting to ask you since a while ago. Aren't you dizzy?"

[No. I switched my perspective and bound it to you. Now I can render my status next to you in real time. You can still touch me. Ah, I just can't touch others.]

"Why are you becoming more and more like a cybernetic ghost? Only I can see you, no one else can, and yet you can still touch me. This seems like the setting for some old-fashioned supernatural comedy! Are you going to fight me in the void next? If someone sees me, I'll fight myself?"

[Ha, then don't mess with me. Be careful or I'll jump on your face and scratch your hair.]

"Tsk." Shang Lu shook his head and asked the person in the front row, "Gelani, can you see her?"

The wiper was raised and gave a "thumbs-up" gesture, meaning that he could feel it too.

"It seems to be a female ghost online."

[Oh, that's right. If I add him to the group, Phaethon will be able to see it too.]

"Hey, I want to ask, can you leave me and act alone like this?"

[That's impossible. I can't even see behind you now. I can only see the part you see. My existence is entirely based on your senses. If you can't feel it, I certainly can't feel it either. I just want to come out and get some fresh air once in a while.]

"Then don't just sit there. Help me make a list of the task force that will capture Xu Fu."

[Does it include foreign aid? ]

"Not included. You can count the people I can directly invite in - for example, Senior Fu can be counted, but Master Lan in the north cannot be counted. In this small area, we will create a group and hold a meeting to inform them about Xu Fu's situation. Oh, and Captain Lu should also be included. He already knows about it, so let's bring him on board as well."

[Wait a minute, I'll check with them one by one on the itinerary. Hmm. Hmm? Wait, uh]

Apollonia hesitated to speak.

"what happened?"

[What should I say? King Ao Zang sent a message just now. He said that he has sent a liaison officer over. During this mission, this liaison officer will be responsible for the liaison work between you and the Dragon Palace.]

"That's great. Any questions?"

[The contact person sent seems to be named "Xiao Yi". She is the daughter of the Dragon King. ]

Chapter 1034 Dragon Ball

"This Mr. Xiaoyi, when will she come?"

[It may come at any time. I still think that the disc-shaped aircraft I saw before was not a mistake, it was the vehicle of the Dragon Palace. If they came here in that thing, they will probably arrive at any time.]

As we were talking, the phone suddenly rang.

"Shangluo, an unidentified flying object requested to land." Lu Huaiyang called. "The radar at the air defense headquarters didn't find it, but it was seen with the naked eye, and the other party also took the initiative to call via radio. They asked me to ask if it was the person you called? Is it here to see you?"

"It seems like it really is. Where are they going now?"

"They are suspended in mid-air, optically invisible, waiting for our permission to land. But we can vaguely make out that it is a disc-shaped aircraft."

[That's it, it's definitely them. I said I wasn't seeing things! ]

"This is too fast!"

[The invisible hand must be as fast as a shadow. Otherwise, how can it make liquidity overflow wherever it goes? 】

"Are you pausing to say something?"

[No, not really. I just sigh that your popularity is getting better and better. It was already amazing to be half-human and half-elf before, but now even non-humans are attracted to you.]

"He's on a business trip. What on earth are you thinking about?"

[Oh. Tsk tsk tsk.] Apollonia shook her head, [It doesn't matter what happened to me. I'm used to it. It's just that Miss Victoria saw the real you. Oh, oh.]

"Then don't tell her."

[Are you scared? ]

"I don't want to cause trouble. It was originally fine, but after you said that, it became a problem."

[Okay~] Apollonia expressed her cooperation, [Anyway, I have already calculated it. In the end, my stock price must be the highest.]

Before she finished speaking, she suddenly blinked: [Hey, hey, hey, she's not here to speculate in stocks, is she? ]

"Hey, didn't you say you've calculated it? Even if she has an invisible giant hand, she can't resist the ultimate law, right? Let her come. Let me see. If it's a flying machine, it can land anywhere, right? Then we don't need to go to the airport. If it's close, then Taiye Lake? It's more secluded there, and the place is bigger."

"Thank you so much." Xiao Hong was already waiting next to the Taiye Lake. "At least you called and told me before you used my house as a landing pad this time."

"You're welcome. It's the norm for neighbors."

"." Xiaohong covered her forehead, "Forget it, forget it, I'm used to it. This is not the first day I've lived here. When I was still a carp, I knew that you guys were not very reliable. Only grandma is the most powerful."

"Oh, by the way, let me ask you something."

"Well, tell me."

"That Xiao Yi, is she a Jiaolong? What's the difference between a Jiaolong and a dragon?"

"The difference lies in whether there is a dragon ball." At this point, Xiaohong looked up at the sky again, "Originally, my grandma gave me a very powerful dragon ball and asked me to try it. I also knew that it was just temporarily placed in my hand, but I didn't expect that you took it away before I could even warm it up. And then it exploded. Maybe this is fate. It wasn't originally mine, but it's good enough for me to get a taste of the fairy spirit."

"What about your own Dragon Balls?"

"What?! That's mine! You should have told me in advance if you wanted to use it, right?!"

"I didn't ask. I just asked."

"Actually, you can't take it out even if you want it. I've only been a dragon for so short a time that I haven't condensed the Dragon Ball yet. But I talked to the Dragon King a while ago, and he thinks this might be considered a novice protection period. If the Dragon Ball can be taken away, then the magic power can be taken away along with it. Once it's taken away, the real dragon will become a flood dragon."

"What will happen if you turn into a dragon?"

"A dragon cannot become a human." Xiao Hong answered, "Dragon balls are like golden elixirs. They can only be cultivated, not born. So a dragon and a dragon can only give birth to a dragon without a dragon ball, not a little dragon-man. When they hatch, they are already in dragon form."

[Ahaha! So the invisible hand will knock on your door in the form of a dragon! You like big sisters like Ms. Agatha, right? Then this is really a big big big big sister.]

"By the way." Xiao Hong suddenly asked, "What did you call her just now?"

"Xiao Yi?"

"That's her name. Use her job title when you're working."

"What should I call you then?"

"Otohime," Xiaohong replied, "That's what all the princesses of the dragon clan are called."

"Should I call you Hongji too?"