Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

"That's fine, you're one of the best. Do you want to play? Lu Liang, do you want to play?"

"Ah?" Lu Liang, who was standing behind, was stunned for a moment, "Guoxing, how do you know my name?"

"I went to your Wutaishan Training Center and read the student recommendation information. I was very impressed by you. You are both excellent in character and academic performance, abide by discipline, and have a good family background. Nanyang University wants to send you an invitation letter. I wonder if you are willing to come."

"Eh? Is it so sudden? But I still want to study in Beijing."

"Don't worry, I'll ask my secretary to give you a business card later. Just consider it as a good relationship. Oh, by the way, there's a guy named Wen Yuan in your school. Do you know him? I want to send him an invitation letter, too."

"He, he's next to you."

Zheng Shijie was stunned for a moment: "So you are Wen Yuan! Why didn't you tell me?"

"How do I know you don't know me?"

"If you don't tell me, how can I know that you don't know and I don't know. Oh, this is all a mess." He patted his head, "I was wondering, how come anyone I picked has the strength close to the late stage of Qi Refining? It turns out that you are the one I want to choose. Why do you look different from the photo?"

"The photo shows me in the second year of junior high school. I am now in the third year of high school and will soon graduate."

"Yeah, that's what I said. So, are you interested? Do you want to come to Nanyang University?"

"I'm actually more interested in the Lan Fang Army."

"Oh!" Zheng Shijie nodded vigorously. "This is indeed good. I also think that the treatment I gave to Lan Fangjun is quite good. What is your hope for future employment?"

"Second in line. If I can't join the Imperial Guards, I'll join the Lan Fang Army."

"Eh? Aren't there any Jinyiwei here?"

"The Jinyiwei can't fly planes, and most of the time they just stand guard and act like a vase. I still want to be a fighter pilot."

"Okay, okay. If you are interested in this, the Lan Fang Army is definitely your best choice. The Lan Fang Air Force has many more opportunities to go into battle than the Imperial Guards. If you are willing, you can accept our dispatch while you are in college."

"Delivering orders? Are you guys delivering food?"

"Well, you should also know that Qigong practitioners are very busy. We can't control Qigong practitioners in the army. So we usually sign a contract with Qigong practitioners. You come when there is a combat mission, and you can do other things when there is no mission. We will, like the Imperial Guards' flight team, tailor a specialized fighter for Qigong practitioners like you, which is completely adapted to your own combat methods. How about it, are you interested?"

"In fact, the Western Regions also talked to me about this before."

"You mean the Protectorate of Luntai, right? They only have mass-produced aircraft, which are cheap and durable. If you really want to enjoy the pleasure of flying, why not come to Lanfang and become our specially hired pilot."

Chapter 1074 Bombardment

"Then let me think about it?"

"Sure, sure." Zheng Shijie nodded. "I'll ask my secretary to give you a business card later. Oh, by the way."

He suddenly looked at Shangluo: "Shangluo, are you interested? Are you interested in coming to Lanfang to be a pilot? You can fly fighter planes customized for you! They are all magic weapon-level."

"Why do you have so many good things?" Shangluo asked, "After I came to Nanyang, I found that the frequency of your magic tools and other treasures seems to be much higher than that in Jinnei."

"Because the sects in Nanyang are inherited from the immortals on the islands. Although they are also within the Dao League, they are different from the sects in the capital. We have more means to obtain natural treasures, so we have more magic tools."

"Will you give me a business card later?"

"Okay, okay." Zheng Shijie nodded repeatedly. "If you need help, I'll call your people. We don't have any pilots in the Foundation Establishment Period yet, so the magic weapon customized for you must be worthy of the strength of the Foundation Establishment Period - you will know when you try our lunar cannon. Only such a magic weapon can be worthy of the strength of the Foundation Establishment Period."

[Oh! Look how straightforward they are. Those old guys said they would give you a sword, and they acted mysterious. Look how straightforward Guoxing is. He said he would give you a magic weapon, and he gave you a magic weapon without saying a word.]

"Well, maybe the old men have their own considerations. Oh, by the way, Phaethon, do you want to try it too?"

"Oh, sorry." Zheng Shijie said helplessly, "She can't come. Otherwise, I would have invited her a long time ago."

Phaethon shook his head and said, "It's okay. I don't have much time either. I still have work to do in Shangluo. I just want to ask, why can't I do it?"

"Because I can't sign a contract with you. You're not naturalized."

"So that's how it is? Is naturalization important?"

"It's very important here." Zheng Shijie nodded and said, "Lan Fang Administrative Services Co., Ltd. is based on administrative services for the people. Although Lan Fang's army also recruits people from tributary states or barbarians, the Lan Fang Air Force only recruits Chinese people, without exception. Because our fighter planes are encrypted, if your name is not registered in the Huangce Library of Xuanwu Lake, then you will not be able to start these planes."

"Ah! So that's how it is. This is to prevent the barbarians from rebelling, right?"

"Yes. Our system does not take into account the possibility that Romans will sign up, so you can't fly Lan Fang's fighter planes - but you just need to become a naturalized citizen. You guys will be there soon, right?"

"Um, let's talk about this later." Shangluo came out to smooth things over, "There's no rush for this."

"Tsk tsk tsk. I was planning to fire a salute to celebrate for you." Zheng Shijie picked up the phone, "Okay, the debugging over there is done. Shangluo, get ready to warm up, now is the time to use your magic power!"

Foehn Mountain Research Institute, Central Control Room.

I don't know if it's because of Zheng Shijie's unique aesthetic or because of practical needs, but this place was built like a ship's bridge. The staff in the control room sat in rows on both sides, facing the big screen in front of them. In the middle was a seat similar to the captain's seat, which was reserved for Zheng Shijie himself.

Directly in front of everyone's seats was a huge crystal ball suspended on a stand, held in the arms of four dragon claws.

"Is this a dragon ball?" Shang Luo was stunned for a moment, "Is there a dragon ball this big?"

"As the dragon grows, the dragon ball will naturally be bigger. And this is not an ordinary dragon ball, this is an immortal's dragon ball. When you control this cannon later, this dragon ball will be where you operate."

“Are there any operating instructions?”

"No. No matter how many words you have, they are not as good as a Qigong practitioner reaching out his hand and exploring—you will know once you touch it."

"Then I'll give it a try." After adjusting his sleeves, Shangluo walked to the front among the crowd.

"Wait a moment here." Zheng Shijie turned around and said to Wen Yuan, "The second shot is ready. It will be your turn after he finishes the first shot."

"Okay, as long as there are firecrackers to play with, it doesn't matter who plays first."

At the front, Shangluo had already walked to the side of the Dragon Ball. He looked at the screen at the front - the main body of the screen was glass, and outside the glass was the barrel of the lunar cannon. Surrounding the barrel were neatly arranged pipelines, which were neatly tied together as if they had obsessive-compulsive disorder. This was the location where the deflagration torch was injected into the shell for the last time, and it was also the most critical part of the entire cannon. The state of the shell when it flew out of the barrel was determined by this last acceleration.

When he placed his hand on the dragon ball, the hugeness of the giant structure was clearly discernible. Through the medium of the dragon ball, the entire mechanism of the giant cannon was at his fingertips, just like waving the tip of a sword at a wooden man.

Shangluo can already control the direction of the cannon - it is hard to imagine that such a huge structure can be adjusted by about 1° at the tip. Every time it is adjusted, the complex and mysterious structures that make up the cannon body will move as a whole, and all will rotate with the direction of the cannon body. Its structure is so complex that it is almost impossible for human mechanical design to achieve it, and it can only rely on the natural perfection of Taiyi Jinhua.

"Shangluo, the Torch is ready, but it's still 2% of full power. I've loaded a training bullet for you, made of solid cinnabar steel, so it should be easier to feel. Wait for my command for the specific launch."

“Will it hit anything?”

"I know what you're worried about. Your spiritual energy is very destructive now, right? So don't worry, you won't hit anything. To the east of Borneo is the vast Pacific Ocean. According to the performance limit of the fuel called Torch, you can only hit it a few hundred kilometers at most. You can't fly across the Pacific Ocean and all the way to the New World."

"Huh, that's good." Shangluo nodded, "Then let me try and see how powerful this cannon is."

With both hands clenched, the entire cannon's functions are under control. When the Qigong practitioner controls it through the dragon ball, the others just need to take their hands off the console, and all control rights are in his hands.

"Attention all units. The 291st test firing of the lunar cannon prototype is about to begin. Be prepared to record." Zheng Shijie ordered, "Shangluo, it's time to start! You count down!"

"3, 2, 1! Send—"

Shangluo's last sound was covered by the earth-shaking roar. The recoil of the giant cannon made the mountains tremble, and the pattern of Taiyi Jinhua resonated with the avenue and was joyful.

"This..." Zheng Shijie climbed up from under the table, "What's going on?"

Before he finished speaking, a buzzer-like alarm sounded, followed by a phone call:

"Hello? This is the main control room. What's going on? What? Black lightning came out of the barrel??? Where's the shell? It wasn't observed? Didn't see it or is it gone? You don't know either? Wait, what is that!"

Zheng Shijie looked out the window - at that moment an extremely bright star was rising straight into the sky, and could actually be seen in the midday sun.

"Hello." Zheng Shijie picked up the phone again, "Please lend me the press office. I have to explain something. Maybe tonight, the whole world will be able to see that star."

"Then Guoxing, the load you saw, is it normal?"

"Payload? Most likely it's gone."

Chapter 1075 Impact

Shaking his head and coming to his senses from the shock, Shangluo felt something was wrong. All the people in the room were knocked to the ground by the shock.

This was obviously not the normal reaction when firing a cannon - because Zheng Shijie said earlier that the cannon had been fired hundreds of times. If every time was like the previous one, then everyone in this room would probably become consumables, and they would all be sent to the hospital after one round.

Apart from him, Zheng Shijie was the first to get up. Zheng Shijie also immediately called outside to find out the situation. When everyone got up one after another, Zheng Shijie finished his call.

"Shangluo, I have good news and bad news." He walked quickly to Shangluo.

"The good news?"

"The good news is that the cannon was launched successfully. The last shot even sent the payload directly to the moon. You are really amazing. I haven't asked my master to try it, but you are much more amazing than my third uncle."

"What about the bad news?"

"The payload is gone."

"Huh? Isn't there a ball of light shining in the sky?"

"That seems to be some kind of activated energy ball. It appears to be in a plasma state when observed with the naked eye, like a big fireball. Because we observed it with a telescope, we didn't see any metal entities inside. So the payload that was put in may have really disappeared."

"Can you change to something sturdier?"

"There is nothing stronger than a solid lump of iron, because it is hard to say that a lump of iron is 'damaged'. It doesn't matter if it changes from a lump of iron to an iron ball or a discus. But the physical structure of the lump of iron has been beaten into a ball of plasma by you."

As he spoke, he covered his forehead and said, "Shangluo, you have to know that this piece of iron is usually a shell inside other payloads, used to protect other instruments. A payload that is completely composed of a shell has been beaten into this state by you. I dare not imagine what the real payload will become. This is like asking you to boil a pot of water, and you blow up the entire kitchen with the pot and the stove. This is amazing! I think even if my master is tied to the muzzle of a gun and shot at, he will be disabled if not killed. How did you do it?"

"You want to tie your master to the muzzle of a cannon?"

"No, no, no, I just want to ask, how did you achieve such a powerful force?"

[It may be because the heavenly tribulation is unreasonable. The shock wave that you wanted to push the load was not produced after being activated by the heavenly tribulation. It only caused damage, and the iron lump was annihilated. ]

"That's about it." Shangluo relayed Apollonia's words.

"Eh!!!" Han Xingzhi, who was standing not far behind, immediately felt a chill on his back, "I also ate the Thunder Tribulation Curse Date at that time! So, did I almost die at that time?"

"Oh, it's my fault," Shangluo explained. "I should have explained to you right away that dangerous items shouldn't be left where children can reach them. But then again, don't you have any responsibility? I didn't say the things I put in my pocket were for you to eat, so why did you reach out and eat one?"

"Can't you just blame me for everything? Besides, I've already suffered my retribution, so don't continue to attack me."

"What happened to him before?" Zheng Shijie asked.

"Nothing, I just saw Sun Wukong beat Zhu Bajie, Zhu Bajie beat Sun Wukong. Sun Wukong beat Zhu Bajie, Zhu Bajie beat Sun Wukong."

"Hey, hey, hey." Zheng Shijie waved his hand, "Let the monkey and the pig rest first. What happened next?"

"What happened next? I don't know. I was woken up before the fight was over. I was wondering if this Monkey King beating Pigsy was spiritual food for my brother. After all, the cursed dates were meant to satisfy cravings and keep the stomach full. After being provoked by him, it seems that now I don't care about filling my stomach, but instead I have a lot of Monkey King and Pigsy filling my head."

"So that's how it is." Zheng Shijie nodded slightly. "It seems that Shangluo, your cursed jujube has the effect of 'transcendental salvation', which makes the jujube sublime. It seems that you also transcended the iron lump just now."

"I think it's mainly because of this cannon," Shangluo replied. "I don't have such destructive power elsewhere - I mean the scale. I haven't used magic much recently, because any gust of wind could turn into a wind disaster. But I just issued an order, how come it caused such a big commotion?"

"It's probably because you threw a sparking wooden stick into a test tube filled with flammable gas. Ah, forget it." Zheng Shijie waved his hand, "Today's experiment can be considered a success. Come on, everyone, cheer up and go eat. The cafeteria has prepared delicious food for lunch, let's go and have a meal."

"Great!" Han Xingzhi turned around and walked out the door. He was already hungry. His physical condition was not as good as Shangluo and Wenyuan. He had not eaten much on the plane before, so this time he could finally have a proper meal.

"Hey Guoxing." Wen Yuan suddenly asked in a low voice, "Before, you asked me to come and play once, do you think it's in the afternoon?"

"Oops! Sorry, sorry." Zheng Shijie slapped his head fiercely, "I was just talking about this, how come I forgot about you in the blink of an eye? I shouldn't have done that. I'm really sorry."

"It's not a big deal. So Guoxing, can I play for once?"

"There's really nothing we can do about this. After the earthquake just now, reports came in from all over. Now the lunar cannon has suffered structural damage - that's why I asked everyone to go to dinner. The subsequent experiments can no longer be carried out. Because it's not just one or two places, the whole cannon has been shaken down."

"Ah???" Shangluo asked in surprise, "What should I do? Did I damage such an important facility?"

"It is indeed broken, but it doesn't matter. Cinnabar steel is an active metal with self-repairing ability. So as long as we give it some time, we can easily repair the cannon to its original state, don't worry about that. If we have time, it will be done in about two days - our experiment today was very successful. We used the opportunity of repairing it once, and we actually tested out such a powerful function. I think even if a comet hits the earth now, we can easily deal with it. By then, hehe~~"

He suddenly sneered, "When the time comes, after the Great Wall of the Zodiac is built, I will replicate it in space. Pointing the muzzle at the sky is just setting off fireworks, this time we will aim at the ground. Judging from the power of the previous shot, even a city-level target can be destroyed in one shot. If we have a few more, apart from having to work hard for Shangluo, I think it is not impossible to use it as a doomsday weapon to suppress the whole world."

Chapter 1076 Experiment

"Wait. Guoxing," Shangluo suddenly said, "I think it's better to test it first. If so many disasters are sent out, I'm afraid it will bring about some uncontrollable reactions."

"Ah, how about this?" Zheng Shijie suggested, "Let's try it against Japan first this time?"

"Hey hey hey, Guoxing, you told me to keep my hands to myself before."

"If this really succeeds, let alone all the bottles and jars I have in Japan, even if the whole island is sunk, I think it will be a profit!"

"Guoxing, calm down. If the force is strong enough to sink those islands, then the royal capital is not far away. Wouldn't the tsunami also affect us?"

"Hmm, this is really a dilemma."

[Is this person a 'firepower enthusiast' to some extent? ]

Shang Luo chatted with her privately: "I can understand what he is thinking - he is trying to use external objects to obtain the ultimate force. Although he probably has no ambition to confront the court, this does not prevent him from trying to obtain the means and magic weapons that are enough to compete with the court."

【Then do you want to help him? 】