Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

"Yes, I know." Shangluo nodded, "I'll make a note of this."

[This medicine seems to be very powerful, but also very dangerous. ]

"I understand. It's always good to have a backup plan. I'll take it first. Who knows, it might be useful someday. Even if it can't be healed immediately, it's better to delay the injury for a while."

[When you said this, I felt as if someone was going to have a bloody disaster.]

"Ah, it's a good thing anyway. Back when King Zhou of Shang and Daji cut out Bigan's heart, he took Jiang Ziya's magic talisman, which might have had similar medicinal effects. After his heart was cut out, Bigan was in a daze, between life and death. He simply asked an old woman selling water spinach, and she replied, 'Vegetables live without a heart, and people die without a heart,' and that was it."

【Then this one in your hand.】

"What? This can save lives. It's better to have it than nothing." He put the gourd away.

Ao Zang sent them to the Lan Fang Company's hotel on Naha Island and sent them downstairs. Zheng Shijie still felt a little scared when he went upstairs.

"I said, Guoxing." In the elevator, Shangluo asked him, "You are not really sick."

"I won't dare to pretend to be sick next time. This pretending is like there's a bug in my brain. If there's really no cure, won't I be controlled by him for the rest of my life? Either take his medicine or live in his Dragon Palace? Does that mean I have to pay a price for anything I take from the Dragon Palace? Doesn't anyone who takes treasures from the Dragon Palace have a bad ending?"

"No, no, no, I just took something from there. Now that you say that, I don't dare to take the turtle shell anymore."

"You are different. You have a strong life. Whether it is the curse of the Dragon Palace or the fate, you can't be blamed. I, Zheng, am not blessed and can't stand such torment. Ah, forget it, I won't pretend anymore. I have pretended for a whole day today, so I'd better go back."

[Wow, it actually worked. It's a miracle drug! It can actually cure people who pretend to be sick! ]

"Alright?" After a moment, Zheng Yin answered Shangluo's call, "Is it all right now? You guys are taking a day off, right?"

“Yes, but it’s cured.”

"Shangluo, you are really a miracle doctor! How big is the worm in his brain?"

"The three corpse worms, when taken out, look like little people. Just throw them into the water and they will float away." Somehow, after cooperating three times, Shangluo was able to pull off the whole play by himself.

"With such a serious illness, shouldn't he rest for a while?"

"Guo Xing said that it was not necessary. Guo Xing said that he had the heavy responsibility of the court on his shoulders and he dared not rest. He just wanted to come back as soon as possible to serve the court."

"No way, when did he change his nature? Now that you said that, I feel relieved. Lan Fang's troops are being transported, and the advance fleet will arrive at the Ryukyu military port tomorrow. I was supposed to go to Ryukyu overnight, but since you are in Ryukyu, let Zheng Shijie go tomorrow. I also asked someone to send a copy of the contact memorandum with the king's division, please give it to him as well - so Shang Tianjun is really a miracle doctor! He can even cure his laziness."

"Oh, it's an unexpected surprise. I just learned the method of diagnosing pulses by hanging a thread by chance. It can cure heart disease. Heart disease can be cured with heart medicine."

Chapter 1106 Torture

Ao Zang was not asked to arrange accommodation for Shangluo and others - it was not that Ao Zang did not want to arrange it, but Zheng Shijie did not like to live anywhere other than his own "Lan Fang Guild Hall" in various places, and the same was true in the capital.

However, as a hotel chain, there must be a Lan Fang Hotel in every city with a McDonald's, so he has a place to stay wherever he goes.

"Guo Xing is the one who understands me"

Shangluo opened the door and there was only a bed in the room.

[Tsk, tsk, tsk, I thought he wanted to watch the fun and let you live with someone. ]

"Under normal circumstances, he would probably do the same. But he just troubled me once, and now I don't want to watch the fun - it really saves a lot of trouble."

[Eh? Aren't most people looking forward to it? Why do you feel relieved? ]

"Because I don't want to choose between being a beast and being worse than a beast. It's best not to let me face this option - ah, time to rest and have a good sleep."

As he said this, he opened the bundle, took out the tortoise shell and placed it on the ground.

"Wow! Where is this place? What are you doing?!"

Shangluo ignored him at all. He lifted up the hem of his skirt and sat on the tortoise shell. He took off his boots while sitting on the tortoise shell, put on the slippers in the room, and then put the tortoise shell back with his backhand.

[It turns out it’s used as a shoe-changing stool, but isn’t there a shoe-changing stool next to it? ]

"You don't know, this turtle shell is just the right height, and it feels very comfortable to sit on."

[You really treat her like furniture. You didn't even respond to her words just now.]

"I have to remind her from time to time, otherwise she will think it's a vacation. As long as the pressure on her is great enough to break through the psychological defenses that support her keeping a secret, she will confess naturally."

【What if she never recruits? 】

"Then I'll always have a shoe-changing stool and a diamond shield to use. I won't lose out anyway. She said that herself. She wanted to compete with me in patience. I can't say that I'm torturing her. This is much easier than being locked up in the Imperial Prison. She can even go out for five seconds every day while I put on my shoes. Oh, right."

He suddenly remembered something and took out the tortoise shell again.

"Ah!!! What are you doing again!"

Shangluo sat down and put on his shoes, then took the turtle shell back with his backhand.

[So what are you going to do?]

"I suddenly remembered that I had something to ask Phaethon."

[Can't you go in slippers? You have to bring her out and torture her again.]

"That won't work. Slippers are for personal use, but formal attire is required in public spaces. Oh, there's nothing I can do about it. I'm just that particular."

[Oh my god. Falling into your hands is the ultimate torture. Anyone who offends you is in big trouble.]

"Look at what you said. The people I tortured didn't offend me. I never take revenge on people. Miss Kameji didn't offend me at all. I admire her. She dared to think and act. She came to rescue her friend as soon as she heard the news. She could also recognize the situation and surrender immediately after the incident. But who told her to delay the court's affairs? Then I have to enforce the court's law."

As he said this, he straightened his clothes, went out and walked towards Phaethon's room.

"Is there anything wrong?" Lu Liang answered the door on Phaethon's side. Zheng Shijie arranged for the two of them to live together.

"Has Phaethon returned?"

"She's taking a shower. Do you want to join her?"

Shang Luo almost sprained his tongue: "I say, Miss Lu, didn't you say before that you were very grateful to me and wanted to 'repay me'? Is this how you repay me?"

"Yes, I am assisting you. If this isn't repaying you, then what is repaying you?"

"Well, just tell her to get up at 5 a.m. We have to go to Futenma base."

"Eh? You can just tell me about this on Fetion. Why do you have to come over and tell me?"

"Well, there is one more sentence: Good night."

"Ah," Lu Liang nodded meaningfully, "I suggest you say it yourself."

"I can't say it to your face. Ahem, see you later. Good night to you too."

"Yes, yes, good night to me too. No one will mistake it if you don't add it."

——"Ah~ I feel much more comfortable." After returning to his room, Shangluo hung his clothes on the hanger.

Then he repeated the action of taking out the turtle shell.

"Three times, three times! Are you done yet?" This time he took out the slipper even faster than last time. Before Guiji could finish her words, he stuffed Guiji back into her.

[You are really a person who is very nice to your own people. But you are very hard on outsiders.]

"Isn't that nonsense? How can I be nice to outsiders and then mess with my own people? Why would I turn my elbow outward?"

[Be careful not to break her defense like this. I don't mean breaking her defense physically, but breaking her defense psychologically. ]

"Ha, if her defense is broken at this level, then she must strengthen her psychological defense. Because later we may have to launch an indiscriminate large-scale attack on Japan, which may kill a large number of people. As long as they don't hand over Xu Fu or don't cooperate with us in finding Xu Fu, more people may die. I don't want to cause meaningless killings, but if necessary, I don't mind a few more deaths - they are not our own anyway."

[When the time comes, it will all be her fault, right? ]

"It's not her fault. She can't be blamed for the whole thing, after all, she is just one of the insiders. But because of her delay, more people were affected by the 'punishment', so she must be more or less involved in the cause and effect. With so much karma involved, her merit tortoise shell will probably be broken naturally - since the merit in her tortoise shell is enough to withstand the thunder tribulation, let her bear the consequences of being entangled in karma. It's really like she refuses to accept the toast but insists on drinking the penalty wine."

【I think you can tell her now? 】

"I will ask her to come out and watch. I will hold her up and stand on the crest of the tide, watching Edo Castle being submerged by the huge waves. I don't know if she will be able to stay in this shell by then. Even if she can, the merits of her shell may not be able to stay."

[Wow, you want shrimp and pig heart?]

"This is necessary to catch Xu Fu. When interrogating Xu Fu, I'm afraid I'll have to put in some extra effort. I don't know if he has any emotional involvement with the descendants of the three thousand boys and girls - then, all kinds of methods will have to be tried. He has lived for nearly 2000 years, longer than any other heavenly master. How did he live so long? I'm afraid he won't tell me if I don't interrogate him carefully. As long as I get this secret, I won't be afraid even if Qin Shihuang really pops up. After all, if his elixir is really effective, then facing the infinite future, it's just a matter of one more person and one more pair of chopsticks. What's the harm in letting the First Emperor come back to life. But if he doesn't want to hand it over, tut tut."

Shangluo smiled and said, "I don't believe there is no one in this world that he cares about."

【Hehehe~~ I'll help you make up for it. 】

Chapter 1107 Acting

The next morning, when Shangluo went out, he heard the sound of cannons on the shore. It was a salute to welcome the royal army.

"Why didn't you call me in the morning?" He turned around and asked Phaethon while adjusting the buttons on his clothes.

"Who knew you couldn't get up in the morning? I thought you had something wrong. This is not your house. I can tell what you are doing by just walking around. Haven't you always been able to control your sleep?"

"I forgot to take the sandbag off before I went to bed last night. You know that feeling when you forget to take off your glasses before going to bed, and then you get them crushed when you get up."

“I found that there are not enough people here.”

"It doesn't matter. Next time I'll prepare an alarm clock furniture, an alarm clock that can wake me up no matter what."

"You can do whatever you want later - did you miss anything this morning?"

"Not really. My own body clock is pretty accurate. It's only a quarter of an hour later than my scheduled time, but I left a half-hour gap, so it's not a big problem. The worst that can happen is that I can just skip breakfast."

"So what do we have to do this morning? For example, do you want to make a speech? Or meet with the King of Ryukyu?"

The fleet of the royal army will come to Ryukyu this morning. Military operations don't need to be too formal, but this is Ryukyu after all. Although it is said that the whole world belongs to the king, and all the people are his subjects, this describes the relationship between the emperor and the princes, and the emperor himself is not here today. Therefore, out of the traditional etiquette, the royal army must maintain the most basic courtesy to Ryukyu - knock on the door before entering someone's house.

"There's nothing else to do this morning, so I'll just stand there. As for the people who come and go, they're basically all people I know, so it doesn't really matter."

"You are such a person," Phaethon shook his head repeatedly, "there is no such thing as a small matter here. Do you really know?"

"In this matter, it is others who should be worried, not me. After all, my mission is to capture Xu Fu, and other things have little to do with me - ah, but now that you mention it, I do feel a little troublesome. Although it is a trivial matter, since it is my turn to show up, I still want to do it to perfection. Ah, it turns out that work involving people is not easy to do, and you can't slack off for a second."

"Hey, if you don't like this, I have a suggestion. You just learned the Seventy-Two Transformations, right?"

"Well, that's right."

"Then can you transform other things?"

"It should be enough to have a token, like blowing on it."

"Then can you make something else look like you?"

"Eh? That's fine. You want someone else to transform into me and attend on my behalf, right? That would be so convenient. If possible, it would be best if someone could do things like this for me in the future. I don't like dealing with too many people, it would be a waste of my energy - but this doesn't actually require transformation. Apollonia can go in my place, we can share a body, and I just need to go and rest. But..."

[But I am not good at dealing with people! I have severe social phobia, don’t you know? Don’t you have better candidates? ]

"Yeah, I know." Shang Luo nodded. "So I didn't intend to force you. But Phaethon just said that we could find something else to go in my place. That's possible. What would be the best thing to use to transform into my appearance?"

"Hey, you actually have a professional in your life. She's been trained to deal with people since she was a child and has been dealing with people every day of her career."

[Who is this person? It’s really hard to guess~~]

"You want Victoria to go instead of me?"

"Great!" Victoria in the package cheered, "Hurry up, let me go! I also want to live in Shangluo!"

"Ah," Shangluo touched his forehead, "It seems that it really can be done. Victoria, can you do it?"

"Aha! I'm addicted to dealing with people! If I don't give instructions to others for a day, I feel that the power is not in my hands. My only regret for coming on vacation this time is that I can't bring my work with me. I enjoy directing other people's work too much."

"Wait a minute. Victoria, are you a little overexcited?"

"I'm not excited. I'm full of energy. When I'm full of energy, I can choose the most suitable state to work. I will choose the side of my personality that can best cater to and control the other party to obtain the information I need - this is professionalism. Of course, it's not the same here. Everyone here is an acquaintance, so there's no need for me to use a business attitude."

"Really?" Shangluo thought for a moment. Victoria was indeed very professional when she was professional. Her voice was different. Shangluo remembered that a long time ago, after the operation of retrieving the Golden Branch was completed and after Cybernetics and he finalized the cooperation agreement, Victoria held a press conference at the airport in Constantinople to announce the withdrawal of Rome from Britain. Shangluo made a brief appearance at that time and stood behind Victoria as the "Aurora Envoy" to listen to the whole process.

Although the process was very short, the message Shangluo saw was clear: Victoria was indeed a professional emperor. She had received professional training since she was a child, knew what to say and when, and had enough time and opportunities to practice what she had learned. What she showed was not deliberately acting polite, but the sense of "master" that came from within after she got used to court life.

She could act like a "master" in any situation, even if it was her first time. She was also able to express her unique opinions on anything from soda production to equipment design. This was not because she had infinite wisdom, but because she had more information that others did not have. As the pinnacle of Rome's mysterious feudal system, no one knew more than she did.

Shangluo felt that Victoria's current illness might also be related to this kind of training. It was precisely because she could selectively display multiple personalities that she could transform her personality into a kind of stepless transmission under the stimulation of phlogiston, and would switch between various personalities over time.

"So, this morning might be a little long, is that okay?"

"Don't worry, how quickly my energy is consumed depends on how important this matter is to me."

“Isn’t this ceremony important?”

"Objectively speaking, it is very important. After all, we are assembling a fleet to destroy a country. But relatively speaking, it does not take up too much of my energy. I have a lot of room to spare. I am not someone who would be cramped in any situation."

Because she can really stand in the clouds and see things that others cannot see.