Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

The wind carried a strange smell to the front. Standing at the end of the line was a little girl. She wore blue pajamas and a nightcap with two small stars on it. Her short, curly hair peeked out from under the stuffed nightcap, revealing a surprisingly abundant volume for her young age.

She and Shangluo looked at each other.

"You must queue up." She said in fluent Chinese.

"Huh? Oh, I'll definitely get in line."

"I mean, this is your first time here, right? You have to insist on queuing! You have to queue to get the delicious ice cream cone."

Titus explained, "This shop actually sells three types of ice cream. Sherbet, bacon, and cones. Sorbet is made by soaking a ball of ice cream in juice and then sealing it with cream. Bacon is made by mixing cream and maltose and pounding it with a large wooden mallet to create a springy, cone-shaped ice cream. You don't have to wait for sherbet or bacon; you can just take them out of the freezer."

He pointed to the spinning ice bucket and said, "If you want the most distinctive rolled ice cream, you'll have to queue up. Depending on the flavor you want, the flavored ice cream will be poured over the ice bucket and spun in circles. When it's scooped off, it becomes a thick roll. You can add yogurt, jam, and chopped nuts to the roll."

"Oh, then I'll eat it." Shangluo was in a dilemma about making a decision.

He turned around and asked the other three people, "If we have to wait, it would be better for everyone to wait together."

"I don't care." Han Xingzhi rolled his eyes. "I'm a little thirsty, though. I'd like something with juice."

"I want springy ice cream!" Wen Yuan replied. "I've never had springy ice cream before."

"What about you?" Shangluo asked Lu Liang who was standing behind him.

"No matter how much I eat, I won't get fat?"

"It should be. I'm fasting now, so I can eat it. I think this is night food, and maybe the night food is stored in another stomach."

"It's really, really wonderful! Do you know that I'm on a diet every day?"

"Well, I can see that. The last time I went to your house for dinner, your stew tasted good, but the whole table was filled with stews of all kinds, with only one dish being stewed eggplant."

"Because my father told me to eat more meat, eating more meat can make the body healthy. He said that people who know how to eat should eat this way."

"Let's be honest, people who know how to eat do eat this way." He always ate all he could at Zhu Xianxun's place. Even the Taoist Ancestor didn't interfere with Zhu Xianxun's diet. He figured eating this way was good for cultivating immortality, or at least had no disadvantages.

"So give me some fruit! Something vegetarian. I want some normal juice."

"So that's sherbet? Hmm. Let me think about it."

Since no one else was willing to wait, he didn't either. Judging from the description, bosa seemed to be a kind of snow-capped juice, and if blended, it might have the texture of a milkshake. He had tried milkshakes before.

But this ice cream, beaten with maltose, is quite unique. As expected of a famous ice cream shop in Damascus in the 3rd century, this dessert is very creative.

"That's settled, I'm going to have the Bossa cone."

"Ahhhh!" the little girl at the front of the line stood up. "I'm so pissed! I told you ice cream cones are the best. Ahhhh! Why aren't you eating any? I'm so pissed!"

Failure to convince Shangluo seemed to have dealt a huge blow to her young heart.

Shangluo bent down and said to her: "But big brother, I am a little busy today. Have you seen our clothes? We are not locals in Alexandria, we are very busy. So little sister, look..."

"I'll treat you!" She held up a silver drachma. "I'll give you my seat! Mine's almost ready, strawberry and blueberry flavors. Since you're the guest, you must try the ice cream cone!"

Shangluo emerged with a small paper box containing a large roll of ice cream, rolled into a thick cylinder like tissue paper. The red and blue ice cream were intertwined, offering a unique flavor whether eaten separately or together.

"Hmm, it tastes really good~" It was so delicious that my jaw almost wrinkled. The first bite was filled with a rich, milky flavor, and the texture was surprisingly good. It was dense yet chewy, and after melting, the cream flowed down my tongue. This was a true taste that flowed from history, the best flavors carefully selected by the Roman Interior Guard over thousands of years, finally presented in this small ice cream stand.

The vendor took the silver coin with his empty hands, washed it in clean water, and began to make the next one. A perpetual smile hung on his face, and it was this happy smile that made him be photographed and preserved as a classic.

"Eh~~" Lu Liang looked at him with disdain, "You're trying to trick a kid into giving you ice cream."

"She asked me to eat. I don't know why, but I always attract others to feed me."

"That's right." Wen Yuan nodded. "Some people with special physiques always attract certain things. For example, I always attract bullets. I was also worried that if I ate this ice cream, I would eat ice cubes. Is that possible?"

He asked Titus next to him.

"I heard about this from your master. But you can rest assured here. That ice cream stand is just a historical silhouette, so the ice cream produced there will be the same quality no matter how many years have passed. Well, unless something goes wrong with the stand."

"Will this also cause problems?" Shangluo asked.

"Like vending machines, the silhouettes occasionally malfunction. Some students love to talk to them, and they've ruined many of them. Here's the plan."

Suddenly, a Roman horn sounded from the direction of the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

"You are lucky." He glanced at Wen Yuan, who didn't notice and was still eating her popsicle.

"Then let's go to see Caesar's triumph next. Caesar will be here soon."

Chapter 132 Returning Like Lightning

[Caesar, you are lucky.] Apollonia, who had been silent since arriving in Alexandria, said the same thing as Titus.

"Caesar is here, isn't that normal?"

"I didn't mean to interrupt your relaxing time. But Caesar, you don't see him very often. Have you heard the legend that cameras can capture the wandering souls?"

"That's just a rumor, right? Could it be true?"

It's half and half. A camera can capture something, but it's not the soul, just a silhouette. It's the sum of all someone's experiences at that moment, condensed onto film, and that's what a silhouette looks like. Photographing a silhouette like that doesn't affect you in any way, just like when you take a picture of yourself, no matter how many times you develop it, it won't make you lose your soul.

"Why do my ears feel a little itchy? Are you scolding me in some strange way?"

No, no, I'm objectively describing a psychological phenomenon. Some people believe that taking a photo causes the soul to fade. In reality, cameras don't capture light; they simply "receive" it. Life is filled with moving and brilliant moments, and light "bleeds" from them. This overflow of light is one of the most fundamental magical phenomena in the world, and cameras can record it.

"So Caesar's question is?"

The body cannot be replicated, but the light that overflows can. Caesar's problem is that his silhouette, at any given time, only exists once.

"Huh? So he's here in his true form?"

His form is a silhouette, there's no doubt about that. If you look closely, you'll notice from the moment he arrived in Alexandria that flames flicker in the pupils of these silhouettes. That's the overflowing light, the pulsing light that drives the silhouettes in the form of phlogiston. Without the shielding of a soul, the light is directly exposed.

"That Caesar"

Yes. The Romans confirmed that Caesar's eyes were indeed ablaze with fire, albeit only a fraction of a billion. Caesar's negatives were never developed, and their whereabouts are unknown. It's also unknown when Caesar began appearing at night throughout Rome, performing triumphal ceremonies.

"Can this be considered a kind of historical re-enactment? After all, Caesar did hold triumphal ceremonies throughout Rome. This is still within the realm of experience, right?"

Yes, that was the case at first. Until one day, Caesar appeared in New Antioch and began his triumphal procession using the Empire State Building as a tower.

"."

Shangluo realized the problem: Caesar had no way of ever having been to New Antioch. New Antioch was a metropolis in the New World, built around Manhattan. Originally called New York, it was renamed New Antioch after the technological barbarians were driven out. There was no way Caesar had ever been there, let alone known what the Empire State Building, completed less than 30 years earlier, was.

"Is this good luck or bad luck?"

I don't know. Although he wasn't crowned, Caesar was undoubtedly the emperor of Rome. The people welcomed Caesar's arrival, like a festival. Constantinople is investigating, but given the current situation, they can't possibly target Caesar as part of their "Heroic Parade." Caesar always appears in public, so would attacking him at this time just replicate the Senate's one-man showdown?

"That's right. So let's just leave it like that?"

It's been sitting there for years. What's that saying? If it can still run, leave it alone. There are plenty of strange things in the night, not just this one. Instead of worrying about it, let's treat it as a festival. I remember the triumphal procession here in Alexandria was quite interesting.

Majestic Roman trumpets blew, legionaries marched through the streets in unison, and flower petals drifted down from nowhere, carpeting the pavement. Students, having finished their classes, crowded the roadside to watch, and the ancient fragments saluted like Caesar's subjects.

Gaius Julius Caesar, standing tall in his chariot. Queen Cleopatra of the Ptolemaic dynasty stood at his side. Like a god-king and his queen, the golden god, driving a golden chariot, journeyed through his divine kingdom.

This is the scene of Caesar's arrival in Alexandria after defeating Ptolemy's army. As the Roman monarch, Caesar waved to the students on the roadside. Although a thousand years had passed, this was a Roman response to Romans, and nothing strange about it.

The strangest thing here was Shangluo and his group. They were also standing by the road, watching Caesar's chariot approaching.

A procession of trumpets passed before them, followed by legionnaires marching in step. The golden Caesar slowly passed—but even though his chariot didn't stop, Caesar's eyes looked over.

The blazing fire of phlogiston danced in his eyes, and his light was so full that it almost filled his entire pupils.

As if noticing that they were from the East, Caesar smiled, twirled a corner of his purple silk toga, and nodded to them.

"Sure enough. He is observing. He has his own consciousness."

Just from the moment their eyes met, Shangluo could be sure that the one leaping in that body was a real soul, or at least not far from a real soul.

"There are more legionnaires than before." Titus muttered to himself so that only he could hear.

But this did not pose a problem for Apollonia. She magnified these words and let Shangluo hear them.

"Is Caesar changing?"

There are no obvious changes. But there are subtle variations each time, like Cleopatra only appearing for the second time, and when she first came to Alexandria, it was just Caesar, without the legionaries or petals. Even, if you look out to sea.

Shangluo looked towards the sea, where a column of smoke was faintly rising.

"There are also on the sea?"

"Yes. Before Caesar arrived in Alexandria, he first engaged Ptolemy's army. Caesar's appearance is becoming increasingly complete, and perhaps the next time he appears in Alexandria, the events will be even more complete. That year, Caesar's army's catapults struck the Library of Alexandria, burning 60 books. This was not a good sign. The sages of the Muses should have taken some action, at least dispatching fire trucks as a precaution. If they had fought a battle at sea before returning, the Muses would probably not have allowed him to return victorious so easily."

Caesar's procession moved farther and farther away, disappearing at the end of the street. Many students followed, and as they turned the corner, the sound of the French horns gradually faded away.

"Hmm." Shangluo looked down and saw that the ice cream was also stained with some clean petals that had fallen from the sky and had not yet touched the ground. They were bright red rose petals. Roses are the symbol of kings.

He scooped up the ice cream with a spoon and put it into his mouth along with the petals.

"They're real petals, with the same texture and aroma. It seems like they're not far off. But that doesn't seem like a bad thing for Rome. I see the Romans here are eager for his lightning-fast return."

Chapter 133 Daytime

Caesar's procession disappeared at the end of the street, and with him the sound of the trumpets fell silent. These trumpets did not travel like real sounds and could only be heard at the scene of the ceremony.

The petals landed on the back of Titus's hand. He sniffed them, his expression complicated. While he wasn't feeling threatened or terrified, he wasn't happy at all.

"Well, let's continue our tour. There's still some time before dawn. Let's go to the next stop."

Before he could finish his words, a public telephone booth behind him rang.

"Sorry, I'm looking for you. Please wait here for a moment and don't wander around."

Although it was a public telephone booth, he immediately determined that the "sympathetic connection" was directed at him.

Without further explanation, he entered the phone booth.

【Hey, do you want to listen?】Apollonia asked.

"Can you turn the signal around?"

[Of course, direct transmission is impossible. Observing intercommunication is equivalent to interception. It can only be done end-to-end, with absolute encryption for humans. But I can relay it to you, because I'm not human, hehe. I have a lot of tricks up my sleeve to deal with these Roman technologies. Let me hear what they say. Ahem.]

Apollonia coughed a few times and began to imitate the conversation between the two people:

Yes, the white bull was not found. The triumphal procession is incomplete, but the number of soldiers is increasing.

As a member of the Legion, you should know the significance of a triumph. As the name suggests, a triumph is held after a victory. So where did Caesar triumph? Don't you know?

[Sorry. If we knew, the Senate would inform the Sage Council of the Muses Palace as soon as possible.]

The sages believe that Caesar is a plague of knowledge. His return might benefit the rest of Rome, but he might destroy the Library of Alexandria. If you have the opportunity to contact Caesar, please explain the situation to him.

However, Caesar is currently only a silhouette of himself, unable to absorb new experiences. Therefore, even if we warn him, he won't be able to gain this information. However, I will petition the Senate to send additional internal guards to protect Alexandria. Please understand, sages, that defenses are currently more tense than ever. The unpredictable movements on the Kadesh battlefield have yet to be determined.

The Battle of Kadesh took place half a year ago. Haven't you finished it yet?

"Yes. If we also have to defend the Great Library from Caesar, the investigation in Kadesh will probably be delayed even further."

[So.] There was a pause on the other end of the line. [The sages believe that the investigation of the Kadesh battlefield should be prioritized. The potential threat posed by the pharaohs is far greater than that of Caesar. We will make our own preparations for Caesar's problem. But please don't blame us for overreacting. We will use all means to protect the Great Library.]

[Wait. That's all. Please calm down! The Great Library is important, but Caesar is also important to the Empire. Hello? Hello?]

[Beep beep beep~] Apollonia imitated the busy tone of the phone, [Looks like our Mr. Crow has been hung up on.]

"They're really working hard! Are the Palace of Muses and the Senate independent of each other?"

Yes, the six Romes generally operated independently of one another. However, the Senate in Constantinople generally represented the Roman Empire in external communications, such as diplomatic relations with the Ming Dynasty and the signing of the Covenant with Helios. However, when it came to intellectual matters, even the Senate could not sway the decisions of the Muses. The night here is Alexandria Night, and different nights have different colors.

"Why do I feel like you're introducing some giant theme park? What are other places like?"

You know what? They're very similar, and each has its own theme. Alexandria is about history and culture, New Antioch is about metropolitan life, and Rome is about festivals and carnivals. Syracuse, on the other hand, is a place for vacation, with the beautiful moonlight of Sicily. Constantinople is the most unique, where day and night blend together, as the moon is always high in the sky, never distinguishing between day and night. So, whether it's day or night, you can see silhouettes working in Constantinople.

"Ah, so the reason Constantinople must remain as it is... to keep day and night consistent?"

Yes. Because the silhouettes can't be exposed to too much information, the interior of the Theodosian Walls is kept to its historical state. So, you can still enjoy the ice cream I just mentioned in Constantinople during the day.

"What about Delphi? It seems there's still Delphi that hasn't been mentioned."

Delphi? Tsk, that's not a theme park. Delphi sleeps during the day, and night is work time. As for which is best, I still prefer Alexandria's nights. Nights here are a time for philosophers to clear their minds, break out their baklava, and eat ice cream. Resting well and welcoming the new day is what nighttime is supposed to do—of course, staying up all night playing until dawn is also a precious memory from my student days, but it's almost dawn now, so it's almost time for us to go back.

"Hello! Hello!" Titus was still trying to dial in the phone booth. However, the other party seemed to be preparing for the arrival of daylight, and no one came to answer his call.

The eastern sky was gradually turning white. A golden carriage appeared on the horizon, ushering in the daylight.

【Here he comes. He comes.】

"Who?"