Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

[Oh~~ You're so lucky~~ The Queen is very cute. When she was little, she came to my oracle to ask for fortune. But I was still young at that time, so I don't remember what she asked for.]

"This, this. So this is your final decision?"

"No, this is a possible solution, so I'm telling you in advance so you can be mentally prepared to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings when I tell you suddenly. After all, before we officially start working together, we need to consider all possible outcomes."

Shang Luo pressed his forehead. "You two should discuss this first. Tell me the final result and I'll consider it, okay? Although this is for world peace, it's a huge blow to both Her Majesty the Queen and me personally."

"Of course we know this, so this is just the last resort. Don't worry too much. Next up are the routine duties of the 'King of Rome.' King is written as REX in Latin, which means military commander, with command of the 'Roman Army.' So when the Internal Guards are carrying out their operations, I ask that you assist as much as possible. Sometimes we'll need you too... How should I put it?"

"Need me to start a monster?"

"Yes, you can just come and start the fight. To put it in an analogy, just like a priest making the first cut of his prey, we might occasionally ask you to start the fight, as it's the king's right. It won't be too much trouble, just come over from the lighthouse and take a look around."

Chapter 186 Recovering the Dragon Tooth Soldiers

"So, basically, I just need to start a monster?"

"That's basically it," Marcus replied affirmatively. "We haven't reached the point where we need to sacrifice the happiness of two young people to protect ourselves. We're not that cowardly. Besides, your lifespan is different from Her Majesty's. If you become a celestial being, you'll soon have a lifespan far longer than ours. Even if you reluctantly agree to be with Her Majesty, we can't expect this of you throughout your life. So... well, this is just the bottom line. Let me explain it first."

"I understand." Shangluo nodded. The relationship between the Romans and Helios led them to think in terms of "contracts." These contracts were guaranteed by Helios, and Helios was like a heartless machine. He had no personal feelings.

Since the matter had not been finalized, the topic did not become too serious. As they talked, they walked out, and the others were busy with their own things. Han Xingzhi took out a brochure and seemed to be discussing with the other two where to go for dinner. Because as long as Shangluo completed the task, it would be 100%, and considering the "coronation joy", the meal would be his; Titus was still busy, and the six people were silent, walking with their heads down while contacting each other, trying to confirm whether their wages would be deducted. Karin. The two Karins were walking side by side. They had said something to each other before, but now they were both silent.

The only ones still busy were the other members of the "Sphinx" troops in the back, who were cleaning up the battlefield.

Like a gust of wind, the elves left nothing behind. But the sacred forest bore their blood—the very reason the Wild Hunt was defeated here. The bloodthirsty Hunting God could also curb the endless wilderness, and spilled blood would be absorbed by the land. While spirits could return to the gate, blood could never return.

Some of the Dragon Tooth Soldiers began turning the soil and clearing it. This kind of farm work was part of their job, as they were rooted in the earth; they literally grew from it. Pulling out farm tools from somewhere, these Dragon Tooth Soldiers began turning the reddened soil beneath the surface, preventing the smell of blood from pooling there.

There is no need for so many Dragon Tooth Soldiers to do farm work, and most of them have already started the recycling process.

The recycling process is simple, as long as the instructions are followed. Simply lift the dragon tooth from the ground, along with the bundle of silk threads, and crush it in your hands.

The moment a dragon tooth is crushed, the dragon tooth soldiers created from it will turn to dust. This dust is excellent fertilizer, and when plowed into the ground along with the blood, it will become a fertile field next year. Anything you plant will yield a bountiful harvest.

"Wait!" Marcus suddenly stopped, having received a message. He turned sharply back to where the Dragon Tooth Soldiers were plowing the fields, quickly counted, then looked forward, then around.

"What's wrong? Are we in trouble?" Shangluo asked.

"It's not us, it's me. I'm in trouble. It's over. It's over. It's over." He muttered, then suddenly looked up, "Who summoned the Dragon Tooth Soldiers just now! Who summoned the Dragon Tooth Soldiers before us?!"

Han Xingzhi, who was discussing what to eat in the front, was stunned. He slowly raised his hand and turned back.

"It's you, isn't it!" Marcus walked over quickly. "It's good to confirm the person. Thank God, you're still here. You know that the Dragon Fang Soldiers have to be destroyed after use, right? Where are the Dragon Fangs?"

"."

"."

Han Xingzhi, who was a little shorter than him, looked up at him. Marcus, who was a little taller than him, looked down. They stared at each other, both stunned.

"Haha. Hahaha." Marcus covered his forehead and laughed dryly, "You... you lost it, didn't you?"

"No, I didn't lose it."

"What about Dragon Fang?"

"In the hands of those Dragon Tooth Soldiers."

"Why did you give them the dragon's tooth? It might as well have been lost! It's over, it's over, it's all over. I was worried about that guy docking six wages, but now it's my turn to be in trouble."

"Ah, this." Shangluo asked, "Is there any problem with this?"

Marcus pointed around. "That's the problem. Do you see the shadows of those Dragon Fang soldiers?"

There was nothing around, not a single figure in sight. Even the chariot was gone.

The two people immediately began to review the process of the whole thing——

The story began when Han Xingzhi found "Mr. Fox," who led him to a dragon tooth. Mr. Fox explained that this was a dragon tooth that could summon dragon-tooth soldiers. Han Xingzhi, having also read Greek mythology, buried the dragon-tooth soldiers underground, and many more grew. Up to this point, there had been no problems.

"Yes, all right up to this point. But you didn't hold those fibers?"

"Fiber optics? Are those the threads you hold onto?"

"Yes. The Dragon Tooth Soldiers are commanded through the differentiation of the Dragon Tooth and those optical fibers. You didn't even hold the Dragon Tooth, so how did you command those Dragon Tooth Soldiers? I saw that you were commanding them to build positions? This is a very advanced skill. How did you do it?" Marcus asked back.

"Use your spiritual sense," he replied softly. "I set up a spiritual network and gave them orders through conversation. I told them to build their positions, and they started digging foxholes."

"Ahhh!" Marcus uttered a painful sound. "Why didn't I think of this! When I was teleported here, I immediately joined the battle. I saw the Dragon Tooth Soldiers firing in an orderly manner, and I thought they were also under the control of the optical fiber. Why didn't I think that you Aurora Qigong practitioners didn't need optical fiber at all! Now those Dragon Tooth Soldiers are all...all ran away. I said-"

He cheered himself up, still holding on to a glimmer of hope: "Can you still find those Dragon Fang soldiers? All Dragon Fang soldiers need to be destroyed after the battle. If you can contact them, ask them to come back immediately."

"Wait, let me ask." He pressed his forehead and asked with his spiritual sense.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up: "I can actually get in touch with you."

"Quickly ask, where are they?"

"They said 'thank you'. Ah, it's gone. The signal's gone."

"Ahhhh!" Marcus squatted down, holding his head. "They've become so divided that they can even say 'thank you'. It's over. There's no turning back. I'm afraid it's going to take a lot of effort to destroy them."

"Um." Han Xingzhi asked in a low voice, "Do I need to take any responsibility?"

"No, this has nothing to do with you. I was so busy holding off the Wild Hunt that I didn't notice you. It's my fault, entirely my fault. I've prepared a report, and I hope the General won't have me court-martialed. But if they contact you again, please let us know as soon as possible. We'll come and retrieve you immediately." Marcus never imagined that the biggest trouble tonight would come from him. He'd only been in office for a few years, and he hadn't expected such a big incident to happen.

"Alas." Titus in front also sighed, "I know what you are thinking."

He turned and said, "Don't think about hiding it. Report it to the black-clad general first. Whether to report it further to the oracle will depend on his opinion. You shouldn't have to go to court-martial until there's a disturbance. Oh, and this Mr. Han Xingzhi, are you familiar with His Excellency the King of Rome?"

"Very familiar, he is my elder brother."

"Very good. Then keep in touch through him, please."

Chapter 187 Order

After giving his instructions, Marcus said goodbye with a scowl on his face. He also said goodbye to Titus and headed towards the other side of the forest, where the temple was located. Shangluo remembered that if they had followed the original plan, they should have teleported directly from the temple. It was just that the other Jinyiwei were unable to perform phlogiston stealth and were unable to go down, so they had to come here by plane.

Marcus and Shangluo initially left the normal route—it seemed stealth wasn't a pleasant experience for them either. But after learning the Dragon Tooth Soldiers had fled, he hurried back to the Oracle to report.

"By the way, why does he want to go back to the oracle? Shouldn't he go back to Constantinople or Rome?" Shangluo asked Titus.

"Because the Inner Guard is managed by the Oracle," Titus replied. "All Inner Guards are managed and trained by the Oracle. That's why I told you before that the apprentices came from Delphi for the Golden Bough Ceremony. The Oracle is located in Delphi."

"So the Oracle actually has a very high status?"

“It’s very high! As high as the ceiling.” Apollonia raised her voice.

Titus thought for a moment before answering, "The Roman Empire was actually composed of three empires—the Latin Empire of Italy, the Greek Empire of Achaea, and the Egyptian Empire. Therefore, the six Romes were divided into primary and secondary empires, just as they were during the Tetrarchy. Specifically, there were the Oracle at Delphi, the Muses in Alexandria, and the Senate, which was originally in Rome but later moved to Constantinople. Therefore, the Oracle was an institution equal to the Senate, and we weren't actually answerable to either the Senate or the Muses; we only followed the Oracle's orders."

Shangluo immediately asked Apollonia: "So can you give orders to the internal guards? That would be very convenient."

[Well, you should ask him himself.]

Shangluo asked Titus directly.

"Interesting question. If the gods gave us direct orders, would we obey them? Simply put, no. Since ancient times, the spiritual leader of the Greek world has been the Pythia, the High Priestess of the Oracle. She sat on a three-legged stool straddling a ley line of earthly energy. Using the ley lines, she achieved a state of ecstasy, and her words represented the will of Apollo."

The more Shangluo listened, the more familiar it sounded. It seemed Apollonia had indeed asked him to do something similar. He remembered that back in Las Vegas, Apollonia had passed the formula to him through the awkward "Pen Fairy" method. Compared to inhaling natural gas, Pen Fairy was relatively normal, but the principle was the same. Both performed miracles when the user was in a state of "ecstasy," a practice common in both the East and the West.

For example, the character "禁" (ban) is a pictograph. "禁" (ban) means a taboo of good or bad luck. Its original meaning was a table for placing sacrificial wine, with the two "木" (wood) characters representing wine vessels. In ancient times, the ecstasy of alcohol was used to manifest divine will, as "wine can communicate with the spirits." Later, it was extended to mean power.

"But if you can get the oracle directly from the Pythia, why do you say you won't obey the gods' orders?"

"Because the infinity of divine will cannot be directly understood by human finite consciousness, from the perspective of information theory, divine will often does not contain useful information because it does not eliminate any uncertainty. For example, there is a famous prophecy: In 546 BC, the Kingdom of Lydia was about to go to war with the Persian Empire. The king of Lydia consulted the oracle. The Pythia replied: "A great empire will be destroyed." Then Lydia fought back, and Lydia was destroyed."

"That's meaningless. Anyone who dies can be said to have lost an empire."

"There's something even more outrageous. Still in Persia, in 306 BC, Athens asked how to resist the Persian army. The Pythia replied: Wooden wall! Wooden wall! Wooden wall! The Athenians were confused. What is a wooden wall? What is a wooden wall? Then they fought step by step, and finally decisively annihilated the Persian expeditionary fleet in the Battle of Salamis. The wooden wall meant that the Athenian navy's warships in this battle would be tightly connected like a wooden wall."

"What's the logic? If I build a wooden fortress on land, even if I win, it's still a wooden wall."

"Tsk, so this is why the Pythia's words contain no information. They are often meaningless babbling, depending on how one interprets them—and how one interprets them isn't a matter of metaphysics, but of politics. Therefore, beside the Pythia, a black-robed priest stands, tasked with comprehending Apollo's profound and mysterious language. And that black-robed priest is our general, the commander of all the Roman Interior Guard. He is also responsible for interpreting the words of God. Any oracle must be interpreted and promulgated by him before it can be considered an oracle. The actions of the Roman Interior Guard are also based on oracles; they won't be deployed without an oracle."

"I remember my ex was killed by a truck."

"Alas," Titus shook his head repeatedly. "I wonder why he, despite reading countless history books and witnessing oracles revealing the future, couldn't even predict his own impending death by a truck. Perhaps it's because the oracles have become so chaotic these days."

[Nonsense, I'll give you a little black bean. I can still predict whether he'll be killed by the truck. But that annoying guy didn't trust me at all after the Akashic Record became turbid. He deserved it.]

"Sometimes I wonder if the oracle is just toilet paper as others say, and it only matters how much you pull or tug. Maybe Helios is the real god, after all, his contract is real."

Big black beans! Big black beans! All the safflower removed! All the safflower removed!

Shangluo could hear the sound of keyboards being smashed. Apollonia was furious. He quickly stepped in to smooth things over. After all, Titus was a good guy, and it would be bad if he lost his job because of this. Making Apollonia angry was not a good thing either.

"Ah, so what about Karin's matter?"

"Karin, they actually did come up with a conclusion. But they didn't tell me. They planned to tell you in person."

Karin leaned wearily against a tree, sword in hand. Her arms bore several scars, inflicted by the Forest King. She could have avoided injury, but her rage drove her forward, instantly pinning the Forest King to his feet. Even after the Wild Hunt's forces emerged, they continued to grapple with the Forest King. Without their desperate struggle, they might not have been the only ones injured.

Karin—Karin at home—knelt on the grass nearby, bandaging her with a bandage fashioned from her skirt. She didn't even notice Shangluo standing behind her.

Shangluo knew that Karin, holding the sword, was a spirit, so bandaging her was useless and didn't really need it. But she didn't seem to mind, just looking down.

Chapter 188 Karina's Decision

She looked at Shangluo, then looked in front of her and touched Karin's head.

"How adorable! I used to be such a lovely child. It's a pity that I can't go back to that time. We still have things to discuss with the Forest King."

"I'm sorry." Karin still didn't get up. "It's me. It's all my fault."

"How can you be blamed for this? You can't decide your own birth, right? It's your mother who is wrong, my little princess." She shook her head and helped Karin stand up.

She stood in front of Shangluo and said, "Then, Your Excellency the Forest King, please call me Karina from now on."

"Okay. I can probably guess some of your decisions. But, is Karin actually a princess? The daughter of Elodeasha?"

"Yes, Karin is actually Elodeasha's biological daughter. But for elves, parent-child relationships are meaningless, just like a tree doesn't have deep feelings for its own fruit. It's hard to understand, isn't it? I can't understand the ethics of plants either. Elodeasha, on the other hand, has deeper feelings for me, because the body I use is Karin's."

"Why were you chosen?"

“Because of the name.”

"Name?" Shangluo was stunned for a moment. "Do you have the same name?"

"Yes. Because my name is Karin, and hers is also Karin, we can swap. To Elodiasha, Karin wasn't even born, having been abandoned by her. And I, the exchanged daughter, am her true daughter. It's like a graft, the grafted me is the complete descendant of the Great Spring Elf. She let me drink the first handful of clear spring water of the long summer, becoming a powerful high elf. She even gave me the first vermilion fruit in the forest, restoring my sanity. Of course, I couldn't recognize her as my mother; she was just a kidnapper. But Elodiasha herself didn't care. She even entrusted me with the important task of protecting the Forest King."

"Huh? Were you awake the whole time? Then why did you fight with Lu Liang?"

"Although I hate Elodeasha with all my heart, I sometimes complete her missions because they are right. For example, this time it was because the Forest King is truly important. Even after regaining consciousness, I still believe that the Forest King must be protected. But why? Ah, I forgot. After regaining consciousness, all this elf logic was gone. To take revenge on Elodeasha, I have to gradually recover my memories as an elf. My road to revenge is still very long and I have a long way to go. Not just for myself, but also for Karin. Karin is also an abandoned child, and we should all return to our own lives."

"Wuwuwu." Karin cried even harder. Not only did she feel guilty about Karina's decision, but she also realized she had been abandoned. She had grown up as a human, and this plant-like ethic left her with an indescribable sadness.

"Don't cry, don't cry," Karina squatted down next to Karin, "I ask you to take care of mom when I'm not around. The soup mom makes is delicious, right?"

"Yeah." Karin nodded. "It tastes good."

"If it tastes good, just follow along and learn slowly. You'll eventually learn it."

"Then you. Then when will you come back?"

"Probably." Karina thought for a moment, "When I give myself a break."

"Wait." Shangluo had to interrupt, "What do you mean by vacation?"

"Even though I want revenge, I need to take a break from work to recharge myself, okay? As you've seen from Karin's words, I'm essentially a very lazy child. She's usually pretty lazy too, right?"

"No, no, no, Karin is not lazy at all. She studies very hard. Mayor Kelso said she is the perfect daughter."

"Tsk, that's a really strong willpower. It can even overcome my laziness, because we have exactly the same personality. But as for me, I still need to take a vacation."

"So what's your decision?"

"We've decided that Karin will usually be at home while I do my part. On my days off, we'll swap places, and I'll go home to rest. For her, it's like going home to rest, too. The spirit world is foreign to me, and the mortal world is foreign to her. Her soul is gradually being damaged, and she needs to return to the spirit world occasionally to recover, just like I need to return to the mortal world to rest occasionally."

Shangluo breathed a sigh of relief. He'd thought he was about to witness some kind of tragedy, but luckily that wasn't the case. And no matter what, Karina's opinion was the most important, and Shangluo intended to fully respect it.

"Let me think about the frequency of exchange." Karina looked up at the sky. "Once a month?"

Karin shook her head repeatedly: "Please come back more often. I will tidy up the house at any time so that you can have a good rest when you come back."

"Don't worry, I'll let you know before I come back, so you can prepare to take a break. Besides, you should have your own life, right? Even if you can just scrub forks and wash dishes for Mom, or give Dad a back rub and shoulder massage, it's considered a break for me. So, once a week? If nothing unexpected happens, I'll be back on Sundays? Because Elodeasha also has Sundays off, and I can't find her."