Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

"Ah." The next morning, Shangluo was still reminiscing about last night's meal as he walked through the school gates. The food at the Jinling Restaurant was indeed excellent, and since he was treated to a meal, he ate his fill. And... Phaethon's pressure was finally lifted, and the atmosphere became much more relaxed.

Today was Friday, another happy day. He still had to go to school when he had nothing to do, and only on Sunday could he have a day off – there was a particularly interesting car race this Sunday, and he had been looking forward to it for a long time. There weren't many opportunities to let others eat his dust.

When he reached the school gate, he suddenly met an acquaintance:

"Hey, Squad Leader Qi, good morning."

"Ah? Ah, good morning." Qi Yuan glanced at him and continued to fiddle with the phone.

"What happened to your phone?"

"I forgot to bring my homework, so I asked my dad to bring it to me. I don't know what happened, but the switch seemed to be malfunctioning this morning. I kept connecting the wrong lines, and the other end kept saying 'curry curry curry' and 'curry curry curry'. I don't understand what it means. My dad said the switch was on strike. He said it would be difficult to fix, so he asked someone from the Jinling Hotel to fix it. I don't understand why the machine was on strike, and I don't understand why they had to hire a chef to fix it. Forget it, I'll just go in. It doesn't matter if I didn't bring my homework once. The teacher will understand."

Chapter 314: Work on the White Star

"15 seconds." Qi Yuan checked his watch. "Not bad. It's getting faster and faster. It's ridiculously fast."

"How much is Wen Yuan now?"

"He usually comes to run with us three days a week. His fastest time was over 14 seconds, which was the last two days. He seemed to have hit a token. The rest of the time it's around 16.5 seconds. But both of your speeds are ridiculous. It took us over seconds to run this course last year."

Although the difference was only about 10 seconds, Shangluo knew that this number was outrageous. Because the test track at the school was very small, there was almost no room for straight-line acceleration. Almost the entire race was a test of the car's ability to turn corners, and fast corners are the real fast. The corners at the racetrack were much more forgiving than these, and the gaps between the corners were almost as long as the straights at this small test track.

If there were more space, the speed could be even more outrageous. On this mini-track that completely tests "cornering ability", pulling away by one or two seconds is already very difficult, and pulling away by 10 seconds is simply outrageous. The entire Formula One series has never released such powerful performance in its history.

"I feel that this time we can also create the same impact as the White Star did back then - the White Star also suddenly raised the results of the entire competition to a higher level. Well, here you go." As she spoke, she handed the Coke with a straw to Shangluo.

When he received it, the Coke was still cold. He opened his helmet, held the Coke in both hands, and passed it to the side of the helmet, and then just enough to drink it through the straw.

"Oh right." Shangluo suddenly remembered, "Do you know what happened to the White Star?"

"Are you asking about the fleet or the car?"

"Ask both."

"As for the fleet, their results don't really mean much to them. The White Star is affiliated with the Imperial College, and students can directly enter the Imperial College by taking the internal exam—because the entrance exam alone is much more difficult than the imperial examination itself."

"I see. So they're just trying to show off their strength?"

"Well, to some extent, that's true. In fact, because there's no pressure, they usually take a longer time to prepare for the event, because for them, 'completing the project' and creating 'miracles' is the most important thing. And even after graduation, as long as they have played a significant role in the project, they will still be regarded as part of the team. We are different."

She curled her lips. "We only have three years at most. If we don't win, we lose. Their car production cycle is about 50% longer than ours. They often enter competitions with semi-finished cars, making modifications as they go along. Withdrawing this year is even more outrageous. I guess they're very confident in launching the 'third generation' of Formula One next year, hoping to combine the strengths of all the teams this year and win the championship in one fell swoop."

"Do you think it's possible?"

"We, the Tiandao Shadow Puppet, should have accomplished this feat. However, I'm not sure if our successor will be able to keep up next year. Even if we win this year, we might still be surpassed next year. All the technology is public, and they'll be able to integrate it all in a year. They also have Qigong pilots. Alas, if they're left behind next year, this historic achievement will be theirs."

"But they're really amazing." Shangluo thought of the "White Star" flying in the sky, which could be considered a kind of "magic weapon." Because that hypersonic test aircraft relied entirely on ferroelectric fuel to fly, and the shock wave wind tunnel driven by ferroelectric fuel was also used during the development process.

He could even imagine the Tianyi nobles working there—because these shock tunnels could produce hypersonic speeds for only a brief moment, operating at 30 times the speed of sound for just 100 milliseconds. This wasn't a movie, but scientific research. Therefore, the Tianyi nobles there needed to precisely record the experimental phenomena at a frame rate similar to "high-speed photography."

The team that was able to conduct cutting-edge technology experiments and complete that aircraft is truly amazing.

"So it took such an amazing team to send the White Star into space."

"Huh? You knew that too?"

"I only found out about it after I entered the competition. Well, the student intelligence network is incredible, and this is a huge deal. The White Star's frequent circling in the sky isn't just an urban legend; it's a proven fact. They actually regrouped after turning 30. It's kind of romantic, isn't it? Reuniting after more than a decade and resuming research under the original name. I heard one of them returned to campus this time to oversee the development of the White Star II race car."

"Huh? What about next year?"

"Sigh." Qi Yuan sighed. "Next year, we'll graduate, and there's nothing I can do about it. I don't know if anyone will be able to keep up with us next year. After this year's competition, there are only three months left in the semester, and we'll have to start preparing for the handover. I hope some talented students will sign up by then. It's a pity that even Han Xingzhi didn't sign up until his second year of high school."

"By the way, what made you think of running over here to participate in the competition?"

Han Xingzhi just happened to walk by.

"As for me, well, there's no particular reason. You see, I'm a Xuan cultivator, so this kind of thing doesn't really concern me. But if I have to give a reason, it's probably this. Wait, I'll replace the hatch for you and you'll understand."

He used an electric screwdriver to remove the screws from Shangluo's hatch. Several people came over to move the hatch away, and then put another one on - it was put on lightly and was much lighter than the original one.

"Even though you've been sticking with this design, it still feels weird."

Shangluo still thinks this hatch is ridiculous. He's not afraid of this kind of accident, or else he wouldn't dare drive this car.

"Hehe, now this is exactly why I wanted to install the hatch in the first place. Even the aerodynamic properties of the hatch itself are just an excuse. Well, just watch and don't tell anyone. Now try it?"

"What is it? Okay, let's try it first." He handed over the Coke can, held the steering wheel with both hands, and closed the hatch from above.

drop--

There was a sound of power being connected, and the front became brighter. An image was projected onto the transparent hatch: speed, wind direction, humidity, and weather information were projected onto the hatch, with a runway map projected in the upper right corner.

"Huh? What the hell is this?"

"I installed the white rainbow mirror from the Jinyiwei armor into the hatch! Isn't it super cool? Look, there's even a Tetris module integrated into the folder on the right. Isn't that awesome!"

Chapter 315: Glasses Boy

"Forehead"

I have to say that even Shangluo saw such a large screen for the first time. Before, the white rainbow mirror was only a small layer inside the helmet, but now the screen covers a quarter of the celestial sphere. All the information is integrated in front of you, and you can understand it without looking down at the instrument.

"But I don't need to look down at the instrument."

He hadn't even glanced at the car's instrument panel during the entire ride, and the instrument panel's feeling wasn't necessarily more accurate than a celestial being's. After all, it was just data, and there was still a gap between data and physical sensation.

"But you can play Tetris while driving. Don't you think that's super cool, bro?"

"online."

"okay."

He pulled out his sign and immediately began running—even though the five-times-accelerated Tetris game still required some distraction. Meanwhile, information from the real world was constantly projected onto the screen. Virtual images from his previous laps were projected onto the screen, helping him keep up with, and even surpass, his previous lap.

"Wait." He was suddenly stunned, and an "I"-shaped block fell into the wrong place.

【What's wrong? 】

"Are you displaying this image?"

"No, you didn't ask me to load it. It should be a pre-loaded function of the White Rainbow Mirror."

"But, this hatch was only put in this 'lap', so why is it showing my trajectory from 'last lap'?"

[Wait for the land! The land comes out!]

"What are you calling?"

[I'm calling this car the Machine Spirit. I think that's more catchy.]

A tiny, humanoid figure suddenly poked its round head out from under the screen. It wasn't a head, exactly, but some kind of avatar-like virtual image, its features blurry, but it wore round, exaggeratedly large glasses.

"Wait, why do these glasses look familiar?"

[Ah, doesn't this look familiar? The style of glasses is exactly the same as Xiao Han's.]

"???" He looked at the little man and asked, "Are you a spirit?"

The "spirit" that showed its head nodded.

"Then why do you look the same as Han Xingzhi?"

Since he's the one who takes care of this car all day, it's natural that they look the same. My strange temper is similar to his, and the first time he saw me trying to "cheat," he was as excited as Wang Lingguan, the official who wants to punish evildoers.

"Are you Tianyi Noble?"

He shook his head.

"You don't know? Or is it not?"

He wanted to say he didn't know. Well, no need to ask. He wasn't a Tianyi Guiren. Tianyi Guiren were summoned by casting beans into soldiers, but this one was created naturally. It must have been a divine thought or something attached to it. Just like a sword that has been cultivated for a long time will have a spirit, and it will generate a sword spirit. This car has been with everyone for a long time, so it's normal for it to have a spirit.

He looked at the little boy with glasses who looked like an emoji, "Do you want to come out like Tianyi Guiren?"

He hesitated for a moment, and then hesitated again.

Suddenly, Shangluo lost control of the car and hit the tires piled up next to him. He had to slam on the brakes to stop the car.

"Hey hey hey hey! You drive!"

The boy with glasses began to tremble and shake.

He just burned out. His sense of self is very weak, so the concept of "coming out" is too advanced for him.

While parking the car, Han Xingzhi also asked questions through the intercom in his helmet, and only turned it off after confirming that everything was fine.

Shangluo slowly started the car. He could drive it himself, but without the help of his "cleverness," the car was as powerless as a sword without a sword spirit.

I chatted with those Tianyi Guiren. They were born into the Shangtan Army and had interesting lives from the very beginning. They began taking lessons while still in the pods, and then were born as Tianyi Guiren. Someone like Ji-Shing, whose origins were not good, is not very versatile. But being born naturally is also a kind of fate. Xiao Han really likes this car.

"He just said that he joined the team casually."

He probably doesn't want others to see his hobbies—except for Wang Lingguan, of course. The community atmosphere is very important. If everyone likes it, even someone with social anxiety can find a sense of belonging and become a social hero.

"Hmm." Shangluo drove slowly, and the guy with glasses was looking around, not knowing what to say.

【Why, do you want to enlighten him? 】

"Can I 'enlighten' him?"

[Yes, you can promote him to Tianyi Guiren. Such cleverness is quite rare. Although his background is poor, his inherent strength can be compensated through enlightenment. His nature is what matters most - if he is enlightened to become a Tianyi Guiren, the level of this car will also increase.]

"Then how can I enlighten him?"

Don't you have the Spear of Apollo? You've seen how Phaethon used it, right? Using a protocol, you can awaken his consciousness and tell him 'what I am' and 'what I am not'. It's quite useful. Once he's awakened to his spiritual intelligence, give him a bean, and he'll become a Tianyi nobleman.

"Hmm," he said, looking at the boy with glasses. The boy was like a timid kitten. Although he had the ability to communicate, he couldn't tell how important the matter in front of him was.

"Do you want to be enlightened?" Shangluo asked him.

However, unexpectedly, he refused.

"why?"

The boy with glasses turned around a few times.

He said he wanted to finish the competition. He wasn't done yet.

"You're quite persistent. Actually, enlightenment itself is more important. I respect your opinion. Now, can you get back to driving?"

The boy with glasses nodded vigorously - the smart device was back online, and the Tiandao Shadow Puppet resumed full-power operation.

After parking in the repair area, Shangluo removed the steering wheel, took off his helmet, and also took off his flame-proof racing suit and hung half of it around his waist.

"Xiao Han, come here." Holding a Coke, he waved to Han Xingzhi.

"Ok?"

Han Xingzhi walked over inexplicably——

Two minutes later.

"Brother, are you saying that my sincerity has moved heaven and earth, forming a true spirit within me? Oh!!! I'm so awesome! It turns out I also have the spirit of a craftsman, and the cars I build have souls. Can I really bring him with me?"

"Yes. Although he wants to finish the race now, I can enlighten him after the race. After he is enlightened into a Tianyi noble, you can take him away. What do you think?"

"Ah!!! I'm so happy! I'm the only one in my family, and it feels like I have a new brother! Wait, wait." He took out the sign, "I'm going to let him listen to Wang Lingguan's radio drama right now. Children need to be nurtured from a young age to develop correct values."

Chapter 316 The Day Before the Race

After taking a shower in the shower room attached to the locker room, Shangluo changed into his original clothes and walked out with a towel on his head.

"By the way, squad leader, has the communication been restored?"

"It was back online in the afternoon. It was so slow, it felt like half the people at the switchboard were off duty. No, it seemed like there was only one person there. How could one person be off duty for half the time? Do you have any idea?"

"Do you have any idea?" he asked Apollonia casually.

[No, I'm busy. The new kid who registered recently was really unruly and even dared to surpass my points. Haha, I finally got back at him.]

"By the way, how do you always beat them when playing games?"

Because time flows at different speeds. You and I are not on the same wavelength. If you time yourself in Huzhongtian, you'll also notice that time flows at different speeds. Ha, I can take five seconds to double-jump for a few frames, so how can they fight me?

"Do you want energy?"

【I need phlogiston. 】