Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

Click, click. There were five or six clanging sounds coming from the door.

The two Samoyeds shook their heads and jumped off the base.

"Wow! That thing is moving!" Apollonia was stunned. "How did this thing move? It's just a stone statue from head to toe!"

"What is this?" Shangluo asked him.

"It's a dragon."

"Dragon? The whale outside is a dragon, that's fine, but this one is too."

"Yes. The two before you are the Earth Dragons—the Earth Wolf, facing the Cloud Whale. This place was once the fortress of the Tyranid King, and each fortress was guarded by an Earth Wolf. Please allow me to question them, and I will find out if these Carnigians truly waged war for some noble purpose."

"Yes, sure." Shangluo raised his hand and gestured, "Ask."

The priest stepped forward, bowed to the two giant Samoyeds that entered, and approached them to ask questions.

"Really? It's actually true?!" The priest stepped back. "They said they heard it clearly here: King Uma is a sincere man. Although their actions were somewhat extreme, they truly had no intention of spreading disaster to this world. And all this happened because we failed to fulfill our mission and arrived too late."

"Yeah," Shangluo nodded, "So, what are you going to do?"

The priest raised his head. "Although they did start a war, they are right. This world does need more power to maintain order. Exiling this power would bring even greater disaster. Therefore, they should stand with the Atmospheric Nomads and join us on our cruise aboard the Cloud Whale."

"Well, that's a good way to have the best of both worlds." Shangluo said with a smile.

"Okay! Then King Uma, let us move towards a bright future together!"

"Okay!" The two held hands together, and the sun rose in the sky, illuminating the stone hall.

"Clap, clap, clap!" Shangluo stood up and applauded. "What a bright future! It's a pity I won't allow this to happen."

“???” Both of them were stunned.

"You mean," the priest looked at him, "you are not, a god?"

"I am. But before you lies the God of Dusk. I am recruiting warriors for the world's burning future, granting them the right to serve a 'greater power.' Now that your war has begun, do not expect it to end so easily. You must determine who is superior, and then I will satisfy you. I demand that you fight one another, one by one, until the strongest warrior is chosen."

"But...but Master Xingzhe Sun!" Wuma asked, "but we have already surrendered!"

"I will not allow you to surrender. Rest assured, I will prepare a fair and just duel for you—no impulsive actions, no letting any wrongdoing go unpunished, and absolutely fair and just. There will be rewards for victory, and no punishment for loss. This war must be conducted in the manner I prescribe, and end at the time I prescribe. I will select from among these the strongest warriors worthy of fighting for the gods."

"Ah, this. This, this, this." Both of them were stunned. They watched Shangluo walk out of his chair and walk to the door.

Walking up to the two giant Samoyeds, he stroked their chins and asked, "Do you still want these two dogs?"

"Lord God of Twilight!" The priest lowered his head and said, "This is the descendant of the Dragon of the Earth, an Earth Wolf! Like the Cloud Whale in the sky, he is a true dragon. This is true."

"So it has no owner, right? Okay, then I'll take it. I'll keep it for a use."

He touched the dog's head and took out a steamed bun from his pocket: "Want to eat?"

The tails of the two "ground wolves" were spinning in circles like electric fans, and they ate the steamed bread handed over by Shangluo in one bite.

"Good dog, good dog. I didn't expect there would be such an unexpected gain. This is much more useful than the ghost soldiers."

"That's a dragon!"

"You guys." Shang Luo turned around and looked at them. "I'm going first. In a moment, an angel will come to convey my will and tell you how to compete. I'm taking these two dogs with me. Oh, and that Cloud Whale."

"You really can't take the Cloud Whale! The Cloud Whale is a dragon from our Qi Clan. We really can't let you take it away! Really!"

"Really? I took a fancy to the one floating around that looked like no one wanted it, so I took it. I don't want the big one, I'll just take the small one. Former young general, that chubby little whale is about to float away like a balloon. Tie him up with a rope and ask him if he wants some steamed bread."

Chapter 495 Dragon

"Here?" Qi Yuan looked forward to seeing Shang Luo coming through the main gate. He had indeed returned quickly this time—it looked as if he hadn't even been on a business trip, arriving only a dozen minutes later than Qi Yuan.

"Brother! I heard you went to ask for the ghost soldiers!"

"Shh~~" Shangluo silenced him and slipped in from the gate.

He gestured to the other people in the room to keep their voices down, and then walked to the meeting room in the maintenance station.

He hooked his hand outside, signaling Qi Yuan and Han Xingzhi to come in and close the door.

"It smells like that." Han Xingzhi became excited. "Is it the ghost soldiers? What do the ghost soldiers look like? Do they have green faces and fangs? Quickly perform a ritual and make them all have diarrhea! They won't be able to leave the toilet for three days!"

"Is this the ghost soldier? Take it out quickly! Take it out quickly!"

"Ah," Shangluo pressed his forehead, "It's not that kind of ghost soldier. Besides, I can't drug him."

"I think from a tactical point of view, it might be worth a try."

Shangluo pointed to the top of his head and said, "I don't know if Master Sa is here, but Master Lan is right above my head. It's impossible for him to give someone a laxative."

"Ah, forget it then." Han Xingzhi sighed in disappointment, "This is just not tactical. Then, big brother, let us see your ghost soldiers!"

"Um, maybe not so fanged. Wait."

He opened the bundle, but before he could reach in, a round balloon floated out, dangling from a rope. The balloon wobbled upwards, then hit the ceiling with a thud and bounced twice.

The round "balloon" not only floated upwards but also tumbled constantly. Before completely turning 180 degrees, four whale flippers extended from the side of the balloon, fanning vigorously to the side, righting itself, and then spinning horizontally.

If you look closely, you'll see it's not actually round, it has a tail. Compared to the round body, the tail looks more like a ginkgo leaf inserted into it.

It also has an upper and lower part. The upper part is made of dolphin-like, firm skin that looks very soft to the touch. The abdomen is like a baleen whale, with a bulging belly with deep wrinkles.

The turning "ball" revealed a pair of large mammalian eyes, then opened its mouth, revealing a row of incomplete millet-like milk teeth.

"This round ball is a ghost soldier???"

"Uh, I took the wrong one. This is not it, there is something more useful." Shangluo tried to pull the rope, but couldn't move it.

"Ah~~~" It stared with round eyes and showed an expectant expression, and continued to open its mouth.

【Qiuqiu said he was hungry and wanted to eat.】

"Didn't he just feed her? He fed her a whole steamed bun."

【Qiuqiu said it wasn't enough to eat.】

"By the way, when did it become called Qiuqiu? Who gave it that name?"

Its original name is Qiuqiu. It said you had delicious food, so it came here just to eat with you.

“Did I take the wrong thing?”

It's hungry again. It wants to eat. It didn't eat enough just now. It's growing, so it needs to eat more. How about you feed it more?

"Feed it? Didn't you see how big the cloud whale is when it grows up? As big as a mountain! How can you feed this thing? Should I have brought it out here?"

He tried to pull it again, but it was impossible to move it. The ball seemed to be fixed to the ceiling and had extremely high buoyancy.

He had no choice but to stand on the table so that his head was level with the ball: "Little boy, where is your mother? Do you want to go home quickly?"

It said, "It's okay to hang out for a while longer. It still has a long, long time to go." It seems most small whales like this float outside the pod, waiting to be fed. "Ah," it said, "feed it quickly. That steamed cake is delicious."

"But there's no more! I only brought enough for lunch, and he ate it all."

"Woo woo woo" Qiuqiu pursed his lips.

[It said that if you don't feed it, it will cry in front of you.]

"Cry it, cry it, and when you've cried enough, send it home."

It says.

Before he finished speaking, Shangluo heard the whistling of the wind. Looking up, Qiuqiu was breathing in air with his mouth wide open, like a whale swallowing. It was more like a dragon sucking air than a whale swallowing air, for the paper on the table was swirling upwards in a tornado-like motion. The paper floated into Qiuqiu's mouth, but it didn't block it. Instead, it was ejected from his nostrils—from above, as if filtered out. Only air was continuously sucked into his stomach, and his baleen whale-like abdomen was expanding like a balloon.

"(Jinling Yayan)!" Han Xingzhi was startled because the balloon had expanded to the size of a watermelon in the blink of an eye—then a winter melon, and was still growing. And Qiuqiu didn't seem to be struggling at all.

With a clatter, the chair in the conference room fell over, indicating that its expanded diameter had extended from the ceiling to the tabletop.

"Hey! Big brother, what kind of divine beast is this! Quickly make it retract its magical powers!" As he spoke, the expanded body of the ball had pressed Han Xingzhi, who was unable to dodge, against the wall.

"Wow!!! Bro! What the hell is this!"

"This is... a dragon." Shang Luo was also shocked by the sight. "So that's it. Is this a dragon? A dragon can be big or small, can rise or hide. When big, it can create clouds and mist, when small, it can hide. When it rises, it soars through the universe, when it hides, it lurks within the waves."

"Stop reciting poetry! I know it's a dragon! Let it hide beneath the waves! I can't breathe!"

As soon as the ball heard the word "I can't breathe", its expansion stopped abruptly.

[Shangluo.] Apollonia's voice trembled. [It said... It's about to start crying.]

“It hasn’t cried yet???”

It said it needs to gather its strength before crying, and today it's gathering its strength here. If you don't feed it, it will cry for you to see.

With a bang, the door was knocked open by a white shadow. The spirit arrived before the person. Master Lan rushed in with his sword energy:

"There is dragon energy! Where is the dragon!!!"

"Here!" Han Xingzhi, who was pressed against the wall, still had one hand exposed, and he slapped the balloon outside. He could still speak, which meant that Qiuqiu didn't really press it.

"Okay, okay! I'll give you something to eat! If we don't have steamed bread, how about a hamburger? And Coke! Do you want some?"

With a whoosh, like a balloon leaking air, Qiuqiu blew out all the air in the room from its nostrils, blowing the paper in the room into a mess. After 5 seconds, it returned to its original shape, back to the size of a children's balloon.

Fortunately, it didn't "cry" in the end. Shangluo had seen the roar of a cloud whale, capable of shattering mountains. While this small one might not possess such immense power, expanding to this size seemed far from its limit. It simply didn't want to press Han Xingzhi against the wall, so it held back its breath. Now, with Shangluo's assurance, it slowly let out its breath.

[It said, it’s a deal.]

Chapter 496 Ball

Everything returned to calm.

Lan Daoxing stood on the table, looking at the round balloon in front of him.

"How is it, Master Lan?" Shangluo asked him, "Is this really a dragon?"

"Yes, it's a real dragon." Lan Daoxing didn't stand on the table for too long - this was a bit inappropriate, but he was a little surprised to see the real dragon all of a sudden.

After finishing the inspection, he stepped on the steps in the void and walked down steadily from the table.

"A dragon looks like this???" Shangluo asked.

"A dragon gives birth to nine sons, each one different," Lan Daoxing replied. "So dragons come in all shapes and sizes. Dragons are cute. As the foundation of countless transformations, dragons do have many different forms. But this Capricorn-shaped dragon is the first time I've seen one. Where did you get it?"

"From a can."

"Oh, that's it." Lan Daoxing nodded, "So the dragons there look like this."

"But this doesn't seem right," Shangluo asked him. "This is clearly a dragon from that small world. Does it count as a dragon here?"

Lan Daoxing looked at him and said, "Do you remember the episode about the Black Chicken Kingdom in Journey to the West? The king of the Black Chicken Kingdom was pushed into a well in the imperial garden by a lion-leopard monster. What was in that well?"

"Is there a Well Dragon King?"

"That's right." Lan Daoxing pointed at the ball still floating in the sky, "Don't treat the dragon in the well as a dragon. Dragons can grow big or small, rise or hide. This, of course, counts as one too."

"My goodness, I really didn't recognize Huaguo Mountain, inviting such a big ball."

"Let me say this first," Lan Daoxing reminded, "I don't object to you using dragons in the competition. But don't show your magical power in front of everyone. The dragon's magical power cannot be contained, so you should be careful. If it were someone else, I wouldn't let them use it. But you are the chosen one by Daozu to hold the world, and I believe you are confident. So, you decide for yourself."

"Okay." Shangluo nodded, "I'll handle it myself."

"Well, I'm leaving now. Have a good race. Daozu is also waiting for your good news." After saying that, Lan Daoxing disappeared in a flash. His breath returned to the box on the top floor of the racetrack in an instant, where he was monitoring the situation in the entire venue.

[Hungry, hungry. Food, food.] Apollonia relayed the message, [It said it was really hungry. If possible, could it have something to eat first?]

"Tsk." Shangluo looked around. The room was in a mess from the blast.

"Squad leader, is there anything to eat?" he asked Qi Yuan. "This little brat seems to want to eat something right now."

"Why aren't you a very reliable ghost soldier?"

"Ah, it's always the same." Shangluo shook his head. "I've never had good luck."

"Like Wen Yuan?"

"No. I always start things off well, but then I get discouraged halfway through. I don't know why I didn't check the almanac before going out, and invited someone like this..."

This is a dragon. Being a dragon means it's the foundation of countless transformations. From a cultivation perspective, it might have the potential to break through to the Nascent Soul stage, without any bottlenecks. The dragon king whale's roar before had the power to cause mountains to collapse and crack the earth, and its movements had the power to shatter the void. Even at the Nascent Soul stage, that's just how it is. The battles in the Investiture of the Gods were similar. If it hadn't wanted to fight Shangluo, Shangluo, with the abilities he could mobilize in that world, might not have been able to defeat him.

This smaller one, while seemingly much smaller, should have no problem shattering the garage. Shangluo wasn't invincible, but if it just needed to eat, it wouldn't be impossible. After all, life requires food, no problem.

"Wait, let me look for it." Qi Yuan suddenly remembered that there seemed to be something to eat here.

She lowered her head to pick up the papers that had fallen from the table and found a bottle of Coke among the pile of papers. She threw a few pieces of unused paper into the trash can and raised the can of Coke.