Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

In early summer, the sycamore trees of Yujing are in full bloom. Layers of them cover the path between the school buildings, blocking the slightly scorching midday sun but retaining the chirping of summer cicadas.

They were a little late getting out—by the time they reached the cafeteria, the seats on the first floor were almost full. No matter where you were, the rush to the cafeteria was never slow.

Qi Yuan stood at the door for a while, looking inside:

"Strange. Where are the people from the team? Why didn't they come? Forget it, let's eat by ourselves. It really makes me worry."

"Then where do we sit?" The place was full and it didn't look like there were any seats available.

"Here! Here, here!" Shangluo suddenly heard a familiar voice——

"Class monitor! And that little brother Xiangrui! Come and sit here! We've reserved a seat for you!"

Two minutes later, Shangluo took his plate and sat down in the seat reserved for him. As expected, he was fed three, no, five bottles of Wangzai milk, along with other small snacks, piled there like tribute.

"I say, you three, can you please stop?" Qi Yuan looked at them and handed one of the bottles back. "Don't cause trouble for others. Isn't three bottles enough?"

"This is someone else offering sacrifices, no, someone else feeding him. Everyone feels that it's been years since we've seen Brother Xiangrui, and it's been so hard for him to watch the big hippopotamus baring its teeth outside, and he's so cute. So we couldn't help but feed him a little."

"you."

"Hey, hey, hey! Squad leader, listen up! The news is on! Listen to the news! We carry the future of the two capitals and thirteen provinces on our shoulders, so how can we not listen to the news? A white star appeared over Songjiang. It's said that it's always seen on Thursdays. Don't you know that this is one of the four major urban legends, along with 'Grand Palace Subway Station' and 'Jack the Ripper'? Never heard of it, right? Well, you're in for an eye-opener today. Eat more of the tribute, just like attending a crosstalk performance. Eat more, eat more."

Chapter 86 Telephone

In the cafeteria, the news continued to broadcast:

"Here's a quick news report: The Las Vegas crackdown is complete, with significant results. Yujing citizens say: Gamblers must die."

"The San Francisco Wei Electric explosion has been preliminarily investigated, and the Ministry of Industry's special task force will soon release its investigative report. The Governor of Yangzhou stated: The so-called Thunder Dragon warehouse explosion incident is completely fabricated."

"The Lan Fang supersonic rocket passenger aircraft 'Ninghe' has made initial progress in its testing. As of last week, 3 flight tests involving three aircraft have been completed. Passenger tests will also begin this month."

"The Ministry of Industry's Railway Administration and the Roman Senate's 'Eurasian Railway Construction Committee' concluded their ninth meeting in Antioch yesterday. A prototype of the Silver Dragon train, a miniature model of the Beijing-Shanghai Railway, and the soon-to-be-built Thracian Bridge were displayed at the meeting. Both sides agreed to establish the 'Silver Dragon Mega-wide Gauge Project' as the common technical standard for the 'Continental Central Trunk Line.' A high-speed passenger line running directly from Pukou Station to Galata's Imperial Cross Station is expected to open within 9 years."

"Recently, some citizens have walked in subway tunnels due to subway malfunctions or other reasons, posing serious risks to their own safety and subway operations. Therefore, Yujing Railway has issued an appeal to the general public, urging everyone to abide by subway regulations and refrain from walking in subway tunnels to avoid danger."

"Let's focus on one particular stock transaction: On the 27th of this month, 18 hours before the Las Vegas plunder, the Lanfang Stock Exchange suddenly saw a surge in transactions targeting the Chichen Itza Hotel, which was completely destroyed in the plunder. By the time trading in the relevant assets in Las Vegas was suspended due to the bombing, 41% of Chichen Itza's shares had been sold off. Although co-shareholder United Fruit soon followed suit, the total selling volume still didn't exceed half. The Itza State became the only one to escape the plunder. As of now, the whereabouts of the 59th Priest King of Itza, Palca, are unknown."

Qi Yuan shook his head: "This world is really not peaceful. Home is still the best."

"Hey, squad leader, have you heard? Things have been a bit turbulent back home lately. I heard that that Ripper, Brother Jie, recently came to Yujing and even issued a crime warning."

"Puff--" Shangluo almost spit out a mouthful of milk. Fortunately, he lowered his head and closed his mouth in time, and only a few drops went into his nose.

Shangluo was shocked. The Imperial Guards had clearly told him this was confidential last time, so how did these students know about it?

"Eat your meal." Qi Yuan glanced at her.

"Yeah, yeah! It's about eating! You know? Every time that Ripper Jack sends someone a crime warning, he has to treat them to a meal! Many Romans happily go to the meal, and then nothing happens. So funny."

Is there such a thing? Even Shangluo didn't know this detail. He always felt that there was something dangerous.

[Is your heart beating faster? Are you scared?]

"I just don't understand why everyone wants to treat me to dinner today? Did I encounter some trigger? Or is this a sign of something?"

"Don't worry too much. Your luck isn't that bad." Before she finished speaking, Apollonia paused. Her phone vibrated.

[You have a text message from a new contact. I haven't read the content, but I suggest you check it.]

"Squad leader, where is the restroom?"

Qi Yuan showed him the way, which was to turn left after exiting the cafeteria.

Shangluo trotted all the way to the restroom, found a small empty room, turned on his phone, and a Fetion message popped up in the message bar:

"Are you free tonight? Kuiguang Pavilion invites you to dinner for an important matter." The sender was Fu Yuanshan, the General Baifeng who calmly broke through the four-story floor and descended from the sky.

【.】

"."

"Fear."

【Fear. 】

"Don't keep repeating me. What's going on? He can't be Brother Jie, right? Am I doomed today?"

[First, let's confirm the elements. Where is Kuiguang Pavilion? Is it remote?]

"It's in Confucius Temple, in the downtown area, not far from Captain Lu's house. I remember it was a nice teahouse. The Jinyiwei all lived nearby."

"That doesn't seem like a problem. He's an elder, a senior, a superior, and he said he had something 'important' to do, and he even offered to take you out for dinner somewhere nice. You can't just not go for some inexplicable reason, right? You don't have any plans for the evening."

"But I always feel awkward. Think about it, someone has been feeding me non-stop since this morning. Is this a hint?"

If it were anyone else, I'd probably think he was talking nonsense. But if it were you, I think it's possible. Let me put it another way. Do you know why Wen Yuan always encounters bad luck? It's actually a sign of divine affinity, a blessing.

"Then do you want this blessing?"

[Tsk, if I were human, I'd definitely do it. You know, immortal fate manifests in many ways, and 'mediocrity' isn't one of them. Even if it's bad luck, it's the result of a divine intervention. As for good luck or bad luck, it's all arranged by heaven—or rather, a particular tendency towards good or bad luck is the result of special favor from heaven.]

"Heaven, does it really have feelings?"

[For those destined for immortality, the Way of Heaven can be compassionate. The Daoist Ancestor is ruthless to everyone, but he shows special care for the Son of Heaven, isn't he? Therefore, I suggest you treat these omens with caution. This is the advice I, as a divine machine, can offer you.]

"Why not ask?" He opened the Akashic Records page, but his hands stopped on the keyboard.

"Tell me, if I bother asking Ultimate with this vague information, will it bring about any unexpected consequences?"

[The answer is that you won’t get any results because the question is too vague.]

"Then I might as well ask the Jinyiwei. It's better to ask heaven about heaven's affairs and ask people about human affairs."

He exited the Akashic Records conversation thread and sent a direct letter to Lu Huaiyang to inquire.

A full five minutes later, Lu Huaiyang sent a reply. He seemed quite busy.

"Oh, I told you you were overthinking it. He wants to treat me to dinner tonight because he wants to discuss foundation building with me. Although I haven't reached the Qi training stage yet, I have a Dao opportunity that can directly lead to foundation building. If I can successfully build my foundation, I will be the fifth celestial being in the empire. He hopes to help me as much as possible. As expected, there are so many inexplicable omens in this world."

Shangluo felt much better.

"Hey, you were the one who started being suspicious, and now you're blaming me?"

"I'm going to the bathroom now, close your eyes."

I've already mentioned that I'm now connected to this phone. Just like I activate airplane mode when driving a train, my field of view is now synchronized with the camera. So just don't point the camera at yourself.

"That's great. I feel much safer now than before. But is your vision different now?"

My vision used to be very abstract. Remember when I said I wanted to see the Grand Palace? I wasn't looking at the actual scene, but the Grand Palace itself, its mystical significance as the 'center of heaven, the axis of the world.' It's the greatest magic circle in the world, a wonder worthy of the admiration of all scholars. Specifically, it's a 'mountain of light,' with the Purple Palace at its summit as its source of light. With this camera, I can truly see it, not just through a series of abstract perceptions.

Chapter 87 Case

"Wait a moment."

Shangluo didn't continue talking to Apollonia until he came out to wash his hands.

"I have a question—it's all very well that you can get an optical view, but could you show me what you see?"

"Yes. Remember the white mirror on the armor in the Jinyiwei warehouse? You can see it through that mirror. Because it is an image that does not exist in this world, if you want to see it with your naked eyes, you can use an indirect method. However, the mirror is too crude, so it may not be visible. It's probably similar to the effect of looking at a flash bomb, only seeing a vast expanse of white. The Jinyiwei should have more advanced equipment, and you should be able to use it when you reach the Qi training stage."

Shangluo really wanted to take a look. It would be even better if he could switch between the two perspectives—after all, things that are invisible but clearly exist always scare people. Because fear comes from the unknown, a fire-breathing dragon in the garage and an elephant in the room will both keep people awake.

When they returned to the cafeteria, lunchtime was almost over. The three female classmates who had presented their "tributes" had also left, but Qi Yuan was still sitting there, holding a white sign and nodding.

"You're finally back. Is Fetion fun?"

"You have one too? Are you a Qigong practitioner?"

"It's not that easy to become a Qigong practitioner. We do have one in our team, but I'm far from that. You don't have to be a Qigong practitioner to use these badges. I do have some inherited spiritual roots, albeit quite sparse. This badge is also what my father left over. The Dao Ancestor allowed it to be shared among the family. But I can only use it reluctantly, because although I can operate it, I can't see the screen and can only type blindly. I only carry it with me so that my father can send me voice messages at any time. The message you just received was also from an elder, right?"

"what's the message?"

"Brother Jack the Ripper, what else could it be?" As she spoke, she put the tag back into the small ladybug wallet.

"???"

Shangluo quickly sat back down: "So what exactly is going on?"

His heart was lifted again. Sure enough, the omen this morning was not that simple.

"My dad sent me a voice message saying that Brother Jack the Ripper has started committing crimes in Yujing. A Roman tourist was murdered and disemboweled in an alley. His camera slave was also there, and wow, the camera was broken."

She stopped and he saw that Shangluo's expression was becoming more and more strange.

"Why, what do you know?"

"I think I've seen the victim. Wait a moment." He took a quick bite of rice and swallowed the radish soup along with the radish inside, then opened his phone and sent a message to Lu Huaiyang to confirm.

In less than 5 seconds, Lu Huaiyang sent a reply:

"Turn left and answer my call at the public phone number 21-2918. It'll start ringing in 10 seconds. As soon as possible." This process reminded Shangluo of a pager. However, considering the energy consumed by other people using Fetion cards, it was better to use a public phone. For Lu Huaiyang, he probably needed to focus on the case right now.

"Squad leader, please wait a moment. I'll come back to eat."

After saying that, he strode out the door. As he was leaving, the public telephone booth next to the door rang.

Shangluo walked in, closed the door, picked up the phone and said:

"Hello, is this Captain Lu?"

"Yeah." Lu Huaiyang replied on the other end of the line, "Because I have a lot to say, sending a text message is too slow, so I'm going to talk on the phone - do you know anything about the Ripper case? I've been busy with it all morning."

"I do think I know. Is that man a photographer? He's wearing a Roman toga. Next to him is a photography slave, and a beverage slave carrying a cooler of delicious grape juice."

Lu Huaiyang's voice suddenly rose: "Wait! Did you take a photo with him?"

"Yes, I have."

"Is it... at the entrance of Confucius Temple subway station!!!"

"Yeah, what's the problem?"

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

"Shangluo, that photo is our main focus right now. Let me describe it to you: Half the frame is obscured, as if by a flashbang. In the light, you can vaguely make out a figure carrying a spear, with light emanating from that figure. Only the edges of the frame are visible, and I just happened to recognize it as the subway station in front of my house. We now believe that the light and shadow are a major suspect—and I didn't expect it to be you? I'm just checking as a routine matter. Where were you at four o'clock this morning?"

"I'm in Yuxi Palace." Shangluo answered truthfully.

"Huh? What are you doing at Yuxi Palace in the middle of the night? Is Patriarch Bodhi going to teach you the Somersault Cloud?"

"No, I'm going to make the elixir." Shangluo didn't mention that he was processing radishes specifically for people like Lu Liang who hadn't gotten what they wanted. He didn't intend to reveal anything until the matter was successful. He didn't want to give people hope and then have it dashed; that would be too cruel.

"Sure enough. His Majesty the Emperor routinely goes to the alchemy room at that time every day. I won't ask about the specific reason, but the key is to eliminate you. Tsk, but things are getting more complicated. That photo is the only clue now. If that photo is of you, then the clue is broken. Do you have any other clues you can provide?"

"Hold on."

He put down the phone and asked Apollonia.

Let me check. I have the Roman's information here. I found out. The Roman's name is Acizius, a native of Constantinople and a member of the Roman Senate. According to the Roman senator's promotion system, he was a first-level quaestor. However, this doesn't mean he actually had any financial management duties assigned to him; it's just his title. He's 35 years old this year, and if nothing unexpected happens, he'll be promoted to the second-level rank of alderman next year. Tsk, that's why I told them long ago that these Romans should be locked up in the Theodosian Wall and not allowed to escape. Now another one is dead.

Shangluo relayed the relevant information to Lu Huaiyang, including his name and identity.

"Thank you very much." Lu Huaiyang replied on the phone, "You've been a great help. Because the death was so tragic, it was difficult for us to identify the identity at the moment. Now is the golden time to solve the case. We will call Constantinople to check the files immediately. Hang up first. By the way, be careful too. The Ripper is very dangerous. Call me immediately if you are in danger. You can always trust us."

"Yes."

There was a busy tone on the other end of the line. Nanzhen was really busy today, as it seemed to have entered the realm of "superpower crime."

"Ah, even the safest places aren't so peaceful. Anyway, it doesn't concern me much. Yeah, it doesn't matter much. It's just that the Roman guy was actually quite nice. He actually printed out the photos and prepared to show them to me. The juice was delicious too, really good juice."

[This guy is really, really unlucky.]

"It's really unlucky." Shangluo nodded. "Forget it, after all, we met once. When you have time, go to the Jinyiwei and take a look. Maybe I can help."

Chapter 88 Motorcade

The delivery process was much faster than he had imagined. After lunch, Qi Yuan led him to another teaching building. All the teaching buildings were only two stories high, so going up and down took less than a minute.

The package was packed in a small wooden box. The recipient was a boy wearing glasses. He hid behind the desk and took a mysterious look. Then he turned around and handed over three silver dollars with a happy face, each of which was worth one or two taels.

"Huh???" Shangluo was stunned for a moment. He thought that this little thing was worth a few hundred coins at most. He didn't expect that such a small bag contained something worth three taels.

As they went downstairs, Qi Yuan was also shocked: "What on earth are you selling? Hippos teeth? Have you reported it to the customs?"