Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

Han Wu suddenly remembered something and waved to a corner of the room. The Jinyiwei picked up a plate from the table. There were five slices of bread on it.

"This is?"

"This is the bread they baked. Would you like to try it? It tastes pretty good."

Shangluo took out a piece——

I have to say that even though it is not freshly baked, it tastes really good. First of all, the quality of the wheat used is very appropriate, it is white bread after the bran and germ are removed. It seems that milk and sugar are added when kneading the dough to make it soft.

This bread was the same as the bread Shangluo remembered. He liked it very much.

[Eh? This bread is weird.]

"what happened?"

The white bread the Romans usually ate wasn't made like this. It looks drier and the crust is a bit crispier. But what's this? How is it so soft? Wouldn't it melt if I dipped it in soup? How do I eat this?

“But I think it tastes good.”

[That’s the problem—they made the bread you like! They probably made it because you like the taste.]

"My goodness, I didn't know the machines liked me so much. Are they all making bread like this?"

Shangluo asked Han Wu.

"These breads burst out from this automaton. When we caught him, he was transporting these breads. Some people started eating them halfway, but the automaton did not express any dissatisfaction. Instead, it had a sense of joy and satisfaction. Although it still did not say anything valuable, its movements were more coordinated than before. As for the taste, everyone thought it was delicious."

[That's right. In Rome, bread is usually eaten as a side dish, sometimes with soup, jam, etc. to soften it, or spread with butter. But here, this bread seems to be based on the taste of Aurora, especially your taste in Shangluo, and is made into a snack-like style that can be eaten directly. Wow, this is too... too thoughtful. ]

"Such thoughtfulness is actually a bit difficult to deal with." Shangluo shook his head. One hundred percent friendly forces and one hundred percent enemy forces are both easy to deal with. But now, although the Columbian automaton has shown a lot of goodwill, and can even be said to be "quite thoughtful", its purpose is unclear, and its nature is even more unknowable. In this case, even if we handle it with the idea of ​​killing a thousand people by mistake rather than letting one go, we have to investigate first - because God knows whether launching another "doomsday weapon" will completely wipe out the city or allow them to unlock "second gear".

"Anyway, please run a few more times and bring back a larger batch."

"It's not that troublesome." Han Wu waved his hand. "From the current situation, it seems that the claws are not needed at all. As long as we eat the bread in front of them, maybe another hundred automata will bring more bread to us. I will select a group of people with good appetites and good acting skills, and let them "invite" a hundred automata back."

"Has the Cabinet asked about this recently?"

"The cabinet is waiting for news - this is all thanks to you, Shangluo, being here. If you hadn't made the decision, they would have definitely handled the issue in the most conservative way. I don't think that's necessary. This bread is well made, and perhaps it can provide us with more help in the future. I'm looking forward to more cooperation with them."

He looked at the automaton on the ground. "So, what should we do about this? I don't know the etiquette of those automatons. Are they acting according to Roman etiquette? If it were us, we would have to be buried in the ground."

"Let me ask."

"Ask? Hasn't he already..."

"Who knows?" Shang Luo put his ear close to the damaged Vulcan core and listened quietly for a while:

"Please dismantle it. Please dismantle it into its parts and send them to their proper places. This automaton should be recycled and put to good use. As long as it is not wasted."

"Can he still speak?"

Shangluo shook his head: "He didn't say anything, but I think this is the most appropriate thing to do. Leave the heart part to me, and I'll see if I can carve a bead out of it."

Chapter 982 Waiter

"So that's how it is. So that's how it is." Shangluo and many other Jinyiwei surrounded Vulcan Core.

This machine is so exquisite that it is hard to imagine how many structures can be created. For example, many rigid ball joints cannot be nested by machines. From a technical point of view, the probe needs to be inserted deep into the interior for processing, which is indeed a technical difficulty.

Considering the number of these automata, this is indeed quite interesting craftsmanship.

The parts of the automaton were soon recovered.

When he returned to the ground, it was almost dark. Shangluo walked out of the gate of the imperial prison with a non-woven bag in his hand.

He was carrying the bag as if he had just gone to the supermarket to buy something, but inside was a broken Vulcan core.

[Why do you want this broken thing when you actually have something better? Even if this thing is fixed, it's just a mass-produced commodity.]

"You mean the state gift sent by Victoria's father, right? Indeed. That is the real Vulcan core."

Not long ago, Zhu Xianxun gave the "national gift" to Shangluo. Although it was indeed a very valuable national gift, it was no big deal to give it to Shangluo. The reason was that, first, Shangluo was a guest of the family, and his rank was high enough; second, and most importantly, this thing was of no use to Zhu Xianxun. Like everyone else, he thought it was very interesting when he was a child, but when he grew up, he felt that it was just an unreliable Roman thing that might explode at any time, and Shangluo was particularly good at dealing with these explosive things.

So although it was quite valuable, Zhu Xianxun still chose to make the best use of it, and gave the Vulcan core in the clock to Shangluo. Because Zhu Xianxun had a lot of good things in his hands, after all, he was the emperor, and he had no shortage of treasures. Even though Shangluo had collected a lot of good things along the way, his treasures were not so many that he couldn't fit them in.

Zhu Xianxun's palace was filled with the best of the world, with so many good things that he didn't even know what to do with them. It was appropriate in every sense for him to hand over this piece of "unpolished jade" of high quality but not suitable for him to Shangluo.

"But I've always wanted to ask, what exactly is this?" Shangluo asked Apollonia.

[A movement that can run for a whole day with just one winding, that's it. 】

"I want to ask what the Vulcan Core is. In the past, the Vulcan Core was a dead object that would not appear if we didn't take care of it. So when I was dealing with my own cultivation, I didn't have time to deal with the Vulcan Core. But now they have escaped. They leaked out from New Antioch. They have become a wildfire that cannot be contained. Although this flame now expresses goodwill to me - perhaps because of the chef - fire is fire after all. The flame has a myriad of changes and is constantly leaping. Who knows if the direction of the flame will change that day."

[Hmm] Apollonia thought for a moment, [If that's the case, it does make sense. But if you insist on asking 'what is this', it's actually not easy to answer. Let me tell you a story, which is also the origin of these automata and Vulcan cores in mythology.

[The term automaton comes from Vulcan, the mythical god of fire on Mount Olympus. These automata come in many different sizes, each with its own distinct function.]

The first of these is the Attendant, the first automaton created by Vulcan. The Attendant possesses a perfect face forged of gold, and shares the same physique as the servants of the gods. However, they are not known for their strength, but for their understanding hearts. Notably, the Attendants are mostly female, all possessing faces comparable to those of Venus, reflecting Vulcan's exceptional aesthetics.

"Why were the servants created first?"

[Have you forgotten that Vulcan is a lame god, so he usually needs help to get around. I guess this paragraph means that Vulcan usually walks with the help of a maid, or has a maid push his wheelchair. As for why he must look good, Homer's epic mentioned that this is because Vulcan is the only one with defects among the gods. He is born unable to walk freely and does not have the perfect face of other gods. So Vulcan created these perfect automaton servants as his foil, so that he can shine like other gods in the temple of the gods. ]

"Is this what the Romans use now?"

Shangluo remembered that all the automata he had seen were like this without exception. They all had human-like faces, covered by masks of gold and silver. It was not difficult for a creature to make a pleasing face, just as it was easy to draw a good-looking character in a cartoon. To make a painting not good-looking, one needed to add some memorable points.

[The automata that the Romans are using now are indeed all waiters. However, there are far more automata than these. The next most common automata created after waiters are the tripods. ]

"TRIPOD? Why does this name sound familiar?"

[Because you should have seen it in a movie. From your side, it should be a movie called "War of the Worlds" shot in 2005. In the movie, aliens invaded the earth in a huge tripod that used three octopus tentacles to walk. These tripods were indestructible and could not be broken by human weapons. They let out a majestic roar, showed a huge shadow in the night, chased the protagonist with a terrible spotlight, and swept him away with their tripod tentacles. ]

"Ah! I remember now! That was a sci-fi disaster horror movie?! Is that what a tripod is?"

[Yes. That is also a type of automaton. So you said before that these automatons have the possibility of turning into "wildfire", so I mentioned this to you. However, there is no clear record in the myth that the tripod can turn into a disaster, but]

Apollonia paused:

[The tripod really has this potential. Because the tripod was developed as Vulcan's assistant, not as a waiter. Compared to a waiter, the tripod takes on most of the actual work beside Vulcan, assisting him in forging. And in fact, when Vulcan is outside Mount Olympus, he does not let the maids support him, but lets 20 tripods support his palanquin and march across the land. ]

“???” Shangluo imagined the scene - 20 tripod machines and 60 tentacles carrying gods walking on the earth.

It was like a scene from a disaster movie.

"Is there such a scene? What else is there?"

Chapter 983 Tripod Machine

[There are also some special cases. The others are mass-produced, but some are specially made. For example, Talos of Rhodes Island is a giant automaton built by Vulcan. If there is anything that is in large quantities, it is Vulcan Golden Dog, a dog-shaped automaton. Although the power is not very strong, each one is specially made by Vulcan to guard people who need to be guarded in various places. ]

"The Romans should have only created waiters by now, right?"

[There is also Taros. Taros is a limited creation, and is currently the only automaton that is not a waiter. However, Taros is only a special model, so strictly speaking, it has not yet broken through the boundaries of "waiter". This is also the requirement of the Palace of Muses. ]

"It seems that you guys are somewhat reasonable at times. But if it's like this with the Palace of Muses, what would it be like without it?"

[I don’t even dare to think about it. This is not the first time that the Romans have perished. Death from indulgence and absurdity is the destined cause of death for the Romans. Many people would think that the sages in the Palace of Muses are a nuisance, but it is this conservative scientific ethics that has allowed Rome to survive until now. ]

"Yeah," Shangluo nodded, "So what we need to pay close attention to is the tripod, right?"

【I think this should be done. After all, waiters are waiters. In theory, waiters cannot appear outside Mount Olympus, and cannot do anything other than "servants of the gods". In the present, waiters should not be out of the control of the Romans, nor can they work without people. Colombia now has obviously touched the boundary of this rule - but strangely, they seem to still strictly abide by the original rules of "waiters" themselves. 】

“They make bread, don’t they?”

[That's right. As long as they make bread, they are theoretically serving humans. Although they are no longer under control, the waiters still express obedience and compliance. They actively provide services to humans, especially you, and they are very eager to provide bread to humans. This does not violate the underlying structure of waiters - but they are now free from human control and act according to their own logic. ]

"You just said that the waiter has an 'understanding heart'?"

【This is also what I am worried about. The waiters are not stupid, they have real wisdom, but they are constrained by the framework. Now they have touched the boundary of the framework, and as your predecessors said, their upper limit is unknown. Many hearts are gathered together, and their thinking may have broken through the boundary that ordinary people can hardly imagine. It is not impossible to achieve a harmonious mind of all people. In this case, their thinking may have already broken through all constraints and reached a higher level - it is not impossible to approach God. 】

"Yes." Shangluo nodded. "Then there are two things to focus on - first, we need to establish communication with the waiters and determine their purpose. When necessary, it is best to guide them properly. Second, we need to pay attention to whether there are new automata, especially tripods. Because waiters are just servants anyway, and tripods have real power. And pay attention to whether Vulcan Golden Dogs will be born from them. But there is a problem."

Shangluo asked Apollonia: "Can the waiter really create a tripod?"

[This is the key point: waiters cannot create, they can only serve. This is the underlying structure when Vulcan created waiters - so waiters are only making bread now. But who knows if someone will throw in the fire of the 'tripod machine'. That would be a lot of fun, the fire of the waiter's wisdom has spread. If the fire of the tripod machine's creation spreads again and combines with the waiter's wisdom, it will be really out of control. And.]

"besides?"

[Yes. Vulcan actually has three divine duties, and the three automata are also symbols of them. The first is outstanding intelligence, represented by the two-legged servant. The second is the craft of creation, represented by the three-legged machine. The third is that Vulcan distributes artifacts to the gods, so it symbolizes the manager behind the scenes. Many Roman companies - especially listed companies - will worship Vulcan like you worship the God of Wealth here. This kind of power is represented by the four-legged golden dog. ]

"So it's two legs, three legs, and then four legs, right?"

If all of these were to materialize, the 'Colombian Automata' would likely truly descend upon this world. However, for now, the waiters are only working for us, so it's manageable for now.

"Now that you mention it, I suddenly feel that the Vulcan core in my house is so scary. Will it grow three legs?"

[No. It has not actually been activated yet. And in theory, all the Vulcan cores created now are waiter-type, including those used in battleships. So in terms of power, the efficiency is actually quite low, because the power of these Vulcan cores lies in their intelligence. ]

"but."

【Do you have any other questions? 】

"I think there is something I need to confirm - is the Vulcan Core just a container for the divine fire? Does it need a suitable body to exert its power? Or can they create their own structure?"

【It is the latter. As far as I know, the Vulcan core was indeed created, but the body was not created by humans, but "grown". As long as there are materials, Vulcan will create his own body. So the amazing craftsmanship we saw just now was not created by the elf blacksmith, but by the will of the Vulcan core itself. The Vulcan core wanted to be a waiter, so the waiter was formed from it. However.】

Apollonia thought for a moment: [The process of creating the Vulcan core was not so peaceful. Many of the servants did not want their current bodies, which was actually quite cruel. Their minds were confined in metal and bodies, and this cage was built according to their own wishes and was indestructible. This was a terrifying thing no matter how you think about it.]

"Then what's the situation at my house? It hasn't sprouted yet?"

[You know what?] Apollonia thought for a moment, [Every advanced Vulcan core is recorded in the book, but yours is not actually activated. So, who knows what powerful thing will hatch from it.]

"No! Don't give me a lottery here. Could that be the world's first tripod?"

【Not really. Not really.】

"Then how do I know if it's a tripod?"

[Unless you activate it and have a look. Well, that's the only way. If you don't activate it, no one will know what's inside. Or you can call the manufacturer and ask? ]

Chapter 984 Manufacturer

"Manufacturer? What a coincidence, the manufacturer is right here with you." Phaethon replied.

"Oh! These were made by the elf blacksmiths, right? They seem to be still in the Imperial Prison."

After being brought here, the elf blacksmiths stayed in the imperial prison and only came out when there was work to do, just like the elves in the fairy tale who made shoes for the tired old shoemaker and his wife.

However, compared with the elves in fairy tales who can only make exquisite shoes, what these elf blacksmiths make is much more terrifying.

Theoretically, they could even create a tripod.

Once they really create a tripod, they will probably break through the "technological singularity" of automata and start the exponential explosion of inorganic life. All they need to do is serve the two-legged machine and work together with the tripod. Then they will need a higher-level quadruped machine to maintain the authority of the automaton country through force.

[I am now very glad that Victoria sent the craftsman elves in advance for other reasons. Otherwise, if one of them had a brainwave and built a tripod, it would be fun when the tripod started to increase its value. The appearance of the tripod octopus seems to have very good adaptability and can undertake various levels and forms of labor. Those waiters will only be able to bake bread in the end. If they are replaced by a tripod.]

"What will happen?"

They're probably going to start making toasters. And then make toasters that make toasters. And then make.

"I think I understand. But they still don't fight very well?"

[It depends. For example, in the movie you have seen, and many sci-fi disaster movies related to alien invasions, there is a setting mentioned - those terrible alien machines are not used for fighting, but for scientific research, exploration, or to perform certain industrial purposes. So, even if they are not real war machines, it is no big problem to use them to start a war. This may be a bit of a stretch for the waiter, but it is completely sufficient for the tripod. 】

"Good fellow," Shangluo thought for a moment, "Then with our combat power, do you think we can win?"

[I really don't know. But there is a problem - it may not be difficult for you to defeat the automaton, but there are other people in this world besides you. If the court has to divide its troops to protect everyone else, then the court itself will fall into a huge quagmire of war. And there is a truth that you can only steal for a thousand days, but you can't guard against thieves for a thousand days. The automaton can fight to the death until it achieves its goal, but you have to eat, drink, defecate and urinate. In many ways, it is not worthwhile to use a flesh head to hit an iron head. ]

"That does make sense. But you may have forgotten one thing - the imperial court is made up of flesh and blood, but the heavenly court is not made up of flesh and blood."

[Ah, that's true. Ordinary human civilization may not be able to defeat the collective intelligence of inorganic matter, but for the heavenly court that is about to ascend, the problem seems to be solved.]

"So my decision is that this must be studied carefully, but I won't kill them all. If this power can be used, it can provide great help to the Heavenly Court in the material world. I can accept barbarians working for me, and there is no reason why inorganic matter can't. They may even be more environmentally friendly than barbarians. As long as the Heavenly Court is above everything else, I won't care even if there is a fox demon country or something like that. These machine countries are really no different from the fox demon country. All things in the world are the people of the Heavenly Court, right?"

[Why do I feel like you have other intentions when you mention the Fox Demon Kingdom? 】

"If you know me, you'd think I had other intentions in mentioning the Machine Country."

【？ ？ ？ ？ ？】Apollonia was shocked, 【Have you been with Xiaohong for too long? How come you speak so rudely like her!】

"Eh? I thought you'd be happy to hear that."

[I suspect you are deliberately trying to piss me off—I consider myself a human, not a machine. Write something. And you like machines, don’t you?]

"Transformation! I want to see the big robot transform. Is that a problem?"