Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

Karin's body is her own. You don't think an elf can create another body, do you? No, although imitation is a magic, the imitation's consciousness can't be created out of thin air. Theoretically, her personality is exactly the same as Karin's, otherwise she wouldn't be able to grow up in Karin's image.

"So the body isn't important?"

"No, the human body isn't important; what's important is the human light. Alchemists don't really want the human body when they try to create it; they themselves are human, aren't they? Bodies are everywhere. They simply want to glimpse the divine power created by the human body, study the underlying principles, and thereby achieve their own immortality. To the elves, the body is even less important. So, after they took Karin's light, they left the body behind."

"So Karin."

There was one thing he had been thinking about all the time:

"Do you think Karin will transform into a great spring spirit and be ahead of us?"

[It's possible. But there are many great spring elves, and the one in front of you may not be Karin.]

"Well, I'm actually looking forward to seeing what Karin will look like now."

According to what was said in the pre-war briefing, the most critical element of the Yongquan Great Elf is that it is big.

If we want to find the closest image, then the counterpart of the Great Spring should be the Nymphs in Greek mythology, some girls wearing flower crowns.

This girl was a bit tall, with an average height of around 2.4 meters, which varied depending on the individual. But without exception, they were all covered in heavy armor covering their entire bodies, with only their golden hair and pointed ears sticking out from the gaps in their helmets.

Their weapons are two-handed giant swords, which are larger than a person's height, but to the Wellspring Great Elves, they are just the size of a normal two-handed sword.

According to the guide, they display graceful swordplay, like dancing. Often, some of their moves are closer to dancing than swordplay, as if the "perfect presentation" of the sword dance itself is more important than killing the enemy. This can lead to some flaws, but these flaws are not easy to spot in the face of the exquisite sword dance.

Once defeated, their servitude released, the Great Spring Spirit's rage ignites into a raging torrent, leaving all dance and form behind. They smear their armor with blood and, with sheer force and speed, slash through everything in their path. Titus recounts a time when an enraged Great Spring Spirit single-handedly slew the Forest King, shattering him into countless fragments. That year, the Golden Bough was exceptionally vibrant.

This is what Titus meant by "whitewashing is three times stronger." Because whitewashing leads to a violent rampage, three times is a conservative estimate. Killing the Forest King directly with rage is clearly more than three times as strong.

"By the way, what would have happened if the rescue hadn't been successful?"

They'll probably stay. The lifespan of an elf isn't time-bound; it's tied to their mission. If they're not freed, they'll keep guarding. Once everything is over, if their obsession is let go, they'll probably vanish. Light stripped from a body returns to light—but continuing to live as a human is also a form of obsession. Karin won't lose her faith in life so easily, because the imitation has the same personality as Karin. Since the imitation... no, since the Karin back home cherishes her life so much, this one in the forest won't leave so easily either.

"If she really becomes the Great Spring Spirit, what will her life be like?"

Perhaps it's like a dream. Perhaps you do things in your dreams that you would never do while awake. The most appropriate description is a dream, because time doesn't have a 'linear' meaning for elves, just as lifespan doesn't constrain elves. However, upon waking, the memory of the dream quickly fades.

"I hope so. I hope that after the long sleep, she can return to her original life, and then I can find a job for Karin at home in Alexander, and then everything will be perfect. Oh, by the way, I'm so tired."

[What? You're tired, so what? You want me to carry you?]

"I don't want to, but I really can't walk anymore. This thing weighs dozens of kilograms. It's really too heavy."

Chapter 163 Mr. Fox

[Come on, is this even remotely plausible? You're going to let the super cute Apollonia carry you?]

"Can you please take a good look at what you look like now? You're a giant in golden armor, over two meters tall, and I'm almost crushed by this thin layer of armor. I didn't expect it to be so heavy."

"No, I refuse. I can only help you with your armor. I will never carry you on my back. That would be too weird."

"But it's very dangerous here. If you ask me to take off my armor, what if I get attacked by a bullet or an arrow flying out of nowhere?"

"Well, if you don't mind, you can let me walk in front." A soft voice suddenly appeared from behind.

Shangluo felt a chill on his back, and Apollonia turned 180 degrees on the spot to face the back.

There was no one behind.

"That's me, I am."

"Karin?" Shangluo recognized the voice.

"Yes, it's me. If you don't mind, can I come out? I'm behind that oak tree." In the distance, a hand suddenly stretched out and waved.

"Wait." Shangluo cautiously pushed back, retreated to the golden armor, and adjusted the flashlight to the ready state:

"Are you really Karin?"

He remembered Titus' words. No one except Helios could be trusted—though this wasn't absolute, as long as proper identification was made. Helios was singled out because he was the true god and could not be imitated by spirits, or Helios would immediately recognize it. Helios's response to such behavior was to destroy the spirit; he would never tolerate it.

"I, really am Karin."

"Then come out and prove yourself." Shangluo still did not relax his vigilance.

Hearing this, Karin came out from behind the tree. She wasn't empty-handed; she was pushing a red bicycle. It was indeed Karin's bicycle, which had been parked in front of her house.

"Prove it, please." Shangluo also hoped that this was the real Karin. Although her presence here wasn't entirely a good thing, if she was fake, it would be a lot of fun.

"No problem, just a moment." She pulled a drachma from her bag.

[Ah, no problem, this is the one you just gave her.]

"How did you recognize it? The shape?"

Each drachma is unique, and that's instantly recognizable. And because it's a personal gift, it's like there's an auxiliary line connecting me to you. This is the sympathetic link.

"Phew, that scared me." He put the flashlight into standby mode.

At the same time, the helmet's transmitter rustled with the sound of communication, and Han Xingzhi's voice appeared in his ears:

"Hey, bro? Are you okay? I have a reading here, and your heart rate just suddenly spiked."

The distance is quite far, and the spiritual network signal is not very good, but I can still hear the conversation clearly.

Shangluo held the mouthpiece at his throat. "Everything's fine on my end. How's yours?"

"Lu Liang and Wen Yuan have already gone in. I just came in. Eh? There's a fox up ahead? Hey! This fox can talk. I'm hanging up now. I'll call you back if I have anything else. I want to talk to Mr. Fox."

There was a busy tone from the other end of the channel, and Shangluo also shut down the communication.

"Is he okay? A talking fox is okay."

"If it's Mr. Fox, it should be fine," Karin whispered.

"do you know?"

"Yes." Karin's voice became softer. "Actually, sometimes when I have a problem that I can't figure out, I come to the woods. Everything here feels more 'real'; I can smell the moon and the wind. There are other animal friends here who will chat with me, like Mr. Fox. But Mr. Fox never talks to me too much, because talking to Mr. Fox requires payment. I didn't know what it was before, but now I know now that you gave me this."

She held up the drachma:

"I think Mr. Fox must also want the drachmas in your friend's hand, so he's talking to him. Mr. Fox knows everything about this forest, and he'll tell you anything if you pay him."

"That's alright. By the way, how did you find me?"

"I can see a green line that has been connected to you since you left. I thought about it for a long time and decided that I can't just sit there and wait for you to save me. I have to do something too."

"Wait, we came here by car, and the distance is not close. How did you catch up so fast?"

"Actually." She took a long breath:

"Actually, I don't get tired and I don't need to sleep, so I can ride my bike to far, far places in the middle of the night. Mr. Fox and his other friends met in these woods!"

She finished her words in one breath.

"You, do you understand?"

"Probably." Shangluo nodded. "So you're actually this amazing? Then why didn't I see it before?"

"Before, I always tried to look more like Karin. But in this case, I can't keep pretending to be Karin. I have to help you bring Karin back."

She patted the back of the bicycle:

"Come sit on it, I'll push you over. You can't walk anymore, right?"

"Why do I feel that the scene is even weirder than before?"

Jin Jia led the way, the bicycle's wheels tearing through the shallow grass. Shang Luo sat on the back of the bicycle, Karin pushing it effortlessly. He hadn't wanted to do this; he'd planned to just ride. But the armor was too thick, making it impossible to reach the tiny pedals, so he had to let Karin push.

"Haha. Hahahahaha" Apollonia made a sound from the transmitter.

"So this Miss Pineapple is, your friend? She's so tall."

"It's natural. My mother is this tall." Apollonia replied calmly, "So you can see the Forest King's position, right?"

Wearing armor, she was not afraid of exposing her identity and could send messages directly through the armor's speaker.

"Yes. It's connected by a thread. I can even touch it, but I don't dare to touch it casually. But it doesn't seem to be the Forest King, but the tree, because the position of the thread has never changed."

"So where is Karin?" Apollonia asked.

"There's a very strong feeling, but it's not ahead of us. She's to the west."

"West?" Shangluo thought for a moment, "That seems to be Luliang's location. Wait, I'll make a phone call and ask."

The communication here uses the local area network opened by Han Xingzhi, so you have to dial his number first.

"Hey, brother, is there anything wrong?" Han Xingzhi asked.

"Are you busy over there?"

"No rush, Mr. Fox is leading the way. His fee is quite high, one per minute. But you get what you pay for. I've already cleared two mission points, so I feel like I'll be able to complete the level soon. How are you doing?"

"I want to call Lu Liang."

"Okay, I'll transfer you right away."

There was a beep from the other end of the phone, and then the call was connected:

Fists and greatswords collided with a clang, clang, clang, clang! A series of crisp resounds, six times per second, followed by the teeth-grinding sound of twisting metal. Broken tree trunks crackled and exploded, and birds and beasts screamed in panic as they fled. Interspersed with the brief "thump, thump" of drinking water, followed by another "thump, clang, clang, clang." Even without a phone call connected, the sounds of fighting could be faintly heard, and sparks threatened to fly through the earphones.

"Um, she seems a bit busy over there, why don't you call her back later? It shouldn't be a big problem, no problem. Oh, Wen Yuan wants to use the Tiger Crouching Cannon to fire three air-burst grenades, I need to give him a location. Hang up first."

Chapter 164 Advancement

Titus stood on the south side, in the direction Shangluo came in. This was the "main road," and if nothing unexpected happened, they would also come out from here.

But now he wasn't worried about whether the mission could be completed, but rather about the Holy Forest itself. For the first time, he felt that inviting Qigong practitioners from Aurora to carry out the mission was a questionable matter.

Because just now, he saw with his own eyes an oak tree that was at least a hundred years old fly up, leaving only half of its trunk. The birds, wild boars and deer in the forest were all running out for their lives, as if they had suffered a natural disaster.

Mayor Kelso was also a bit flustered. This wasn't what he'd expected. He'd seen a group of students in class during the day, and he'd assumed it would be like before, going from quest point to quest point, interacting with each spirit one by one, and completing all the side quests.

With a loud bang, another tree flew into the sky, this time it was an oak tree.

"Mr. Titus, isn't that a bit..."

Before he could finish his words, an air-burst grenade exploded into an umbrella shape in the distant sky.

"That's... wait, it's that thing." He took out his telescope and began to count secretly.

3, 2, 1. Another airburst grenade exploded in the same spot, followed by the second, third, fourth, fifth, and ninth. Nine grenades exploded at nearly the same coordinates, their heights stacked one on top of the other. The nine layers of gunpowder cloud exploded into a nine-story pagoda, and the kill zone below was reduced to a blaze of white.

"It's that, it's cinnabar."

"What cinnabar?" Mayor Kessel had never heard of this name.

"A red spiritual explosive called 'Cinnabar' can adjust the speed of gas expansion while keeping the total energy constant. It can be used for slow or high heat, or any other conditions. For them, it's as easy as adjusting a gas stove. He just fired nine different trajectories, then adjusted the speed so that all nine shells landed at the same point at the same time."

"Can you use it?"

"The principle is completely obscure to us; we can't understand it at all. Only Qigong practitioners can use it. And when we hadn't even figured out cinnabar, they just recently demonstrated liquid cinnabar called Torch at a technology conference in Alexandria. That one was even more impressive. You don't even need to preload the ammunition into the cartridge case; you just need to add a chamber. That way, the magazine only needs to carry the bullet, leaving the weight of the cartridge case, and the amount of ammunition a single person can carry increases several times. But the biggest problem during their demonstration was that the incendiary guns were so huge, they were as big as old-fashioned lever-action rifles."

"I think I've seen it? In a box?"

"Yes, the student named Wen Yuan brought one. He also seemed to have brought a small cart. Besides the armor, his luggage was the largest this time. If I remember correctly, he also seemed to have brought a lot of rockets and two different types of bazookas."

As they were talking, they saw a rocket flying up from the forest and exploding in the sky. It seemed that it had missed the target during the fight.

"So, even though they're about the same age as Karin, they've actually been training for more than 10 years."

“These are indeed professionals.”

"Tsk, it seems I'm not that professional myself."

"Mr. Titus, I have a request that I didn't want to make until I was truly certain this mission would succeed. But now..."

"I know what you want to say. If you have to sacrifice someone, you want both Karins to come back and take your place, right?"

"Is this feasible? I still hope that both my daughters can come back."

"From day one, I knew you had this idea. Karin and you really are alike. It seems genes don't determine everything; acquired memes are also important. You know, I've seen many imitations, and they've had their share of tragedies and comedies. But Karin's will is the strongest of all the 'imitations' I've ever seen. She's far more powerful than you think, so don't worry too much and leave everything to the professionals. As long as he is crowned the King of the Forest, there's nothing he can't do."

However, he left out the second half of his sentence: the replica was a perfect copy of Karin herself. In other words, the strength of their wills was similar. If Karin had been born in Delphi, she would have been chosen early to be trained by the Oracle, and wouldn't have been abducted by those elves. To some extent, the strength of an elf is entirely related to its "willpower." The stronger the replica, the stronger the elf Karin transformed into. He only hoped...

There was another loud bang, and a thicker tree in the western half of the forest was blown up into the sky. The upper part of the tree was covered with mirror-smooth cuts, while the lower part was broken open as if it had been run over by a train.

Shangluo also saw it, and Apollonia and Karin were both looking there.

"what"