Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1530 Superman
"Huh? You're going to add parts for me?"

"What do you mean by adding parts? You're not a toy car. I mean, have you considered adding a few more hearts?"

“Hmm,” Victoria thought for a moment, “I personally don’t object. If I could become a superhero, that would be nice too.”

"Are you going to say 'but'?"

"Well, but I'm not interested. I don't like going out, so even if you add three hearts and six lungs to my body, it won't do me any good."

"Then forget it, pretend I never mentioned it."

Shangluo merely relayed Zhu Xianxi's proposal; he knew Victoria would most likely not agree.

After all, Victoria is different from Zhu Xianxi. She is relatively conservative in the supernatural field because power has not brought her any good experience, but rather trouble.

Not long ago, she was still troubled by how her thoughts were affected by her heart. After all, that heart was an addition, and the void in her soul arose with the removal of her original heart. The stone heart that was replaced did give her strength, but it also changed her life.

The Romans generally rejected such modifications. Even minor alterations to the arm would significantly impact the body's circulation—if possible, the Romans could indeed replace all of a person's body parts with prosthetics, creating something like a cybernetic body. But unless their life expectancy was no more than 30 years, such modifications were tantamount to suicide, both quick and painful.

Victoria had the heart implanted purely for medical reasons. The resulting discomfort and power were unnecessary for her. In fact, because her strength was unstable, it took her a long time to regain control of her power, which prevented her from crushing cups and doorknobs.

Not long ago, she had cured her ailment with a panacea. Just as her ailment itself was not outwardly apparent, the treatment was also subtle and gradual.

Generally speaking, her original illness would only make her appear as frail as Lin Daiyu, with the occasional strength to uproot a willow tree. To say she wasn't ill would be inaccurate; she certainly wasn't normal. But to say she was ill, the cause couldn't be found, and no specific symptoms could be identified.

Now, after Zhu Xianxi, the "overseas immortal," gave her a magic medicine, she has fully recovered from the illness and can now uproot a willow tree at any time.

She was indeed quite grateful. However, the overseas immortal said he would enhance her to have three hearts and six lungs, turning her into a 3.5-meter-tall giant—something she simply couldn't agree to.

"So, why did Shangluo bring this up?"

"My senior brother is still thinking, if you had a choice, would you want to have your heart replaced with a normal one?"

“Of course. If I could, I would definitely want to change it.” Even if her current heart could only provide power without causing any burden, Victoria would still want to replace it because power was meaningless to her; she just wanted to be a normal person.

"Then his plan is indeed meaningless to you. Because this modification surgery requires you to already have the function."

"Doesn't this cause some problems? Isn't this something that ordinary people can't use?"

Shangluo nodded: "That's also a problem I'm considering right now."

The technical solution provided by the Dragon Palace is indeed excellent. However, it is still some distance from being truly usable—Shangluo introduced it as a "perfect mortal transformation surgery," allowing everyone to live in a celestial state. But in reality, it cannot be truly used by mortals; at least it can only be used by those at the Qi Refining stage.

However, considering this is a backup plan, it's not a big problem. If the future ascension plan cannot be fully implemented, and only the spiritual energy concentration in the capital region is improved, then implementing this surgery at that time is not impossible.

However, at least for now, only Qi cultivators like the Imperial Guards can enjoy the benefits of this technology ahead of time.

“Ah, it would be so nice to be Superman.” Victoria shook her head. “But more than Superman, I’d rather be a mortal being protected. It would be nice to just lie at home and not have to move.”

Although Victoria hadn't reached the Qi Refining stage, her heart could still provide energy. However, Victoria rejected this modification, so she let it go.

"Don't worry. If you don't want to move, no one will make you. Go to sleep, it's getting late—by the way, is Yanqiu still awake? I thought she would be tired after having surgery today."

"No, she's been playing games."

"Tell her to go to sleep too, so as not to disturb your rest. Even though you're both on holiday, it's still better to get some rest on time."

The next morning, when Shangluo opened his eyes, Victoria was already standing in front of him.

"Shangluo, I've changed my mind. I want to make changes."

"Huh?" Shang Luo sat up. "Why? You didn't want to do anything before bed yesterday. How come you are today?"

“Look at my face,” Victoria said, bringing her face closer.

"Hmm." Shang Luo patted her face. "What's wrong?"

"Didn't you see that pimple?"

"Yeah, there's a pimple here. Just don't touch it, okay? You can't be changing yourself for beauty, can you?"

Last night she said she didn't want to change, but this morning her attitude has completely changed.

"But Shangluo, I've discovered something about myself. My physical condition is different from yours. Yesterday I saw Yanqiu's skin, and it had no blemishes at all."

Yesterday, Yanqiu stayed upstairs. Among the group, she was actually closest to Victoria—after all, she couldn't share a room with Shangluo, nor could she sleep on the sofa, so she had to sleep at Victoria's place.

This put Victoria under tremendous psychological pressure.

"Shangluo, she...she's so beautiful."

"You're very beautiful too, I'm telling the truth. You really are very beautiful."

The appearance of the Romans was quite different from that of the "Greeks" known in Shangluo.

The "Greece" that Shangluo knows is not the Greece of today, but rather the result of the great migrations that followed the fall of ancient Greece. The "Greece" that Shangluo knows has had its true ancient Greek lineage diluted. However, Greek culture, especially the Greek language, has been remarkably well-preserved. Those who entered Greek lands gradually separated their culture from their origins, becoming new Greeks—just as Greeks elsewhere became other people. From Shangluo's perspective, Greece is not significantly different from other Balkan countries; their appearances often resemble Slavic features, such as light-colored hair.

But Victoria was a genuine Greek—although her family was believed to have strong Roman ties, she was undeniably Greek by blood. Ancient texts describe her appearance as "tall and well-proportioned, resembling a Chinese person." In other words, with makeup, she wouldn't appear significantly different from a Han Chinese, as her skin, hair, and eye color were identical, except for a slightly higher nose.

"No, I don't look good. My nose is too big."

"what?"

"No, that's not important. What's important is the skin. Look at Shangluo, my skin changes. Does that mean that one day my skin will change too?"

"Hmm" is a big problem.

Although they are all considered light-colored people in a broad sense, there is another "red race" in this world, namely the Germanic people. Their skin is snow-white, but after being exposed to the sun, it often turns red, as red as a monkey's bottom. Therefore, both the Ming Dynasty and the Roman Empire called them the Red Race.

People of the Red race have very thin subcutaneous fat, so they appear to mature very quickly. From the perspective of Han Chinese, they can have the appearance of a youth at a very young age, and a mature appearance during their youth. However, even at the age of 25, they will look rapidly aged due to the loss of subcutaneous fat, causing the entire race to appear 5 to 10 years older than their actual age.

Slavic people tend to have thicker subcutaneous fat—of course, sometimes it can be so thick that it becomes uncontrollable.

Among all races, a certain group of Black people has the most subcutaneous fat. The facial features of these people remain relatively stable from the age of 20 to their forties or fifties because they do not lose much subcutaneous fat in their faces.

The Han Chinese and Greeks are somewhere in between; their skin is thinner than that of Black people, but thicker than that of Red people.

However, there are some subtle differences – the subcutaneous fat of Han Chinese is slightly thicker than that of Greeks.

This makes Han Chinese appear a few years younger than Greeks. While not as dramatically as five to ten years, it's definitely three to five years younger. This is especially noticeable at the end of puberty.

Victoria was two years older than Shangluo, and her puberty was over. She didn't feel anything was wrong when she was alone, but when she met Yanqiu, she clearly realized her problem—it wasn't actually a racial issue, but rather the difference between ordinary people and Qi cultivators.

Yanqiu's skin condition doesn't change much anymore. But Victoria's is different; it still changes. It's okay if she gets a pimple today, but who knows what she might get later.

“You can use a skincare solution containing spiritual energy; it works really well. You know, Phaethon has been using it all along. She worked very hard at first just to buy those skincare products.”

It seems these two are facing the same problem. However, Phaethon's issue was mainly with her hair; she was particularly bothered by losing her demigod-like, sun-like hair. Now it seems Victoria is concerned about her face. She's actually quite beautiful.

"But Shangluo, I don't want you to see what I'll look like in the future. What if I'm not as good-looking as you?"

"What does this have to do with me?" Shang Luo rubbed her forehead. "Okay, I completely understand your thinking. You hope your appearance won't change over time, right?"

"Yes. If possible, it would be best to replace this heart as well. If you're going to replace it, then replace it all at once."

"Then you've come to the right person. I'll contact him for you; he happens to be here right now. You can ask him."

"Nice to meet you!" Zheng Shijie nodded repeatedly to Victoria from afar.

Songlin Pavilion in Goryeo Department Store was the meeting place Zheng Shijie chose. He had heard that Romans loved to eat dog meat, so he chose this place.

"So, Shangluo, what should I call him?"

"Just call me Victoria."

"Alright, alright, Miss Victoria, please have a seat here. I heard from Shangluo that you're interested in our business? We guarantee that Lanfang's Lingqi shampoo and conditioner sets are excellent. If Miss Victoria needs them, we can give you 10 sets for free. You can take any leftovers home to give to your friends."

“I don’t have any friends to give this to, and all the friends I know are using it. But I’ll accept it anyway; my aunt might like it. But I came to you not for this kind of topical medicine.”

"She wants to ask you about that Foundation Establishment Pill," Shang Luo said on her behalf.

Zheng Shijie's hair is pure white, like that of a celestial being. This stems from the results of an experiment he conducted with Zhu Xianxi.

Although it only briefly allowed Zheng Shijie to enter the realm of the Celestials, it did bring about a permanent change to his appearance. His hair turned white, and his skin reverted to that of a teenager. While there were some changes in the years that followed, he clearly looked much younger than his peers.

"So that's how it is. But our Foundation Establishment Pill back then actually failed."

"I don't need the Foundation Establishment stage, I only need the Qi Refining stage!"

"Hmm? Why?" Zheng Shijie looked at Shang Luo. "Is there a reason why you two say this?"

“It’s like this—because to undergo the replacement surgery in the Dragon Palace, one must be at least at the Qi Refining stage. There’s a secret here I can tell you, right?” After confirming with Victoria with his eyes, he said, “Victoria’s heart is not a human heart, but a stone heart. She hopes to take this opportunity to completely replace her entire body with a more perfect form.”

Of course, there is a backup plan: surgery without a heart transplant, which could accomplish most of the work. However, since she had decided to make changes, Victoria wanted to change everything that could be changed.

"So," Shangluo concluded, "Victoria actually wanted to ask if there was any way to at least reach the Qi Refining stage. If she reached the Qi Refining stage, everything would be much easier. At least in the Qi Refining stage, one has a dantian, which can be powered by spiritual energy."

"So that's how it is." Zheng Shijie now understood why they had come looking for him. It was because the proportion of Qi cultivators from Southeast Asia was indeed quite high.

"Could it be because we're supplying more elixirs? Miss Victoria, have you ever drunk any elixirs?"

"No."

“Then I suggest you start drinking it now.” Zheng Shijie pointed to himself. “We’ve all been drinking it since we were little, like milk. Even if it doesn’t grant immortality, it will at least strengthen your body. If you’re planning to drink it—Shangluo, I’ve also prepared the banana-flavored elixir I promised you last time. I’ll take it with you when we leave. As for the cultivation materials, I have some too. Don’t worry, it’ll definitely taste much better than the radish soup your senior brother provided.”

(End of this chapter)