Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1568 Teleportation

The teleportation system was the latest technology of the Roman Empire. Essentially, it was a means of spatial transfer based on meme transmission—since the telephone was a tool for communication, it could transmit memes. Therefore, if a way could be found to allow a person to become a meme and then revert back during this process, this technology could be realized.

The technical challenge lies in the latter half. The conversion from matter to energy is already a headache, but memes are not energy; they are information. The conversion from matter to information is where this technology needs to break through.

This would normally be impossible. But the energy level of the entire world has been rising, thinning the barrier between the earthly and spiritual realms, making it possible to break into the spiritual realm anytime, anywhere—this is the key to the technology.

It's impossible to directly transform humans into information; such technology may not be available for hundreds of years. After all, originally there was nothing, so where could dust settle?

But the spirit world is different. Although the spirit world is also composed of information, it is not empty. It is called a "realm," and it also has a top and bottom, and a past and present.

While humans cannot directly become memes, they can enter the spirit world. As long as the spirit world exists, humans can naturally exist within it as well. And as long as the spirit world itself does not collapse, those within it will be safe and sound.

In fact, Cybernia is now located in this region—of course, the Romans did more than just build a city in the spirit world; they had many other measures in place to ensure that Cybernia could survive even natural disasters.

Now, in the mortal world, with the rise of magic, many of the Romans' techniques, which were previously only available in laboratories or among the supernatural, can now be put into practice.

The explosion at Neo-Anticoctac temporarily halted Roman practices, which many, including Victoria, considered the beginning of the demise of Roman technology.

But the aftershocks of the explosion changed the world, leading to a surge in Roman technology. Like a legendary fruit fly, the invigorated Rome was indeed determined to leave something behind.

The technology that transmits information via telephone made the experience in Shangluo very good—quite good.

Recalling his first attempt at phlogiston stealth, the entire process was extremely painful. He had to wear a full stealth suit, take potions, and experience the biting emptiness and cold before he could cross the void to reach Cybernia.

And just now, all he had to do was make a phone call, and then...
Jingle Bell.

After the ringing ended, the surrounding space compressed into a single point, then expanded again—the environment around the phone booth transformed into the town of Achilla on Lake Nemi. Karin's red brick house was within sight, and Karin...
"Ah!" Karin, holding a paper bag, was standing at the entrance of the phone booth when she exchanged glances with Shangluo and Fae.

The atmosphere was a little awkward, but Karin still stepped forward to open the elevator door for them.

"Welcome, welcome. What brings you two to my home?"

When he came to his senses, Shangluo was already stuffed.

Every time they went to Mayor Kaiso's house, it was a Roman-style feast. Karin had gone out to buy groceries, and after leading Shangluo to her house, she went out again.

There were only two people this time, but Mayor Caesar did not reduce the quality of the meal at all, maintaining the same full table of dishes as last time.

"Come, Shangluo, try this." He personally cut a piece of roasted venison. "This is venison I caught a couple of days ago and then hung up again. Try it, what do you think?"

"The taste...it really tastes good! How was it made?"

The venison was stewed until incredibly tender, something I'd never tasted before in Shangluo. Venison is a typical low-fat meat, containing less fat than not only pork but even less than beef. It also contains very little intramuscular fat, so if not prepared properly, it can easily become dry and tasteless.

There are generally two methods to ensure the meat is tender.

The first method, which I've tried in Shangluo, involves quick cooking methods like stir-frying or searing over high heat to reduce cooking time. This method produces venison that is exceptionally tender.

However, the Romans did not like direct roasting; they preferred boiling and stewing.

The second type is the one shown in front of us.

For some reason, in Shangluo, this huge piece of venison, after being thoroughly stewed inside and out, became as tender as mutton, melting in the mouth. The unique flavor of the venison was also preserved. It was truly a marvelous texture.

“How is this done?”

"Aging. This is venison after aging, 21 days. Specifically, the venison has been broken down by its own enzymes, making the meat more tender and suitable for stewing. However, there is still a lot of loss during aging."

Mayor Kessel uses dry aging, which involves hanging the meat in a place with suitable temperature and humidity for controlled fermentation. During fermentation, the meat's own enzymes change its texture, resulting in a more unique taste and richer flavor than fresh meat.

However, aging involves some loss. As long as it's hung there, the meat will continue to dry, and some inedible substances may accumulate on the dried outer layer, which must be cut off before eating.

This is the loss during aging. Generally speaking, the more square the meat and the larger the size, the more controllable the loss during aging.

For example, if a piece of meat is the size of an uncut loaf of bread, then after proper aging, the loss may only be in the crust, leaving a large, delicious piece of meat inside.

But if a piece of meat is only the size of a fist, the wasted area might still be as thick as bread crust. Then the edible part left over can only be used to make a few zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), and you can't give too much meat to it.

Venison belongs to the latter category.

Venison is often small in size, and the pieces of meat are not very uniform in size and have a rather complicated shape—which results in too many inedible parts being produced during the aging process, leaving very little edible meat from an entire deer.

But today, things are completely different.

The venison was enormous, almost the size of a whole piece of pork. Once cooked, the chunks were large enough to make stew, and even then, it would be a huge piece in the pot. The meat was so large it was somewhat inconvenient to eat, so Mayor Keso personally divided it up, giving a large piece to Shangluo, Faetong, and his own daughter.

This was meat that even Phaethon would praise. When they encountered truly good meat, the group didn't say a word and simply ate it in silence.

"Is it tasty?"

Shangluo nodded repeatedly: "Delicious."

“My father was talking about this surprise a while ago; he planned to use it to entertain important guests. I didn’t know what it was until I saw it here today—it’s truly a fine piece of venison.”

"Shangluo, do you want to take some with you when you leave? I'll pack it up for you."

"Oh dear, I can't accept this."

"How can I be embarrassed? Come, come, let me show you. Do you want deer leg or tenderloin or something? You can choose. Take as much as you can and share it with everyone. Such a big and delicious deer is rare anywhere in the world."

Shangluo and Mayor Kaisuo got up together and went to his cellar.

Inside the cellar, in a place where ventilation and lighting were controlled, Shangluo saw the deer.

The deer was as big as a cow, and its antlers were as large as dragon antlers. More importantly, its fur was white. A white deer head was set up as a specimen on the wall; the head looked somewhat familiar, as if I had seen it somewhere before—

【Aa ...

"What's wrong?" Mayor Kaiser asked in surprise. "Is there something wrong with this deer?"

"Phaethon! Come quick! Come quickly!"

"What's wrong? What's wrong?" Phaethon hurriedly got down. She didn't recognize the deer at first glance, but she recognized it at second glance:
"My sun god! This is Diana's doe!!!! This is the incarnation of the moon goddess!"

The White Deer, king of the wilderness, the true master of the sacred forest of Lake Nemi, the incarnation and servant of the moon goddess, and the witness and custodian of the Golden Branch Ceremony.

Or, as Mr. Fox said—a landlord.

Shangluo remembered that it was this white deer that guided them in the sacred forest of Lake Nemi, helping them find the path to the "BOSS room" and explaining the value of the ritual itself. She hoped that Shangluo could do something different from the adventurers of the previous generation, truly complete the ritual, and let the nearly mad Forest King rest in peace.

Shangluo accomplished all of this, and at a crucial moment in the ceremony, Diana's doe presented him with a key prop: the Moon Goddess's ritual knife, which was later used by him as a fruit-peeling hunting knife.

This deer is dead.

It died, but it tasted delicious.

"My God." Shang Luo leaned against the wall. "How could it have turned out like this?"

"Shangluo, do you recognize this deer? Is it your pet?"

"No. It's our partner. I told you before, we came to Lake Nemi to investigate a case, and we were planning to find it after entering the Sacred Forest to guide us and help us locate the fox. Unexpectedly..."

I never expected it to taste so delicious.

"Have I made a big mistake?"

"Wait a minute," Shangluo asked, "So, Uncle Kaiso, where did this deer come from? Did you hunt it yourself?"

"No, no. This was sent by a hunter who is familiar with our family."

As knights, they have a duty to manage the forests. Not everyone can freely enter the forest to hunt; only hunters permitted by Karin's family are allowed to enter.

The sacred forest is not a forbidden area; the entire area is actually a tourist attraction. Even if it were designated as a sacred site, no one would abide by it.

Therefore, the Sacred Forest region is managed as a hunting area—a compromise.

Only the hunting grounds could deter most normal tourists with gunfire. Warning signs were plastered all around the Sacred Forest, and anyone with even a modicum of self-awareness wouldn't dare trespass. As for those truly fearless, there was nothing that could be done. The area was already crowded, and the world was never short of people who wouldn't heed warnings. Mayor Kaiser could only respect their fate and choices.

The second reason is more important and crucial—hunting in the sacred forest was actually something Diana enjoyed. Since Diana was the goddess of the hunt, hunting itself was an act of worship towards her.

This arrangement is an ancient practice, and Mayor Caesar himself established it; he simply continued this practice.

And then it happened.

Diana's doe was shot and killed by hunters in her own hunting grounds.

"So, what does this mean, good or bad?" Shang Luo finally managed to utter this question after a long pause.

If you're asking about good or bad fortune, the death of a deer is a very bad omen, no matter where it is. In the east, it symbolizes chaos and a power struggle among warlords. Here, it symbolizes the shattering of royal power—it seems both sides have reached a consensus here.

Shangluo pressed his forehead: "So, no matter what, we can see this as a sign—it could be Diana's own choice, or it could be an accident. Of course, it could also be an organized attack targeting this white deer."

[An organized attack?]

"I think it might have been our old friend—that Mr. Fox—who did it."

Shangluo looked at the deer head hanging on the wall. The deer died with its eyes open, because its eyes had been removed when it was made into a specimen, and the ones now in place were replacements.

Even so, Shangluo could still sense the immense resentment of the prey emanating from the deer's head.

Everyone was here, even Karin's mother, who was in charge of cooking the venison.

"So, what do we do?" Phaethon asked. "Has something serious happened?"

"There's no other way. Since we're already here, let's pack up a lot to take home."

Since things have come to this, let's just eat it.

"Huh? You can eat this?"

“We’ve already eaten it, so eating a little more won’t hurt—that’s not the point. The point is: since we’ve already hunted it, we can’t waste the prey. Otherwise, it would be even more disrespectful to Diana. So, let’s eat it.”

This meat is indeed quite delicious. Furthermore, the meat of a demigod is also highly nutritious.

Shangluo planned to pack the meat back and give it away as gifts. Since it was already cooked, he figured he might as well give it to a few more people so everyone could taste how delicious the demigod's meat was.

"It can only be the."

“And this deer does point us in a direction.” He looked up. “Mr. Kesso, could you contact the hunter who captured this deer?”

"Of course, I can call him anytime."

“Very good. If he was hired or prompted to do these things, then he is the key evidence to solving the case. That Mr. Fox probably hasn't gone far. He's probably right here!”

"Um"

“And,” Shangluo looked at the deer head on the wall, “let us remember Diana’s doe. It was a true demigod, and even the taste of its meat was demigod-level.”

(End of this chapter)