Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1577 The Rat King of Paris
“Yes, Mr. DuPont,” the boy nodded to the officer. “That’s all I know. The two wizards said they wouldn’t attack Paris and that they wanted us to let our guard down.”

The officer was a pure Frenchman, wearing the tall top hat typical of the French army, and he bowed his head as he instructed Martin:
"Don't believe the wizard's words. Wizards only deceive you."

"It's Mr. DuPont."

“Go back and rest. Given what happened to you, I’ve decided to grant you a day off. Report back to me at this time the day after tomorrow. Based on your performance, you don’t need to go with the sniper as an observer. Go and build barricades with your friends.”

"Thank you! Thank you, sir! Well then, I'll head back now."

"Why are you in such a hurry to go back? Do you want to start your vacation right now?"

"No. I have a pet."

"You actually have the mind to keep pets? Is it a dog? Or a cat? Those useless animals should all be killed; they only waste food."

"It's a mouse! Just a mouse, sir!"

Mr. DuPont blinked. "I'll just pretend I didn't hear that. I don't know anything about rats. You can go back now."

"Sure enough, there's nothing unusual, and it doesn't look strange at all."

Having followed and observed the whole process, Shangluo and Faetong didn't discover anything—the kid returned to his school, explained his whereabouts, and then it was over.

It was like a routine military operation that failed, and after the higher-ups investigated the situation, they didn't make things difficult for the guy.

After all, conscripting children for the battlefield was already outrageous, and military commanders wouldn't have high expectations for such children. Relying on the unbroken sympathetic link, the Spear of the Sun recorded the entire conversation.

everything is normal.

"But Shangluo, everything being normal in itself means something is not normal. Because they made a very clear move before, they were ambushing us."

"Hmm." Shang Luo nodded. "So, what do you think?"

“I’m almost certain this is the work of the elves, because that’s their style. They can subtly control the minds of mortals, making them think they are doing their own thing, when in reality they have been subtly incorporated into their thoughts. So I’m certain those elves are in Paris. Even if not the royal palace, they must have set up important facilities there.”

"Interesting. So, they're intertwined with human society?"

“I can’t believe it either. But now, I’m afraid the truth has come to light—you can only see where the stones are when the water level drops. Although I’m not entirely sure, I’m pretty certain that this is the truth.”

“That’s enough,” Shangluo nodded. “This isn’t a case investigation; we don’t need overwhelming evidence. If we find something suspicious, we can just move in.”

Although it seemed unlikely based on previous information, Paris is now highly suspicious.

Paris, or rather the Gallo-British Viceroyalty, was the closest part of Rome's sphere of influence to its homeland.

Behind the curtain, Rome controlled Europe through Orthodox Christianity. After the Germanic regions converted to Christianity on their own, Rome's control over them weakened to almost nothing.

But the Gallo-Bali region was different. It maintained its Orthodox faith, which meant that Rome's influence could extend throughout the region.

For Shangluo—this is the difference between Catholicism and Protestantism. The Reformation mainly took place in Germania, while Protestantism in France was suppressed by the powerful French army.

Although there are doctrinal differences between the two, the fundamental political disagreement lies in whether or not to obey the orders of the Roman Catholic Church.

In the current historical context, this directly determines whether the Roman Empire can extend its reach through Orthodox Christianity.

While the entire Germanic region was classified as technologically barbaric and required strict defense, Gaul received special attention from the Roman Empire because it maintained its Orthodox Christian faith.

Legend has it that the Elven Kingdom is indeed located in France, as the legends of the elves originated there, making it the birthplace of the elves. Specifically, it is mainly situated in the Brittany region.

Brittany is a peninsula in the northwestern corner of France. Although it borders mainland France, it was not traditionally Germanic territory but rather Celtic land.

The Celts also had a set of names for the places under their rule that differed from those of the Germanic peoples.

For example, the Celtic name in Scotland is Alba, and the Celtic name in Ireland is Erin, etc.

This is a historical issue. Originally, the Celts were distributed throughout Europe and were considered barbarians in a general sense, while the Germanic peoples mainly lived in Central and Northern Europe.

Unfortunately, the core settlements of the Celts—the plains of Britain and France, and the mountains of Iberia—were all located directly along the Romans' expansion route, resulting in the complete annihilation of organized Celtic peoples by the Romans.

The ancient Gauls were not just called Gaul; they were also inhabited by Gauls. The Gauls were a branch of the Celts, just as the Angles were a branch of the Germanic peoples.

Of course, the Celts in these areas gradually disappeared under Roman rule. Only the Germanic peoples, due to the barriers of mountains and rivers, continued to harass Rome's borders as barbarians and maintained contact with Rome as mercenaries. Thus, they coexisted with Rome for hundreds of years, eventually surviving until Rome's decline.

This outcome had little to do with the inherent characteristics of the Celtic and Germanic peoples themselves. Rather, it was because the Romans held absolute economic power in their territory, squeezing the living space of the local inhabitants. Without economic support, Gallo culture was gradually squeezed out of the cities, eventually becoming vulgar, fragmented, and scattered in the countryside, until its entire national identity was completely erased over several generations.

After this, the Germanic peoples succeeded the Romans in rule following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. The Germanic peoples directly inherited the Roman bureaucracy—of which the universal church was a part.

The Germanic peoples also had their own personal guard system, with each tribal leader having a group of retainers with whom they had established close ties.

Although the Gauls also had a system of noble warriors, it had long since disappeared after the Roman conquest.

The Germanic tribes, who came with their own retinues, seized power and then distributed their retinues to various places to guard the land; these were the knights.

The nobles, such as earls, marquises, and dukes, mostly originated from the Romans.

For example, the common term "Comes" means "emperor's partner," essentially an imperial envoy or governor. "Dux," on the other hand, means "commander," generally a military commander dispatched by Rome to various regions, similar in meaning to a prefect.

Under the Roman system, the COMES of a count typically served as an imperial envoy, overseeing military commanders (DUX). However, after the collapse of the Roman system, the Germanic peoples adopted the Roman official title as their own noble title.

The feudal system established by the Germanic peoples largely used the titles of governor and prefect as hereditary titles. In essence, both were titles for independent lords at the beginning.

After that, such titles underwent some changes based on Germanic languages, resulting in a series of titles such as Free Count and Frontier Count, which reached the point where even the Romans could not understand them.

However, within the Gallo-British Viceroyalty—within French territory—these evolutions remained largely within the Romans' comprehension. For instance, counts and dukes in French territory were generally considered equal, with no clear hierarchy. The Count of Anjou, possessing a vast region in central France, still called himself a count and did not transform his status from count to duke.

The Romans initially believed they knew Gaul inside and out, with the only truly incomprehensible region being the Brittany mountains. However, the idea that the Elvenking actually resided in the heart of the Gallo-Gallic region, or even in Paris, was unacceptable to Phaethon.

This means that the Romans had been deceived for who knows how long.

"Damn it," Phaethon exclaimed in bewilderment. "This shouldn't be happening. Why haven't we found any trace of the elves yet? Their activities are very obvious elsewhere, so why can't we find any here?"

"This has been keeping me thinking. But perhaps following that kid named Martin will provide the answer. He's the most suspicious person right now."

The 12-year-old boy named Martin returned to his dormitory.

Having just survived a life-or-death ordeal, three wizards appeared before him. One of them struck his superior with an evil lightning bolt, while another evil wizard forced him to swear an oath with an ancient Roman spear. Then, the wizard tossed him like a ball up to the fifth floor and threw him through a window.

He could sense that the two wizards were at least somewhat kind, but that was only among wizards. To him, regardless of their kindness, wizards were all ferocious monsters.

Returning to his room made him feel a little better. Little did he know that the "wizard's" pursuit had continued into his own home.

"Banban, are you alright?" As soon as he got back, he opened the small cage on his desk and took out his pet mouse. "Banban, I almost couldn't come back to feed you. Hey? Banban, what are you doing?"

As soon as the rat was taken out, it began to struggle desperately. It sniffed Martin's neck, picked up an invisible thread from behind his neck with its front teeth, and then bit it off.

"Squeak! Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!" Biting through the thread, the mouse jumped onto Martin's table and danced around.

"What do you mean? Are you hungry? Thirsty? Or... wait, are you telling me to run away?"

Banban immediately nodded, grabbed Martin's sleeve, and pulled him toward her.

"Banban, you can actually understand me! Where do you want me to hide? A mouse hole? How come there's a mouse hole in my room?"

A dark, rat hole suddenly appeared at the base of the wall, and nothing could be seen inside; it seemed to be nothing but endless darkness.

But he had no recollection of this hole—and it wasn't small. If it had always been here, why hadn't he noticed it before?

"This hole is... Aaaaaah!"

As soon as he approached the rat hole, an invisible suction force pulled him in and into the wall.

The mouse named Spotted glanced warily back at the doorway, then immediately followed Martin into the hole and entered the space inside the wall.

The next second, Phaethon burst through the window, and Shangluo kicked open the door. The two of them blocked the two exits of the room from the front and back.

[This is it! The sympathetic connection was broken right here in this house!]

"I saw it," Shang Luo said in a deep voice. "The rat jumped onto his back, and then the communication immediately dropped. It really was a rat!"

Fahrenheit lowered his gaze, scanning the room: "If they really are rats, then this is going to be a real mess—no wonder we haven't been able to find the elves. I didn't expect them to be disguised as rats? Could it be that Oberon isn't the Elf King, but the Rat King?"

"They've disappeared." Shangluo was also looking around, then at the ceiling. "It seems our Rat King is quite good at hiding. They seem to be hiding in the ceiling. Or perhaps, inside the walls. They're rats inside the walls."

"You mean, they created a space that overlapped with reality, and then lived in the cracks between the walls?"

"It could also be the sewers. The sewer system is extensive, and the walls are just their passageways. Their true kingdom is probably underground, and this room might contain an entrance into the walls."

But now, there's no trace of it left; it's probably gone forever.

[Wait a minute, there's still a faint signal in this school. If the investigation focuses on rats, there seems to be another rat here! It's in the principal's office!]

Shang Luo pushed open the door to the principal's office. Major DuPont, who was in charge of the school in place of the principal, sat behind his desk.

“Mr. Wizard, and Ms. Witch. You came with Martin, didn’t you?”

He stood up: "Come at me! Don't hurt our children! Your invasion will not succeed! Everyone will fight to the last!"

"Get out of the way, we're not here to see you." Shang Luo strode forward and stretched out his hand—DuPont instinctively tried to block him, but he couldn't stop Shang Luo's immense strength as a celestial being.

He reached out and directly pulled off DuPont's tall military cap—a rat stood inside the cap, its two feet stepping on his scalp, its two hands pulling at his already sparse hair.

"I've found you, Mr. Mouse. Or should I call you—an elf?"

"A mouse?" DuPont, reminded of this, suddenly looked up and met the gaze of the mouse looking down at him. "A mouse!!!! How could there be a mouse on my head! God! Has this mouse been in my hat all along!"

Before he could finish speaking, the mouse suddenly tugged at DuPont's hair—DuPont immediately raised his hands:
"I surrender! No, it's him who surrendered? But it seems like I'm the one who surrendered? Anyway, we all surrender! Please don't hurt us!"

(End of this chapter)