Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1580 The New Elf
"What? Oberon faked his death, but has already escaped?"

Agassiz received intelligence from Shangluo—along with a written report from the Muse Palace, which was also placed before him.

Things are already clear.

The Elven Royal Court seems to have undergone tremendous changes in recent decades. Successive coups have destroyed the original structure of the court and reduced ordinary elves to incoherent rats. Yet, as a whole, they seem to behave no differently than before, as if they have concentrated all their wisdom.

Yes, that's how it is.

Agassiz looked out the window: "I thought we were already insane. But we're probably incapable of gathering and unifying wisdom. However, this also confirms a long-held suspicion: the Elven Empire is the shadow of the Roman Empire. When we start to go to extremes, the Elves will probably be even more extreme than us."

"So, that was an imitation of you?"

“I think so. Their concentration of their wisdom seems similar to our retreat of everything back to Cybernia. It’s just that we don’t know how they did it yet.”

Agassiz glanced at the report: "However, according to the report, you seem to have severely damaged their intelligence agents?"

"I didn't actually figure out their configuration. But I followed the mouse that was pointing the way and found their command center. After locating it at close range, I used an orbital bombardment to hit them."

"You're really lucky, you even managed to guess right. But luck is also part of strength, at least that's what I think." He raised his head. "News has also come from the front lines that the elven army is experiencing turmoil and their advance is accelerating. The final breakthrough in Arden Forest is probably just around the corner. Speaking of which, your achievements are getting greater and greater."

He paused for a moment: "I won't reward you with anything. It's not that I'm stingy, it's just that you can reward yourself. I don't have anything else to give you. Go back now, Victoria said she's been very happy lately. You two, live well from now on."

"I will"

"Well then, see you later. Please convey my gratitude to the Emperor of China; I've borrowed you for a while to run an errand. Also, Victoria mentioned that matter to me. I'll keep a close eye on Amun-Zeus. I'll let you know when we can set out to seize her divine position for Victoria."

"Oh, then I'll be going?"

"Do you have something to say?"

"No, it's just a gut feeling, or rather, a strange sense. Mr. Agassiz, it seems there's something you don't want me to know?"

"If I don't want you to know, then even if you ask me, I won't tell you."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was being a bit rude." He bowed and took his leave.

After seeing the Shangluo people off, Agassiz leaned back.

Everything is progressing smoothly, and the day when Rome will be separated from the real world is drawing ever closer.

This was a plan that couldn't be reversed once it was done, but he had no choice but to do it.

Because there are no permanent friends, only permanent interests. China is rising like the sun, while Rome is in decline. As many visions of industrialization and informatization are realized, the day when China can rule the world on its own is fast approaching.

Rome was no match for such a powerful nation. So rather than waiting for the nation to start finding it all an eyesore, the Romans decided to find a solution themselves.

The ultimate solution is the "infinite universe" that is currently being implemented.

Essentially, this maintained equality between the two sides and respected traditional friendship while paving the way for Aurora.

Although there are no permanent friends, as long as the two sides do not share common interests, they should at least not become enemies.

The struggle against the wilderness alone had already exhausted Rome. If it were to provoke China and trigger a real war, it would be a catastrophe for the entire Roman Empire.

According to Aurora, that would be "blocking the path of the virtuous."

The word "virtuous" is quite peculiar; it can be interpreted as any positive or negative emotion. But fundamentally, it relates to the path. Walking the right path is virtuous; walking the wrong path is not virtuous. As the Emperor Wanshou said—sometimes, virtue and lack thereof are beyond their control.

But Zhen Dan is not some ancient god; its preferences follow certain patterns. Often, Zhen Dan is actually quite tolerant. As long as someone doesn't go too far or clearly display an "unteachable" attitude, Zhen Dan is willing to communicate effectively.

For example, Rome is actually a bit too late now. In fact, China had the power to unify and harmonize the world two or three decades ago. At that time, the ruler of China was not Zhu Xianxi as we know him today, but his father.

"Ah," Agassiz sighed.

"What are you thinking about?" Ms. Agatha hadn't left yet; she was organizing the documents she would be taking with her later.

"Do you remember when we gave gifts to the Crown Prince of Zhen Dan?"

"You mean that battleship-class Vulcan core?"

That was a gift Zhu Xianxi received, and it's currently in Shangluo. Zhu Xianxi was very pleased with it when he received it. The Vulcan core within that mechanical clock was indeed one of the symbols of the highest technological achievement in the world at that time.

However, as he grew older, Zhu Xianxi quickly forgot about the gift, even losing the wind-up mechanism. This extremely valuable gift ultimately never reached the right person, because to Zhu Xianxi it was merely an interesting toy. But in order to give away this toy, Rome reduced its capital ship construction limit by one unit.

Of course, this result is not unacceptable.

"Are you regretting it?" Mrs. Agatha said helplessly. "But we've never built any capital ships, neither battleships nor aircraft carriers. Aren't our navies all submarines now?"

“That was my dream,” Agassiz shook his head. “When we were young, wars in this world were dominated by multi-turreted battleships. I also dreamed of mounting powerful perpetual motion machines on battleships and then having them cruise the world—”

"Isn't this what Aurora is doing right now?"

"So sometimes I get angry. They didn't just take my daughter away from my life, they took my dreams away too." "Even if they hadn't taken her away, I haven't seen you get along well with your daughter. It's the same as the previous question. You only know what you've got when you lose it."

"So, I wasn't really angry." He took a sip of tea. "At my age, I'm not easily swayed by external things anymore. My biggest wish now is to peacefully see Rome through its final journey."

"Oh right, didn't you tell Shangluo that you found Oberon?"

“No.” Agassocles shook his head. “There are some things we can handle ourselves sometimes, without needing to bother him. After all, if he comes, then Victoria will probably come too. I’ve always suspected that the elves want to capture Victoria, so it’s better not to let them get involved. She’s safest in Clarity.”

This is what Shangluo vaguely noticed earlier, but he didn't say it aloud.

Rome occasionally needs to demonstrate its capabilities, as it doesn't want to be looked down upon by Shangluo. The relationship between the two sides is far from over, and Rome will likely have to deal with Shangluo for a long time. For Victoria to have more influence in the future, it needs to at least showcase the strength of the Roman Empire.

“Victoria is more afraid of death than you think. You’ve misjudged her. Even if you tell her not to go, she won’t go.”

"Is that so? Hmm, I guess so. Perhaps, only elves in this world don't care about their own lives."

The report from Oberon lay before him. In fact, the Muse Palace had already located Oberon through the sympathetic link in his head, and they had also glimpsed his current appearance—

In the image, a group of naked and twisted rodents are entrenched in a dark space.

Naked mole-rats are one of only two known eusocial mammals—the other being a similar rodent.

Although the naked mole-rat is a true mammal, it has characteristics similar to ants and bees.

Division of labor in reproduction – within the group, there are individuals specializing in reproduction and individuals engaged in work.

Generational overlap—multiple generations of reproduction occur within a group, with the purpose of reproduction being to produce working individuals, rather than to allow individuals to become independent.

Cooperative care for immature individuals—the group will reproduce in an orderly manner.

All three conditions must be met simultaneously for an animal to be considered a true social animal, but it seems that meeting all three conditions at the same time is not easy.

For example, while many bumblebees also have queens and cooperate in caring for their young, they are not truly social animals. Specifically, in a swarm of bumblebees that fly out, one will become the queen, and the others will become worker bees. All the worker bees will then work together to care for the offspring, but the newborn bumblebees will not become natural worker bees; instead, they will fly out and create their own hive.

This reproductive strategy is worthwhile for individual worker bees—because a colony of bumblebees consists of brothers and sisters with almost identical genes, and whichever one of them starts reproducing ensures the continuation of the genes of all individuals. Meanwhile, the other individuals serving the queen are also serving their own genes.

But for individual worker bees, this is undoubtedly the ultimate torment.

If bumblebees are like this, then real bees are even more miserable—these eusocial animals often look like a "superorganism," with many individuals having a predetermined status from the moment of birth, destined to toil their entire lives according to their innate traits.

This innate anguish is generally believed to occur only in lower invertebrates.

It's hard to imagine that vertebrates, or even mammals, would transform themselves into this inherently miserable state.

However, naked mole-rats belong to this type of life.

Like ants, naked mole-rats use pheromones to build their societies.

Specifically, naked mole-rats have two types of individuals—dominant individuals and submissive individuals.

Naked mole-rats have a alpha male and his/her breeding mates, typically consisting of four males. The rest of the group are suppressed by the alpha male's pheromones and cannot reproduce. The young mole-rats begin working about a month after birth, existing as males from birth. Only when the alpha male, who occupies a dominant position, disappears will a worker rat take his place.

Unlike ants, the rat queen holds absolute dominance here. She and her males are not merely breeding machines; they effectively rule the colony. The rat queen patrols the colony, spreading her pheromones and supervising the worker rats.

Because pheromones are less effective on mammals than on ants, occasionally individuals escape pheromone control and begin to reproduce on their own. Once these individuals are discovered by the rat king, the king kills them due to their size difference.

After all, even if they could be detached from pheromones in terms of behavior, the long-term nutritional differences would make it impossible for worker mice to defeat the rat king.

“Interesting.” Agassiz looked at the screen. “Do you know what this means?”

Agatha shook her head.

“Let me start with the naked mole-rat. This creature lives in the barren deserts of Africa, feeding on underground tuberous plants. Because the grasslands have dry and rainy seasons, food is cyclical, which means survival is risky. If all individuals live separately, the entire group may starve to death during the dry season, and during the breeding season, they may be killed by predators while courting. So…”

He paused for a moment: "This extremely harsh environment has led naked mole-rats to prioritize the survival of the species over individual diversity. As long as they form a group, these naked mole-rats can maintain order when food is scarce, selectively starving the weaker rats. And long-term stable mating relationships mean they don't need to court every year. Many naked mole-rats live up to 30 years, which reduces the need to leave the group."

"It seems the elves made this choice because of the immense pressure they were under?"

“I think so. You see, aren’t their choices the same as ours? When faced with high-pressure environments, we also choose to perpetuate our own species, to continue our existence. As for reproduction and diversity, we no longer care. We are no different from naked mole-rats—but after they gather together, they begin to use pheromones for intelligent communication, which I think is why they haven’t become dumber as their bodies have shrunk. And…”

"as well as?"

"If you do the math, it's definitely been more than thirty years now. Considering the lifespan of naked mole rats, at least two generations of naked mole rats have already been born—you know, besides the dominant and obedient individuals, there are also some wandering individuals among the naked mole rats. They break away from the main group, have reproductive capabilities, and their purpose is to climb into other naked mole rat nests to enrich their genotype."

"You mean, these elves also behave like this now?"

"We still need to observe. But if it succeeds, it seems we can edit a virus individual to enter them and destroy the pheromone network of these elves—we need to use clever methods sometimes, after all. By the way, which one in this group is Oberon? Oh, I found it, the handsome one is. Oberon, Oberon, even as a naked mole rat, he's still handsome."

(End of this chapter)