Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1590 The Oracle
A stranger came to the town; she was a beautiful girl.

Delphi, the geographical center of the Greek region. In ancient Greece, Delphi was the center of the entire Greek world; now it is a quiet town.

The oracle, capable of shaking half the world, was located in the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. This was the highest advisory body of the Roman Empire, and oracles held the highest authority throughout the entire empire, being cited first at all times—excluding, of course, the interpretation of oracles.

Legend has it that the one who truly delivers divine pronouncements is a carefully selected, seemingly foolish girl—the kind who is exceptionally clumsy but strikingly beautiful. She must possess a face of divine beauty to inspire awe in those who come seeking her oracle. Her foolishness, on the other hand, is for ease of control.

Once issued, oracles would be interpreted by the priesthood and become axioms for the entire Greek world—the original oracles did not count. This was because only oracles that had been interpreted belonged to the human realm; those that had not been interpreted belonged to the gods.

However, despite the supreme status of oracles, the oracle was not always closed off. Since ancient times, it has not only received group visitors such as Athenian archons and Spartan kings, but also individual travelers.

Today, a beautiful girl who seemed both strange and familiar—whose face didn't give off any hint of clumsiness—arrived at the entrance of the Oracle.

The main building of the Oracle is built on a hill, and the gate is located at the bottom of the path that leads up the hill.

"Hello, please show your ticket."

"???" The girl, as beautiful as a goddess, looked up at the people at the ticket booth.

"Hello, tickets." The ticket seller wouldn't waive the entrance fee just because she was pretty, because everyone who passed through this gate had to pay, including the Roman emperor. This was the rule of Delphi; the oracles of Delphi were greater than the emperor's, for they were revelations of destiny.

The girl grew even angrier, and stood silently at the door, sulking.

The ticket seller waved his hand in front of her eyes: "Hey, did you hear that? You need to pay for admission. She looks pretty, but she seems kind of clumsy."

"What are you doing! Call your boss here!"

five minutes later.

Half of the priests rushed down the mountain, while the other half hurriedly set up a welcoming ceremony on the mountain.

A group of elderly people had never been so agile. Holding up their robes and sleeves, they ran with incredible speed and energy, more spry than they had been in decades. They ran all the way to the ticket office, to the girl surrounded by guards, and immediately prostrated themselves on the ground.

"Lady Apollonia! You're back?"

"Yes, I came back because of something. Get up, don't lie on the ground, it's cold."

"It's back! The sun is back!"

"The great sun has returned!"

"The ever-victorious sun—she…" The moment the words left his mouth, the speaker realized his mistake. Rome had three suns; the ever-victorious sun was Helios. "He immediately corrected himself, 'The wise and sagacious sun has returned!'"

"Alright, alright." Apollonia waved to everyone. "Has everyone eaten?"

"We ate, we ate." Everyone nodded repeatedly.

"That's good. Let's take care of business first." She got up and was about to go inside through the door.

As soon as he stood up, all the priests inside the door blocked his way.

"What? You won't let me in? Trying to rebel?"

"No, no, no, no!" Everyone shook their heads repeatedly, but they didn't know how to say it properly.

High Priest Chroisus, the leader of Delphi, should have been the one to deliver the address. However, he was on holiday today and had just returned from his vacation; he was still setting up the welcoming ceremony upstairs and hadn't come down with them. Those below dared not speak, and could only exchange glances with Apollonia.

"What are you doing? Why won't you let us in?"

Finally, someone mustered up the courage to speak up: "All-powerful Sun, no, wise and insightful Sun, you know that you need to pay an entrance fee to enter this gate."

"Oh, I think there is such a rule." Oracles are above kings, so even Roman emperors had to pay an entrance fee to pass through here. The ticket is the same for everyone; you pay the ticket and then queue up—of course, this is the entrance fee. Seeking an oracle inside is nominally free, but in reality, there's a separate price. The bigger the matter, the higher the fee. But in any case, the entrance fee must be paid.

"So you think I'm a human being?"

"You are not human."

"Ok?"

"Ah! You are God, you are the sun!"

"The rule is that everyone has to pay to pass through here, so you're trying to use human rules to control me?"

"No, no, no, how could we dare?"

"So how did you get in? Did you pay for admission every day? Or did you buy a monthly or annual pass or something?"

He pointed to the side: "We have an employee entrance over there. We don't even use this door to get to work ourselves. Why don't you use this door too?"

"No way!" Apollonia sat in her chair, legs crossed. "I'm going in through this door today! You don't agree? Call your boss!"

High Priest Chroisus arrived at the scene five minutes later.

The old man was 82 years old, and the wrinkles on his face were thicker than the folds of his Toga robe. When he saw Apollonia, he put down his cane and was about to bow, but his expression remained unchanged.

"No need," Apollonia waved her hand, her expression unchanged.

He got up and went behind the door, where he lifted the ticket booth pole himself and walked out.

"How about I, the old man, help you out today?"

"Old man, you've learned your Chinese quite well; you even know how to argue."

"If you're coming back to do business, you should at least come in first, shouldn't you?"

"Then I want to go in through this door now, but you won't let me in."

"But you have to pay to get in through this door, that's the rule."

“I’m giving you two choices—first, this rule is abolished from today onwards. Second, you can discuss whether I am a man or a god, and whether I am above or below human rules.”

Someone whispered from behind, "High Priest, isn't the Sun Lord above the rules?"

Croissus whirled around and glared at him—this was no small matter.

Because if she breaks this rule upon entering, then none of the rules on the mountain will be able to restrain her, which would be a big problem.

For this reason, Apollonia possessed a dual nature, being both human and divine; she was both a human and a god. She had a clear human origin; she should have been born as an ordinary human girl, the chosen next Pythian prophet and the next spiritual leader of the Greek world.

However, under the manipulation of the god now known as Helios, Apollonia became the sun, she became the true Apollonia—she could speak oracles in a sanity-based state.

This overturned everything and became the origin of the conflict between Apollonia and the Delphic priesthood—if Apollonia really broke the rules and entered this gate today, then the entire history of the Delphic Oracle would have to submit to her.

"What, you disagree? Then call your manager over!"

Everyone looked at each other, all staring at Chroisus. He was already the highest "leader" here; there was no one higher than him.

Who should we call now? "Go," Chroisus ordered in a deep voice, "bring that person here."

Three five-minute intervals later, a small car slowly drove down from the top of the mountain.

A 106-year-old woman stepped off the carriage with the help of others. Despite her age, she was in remarkably good spirits, with bright eyes and nimble hands and feet. She didn't actually need assistance, but according to custom, she was accompanied by two life priests, five attendants, and two members of the priesthood. This was the treatment expected of a Pythia.

She was the former Pythia, the predecessor of Apollonia—a Pythian prophet who was truly human, not divine. She had held the position of Pythian prophet since she was a young girl, and had been the leader of the oracle for the past century.

After Apollonia's birth, at the age of 90, she was finally able to retire from her position as a Pythian priestess and begin to enjoy her retirement—it was no longer appropriate for the old lady to continue, as the work of a Pythian priestess was quite arduous.

However, it seems that because she has been working for a long time, the old lady does not look exhausted. On the contrary, she is more energetic and looks no different from someone in their seventies or eighties.

“Mother.” Chroisus bowed and helped his birth mother to her feet. “The Sun Goddess…”

Seemingly as a demonstration, he put in a ticket before entering and went through the ticket gate.

She waved her hand, signaling Chroisus to step back, and then walked over herself.

"Grandma Sofia, how have you been lately?"

"I'm doing well, little Apollonia. How have you been lately? How is he treating you?"

"It's alright. Everyone is very kind to me." Tears welled up in her eyes.

"Then why are you unhappy?"

Apollonia lowered her head, pausing between each word: "Someone is bullying me."

"I didn't! I didn't!" Chroisus immediately bowed deeply. "Mother! She..."

Sofia glanced back at him, and everyone fell silent.

How did they bully you?

"I want to go home, and they're making me buy a ticket! Is this something a human being would do?!"

"Oh," Sophia looked inside, then looked outside.

She straightened up. At 106 years old, she was still very healthy and even taller than the petite Apollonia.

She bent down and picked Apollonia up in one swift motion.

"Eh! Eh! Eh!" Everyone, including Apollonia, was taken aback. Before anyone could react, she grabbed Apollonia and carried her over the ticket gate.

“Remember,” Sophia instructed her servant. “Lady Apollonia entered through the top of the door.”

"Yes!" Everyone quickly lowered their heads to take notes.

Apollonia inside the door still had her head down.

"How is it? Is this okay?" Sofia bent down and pressed her face against Apollonia's.

"Alright. Since Grandma Sofia has said so."

"Okay, then next time you come, I'll come and hug you again."

"No, no, I'll flip it over myself next time."

"Are you sure?" Sophia looked at the turnstile. "This turnstile is quite tall."

“I’m all grown up now. Besides, people will laugh at me if I’m always being carried.”

【My wise Miss Apollonia, isn't it even more ridiculous that you have to climb over the door every time you come in?】

"Who?" Sophia looked up abruptly. "Who's speaking?"

"Ah, he is... the King of Rome. He is speaking in China."

"King of Rome, you'll come and hold her next time." Sofia looked up at the sky. "How about it?"

"Yes, yes, yes! Next time you come and hug me! You don't even come with me when I'm doing chores, what's wrong with you?"

What does this have to do with me?

"Who told you to speak up? Hehehe. You watched me being bullied without saying a word."

[What god climbs up a mountain step by step from the bottom? You should go in from the sky! Sitting at the bottom of the mountain making things difficult for ticket sellers, do you think you're Shiva, transforming yourself everywhere for amusement?]

"That's it!" Apollonia suddenly realized, "I can come down from the sky."

[Silly.]

"No, I'm deliberately making things difficult for them today! It's their fault for making things difficult for me before."

[How did they make things difficult for you?] Shangluo remembered that they were actually quite cooperative with Apollonia's work. When they needed to adjust the computing power, the Oracle immediately approved it.

"They never listened to me before!"

“Your Majesty, I think I can explain.” Although Croissus did not hear, he realized that Shangluo could. “In the past, when our sun was young, she would always send us into the woods to find dancing wild boars or to look for cat tracks, and she would get angry if we couldn’t find her.”

"It definitely exists. I saw it."

"But how can we find it if you don't tell us where to look?"

"Alright, it's all in the past." Sophia gestured for Chroisus to be quiet.

"Then, little Apollonia, now that you're back, they'll all listen to you. Because you've grown up, they'll all listen to you."

"Really?" Apollonia tilted her head and looked at the priests behind Sophia.

"Yes, yes." Everyone nodded repeatedly.

“Okay.” Apollonia pointed behind her. “Tear down the ticket booth, and the rule of having to pay to enter will no longer exist. Are you going to listen to me?”

Chroisus hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand: "Demolish! Demolish it right now! Do you want me to watch it being demolished now, or do you want me to report back to you after it's demolished?"

"Oh, why are you so obedient now? Weren't you being very tough just now?"

"Because if it were to be turned over every time you enter, it would be an insult to your radiance and a dereliction of duty on the part of the Oracle. Therefore, as you command, this ticket office will cease to exist from this day forward."

"Hmm, very good. I was just wondering if the King of Rome would have to pay an entrance fee, but you've made excellent preparations, saving me the trouble of bothering you again."

(End of this chapter)