Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1657 Father
A tremendous difficulty lay before Victoria.

Between his own father and Shangluo, which should he choose?

"I choose Shangluo."

"Ah?" Shang Luo was startled upon hearing this. He couldn't bear the guilt of sowing discord between a father and daughter. "What merit do I have? No, no, no, you should think it over carefully before you speak."

"My choice of you has nothing to do with you."

"why?"

"The old man won't tell me anything, how am I supposed to choose? If I choose you, at least you'll consider my opinion, right?"

Her considerations were very practical: although Agassiz was her father, he clearly did not take Victoria's opinion into account when making his decisions—and she was unaware of it.

Although her relationship with Shangluo was far less close than with her father, Shangluo's decisions were her decisions. Because Shangluo could not possibly make a decision against her will.

“Ah, that’s true.” Shang Luo nodded. “For me, it’s really about choosing myself—you might as well just think of it as choosing yourself. Also, Aunt Agatha, why are you putting me against her father? This is clearly a matter between them, father and daughter.”

"Why do you say that?" Mrs. Agatha looked at him. "Look me in the eyes and tell me why. This is important to you, and I need to know your answer. If your answer satisfies me, I will help you; otherwise, I will not."

Shangluo pondered for a moment, and then he understood something.
"You mean you don't want this to become a matter between the father and daughter. You want me to take responsibility and confront Emperor Agassocles?"

“When he allowed you to elope, his fundamental purpose was to have you help her make the decision and protect her from external pressure. Now, it’s time for you to make the decision—not to consider her opinion, but to do the right thing. Victoria is much weaker than you think. If you keep considering her opinion, you won’t get things done.”

How could you say that to me!

“Then let me ask you,” Agatha turned her head, “your father or him, which one would you choose? I’m not asking you to consider ‘who will listen to me.’ If you have to lose one of them, who would you choose?”

"I...I...Waaaaah..." Victoria suddenly burst into tears, "Auntie, why are you forcing me to choose? I don't want to lose either of them! Why are you making me choose?"

“I’m not joking with you,” Agatha Christie said, her expression unusually serious. “Politics isn’t a dinner party. Politics is about death! You need to be prepared for one of these two people to die! I’m asking you, if only one of them can survive, who would you choose? I need you to make a decision in five seconds!”

"Waaaaah!!!" Victoria's crying was unstoppable.

"Cry! Crying counts as time! 3! 2! 1!"

"I can't make a decision! What should I do!"

Agatha's expression remained unchanged: "If you can't decide on this kind of question in five seconds, something terrible is bound to happen! Now, I'll ask you again." She grabbed Victoria's shoulders, turning the evasive Victoria to face her directly. "Now tell me, if you weren't allowed to choose, and they were forced to fight, who do you think would die?"

"It's definitely not Shang Luo who died! My father couldn't beat him! My old father! Waaah!!!" Realizing she was powerless, Victoria's sobs completely broke down.

“Ms. Agatha, please stop!” Shang Luo stepped between them. “She’s in a lot of pain right now. Ask me what’s wrong.”

"Heh, this is what I wanted to see." She patted Shang Luo on the shoulder, gesturing for him to step aside.

But Shangluo remained completely still.

“Tell me what you have to say. I’ll answer for her.”

"So, I said—first, I was just presenting her with the bloodiest choice, it was just a metaphor. The dilemma she faces is far more bloody and far more complex than this. I was just abstracting this kind of choice from political decisions, so that she could feel the difficulty of such a choice. This question can also be replaced with: if China were to destroy Rome, would Rome detonate the Otearoa across the entire world to destroy the earth and perish together with China?"

“This is indeed a difficult problem.” Precisely because it is difficult, Shangluo can understand that the political factors in the decision need to be removed so that Victoria can understand how much of an impact this matter will have on her.

“I was very dissatisfied with her answer.” Agatha shook her head. “Remember the last question I asked her? I asked who would die if you two fought, and she said that Achilles would definitely lose to you—which shows that she fully understood the objective conditions required to answer the question, and whether she could win or not was very clear, but she simply couldn’t transcend her personal emotions to make the most rational judgment. I feel very guilty; my education has failed. I cannot raise a mental superman, and I know it’s very difficult, but only a superman can do it.”

To transcend one's personal emotions and make decisions entirely based on pure reason is something only a "superman" can do.

“But you did it.” Shangluo looked at her. “In that situation just now, you kept questioning her, completely going beyond the kinship between you.”

“This is also where I feel guilty. I know exactly what I should do, but many times I still can’t bring myself to do it. That’s why I haven’t let her know that I’m her aunt for a long time.”

The tiger is the king of beasts; who dares to provoke its wrath? Only the bond between parent and child makes one look back at every step.

Such things occasionally happen in schools. Teachers, especially homeroom teachers, usually entrust their children to other homeroom teachers for care. This is because education is a professional field; in the workplace, one must adhere to their duties and not let personal feelings interfere. Even something as small as educating a single person can be influenced by familial bonds. Not to mention educating an emperor to become a superman.

Agatha Christie had done her best. She was Agassiz's younger sister and Victoria's aunt. Her relationship with Victoria was too close, and she shouldn't have taken on this job.

However, based on Rome's "mystical feudal" political system, Roman emperors themselves had some secrets to keep, which meant that people without a secrecy level could not essentially access Victoria.

In the end, the number of people you can choose from is actually very limited. Even close relatives like your aunt have to participate.

(End of this chapter)