Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1660 Seal
"So, here's the question," Shangluo asked, "If there's a conflict of opinion among the officials, shouldn't you yield to the majority?"

"According to the rules of Roman deliberation, such conflicts cannot be decided by a simple majority; at least two-thirds are required. We understand."

While a simple majority is indeed undesirable, a majority of three people is two-thirds, which is perfectly in accordance with the rules of procedure.

"Let's confirm. Your Majesty Victoria, you and I are both going in, right?"

“Hmm.” Shangluo presented Victoria’s written order again, “and my verbal instructions. I plus Victoria is two, and Lord Agassiz is one. Two is greater than one, and two is two-thirds of three, right?”

“Absolutely right!” They immediately made way—as naturally as opening a bottle and letting the water flow. They didn’t want to obstruct Shangluo here; there was no need. They simply wanted to obtain procedural permission.

After all, Achilles was a very serious man. If procedures were followed, even disobeying orders wouldn't result in punishment—the consequences of being punished by Achilles were extremely dire. The Romans had already developed the ability to meticulously extract souls, to the point of cannibalism. Although Rome wasn't a den of demons, such administrative oversights weren't necessarily fatal.

However, as the core members of Rome, they knew how decadent Rome had become, and that this was a critical period of transformation. Leaving a bad record at such a crucial time would likely have extremely adverse effects on their future.

Although a fortress collapses from the inside out, if a collapsing fortress runs out of food, the first people to be thrown out will be the least important.

Rome was like a besieged city on the verge of collapse. If you didn't want to be thrown out in the first wave of the purge, then even if you didn't perform well, it was best not to make mistakes.

"I say, don't you want to show your loyalty to that lord?"

The two shook their heads vehemently: “It’s not our place to do that. Besides, breaking the rules to be loyal to him would only make him despise us. Lord Agassocles is a very principled man.”

"is it?"

Looking back, it seems he wasn't that principled.

Which principled parent would allow their daughter to "elope"? Shang Luo, on the contrary, thought he was very reasonable.

But if we think back further, Shangluo really had absolutely no idea what he was doing.

He seems to be lenient only on things that are “not so important”—but is Victoria really not important?

No, you should think about it this way: Victoria is certainly important. But once he's investigated your case and confirmed your credibility, he won't interfere as much.

"So, the principle here is that his daughter's running away isn't a principle for him?"

That could be considered a free-choice relationship, but not for him. He really doesn't care much about personal feelings—remember Agatha Christie's 'Superman'? That's him. He completely disregards his own emotions; as long as it's a good thing, he won't care whether it's right or wrong.

"So I'm good?"

You are safe, choosing you is the rational decision, and he will accept you as part of the solution. As for things like cabbage or pigs, they are not within his consideration.

"Then what exactly is it that would make him do it completely behind our backs?"

Shangluo began to feel a little palpitations.

If Agassiz only did what was right, it means he believed that if the matter were publicized, it would most likely fail, so he didn't even tell his own daughter.

Since "it can't be done if you tell others," it means this matter will likely have a significant impact on the entire world order, because others probably wouldn't agree to it if they knew. "This is troublesome," Shang Luo pondered. "He's not planning to bring reinforcements from another world to enrich Rome, is he?"

[Hmm, then I can take you in as my son-in-law and imprison you in the Brèchellé Palace like a koi fish in a jar. Hehehe.]

"really?"

[I'm not kidding. Actually, Agathocles wasn't a virtual ascendant; he was a psionic ascendant. Besides, if he really did operate many parallel Roman empires, then it wouldn't be surprising if he deployed troops here.]

"Wait, is he a member of the Psychic Ascension faction? Then why would he lead a virtual Ascension government?"

[Because what he himself thinks is unimportant. If it's everyone's decision, then he can't go against public opinion—but that doesn't mean he'll completely obey the majority. He might be assessing the balance of power and waiting for the right moment to act.]

Is now the right time?

Rome's earthly power is virtually nonexistent, almost nonexistent. If there's a best time to do this, it's now. Because in the past, whatever it did, it had to fight an entire world. Now, it only needs to deal with half the world, that is, with China.

"So he's actually going to another world to get reinforcements to conquer our current world?"

[This is just speculation, a guess. Perhaps he'll do something even worse; maybe we should invite aliens to conquer the world.]

"what?"

[This is not surprising. He's a superman devoid of personal emotions—meaning his views on morality are limited to whether it will affect his image in the eyes of others; he's completely utilitarian. If the power imbalance is significant enough, he might trample on all human morality, including inviting aliens to invade Earth.]

Shangluo opened the door. He was prepared for what would happen next: Agathocles negotiating with the aliens.

However, the scene inside the door was quite ordinary.

This is the office that Shangluo visited before.

There was a long table in the office—that's how Agassiz usually worked. His tools, including his seal, paper, and pens, were all arranged in a fixed spot. Then, as needed, someone of his choosing would sit opposite or to either side of him.

The office was empty; his pen was still on the table, as if he had just left.

Hmm, I didn't notice anything strange, it seemed perfectly normal. Maybe aliens are hiding in the closet, who knows?

"It can't be that bad." Actually, it was Apollonia who had been saying it all along, and Shangluo didn't quite believe it.

"I think it's possible, unless... wait, Shangluo, look at the seal on his desk."

"what happened?"

There are three seals! And they're all different! One is the seal of the Roman Empire, a double-headed eagle. All three are double-headed eagles, but each one has slightly different details. And the document on the table, "Project Ark"? What's that? Why are there three seals?

(End of this chapter)