Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1710 Demon God
When short-term hunger and food supply are satisfied, people need to eat to satisfy social needs—for example, eating McDonald's latest limited-edition set meal and then sharing their experience with friends. Another example is the Shuntian custom of serving mustard greens to out-of-towners, which is a large dollop of yellow mustard wrapped in cabbage. Caught off guard, the out-of-towner might be choked by the choking and pass out after one bite, but once they get used to it, they can have a competition to see who can eat the most.

Etc., etc.

When one reaches the highest level and seeks self-actualization through food, it involves the realm of meticulous and refined cuisine.

Within these levels, the higher you go, the more complex it becomes. For example, it's difficult to explain what "self-actualization through eating" is, because "self-actualization" itself varies from person to person; one person's view of self-actualization may be completely different from another person's.

Further down the line, different groups have different views on food. In Shuntian, it might be fun to treat someone to wasabi dumplings, but in Yingtian, the same thing might happen and they might treat you to live pearls.

Only when faced with the deepest hunger can humanity reach a consensus—whether it's rice or noodles, vegetables or meat, once you're hungry, you can't care about anything else.

Alchemy aims to fulfill this very need.

“So, to get back to the point,” Phaethon thought for a moment, “making a seasoning based on hunger is already extremely difficult. I can’t imagine any alchemical potion that could have broken through to a higher level before the fall of Rome. Because the higher the level, the more difficult it is to use alchemy to express the emotions one wants to achieve.”

After all, if even the definition of "delicious" cannot be determined, alchemy naturally cannot express it.

"But magic can do that?" Shang Luo asked.

“Hmm,” Phaethon thought for a moment, “Alchemy is also a part of magic. You must be referring to supernatural powers—yes, supernatural powers are possible. By establishing a connection with the [Demon God who controls deliciousness], one can borrow the Demon God's power to directly imbue the food in front of them with deliciousness. The essence of supernatural powers is communicating with the divine, in other words, enchanting.”

Supernatural powers can enchant many objects; for example, the nuclear reactor currently operating in Chernobyl was enchanted by a demon god. That reactor is now being taken over by the royal army.

"So, what's the price?"

"The cost varies depending on your affinity with magic—and is also related to the magic itself. For example, the demon god who controls fireballs is very stingy; you need to prepare a lot of materials or have a very high affinity to actually cast a fireball. In this regard, how to establish a relationship with the demon god is a problem."

"So how do we establish this relationship?"

Shangluo knew how Victoria was established—Victoria summoned demons by naming them. Because her grimoire contained the true names of almost all the demons, she could obtain all the help from them except for their support.

In other words, those demons may refuse to support Victoria in their attitude, but they cannot refuse the command that comes from her true name.

“The method is ritual,” Phaethon replied. “Ritual is the process by which demons establish a relationship. Would you like to give it a try?”

"Hmm? Can I give it a try?" Shang Luo glanced at the kitchen. "Can I summon a delicious demon god too?"

"You'll know once you try. But I don't think you're really cut out for this path."

Without hesitation, he went to the kitchen and started boiling water and cooking beans again.

Boiling chickpeas is a common practice in Egypt, much like cooking rice. However, chickpeas cannot be boiled directly; they must be soaked for 8 to 12 hours before boiling—this soaking process is already done. A considerable amount was soaked before we planned to cook the mummy, and some is still left.

"And then? What should be added when boiling it?" "Please," Phaethon said, spreading his hands. "Figure it out yourself."

"I'm wondering why I've never cooked any of these dishes?"

"This is the key to this supernatural power. Whether you are destined to be with the Demon God depends on whether you can receive inspiration from the Demon God. If the Demon God is willing to help you—then He will help you."

"Then how can I get the demon god to help me?"

“First, you can’t do nothing,” Phaethon replied. “As someone once said, genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration. The devil solves the 1% inspiration; the remaining 99% of the perspiration is up to you. In other words, if you want to assemble a car, you at least need to gather the parts in a way that at least conforms to the basic principles of a car. Then leave the rest to…”

She pointed to the ceiling: "Leave the rest to the Demon God."

"So that's it?"

“That’s how it is,” Phaethon replied. “For example, you don’t know how a bicycle works, right? So you just need to assemble a bicycle, pedal with both feet, and leave the rest to the demon.”

Shangluo looked at the bean paste in front of him.

He had a gut feeling—but he couldn't figure it out. Somehow, he couldn't find any inspiration in the bean paste that could make it delicious.

[That's right, "can't figure it out" is also a form of thinking. It means the Delicious Demon is not for you. The Demon doesn't want to waste your time, so it's making things clear to you directly.]

"Tsk, that works too. But do I lack any authority? This demon doesn't listen to me? Then why does it listen to that mummy?"

“I think it’s probably because mummies don’t have brains,” Phaethon replied. “Because they don’t have brains, communication between mummies and demons is completely seamless; they are excellent conductors of magic.”

Reason is the chasm between magic and reality, and a mummy without a brain has no reason at all, thus becoming the perfect spellcaster. The mummy is in a state of complete frenzy, which almost allows the demon god to manipulate it himself.

“So what you get is high-quality deliciousness,” Phaethon replied. “Those mummies were quite powerful when they cast spells—of course, even if the demon god himself were to do it, the magic would be too difficult. So as time goes by, the deliciousness will drop dramatically.”

Is there any way to save it?

"Yes, you can find another mummy to be a waiter, that way the deliciousness should last."

"So these mummies are really useful!" Shang Luo had only just realized that these mummies were so efficient at using magic that they already had considerable practical value.

"You plan to use them all?"

"Gather them all together first. I have a big task for them to handle."

(End of this chapter)