Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1716 Communion with God
Shangluo was beginning to understand this way of thinking—or rather, she had always understood it, but she hadn't realized it herself. This was because she had only been familiar with Victoria's internal motivations, not the external reasons.

Now, based on all of this, he can summarize some patterns:
Victoria, indeed, is the most enigmatic of the three sun gods, yet also the most powerful. She appears to possess a physical body, but her humanity is indistinguishable from her divinity—in contrast, Apollonia is the complete opposite. Although she has no physical body, she is entirely human.

Victoria possessed many divine qualities. For instance, she was capricious, sometimes near, sometimes far. Mortals were like ants before her, and she couldn't even see what she didn't want to see. This didn't make her appear powerful; rather, it made her seem quite vulnerable in the mortal world. Because, like a true, high-heavenly deity, she lacked both the ability and the will to interfere in earthly affairs.

But like a deity, she possessed intense love. She had boundless passion for what she truly cared about, and her gaze would never waver. She would weep over the potential rift between herself and her father, and rejoice at being able to unconditionally trust Shangluo. She preferred to see the world from other people's perspectives rather than her own.

This is incredibly heavy. Because this is not dealing with people, but conversing with God.

"I'm sorry," Agatha said in a low voice, "Shangluo, this will get you into a lot of trouble, won't it?"

"Oh, you mean this?" Shangluo shook his head. "No."

"No way?"

“I have plenty of strength, I can handle anything. Victoria alone can’t even break one of my shoulders.”

“That’s it! That’s it!” Victoria jumped up and hugged Shang Luo’s neck tightly, almost choking him. The weight of love she felt was something no mortal could bear, something physically unbearable.

"Are you alright?!" Agatha was about to come up and carry Victoria away when Shang Luo simply waved his hand and stood up while holding onto the railing.

“Victoria, let me tell you, what you just thought is wrong. There are many people in this world who need our care.”

"is it?"

"Yes, that's right." Shangluo nodded. "Perhaps you don't understand now. But you will understand eventually. We have plenty of time."

“Yes, yes.” Victoria hugged him tighter. “We have plenty of time. I know what I just said might have made you a little angry.”

"No, no, no, you misunderstood. I'm not angry at all. I just feel like I have more things to deal with now. Because I don't just have to watch over the world for myself, I also have to keep an eye on you."

He knew that Victoria was probably inseparable from him. She appeared to have a body, but in reality, she had no body. Her divinity was ethereal and intangible; she needed to gaze upon someone to be aware that she still existed in the mortal world.

In the past, this person was her father, so she fell into utter despair when she realized her father's secret. But from that moment on, Shangluo took the baton and began to bear Victoria's weight.

Victoria himself had no stance, so he needed to understand the world through Shangluo's perspective.

"Then you...you absolutely, positively cannot leave." The hand gripping her neck tightened even more, a force powerful enough to twist even the Spear of the Sun God.

"Don't worry." Shang Luo patted her hand. "I will never leave. I am a celestial being, I am a god. A god's energy is limitless. It doesn't matter if you can't take care of this world. I can take care of you while taking care of this world."

"Okay, I understand. You can't go back on your word, right?"

"I will never break my promise."

Victoria released her grip: "So, what do you think we should do next?"

“Sign a warrant for me, allowing me to conduct experiments in Cybernia. Leave the rest to me—you can leave everything to me.” “Okay.” Victoria nodded. “Shall we go back for dinner?”

On her way back to the dining table, Apollonia sent a message asking:
Don't you think she looks a lot like someone?

"Like who?"

[You probably already know the answer—we know someone who is also struggling between divinity and humanity, and who needs to observe another person in order to maintain their own existence and influence in the world.]

"Dao Ancestor."

Yes. Therefore, it can be inferred that she might be a deity on par with the Dao Ancestor, only her power is still hidden. Such a divine mind is far beyond the reach of mortals. I think the real threat to Rome is probably not division, but Victoria. Once she loses her gaze upon the mortal world, the transformation she triggers could be incredibly terrifying.

“So please, you absolutely mustn’t get hurt,” Victoria said, turning back to him.

"Okay. I promise you, nothing will happen."

"Don't you usually dislike saying things like that? It seems unlucky."

“This can’t do anything to me.” Shang Luo smiled. “My power as a god is limitless. No matter how heavy it is, I can carry it.”

[Shangluo, you'd better keep going! Now, not only the safety of the two capitals and thirteen provinces, but also six Romes rest on your shoulders. In weightlifting, you're already a world champion! Only you can handle something as heavy as Victoria!]

“I understand that this isn’t a bad thing. I don’t dislike it. I don’t see it as a burden—in fact, it brings me some pleasure?”

You're a really strange person.

"Oh, by the way, Apollonia, you're the one who's supposed to receive that warrant, right? Do you want an electronic signature or should I write it for you by hand?"

Victoria spoke to her—although Victoria didn't care about mortals with zero presence and would willingly forget Wen Yuan, whose presence was negative, Apollonia and Phaethon still left a very deep impression on her. They were also true friends to Victoria. It's just that Victoria wouldn't rely on them as much as she relied on Shang Luo.

In Cyprus, what's the difference between these two? Handwritten and electronic.

"Yes, there isn't. But since you've decided to hand these over to Shangluo, I'll hand that item over to you as well."

"Oh, you mean, the scepter?"

Victoria responded with a nod.

"What scepter?" Shangluo asked.

[It's a scepter in the physical sense. You should actually have been given one when you became consul, but this was the emperor's personal scepter. You might not have seen it before; it's roughly the size of a hammer. It's considered one of the sacred artifacts of Rome. Its most basic function was to stamp sealing wax seals, because the head of the scepter served as a seal. Beyond its basic function, it was sacred and unique, just like the Roman emperor. This means it was very hard, extremely hard.]

(End of this chapter)