Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1721 Meatballs
Two golden, round balls that can't be steamed, boiled, pounded, or fried; they're incredibly resounding.

Shangluo put the ball away for now: "So, coming to that point, I need to find a God of Forging, right?"

"Hmm." Zhu Xianxi nodded. "That's how it seems based on the analysis. But do you know where to find their God of Forging?"

"What a coincidence! I don't know anything else, but I happen to know how to find the God of Forging."

Vulcan, the god of forging, was Hephaestus in Greece. Their divine roles were almost identical, differing only in their names in Greece and Rome.

The Romans did not summon Vulcan into the world, but they did create Vulcan's tools—automata.

In other words, it refers to the bread baked in Colombian automata.

"So that's who they are!" Zhu Xianxi thought for a moment. "Do they know how to forge? They don't seem very strong to me."

Blacksmiths have always been known for their strength, as swinging their hammers so many times every day is essentially a form of muscle training.

"Not those bipedal machines, but tripedal machines (TRIPOD)."

In theory, bipedal automata were simply servants created by Vulcan for the gods, primarily responsible for serving tea and water on Mount Olympus—which is exactly what they did in practice.

Because it was designed as a servant, bipedal machines do not require any physical strength other than serving tea and water; they only require exquisite skills.

This is also the fundamental reason why the development of the Colombian Automaton Nation has its limits—these automatons themselves have little combat capability. Anyone who wants to destroy them can easily dismantle their physical bodies. Moreover, these automatons do not harbor any hostility towards humans, so their power is not used by humans, or at least will not cause any irreparable harm.

But the tripod is different—it is a true automaton belonging to Vulcan himself. In other words, it is an assistant that Vulcan created for himself.

The tripod wasn't designed for serving tea and water, but for work. Vulcan's forging work was mostly done by his tripod. In other words, the tripod was the assistant that held Vulcan's forging hammer.

Once the Colombian Automaton nation begins using tripods, it signifies that they have begun to break through the barriers of creation and embark on great engineering projects on their own.

—In fact, they had already begun. Under Shangluo's orders, the chef did indeed create some three-legged machines to fulfill Shangluo's needs. These were primarily for space applications, as the three-legged machines' structure, resembling an octopus, allowed them to perfectly adapt to the weightless environment of space.

The experimental space station, or rather, the dock, that was built last time was mainly constructed using a three-legged machine.

Because the head chef had completed all the work, the people of Shangluo were no different from those at a summer camp – or rather, they were more like space tourists who paid a high price just to take a trip inside the space station.

Currently, since the Lianshan spacecraft is completed, most of the personnel in that space station have been evacuated. However, many people are still inside performing monitoring tasks. The difficulty of those tasks is still within the scope of the summer camp; it mainly involves monitoring the space station and compiling data.

Allowing the Colombian Automata to wield the forging hammer is, for the sake of it, a loosening of their functions.

This wasn't out of trust. After all, Shangluo's impression of them had never changed—they were excellent tools, capable of performing outstanding work for a good purpose. However, such trust alone wasn't enough for Shangluo to loosen the noose around their necks.

The real reason Shangluo agreed was that he had become stronger, and so had the imperial court. Even if they caused trouble, the court could completely handle the problems brought by these automatons. For now, everything was under control. After all, the Colombian Automaton Nation had another insurmountable underlying code: they employed Gestalt consciousness, not a large group of commanding automatons operating independently. The dominant force in this was the chef's consciousness.

The automata's capabilities have their limits, and they are also constrained by distance. This balances with the current strength of the imperial court—Shangluo loosens the noose, allowing the Colombian automaton nation to operate autonomously and improve its efficiency. However, if any signs of impending disaster are detected, Shangluo will use the head chef to halt their operations.

This balance is currently being maintained.

"Looking back now, I was really prescient. I had them start building the three-legged machines ahead of time, and now they're working for me."

"That makes things easier." Zhu Xianxi breathed a sigh of relief. "So, you can find those three-legged machines and forge the Spear of Dionysus?"

"If they can't do it, I don't think anyone else can."

As mentioned earlier, the true divine artifacts in Greek mythology were all forged by the god of fire.

Zeus's spear of lightning, Poseidon's trident, Hades' crown of invisibility, and so on. If Shangluo also wanted a divine artifact, then all he needed was the workshop of the God of Fire.

"So, senior brother, they've also installed automated machines in the capital, right?"

"You should be able to find it if you go now. They opened a free bakery, and business has been pretty good lately."

While it's true that "free" things can't be considered business, the automatic machine business has indeed been developing steadily in Japan recently.

With the court's permission, they began distributing bread. It was mainly baked bread, but based on their previous assessment, they also started making steamed buns.

"By the way, senior brother, what's their reputation like lately?"

"Not bad, I guess." Zhu Xianxi thought for a moment. "Actually, we don't lack food. The main reason for keeping them here is to give them some work to do—and people won't be picky about free things."

He pointed to the flatbread in front of him: "This is not unusual. In Egypt, flatbread costs 33 pieces for one dollar, which is practically free."

"So, do many people go to eat there?"

"There don't seem to be many. Why don't you go and take a look? There's one right outside the Grand Palace."

Shangluo left Zhu Xianxi's dining room.

Since the target he was looking for was right at the door, he might as well go and check on the current status of the automaton.

However, just as he stepped out of Zhu Xianxi's dining room, Fu Yuanshan, who was making a phone call at the door, suddenly noticed something strange—or rather, two strange things. He felt as if two oddly shaped dumplings were very close to him, as if they were on Shang Luo.
"WTF?"

(End of this chapter)