Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1730 Madness
The Greeks were terrifying when they went mad. Simple lovemaking between men and women was not a release from their repressions. As Shangluo knew, what they wanted to see was something much more exciting—tearing apart live cattle, or even tearing apart live people.

The ritual of tearing apart a live bull during the sacrifice of Dionysus was not only due to religious necessity, but also because the act of tearing apart a live bull was inherently entertaining, much like the Romans' fondness for gladiatorial combat. Since the Greeks generally didn't have such entertainment, the act of tearing apart a live bull, and even a live person, became a regular, traditional performance.

Sometimes it starts with tearing apart a live bull, but then they randomly grab a spectator and start tearing them apart. In mythology, this ritual was performed by the madwoman Mnads, the goddess of wine.

“So,” Phaethon thought for a moment, “if you also want to have it, why not learn from Zeus? Humans have several selves, right? Biological instincts are in the deeper self, while higher-level personalities influenced by society are exposed. You can bind your higher-level personality to the Dionysian Spear, and then shield them both, leaving only your instincts.”

"Hey, are you serious? If I don't want to be rational, what's the point of living? I don't want to become like Zeus."

While you may not want to become Zeus, some people certainly do want to be Hera.

“Oh dear,” Phaethon shook his head, “what a pity you didn’t fall for it.”

"Are you kidding me? How could I possibly fall for that? Would you come if it were you?"

"So what if I really come? Do you dare let me take it?"

"Let's forget it." Shang Luo covered his forehead. "You seem to have a criminal record. You almost crashed your plane when we first met."

"Tsk, not bad memory."

"So this plan won't work." Although it won't work, it made Shangluo realize the dangers of divine authority.

The problem arises because finite consciousness cannot contain infinite information.

"So, is there a Plan B?" Shangluo asked. "Is there any safer alternative?"

"Yes," Apollonia replied. "Actually, there are quite a few god-kings like Zeus, but not all of them go mad like Zeus. There are solutions that don't involve going mad."

"for example?"

[Take Odin, for example. Odin had a similar experience; he also possessed a spear of lightning. And unlike Zeus, Odin actively sought to acquire it.]

Because Norse mythology is always underpinned by an apocalyptic crisis—the Norse people originally lived in harsh, icy environments. They often struggled on the brink of death due to the extreme cold, and sometimes, if the environment deteriorated even slightly, or if the snow became just a foot deeper, they could have perished in the winter forever.

Therefore, in Norse mythology, Odin naturally also took precautions against the coming of the end of the world, also known as Ragnarok.

What happened next is clear—Odin, in order to gain the knowledge to change the end times, pierced himself with a branch of the World Tree, hanging upside down for seven days and seven nights, bleeding profusely, before finally obtaining the knowledge. The branch that pierced him thus became Odin's lightning spear.

But Odin did not attempt to harness the boundless knowledge through his own will; instead, he employed a roundabout method:

He left one of his eyes in the fountain of wisdom. In this way, whenever he needed knowledge, he could acquire it without affecting himself, simply by using the part of his body he had left behind.

Of course, this is different from Zeus's situation—Zeus completely devoted himself to the power of the god-king, using his own madness to avoid truly going insane. Odin, to avoid truly going completely mad, only left a small part of himself unimmersed. This is more like Achilles' situation. When Achilles was immersed in the River Styx, he also left his ankles unimmersed. Because immersing them completely would mean certain death, leaving a small piece allowed him to maintain his status as a living person; this could be considered a kind of plot hole.

Odin's omniscience also operates through bugs. However, judging from the trajectory of the myth, Odin's efforts are in vain. This program, which relies on bugs, is not smooth, meaning that the more Odin tries to guard against the apocalypse, the closer he gets to it, because his actions are fundamentally based on everything he knows.

“This is really difficult,” Shangluo pondered. “It’s just like nuclear fusion. I have to compress this enormous energy so that I don’t get overwhelmed—oh right, Miss Apollonia.”

【what? 】

"Is that why you're so clumsy?"

[None of your business!]

"Tsk, I knew it, didn't I?"

[To try and control infinite divine power with limited consciousness—you'll have to choose between being a saint and a fool; either be a hermit or a fool.]

"I don't want to be either. I want to be an immortal, not a weirdo."

Therefore, we need to refine it properly.

Grab it in one swift motion and refine it instantly. It sounds simple, but when such a powerful artifact is actually placed before you, refining it is never a simple matter.

"What should we do?" Shangluo pondered. "If I can't even control one, how can I control three?"

He pondered for a while but couldn't figure it out: "Apollonia, what's your plan?"

No. That's all I know. After all, you can't find this kind of thing by searching online.

“Actually,” Faetong suddenly said, “you may not be able to control one Shangluo, but you can control three.”

"What's the point of this?"

"You should be able to figure this out yourself, you don't need to ask me, after all you are from Zhen Dan. In terms of alchemy, when using medicine, there must be a combination of ingredients, right? Some medicines are too potent, they can kill people if taken directly, so other things are needed to neutralize their medicinal properties."

"Ah! Shangluo, what did your senior brother say when he gave you this golden core?"

"He said," Shangluo slapped his forehead as he thought of that sentence, "That's right, he also said, 'This can't be eaten, there's all sorts of random things in it.' I didn't expect it to come true here."

So, this makes sense—divine authority alone is difficult to control. Zeus ate himself into madness, and Odin couldn't develop resistance even by reducing the dosage. The correct approach is refining: refining doesn't mean refining a single ingredient, but combining multiple materials to neutralize their individual toxicities and unleash their full medicinal potential. Ah, so that's why the three golden staffs need to be combined to achieve immortality. Because each one individually is too dangerous; combining them creates perfection.

(End of this chapter)