Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1736 The Punishment of Falling from Heaven
This is incoherent even in terms of memory; his self-perception wouldn't be that of a single person—it's like if someone loses their memory once a day, they'd be dying every day. If someone loses their memory every time they sleep, then even giving them sleeping pills would be equivalent to killing them once.

In other words, stripping someone of their memories is tantamount to killing them. But this killing has a time limit; it's a "short-term death sentence." Because as long as the memories are restored, the continuity of that person's life will be restored, and their memories of themselves will become coherent again.

However, if self-awareness has already been formed, while this does indeed ensure the return of continuity, can a person still accept these suddenly entering memories?

If someone was a bad person before losing their memory, but their nature wasn't inherently bad, and they became a bad person due to circumstances, and then after losing their memory, they become a good person again—and then the memories of being a bad person and their sins slowly return—then this obviously creates two completely different life circumstances, and might even lead to a new form of mental breakdown.

If we extend this question further, it can be extended to "how to reconcile the relationship between the true self and the incarnation," which is the issue of cultivating immortality.

"Good heavens," Shang Luo pondered for a moment, "This is actually equivalent to...being banished to the mortal realm?"

Shangluo thought of the mythical tales where gods who broke heavenly rules were cast back into the cycle of reincarnation. Their lives in the mortal world remained in a state of ignorance, unaware that they were still immortals. Only when their term was over, or when they successfully cultivated again, could they return to their divine positions.

“I see.” Victoria nodded. “So this kind of thing exists in mythology too—so this is the punishment for falling from grace.”

This is undeniably terrifying. As Shangluo previously stated, this is essentially a death sentence, albeit a fixed-term one, allowing the victim to die briefly and then be brought back to life.

However, this could indeed be considered a form of therapy, given the extremely painful memories associated with this experience. Even as they were speaking, the Roman soldiers were still howling. If left unchecked, the trauma wouldn't just affect their surface consciousness; their deeper, more subconscious selves could suffer irreversible damage.

“Sigh.” Shang Luo shook his head. “There’s nothing I can do. I’m the King of Rome, after all. Even traitors, spies, warlords, rebels, and ambitious schemers are still our citizens. I should still provide them with humanitarian aid.”

Although such rescue is no different from punishment, the act of rescue itself is tantamount to punishment.

"But then again, is there any legal basis for this?"

“Yes,” Victoria nodded. “During mental illness, if compulsory medical measures are taken and the medical facilities meet certain standards—such as depriving someone of their freedom during treatment—then under Roman law, such compulsory medical measures can be deducted from the sentence.”

After all, being forced into treatment in a mental hospital is far more terrifying than simply going to jail.

At least in prison you can go outside for fresh air, but mental hospitals used for compulsory medical treatment—like St. Elizabeth's Hospital—have a higher mortality rate than on the battlefield, and the sentences are indefinite; if you can't be cured, you can't get out.

“Alright.” Shangluo nodded. “They rebelled, and it wouldn’t be unreasonable to execute them. I’m giving them a combination of compulsory medical treatment and a fixed-term death sentence—the punishment of falling from heaven—which can be considered a mercy.”

After all, they did participate in the rebellion, and it would be reasonable to hang all those involved. But Shangluo intended to give them a chance; since they hadn't managed to kill even a single soldier of the royal army, whether or not to punish the rebellion to the fullest extent of the law was a political issue. This was something even a certain young general knew. "So, how about treating them according to the punishment for falling from heaven? That's not bad. But where to carry it out? Where would be a suitable place to imprison hundreds of mentally ill people?"

Victoria reviewed the possible locations—Rome currently has no suitable place to accommodate so many people.

After all, once their minds are cleansed, they will have to start their lives anew as ordinary people. Since a fixed-term death sentence has been decided upon, they should not be killed arbitrarily during the process, and their safety must be considered.

Executing seven or eight hundred people at once is too costly and not economically viable. Even serving them prison sentences wouldn't offset the cost.

Oh, right, I actually remember there's a place where you can make them fall from grace, and it's very convenient and quick to do so.

“Where?” Victoria asked.

[You might not know this, but there's a grotto-heaven in Shangluo, a tiny world within. Time flows 365 times faster than in reality; one day in heaven is a year on earth. So, if you imprison them there, they can complete a reincarnation cycle every 80 days on average. Imprisoning them for a year counts as imprisoning them for four lifetimes.]

80 days equals 80 years, which is already a very long lifespan. If the average lifespan is only 30 years, then one can complete 10 reincarnations in a year. But conversely, if one's lifespan is only 30 years for 10 consecutive lifetimes, then these 365 years of birth, aging, sickness, and death can be described as experiencing the most bitter circumstances in human life.

"Good heavens!" Shangluo also realized, "After they are locked up, their sentences will not be calculated by years, but by cycles, right?"

The punishment of "ten lifetimes of reincarnation" can still exist today. Moreover, the ten lifetimes spent in the inner cycle only last one or two years in the outside world.

[Moreover, we had actually planned to carry out the 'fallen from heaven punishment' before, but we just couldn't find anyone to carry it out—after all, we couldn't find anyone who had committed any sin that required ten lifetimes of reincarnation to punish them.]

After all, Shangluo wouldn't banish someone to the mortal realm to serve time just for breaking a glass lamp—if you were to count, Han Xingzhi would have been punished several times over.

“But things are different now,” Shangluo replied. “This is not just punishment, but also a medical treatment. Moreover, by accelerating the cycle at 365 times the flow rate, the medical efficiency is also increased by 365 times—it’s like a super medical pod in the mental realm.”

“Oh, how terrifying.” Victoria felt a chill run down her spine. “I don’t want to offend you—offending the Celestials is too terrible.”

"Then, the remaining issues are the details." Shang Luo pondered for a moment. "First, we must preserve their essence—using alchemy to preserve it. We need to refine their spiritual energy essence using alchemy. This ability to repeatedly resurrect is too overpowered. Sending them down is like giving them a cheat code to go to another world. We need to strip them of all their abilities to make them fall back into mortals. We can return these abilities to them after they've served their sentences. The first batch can be considered treatment; let's just let them reincarnate once. They can come back whenever they die in the lower realm."

(End of this chapter)