Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1116: The Fog in Edo

"In what way?"

"The Nagasaki Bugyo who came before me was the one who didn't listen to my advice. He came back on the third day after he left. He rode his own horse back from the road, just as he left. But anyone could see that he was already a corpse - his pupils were dilated, his face was torn and his limbs were missing. He was already a dead man. But that dead man came back just as he left."

"How did he come back???"

"On horseback, as I already said."

"But how can a dead man ride a horse?"

"There is a way to make the dead ride horses. This is their power."

"Then he, must have an 'end', right? How did he 'end'?"

"The rotten corpse rode on a rotten horse and paraded through the streets of Nagasaki. People who saw it closed their shops and retreated to their homes. They were all terrified. The dead man walked back to the Nagasaki Bugyo's office, dismounted at the gate, knelt on the spot, and cut off his own head with a knife. Only then did he stop making any noise."

"And his horse?"

"His horse took the same path again and disappeared into the forest."

"What kind of day is this?! What should we do to get the old days back?!"

Neither Nagasaki Magistrate Mizuno nor the lord of Satsuma should be here. The Tokugawa shogunate originally implemented a system called "Sankin-kotai", which forced vassals to travel back and forth between their fiefdoms and Edo Castle, forcing them to consume on the road and in Edo Castle - this consumption consumed the strength of other feudal lords, and the Tokugawa family, as the largest feudal lord, could levy indirect taxes in various ways.

This invisible control is more effective than the previous visible supervision. Not only does it solve the cost, but many feudal lords also enjoy it like giving gifts, and are happy to show their luxury to the citizens, spending a lot of money on the "reputation" that does not exist in the void. Edo Castle is their stage, allowing everyone to have fun and play at ease.

But everything has changed. Ever since the thick fog descended on Edo, everything here is very different from before. No one has ever come out of Edo, and no one who has entered the thick fog can ever come back. The only way to communicate between the inside and outside of Edo is the train that can pass through the thick fog.

Trains were still used to exchange materials between Edo and other places. Trains went in and trains came out. Trains also brought orders, which were usually very brief, asking someone to go somewhere or hand in something. Including today's expedition, all came from such orders. And the only consequence of not obeying orders was death under strange secret techniques. No one was immune.

Without orders, no one could leave their territory. The Satsuma Domain had to stay in the Satsuma Domain and could not leave even a single step. The Nagasaki Magistrate also had to stay in his territory.

But what's interesting is that these restrictions seem to be only for these "vassals", and there are no restrictions on ordinary people. As for Edo, although there are rumors, ordinary people will never leave their birthplace in their lifetime, so of course they don't care about Edo.

"But we are also going to die!" Shimazu looked at the sea, "Over the years, we have sent people to contact them. We have used messenger ships and radios. But the messenger ships were all inexplicably blown back by the strong wind, and sending radios would lead to..."

"It will make the sender disappear, right?" Mizuno looked at him.

"you know too?"

"Because we have tried it over there. All attempts have failed - but the only thing we know is that if you follow orders, you won't die." "But what if it is such a 'die-inducing' order?"

"If you follow orders, you won't die. Only if we sail according to orders, we won't die. Maybe this is the way for us to get out. Edo must have its own intentions for asking us to do this."

Unconsciously, the two people's name for "Edo" has become something close to a "black box". What Edo is, it doesn't matter. What Edo has, it doesn't matter. Edo is an unclear monster, lurking in an invisible place. If you do what he says, you can live, if you don't, you will die.

But these rules do not apply to the common people. They are the only ones who are suppressed by terror. This is a horror game that only a few people can play. For them, the world has changed. But for the vast majority of people living on this island, everything is the same as before.

"If we go further south, we will reach the Ryukyu border."

"I know." Mizuno nodded. "Let's continue to head south. Maybe we can run into someone. In the past, these things were aimed at 'adults' like us. The occasional communication ship only had a few hundred people. This time, with such a large fleet going out, there will be a lot of people."

"Interesting." Shang Luo heard Fu Yuanshan's message, "So General Fu, you are staying?"

"In a flowerpot. A clever trick of the Royal Guards."

“So this is the situation in Japan now?”

"It looks like someone is using witchcraft to establish a reign of terror." Fu Yuanshan shook his head. "It sounds like Xu Fu?"

"It's probably him. This is just right, as it saves me from looking for him. He is probably in Edo Castle now. But this is really funny. It sounds like he only targets the nobles and doesn't care about the common people. As long as everyone lives their own way, it means nothing has happened?"

"So Shangluo, I'm still in the flowerpot. Should I jump out and send them to the sky?"

"Wait a minute. But when did you get on board?"

"They didn't know they were out of the border. I encountered them in the waters of Ryukyu. Anyway, this does look like Xu Fu's doing. It seems that the 'big formation' mentioned by the Dragon Palace has now been reversed to deal with their own people. I wonder what would happen if I touched that 'border' again."

"Do you want to try it?"

"Xu Fu. It's not impossible to try. But I plan to play with them first. Since Xu Fu's killing methods are everywhere, they must be distributed on this ship. I will give you an answer after I walk around the ship."

"Then you have to be careful, we don't know Xu Fu's cultivation level yet."

"Don't worry. How can his pre-Qin alchemy, which has not changed for many years, defeat the cutting-edge modern Taoism? At that time, there was not even such a thing as the foundation-building stage and the golden elixir stage. He is no match for me. I have the blessing of my master. If there is any problem, my master will come down to save me. How can I be afraid of this old antique?"

(End of this chapter)