The meeting had been going on for half an hour. A military map was projected on the screen in front of the wall, with an area marked in heavy colors.
After Vanel stood in front of the map and explained with a smile, several superpowers in the room showed strange smiles on their faces.
"...So, our mission is not a so-called rescue mission, but an exploration mission, right?"
In the conference room, Orderer Bonfrey said these words softly with his gentle voice and aristocratic tone.
Then, the entire conference room fell into silence.
All the ability users present, except for the newcomer Ryoko Sato, are experienced ability users in the underground world and have rich experience in accepting entrusted tasks.
Even before arriving, everyone already had their own guesses.
This task has been on the website for so long!
If it is a rescue mission, we should assemble and go as quickly as possible. How can we release the mission so slowly and select people slowly?
In fact, everyone already has the answer in their mind.
"Please don't get me wrong, that was false information deliberately released to ensure the concealment of this mission." Varnell also explained calmly: "I believe everyone can understand."
"So, what is there in this area that is worthy of the octopus monster... well, worthy of the "Magical World Company" going through so much trouble and spending such a huge price to find a group of us to search together?"
The professor asked a question in everyone's mind in a slow voice.
Vanel stood up, then turned on the computer, and the image projected on the screen changed from the map to the next page...
The picture turned into several black and white photos that looked very old!
In the photo, a Caucasian man wearing a field shirt common to tropical expedition personnel stood there, looking at the camera with a stern expression.
In the photo, behind this man is a strange building with a slightly blurred outline.
The top shows a sharp angle, and further to the side there are shadowy buildings...
"In 1915, the British explorer Mr. John Stirling was the gentleman in the photo.
During an expedition in the Brazilian Amazon, he discovered a strange place that he called in his notes...the ruins of the gods."
Varnell explained in a calm voice:
"The so-called relics of the gods have similar records in all the major civilizations around the world. The Egyptian pyramids, the Greek Olympia, the Nordic Odin pantheon, and even Eastern China... and in South America, according to
Ancient civilization..."
"Aztec? Maya? Inca?" The professor smiled.
Varnell glanced at the professor: "Professor, you are an expert in archeology. I think you must know a lot about this."
The professor took off his glasses and wiped them, then put them back on, squinting and staring at the photos on the projection for a while.
"It looks like the Pyramid of the Sun and Moon, but...it's very strange." The professor's eyes became serious, and he showed a look of interest.
"How do you say it?" Gray cat Blake couldn't help but ask.
The professor thought for a while, then sat there and looked at several other people present.
"I think even people who don't understand history know something about the ancient civilizations of Central and South America, such as the Aztecs, the Mayans, and the Inca Empire."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Even if you don’t study history in this area, ordinary people have some general understanding of these things under the impact and radiation of various novels, movies and other cultural and entertainment products over the years.
But what I want to explain is that the so-called Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas... are actually three different civilizations."
The professor was thinking about his words and said slowly: "Although they flourished at different times and were in different regions, they both belong to the ancient civilizations of Central and South America, and their cultures and religions have many similarities because of their common origins.
So...for a long time, many ordinary people have not been able to figure out the differences between these three civilizations."
After looking at the expressions on everyone's faces, the professor seemed to smile: "Okay, I won't say much about historical science.
Let me just tell you what I think is strange.
Let’s talk about the Inca civilization first. In fact, the Inca civilization has always been limited to the west coast of South America and has not really crossed the Andes on a large scale.
Their development has always been vertical expansion from north to south, not horizontally! Because blocking them to the right is an 8,000-kilometer-long Andes Mountains!
Therefore, until the Inca Empire fell, they only occupied the west coast of South America.
That is, parts of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.
Note that it is still far away from the area marked on the map we just saw!
The search area just marked is the Amazon Basin in Brazil, and it goes deep into the hinterland of South America.
Throughout its entire life, the Inca civilization never expanded its civilization here on a large scale.
Then let’s talk about the Mayans and the Aztecs, which is even weirder!
The Maya actually preceded the Aztecs. To be precise, the Aztecs were the successors of the Maya. One came first and the other came last.
But what I want to explain is that the areas where these two civilizations flourished are only in modern Mexico!
Central America!
The core area of civilization was near what is now Mexico City.
You see, it is also far away from the area we want to explore!
What I want to explain is that whether it is the Inca Empire, Mayan civilization, or Aztec civilization...
These three major civilizations have never been able to conquer the hinterland of South America throughout their lives!
The so-called three major civilizations of South America did not unify South America and then control the entire South America as everyone thought...
No, that's not the case!
Throughout their lives, they actually occupied only a very small part of South America, some corners.
The area we are searching for is the middle section of the Amazon River basin in Brazil. This place belongs to the hinterland of South America...here, according to the history I have learned, no large-scale ancient civilization city-states have appeared!
Let’s look at this photo again!
Behind the explorer in the photo is obviously a large group of buildings!
Typical South American pyramid!
There are a lot of buildings in the distance!
A building complex of this size must be built with developed productivity, a large population gathering... and a prosperous civilization!
I'm sorry, gentlemen and ladies, as far as the history I have learned...
This photo subverted my understanding!
It is impossible for such a huge ancient civilized city to have existed in this area!"
Having said this, the professor looked at Vanel, shook his head and said: "If this photo was not taken out by someone from the reputable Octopus Monster website... I have seen this kind of photo elsewhere, I will definitely think it is
Counterfeit.”
"...Please call us 'Magical World Company', Mr. Professor." Varnell sighed helplessly.
Chen Nuo understood.
What the professor means is simple. The building complex in the photo appears where it shouldn't.
To make an analogy...
It's like saying that someone discovered a Great Wall built by Chinese civilization in Afghanistan...
This is ridiculous.
Because the ancient Chinese civilization did not cover that area at all.
Even if you discover it and take photos on the spot to show others.
Others will only think that you didn’t take the photo in Afghanistan at all, but you took it in Badaling, the capital!
·
"On behalf of the company, I can assure you that this photo is real!" Varnell said in a serious tone:
"Mr. John Stirling, the man in the photo, received funding from several private capitals in Britain and Europe in 1915 to conduct this unknown expedition.
After he returned, he compiled his adventure diary into a book for publication.
But... precisely because of the doubts mentioned by the professor just now, his trip, discoveries, and his diary were considered to be a scam by his European colleagues.
No one was willing to publish and distribute his diary. At the same time, the explorer's reputation was also tarnished. Many people believed that he simply went elsewhere to take these photos, and then lied about discovering these things in the east of Brazil.
.
Everyone thinks this is a scam.
But this poor Mr. John Sterling failed to bring back other more favorable evidence and items.
Moreover, it was just during the First World War.
Whether among the people or academia, no one has the interest or experience to focus on the adventure experience of this unknown explorer...
Everyone is paying attention to the war!
Although the explorer returned from his adventure alive, he died of illness the second year after returning to London."
"I need proof." The professor shook his head and said, "Sorry, archaeological science is rigorous! I can't just listen to what you say and believe in such weird things!
What I have learned throughout my life tells me that there was no ancient South American civilization that flourished in this area!”
"Okay, the next photo can answer your questions to a certain extent." Varnell smiled.
The next photo was quickly turned up!
In the photo, there is a leaf. This dried leaf is sandwiched in a notebook with a leather cover.
"This is Mr. John Sterling's adventure notebook, and the leaf you see is included in the notebook he brought back."
Varnell looked at the professor: "Professor, what do you think?"
The professor stared at the photo on the screen for a moment, then suddenly stood up, strode forward, walked to the screen, and stared at the photo at close range for a long time.
Finally, the old man took a deep breath, the expression on his face was extremely surprised, and then he slowly turned his head and glanced at Vanel.
"...I believe it! I have no problem anymore."
·
Everyone stared at the professor, and after the professor walked back to his seat, his expression still looked thoughtful.
After a few seconds, the professor looked up and found that everyone was looking at him. He smiled bitterly and shook his head: "This... this is really an unexplainable miracle..."
"Professor, you'd better explain it to everyone. Among us, you are the only expert in this field."
The person who spoke was the orderer Bonfrey, who had the best relationship with the professor among the people present.
"Well, this leaf is a plant named..."
The professor said several very peculiar syllables.
He thought for a while, shook his head and said: "I won't go into details anymore, you can understand it just by saying this.
This plant itself is not very common, and its growth and distribution area is not large. It only grows in the east of Brazil!
This leaf can prove that this explorer did go to eastern Brazil!"
After a pause, the professor continued: "At the same time, based on the size of the leaves, we can determine the growth stage of the plant. From the size of this leaf, we can infer that when the explorer picked this leaf, he happened to be in
When the plant is not yet mature, it has not yet reached the flowering stage.
Based on this, we can roughly judge that the time when he arrived in eastern Brazil can be narrowed down to a specific season or even a month!
This leaf can bring two pieces of information: location, and time!
These can prove that he did go to a relatively specific area in eastern Brazil at a specific time."
After a few seconds of silence, Chen Nuo suddenly spoke.
"Isn't it possible that this explorer was a liar who deliberately went to eastern Brazil to pick a leaf and then went to Mexico to take photos of the Mayan pyramids?
And then come back to lie to people?"
After Chen Nuo's words came out, several other ability users nodded, showing the same doubts.
"It's not very likely." The professor thought for a while and said, "Mr. Harvey, it was 1915, and there were many dangers in transportation and material collection, which could endanger lives.
All technical conditions are not as developed as they are now.
An explorer traveled thousands of miles to come to South America, spent a huge amount of money and investment, and risked his life... It is impossible that he came just to fabricate such a bizarre scam. The possibility is very small."
Chen Nuo nodded and stopped talking.
Varnell smiled and said: "Okay, let's let Mr. Professor take a break first, and let's continue."
As he spoke, Varnell smiled and said: "There is another piece of evidence that can prove the authenticity of this matter.
After we got this photo, we used the computer database to compare all the photos of the pyramids and building complexes in South America that are currently known and discovered!
Through computer search and comparison reference...
We came to a conclusion.
That is, this pyramid and building complex photographed by Mr. John Stirling, and all the pyramids and ancient civilization building complexes in South America that we now know and have discovered...
None match!
Through computer retrieval and determination, the highest similarity is no more than 63%!
This means that the place in the photo is, with a high probability, an ancient ruin that has not yet been discovered! And the purpose of our trip is... to find this ruin!"
This last inflammatory remark did not receive a response from everyone present.
"Why did you find this place? What is the value of this place that requires you to spend such a huge price to invite us to complete this mission?"
The speaker is the golden bird, Eliza.
The old lady had been listening silently with a stern look on her face. Now she suddenly spoke, her voice a little harsh.
"...And if it's just a general exploration and search for ancient ruins, you can just find an expedition team or an archaeological team.
Is it necessary to find us supernatural beings?
Or is it that there are any big dangers in this trip, or situations that ordinary people are unable to handle and cannot solve, that we need to use those of us with abilities?"
The golden bird’s question hit the nail on the head right away!
Varnell sighed.
He did not answer directly, but slowly controlled the computer to turn the pages...
A new photo appeared on the screen.
The photo is a page from a notebook.
There were a few lines of text written in very scrawled notes on it.
Everyone recognizes the symbols of those letters, including Chen Nuo.
but……
"Eh? What is this?" Chen Nuo frowned and said, "Why can't you read it?"
I know every letter, but when put together, they are completely unfamiliar words.
Everyone here, except Ryoko Sato, has mastered at least two or three different languages!
The letters in the photo are clearly English letters, and there are even some Spanish letters.
But the problem is, when you put them together, you don’t recognize every word!
Chen Nuo stared at the screen for a while, his mouth moving slowly, as if he was trying to pronounce each letter on it, trying to put the letters together and pronounce the pronunciation...
Suddenly, something clicked in his heart! An idea came to his mind...
But Chen Nuo did not speak, but looked at the "Professor" who was recognized as a knowledgeable person among everyone present!
The professor's eyes flickered, obviously thinking of something.
His expression suddenly changed!
“These recorded words are neither English nor Spanish!” the professor shouted loudly: “He used English letters and Spanish letters as phonetic symbols!!
He encountered a language he didn't recognize!
And because I don’t understand the language, I can only use the language I know as phonetic symbols to record the pronunciation!!”
Chen Nuo nodded, this guess was the same as what he was thinking.
Just like...a Chinese who doesn't understand English.
Suddenly I encountered the temptation of thank you.
If you don’t understand English, you have to write it down again.
What to do?
You can write: three grams of oil.
·
With this idea in mind, everyone began to try to pronounce this text using the English letters and Spanish letters they knew, and using these sounds as phonetic symbols.
Several people are trying it, and everyone has different ideas, but overall, they are 70% to 80% the same.
"Professor, do you know this language?" Chen Nuo took the initiative to look at Professor Junker.
The professor read it several times, shook his head and said, "I don't know it, but I can probably tell that the pronunciation is very similar to 'Yucathon'."
After a pause, the professor said sternly: "This 'Yukatun language' is actually a variant of the ancient Mayan language that has been passed down for thousands of years.
This language is no longer spoken by many people. It is only spoken by the locals in the Yucatan Peninsula in South America in the world, and it is rarely spread.
But this pronunciation is just similar to Yucatan, but it seems to be different...
Could it be another...ancient Mayan language?!"
Ancient Mayan language?
This is interesting!
How could this British explorer record a line of ancient Mayan language in his notebook?
And obviously he himself doesn't understand ancient Mayan! Otherwise, English letters would not be used to mark the pronunciation.
"Could it be that...this John Sterling brought a guide, and this guide was from Yucatan?"
It was the gray cat Blake who asked the question.
"Impossible!" The professor immediately shook his head: "The Yucatan area is thousands of kilometers away from eastern Brazil!"
Chen Nuo also shook his head.
If you are traveling to the Great Wall, there is no reason to go to Guangdong and hire someone to be your guide.
"Besides, this is not the Yucatan language! It's just a bit like it! But the pronunciation is older... the pronunciation of some syllables is weirder... I doubt this is the real ancient Mayan language!"
The professor shook his head.
·
Chen Nuo suddenly laughed.
It's just that the sound of his laughter was not loud, but it was a bit weird.
"Everyone, didn't you find an interesting place?"
Chen Nuo opened his mouth and attracted everyone's attention. He slowly lit a cigarette for himself, then held the cigarette between his fingertips and said slowly: "This explorer who recorded this 'ancient Maya' language,
Mr. John Sterling.
Under what circumstances did he ‘encounter’ this ancient Mayan phrase?”
As he spoke, Chen Nuo took a puff of cigarette, and then the smile on his face gradually faded and became serious.
"If there are any murals discovered or written texts...
He doesn't have to use English or Spanish letters to mark phonetic symbols and pronunciations!
He can take pictures directly and just record the text characters!
However, he recorded it in this way of ‘pronunciation’. Why?
Because, he didn’t ‘see’ this sentence!
But... what I heard!!"
Everyone has changed color!
Not what you see!
But heard!
Only when you hear a sentence in a language you don't understand will you subconsciously record the pronunciation in a language you understand!
If you "see" it, you can just take a photo or write characters!
Then the problem comes!
An ancient relic!
In the ruins of an ancient civilization!
Then how could "someone" "speak" an ancient Mayan language to him?
There was no phonograph in ancient times! There was no recording!
And how could there still be living people in a ruins?
So, who "said" this ancient Mayan sentence to him?
suddenly!
Snap!!!!
There was a muffled sound in the room! It was right next to Chen Nuo!
Everyone immediately turned around and looked!
I saw Sato Ryoko sitting there, holding a bag of potato chips that had just been opened, and a chubby hand was taking out the potato chips to put into his mouth...
Sato Ryoko, who was stared at by everyone, was a little at a loss. He hesitated for a moment, with a look of distress and reluctance on his face. He motioned the bag of potato chips forward and whispered in Japanese:
"Potato chips... do you want to eat them?"
Everyone: “…………”
Chen Nuo sighed, but kindly reached out his hand, took out a potato chip from the bag and threw it into his mouth.
"Miss Liangzi, you still want to eat snacks." Chen Nuo said with a smile.
Sato Ryoko stammered in reply, with a very aggrieved tone: "You guys, I can't even understand what you are saying... It's too boring to sit here..."