Lu Mingfei, become the king of gambling in dungeons!

"Upon arriving at the tomb, the truth quickly proved us wrong. The gold coffins were genuine, and there were far more than one displayed in the crypt, arranged like artifacts in the Magnificent Palace Museum... The age was also unquestionable; these were truly relics of a civilization from thousands of years ago, exquisitely crafted as if they had just been forged yesterday. The crypt itself was like the final resting place of a monarch, with an astonishingly large space."

"Time seems to not exist in the cave, which makes it all the more strange. It is too complete and too exquisite. It is definitely not something that should exist in the ancient civilizations of Central Asia and West Asia. Neither the Parihat civilization nor the Sumerian civilization could smelt gold like this."

When Lao Tang finished speaking, even Lu Mingfei, an outsider, could tell that something was off.

It's something that couldn't have been built by ancient people. Doesn't this sound like the legend that the Great Pyramid of Giza was built by aliens?

While pondering, Lu Mingfei tore open a bag of ketchup and squeezed some onto the pancake for dinner. He thought of the knowledge that Chu Zihang Caesar had once popularized: the shadow of dragons is hidden in the history of every human civilization.

Humanity has written one history without dragons, but in another history, dragons are present in every line.

Dragons have never gone far away, and they will surely return one day.

At the very end of that twilight, the black dragon will raise its membranous wings that blot out the sky, and it will bite off the roots of the World Tree Yggdrasil, just as in the myth.

Looking down, Lu Mingfei was speechless. It wasn't that he was worried about the fate of humanity; it was that he had squeezed too much ketchup onto his fingers while he was distracted.

More heartbreaking than the thought of dragons reviving was the waste of tomato sauce was to him.

"...Mingming, wait a minute, let me Google it. I dropped out of high school and I'm not very educated, so I'm afraid I won't be able to express myself clearly."

"No rush, Lao Tang, just talk more about Norse mythology later." Sending a comforting little black bear emoticon, Lu Mingfei turned to the internet cafe owner and asked for two more packets of ketchup for free.

Less than ten minutes later, Lao Tang actually sent over a classical Chinese text.

"From Dayuan westward to Parthia, although the languages ​​of the countries differ somewhat, their customs are largely the same, and they understand each other's languages. The people there all have deep-set eyes, many with long beards, are skilled in trading, and haggle over every penny… They do not know how to mint coins. When Han envoys and deserters surrendered, they were taught to forge other weapons. They readily used any Han gold and silver they obtained to make utensils…"

Lu Mingfei slowly typed out three question marks.

What's going on? Dude, are you, a Chinese American, going to give me a Chinese language lesson?

Fortunately, Lao Tang had no intention of keeping people in suspense and quickly typed out his intention.

"This passage comes from the 'Book of Han, Chapter on the Western Regions,' which was sent to me by a friend who went into the tomb. It refers to an exchange between the Han Empire and the Central Asian civilization of the same period. The phrase 'unable to cast coins' describes the Central Asian civilization at that time, a region that had developed a high level of metallurgy around 2000 BC, yet two thousand years later needed other powerful countries to teach and help them with casting."

I don't quite understand. Where were these Central Asian civilizations located back then? I only know that the Han Dynasty often elbowed those guys in the Western Regions... In despair, Zhang Yulu Mingfei pondered for a moment and then typed out the possibility of cultural loss. He then opened Baidu.

"The casting of that golden coffin even surpassed the level of modern craftsmanship. Even if the technique were lost, it wouldn't be lost this much. People can get Alzheimer's, and civilization can naturally regress, but it's like dropping ranks in a game. Well... let's use levels to say it. You can drop from level 30 to level 20, but can you drop from the maximum level to level 20?"

"Unless that level or rank was never originally yours."

Old Tang typed faster and faster, as if he had mastered some kind of rhythm. Lu Mingfei could imagine his trembling fear and gritted teeth even through the screen.

"I searched on Hunter websites and found that it's generally believed that a primitive civilization skilled in using high temperatures and forging metals once existed in Central Asia around 2000 AD. Theologians believe that a civilization of this caliber wouldn't need a highly complete secondary civilization, unless it was an individual rather than a 'cluster,' and an ancient god related to metallurgy ruled the Parihat civilization. This would be an ancient epic of gods and their servants."

"Only between nations can there be relatively equal technological exchanges and cultural assistance. But masters will only give tools they don't value to their servants to do their work. When masters stop giving tools, the tools and techniques will naturally be lost."

The gods who control smelting... Lu Mingfei was impressed but didn't understand, and straightened his back.

According to Chu Zihang and his group's theory, dragons and deities seem to have a high degree of overlap in their ecological niches in reality.

The four kings of the dragon race, especially the first generation, would undoubtedly be near-gods if placed in ancient times.

King of Bronze and Fire, King of the Ocean and Water, King of the Sky and Wind, King of the Earth and Mountains.

The one that fits this description seems to be... the King of Bronze and Fire?

Lu Mingfei randomly chose a name based on the literal meaning of the king's name. He didn't know much about dragon kings, so he wasn't very confident.

Logically speaking, someone named King of Bronze and Fire shouldn't be someone who can't play with bronze or fire, right? This is as absurd as someone named Rukawa Kaede who can't play basketball.

"However, there are too many strange things in our line of work. Who would turn down money? At that time, there wasn't much internet for seeking help and investigation, so we chose to open the coffins one by one."

Old Tang paused for a moment, and QQ displayed "typing", but it took quite a while for the words to be typed out.

"Afterwards, everyone in the tomb... except me, knelt down devoutly and murmured, calling this place 'Odense,' a name derived from the Old Danish 'Odins Vi,' meaning 'Odin's Temple.'"

"This place already has an owner; it is owned land."

"Then I witnessed something I will never forget, something that should only exist in the Bible or the Mahabharata."

Old Tang paused once, seemingly hesitant about whether to tell the last part.

"Forget about this story, Mingming. It's my fault for bringing it up with you."

"Sometimes I just like to make up stories, hahaha."

"..."

"Riddler, get out of Gotham." Lu Mingfei gestured with his chin and sent a game invitation. Since Old Tang suddenly didn't want to tell the whole story, he naturally didn't press him for details, at most giving Old Tang a good beating in StarCraft.

He, Lu Mingfei, is not petty at all.

"Here, shall we cut a plate?"

"Alright, let's settle this with one game."

After the billion plates were cut, the gray sky above Berlin Airport fell into a drowsy slumber, and the retro street walls outside the floor-to-ceiling windows were edged with a slightly yellowish hue.

Old Tang rubbed his dark circles.

Next to the airport is the famous "Unter den Linden," or more accurately, Unter den Linden, a green ribbon in the architectural complex.

The street was built by Frederick William the Great, and the name "Under the Linden Tree" is a beautiful misinterpretation that has spread overseas, and it is more widely known in East Asian countries than the original name.

This place was once the heart of imperialist Berlin. The opera house, the Royal Library, and Humboldt University once echoed with the sounds of Prussia's new military bugle call. During the Cold War, the university on Unter den Linden and Brandenburg were transferred to East Berlin, which was supported by the Soviet Union. The crushed hegemony came to an end.

After putting his laptop away in his black briefcase, Old Tang finished recording his information at gate B20 of Berlin Brandenburg Airport. He was heading back to his small rented apartment in Brooklyn, unable to suppress the elation of having completed his mission.

I have a feeling like I've gotten myself into a really big mess...

What he told Lu Mingfei were all things he had experienced in reality, but he didn't mention the parts that truly horrified him. He really wanted to confide in someone, but he still had the self-control that a hunter should have.

He posted his abridged account of the experience on the paranormal forum under the Hunter website, seeking help and increasing the number of people who knew about it. In case... in case he was silenced, no one would ever silence the entire Hunter website.

This task is a trap. His intuition tells him that saying more might implicate his friend whom he has only known for a short time. He must not reveal the most crucial part about the audience.

Was he entrapped? But what qualifications does he have to be targeted?

If you're going to ask any of the great gods to intervene, please pay more attention to the wicked landlords and rich peasants, rather than to this lowly commoner.

Now that things have come to this, can hunter websites still be trusted...?

Alternatively, after completing one big deal, you could stop and spend the rest of your life either staying with friends on a farm in Kansas or visiting your homeland, which you've never even seen before.

"elder brother……"

The call in his ear startled Old Tang, who turned around in fright.