"An online book signing event, is that really possible?" Hearing the suggestion from the editor of Bloomsbury Publishing, Liang En showed a puzzled expression.
His confusion was simple to understand. In his impression, a book signing event involved sitting down and signing books for people who had purchased them, which naturally had to be done face-to-face.
So, Liang En was naturally skeptical about an online book signing event. To him, signing books without meeting the readers in person felt like cutting corners and could potentially damage his reputation.
"For others, it might not work, but for you, it should be fine," the editor thought for a moment and said. "After all, you're different from other authors. I believe your readers understand and appreciate your unique situation."
"And I think the most important point is that if you are willing to share a bit of your daily work with your readers, they won't be put off. Instead, they'll be even more interested in you."
"Your suggestion is indeed valuable," Liang En fell into deep thought after the editor finished speaking, but he quickly responded and agreed with the editor's idea.
In this age of the internet, where attention-grabbing is crucial, watching an author gradually uncover lost civilizations at an archaeological site was undoubtedly eye-catching and could bring significant benefits.
Moreover, this archaeological expedition was entirely public from the start, so there wouldn't be too many issues even if they conducted a live broadcast.
Thus, Liang En quickly reached an agreement with the publisher, agreeing to let them film his upcoming expedition, and he would cooperate as much as possible.
Of course, this cooperation was based on the premise that it wouldn't hinder the excavation work, as archaeology and treasure hunting were the most important to Liang En, and everything else was secondary.
To prepare for the live broadcast, Liang En, under the editor's suggestion, prepared some gifts: 200 signed copies of the deluxe edition of "Grimm's Fairy Tales," and 100 signed copies each of "The Terror" and his latest book "Dracula," to be given away in a lottery to viewers.
Achieving success in writing was naturally gratifying, but the biggest problem Liang En now faced was how to lead his entire team to the destination.
Although Liang En had roughly determined where the items came from through his cards, explaining his judgment to others was difficult.
However, what Liang En didn't expect was that the National Museum of Ireland provided the perfect excuse for their next step.
The museum, using the information provided by Liang En, communicated with the Greek authorities and obtained a series of information about the criminal gang involved.
Interestingly, although it was a criminal gang, they used their real names when entering Greece. For these criminals, the more fake identities they used, the more likely they were to make mistakes.
Through the investigation by Greek officials, the museum quickly learned that the gang was most likely operating in the Cyclades islands of Greece.
Although they could only confirm that the gang entered the island region and not the exact location of their excavation, professional historians could guess their activity range.
This was mainly because during the era when those copper ingots were produced and transported, human navigation skills were very low, and shipping routes were fixed. Thus, narrowing down the area significantly reduced the search space.
"We'll first fly to Athens, then take a boat to the Cyclades," a week later, sitting on a plane to Athens, Liang En explained the next steps to Fan Meng and Jeanne d'Arc.
"If all goes well, we'll use Santorini as our base for this search, so although we're here for excavation, we can also take the opportunity to relax."
Santorini is actually the name of a group of islands in the Aegean Sea, with the largest island called Santorini. Historians often refer to this island by its ancient city, Thira.
The origin of this ancient name is unclear. The Greek historian Herodotus said it came from a Spartan commander named Thiras, who commanded a colony on the island in the first millennium BC.
Before that, the island was called Kallistē, meaning "the most beautiful," according to Herodotus, named by the Phoenicians.
However, this could just be Herodotus's speculation, as the term is standard Greek, and it's unlikely the Phoenicians would use another language to name their territory.
Another legend says the island's earliest name was Strongyli, meaning "circular" in Greek. This is more likely because the island is a volcanic island and indeed circular.
Santorini consists of three small islands, two of which are inhabited, with a dormant volcano in the middle. Historically, there have been multiple volcanic eruptions here.
The most severe eruption occurred in the 16th or 17th century BC, causing a large collapse of the island's center, turning the originally circular island into a crescent shape.
Based on current studies, this eruption was four to five times more intense than the largest modern eruption at Krakatoa in Indonesia.
From Crete to Egypt and Turkey, many archaeologists and geologists have found pumice from this eruption at excavation sites or in sediment layers.
Because this eruption coincided with the destruction of the famous Minoan civilization, and the volcano is only 110 km from Crete, many believe the Minoan civilization's destruction is linked to the eruption.
With the excavation of the Minoan palace, more scholars support this hypothesis, as the damage to the palace and the rapid decline of the civilization are evident from the volcanic aftermath.
As history progressed, the island was once under Venetian rule and was renamed Santorini in 1207 to honor Saint Irene.
According to previous speculation, the copper ingots Liang En found likely came from an ancient shipwreck in the surrounding waters, as the island is at the crossroads of ancient Greek and Egyptian trade routes and Crete to the Middle East.
This place indeed has many shipwrecks, and illegal excavators often choose such locations to ensure their profits.
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