"What do you think we'll uncover this time?" Professor Harry asked as they headed back to the hotel with the excavated clay tablets. "Do you think we might find something valuable?"
"We should be able to," Liang En nodded, having deciphered the writings on the previous clay fragments. "But unless there's an accident, the information on these clay tablets is truly valuable. Unfortunately, Linear A remains undeciphered."
"There's nothing we can do; there are simply too few artifacts of this type," Professor Harry responded with a helpless expression, aware of Liang En's focus.
"Deciphering ancient texts requires a sufficient number of samples, but we have far too few. With more samples, you might be able to uncover the secrets within," Harry remarked, trusting Liang En's abilities. Liang En had demonstrated a knack for decoding various scripts in a short time, showing his talent in this area.
It's worth noting that deciphering ancient scripts, especially dead languages, is no simple task. Besides hard work, one must possess a natural aptitude.
Movies often portray archaeologists reading ancient texts with ease, leading many to believe they can fully understand ancient documents. However, in reality, archaeologists and epigraphers are not the same. In most cases, archaeologists cannot read the excavated texts.
"In fact, I've already begun working on deciphering Linear A, but the decipherable content is so limited that only a few words can be translated," Liang En explained his current progress, marking the reasonably publishable parts on the clay tablet photos.
Unfortunately, these parts make up less than one-tenth of the total text, resulting in a fragmented translation that offers no clear idea of the original content.
Nevertheless, the scattered words suggest the text relates to metal smelting and possibly divine rituals. Due to some untranslated keywords, Professor Harry and his students had to infer the text's meaning based on various national folk traditions.
As a folklorist, Professor Harry had considerable expertise in this area. One student speculated that the metalwork required divine sacrifices, leading to the conclusion that such metal was difficult to produce.
"That makes sense. In ancient times, metalworking was considered sacred, especially in such an old era," Liang En nodded, recalling ancient Chinese legends. Some mythical weapons were said to require sacrifices of animals or even humans, essentially a form of ritual.
Compared to older stone tools, metal had revolutionary properties, so it was natural for ancient people to regard it as a divine gift, reflecting a universal attitude towards the unknown.
"Indeed, this is a global phenomenon. Even today, some Southeast Asian blacksmiths perform ancient rituals before forging weapons," Professor Harry agreed, but his words were cut off by a sudden screech of brakes. Fortunately, everyone was wearing seatbelts, so no one was injured.
"What happened?" Liang En asked, noting that the driver was an experienced professional, making the abrupt stop unusual.
Joan of Arc and Fan Meng reacted more intensely, reaching for the grips of their handguns, as a sudden stop typically indicated trouble.
"Police checkpoint," the driver said, and Liang En saw a police car and two officers blocking the road. It indeed looked like a routine check.
Such occurrences were common on the island, a top Mediterranean tourist destination, leading to heightened security measures.
"Unfortunately, due to recent complications, our escorting officer had to stay at the excavation site to prevent artifact theft. Otherwise, this routine check could be resolved with a few words, without wasting time," Professor Harry grumbled as he got out of the car.
"We have no choice; this is routine," Liang En shrugged. "Since we're on Greek territory, we should follow local laws."
The officers began searching the car. When they moved inside, Fan Meng whispered to Liang En.
"These two don't look like Greek police, at least not like the ones we've seen before. Their actions under the car resemble those of soldiers more than police."
"You mean these officers are impostors?" Liang En grew alert. Considering they had been followed before, any suspicion could indicate an impending attack.
"Not certain, but their actions inspecting the car's underside seemed more military than police-like," Fan Meng observed. "We might need more clues."
He approached the police car for a closer look. Seconds later, he returned, gripping his handgun, ready for the next move.
"The police car is fake. Those two officers are impostors."
"What—" Liang En immediately glanced at the two "officers" searching the minibus, loading his handgun under Fan Meng's cover, preparing for a possible confrontation.
"What should we do next?" he asked Fan Meng, as Joan of Arc quietly informed the others and signaled them to get ready.
"Wait by the door. We'll act when they step out," Fan Meng instructed. From the right angle, he saw the impostors had opened the clay tablet case and were placing items inside.
It was clear the officers were fake, but they were unaware that Liang En's group had uncovered their disguise. Using this advantage, they could plan their response.
The impostors soon closed the safe and exited the vehicle, adjusting their expressions to look like genuine officers finishing their job.
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