For Liang En, the threat posed by the Thule Society loomed like an inescapable shadow. Because of this, he had been spending most of his time at the archaeological site, hoping to find some critical artifacts that would grant him new cards. He had a strong premonition that the cards from this place could significantly impact his power, given that this site was linked to the origins of Western mythology and epic tales. It was only natural that there might be something unique here.
For this reason, he had been staying at the excavation site, using his past life experiences to focus on digging in key areas, hoping to acquire the cards as soon as possible.
As a result, within a short period, the scholars on site, led by Liang En, discovered a wealth of valuable information, which allowed them to reconstruct some very important clues about ancient Troy.
For instance, they had previously discovered that the walls of the fifth layer of the Troy ruins were over four meters thick, with some sections exceeding nine meters in height. However, the western section of the wall was poorly constructed.
This coincidentally aligned with the description in the *Iliad*, which specifically mentioned that the western wall of Troy was of poor quality and had construction issues.
Thus, some on-site believed that this location could be the true Troy. But the problem was that the construction time of this city didn’t match the timeline of the Trojan War.
"I think this is likely an issue that arose during the compilation of the epics," Liang En shared when it was his turn to express his opinion, presenting a theory that was widely accepted in another world.
"One thing we can confirm is that the *Iliad* was definitely not a personal creation by Homer alone. Rather, it was a comprehensive compilation of epic tales from the dark ages."
"In the absence of sufficient written records, and with only oral traditions to rely on, many stories inevitably become exaggerated, distorted, and turn into tales quite different from the actual events."
"So, details like these likely result from the fusion of various legends into a single narrative. Oral traditions can easily overlook details or fabricate them entirely."
"And when those poems were compiled into written form—whether by Homer or someone else—the compiler naturally paid attention to the details lost in oral transmission, sometimes incorporating information from other sources."
"At least until the establishment of Constantinople, this ancient city was likely the economic hub of the region, and economic centers in those days were often cultural centers as well."
"As a cultural center of that era, it would inevitably host traveling bards and other cultural transmitters, leading to the creation of numerous poems using this city as a backdrop."
"But compared to the Trojan War, the content of those poems may not have been as significant, which is why they didn’t survive. Only some fragmented details were passed down to us through these methods."
"So, the *Iliad* was written with the Trojan War as its core and supplemented by a large amount of other epics related to Troy to fill in the details, is that right?"
After Liang En finished explaining his viewpoint, a professor from Cambridge University, who was the first to suggest that the fifth layer might be the Troy described in the epics, asked him.
"Yes, I believe that’s a very reasonable conclusion," Liang En nodded. "If it were just the bards performing, the details wouldn’t be important. But once it’s put on paper, it’s a different story."
"As far as I know, the early histories of many countries actually stemmed from oral traditions, which means there were many uncertain elements. The supplementation of these details obviously couldn’t all be factual."
"You make a good point," the professor nodded in agreement after thinking for a moment. "So, aside from the main events, it’s understandable that there would be some discrepancies in these details."
After explaining this, Liang En quickly left the temporary discussion site and headed to the excavation site because he was currently directing a group of people in the excavation of the second layer of Troy’s ruins.
Although some jewels were previously found in the sixth layer during earlier surveys, leading most people to focus on the sixth layer, Liang En’s memory indicated that the famous jewels should be in the second layer.
So while everyone else was digging in the sixth layer, Liang En and Joan of Arc led an archaeological team from China to start clearing the second layer of ruins.
"Professor Liu, I’m very sorry for pulling you over here," Liang En apologized to the Chinese scholar he had invited because the second layer of ruins was buried relatively deep, making the excavation work take longer.
After all, other archaeological teams had unearthed a large number of valuable items within a month, while the Chinese team, due to Liang En’s request, had been continuously clearing rubble.
"There’s no need to apologize," Professor Liu said, adjusting his glasses. "It’s already a great honor to participate in such a large-scale international excavation, and we’ve been conducting a detailed survey of the ancient city during this time."
"In fact, I’d even say that compared to the other teams, we are currently the most knowledgeable about this city because we’ve thoroughly analyzed the different layers of the ruins."
"This is the most important thing for us. After all, China also has a lot of such stratified ruins, and the experience we’ve gained here will greatly contribute to future archaeological work in China."
"Although it’s a bit regrettable that we haven’t found any artifacts, we can fully accept this. Our mission is to learn from this experience, not just to gain fame."
Although they hadn’t unearthed any significant artifacts during this time, the Chinese archaeological team had almost completed a comprehensive survey of the different layers of the ruins due to the deep burial of their target.
So, Professor Liu was very satisfied with Liang En’s arrangements because they had achieved the goals set before their arrival, even exceeding expectations.
"—Thank you very much for your support, Professor Liu," Liang En was momentarily surprised by the professor’s words, as they were completely different from what he had expected, but he quickly regained his composure.
"However, I didn’t invite you here just for a comprehensive survey. To be honest, I’m also an ordinary person and naturally hope to uncover something that will attract everyone’s attention."
"And the reason I asked you to excavate here is precisely that. Based on previous surveys, I believe this area is likely to contain something important, and I hope you can help unearth it."
"If it’s here, we’ll find it," Professor Liu nodded. "And your initial assessment seems to have been correct because we’ve already reached the second layer, and the area we’re excavating now appears to be within the range of an important building from that time, so there’s a high probability of treasure being present."
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