New Gods of North America

The next day was Thursday.

The afternoon class was still "Introduction to Archaeology and Cultural Relics Research" taught by Dr. Allen.

After finishing the sandwich that Doug brought in the detective agency's carriage at noon,

Wayne rested for a while and couldn't wait to go to class.

This wasn't because he could meet rich and beautiful female classmates in this course,

but according to the feedback Miss Ovelia relayed, the slate rubbing that the detective agency had asked Dr. Allen to translate had reportedly made preliminary progress.

Dr. Allen is now a well-known and authoritative scholar in the American archaeological industry.

His teaching position in the college is a bit special, belonging to the kind of "semi-temporary" nature—he and the school can suspend or terminate the course at any time, of course, if it causes adverse effects, the breaching party must pay corresponding compensation.

The main reason for this situation lies with Dr. Allen himself.

Compared to "professor" or "scholar," Dr. Allen's more famous titles in newspaper publicity and in the eyes of some of the public are actually "explorer" or "treasure hunter."

His more famous deeds before were running to various strange corners of the world based on the clues he found to excavate those lost treasures.

Unlike what many people imagine,

"Treasure hunting and adventure" in this day and age can actually be considered a "high-stakes gamble" with a not-so-low threshold.

—The age of great navigation has long passed, and in theory, the footprints of "civilized society" have already stepped on all the continents of the world. All the treasures that were easy to find or plunder are now gone.

Being "left" itself means that those treasures are hidden enough, remote, or dangerous enough.

In the process of treasure hunting and adventure, in addition to the necessary knowledge reserves, organizing personnel, preparing equipment, collecting clues, and the expenses of a group of people traveling to a foreign land actually mean the consumption of early funds.

To obtain the maximum benefit, it is necessary to recruit reliable personnel or companions, and the expenses and risks must be borne by the "sugar daddy."

Otherwise, it must be agreed that the fellow travelers will bear the risks and share the benefits.

Dr. Allen likes high-stakes gambling. Those replaceable fellow travelers who are so poor that they can only bet their lives are not qualified to share too many benefits in his eyes.

So he would rather choose "hire" and let the "sugar daddy" or himself bear the greatest risk and early expenses.

As for the security issues that may arise after finding the treasure, they are resolved through high labor fees and death and injury compensation that guarantee stable income regardless of drought or flood.

Not everyone is a desperate person who does not care about anything. As long as they are reasonably selected and prevented and publicized in advance, some people are actually difficult to abandon their families and flee to foreign countries, and they cannot quietly bring back huge amounts of wealth stained with the blood of their companions without being suspected.

Although this method will greatly increase costs, it will also make fellow travelers more reliable, and investors may eventually obtain higher returns.

It's a pity that although the idea is very beautiful,

as a "gambler," Dr. Allen is the kind of type that is both "lucky" and "unfortunate."

To say he's lucky,

his previous adventures have never been smooth. They either encountered various accidents, resulting in heavy casualties, or were greatly disappointed and outweighed the gains, not only repeatedly causing losses to the sugar daddies who invested in him, but he himself also lost his family fortune several times.

But to say he's unlucky,

he did make some discoveries in several adventures. Just writing about the adventure experience can gain not-so-meager benefits, and he has also gained a lot in academic terms, and his position in the industry is difficult to shake.

So he goes to be a consultant for the wealthy when he has no money, teaches at universities, and also writes articles and publishes books.

When he has saved enough money or found another sugar daddy, if he happens to have strange clues in his hand, he may directly plan to set off again at any time, starting another adventure that may bring wealth.

After finishing the class,

Dr. Allen invited Miss Ovelia to his office to report the preliminary results of the translation to her.

Wayne, as a "follower" of Miss Ovelia, a "potential sugar daddy," was also fortunate to have the opportunity to attend and listen.

Inesa had previously made a rubbing of the obsidian slate, and the rubbing was now placed on a table in the office, with several open books next to it, seemingly as a reference or comparison.

Dr. Allen led Miss Ovelia to the table, hesitated slightly before opening his mouth, and his expression did not look excited:

"Miss Ovelia, what I am about to tell you may not be pleasant news."

Miss Ovelia raised her eyebrows slightly when she heard this.

She tried to guess, "Is this thing possibly a fake?"

"Oh, that's not the case."

Dr. Allen gradually entered the state, "These hieroglyphs come from the southern continent of the Old World. Although the corresponding ancient civilization has long disappeared, scholars have not yet been able to fully interpret them, but the meaning of some characters has been gradually deciphered by the academic community, and some specific grammatical structures have also been confirmed. It is very difficult for outsiders to imitate them.

"According to the analysis of the content displayed above, the specific origin of this thing should be in a very ancient temple site. The deity enshrined in it is the dark god 'Apep' revered by the local ancient civilization.

"If I am not mistaken, these contents should be copied from a slate made of obsidian?"

When Miss Ovelia heard Dr. Allen's question, her eyes turned to Wayne, with inquiry in her eyes.

Wayne nodded slightly while admiring in his heart.

Not bad,

After seeing the rubbing, it's not surprising to guess that the thing is a "slate," but it's a bit amazing to be able to judge the "texture" of obsidian.

Miss Ovelia took the opportunity to express her affirmation, and at the same time, with great emotional intelligence, helped Wayne continue to ask:

"If it is not a fake, what is the 'unpleasant news' it contains?"

Dr. Allen reached out and motioned for the two to look at the content on the rubbing:

"The specific content of these texts tells about the true name, image, deeds, and power of 'Apep' in the mythology of the local ancient civilization.

"For example, He is the twin brother and mortal enemy of the supreme sun god of the ancient civilization, the god of darkness and the embodiment of destruction, chaos, and darkness. He constantly tries to plunge the world into eternal darkness, and his image is a giant snake that obscures the sky, etc.

"According to the customs of that ancient civilization, such 'true name slates' are usually inlaid on the core statues in the temple. Judging from the size of this slate, that statue should be very huge, perhaps one of the main temples dedicated to Him."

Miss Ovelia deliberately showed an expression of "still not understanding," "So the key point is?"

Dr. Allen sighed slightly:

"In that era, this deity was an existence that people revered, feared, and stayed away from. Therefore, His temples were usually set up by the pharaohs in the depths of the desert far away from the oasis, and it was not easy for explorers to find them and bring them out. The price of buying that slate may not be very low.

"As the 'God of Darkness,' the representative objects people used to worship Him were various obsidian products. His statues and temples are also mainly yellow sandstone in the records, with obsidian as decoration. But in His temple, there will never be gold representing His mortal enemy, the supreme sun god.

"Obsidian may have been a fairly rare material in the southern continent of that year, and the processing cost was also very high, but obsidian no longer has much value today, and there are not many corresponding collectors. The slate itself and that temple have no value for further excavation, and even if it is genuine, it is not cost-effective to buy it at a high price."

"I see."

Miss Ovelia nodded, and then continued to exert her emotional intelligence, "But as a cultural relic, it should still have some value, right?"

Dr. Allen did not seem optimistic:

"As an explorer, I certainly hope that all treasure hunting gains can be marked with a high enough price.

"But as a conscientious cultural relic researcher, I think the value of that slate does not exceed $1,000—this already includes its historical and cultural premium. If you haven't bought it yet, I think this is a more reasonable price ceiling."