Translator: CKtalon
Seeing Zhou Wen hesitate, Frod continued, “Although dimensional creatures appear on Earth in the form of higher-level lifeforms and are very similar to the legendary gods, through the years of contact with them and the things they have done, it’s very likely that Earth isn’t as low-level as they say. Or rather, there’s something they need on Earth. That’s why they didn’t hesitate to descend to Earth and incite humans to wage war. In the end, it even evolved into a war between gods.”
“I once heard that there’s a saying in the dimension that Earth is the birthplace of all dimensional creatures,” Zhou Wen said after some thought.
“This theory is novel, but it’s not impossible.” Frod continued, “I’ve secretly studied it before. I discovered that there have been traces of special forces behind every large-scale war in history. The older the era, the more obvious the forces behind it are. It’s just like the Zhuolu battle in your East District. After my research, I discovered the traces of many terrifying creatures from the dimension. Furthermore, this has a lot to do with the race that the two temples belong to. I even discovered traces of the two races appearing in the war. The other families clearly discovered something amiss. Someone seemed to have discovered something and wanted to delve deeper. Therefore, Ouyang Ting’s team entered Zhuolu for research.
“After this group entered Zhuolu, many strange things happened. As I was also paying attention to this matter, I once sent people to infiltrate the research team. However, I later realized that the person I sent to the research team had been switched without us realizing it. If it wasn’t for the need for the person to contact us through a special channel every once in a while, we wouldn’t have known that this person had been replaced.”
Frod took a deep breath and continued, “Later on, I sent some people there to test the personnel. Finally, I confirmed that the person was no longer the original him, but even those who were more familiar with him couldn’t find any flaws. Therefore, I checked the rest of the team and discovered many problems. Apart from Ouyang Ting, who was the head of the research team and someone I confirmed to be the actual person, I found many suspicious points on the others.”
“Did you find out who did all this?” Zhou Wen asked.
“No. Up to now, I still don’t know who did all of this. Even the six families will find it difficult to pull it off. It’s not difficult to replace one or two people, but to replace most of the experts in the research team, not only do the people have to look the same, but they also need to have similar expertise. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to continue the research. At the very least, I can’t think of anyone who can do it,” said Frod.
“Which aspect is the secret you mentioned?” Zhou Wen finally believed that Frod might know something.
He already knew what Frod had said, but there was no progress.
“If my judgment is correct, don’t you find it strange that everyone else has been replaced except Professor Ouyang Ting?” Frod asked.
“Is it because Professor Ouyang Ting’s professional abilities can’t be replaced by others?” Zhou Wen asked.
“That might be a partial reason. They only changed the people, but they didn’t stop the research from continuing. I’m certain that the mastermind behind this is also very interested in Zhuolu’s research, so Ouyang Ting’s existence is rather important. However, after my investigations and research, I discovered something even more shocking. This has something to do with Professor Ouyang Ting. Perhaps you will be interested.” Frod didn’t continue.
“What’s the mask in the Maze of Lies? A dimensional creature?” Zhou Wen was already tempted. He really wanted to know the truth of the past. He vaguely felt that the truth of the matter wasn’t as simple as the former principal’s life and death.
“It’s not a dimensional creature. It’s an extremely special item. You can treat it as the core of a dimensional zone, or you can treat it as something that suppresses the dimensional zone. If that item is taken away, the restrictions on the dimensional zones will be completely lifted. The dimensional creatures inside will be able to enter and exit freely. Therefore, if you want to take the mask away, the problems with the dimensional creatures inside have to be resolved. We can’t leave any trouble behind, so we need your help,” said Frod.
Zhou Wen thought to himself, In that case, that mask is probably something like the stone saber in Ancient Sovereign City or the jade box in Chess Mountain.
After some thought, Zhou Wen said, “I can promise to do my best, but I can’t guarantee success. I’ll consider my safety first.”
“That’s enough. I believe that with your strength and the strength our family has accumulated over the years, it won’t be difficult for you to control the situation,” said Frod.
“Also, I need full authority. I’ll decide when to enter, when to retreat, and when to take action,” Zhou Wen said.
Frod hesitated for a moment before looking at Lance.
Lance nodded slightly. “I believe in Zhou Wen.”
Only then did Frod look at Zhou Wen and say, “In that case, I’ll entrust my family’s lives to you.”
After a pause, Frod continued, “Back then, I had been investigating matters related to the six temples. Zhuolu was one of them. Therefore, before the scientific research team went to Zhuolu, my family had already studied Zhuolu and met Professor Ouyang Ting there. That was more than ten years before the Zhuolu project began.”
Zhou Wen wasn’t surprised. He had always suspected that the former principal had been to Zhuolu before.
Frod sighed softly. “When I met him we chatted a lot. After Professor Ouyang Ting heard about my investigation, he also told me some of his special discoveries in Zhuolu. However, because he needed further research to confirm some of his discoveries, he didn’t say much. Not long after that, I became what I am now. Many things can only be done by others, so I couldn’t communicate with Professor Ouyang Ting further. Later, I don’t know what happened, but Professor Ouyang Ting didn’t continue studying Zhuolu. Instead, he returned to his education work until the Zhuolu project started...”
Zhou Wen listened quietly. He knew that Frod was about to get to the point.
As expected, Frod continued, “In fact, after discovering the problem with the people we sent out, I also tried to secretly contact Professor Ouyang Ting. However, at that time, he seemed to realize that his environment wasn’t safe, or that he was secretly being controlled by someone. Therefore, he secretly sent me a message.”
“What message?” Zhou Wen hurriedly asked.
“Only four words. Don’t board the ship,” Frod said with a strange expression.