We had always believed this world was progressing.
In truth, what we called progress was merely following the paths our predecessors had already walked.
They might even have been detours.
I was not the one who said that. The doctor was.
The doctor firmly believed that in ancient times, there had been one period, perhaps even several, when human civilization had reached unimaginable heights. When Earth had nearly been destroyed several times, those humans had vanished along with it.
But that disappearance was not a disappearance in the true sense.
Some Ancient Humans had gone into outer space to seek planets suitable for habitation.
Of course, some Ancient Humans who escaped Earth had become lost among the stars and eventually perished.
Others had remained in our world, hiding in relatively safe places, such as underground or even at the center of the Earth.
When I brought up the Underground Lizardmen again, I asked the doctor whether they might have been humanity's true ancestors. The doctor fell silent for a moment before saying that it was highly possible. After all, in ancient myths and legends from around the world, our ancestors all had long tails, like snakes—but didn't they also resemble Lizardmen?
It was not just us. Many ancient Western myths contained similar descriptions.
Fuxi and Nuwa also had human heads and serpent bodies.
Whether they had been snakes or Lizardmen was impossible to say, because there was no way to verify it anymore.
But since Guiguzi and Jiang Shang could live until now, was it possible that Fuxi and Nuwa were still alive as well? Did those figures who existed only in ancient myths still exist somewhere in our world?
The doctor said that was even harder to say.
He answered me with a rather clichéd phrase: anything was possible.