Things were gradually becoming clear.
The other side was indeed likely Lizardmen from R5's planet.
More precisely, they should be called Snake people.
Their attack on the two bases had not been aimed at the research into the "Time Slice." They had come for the Earth Core Snake people. They had previously contacted the Earth Core Snake people and wanted to reach some kind of agreement with them. I did not know whether it was a plea to return or a request for cooperation, but the Earth Core Snake people had refused them.
Unwilling to accept that, they wanted to force the Earth Core Snake people into compromise through another means.
So they chose those two research bases in the Qinling Mountains.
They wanted to figure out the direction of the Earth Veins and obtain certain specific information they sought. Xiao Qing said they had likely chosen the Qinling Mountains because they had already discovered that the city beneath them, built by the Earth Core Snake people, ranked among the top three of all their cities.
It could be said that this city was an advanced one, leading in culture, technology, and every other aspect among the Earth Core Snake people.
Moreover, it had the most research institutions. In Xiao Qing's words, if the findings of any one of those institutions were made public, they would be revolutionary for our world at the very least.
What she said made me think of one possibility: perhaps there was a traitor among the Earth Core Snake people.
Xiao Qing shook her head and denied that possibility.
She said there was no need for a traitor. Those returning Snake people had originally left the Hollow Earth. Back then, they had been deceived, and that mysterious force had incited them to betray their own