"Ah... that really was how it worked..."
Mite let out a heavy breath, leaning back against his chair with a thoughtful expression.
But before he could think for more than a few seconds, something seemed to explode in his mind like thunder, making him shudder.
He looked back at Gheros, his expression strange.
"Wait..."
"If the vast majority of ruins were created by the Trik Ancient Civilization, then the special entity within those ruins, the 'Boundary Stele,' was also left behind by that ancient civilization?"
"Yes." Gheros nodded.
"The memory fragments Uluomo Jia gave me contained information on that."
"Back then, the Trik Ancient Civilization's influence had already spread across countless realms, and the territory under its control had become unimaginably vast."
"To ensure efficient communication between the various realms, the Boundary Stele came into being."
"Compared to the records preserved in the ruins, the Boundary Stele itself actually held greater informational value."
"It was just that no one knew how to use it anymore, nor did anyone know whether its functions were still as complete and useful as before."
"Otherwise, we could have studied the Boundary Stele and uncovered the mysteries of the 'Directory.'"
"A classic vicious cycle..." Mite forced a bitter smile.
"To trade for food, you had to work. But to work, you first needed strength... Right now, we didn't have any strength, so we couldn't work, and we definitely couldn't eat..."
"That was indeed the case." Gheros sighed as well.
The two sat facing each other in silence for a long while.
In the end, Gheros was the one who continued.
"But it's not like there's no hope at all..."
"At least now we know that most of the ruins came from the Trik Ancient Civilization. They all share the same origin."
"As long as we