"Time?" Joey was somewhat sensitive to that word.
"Yes. Someone may already have gotten ahead of us. I want to know whether they were among the city's early researchers," Ging explained his thoughts.
Joey quickly caught on, too. When Ging had entered the Tower earlier, he had judged that someone had arrived there before them.
It now seemed that Ging still held that view.
"So when the Tower's door opened earlier, you didn't see those things inside again?" Joey said, sorting through his thoughts.
"Yes. If the Tower reset everything inside to before the attack, then the disappearance of those things proves that someone really did enter the Tower before us.
"Although there's also the time difference to consider, I examined those items earlier. The bloodstains on them hadn't been dry for long, so as long as we confirm that the things inside the Tower were reset, but those particular things disappeared, that proves my guess was right.
"But if those things were reset along with everything else inside the Tower and were still there, that would prove my guess wrong. No one had reached the Tower before us.
"Except that would contradict what I learned when questioning the Monster earlier. So however I look at it, there should be a group ahead of us."
Ging quickly laid out all his thoughts and judgments.
It was somewhat convoluted, but Joey understood.
"All right." After only a brief consideration, Joey agreed outright. He was not particularly concerned about what other secrets remained hidden inside the Tower anyway.
As Ging had said, if a team really had gotten ahead of them, and its members were researchers from the city a thousand years ago, that would indeed be more valuable to them than staying here to explore the Tower.
With that judgment made,