Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1523: Chapter 250: Princess in the City of the Sun

But no matter what origins Aria before her truly had, Claudia harbored a vague and absurd wish in her heart at this moment… She even hoped that her father, Professor Xie Jiatu, would emerge from the passage inside this massive stone gate.

Even if it were just him from half a year ago.

Claudia was startled by her own thoughts, but Otto and Aria suddenly turning into sand, and the reappearance of Otto and Aria from the gate, were events that defied every piece of knowledge she had learned over the past twenty years.

“I… I want to go inside and take a look!” Claudia, who was hesitating a moment ago and even considering retreating, now looked gravely at Boss Luo and said, “I have a feeling… perhaps inside, the truth can truly be found.”

“Aren’t you afraid?”

Claudia nodded, then shook her head: “I am afraid… but I want to know the truth more.”

Boss Luo bent down and picked up the backpack that contained the magic lamp — this was Mr. Otto’s backpack… the Otto who had already turned into sand.

Luo Qiu suddenly handed this backpack to Claudia.

“This is…” Claudia looked inside and found the worn-out oil lamp she had given out earlier, causing her to feel somewhat puzzled… She couldn’t understand the meaning behind her new classmate’s actions.

The boss blinked and said, “Maybe in times of danger, you can really summon a spirit of nature.”

“You!” Claudia rolled her eyes in exasperation… Her eye-rolling frequency over the past two days probably exceeded that of the past twenty years combined.

But she still silently put on the backpack… Although such a notion was incredibly absurd, for reasons unknown, as time spent together prolonged, she found herself increasingly believing in what Luo said.

“Are you going inside?” Seeing the situation, Aria, who was eating some fruits nearby, quickly ran back, “Aren’t you going to wait a bit? Your father should be able to come out soon, right?”

“He’s already out.” Claudia said casually before ignoring Aria and entering the stone gate with Luo Qiu.

Left outside was Aria, scratching his head, unable to fathom why these people were so adamant about going inside… He raised his head to glance at the enormous temple, only to feel an unexplainable oppressive sensation.

He sat down on a pile of sand, and for some reason, his heart suddenly grew sorrowful, and tears uncontrollably flowed.

“Damn it!”

…

Boss Luo still carried the lantern he had taken from somewhere… Though the light source was not strong, within the pitch-black tunnel, it unexpectedly illuminated far ahead.

The quiet, repetitive, and dark environment easily tensed people’s nerves… Some say that just by imprisoning an ordinary person in a completely dark room for three days and nights, it’s sufficient to near the brink of mental collapse.

Claudia felt an increasing sense of irritation, instinctively grabbing Luo Qiu’s arm — Boss Luo, who could now expertly control absolute defenses, allowed Claudia to hold him like this, feeling the varied strength in her fingers, he suddenly said, “If you see another version of yourself, what would you do.”

“Another version of myself?” Claudia was taken aback, recalling the sand-transformed Otto duo and their reappearance, she felt a chill, “Maybe… it would instill fear, even a notion that perhaps I am fake?”

Boss Luo blinked curiously, “You think you’re the fake one? Generally, shouldn’t you assume the other party is fake?”

Claudia shrugged, “When I look in the mirror, I often feel as though I’m the fake one… Perhaps it’s because my way of thinking differs from others, or it might be due to high psychological pressure… What about you, what would you feel?”

“There probably wouldn’t be such a situation.” Luo Qiu said calmly.

Claudia opened her mouth, dissatisfied, looking at Luo Qiu, “How come? You only ask others, not allowing others to ask you?”

Boss Luo chuckled and said calmly, “Because such a hypothetical won’t occur, and under the knowledge that it won’t occur, I can’t estimate what my response would be to this question… Just assume I can’t answer you.”

“Rational?” Claudia frowned, sighing, “Speaking of which, you do always remain calm, a person appearing more rational than anyone else.”

Boss Luo now said with a slight longing, “I also have irrational moments… I’ve had them.”

Claudia merely assumed this was the mature words of someone who had gone through much.

It’s akin to an aged man recounting the ignorant days of youth in a tranquil tone… She suddenly felt Luo resembled Otto — the Otto who had turned into a pile of sand.

“If you ever wish to vent to someone, I…”

Her words were swiftly interrupted by Boss Luo… He casually said, “It appears we’ve caught up with… the new Mr. Otto.”

Claudia was startled, looking ahead, indeed noticing a shadow standing still… Judging by the attire, this is indeed the new Mr. Otto just now.

…

The place where Mr. Otto stood motionless was an entrance… with a door, smaller than the giant stone gate outside. On the two door panels, there were many inscriptions, and besides that, there was a large balance symbol engraved on it… The symbol split the two panels.

Mr. Otto was holding a notebook at the moment, noting the inscriptions on the door panels, seemingly unaware that someone had arrived behind him.

“What does this say?”

Perhaps due to the acquaintance with the previous Otto, when facing this unfamiliar Mr. Otto, Claudia wasn’t readily adapted, her tone naturally less formal than among strangers.

“The evils of the world, the virtues of the world.” Otto spoke independently, ignoring Claudia’s tone, “Behind the door lies the measure of good and evil… It’s a place of judgment; sinners should not enter.”

“Sinners?” Claudia was taken aback, merely gazing at the door in front.

There’s no other passage here; seemingly, only opening the door allows deeper access. Although this door looks relatively smaller than the massive stone gate outside, its weight evidently isn’t something ordinary people can push open.

Even ten or eight adults likely lack the strength.

“Perhaps there’s some mechanism.” Claudia thought, “A mechanism to open this door… Is there a groove here?”

She pointed to a section at the lower left of the door panel, indeed, there was a groove here, resembling an eye.

Mr. Otto furrowed his brows and said, “It is said that when Horus fought with Seth, Seth gouged out Horus’s left eye. Here, it seems the left eye of Horus is missing… for a god, this should be a disgrace. This temple of the Sun God Horus shouldn’t use such a tool to open its door.”

Boss Luo, who wasn’t very knowledgeable about Ancient Egyptian civilization, asked curiously, “Who is Seth?”

Mr. Otto glanced back but didn’t respond, only keenly observing the inscriptions on the door.

Claudia leaned in and whispered, “It’s said that Seth is Horus’s uncle, and they had a conflict lasting eighty years. Ancient Egyptians believed that Seth was the god of the earth, in charge of deserts, storms, and wars, the god of strength. In contrast, Horus was the god of the sky. Simply put, Seth and Horus are enemies… But actually, Seth was also a guardian god for ancient pharaohs for a long period.”

Boss Luo nodded and then took out the eye pendant he obtained from Otto, who had turned into sand.

“You… where did you get this thing?” Claudia was taken aback.

Her voice made Mr. Otto look subconsciously… The moment he saw the pendant in Boss Luo’s hand, Mr. Otto’s expression changed slightly. He quickly walked over, snatched the necklace from Luo Qiu’s hand, examined it carefully, and, like Claudia, asked the same question.

“Given the current situation, the important thing is not where it came from but whether it can open this door… right?” Luo Qiu looked at Mr. Otto — he was not wearing any ornaments at the moment.

“Let me.” Mr. Otto glanced deeply at Luo Qiu and then quickly moved to the left door, carefully placing the eye pendant in the groove.

Completely harmoniously… as if this eye pendant was originally part of the door — the moment the pendant fully embedded, even the crack between it and the door disappeared, surprisingly merging entirely with the door!

At this moment, a slight tremor began to emanate from beneath everyone… They saw the door in front suddenly start to move!

The two doors simultaneously folded inward, a bright light shot out from within, and at the same time, a terrifying suction appeared, directly pulling Luo Qiu, Claudia, and Mr. Otto inside.

Once all three were fully pulled into the massive bluestone door, it closed directly.

…

…

She felt the moisture on her lips, gradually becoming conscious in a daze… At the moment she opened her eyes, a figure stood in front of her.

She couldn’t clearly see the figure’s appearance, but her reaction was exceptionally sharp… She immediately pushed the figure in front of her away, revealing a look of extreme terror.

“It’s me, classmate Claudia.”

Boss Luo’s voice… A gentle voice that penetrated deep into her heart, waking her up from some fear — After waking up, Claudia was still sweating all over, the scorching atmosphere felt like it could cook her internal organs as she breathed, making her somewhat uncomfortable.

“Here… where is this?”

She looked up around her… Earth-yellow buildings lined up, all low bungalows — She seemed to be in an alleyway between two bungalows, but even though there was a shade, it wasn’t cool at all.

“Seems like a city.”

From Boss Luo’s words, Claudia heard an answer that confused her even more — what does it mean by “seems like a city”?

But Claudia quickly understood the true meaning of Luo Qiu’s words… She got up and walked out of the alley, the originally quiet environment suddenly became exceptionally lively.

The street, the extraordinarily smooth street, and… the endless streams of people.

People were talking, walking, women with children, and men doing various jobs. Their clothing was like the exhibits preserved in museums till now… even their accessories.

“We… How on earth did we…” This was no longer a matter of acceptance — facing such a scene, Claudia instinctively stepped back, “How did we suddenly arrive at this place? Why don’t I remember anything happening… Could it be, could we have also lost our memories, like Aria and Otto? The door… what exactly happened after that door opened?”

She hoped that Luo Qiu behind her could give her an explanation.

Boss Luo indeed quickly provided an explanation, “Rest assured, we haven’t lost our memories, but after opening the door we came here. I can assure you, this process took only a short time… Of course, you fainted and that took up most of it.”

“So, that door actually connects to this… this space?” Claudia looked up at the sky, a sky so vast that its limits couldn’t be seen… Such a colossal place, clearly impossible to hide within the outside temple.

At this moment, she could only use the word space to describe all this.

“Already awake?”

At this moment, a figure quickly walked into the alley, Claudia turned to look and found it was indeed Mr. Otto — Only then did she realize she hadn’t seen Otto since waking up.

Mr. Otto had changed into clothes almost identical to the people outside… He might have just changed.

Mr. Otto quickly walked over, speaking in a low voice, “This place is much larger than expected, I asked the people here, and guess what they call this city?”

“What do they call it?” Claudia instinctively asked.

With a serious expression, Mr. Otto said, “Heliopolis… The city of Heliopolis, this place.”

Claudia was immediately shocked, “What did you say? Heliopolis? The legendary Sun City… The Land of the Gods among Ancient Egyptians… here?!”

Mr. Otto slowly nodded.

At this moment, a commotion suddenly came from the street outside… It was cheers, as if something was happening. They all walked out of the alley, directly to the street where people were making way on both sides.

They saw a grand convoy appear on the street, warriors paving the way, elephants pulling carriages, followed by many attendants… A young woman of graceful figure sat on the treasure carriage pulled by the elephants.

“They call her… Princess.” Listening to the cheers of the surrounding people, Mr. Otto suddenly said in a low voice, “Yamana.”

Following the woman on the treasure carriage, moving slowly past them, Claudia stood stunned — The young woman on the treasure carriage, looked exactly like her.

“Yamana… Princess?” Claudia stood stupefied, muttering subconsciously, “…Me?”