Li Wen stared at the map on the desk.
China.
India.
Turkey.
Rome.
Ancient civilizations marked carefully in red circles.
Albert watched her reaction quietly, as if measuring every thought crossing her mind.
Finally she looked up.
"You want me to join an expedition?" she asked.
Albert shook his head slightly.
"Not just an expedition," he replied.
"A discovery."
Before Li Wen could respond, Albert checked his watch.
"We should leave."
Li Wen blinked.
"Leave?"
Albert stood and adjusted his coat as if the decision had already been made.
"My private jet is waiting," he said calmly.
"Waiting?" she repeated.
Albert nodded.
"Yes."
He walked toward the window and looked out at the Berlin skyline.
"We're flying to Egypt tonight."
For a moment, Li Wen thought she had misheard him.
"Egypt?"
Albert turned back toward her.
"My team is already there."
Arun stepped forward slightly.
"They arrived earlier today," he explained.
Li Wen folded her arms.
"And why exactly are we going to Egypt?"
Albert smiled faintly.
"Because," he said, "something was discovered there this morning."
He pulled a sleek device from his pocket.
It looked like an ordinary smartphone—but thinner, more advanced.
Albert tapped the screen.
A faint humming sound filled the room.
Suddenly a three-dimensional projection appeared above the device.
A glowing image hovered in the air between them.
Li Wen's eyes widened slightly.
The projection displayed a photograph.
An ancient stone tablet.
The surface was worn with age, covered in strange symbols and partially damaged carvings.
Arun leaned closer.
"That was discovered beneath a collapsed chamber near an old excavation site outside Cairo," he said.
Li Wen stepped forward slowly, studying the image carefully.
The symbols were unfamiliar at first glance.
But the structure…
The arrangement…
Something about it felt strangely recognizable.
Albert rotated the projection with a small gesture.
"Look here," he said.
A section of the tablet zoomed closer.
Li Wen leaned forward.
Her expression changed.
"That script…"
Her voice was quieter now.
"It resembles early Qin-era notation."
Albert watched her carefully.
"That's what we thought."
Li Wen looked back at him.
"You found a tablet in Egypt," she said slowly, "with markings similar to the earliest Chinese imperial scripts."
Albert nodded.
"Yes."
Silence filled the room.
Because if that observation was correct…
It would raise a question that historians had never seriously considered.
Li Wen stared again at the projected tablet.
"What would Qin-era writing be doing in Egypt?"
Albert smiled slightly.
"That," he said, "is exactly why we need you."
Li Wen exhaled slowly.
The mystery of the unnamed architect of the Qin Empire was already complicated.
But now…
Egypt was involved.
She turned back toward Albert.
"Give me five minutes."
Albert nodded.
"To pack?"
Li Wen walked toward the wardrobe.
"No," she said.
"To make sure this isn't the most dangerous historical mistake I've ever agreed to."
Arun chuckled softly.
Albert simply waited.
Five minutes later, Li Wen returned wearing a travel coat and carrying her notebook.
She looked at Albert.
"Alright," she said.
"Let's go to Egypt."
Albert smiled.
"Good."
He headed toward the door.
"The jet leaves in thirty minutes."
Li Wen grabbed the ancient manuscript from her desk before following them out.
Because one thought kept repeating in her mind.
If the tablet in Egypt truly contained Qin-era script…
Then the man who helped build China's first empire…
might have traveled much farther than history ever imagined.