amaotonovel Chapter 4598 The Day of Brightest Day (57)
Chapter 4598 The Day of Brightest Day (57)
Chapter 4598 The Day of Brightest Light (Fifty-Seven)
Deathstroke opened his mouth. How could he not know? Joseph seemed to have always felt that it was dangerous for him to be with Schiller; he seemed to lack a proper understanding of his father's power.
Schiller was indeed dangerous, but Deathstroke understood that madmen weren't usually too interested in someone who did things for money. As long as he held firm to that, his life wouldn't be in danger. And for a modified human like him, if it wasn't mortal danger, then it wasn't danger.
On the contrary, getting close to Schiller has many advantages. For example, it can get you jobs from the Justice League and allow you to spend Batman's money without restraint. Given his ability to create jobs, there will definitely be more commissions in the future.
Deathstroke's decision to maintain a closer relationship with Schiller was a well-considered one, not something he simply accepted upon encountering him. Frankly, it's all about walking a tightrope; what difference does it make which blade you're closer to? Joseph, however, clearly didn't grasp this, harboring too many unnecessary worries.
But now it was his turn. Even though he knew in his heart that Joseph had grown up and was no longer the little boy who would cry and cling to his leg, and that he had superpowers—ranged mind reading and precise mental manipulation—there was really nothing to worry about, he just couldn't help it.
Not wanting to appear too weak or out of control, he could only feign rationality and say, "Joseph isn't suited for this line of work. It's not something you can do just by having superpowers. He's too soft-hearted."
“Yes, he didn’t have any congenital defects,” Schiller said. “He’s an ordinary person with normal emotions. Even if you agreed, he wouldn’t become a hitman. He simply couldn’t accept the idea of killing for money.”
"Then why..."
“He’s just here to clean up your mess,” Schiller said. “And if you’re planning to switch your style and become a stealth assassin, there’ll be plenty more of this happening in the future.”
The death knell was speechless. It was too humiliating to let his son clean up his mess. Joseph was probably thinking all sorts of things about him right now.
However, it wasn't apparent from his appearance. He and the Halls seemed to be having a pleasant conversation. From their lip movements, it was clear that Joseph was pretending to be someone sent by the Justice League, and his disguise did indeed fit the Justice League's image perfectly, somewhat resembling the Flash—a sunny, cheerful young man. The Halls had no suspicions and were already discussing when to depart.
Deathstroke wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt Joseph glance at him. The look in his eyes was a mixture of disdain and helplessness. Deathstroke struggled to describe his current feelings.
Although it was a non-killing errand-running mission, and the task was very simple, it still took up Joseph's precious graduation vacation. Knowing Joseph's personality, his entire vacation schedule should have been packed long ago. Besides the graduation trip, he probably also wanted to get himself a computer set to play the latest games, fix the old piano he bought as a child, and maybe even get a driver's license and find a vintage car to drive.
The trip to Midway was definitely not on his agenda. Picking up the Halls and taking them to the East Coast would take at least a few days. Deathstroke was genuinely surprised he would agree.
After all, boys this age, let alone helping their parents with chores, are considered quite well-behaved and sensible if they're even willing to open a door for their parents while they're playing video games. Deathstroke hadn't had high expectations for him, which made him genuinely touched.
While he was moved, the investigation still needed to continue. Last night, Deathstroke imitated their tone of voice again, recorded it, and sent it to his middleman.
This middleman, seemingly unwilling to tarnish his reputation, mobilized countless connections and actually managed to decipher some of the language. However, he still had no clue what language it was, only that it was likely a language from Earth, possibly a very niche branch of Arabic.
The deciphered results show that, besides mentioning a priest, another word that sounds like a name appears repeatedly: "Set." It is inferred that the so-called priest's name is Set.
Although the content was incomprehensible, the key was that humans share commonalities in tone and intonation when speaking, and the death knell's imitation was remarkably accurate. Therefore, the codebreakers concluded that the priest, Shet, harbored a grudge against the speaker, because whenever the name was mentioned, the tone was one of gritted teeth.
They also investigated this so-called "Shit," but found nothing. There are just too many people with that name, and they hadn't heard of any particularly important celebrities.
The trail went cold again. Deathstroke had to find another way. Joseph was talking to them downstairs; they probably wouldn't turn into golden-armored warriors. Deathstroke simply climbed over the wall into the yard and went to the vicinity of their bedroom.
There were no clues in the bedroom, but there was a study next door. Deathstroke cautiously went in and took a look; most things seemed normal. However, among the most recent manuscripts, he found a rather peculiar one—a document written in an unknown script he had never seen before.
Deathstroke took a picture and quickly left. After he sent the photo over, the middleman finally got a clue. Not long after, he sent back a rough translation and told Deathstroke that it was Egyptian.
It's not the Arabic spoken in Egypt today, but authentic ancient Egyptian, specifically in hieroglyphic script. This was typically the written language used by ancient Egyptian clergy. Furthermore, certain details suggest it belongs to Late Egyptian, a language used for everyday communication that emerged during the reign of Tutankhamun in the Eighteenth Dynasty.
This left Deathstroke scratching his head. Even though he knew they were experts in ancient Egypt, wasn't this a bit too technical? Conversing in ancient Egyptian in everyday life?
The information the middleman then gave him left Deathstroke even more bewildered. The middleman said that the intonation of this language had been completely lost. Because the Arabs conquered Egypt so early, and so long ago, Arab culture had completely overshadowed ancient Egyptian culture, making it impossible for the intonation to have been preserved. Therefore, it cannot be concluded from this that the two audio recordings were ancient Egyptian.
But Deathstroke was convinced it was definitely ancient Egyptian. Something was very wrong with these two. Could they really be possessed by the pharaoh's spirit?
Just as he was thinking this, Joseph emerged from the art gallery. When Deathstroke looked at him, Joseph was also turning to look at him. Then the two met up on the street next door.
"You..." Deathstroke had barely opened his mouth when Joseph looked around and said, "It's not convenient to talk here. Let's find a safer place."
Then they went to the lakeside of the central lake and found a secluded spot. Joseph said, "Hall's real name is Khufu. He was the twenty-ninth son of Pharaoh Ramses II of the Nineteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt. However, he did not live to this day, but was reincarnated repeatedly. His wife was his former companion, Triaya. They were both reincarnations in the present day."
"In ancient Egypt, they obtained a mysterious metal from an alien spaceship. They forged the metal into three treasures: a sharp sword, a scarab amulet, and the Claw of Horus. One of their evil priests, Has Shet, stole the sword and killed them with it. This caused the three of their souls to be reincarnated in an endless cycle, with Shet being their enemy in every incarnation."
"In this life, they became archaeologists in ancient Egypt and retrieved the amulet and gloves. Fearing that Shet would find them, they came to America and established this art museum, where they have been living in anonymity ever since. But it seems that Shet has still come looking for them, and they are very scared, so they prepare to seek the protection of the Justice League."
"The Scarab Amulet and the Claw of Horus are both on them. Using these two treasures, they can transform into 'Hawkman' and 'Hawkgirl,' can fly, have self-healing abilities, and cannot truly die. However, they are lacking in strength and combat skills, and are not as strong as you."
As Joseph finished speaking, Deathstroke felt his head spinning. Was this mind-reading ability a little too good? Just a few words and he'd found out everything about someone's past and present lives?
Seeing Deathstroke's somewhat skeptical expression, Joseph didn't bother to elaborate. He said, "I'm not the kind of person who just uses superpowers to act recklessly. In fact, I only use my superpowers when I'm in really bad trouble. I wouldn't be doing this if it weren't to help you. Believe it or not."
"Hey, wait a minute!" Deathstroke quickly called out to Joseph. "I didn't say I didn't believe it, I just think this is ridiculous."
Then his train of thought took a strange turn. If the Halls were truly ancient Egyptians, then wouldn't the artifacts they created be genuine artifacts? Therefore, the murals weren't fakes; they were real ancient Egyptian artifacts!
This really shocked Deathstroke. He had barely accepted the fact that the entire mural was fake, but now you're telling me that the mural is actually real—even if it was made less than a month ago, made entirely of modern materials, and is brand new, undeniably new, it is still a genuine artifact.
Because it was designed and made by the ancient Egyptians, reflecting the history, culture and artistic aesthetics of ancient Egypt, even if the medium is modern, it is still a genuine cultural relic!
Schiller's plan to mass-produce fake artifacts to confuse the public was actually not about creating fake artifacts at all, but about mass-producing genuine ancient Egyptian artifacts.
It's like a book whose author died thousands of years ago suddenly being updated today, and will continue to be serialized steadily in the future. It's truly unbelievable.
No wonder. That mural fooled Wonder Woman and the curator of the Egyptian Museum. It passed through several hands without anyone noticing a flaw. Its creator, Hall, was the son of Ramses the Great, a prince from the ancient Egyptian court, and considered a highly cultured and aesthetically discerning artist in ancient Egypt. It would be strange if it had any flaws.
Schiller, oh Schiller. Deathstroke thought to himself. You've really got some nerve. You even dug up ancient Egyptians to create jobs for yourself… Wait a minute. Deathstroke suddenly remembered something—it all started with Batman's unexplained disappearance. Could Schiller have been behind that too?!