amaotonovel Chapter 4596 The Day of Brightest Day (55)
Chapter 4596 The Day of Brightest Day (55)
Chapter 4596 The Day of Brightest Light (Fifty-Five)
Deathstroke didn't leave the art gallery. He simply circled back to the front entrance and turned to look at the building where the sniper was. The other party had obviously escaped, and it was too late to chase after him now. Now, all he could do was hope that Schiller would catch the guy who had infiltrated the banquet and tried to assassinate Mrs. Hall.
A short while later, Schiller stood at the crossroads and waved to him. Deathstroke walked over, and the two stood against the wall not far from the art gallery. Deathstroke smelled a faint scent of blood on Schiller.
"You killed him?"
“Yes,” Schiller nodded and said, “that guy was sent by Haivin, but not for assassination, but for kidnapping.”
"Kidnapping?"
"That guy can't make it in Cairo anymore, but he still has some influence elsewhere. It's just that without a stable source of antiquities, his employers won't let him go."
“Oh, I see. He wants to kidnap Mrs. Hall and then force Dr. Hall to give him the ancient Egyptian artifacts in his possession so that he can give them to his employers.”
"That's right, he won't give up easily. He built up a lot of connections during his time as museum director. If this doesn't work out, he'll find other ways."
"Okay, so who's that sniper? They're not working together, are they?"
Schiller shook his head and said nothing. Then his phone rang quickly; it was clearly the Halls calling. Schiller pulled a small spray bottle from his pocket, sprayed himself, and the smell of blood quickly dissipated.
“Wait outside for a while,” Schiller said.
“Don’t forget I still have a mission,” Deathstroke reminded him. “The Justice League is waiting for the ancient Egyptian artifacts expert.”
“Don’t worry,” Schiller said, “there will always be an expert.”
Schiller went inside. The Halls no longer dared to sit in the area with the floor-to-ceiling windows; the reception area had been moved from the front hall to the back. They both sat on the sofa, their expressions rather grim.
Seeing Schiller approach, Dr. Hall quickly stood up, grasped Schiller's hand firmly, and said, "Thank you so much, Mr. Rodriguez. Without you, we would probably be dead by now."
“It’s nothing,” Schiller shook his head and said, “With antiquities theft so rampant, I naturally had to have people keeping an eye on you. I didn’t expect anyone would actually dare to do it.”
Dr. Hall sighed deeply, then said, "Perhaps it's Haivin's revenge..."
He had barely finished speaking when Mrs. Hall beside him gave him a sharp look. Dr. Hall still seemed a little hesitant, so Mrs. Hall spoke up herself: "I'm afraid it's not just Haivin, not just him."
"Oh?" Schiller feigned interest.
“There were two assassins, right?” Mrs. Hall said. “The one who attacked me was probably sent by Haivin; he looked like an Arab. But the sniper probably wasn’t.”
"Do you have any other enemies?" Schiller asked.
After a moment's hesitation, Mrs. Hall said, "We do have a very powerful enemy who has been hunting us down. That's why we had to leave Egypt and haven't been able to go back."
Dr. Hall tugged at her, seemingly trying to dissuade her from speaking. But Mrs. Hall continued, "We don't want to get into a conflict with him because he's really... difficult to deal with."
"How difficult are they to deal with?" Schiller asked. "If you're inclined to hire me for security, you'd better describe your enemy in as much detail as possible. That way, I can assign you the right security personnel."
"Can we trust you?" Mrs. Hall asked. "Don't misunderstand, I don't mean anything by it. We just have to be careful."
"I'm just an intermediary. Whether you trust me or not is your own business. But if you entrust me with this task, I will definitely do my best."
The couple exchanged a glance. Dr. Hall cleared his throat and said, “It’s like this. Many years ago, I acquired a treasure—actually, three. A precious sword, gloves, and an amulet. Each of these three treasures was priceless. We intended to keep them forever in our private museum, but an evil subordinate found out. Driven by greed, he stole the sword and even planned to kill us. We had no choice but to take the remaining two treasures and travel across the ocean to get here.”
Schiller nodded and said, "So it seems he wants the remaining two treasures? Are those two items really worth all the effort he's put in?"
Mrs. Hall shook her head slightly and said, "In terms of value alone, perhaps it's not that valuable. But you can think of it as a curse. He has to have all three items."
"Sorry, I don't understand..."
"You must have heard some legends about ancient Egypt, right?" Dr. Hall asked. "Or have you seen similar movies?"
"Do you mean something like 'The Mummy'?"
"Uh, more or less, that's a bit of an exaggeration. But if I told you the Pharaoh's curse really exists, would you think I'm crazy?"
Schiller looked at him, shook his head, and said, "There are many things in this world that science cannot explain. For example, how exactly does Superman fly? Perhaps those famous ancient Egyptian legends are not entirely unfounded."
"It would be best if you thought that way. These three treasures are related to this. In short, he will stop at nothing to kill us in order to get the remaining two. And for some mystical reasons, we cannot give him the remaining two. Therefore, we hope you can find someone to protect us."
“That big guy…” Mrs. Hall said, “he looks very powerful. Can we hire him?”
“Of course, madam. However, his asking price is rather high, and he doesn’t take on long-term security assignments. It just so happens that he works nearby, and I asked him privately, which is why he agreed to come and take a look.”
Dr. Hall hesitated again. He looked around and lowered his voice, saying, "He's a superhuman, isn't he? I can tell..."
Schiller nodded and said, "Yes. He's a genetically modified soldier, so he's very strong. He would be a good candidate if he could come, but unfortunately..."
Dr. Hall sighed softly. At that moment, Schiller added, "What a terrible pile-up! I should have just had Haivin killed..."
“No, don’t say that. You’ve done enough,” Dr. Hall said. “At that time, he was the director of the Egyptian Museum and had some influence in the area. If he had died, you probably wouldn’t have been able to get away easily either. It’s better not to take such a risk.”
He paused for a moment, then continued, "But he is indeed a big problem. I think his targeting of me is not just for revenge, but more likely because he has his eye on the artifacts I have."
Schiller nodded in agreement. "Indeed, I can tell he's a greedy man. So what do you plan to do? How about leaving here for a while to lay low?"
“That would be handing over these precious artifacts,” Dr. Hall said, pursing his lips. “You should understand my feelings for them; I can’t give them up. Protecting artifacts is my responsibility. So I think it’s time to put our plan on the agenda. Where are the murals now? I think we can use them to attract Haivin’s attention. As long as we create enough of a stir, he won’t be focusing on what I have.”
Schiller sighed, making a troubled expression. He said, "In fact, the mural is now in the hands of the Justice League."
"The Justice League?!" Hall exclaimed in surprise. "How did it end up in the hands of the Justice League?"
"As you said, Egypt may have been influenced by some mystical factors, so much so that the murals went there and became somewhat strange, and even became involved with something the Justice League is investigating. When I transported the murals to the East Coast, they came to my door, saying they wanted to take them for investigation and research. I figured they weren't real artifacts anyway, so I gave them to them."
Dr. Hall frowned deeply: "We created those murals ourselves; they couldn't possibly be ancient Egyptian artifacts. How could they be related to mysticism?"
“It’s partly my fault,” Schiller said. “After Haivin took the mural, he kept it in his private vault for a while, and I don’t know what happened then. But someone added something to the upper left corner of the mural. That might be what the Justice League is investigating.”
"New content? What will it look like?"
Schiller picked up a piece of paper from the side and made a simple sketch. Hall took it and looked puzzled. He said, "This is probably alluding to the moon, but it's not how the ancient Egyptians depicted it. We usually... I mean, they usually depicted the Khonsu. Have you heard of the Khonsu?"
Schiller shook his head. Hall gave a brief explanation and then said, "If it's a trace left by the ancient Egyptians, it would probably look like this..."
Hall casually sketched a few lines. A tall, thin figure with long, slender limbs appeared on the canvas. His head was turned to the side, with two feathers on top and a long beak. He was a deity with a bird's head and a human body, holding a long staff in his hand.
"You truly deserve to be called an expert in ancient Egyptian history and culture," Schiller exclaimed. "Although I don't know much about this subject, your painting is almost identical to that in ancient Egyptian murals."
Mrs. Hall glanced at Dr. Hall, who quickly said, "I'm just used to it because I've seen it so many times. If the murals were in the hands of the Justice League, it would be a real problem..."
“No, I think this is actually a good opportunity for us,” Schiller said. “What if we let Haivin cause trouble for the Justice League? What about your enemy?”
The two exchanged another glance. Dr. Hall hesitated for a moment before saying, "I have no doubt that the Justice League can handle them. But isn't shifting the blame like this a bit..."
"First, the Justice League won't stand idly by and watch experts like you get murdered. If you ask them for help, they should be willing to assist. Second, you are also valuable. They want to study the ancient Egyptian murals, so naturally they need to protect you. Otherwise, who can help them decipher the clues in the murals?"
“But that mural is clearly… Oh, I see.” Dr. Hall suddenly realized, “As long as I say that the mural is from ancient Egypt, my wife and I can stay and conduct a series of studies. We can use the mural to attract Haivin’s attention, and we can also use the Justice League to protect us and deal with our enemies.”
“That’s right,” Schiller said. “And it’s not exactly a lie. Although we created the murals, the things we added later are indeed worth studying. It’s a win-win situation.”
Dr. Hall nodded and said, "That's one way. But how do we get the Justice League to think of us?"
“I’ll figure something out,” Schiller said. “There aren’t many experts on ancient Egyptian history and culture in the United States, and you are among the best. Wonder Woman from the Justice League also seems to be an expert. With just a little hint, she will definitely invite you over.”
“Thank you so much,” Dr. Hall said. “Mr. Rodriguez, we really don’t know what we would have done without you.”
“No need to be polite.” Schiller nodded to him, took out his phone from his pocket, glanced at the message, and left. Once outside, he said to Deathstroke, “It’s all settled. Go see him tomorrow morning and complete your task.”