amaotonovel Chapter 4590 The Day of Brightest Day (49)
Chapter 4590 The Day of Brightest Day (49)
Chapter 4590 The Day of Brightest Light (Forty-Nine)
The Justice League base in the main universe. Wonder Woman Diana stands before a massive mural. Lights streaming down from above make the mural appear even more magnificent. The giant serpent floating between the sky and the earth exudes an ancient and desolate feel, reminiscent of ancient Egypt.
“Incredible,” Diana said. “Although I work in a museum, my specialization is in Bourbon Spanish art. I have the utmost respect for scholars who study ancient Egyptian or other ancient artifacts. The older and more complex something is, the more the appreciation of its artistic merit gradually transforms into the study of its ancient history. There is no doubt that this piece records a period of history from the time of Tutankhamun…”
She heard the death knell behind her sigh softly. Diana turned to him and said, “Thank you, Mr. Mercenary. I know you’re busy and don’t have time for my history lessons…”
“No, no, no,” Deathstroke quickly waved a hand, saying, “I’m quite interested in ancient Egyptian history. And I’m not busy lately. I mean, why don’t you take another look?”
“If we're only talking about this artifact, I have nothing to say. However, I don't know if you've noticed, but the patterns here seem a bit strange.” Diana turned back to look at the upper left of the mural. She said, “Although I don't know much about ancient Egyptian artifacts, I do know that during that period, they focused more on symbolic expression than artistic treatment. All the other elements in the entire mural are highly harmonious and unified. Only this one…”
Diana pointed to the upper left corner. "This moon looks strange. First of all, its craftsmanship is rather rough, completely different from the fine carvings elsewhere..."
"Of course," Deathstroke thought to himself. "Because other places might have been chiseled out bit by bit, while this place was dug out with a dagger. From start to finish, it took less than ten minutes; it would be strange if it wasn't rough."
“Of course, its style of expression is also somewhat strange.” Diana frowned as she paced in front of the mural. “The moon. Yes, in addition to sun worship, the ancient Egyptians naturally depicted the moon as well. For example, Khonsu, one of the Theban Colossi, is the moon god in ancient Egyptian mythology, regarded as the king of truth and the determiner of fate. His image is usually that of an eagle head…”
"It's a falcon's head," the death knell thought to itself. "And it's just the head."
"It's strange. The moon is depicted directly here, without any mythological metaphors or mention of a moon goddess. Moreover, the moon's shape is abnormal. It's been split in two, with one side cut off. What could a broken moon represent?"
"I think it might be suggesting that the moon has a bright side and a dark side. The dark side might represent the far side of the moon..."
"My God," the death knell sighed inwardly. "You two are truly in sync."
"And here. Do you see these? These little people-like things don't quite look like how the ancient Egyptians depicted people. I think you've seen other Egyptian murals too. Ancient Egyptian depictions of human figures are very flat, and they are usually tall and thin, with long bodies and slender limbs. But these little people are not only short, but their heads are also a bit too big. It's really strange."
Diana pinched her chin and speculated, "This moon and these strange little figures probably weren't originally in the mural, but were added later..."
"A keen eye!" Deathstroke mentally gave her a thumbs up. Truly worthy of being called Wonder Woman. This is a real artist, far superior to those onlookers outside.
“This must be a mark left by someone,” Diana said. “It seems to be trying to express something. It’s related to the far side of the moon, or it could be related to aliens. But I can’t figure out exactly what it is.”
"What's so hard to see?" Deathstroke almost facepalmed. "Isn't this just telling you there's something wrong with the far side of the moon? Can't you just fly up and take a look? That wouldn't be difficult for Wonder Woman, would it?"
"Batman warned me that anything related to the power of the Seven Lamps must be handled with extreme caution. Besides, the moon isn't within Earth's magical defense network. If there are any traps on it, we might lose more manpower. That's not worth it. We should probably get an expert to take a look."
Deathstroke paused. Diana turned to look at Deathstroke and said, "The Justice League can't leave because they're searching for Batman. Since Schiller asked you to escort this artifact back, it proves you can be trusted, Mr. Mercenary. Please make another trip and bring over a real expert on ancient Egyptian artifacts."
An expert on ancient Egyptian artifacts? Deathstroke sneered inwardly. Do you want Schiller? Or Schiller? Or Schiller?
Two days ago. Hegada Port. A shipping container labeled "glassware and other household goods" was loaded onto a cargo ship. Schiller and the Death Knell stood in the shadows of the checkpoint in front of the ship.
“So, you’re not getting on board?” Deathstroke asked. He glanced at the container. Inside were the “Ancient Egyptian Murals”—the agent-annotated version—that they had gone to so much trouble to retrieve.
Schiller shook his head and said, "Wonder Woman understands very well that professional tasks should be left to professionals, otherwise she wouldn't have come to me. This means one thing: she's not someone to be fooled."
"Ah, I thought you'd never thought of that before," Deathstroke said sarcastically. "What will you do if she finds out you've been damaging artifacts?"
"Are you mistaken? Is my biggest problem damaging cultural relics?"
Deathstroke slapped his forehead. He'd lost count of how many times he'd been caught off guard—there were no artifacts at all. The entire mural was fake.
Schiller continued, "Diana's expertise doesn't seem to lie in ancient Egyptian artifacts. This means she might not see anything wrong with it, but it also means she would seek out people who could. There aren't many experts on ancient Egyptian artifacts in the world, but there are always a few. Once they see this mural, they'll know it's a hoax."
"Well said. So you didn't think about that when you were forging the documents?"
“That doesn’t matter,” Schiller said. “Things have come to this point, and the mural can’t be fake anyway.”
"So I need you to escort this mural back, and I'll use this time to sort out my troubles."
"I have no problem escorting the murals. But how do you plan to resolve this problem?"
“You don’t need to worry about that,” Schiller said, shaking his head. “I have my own way.”
"Alright. Hopefully, the Justice League will reimburse me for all my equipment damage." Deathstroke walked towards the cargo ship.
“What do you think, Mr. Deathstroke?” Diana asked.
“I’m a mercenary. I’ll do anything for money. But do you really think it’s a good idea for me to hire an expert? Most people would just scream at the sight of me.”
“This is a last resort,” Diana sighed. “Of course, normally, we could just have the Flash make the trip, or Superman could fly over. But right now, Batman is our big problem. Investigating the anomaly of the Seven Lanterns is important, but we can’t afford to be distracted by that.”
"As for the reward, everyone in the Justice League can access our operational funds. I believe the price will satisfy you. Of course, if there's any equipment here that you might need, you can take it. But you must promise not to use it for anything outside of the mission, otherwise I can't be sure if Batman will come after you when he returns."
“I don’t need the equipment,” Deathstroke said. “I just need you to reimburse me for the wear and tear on my equipment.”
“Of course,” Diana nodded and said. “We can pay you in cash, and if any complicated equipment needs repair, you can wait until Batman returns to contact him.”
“Give me cash, I won’t walk into a trap,” Deathstroke said. “Give me your name and address, and I’ll have them get here as soon as possible.”
“No need to rush,” Diana said. “I have some questions for you. They’re about Schiller. How did you meet him? What happened between you two in Egypt?”
“That’s a long story,” Deathstroke said. “Schiller went to the Red Sea, and my mission target happened to be nearby. But some problems arose, causing my mission to fail. I also owed him a favor, so I helped him find the murals.”
“That French arms dealer was very cunning. He contacted Haivin, the director of the Cairo Museum, and the two of them wanted to smuggle the murals away. But just then, armed forces attacked Cairo Airport, and they couldn't leave. Haivin hid the murals in his safe house. It took us a lot of effort to find them.”
Diana's expression shifted to one of sudden realization, and she said, "That sounds like a fascinating adventure. Since this isn't your mission, it wouldn't be against your professional ethics to tell me more details. Did anything strange happen along the way?"
“Of course,” Deathstroke replied. “Don’t you know that when we came into contact with the murals, a meteorite suddenly crashed down? And then you called and said there was a fluctuation in power.”
"Yes, that's exactly what I meant. What did you find out later?"
"Schiller took the instrument and went to the spot where the meteorite had fallen. It's the Great Pyramid of Giza, you know, that famous tourist attraction. It was packed with people. Police and the military were there. We had a lot of trouble getting in. But it was just an ordinary meteorite. We didn't find anything there."
"Didn't you go inside the pyramids to take a look?"
"Good heavens. We're lucky to even get close to a meteorite. There's no way we can enter the pyramid in front of everyone. Besides, what do you expect to find there? A resurrected mummy?"
After a pause, the tolling bell continued, "I don't think there's anything unusual inside the pyramids. You see, it's a famous tourist attraction, and it was open as usual the next day. This proves that the Egyptian authorities didn't find anything there either, because if there were any problems, the site wouldn't be open. And the tourists would have noticed anyway."
Diana nodded thoughtfully and said, "Okay, I understand. Then I'll trouble you to go here and visit a knowledgeable expert on ancient Egyptian artifacts, and ask him to come here to help us analyze the truth behind the murals."
Diana picked up a pen and paper from the side, wrote down an address and name, and handed it to Deathstroke. Deathstroke took it and saw that it read: "Carter Hall—Manager of the Midway City Museum, Michigan."