bookbashuk Chapter 4300 Body of Steel (5)
Chapter 4300 Body of Steel (5)
Chapter 4300 Body of Steel (Part 5)
"Hello, Mr. Luther. It's a pleasure to meet you. We've worked together before, so there's no need to beat around the bush."
A woman sat down on the office sofa. She tidied her hair and said, "The main reason I came here today is to ask if there are any jobs available for us lately. You know, business is getting worse and worse, and my friends and I are almost starving. If you can introduce me to some good jobs, we can do something for you for free."
"Mr. Luther... Mr. Luther?!"
Lex Luthor jolted awake. He realized just how grim his expression had been. Looking at the heavily made-up woman opposite him, he took a deep breath and said, "I don't have any business to offer you."
The woman sighed with a hint of regret, but she was actually carefully observing Lex Luthor's expression. Finding that he seemed perfectly normal, she knew that he hadn't managed to catch her in the previous night's intrusion.
It's a pity he discovered it too quickly; I didn't have time to confirm whether he had actually obtained the snake's tail. Perhaps it's not too late now?
She could tell that Lex Luthor was distracted. Although she didn't know what had triggered him, this was a good opportunity to strike. The woman's eyes darted around, and then she said, "It seems I was too abrupt. But as a broker, I have to take the initiative, otherwise the good jobs will fall into other people's hands. I hope you don't mind my intrusion. If you have any suitable jobs, please contact me immediately."
After saying that, she stood up, walked to her desk, took out a bottle of red wine, placed it on the desk, and said, "It's just a small token of my appreciation. I hope we'll have the opportunity to work together again in the future."
After saying that, the woman left. She walked out of the office, went to the elevator, and typed a few words on her phone in her bag: "Success."
As soon as the elevator doors opened, the woman froze. She saw a familiar face, and as she expected, beneath the high arched eyebrows were a pair of gray eyes. What a desolate gray they were, but unfortunately, the reflection from the lenses obscured most of them, making the eyes appear much less vibrant.
Judging from his expression, he didn't recognize her, which was great news. But this guy said he was going to Gotham, so why did he end up here with Luthor?
The man nodded politely to her and walked out of the elevator. The woman watched his retreating figure as he walked away, feeling more and more certain that her decision to put down the listening device was the right one.
Unbeknownst to her, after leaving the elevator, Schiller's lips curled into a slight smile. He glanced at the security camera before walking into Lex Luthor's office.
"Hello, Mr. Luther, I'm here to explain the situation with the snake tail. Mr. Luther... Mr. Luther???"
Lex Luthor snapped back to reality. He took a deep breath, clearing his mind of the swirling thoughts, and said, "You've really given me a lot of trouble. Do you know that on the very first day this gem arrived, two separate groups broke into my mansion and estate?"
Schiller smiled and said, "That just proves how precious it is."
"I'm not sure if what you mean by 'precious' is its monetary value." Lex twirled his pen, speaking quickly and somewhat cryptically, often using complex vocabulary. "Don't give me that nonsense about historical and cultural value. I'm not interested in how many thousands of years it's been buried in the sands of Egypt. Now tell me, what did those two mysterious groups of people, whom I couldn't even capture, see in it? Why were they so interested in this gem?"
"That's precisely what makes it so fascinating, Mr. Luther. I'm just a businessman and collector who wants to crack some secrets; what I need is a brilliant scientist like you, isn't that right?"
“You must know something. I’ve read all the more than one hundred emails you sent me. You’ve had it appraised by a professional agency and even had its radiation tested. If you think it’s just an ordinary gemstone, you don’t need to waste your time like this. After all, you said you’re just a businessman.”
“Well, I knew I couldn’t hide it from you.” Schiller sighed. “I didn’t explain it immediately because if you didn’t realize the importance of this gem, you would definitely scoff at what I was saying. After all, I have no evidence, and if I rashly came to you with a bunch of myths, you would just think I’m delusional.”
"Tell me about it." Lex tilted his head slightly, his tone showing some curiosity, but not much; it was more like he was looking for something to distract him.
How much do you know about ancient Egyptian civilization?
“It depends on how much you need me to know,” Lex said, holding up a finger and waving it. “I can look up and memorize everything about ancient Egyptian civilization at a speed you can’t imagine.”
"No need for that. I'm not talking about anything academic, but rather the kind of gossip that's passed down by word of mouth. You should know something about Egyptian murals, right?"
“Of course I know. They would paint some important things in the murals, as well as some of their local culture and customs,” Lex said, raising his hand. “That was all they could do back then.”
“That’s right. And the ‘Serpent of Phriene’ is a local myth. Legend has it that during the reign of Pharaoh Tutankhamun of Egypt, a large red and blue serpent descended from the sky. It devoured the people of Egypt, destroyed buildings, and cracked the earth. Everyone was crying out and running away. They rushed to the Pharaoh’s throne and begged him for help.”
"The ten-year-old pharaoh stabbed the giant serpent with his sword, but to no avail. Then he remembered that the power of the sun god flowed in his blood, so he smeared his own blood on his scepter and stabbed the serpent, but the thrust missed. The scepter struck the serpent's tail, but for some reason, this suddenly weakened the serpent, allowing the pharaoh to behead it with his sword. When he pulled out the scepter, he discovered that an emerald embedded in it was stuck firmly in the serpent's body."
"To celebrate this great victory, people painted a giant sculpted mural about three meters wide, depicting the Pharaoh's heroic struggle against the giant serpent. At the same time, they embedded the emerald that had been left in the serpent's body into the mural. They believed that this would trap the serpent's soul and prevent it from causing trouble again."
"Years later, people opened the tomb and discovered this amazing masterpiece. After the 'Serpent of Fringe' was acquired by the British Museum, it was almost never exhibited to the public. The most recent time was at a royal charity dinner in the mid-20th century, when someone used a clever trick to switch the serpent's tail, and it eventually came into my hands after several twists and turns."
“A good story,” Lex Luthor said, “but what does it say?”
"Many myths have similar plots to highlight the bravery and fearlessness of a certain king. But this story is different. Because behind the magnificent and eye-catching three-dimensional serpent body of the giant mural 'The Serpent of Phrygne' lies something else."
Schiller took a photograph out of his bag, and Luther took it. The moment he saw the image, his pupils contracted sharply.
It was a squid. To be precise, it was an unidentified flying object that looked very much like a squid.
"Ancient Egypt was a desert civilization; they had no sea and had never seen it. Even if some of them were able to leave the desert and come to a maritime nation, the fishing technology at that time would have been far from sufficient to catch such deep-sea squid. This is a kind of mimicry in art; they saw something and drew it, only that the appearance of this thing just resembled a squid from the sea."
Lex Luthor started to drift off again. He seemed to have thought of something and was connecting the dots. He suddenly grabbed the photograph, almost crumpling it into a ball.
Then his hand gradually relaxed, as if he had made a decision. He pursed his lips, lightly tapped the table, and said, "I want to see the whole thing."
"Sure. But regarding the price..."
Lex looked at the man opposite him, who was squinting, looking exactly like a fox. He knew this was the moment the other man had been waiting for. For some reason, he felt like a fish on a hook, and everything that followed was beyond his control.
"How much do you want?"
"A billion dollars."
Schiller took out his business card from his pocket and said, “I need some time to prepare so that I can present myself to you in a better way, and I think you do too. I look forward to seeing you at 2 p.m. this afternoon.”
Lex sat in his seat, watching him leave, tapping his fingers lightly on the table, then picked up his phone: "I need you to do something for me, and as soon as possible."
The woman put down her phone and said to the hooded man next to her, "Just as I thought, that guy was asking for an exorbitant amount and angered Luther. He'd rather kill him than pay."
"What do you plan to do?" the hooded man asked, removing his listening earpiece.
“This swindler dared to use me to provoke Luther, we should collect some interest. Catch him, find out where the collection is, I want both the items and the money.”
Diana was sitting in her office at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, researching on her computer. The screen displayed information about the Luther Corporation. However, a news pop-up that happened to scroll by caught her attention:
"Superman Arrested! Superhero or Supervillain?"
Diana pursed her lips in exasperation. The editor's writing skills were worse than the Daily Planet's. Was Superman arrested? Didn't he just walk into the prison van? Besides, if he hadn't torn the alien spaceship apart, who knows how many more people would have died in Metropolis. Would you call him a hero or a villain?
Diana had a good impression of Superman ever since he appeared, so she was somewhat resentful. But there was really nothing she could do, so she could only close her laptop helplessly and take a big gulp of coffee.
At that moment, she saw that at the office door, employees were moving a large table. They couldn't move it in by turning left or right, so they had to find a way to dismantle the table legs and move it in sideways.
Diana seemed to suddenly realize something. She opened the webpage she had just been browsing, and her gaze finally settled on the size of the "Serpent of Frini". This thing was three meters wide, and even if only the tail was left, it would still be more than a meter wide. Moreover, its entire body was made of extremely thick stone walls. This thing was absolutely ridiculously heavy and could not be moved easily.
If someone were startled and tried to move the stolen goods, they couldn't just slip them into their pocket and leave. They would need to hire at least three or four people and specialized transport equipment. She wouldn't miss such a commotion.
Perhaps it was a good thing she was discovered yesterday, Diana thought. If the other party realized that what he was looking for was the snake's tail, or that the commotion she had caused made him feel that even keeping the snake's tail in the vault wasn't safe, then he would definitely try to move it. Moving something so large couldn't be done without any mistakes.
Diana knew she didn't need to seize the item; simply confirming its possession was in the other party's hands was enough to prove it was stolen goods. How to get it back was a matter for the royal family, and her mission would be complete.
So how could she make a big fuss? Diana turned to stare out the window, the image of Superman punching an alien spaceship flashing through her mind. She couldn't help but crack her knuckles and whispered, "Sorry, Lex Luthor."
(End of this chapter)