The days of being a spiritual mentor in Meiman.

Chapter 4435 Dark Prelude (Twenty)

This thought added another layer of worry to Diana's mind, because she realized that being sold for money was probably the best outcome. If they wanted to use it for something else, that would be a real problem.

She considered calling Clark to remind him, but she also knew that Clark couldn't possibly be unaware of something this big. The presidential palace had most likely already taken action, and she didn't need to remind him.

Diana hesitated for a moment, then decided to search the surrounding area herself first. Finding clues would be ideal, but even if she didn't, it would be a good start, and she could always ask for help later.

Diana then began flying around the Metropolitan Museum of Art, carefully examining the surroundings. After circling around, she actually discovered something unusual.

The door leading from this exhibition hall to the other halls was small, but the windows leading outside were quite large. Because the glass was intact, no one suspected anything. However, Diana noticed from the outside that the screws on the window frame showed signs of having been retightened.

She quickly called the curator and the police. The detail was so subtle, and so close to the exterior of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, that no one had noticed it. The police swarmed around, and then they brought in experts, even the glass manufacturer. After a long discussion, they concluded that these robbers were truly geniuses.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's exterior facade features tempered glass, offering some bulletproof and impact resistance. However, for aesthetic reasons, the window frames are made of wood. The connection between the two is achieved with screws, rather than being embedded in reinforced concrete as is typical for bulletproof glass.

Furthermore, because the Metropolitan Museum of Art was built relatively early, it didn't use a single piece of tempered glass. Instead, it had six panes of glass, arranged in two vertical and three horizontal sections. The bottom three panes were quite long, while the top three were shorter, and the top was arched. Because the floor-to-ceiling windows were very high, only the bottom, center pane of glass needed to be removed, which was enough to transport the murals out.

These robbers were skilled craftsmen. They removed and reassembled the glass without leaving any trace. If it weren't for Diana's sharp eyes, those tiny screw marks would have gone unnoticed.

This also takes advantage of people's psychological blind spots. People assume that robbers would use violence and wouldn't have time to carefully tighten the screws, so when they see intact glass, they subconsciously think that no one walks by here.

Although with enough effort and time, they might eventually find out, the fact that everyone was focused on figuring out how the mural passed through the door would waste a lot of time. They had already made their escape with the mural.

Considering the mural's weight and the difficulty of moving it, they wouldn't park their car too far from the window. Outside the window were tall bushes. Further investigation revealed that the two clumps of bushes had indeed been disturbed, with one even having half its roots pulled out.

This proves that the mural exited from this location. Beyond this wall lies the inner courtyard of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Logically, cars shouldn't be able to enter here. However, if both the main and back doors of the foyer are opened, cars can drive in by crossing the tiles.

The police then focused their search on the grout lines in the lobby and checked information on passing vehicles. Diana wandered around again but found no new clues. The investigation dragged on until after get off work, but no one dared to leave. They ended up ordering takeout and eating together in the office.

Diana pondered the matter carefully, feeling that Schiller was somehow involved. If nothing unexpected happened, she would be dragged into it again, just like before, playing a role he had arranged for her.

But things are different now. Before, she was just Wonder Woman; while not exactly destitute, she certainly had no connections in Metropolis. Now, things are different. She's joined the Justice League and has Batman as her backer. After finishing her meal, Diana went straight out to call Bruce.

“That’s how it is. I don’t understand what he’s doing. I have a feeling the robbers aren’t just after the artifacts. What do you think, Bruce?”

“You’re very perceptive, ma’am,” Bruce’s voice came through the phone. “Even though this artifact is very popular lately, it’s nowhere near as good as those famous jewels and old paintings. With this level of quality, they should be at the Louvre, not the Metropolitan Museum of Art.”

"What makes this mural sculpture different from other artifacts is that it contains information about extraterrestrials, which is probably why they took it."

"Could the buyer be an alien enthusiast?" Diana asked, frowning.

"Who isn't an alien enthusiast these days?" Bruce said casually. "After all, the alien hunt is in full swing."

Diana's heart skipped a beat. She realized that her earlier prediction had indeed been correct. Stealing and selling it for money was already the best outcome; now it seemed more likely that it was being used for political persecution.

Diana carefully recalled the contents of the mural and then said, "But the aliens on it don't have specific images, and they're not very vividly carved. How can they be used to identify anyone?"

Do you remember the most distinctive feature of the 'Serpent of Frini'?

"What?" Diana couldn't remember for a moment.

"It's fake."

Diana was struck dumb. A thought flashed through her mind. She didn't even bother to talk to Bruce, and rushed to the curator's office, saying, "Don't bother looking, curator."

The curator looked at her, bewildered. Diana took a deep breath, sorted out her thoughts, first stating her and Bruce's speculations, and then added, "The person who stole this thing might be trying to create a scandal."

"Fabricating a scandal? What scandal?"

“‘The Serpent of Frini’ is fake,” Diana continued. “They can find evidence that this artifact is a forgery. And once it’s proven that this artifact, which has caused such a global uproar, is completely a forgery, it can arouse public suspicion and make people think that the Martian invasion is just a government conspiracy.”

"What makes you say that?" the curator asked. What he was actually asking was what the necessary connection was between "the 'Serpent of Frini' being a fake" and "the Martian invasion being a fake."

“This thing existed long before the Martian invasion,” Diana said. “If it can be proven that the artifact is a forgery, then it can be inferred that the government planned this all along. This would greatly reduce public trust.”

The curator shook his head, then pointed out the window and said, "The nails on the sea are not fake."

“It could have been planted by the government,” Diana said. “They will definitely find evidence to prove that this is just a conspiracy by some government to control the world.”

“This is outrageous,” the curator said. “How could such a thing be done? They simply cannot find any evidence.”

Diana closed her eyes in despair. Isn't it a coincidence? These things just happen. The 'Serpent of Frini' was crafted before the new year, and the nails were driven in by the Justice League. The conspiracy theorists really weren't wrong about them at all!
Seeing that she couldn't persuade the curator, Diana could only hope that Schiller's forgery skills were good enough that those people wouldn't find any clues; she also hoped that Batman would do a clean job and that no one would find out that the nail was actually driven in by the Justice League.

That's why they say good things don't come true, but bad things do. Murphy's Law always seems to strike unexpectedly. Diana had just finished thinking this when she returned to her office and heard a commotion.

"What's going on? The 'Serpent of Frini' is from America? How is that possible? Wasn't it stolen by the British from Egypt? What does it have to do with America?"

"Why not? Look, the photos of this cargo ship have been leaked. There's also video footage of the cargo being unloaded at a British port. Doesn't that prove that the 'Serpent of Frieze' was a mural brought from the United States during the royal scandal?"

"You mean, in order to cover up the scandal, they deliberately created a fake one in the United States to confuse the public?"

"That must be it. They lost the real one themselves, and didn't want to admit to switching the artifacts, so of course they could only make a fake and then rush it to the museum for exhibition."

"No wonder. I felt something was off about this thing before..."

Hearing this, Diana couldn't stand it anymore. She rushed over, grabbed the other person's phone, and looked at the news article. Upon seeing the headline, she gasped – "Royal Forgery? The Overseas Gilding Trip of 'Famous Artifacts'".

Upon seeing the phrase "overseas gilding," Diana understood that these people must have uncovered something; otherwise, they wouldn't know that the "Snake of Frinier" originally appeared in the United States, then went to Britain because the British royal family wanted to clear up the scandal, and finally returned to the United States.

Diana rubbed her forehead, thinking that this series of operations, seemingly secretive, was actually impossible to keep quiet about. This thing wasn't a coin that could be easily slipped into a pocket and carried away. Such a large item, transported from America to Britain and back to America—if even one link in the chain was leaked, this entire trip would inevitably be exposed.

So here's the question: The royal family repeatedly claimed that the artifacts could never have been stolen or switched, so how did they end up in America and then in Britain? Britain plundered Egypt, so how did those looted items end up in America?
Once this journey is confirmed, the provenance of the artifacts will be impossible to explain. There are only two solutions: either the royal family comes forward and admits that the artifacts were indeed stolen, taken to the United States, and then recovered.

But thinking about it, it's obvious that the royal family is obsessed with saving face, even if it means suffering for it; they would never admit it. After all, important members of the royal family have already spoken out. If they admitted it, they could just have their farewell dinner. They absolutely will not admit it.

So how can we give a reasonable explanation? Otherwise, we can only say that the one shipped from the United States was a fake, but it was shipped over as a genuine article, and the real article never actually left Britain.

This explanation is also far-fetched, but it's passable. Basically, they claim it was a mistake by MI6, who thought the artifact was truly lost overseas. After a search, they found a fake, which is why it was photographed being transported from the United States.

As expected. The royal family quickly issued a statement saying that the "Serpent of Frigan" in the transport video circulating online was actually a fake. A problem with information exchange between departments led security to locate and seize the replica from a private collector in Arizona. The genuine artifact wasn't actually lost; it was just that the replica had already been returned by the time it was discovered.

Diana breathed a sigh of relief. Anyway, she just needed to smooth things over first. Many netizens accepted this explanation, after all, the British government was even more outrageous than the American government, so it was normal for them to create such ridiculous misunderstandings.

But no, the bombshell had barely dropped. Just as Diana went to the coffee shop to get a cup of coffee, more murmurs arose in the office.

"Fake? How could the 'Serpent of Frini' be fake?!"

"You mean the one being transported was a fake? Yes, the royal family has even issued a statement..."

"No! It's the one that's on loan from the British Museum!"

"Wasn't that stolen?!"

"That's why it was discovered to be fake!"

"Good heavens, did you guys see the detailed pictures he posted? It really looks like the one from our museum..."

"Oh no, oh no, someone's definitely going to accuse us of switching artifacts. God, how can we possibly switch something this big?!"

"As expected, someone mentioned it in the comments. Look..."

"Look at this, look at this! The British Museum actually tweeted to distance themselves. It's shameless! Doesn't it mean they were replaced by us?"