The days of being a spiritual mentor in Meiman.

Chapter 4438 Dark Prelude (Twenty-Three)
Just as Diana was engrossed in reading her emails, a call came in from an unfamiliar number. Diana answered, "Hello?"

“It’s me, Ms. Prince. We’ve met before. We know you’re having some trouble. We can help you. Won’t you come see me?”

Although Diana wanted to see them, she knew she would have to play hard to get before they revealed their true intentions. So she said coldly, "Is this all you know? Framing others to create trouble, then hypocritically offering to help solve it. I don't need you!"

After hanging up the phone, Diana pondered the situation. Although she felt these people were just using the same old tactics to threaten her, something didn't seem right—what was it that she absolutely had to do now?

Besides, if she were really being asked to do something that could cost her her head, the threat seemed rather weak. While she didn't want to give up her museum job, being fired wouldn't necessarily mean death. At worst, she could work at a fast-food restaurant frying fries; Hal would be happy to be her colleague.

After thinking for a long time, Diana still couldn't figure it out. She continued reviewing the surveillance footage, following the trail of the black car until she reached the western part of the metropolis. Bruce's surveillance network was truly impressive; it wasn't long before Diana found the car in an abandoned parking lot.

Of course, the robbers and the mural were long gone, but finding the car was a major breakthrough. She first checked the car and found no clues, so she called the police and then continued to review the surveillance footage.

Once here, there was no need to worry about leaving any traces. Sure enough, surveillance footage soon showed cranes and other specialized equipment passing through the parking lot, followed by a white van. Diana continued tracking the vehicle.

The car then drove from west to east. In a park there, Diana found the backdrop of the video of the robbers smashing the mural. She found the spot, saw no debris, but the soil had clearly been disturbed, so she called the police again.

Then the robbers started moving the smashed murals. Although they discovered they were fakes and had no value, they couldn't just leave them there to make a safe escape. So they switched to another vehicle and started moving them again.

She thought she'd finally found her destination, but it turned out the robbers had split into six cars, each transporting a portion of the debris. Diana watched their erratic movements through the metropolis, her head buzzing.

She felt something was off. This group's behavior didn't seem like that of robbers; they were definitely a professional team. Why were they splitting up?

However, Diana had to admit that this did buy her a lot of time. She checked each lead one by one, changing cars and people along the way, as if she owned the streets of the metropolis. After following two leads, Diana was dizzy and disoriented.

The crucial point is that the three-day deadline has passed. After much investigation, no leads have been found, and Diana is about to be dismissed.

She sat on the sofa in her apartment, staring intently at her text messages, but not waiting for the dismissal email. She knew those people would call again.

Diana had realized that the entire robbery and escape was a meticulously planned trap. The robbery was a setup to frame her, while the escape was designed to delay her investigation. It was clear that surveillance footage was useless; they were deliberately creating a bunch of useless routes to pollute the game. No one could possibly get to the bottom of things in such a short time.

Their actions were certainly not for the sake of the artifacts themselves, but rather to target her. Now that she's cornered, the mastermind behind it all will surely reveal their true colors.

Just as she expected, someone called again a few minutes later. This time, the caller's tone wasn't as friendly. He said, "Madam, we absolutely don't mean to make things difficult for you, but this matter is truly very important. If you don't come, you might remain in the dark. That's definitely not what a righteous and kind person wants. Coming here will not only help you resolve your troubles but also help you see the truth. Shall we send a car to pick you up now?"

Diana feigned helplessness, simply sighed, and hung up the phone, which was tantamount to acquiescing. Not long after, the car appeared downstairs at her apartment building. Diana got in, feigning confusion.

"I won't even mention helping me solve my problem, but what kind of truth are you talking about? You're not some kind of cult, are you?"

"You'll soon find out who the real cult is," said the man in the passenger seat.

They soon arrived at a mansion by the river. Diana knew that these buildings were generally owned by wealthy families, the landscaping of the metropolitan gentry, and mostly used for hosting banquets. The exterior looked deserted, but the interior was lavishly decorated. And it seemed someone had been waiting for quite some time.

“Welcome, madam.” A man stepped forward and shook her hand. Diana was somewhat shocked, for this was the mayor of the metropolitan area—or rather, the former mayor, the current mayor having only taken office on Christmas Day.

"Hello, Mr. Mayor, what brings you here?"

The mayor smiled at her and then said, "To be honest, it was us who sent people to steal the Serpent of Frini."

Diana's expression changed. She knew there were fools and wicked people in the world, but what she couldn't tolerate most was being shameless and even proud of it.

"Don't look at me like that, madam. If we hadn't made this bold decision, who knows how long the world would have been kept in the dark."

"What do you mean?"

“Look at this,” the mayor said, pointing behind him. There, in a display case, was a portion of the Serpent of Fringe. Diana glanced at it and confirmed it was the same one displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

"what happened?"

"You are a highly professional private collector, and you must be able to tell that the materials used in this ancient Egyptian artifact are probably not found in ancient Egypt..."

"Didn't you switch the artifacts? You're not trying to get me to vouch for you so you can sell the real ones, are you?"

“We didn’t switch it. The entire theft was recorded on audio and video; this thing is fake.”

Diana was somewhat agitated. Although she had long known that proving her innocence would be very difficult, now that all hope was lost, she couldn't help but feel frustrated.

There are very few circumstances that could get her into such big trouble. Fists won't solve the problem, and she also has to patiently play along with these disgusting idiots—it's incredibly annoying.

"Just say what you have to say," Diana couldn't help but say. "If you're too late, I'll miss the fast food restaurant's hiring."

“What I’m saying is that I believe you didn’t steal the artifacts either.” The mayor looked into Diana’s eyes and said sincerely, “You’re not that kind of person, Your Highness. You have neither money nor status, and you have absolutely no need to do such a thing. Those speculations online are just judging others by their own standards. You don’t need to take them to heart.”

"So, you're willing to be my witness?"

The mayor nodded and said, "Of course. If you want, I can organize a hearing right now. But that's not the point. The point is—if you haven't changed, and I haven't changed, then who has?"

Diana scoffed inwardly. Did it even need replacing? It was brand new last week; the concrete probably wasn't even dry yet.

“Of course, you might think it’s Britain.” The mayor didn’t see her expression, so he continued, “Those British guys do often do these kinds of underhanded things. But it’s not them this time, because they also have no motive, and the timing doesn’t match up.”

"Legend has it that when it was switched, this artifact was not popular at all and did not have that much historical value. Compared with other treasures in the British Museum, it was inconspicuous, and it would be very troublesome to switch. No matter which artifact you want to switch, you would not choose to switch this one."

"It was precisely because of the exhibition held to clarify the rumors, and the subsequent loan exhibition in the United States, that too many people saw traces of what appeared to be aliens on the mural. Coincidentally, this coincided with an alien invasion, which made the artifact popular and its value increase. But at that time, the artifact was already in the United States, and they had no opportunity to smuggle it. Please think about it carefully, isn't that the case?"

Diana knew that, according to the normal timeline, he was right. But she knew the real reason it couldn't have been the British who switched it was that the artifact was fake, fake, fake from the very beginning.

Whether you change it or not, it's still fake. The one you changed in the UK was fake, and the one you changed in the US was fake. Her change was fake, the mayor's change was still fake. Exchanging fakes for fakes, no matter how you change it, it's still fake.

However, it must be said that the mayor's ability to clearly outline the timeline and logic makes him one of the more astute politicians. This, in turn, gave Diana some patience, and she wanted to hear what else he had to say.

"But if this artifact was neither exchanged in Britain, nor was it exchanged by you after it came to America, nor was it exchanged by me after it was stolen, then why is the one we took from the Metropolitan Museum of Art a fake?"

"There is only one answer, of course: the artifact itself is fake."

Diana's eyes lit up instantly. Could it be that there are truly skilled politicians among them?

"This artifact was forged by the government to add credibility to the existence of extraterrestrials, create panic, and fuel the Cold War atmosphere. This is why it changed hands several times without being replaced, but was eventually discovered to be a poor-quality counterfeit."

Diana practically wanted to applaud him; he had guessed perfectly. Wasn't this exactly the kind of prop Schiller had fabricated to convince everyone that aliens existed and to pave the way for a new Cold War plan?
Of course, this mayor's intelligence wasn't all that great. He had no idea how much Schiller had accomplished with that broken snake: first, by instilling anxiety in Lex Luthor, thus helping Superman forge his Iron Man body; then, by triggering a chaotic war among various factions, forcing them to call upon Superman; then, by publicly displaying it, confirming the long-standing existence of aliens and building public support for Superman; and finally, by fabricating a theft case, dragging himself into the mess…

Wait a minute. Since the previous efforts were all to help Superman, could this be the same?

Because of what the mayor said, Diana mentally analyzed it and actually discovered the pattern in Schiller's actions—from the very beginning, he was there to help Superman.

Every time the Frine Serpent appears, it ultimately brings tangible benefits to Superman. For example, it previously provoked Lex Luthor, causing him to strike Clark with Kryptonite. Although the process was somewhat thrilling, Clark was indeed immune to Kryptonite in the end, granting him a more perfect Iron Body, making him virtually immune to all physical attacks.

Later, as everyone shifted blame, Clark was eventually asked to mediate, which helped him establish a preliminary upper-level foundation. Without this incident, it wouldn't have been so easy for Clark to mobilize politicians and the military after becoming president, and Luther would certainly have secretly sabotaged him, preventing him from smoothly implementing the new tax law.

Then, by using ancient Egyptian legends and artifacts, people will become convinced that extraterrestrials exist. This will prevent them from verifying the existence of extraterrestrials during a Martian invasion; instead, they will be eager to find a powerful enough leader to allow Clark to rise to power as quickly as possible.

So, at this point, dragging himself into this mess must be to create some favorable situation for Clark. What could it be?

Once Diana started thinking in this direction, she couldn't stop. Clark's various policies were now progressing smoothly. But Diana also knew that while the overall situation was going well, the details wouldn't be without obstacles.

Therefore, the reappearance of the Phryne Serpent must be to help Clark remove these obstacles.

Diana looked at the mayor, who was putting on airs, but she already had a premonition of what he was going to say next.