Chapter 4431

Just when Diana was concentrating on looking at the email, a strange phone call came. Diana picked it up and said: "Hello?"

"It's me, Ms. Prince, we've met before. We know you've encountered some trouble now. We can help you solve it. Do you really not want to come and see?"

Although Diana had the heart to see them, she knew that she had to play hard to get a few more times to let them expose their true purpose. So she said in a cold tone: "Is this all you guys know? Using framing to find trouble for others, and then hypocritically saying you can help solve the trouble. I don't need you guys!"

Hanging up the phone, Diana thought carefully. Although she felt that this group of people was threatening her again, she also felt it was wrong—what was it that she had to do now?

Moreover, if it was really to make her do some life-threatening work, this threat was a bit powerless. Although she wasn't willing to give up her museum position, if she were really fired, it wouldn't be to the point of being beheaded. At worst, she would go to a fast-food restaurant to fry fries; Hal would be very happy to be her colleague.

Thinking for a long time, Diana couldn't figure it out. She continued to flip through the surveillance footage, following the trail of the black car all the way to the west of Metropolis. Bruce's surveillance density was really powerful; it didn't take long before Diana found this car in an abandoned parking lot.

Of course, the robbers and the mural were long gone, but finding the car was also a major breakthrough. She first checked this car and discovered that no clues were left on the car, so she called the police, and then continued to watch the surveillance footage.

Arriving here, naturally there was no need to worry about leaving traces. Sure enough, soon she saw surveillance footage of professional equipment like cranes passing through the parking lot, and then it was a white box truck. Diana started tracking this car again.

This car drove from the west to the east. And in a park here, Diana found the background of the video where the robbers smashed the mural. She found that place, didn't see any fragments, but the soil was clearly turned over, so she called the police over again.

Then the robbers started to move these smashed mural pieces. Although they discovered it was an imitation and had no value, they couldn't just leave this thing here even to escape smoothly. So they changed to another car and started moving.

She thought she could find the end this time, but the robbers split into six cars, each transporting a part of the fragments. Diana looked at their trajectories running around in Metropolis, and her head was buzzing.

She always felt that something was wrong. The behavior pattern of this group of people didn't look like robbers at all; they were absolutely a professional team. How could there be a strategy of splitting troops?

However, Diana had to admit that this indeed delayed the time very well. She checked one by one, all the way changing cars and changing people, as if the roads of Metropolis were opened by their family. After chasing two lines, Diana was dizzy.

The key was that the three-day deadline had arrived. Checking back and forth, she didn't find any clues, and Diana was about to be fired.

She sat on the sofa in her apartment, staring tightly at the text message, but she wasn't waiting for the email to be fired. She knew that group of people would call again.

Diana had already seen that the entire process of robbery and escape was a carefully designed trap. The robbery method was to frame her, and the escape process was to delay her investigation time. It was clearly that surveillance was useless to you, we just want to create a bunch of garbage routes to pollute the card pool. No one wanted to investigate to the end in such a short time.

They did this, definitely not for the artifact itself, but just to target her. Now that she was at a dead end, the mastermind behind the scenes would definitely expose their true face.

Sure enough, as she expected, a few minutes later, someone called again. The other party's tone wasn't so friendly this time, and he said: "Miss, we absolutely don't want to make things difficult for you, but this matter is really very important. If you don't want to come, you might be kept in the dark. This absolutely wouldn't be what a righteous and kind person wants. Come to us, not only can we help you solve the trouble, but we can also help you recognize the truth. We are sending a car to pick you up now, okay?"

Diana made a helpless gesture, just sighed and hung up the phone, but this was also a default. Not long after, that car appeared downstairs in her building. Diana got in the car and made a confused expression.

"I won't mention helping me solve the trouble, what is the truth you are talking about? You guys wouldn't be running a cult, would you?"

"Who is the cult, you will know soon." The man sitting in the passenger seat said.

Soon they arrived at a mansion by the river. Diana also knew that buildings here generally belonged to the assets of big families, that is, the real estate of local gentry and rich people in Metropolis, mostly used for holding banquets. It looked cold and clear on the outside, but the decoration inside was very gorgeous. And it looked like someone had been waiting for a long time.

"Welcome, Miss." A person walked up to shake hands with her. Diana was a bit shocked, because this was actually the Mayor of Metropolis—to be precise, the former Mayor, the current Mayor only took office on Christmas.

"Hello, Mr. Mayor, why are you here?"

The Mayor smiled at her, and then said: "To tell you the truth, it was we who sent people to steal the Serpent of Phryne."

Diana's face changed; she knew there were stupid people and evil people in this world, but what she couldn't tolerate the most was not being ashamed but being proud.

"Don't look at me like that, Miss. 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 pointed behind him. At this time, a part of the Serpent of Phryne was placed in an exhibition cabinet. Diana glanced at it and confirmed that it was the one placed in the Metropolis Museum.

"What's wrong?"

"You are a quite professional private collector, presumably you can also see that the material inside this ancient Egyptian artifact is probably not something ancient Egypt would have..."

"Didn't you steal and swap the artifact? You wouldn't be wanting me to endorse you, so you can sell the real one, right?"

"We didn't steal and swap it. The whole theft process has complete audio and video recordings; this thing is fake."

Diana was a bit irritated. Although she knew that proving her innocence might already be very difficult, now that there was no hope at all, she couldn't help but feel annoyed.

Situations that could get her into such big trouble were very few. Fists couldn't solve the problem, and she had to patiently act with this group of disgusting idiots, which was really annoying.

"If you have something to say, just say it quickly," Diana also couldn't help but say directly, "If it's late, I won't be able to catch the recruitment at the fast-food restaurant."

"What I want to say is, I believe you didn't steal and swap the artifact either." The Mayor looked into Diana's eyes and said very sincerely, "You are not that kind of person, Princess. You are neither short of money nor status; you have absolutely no need to do such a thing. Those speculations on the internet are just measuring a gentleman's belly with a villain's heart. You don't have to take it to heart."

"So to speak, you are willing to testify for me?"

The Mayor nodded and said: "Of course. If you want, I can organize a hearing now. But this is not the point; the point is—if you didn't swap it, and I didn't swap it, then who swapped it?"

Diana sneered in her heart. Does this still need to be swapped? It appeared brand new last week, and the concrete might not even be dry.

"Of course, you might feel it was the UK." The Mayor didn't see her expression, so he continued: "Those British guys indeed often do such sneaky things. But this time it's not them, because they also have no motive, and the time doesn't match."

"When it was rumored to be stolen and swapped, this artifact wasn't hot at all, and didn't have such strong historical value. Compared to other treasures in the British Museum, it was inconspicuous, and swapping it wouldn't be swapping it for any other artifact."

"It was precisely because of the exhibition held to clarify the rumors, and the subsequent loan exhibition to the United States, that too many people saw the traces of suspected aliens on the mural, and it coincided with the alien invasion, that this artifact became hot, and its value also rose. But at that time, the artifact was already in the United States, and they had no chance to steal and swap it. Please think carefully, isn't that the case?"

Diana knew that according to the normal timeline, what he said was right. But she knew the real reason why it couldn't be the British who stole and swapped it was—this artifact was fake, fake, fake from the beginning.

It was fake if it wasn't swapped, and it was fake if it was swapped. The one swapped in the UK was fake, and the one swapped in the United States was also fake. It was fake if she swapped it, and it was fake if the Mayor swapped it. Swapping fake for fake, no matter how you swap it, it's fake.

But it had to be said that this Mayor could sort out the timeline and logic, which could be considered the smarter kind among politicians. This instead gave Diana some patience, wanting to hear what else he could say.

"But if this artifact wasn't swapped in the UK, nor was it swapped by you after coming to the United States, nor was it swapped by me after being stolen, then why is the one we took from the Metropolis Museum fake?"

"The answer is of course only one, and that is that this artifact itself is fake."

Diana's eyes lit up. Could it be that there are masters among politicians?

"This artifact is a tool forged by the government to increase the authenticity of the existence of aliens, create panic, and render the atmosphere of the Cold War. That's why it changed hands several times, no one stole and swapped it, but in the end, it was discovered to be a low-quality imitation."

Diana almost wanted to applaud him; you guessed it really not wrong at all. Isn't this just a prop forged by Shiler to make everyone believe that aliens really exist and to add bricks and tiles to the new Cold War plan?

Of course, this Mayor's intelligence was also limited. He wouldn't know how many things Shiler had done using this broken snake: first stimulating Luthor's anxiety, helping Superman shape his steel body; then triggering chaos among all parties, making them have to invite Superman to come out; then publicly exhibiting it, confirming that aliens had long existed, helping Superman create a popular foundation; then fabricating a theft case, pulling himself into the water...

Wait. Since it was all to help Superman before, then this time shouldn't it be too?

Because of what the Mayor said, Diana summarized it to herself in her heart, and really discovered the pattern of Shiler's actions—from the beginning, he was here to help Superman.

Every time the Serpent of Phryne appeared, it would eventually bring real benefits to Superman. For example, before, it stimulated Luthor, leading him to directly hit Clark with kryptonite. Although the process was a bit thrilling, it finally made Clark immune to kryptonite, which gave him a more perfect steel body, almost immune to all physical attacks.

And later, all parties passed the buck to each other, finally having to invite Clark to mediate, which helped him establish an initial upper-level foundation. If it weren't for this, after Clark became President, mobilizing politicians and the military wouldn't be so easy, and Luthor would definitely have done things in secret and wouldn't have let him push through the new tax law so smoothly.

Then, using the legends and artifacts of ancient Egypt to make people believe that aliens had always existed. This would make them not verify the truth first during the Martian invasion, but be eager to find a leader who was strong enough, allowing Clark to take office at the fastest speed.

Then at this time, pulling herself into the water must also be to create certain favorable situations for Clark. What would it be?

Diana started thinking in this direction and couldn't stop. Now Clark's various policies could be said to be going smoothly. But Diana also knew that although the overall situation was smooth, it was impossible for the details to be smooth, and there must still be some resistance.

Then, the reappearance of the Serpent of Phryne must be to help Clark clear these obstacles.

Diana looked at the Mayor who was playing tricks in front of her, but she already had a premonition about what he would say next.