Chapter 341: Chapter 179: Target No.2 Chapter 341: Chapter 179: Target No.2 As Zhuge Liuyun and Bolton entered a silent Cold War, the room slowly fell into silence, with no one speaking up. However, as time passed, bad news started trickling into the room, rendering everyone there somewhat restless and edgy.
Personnel dispatched by US Forces General Bolton to infiltrate the Louvre Museum under floodwaters reported that they had found the warehouse storing special items, but the specific special item used as bait was missing. Not only items belonging to The United States of America had vanished, but even genuine artworks housed there had disappeared. The only pieces still visible in the room were the less valuable ones d by a Frenchman, which had been scattered everywhere by the floodwaters.
According to the information fed back by those who risked diving, they discovered a large hole in one wall of the warehouse. It was unclear whether the hole was caused by the flood or some other reason, and whether the items missing from the warehouse had been taken by someone or swept away by the flood.
Upon receiving this bad news, General Alain representing France was the most shocked. Being a high-ranking French official, he was well-versed in certain aspects of the Louvre Museum and privy to secrets unknown to others. While all publicly exhibited artworks were authentic and vetted by experts, in reality, most displayed pieces were imitations. Due to security measures, there was a significant distance between visitors and exhibits, with various obstructions in between, preventing visitors from getting close to scrutinize the art, thus they did not realize they were looking at forgeries. For safety reasons, the genuine valuable artworks were kept in a secret warehouse, only presented to true experts on specific occasions.
This was a compromise adopted by the Louvre to protect its priceless artworks. It had been problem-free for many years, not only because of the tight security around that warehouse, but also because the warehouse was “stealth” and not listed in the Louvre’s building directory, rendering it undetectable to outsiders. That night, with most of the Louvre’s guards battling the invader and the Seine River’s waters backing up, the precious items in the warehouse had vanished, swept away or stolen in the chaos. Whichever the case, the museum’s most valuable collection had disappeared, and the likelihood of recovering it all was extremely low.
It was precisely because he realized that the Louvre’s true treasures were compromised that Alain was so shocked. However, he wouldn’t reveal to the people present that the essentials of the museum’s collection faced trouble and that most exhibits were replicas. He had previously guided them through the Louvre as the host and introduced the imitations as genuine. Hence, he quietly reported this latest news to the French President to decide the next step.
Facing this bad news, General Bolton of The United States military was actually more nervous than Alain. His family had a long military tradition, and he was aware of some insider information. The United States’ technology had advanced so rapidly after World War II not merely due to plundered scientific talent and technologies from much of Europe post-war, but primarily because of the accidental acquisition of a few special items from which US scientists gained significant insights. This spurred a surge in US technological prowess, keeping it at the forefront of high-tech fields ever since. The unexpected flood had caused his plans to go awry, and the disappearance of the supposed most secure special items was a considerable loss. If this special item couldn’t be found, the consequences for The United States of America—and for him, as the main proponent of the plan—would be dire. Even though his family had significant influence in The United States of America as a military dynasty, his future there would be bleak.
Realizing that the warehouse’s contents were crucial to each of them, Bolton and Alain simultaneously issued orders. Their subordinates, in collaboration, immediately blockaded several street blocks near the Louvre Museum, preventing anyone from leaving and possibly having taken the warehouse items. At the same time, they dispatched teams, risking their lives to dive into the floodwaters once more, beginning the search for the missing special items and precious artworks in the area around that warehouse.
Apart from The United States of America and France, representatives of other nations seated around the round table had nothing lost there, so they watched the unfolding events with indifference. Although they sat at the same table, undertaking the same plan, they were not close friends. In fact, private conflicts existed between them, leading some to feel schadenfreude towards the misfortunes of the two countries, even wishing them worse outcomes.
As time went on, no good news came from the Louvre Museum, but another piece of bad news arrived, worrying everyone in the room. That was the Destroyer, searched for downstream the Seine River, had not been found by the searching vessels—it seemed to have vanished without a trace, and its whereabouts were unknown.