NOVPUBHearing the child’s voice, Sophia couldn’t help but ask, "Daniel, are they here for you?"
Daniel held a finger to his lips in a hushing gesture, then gestured towards the room, signalling her to hide. Sophia quickly got the message and swiftly retreated into the room.
Daniel spent quite some time peering through the peephole, but all he could see was a pair of cute eyes belonging to Anna.
"Big brother, are you looking at me?" Anna’s voice was barely above a whisper.
Daniel blinked in surprise, this little girl was quite sharp.
Then Elkampen’s voice sounded, "Open up, lad. It’s just us two out here. Surely, you’re not afraid of an old man and a kid?"
After scanning the area meticulously to confirm there were no others, Daniel cautiously opened the door, leaving only a small gap.
Through the crack, Anna shouted excitedly, "Big brother, we meet again!"
Daniel gave her a polite smile, then turned to Elkampen, "What brings you here?"
He didn’t bother asking how Elkampen knew where to find him. Given the Black Hat Gang’s resources, tracking him down would have been a breeze.
Elkampen had one arm around Anna and was carrying a heavy-looking bag in the other.
Lifting the bag, he said, "I wanted you to take a look at this."
Daniel frowned. Was this guy really here to get him to appraise something?
Could it be that he was being overly cautious? Daniel opened the door wider, ushering the pair into the living room.
"Make yourselves at home, what can I get you to drink?"
"Whiskey, on the rocks," Elkampen replied.
"Juice, please!" chimed in Anna.
Daniel took a look in the refrigerator and ended up pouring two glasses of ice water for them.
"This is all I’ve got, sorry."
Elkampen broke into laughter upon seeing the glasses of ice water.
He sipped half of his glass before placing the bag on the table and pulling out its contents.
Daniel glanced at the item, surprised to find that it was a chunk of stone.
However, one face of the stone was smooth, etched with some kind of glyphs.
Glyphs he had never seen before - it must have been a fragment of some ancient stele.
Elkampen explained, "I’ve had others look at this thing, but no one could tell which civilization these glyphs belong to. Benjamin Taylor said you might have some knowledge in this area, which is why I came to you."
At these words, everything clicked for Daniel.
So, it wasn’t that Elkampen had found him directly, but that he’d been recommended by Benjamin Taylor.
It was probably the ritual fragments from the box he’d opened previously that led Benjamin Taylor to think he had some expertise with these strange glyphs.
"Can you tell what it is?" Elkampen asked.
Daniel frowned, reaching out to touch the stone as if inspecting it closely. But in his mind, he commanded, "Begin appraisal."
Soon, the system interface appeared before his eyes.
[Item]: Fragment of Atlantis Transport Stone Stele
[Age]: Tens of thousands of years ago
[Details]: A fragment from a magic circle stele from the sleeping kingdom of Atlantis, crafted by the hand of Poseidon. However, only a complete stele could function.
[Appraisal]: Although a broken fragment is just ordinary stone, it has high collectible and research value.
[Market Price]: 50,000,000 StellarCoins
[Buyback Price]: 30,000,000 StellarCoins
Atlantis?
Daniel was somewhat astonished.
He’d heard stories about Atlantis since he was a child and had always thought it was merely a tale.
He hadn’t expected it to be true, and this chunk of stone was actually a fragment of a transport stele.
That is to say, Atlantis possessed unimaginable power.
If these stone fragments could be assembled to form a complete stele, it might even restore its teleportation function.
This was certainly a groundbreaking discovery!
He promptly asked Elkampen, "Where did you get this?"
Elkampen responded directly, "I have an old buddy in Sahara Treasure, I visited him a while ago and he gave it to me. He said he found it in the Sahara desert."
Daniel furrowed his eyebrows, full of confusion.
Wasn’t Atlantis supposed to have sunk beneath the sea?
How did a fragment of its transport stone stele end up in a desert?
And that’s the Sahara Treasure Desert, one of the largest deserts on this planet. Seeing this, Elkampen asked, "Have you figured out what it is?"
Daniel didn’t hide anything and directly said, "If I’m not mistaken, the inscriptions on this stone should be related to Atlantis."
He didn’t reveal everything, just to avoid unnecessary trouble.
After all, he couldn’t explain how he made that deduction.
His words shocked Elkampen.
"Atlantis, isn’t that a legend? And there’s no documented civilization to prove Atlantis existed, so how could you figure it out from this stone? Do you understand these symbols?"
Daniel shook his head, "I don’t, but Atlantis is not merely a legend. Put simply, tens of thousands of years ago, there was a kingdom named Atlantis. It was just like any other kingdom, farming and waging wars. Not everyone possessed magical powers as depicted in the stories. It’s just that people nowadays are more inclined to believe in the latter. I once saw these symbols in an ancient book, and they look very similar to the ones on this stone. The carvings on the stone also seem to be tens of thousands of years old, hence I believe this is a fragment of an Atlantean stele."
Elkampen nodded approvingly, his gaze fixed on the stone on the table, "So it’s a fragment of the Atlantean stele. Does that mean its existence can prove Atlantis was real?"
Daniel nodded, "Correct, the appearance of this stele fragment will certainly cause a sensation worldwide and will inevitably be sought after by its followers. According to my estimates, it could be sold for at least 50 million."
Elkampen shook his head, "Its value is not something that can be measured by money, it’s better to keep it as a collectible."
Daniel was somewhat disappointed; he had thought of buying it himself.
But considering that the old man in front of him was the godfather of the Black Hat Gang, he definitely wasn’t short of money and wouldn’t be swayed by a mere 50 million.
Daniel then asked, "Which country is your old friend living in now?"
Elkampen straightforwardly answered, "Mauritania, half of this country is covered by the Sahara Treasure Desert, and that’s where he found this stone."
"For some reasons, he might not make a move lately, but once he does, it’s bound to be deadly. If you’re scared, do everything you can to strengthen your position," Elkampen finished.
He then turned to Anna, "Anna, let’s go."
Anna nodded and waved goodbye to Daniel with a smile, "Big bro, see you next time!"
Daniel responded with a smile, watching Elkampen and Anna leave and close the door behind them.
It was only when the visitors had left that Sophia emerged from inside the house.
She looked at Daniel, shocked, "You killed Lexio?"
Daniel glanced at Sophia and patted her head, "You don’t need to worry about such matters. Just focus on your studies. I’ll get in touch with Benjamin Taylor and see if he can take you as a student. Of course, that’s if you can make the grade."
"That’s a given. I always get the best grades," Sophia pouted.
She didn’t say much more, but her heart felt heavy.
She understood that Daniel had killed Lexio for her.
She also knew Lexio’s status was not ordinary, and Daniel’s action would undoubtedly bring about huge trouble.
And all of this was because of her.
Unaware of Sophia’s thoughts, Daniel was full of doubts.
Elkampen had just said that for some reason Lexio’s father would not act recently.
Although he didn’t know the reason, Daniel thought that if he could figure it out, he might be able to easily defuse the crisis.
After all, he was about to face the Black Hat Gang’s influence in the entire northwest region of Libertopia, which was far from being as insignificant as the goons at the RGB Bar.
Daniel then thought of Rachel.
He hadn’t seen her in almost two days.
Could the reason have something to do with her?
With that in mind, he said, "I’m stepping out for a bit. There’s no immediate danger, so you can do your own thing now."
With that said, he picked up his car keys and left.
