The next day, Lucas immediately asked Skye to pull up information on every museum in New York—focusing on which ones had ever exhibited any yellowed scraps of paper or cloth.
The Book of Truth had never been deciphered by humankind, because no one could recognize the writing on it. Even among vampires, only a handful knew anything about the script—it was an ancient language long lost to history.
So any museum that had displayed it would definitely have promoted it with the gimmick of being "an undeciphered artifact." A simple keyword search would probably narrow it down quickly.
The comparison software was still running. There were actually quite a few museums in New York—only four or five public ones, but countless private ones.
New York never lacked for capitalists, and there were always some who loved to show off. Those people would establish private museums just to display their personal collections—some of which were even more valuable and rare than the exhibits in public institutions.
That was capitalism in a nutshell: everything revolved around capital. Presidents were merely tools to be replaced when they stopped being useful.
At that moment, Natasha walked in with a frown, looking deadly serious—as if something big had happened.
"Where have you been these past few days?" Lucas asked curiously. There shouldn't have been any major incidents recently—Tony was holed up at home every day, and the Hulk was either still on the run or hiding somewhere in Brazil. What could have possibly happened?
"Are you guys messing with those vampires?" Natasha asked.
"You already know?" Lucas raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected S.H.I.E.L.D. to be that well-informed. He thought it would take them a few days to find out.
"Our director got word today. The vampire high council is holding a roundtable meeting to discuss your situation. From the looks of it, the outcome won't be pleasant," Natasha said, passing along the intel she'd gotten from Nick Fury. Of course, that intel was something Fury had deliberately let her leak to Lucas.
As for how Fury had learned about it—well, that was anyone's guess.
"Don't worry. They won't live long," Lucas said with a casual shrug, utterly unconcerned about what the old bloodsuckers were plotting.
"Oh? What makes you so sure?" Natasha asked curiously.
"These geezers have lived for centuries—some for hundreds of years. And you say they won't live long? That means you've already got a plan in motion, right?"
Lucas just smiled and didn't answer. Instead, he asked, "You got your intel from Frank, didn't you?"
Natasha didn't deny it; she simply nodded. "How did you know?"
Lucas didn't answer that either. What was he supposed to say—that he knew because of comic books about the Punisher and Nick Fury?
"Found it!" Skye suddenly called out. Lucas immediately turned to the computer screen.
It was the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the largest museum in New York—and one of the top five in the world. Its collection exceeded three million pieces, encompassing the full span of human civilization and countless treasures—most of which had, of course, been looted from around the globe.
In one of its galleries was exactly what Lucas was looking for—a set of Book of Truth fragments.
The museum's webpage detailed the origins of the fragments, as well as current attempts to study and decipher them. They were to be displayed for a month as "unsolved mysteries of art."
"That's it!" Lucas recognized the tattered scraps sealed behind glass instantly. The writing on them was almost identical to the symbols tattooed on the Ha Ghost tribe—strange, arcane markings that made no sense at all.
"Skye, keep eyes on this museum for the next few days."
"Is this thing really that important?" Natasha and Skye asked at the same time.
Lucas nodded. "Very. The vampires are all after it."
"Need my help?" Natasha offered. She knew Lucas didn't like dealing with S.H.I.E.L.D., so she meant it as a personal favor—not an official mission. After all, she had been living in the same apartment for months now, had grown close to Skye like a sister, and had come to see Lucas as a friend. Friends help friends, after all.
But Lucas shook his head. "Not for now. I'm using this thing as bait. What I really want is the location of their nest."
He didn't mention the real objective—the sacrificial site where Deacon Frost would soon attempt to ascend as the Blood God.
Natasha had only come to warn Lucas, and since he already knew, she soon left to resume her mission—keeping an eye on the vampire elders to prevent them from doing anything reckless, and quietly gathering evidence so that S.H.I.E.L.D. would have a reason to step in officially.
She and Barton had been monitoring the vampire council for days. Once they learned that the council planned to discuss how to deal with the person behind the blood factory, she came to warn Lucas.
After instructing Skye to keep a watch on the Met, Lucas headed to a law firm in Hell's Kitchen.
As soon as he entered, a tall, beautiful blonde woman greeted him.
"Sir, do you have an appointment? Are you here for Mr. Nelson or Mr. Murdock?"
The woman's professional attire, light makeup, and simple ponytail gave her an air of elegant competence.
Lucas recognized her at once—Karen Page, a woman with a life as tragic as it was turbulent.
"I'm here to see Matt Murdock. Just tell him Lucas Norman is here."
Karen asked him to wait and went to Murdock's office. Matt was currently meeting with a pro bono client.
"Please wait a moment. Mr. Murdock will be with you shortly," Karen said, offering Lucas a seat and a cup of coffee.
It was Lucas's first time here. He looked around curiously. It was a typical apartment-style office, the kind common all over New York.
The firm had three rooms—Matt's and Foggy's offices, plus a lounge that doubled as a records room. There was also a small kitchen and a bathroom, while the front area was Karen's domain, where she handled clients.
Before long, Matt personally saw his client out. In Hell's Kitchen, few people could afford lawyers; most relied on legal aid.
"You're here. Come in," Matt said with a nod, then turned to Karen. "No more clients for now."
Inside his office, Matt sat behind his desk, idly rubbing his cane as he always did.
"Got news?" he asked.
"Yeah. I've found out the vampires' next move. Skye's monitoring the location. I'm planning to go there myself," Lucas replied, then explained about the Book of Truth fragments being displayed at the Met.
"Then those fragments should probably be destroyed," Matt said gravely. "If something like that ends up in the hands of vampires, it'll spell disaster for humanity."
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