Chapter 45: Interception
It was an old man in a sharp, dark suit, with white hair like silver threads neatly combed, and a face full of wrinkles, as if he had experienced many vicissitudes. In his hand, he leaned on an umbrella.
"British!" The Black-Clothed Person leader was well-traveled and, seeing the old man blocking the road, he already roughly guessed his origin. Facing such a person, the Black-Clothed Person leader had to be cautious.
Looking at the Black-Clothed Person in front of him, the old man in the suit smiled lightly and said very calmly, "Phillip Johnson, 34 years old, real estate salesman, married, father of two children. Shark, a famous bandit leader on the U.S. West Coast, rose to prominence ten years ago, and has completed twenty robberies to date, committing a crime on average every six months. The known cumulative amount of money stolen is 400 million usd, and he was once listed as the tenth most wanted person by the U.S. Government, but quickly dropped off the list."
Saying that, the old man in the suit smiled lightly and said to the Black-Clothed Person leader, "Phillip, you are a smart man. You know what you can take and what you cannot take, and you also know how much you should take. Phillip, for someone as self-controlled as you, why would you make such a big mistake today?"
"Just taking money and doing things for others." Phillip Johnson knew how terrifying the person in front of him was, but he never expected such a legendary figure to follow them from Britain to the U.S., especially since it was just a cursed gem that they didn't particularly like!
It was because he had done enough homework that Phillip Johnson did not expect to encounter much trouble.
It was known that in the eyes of those British people, this was just an ordinary gem. The fact that they could borrow it from Britain to the U.S. indicated that this gem was not regarded highly by certain special individuals.
In the eyes of the director of the Natural History Museum in Britain, the talk of a curse was merely to give the gem cultural significance, thereby attracting the attention of visitors.
They believed that people always associate precious stones with various legends, and all a gem owner needs to do is describe it as cursed or lucky, and the story of the gem then continues to Transmigration through history, passed down from one person to another.
The above statement came from the head of the mineralogy department at the Natural History Museum in Britain.
Of course, regarding his statement, Edward's 77-year-old grandson, Indiana Jones, said that their Family firmly believed it.
"My mother would never touch the gem," Jones said, "She also advised us not to touch it."
The Jones Family was very clever in the underground world, especially the famous Indiana Jones. This man had experienced countless adventures in his life. Even though he was very old now, with him at the helm, the Jones Family was still untouchable, even in their current situation where they lacked successors.
It was precisely because he knew that both the Natural History Museum in Britain and the Jones Family did not care about this cursed gem that Phillip Johnson dared to get involved in this messy situation. Coupled with the extremely generous money offered by the person behind him, Johnson couldn't help but be tempted. He just didn't expect that the people he least wanted to see would still appear before him.
"You did very well, Phillip. This time you didn't use any special abilities. The people at the museum don't care about the loss of this ordinary gem, but I am different. I have my own responsibility for this gem, so please leave it, okay?" The old man in the suit spoke very sincerely, as if he were talking to a friend.
Phillip knew who the old man was referring to. The Natural History Museum in Los Angeles has stood to this day not because of its guards and layers of alarm System, but because of the people with special abilities within it who are the true Guardians of the museum.
However, those individuals reside in the deeper levels of the underground museum, guarding the most valuable items within the museum. As long as no one covets the items they protect, no one uses special abilities, or there isn't a large-scale looting of the museum's treasures, they will not take action.
It was precisely because of their disregard for those cursed gems that they were placed in the outermost layer of the underground vault. Additionally, Phillip Johnson did not use his special abilities, and they were very restrained within the museum, only taking a total of five gems.
Although these five gems were valuable on the market, they were not regarded highly by those people. As for the other guards who were killed, they never considered them as their own.
And Phillip, of course, knew that the old man in front of him was an existence of the same caliber as those people. If he were to act forcefully, he would not be the opponent. The old man in the suit knew this, which is why he was slowly using words to dismantle Phillip Johnson's will to resist.
Phillip Johnson suddenly felt a moment of trance, and subconsciously reached for the gem on him, but as soon as he touched the cursed gem, he suddenly jolted and sobered up. He looked up, and his eyes, as Phillip Johnson gazed at the old man in the suit, were filled with terror.
With a slight flick of his hand, an old-fashioned revolver was pulled out, its barrel pointed at the old man in the suit.
"Why do you insist? You know, that toy in your hand can't pose much of a threat to me." A hint of pity appeared in the old man in the suit's eyes as he said to Phillip Johnson, "As long as you hand over the gem, I guarantee you can leave freely."
The old man in the suit's words made Phillip Johnson's expression begin to waver, but this time he quickly struggled out of it, and then, without hesitation, directly shot at the old man in the suit, without a moment's pause.
With a "bang" of a gunshot, a bullet rapidly spun out of the barrel and shot towards the old man in the suit's heart.
However, despite the bullet's extreme speed, the old man in the suit still had time to gently shake his head, raise the umbrella in his hand, and suddenly open it. With a "ding," the bullet was blocked and fell to the ground. However, when the old man in the suit closed his umbrella, he found that Phillip Johnson had already turned and fled!
With a slight smile, the old man in the suit was about to pursue Phillip Johnson, but before he could take a step, a Black-Clothed Person suddenly flashed out from the side, threw a grenade at the old man in the suit, and then instantly flashed away again.
The old man in the suit subconsciously opened the umbrella in his hand, but the exploding grenade only emitted a thick smoke, enveloping him completely, after which there was no further reaction.
As soon as he heard the grenade explode, the old man in the suit knew he had been tricked. He vigorously waved the umbrella in his hand, and a gust of wind blew, quickly dispersing the thick smoke. However, by this time, Phillip Johnson had already disappeared.
"I knew you would make a move." The old man in the suit seemed to know who the person who made the move from behind was. He smiled lightly and went after the person who had made the move. At this moment, he seemed not to care at all about the loss of the cursed gem.
Ling Xiao stood on the tall building and could clearly see the actions between the Black-Clothed Person leader and the old man in the suit, but he couldn't hear any of their conversation. However, he could guess that they weren't saying anything pleasant to each other. Instead, the person who appeared later piqued his interest.
Watching the old man in the suit pursue the person who appeared later, Ling Xiao knew it was time for him to act. The direction the old man in the suit was heading was clearly opposite to the Black-Clothed Person leader. Now, he just needed to wait for the two of them to create a sufficient distance, and Ling Xiao would immediately make his move.
However, Ling Xiao was not the only one with the same idea. On a building more than ten meters above the Black-Clothed Person leader's head, a dark figure was silently leaping through the building, following the Black-Clothed Person leader closely.
The distance between this figure and the Black-Clothed Person leader never exceeded twenty meters. Even when he was confronting the old man in the suit earlier, this dark figure was still lurking around, yet neither the Black-Clothed Person leader, nor the old man in the suit, nor the person who appeared later, noticed her presence.