Vol 13: Chapter 9-2.
Zheng scratched his head and sighed. “I get it. I get it. Danger equals rewards. You have told me enough times but I still don’t concur with putting up the Book of Amun-Ra. The book is the hope of our fallen comrades. Announce that we will exhibit the Book of the Dead for the whole duration and the Book of Amun-Ra at the last day.”
Xuan considered it for a moment then nodded. Zero suddenly said. “When you were on the skyscraper, someone was staring at your direction from several thousand meters away. Normal people shouldn’t be able to see you from that far but his eyes seemed fixed on you. Furthermore, he hid behind an obstacle when I looked at him.”
Zheng immediately asked. “When did that happen? When we were observing the exhibition center? Why didn’t you contact Lan at the time. God, maybe that was Imhotep!”
Zero replied. “I don’t know how to contact Lan. Still not that familiar with psyche scan. I need more practice before being able to cooperate in battle.”
Zheng was silent. He remembered none of these people fought together under soul link and psyche scan. They still relied on their vision and voice. “Lan, can you monitor us with the scan at all times?”
She nodded and smiled. “Of course. I can keep all of you under the scan as long as it is less than 50 people. If something happens or if anyone has a large emotional fluctuation, I will be able to know immediately.”
Zheng nodded. “Good. Keep us under the psyche scan aside from during private matters. When we need to contact you, we will call your name in our mind. Let’s try and show the scan to Zero, Kampa, and WangXia.”
She covered the whole city in the scan and sent the images to the three people’s minds.
Zheng turned to Xuan. “The exhibition starts tomorrow. I will put the Book of the Dead inside the showcase in the morning. Kampa and WangXia will guard it by the side. I will hide among the crowd. Zero aim from far away. You will take charge of the whole situation from here. Any questions?”
Xuan shook his head. “No. This arrangement is appropriate. Just like we planned, we are only staying here for three days before heading to the Mayan ruins.”
“Yes. Three days.”
The next morning. The exhibition center was full of people. The hundred guards that Zheng hired with big money were so minute in front of the tens of thousands of civilians. Fortunately, most of these people were middle class and knew their etiquettes. Everyone formed a line waiting to get in. Those with invitations bypassed the line and entered from a side entrance.
“We went overboard. The exhibition isn’t our true intention.” Zheng looked out from among the guards.
You wouldn’t only have one item in an exhibition so they rented numerous relics from museums within the city. The museums gladly agreed to advertise themselves. And so the exhibition became so crowded that it was almost out of Zheng’s control.
“Keep your positions. It’s best if we can lure the movie characters out. If not, we have to protect the book at all cost!” Zheng said through the soul link.
The night came but more and more people gathered. Those who couldn’t afford a ticket came for the free food and drinks. Once the middle class left, these people took over the area.
At the same time, O’Connell and the other two got off the train station in New York. A man and woman in robes walked next to them. These two looked relaxed in stark contrast to the other three’s gloomy and stressed expressions.
O’Connell said. “Imhotep, don’t take light of that monster. He’s definitely on the same level as you. You can’t even imagine what we saw in that town. Anyone that he sucked blood from gained immense strength, enough to lift a car and strike down a house. The most terrifying thing is that monster’s body. It’s just… just…”
Evelyn found the words for him. “It’s like every part of his body has intelligence. His blood vessels can leave his body and turn into needles strong enough to penetrate a car. His hair move like snakes that can suck blood from the ends. His strength and speed are beyond human. He can even lower his body temperature to such a degree that it will freeze you if you touch it!”
Imhotep chuckled. “Sounds like a pretty strong monster. But can he shield himself from getting sucked dry by the desert? Haha. I am more interested in the golden mask that turns people into vampires. Are you sure he was an old man before he wore the mask?”
O’Connell nodded. “Yes. He a local of that town and was over sixty. But after the needles from the mask pierced into his head, his body turned young, to age between eighteen to twenty two.”
Imhotep looked at Anck-Su-Namun and laughed. “Life will be lonely if I am the only one that can live forever. You will also gain superhuman strength and live forever like me. Are you happy?”
The woman’s eyes were gleaming as she smiled at Imhotep. He said. “This mask might be the ultimate evolution mask mentioned in scriptures. Haha. Never expected to encounter such an interesting item in the U.S.”
Evelyn was curious. “Ultimate evolution mask? What is that? Why this name?”
Imhotep said casually. “It’s only a name. There were a lot of ancient scriptures still preserved back in my time. It was said that humans once achieved an extremely high level of civilization. Uh. Yes, they used the word civilization. Those who evolved to a higher form of life could control the essence of their lives at will and turn into various organisms. They could even turn to beings close to gods. At the ultimate form of life, people could control everything in nature, fire, light, wind, etc. Those people became gods. The scriptures noted a golden mask that can turn people into this higher form of life but not the ultimate form. However, an issue came up during the mask’s creation so the transformation will be incomplete. The user will be killed when exposed to sunlight. I think that’s the being you encountered. Just one step away from the ultimate form of life. Haha.”
Imhotep grabbed Anck-Su-Namun’s hand and walked in front. The other three had no choice but to follow him. He was their biggest ally at this point, despite being an unreliable one.
