The group arriving from the 21st century felt no particular shock, casually finding an open space to land.
Once everyone had descended.
Zheng Zha promptly stored both the Green Goblin gliders and the small airship basket device into his dimensional bag, as he hadn't brought an excessive amount of gold for this trip anyway.
Thus, the dimensional bag held little else, save for one cubic meter of gold kept as emergency funds.
In this world, he still possessed a considerable amount of US dollars and British pounds.
Enough for the group to live lavishly here for quite some time.
After everything was settled, Overlord suddenly suggested, "It's so late now. Why don't we find a hotel to stay in first?" Zheng Zha nodded, then suddenly asked Zhan Lan, "Zhan Lan, can you scan O'Connell and the others' location? If they are in New York right now, do you have a way to find them?" Zhan Lan paused, "I should be able to, although this city has too large a population, but spiritual scanning is different from a census. I only need to lock onto their spiritual energy... but I don't know their spiritual signatures. When we met them before, I hadn't learned the spiritual scanning skill yet, so it's impossible for me to scan them now..." Zheng Zha let out a breath, looking at Chu Xuan, "Is there any way to find them within New York in a short time? This era doesn't have computers or anything like that."
Chu Xuan frowned in thought, "There is a way, but we definitely won't have time to accomplish all of that right now, and they must be in New York for it to work. How about this: we find a hotel to stay in tonight, and tomorrow we can start trying this method together..." The group discussed for a few more moments, then the collective group strode out from the open space toward the bustling streets. After all, Zheng Zha's dimensional bag was fully stocked with US dollars and British pounds, enough for the six of them to splurge.
Meanwhile, a steam train heading from the American West to the East was roaring along the tracks, constantly belching smoke as it rolled forward. Inside the first-class carriage of this train, two men and one woman sat in silent contemplation facing each other.
"Jonathan... are you absolutely certain you mailed the gold fragment and the letter to the Cairo Museum in Egypt? And that you sent them a full month ago?" a Caucasian man asked, almost grinding his teeth.
The man named Jonathan managed a weak smile. "O'Connell, don't be so tense. When have I ever broken my word? Relax, relax. How could a man of my means and stature possibly covet that tiny shard of gold? I absolutely did not lose it gambling at the table!" O'Connell nearly hauled Jonathan up by his collar, roaring viciously, "So you're saying you did gamble away the gold fragment? If anything happens to my son, I swear I will take your life!" Jonathan quickly shook his head, saying, "No, no, I really didn't lose the gold fragment gambling. Even if I gave it to a beautiful woman, I wouldn't gamble it away."
O'Connell truly lifted Jonathan up this time, shouting, "Damn it, you gave it to a prostitute? Do you seriously want me to throw you off this train?" Jonathan quickly changed his tune, "I swear to God, I absolutely, absolutely sent the gold fragment to the Egyptian Museum. Oh, and I sent the letter asking Zheng Zha and the others for help back too. As soon as they receive the reply, they might already be waiting for us in New York."
O'Connell sighed and slowly put Jonathan down. Evelyn, who had been silent until now, spoke up, "Do you think that monster turned my son into a monster too? I don't want it, I don't want him to become a monster."
The woman began to cry as she spoke, appearing genuinely heartbroken.
O'Connell quickly embraced her, forcing a smile. "Don't worry. That golden mask means too much to that creature. If it hadn't been for getting back the lost piece of gold, it could have killed us in the last town. There was no need to kidnap our son... Heh, perhaps the moment he went, he ran right into Zheng Zha and the others. Then we'll just see how that monster dies."
Evelyn sighed softly, "Zheng Zha and his companions are certainly strong, but that monster just won't die. Besides sunlight being able to kill it, and silver only being able to injure it slightly, nothing else is effective against it. Furthermore, it feels no pain. Those it drains of blood become slightly weaker monsters, but they also become immortal... I truly don't know if we've brought harm upon Zheng Zha and the others."
O'Connell sighed, "There's no point debating whether we've caused harm or not. We already owe them so much. But I always felt we could hope Zheng Zha and the others would help us, always hoping they could lend a hand... He is our comrade. If we can't ask for his help, who else can we possibly turn to?"
"Speaking of which... how about you tell me about this interesting situation?" A voice suddenly sounded, a voice so familiar to the three of them.
O'Connell and Evelyn hadn't recovered their senses immediately, but Jonathan, exquisitely sensitive to danger, leaped up suddenly. Without a second thought, he hid behind O'Connell and Evelyn, his posture appearing far more feminine than any actual woman.
A swirl of yellow dust blew past.
A bald man and an astonishingly beautiful woman appeared in the three's compartment.
The bald man was instantly familiar, flashing a smile at the trio. He sat down and immediately began drinking liquor they had, while the beautiful woman seemed to harbor intense animosity toward Evelyn, glaring fiercely at her before seating herself next to the bald man.
"Imhotep!" O'Connell roared, pulling Evelyn behind him while simultaneously drawing his pistol. He asked coldly, "Imhotep! Why are you in America? Have you been tracking us this whole time?" The bald man was none other than the undead priest Imhotep. He chuckled and said, "I told Zheng Zha last time that I was coming to America. I assumed he had already informed you... Honestly, if I hadn't seen you fleeing onto this train in such a state, I would have thought you were the ones tailing me. Now, can you tell me? What terrifying thing have you encountered? And what exactly is that gold fragment?"
At this time, the group in New York was naturally unaware of O'Connell's encounter with Imhotep. They casually found a high-star hotel and checked in. Money was no object, so the group took several lavish suites, scattering US dollars liberally, making their temporary residence quite high-class for the era.
The night passed without incident. By the next day, the group heard Chu Xuan's almost unbelievable plan. The plan was simple: bribe local government officials to obtain documentation for a traveling cultural exhibition. This exhibition would naturally feature the legendary ancient books of Egypt: the Book of the Dead and the Book of the Living. Following that, they would spare no expense in lavish promotion to create a sensation throughout New York. If O'Connell's party was indeed in the city, Evelyn certainly wouldn't pass up this opportunity. If the books were genuine, their true owner would know it was Zheng Zha's group; if they were fakes, Evelyn's nature would compel her to expose the deception.
"This is the only viable method I can think of right now. There are no missing persons notices or anything like that in this era, and placing an announcement isn't simple. So, we must use this traveling exhibition as an excuse to broadcast our presence. Since we can't find them, we'll make them come find us. We'll give it three days. Once three days are up, we'll head straight to search for the Mayan ruins. It won't matter if we postpone this side mission for now," Chu Xuan stated calmly.
Zheng Zha inwardly felt admiration. He had only asked casually before; expecting someone to find a few people in the vastness of New York in such a short time seemed unreasonable. But who knew Chu Xuan actually devised a way—even if it meant they found them instead of the other way around, a classic case of waiting for the rabbit—it was certainly better than searching blindly with no plan at all.
"Agreed, let's do it this way. We'll exchange the gold immediately and use large sums of money to pave the way to get the exhibition visa from the New York City government. But everyone needs to be careful, ideally Overlord and Wang Xia, you should position yourselves close by in the guise of security guards to protect these two ancient books... Their value is far greater than the rewards for this specific side mission. I would rather forgo the mission reward than lose those two books, especially the Book of the Living," Zheng Zha affirmed emphatically, giving a few more instructions to the others.
Everyone nodded and followed Zheng Zha toward a bank in New York City. However, they failed to notice a man entirely cloaked in black robes passing by them just then. He clutched a small boy, and a golden mask covered his face. He hurried into the depths of an alleyway, and there was a tiny chip on his mask... Jump to
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