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Chapter 454 - Chapter 454: A Dozen Da Vinci Paintings

If they hadn't seen the Black Phantom, Jack Chen and his group might have had other ideas. However, after witnessing the Black Phantom's elusive skills and thinking about William's wealth, it was clear without a doubt that William had more than just the Black Phantom as an ally. In this situation, even if they had any thoughts, they had to carefully consider the consequences.

After coming to an agreement with Jack Chen and the others and discussing some details, William called Anthony and asked him to bring Katherine inside.

When the two of them entered the living room, Katherine, who had been frowning, now had a slight smile on her face. 

Anthony, trying to gain favor, said to William, "Boss, Katherine and I talked outside. If you agree, for just $2 million and help in retrieving her great-grandfather's remains, the ownership of the Undying will be yours."

"Well, that's a pleasant surprise," William said, happily patting Anthony on the shoulder. "Good job. You take care of the contract."

"Got it, Boss," Anthony nodded.

Once everything was settled, William called someone from the bank to take him and Bonnie on a tour of the castle, while waiting for Jack Chen to deliver the Pharaoh's scepter, the Tsarina's scepter, and the golden eagle box.

As for Katherine, William ignored her completely.

After waiting for more than an hour, the three treasures finally arrived. William smiled and gestured to Bonnie that she was free to leave. He then tossed a phone to Jack Chen and said, "Lei Zang will contact you. The phone has my number, so if you need anything, you can reach me."

"Alright, Mr. Devonshire, goodbye."

After seeing off Jack Chen and the disgruntled Bonnie, William scanned the surroundings with his psychic powers and immediately noticed Lei Zang hidden about five or six meters behind him.

With a snap of his fingers, Lei Zang understood and appeared two meters behind him.

Without turning his head, William said, "I only want the serpent head, the ram head, and the eight tons of gold hidden in a large tree."

"I understand. Anyone who targets these three items is our enemy."

"Once this is over, you can take some time off. No need to return and protect me in secret immediately."

Lei Zang shook his head. "After ten years of evading assassins, suddenly feeling safe is a bit strange. I'll take a walk around the world once I'm more at ease. For now, let's keep things as they are."

"Alright, if you don't want to rest, I, as your boss, certainly won't mind. Just send me the coordinates once the gold is found. Others will handle the transport. And be careful of pirates."

"Yes, sir," Lei Zang said, then slowly retreated into the darkness and disappeared.

Glancing at his watch, William saw it was already 7 p.m., and the sky had darkened. Not wanting to drive at night, William had Sunday hire a helicopter. 

He tossed his car keys to Anthony and said, "I'll take a helicopter back in a bit. The car is yours. Once the contract is signed, inform Sunday, and it will handle the payment to Katherine. Also, arrange for the furniture and household goods company to come tomorrow morning. Abigail will choose the rooms and furniture when she arrives."

Anthony nodded. "Understood, Boss. I'll take care of it. And," he said, tossing the keys in his hand, "thanks."

"No problem. I only drove it today. If you don't like it, you can bring it back and pick another car from the estate garage."

"No need, Boss. The Aston Martin DB9 is perfect for a casual drive. The other sports cars are too flashy. Thanks."

Twenty minutes later, William boarded the helicopter, carrying the two scepters, the golden eagle box, the rooster head, and a painting by Lang Shining titled Autumn Hunt, heading back to London.

At exactly 8 p.m., the helicopter landed at the estate. His mother and Abigail were still finishing dinner. Seeing William return, they were happy to join him for dinner and conversation.

When his mother heard that her son had quietly spent $160 million to buy a castle in France, Lena rolled her eyes at William. "Do we really need so many estates and castles? Can we even live in all of them?"

"Mom, this time I bought the castle mainly as an investment. But the scenery and climate there are quite nice, so it wouldn't hurt to stay there occasionally. Plus, there are a lot of antiques in the castle. Today, I casually found two valuable items."

William then turned to Abigail and said, "Tomorrow, you take a few people to the Sissel Castle to handle the handover. Move all the valuable relics back to London. Use the helicopter to avoid any problems."

"Got it, Boss." Hearing that she would be managing the castle transfer, Abigail gave William a sweet smile.

After dinner, the three of them sat in the living room, watching TV and chatting until 10:30 p.m., when Lena went upstairs to rest.

Once his mother left, Abigail, with a mischievous grin, clung to William's arm and said, "Boss, can I go live at Sissel Castle often?"

William immediately understood that this girl wanted to secure her spot early. "Go whenever you want. If you can handle the five to six-hour commute every day, you can live there as much as you like."

"Hehe, I'm not that silly. Living alone in such a big castle... Boss, what I meant was for us to live there together."

"We'll see. If we have the time and the mood, we'll go. But right now, we should do some exercise together." With that, he picked up Abigail and carried her to the room, enjoying a pleasant hour-long workout.

The next morning at 9 a.m., before William had even gotten up, Sunday informed him, "Sir, Mr. Lawrence has arrived."

"This fat man is quite diligent. He said he'd bring it in the morning, and he really did. Have the servants take Lawrence to the small reception room to wait for me."

"Understood, sir."

After taking ten minutes to freshen up, William yawned and walked into the reception room in his pajamas. "Good morning, Lawrence. I didn't expect you to be so efficient."

"Thank you for the compliment."

The two chatted while checking the handover of the horse, pig, and dog heads from Lawrence.

William was only giving them a casual glance; he knew that it would take Abigail's expertise to confirm their authenticity.

Once the handover was complete, Lawrence stayed for about ten more minutes before leaving. With nothing else to do after being woken up, William called for a helicopter. 

After changing into some clothes and having a light breakfast, William dismissed the pilot and flew the helicopter himself, heading to Rosslyn Chapel in Edinburgh.

An hour later, the helicopter landed about a kilometer away from Rosslyn Chapel. William turned off the engine and walked to the chapel.

The paintings originally belonged to his family, so it was only natural for him to take them. But William was certain that if the Rosslyn Chapel's hidden order members found out, they wouldn't agree to him taking them. After all, these were original Da Vinci pieces, stored in a secret chamber for hundreds of years. To avoid any trouble, William used his psychic powers to avoid cameras and people as he quickly slipped into the chapel's basement.

Passing the tombstones of the Knights Templar, he reached the first basement level, found the mechanism, and opened the way to the lower chamber.

Descending into the second underground chamber, William scanned the entire space with his psychic powers and, finding no issues, excitedly gazed at the dozen or so original sketches and oil paintings by Da Vinci stored in the room.

After looking at them for a few minutes, William opened a portal and used his psychic powers to transport the paintings to the castle's basement, where they were placed in a dust-free laboratory.

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