Diana quickly took out her phone. A tweet had already gone viral. The reason was that someone posted the entire theft process of the "Frenes Snake" on the dark web, accompanied by photos of the artifact being shattered.
Upon seeing the photos, Diana was both furious and amused. She thought, how could this relic be so heavy? Turns out the stone on the outside was just a layer, and inside was concrete.
The photo was slightly overexposed, but it was clear that the shattered "Frenes Snake" had a layer that mimicked stone, seemingly made of some mixed material, possibly even covered with natural stone skin, while inside was entirely concrete, obviously modern high-strength concrete.
If there was only this photo, it would be no big deal. Even if they released the video of the theft process, it could easily have been staged. But the problem is that the content of their video matched the announcement released by the police, and the video was released first.
As mentioned before, because this sculpture involved aliens, all countries took it seriously, and the pressure was high. The police didn't find anything, but Diana discovered a detail and deduced the crime process.
These thieves were quite skilled; they removed the glass of the floor-to-ceiling window and carried out the sculpture. This was a significant investigation result. To relieve the pressure on themselves, the police promptly posted the progress.
In theory, the detailed crime process shouldn't be disclosed to prevent imitation. But the curator didn't want such a huge responsibility; he only wanted everyone to believe the thieves were too cunning, not that their security was inadequate. So he straightforwardly mentioned the window.
However, the thieves released that video earlier than the investigation results were announced. It means they released their crime process before the police discovered it.
The reason the video was not discovered earlier is that the dark web is not a public website and lacks a modern interactive system; specific domains are required to access specified pages. They never expected the thieves to be so bold to post the video right after the theft. No one tracked the domain, so it naturally went unnoticed.
But the capable internet users deduced through the domain's establishment time that the video's release date preceded the investigation results. This indicates it very likely was genuine.
After all, who could understand the process so well unless they did it themselves? They didn't use a very popular method; no one could stage it so thoroughly and correctly, indicating it was recorded by the person involved.
This spells trouble. If transported from America to England and that item was mistakenly returned, it's a forgery. But this exhibition piece, admitted by the British Museum as authentic, turns out to be fake.
Now there are only two outcomes: either England admits they intentionally loaned a forgery to America, or they confess they didn't know the artifact had been swapped.
The former is certainly unacceptable. England is a NATO country and can't afford to antagonize America, especially now with Superman as president. Admitting it would mean troubles later on.
The latter allows for some excuse. The swapping did happen, but where and in which country it occurred is crucial. After all, what we shipped was genuine, so the swap must have happened in your American museum.
The public is more inclined to accept this version because had England known it was a forgery, they wouldn't have loaned it publicly, risking embarrassment upon discovery.
It's more plausible they sent an authentic piece, but it was swapped by someone within the Metropolitan Museum, meaning the stolen one was the fake.
Such claims are clearly unacceptable to the Metropolitan Museum, where everyone protests their innocence. As always, this isn't a small affair; if they can manage such a large mural swap, why work here?
Even if theft is involved, why not opt for smaller and more valuable items that are easier to sell? Although the Metropolitan Museum isn't as distinguished as the British Museum in historical artifacts, it does have rare jewels; so why go to great lengths?
Employees frantically defended themselves online, asserting they had neither motive nor capability. However, mere defense fails to clear suspicions; they need to identify the suspect to completely dissociate themselves.
Now Diana is yet again unfortunate.
Ordinary people can't move something so heavy, but superpower users surely can. Diana can fly and is incredibly strong, capable of swapping the mural silently.
When Diana saw this news, she truly felt like bidding farewell to the beautiful world. She would rather return to Mount Olympus and face Hera than stay on Earth!
Thankfully, she had anticipated the Curse of the Pharaoh. Diana reluctantly calmed down to think. She admitted she indeed had the highest suspicion, since ability matters more than intention. In the entire museum, only she could pull off the swap.
As for why it wasn't an external superpower user, it requires understanding of the museum; otherwise, it couldn't be done silently. Moreover, crafting a fake is quite challenging, demanding deep knowledge of the artifact and various details, which isn't possible for non-professionals.
Suddenly, Diana had a flash of inspiration.
Why a stone mural?
Actually, Diana had pondered this before. If Shiller were to forge, why choose such a large mural? Not to mention the material costs and detail costs. Couldn't he opt for a booklet, a scroll, or an ancient Egyptian papyrus, which equally conveys information?
Moreover, compared to textual items, three-dimensional sculpted murals are relatively rare. Even if a perfect background is created, it might get debunked. It's wiser to use more classic pieces, which are both simpler and more genuine.
But Shiller insists on making something that weighs half a ton. Could it be he's waiting for me to fall into his trap?
Right now, Diana is so angry she wishes she could fly to the president's secretary's office and punch Shiller in the face. She knows Shiller may not have anticipated everything, but he definitely used the form of a carved mural to prevent her from acting.
Because no matter what the plan is, as long as it requires taking advantage of the debate over authenticity to expose the artifact swap, this "Frenes Snake" will make her the sole suspect due to its weight. Ordinary people can't move it, but she, being a superpower user, can.
And the dispute over authenticity is almost certain to happen because this thing is nothing but a damn fake!
This is not some Curse of the Pharaoh; it's the curse of Shiller!
No wonder it has been exhibited here for so long without being taken back. I've passed by this place hundreds of times a day without realizing this. Diana could cry at her own stupidity.
However, one thing she did guess right is that she's been forced into the water again.
Now everyone needs a scapegoat. If it's not her, it must be her. What's more, it's very likely her. If Diana can't find evidence to prove her innocence, she's completely done for.
To prove her innocence, she must find the real artifact. But does Diana not know? There is no real artifact. This thing was fake from the beginning, filled with concrete from top to bottom. She knew it was fake back when she held it against the wall; something felt off.
Since there's nothing real, she can't clear her name through this. The best way now is to find the gang of thieves and make them admit they used a fake to cover up the whereabouts of the real artifact and that they swapped the artifact. Only then can Diana be cleared.
Actually, this is just a game of pass the blame. The British Royal Family won't admit to swapping, so they blame America; the American museum won't admit to swapping, so they blame Diana; if Diana won't admit it, she must find a way to blame the last person who handled the artifact.
"Give me three days," Diana said in front of the curator, "I swear I will find the culprit. If not, even with my diplomatic immunity, I will leave with them."
The curator actually believed in Diana's character, but he had no choice. He sighed and said, "I can help stall the police a little, have them not bother you for now, but if you can't bring back the thieves, I can't help you."
Diana nodded, with no time for more words, she turned and left. She couldn't worry about much right now. This is what they call, when you're not pushing yourself, you don't know how great a detective you are. Diana was truly pushed to her limit.
She valued her job, wanting to stay in Metropolis, which is why when Superman caused chaos at her home, she felt tense. She didn't want to be kicked out, especially in such a disgraceful way.
And she valued Amazon's honor. She absolutely cannot be framed as a thief, or her mother and sisters would be shamed, and she could never return to Amazon.
With both weighing on her, Diana's potential erupted entirely. She didn't even contact Bruce but went directly to the newspaper that published the dark web domain.
Diana didn't even take the time to make an appointment or drive over but instead flew directly to the newspaper's entrance and barged in. Before entering, she glanced at the name on the sign above the door—"The Daily Planet."
"Mistress Prince graces us with her presence, what can I do for you?"
The editor hadn't even finished making his coffee when the Fire God Sword was already drawn. The editor quickly waved his hands and said, "Let's talk it over nicely, ma'am. We don't have such big grievances..."
"Really?"
"Okay, I also know why you're probably here," the editor said, "But the dark web address wasn't something I investigated myself; I don't have that capability. Someone submitted it to me. The email address is on the printer beside you. This email is encrypted; you'd better find a hacker to help you investigate."
Diana walked over to take a look, and sure enough, it was already printed out. She glanced at the editor but didn't have time for idle chatter, flying back to the Justice League hall to find Victor.
Victor looked at her in some surprise but scanned the email address, analyzed it, and then said, "This is an encoded email virtual send, with over a thousand nodes transformed in the middle. Probably none are real; the other party is very cautious."
"Can you find any clues?" Diana asked.
Victor thought for a moment and said, "I can use the Exhaustion Method to find it, but it will take some time. After all, I'm also calculating taxes..."
"Alright, help me check it out," Diana said.
She didn't plan to exhaust a single avenue. Besides the dark web domain, there is another lead she can investigate, which is the escape route of the thieves. She left Victor to calculate while she investigated how the thieves transported the 'Frenes Snake.' This requires using the invincible Batman surveillance network. She knew Bruce wouldn't refuse.