"Steve?!" Diana instinctively called out his name, but then pursed her lips, feeling somewhat nauseated.
However, she also felt relieved. Now it seems, this little fellow lacks even three-tenths of his father's ability, perhaps even owing three-tenths.
"I don't understand why you are doing this?" Diana said.
"He loves you very much, he died for you," Damian looked at her and said, "Do you not feel any guilt at all?"
"You know he died, then who is standing before me now, alive?"
"Of course, it's the revived Steve."
"The dead cannot be brought back to life," Diana said, "Steve is just an ordinary person. His body has long integrated into the earth, returning to Earth's embrace. Now standing before me is a shell of a corpse composed of unknown matter and a phantom controlling him."
"Is that so?" Damian asked her, "But he wasn't supposed to die. He lost his life protecting you."
"I know," Diana said, "Not only do I know, but I also saw it with my own eyes. I know how much he loved me."
"But you refuse to believe in his resurrection, you refuse to give him a chance."
Diana sighed lightly and said, "Now it's not a matter of whether I want to or not. Even if I wanted to, what can I do?"
"Expose that so-called Mars people's conspiracy so you can be together."
"Damian, compared to your father, you are indeed lacking," Diana looked at Damian and then said, "You painstakingly devised plans, stolen artifacts, and framed me. But in the end, you resort to kidnapping and threats. If it's just this, why go to such lengths? You could have simply sent me an email, and I would've come to see you."
"I did not steal the artifact," Damian said, "Someone else did, and someone else framed you. I invited you over because I wanted to help you solve the trouble."
Diana frowned. She felt Damian wasn't lying because Damian had already brought Steve here. He clearly wanted to use Steve to either move or threaten her, so there was no need to set a trap with artifacts.
Moreover, it wasn't simple to get Steve out of Amazon. Although they might have assistance inside and out, Amazon warriors are not to be trifled with. It's unlikely Damian has two professional teams simultaneously to steal artifacts and to take people from Amazon.
It seems he is also playing along with the situation, meaning the real behind-the-scenes manipulator becomes obvious. Diana sighed internally, realizing what Shiller intended with this setup.
In this moment, Diana suddenly knew how to resolve the issue smoothly without falling into the self-evident trap.
"I don't believe a word you're saying," Diana said to Damian, "A bunch of ragtag teams, daring to provoke me. Watch the sword!!!"
Diana drew the Fire God Sword and slashed. This was a true zero-frame start. The security personnel escorting Steve didn't even have time to react before being slashed down. Diana swung her shield with one hand to block bullets, then kicked another security guard beside her, tossing the shield aside. Damian was almost decapitated by her.
Damian seemed not to expect Diana's sudden outbreak. He awkwardly dodged the shield, rolling on the ground, then fired a hook, sticking it to Diana's shield, and threw it back. Yet Diana didn't dodge, caught the shield, and the Lasso of Truth wrapped around Steve.
"What's the deal with the revival?" Diana asked while fighting.
"I don't know..." Steve looked confused.
Diana didn't expect to get an answer immediately. Perhaps Steve genuinely doesn't know now. The behind-the-scenes manipulator would likely control at a critical moment. Wasting time on this was meaningless.
Diana quickly took down a bunch of security personnel, then targeted Damian. But by this time, Damian had used a hook to reach the second floor. Diana instantly flew up to chase.
Diana observed Damian's movements; he seemed to be an ordinary person without superpower, but was overly well-trained. He didn't have Batman's brain, but his skills had a few styles.
He was using hooks to traverse across the railing of the mansion. Diana could indeed fly, but was constantly interfered with by his darts. It's not impossible to just endure it, but Diana was wary it might be Batman's design, getting hit by one might be disastrous. She wouldn't take this risk.
While flying upward, Diana noticed Damian glancing down several times instinctively. She thought for a moment and understood what was going on. Running upwards was false, wanting to escape with Steve downstairs was true.
For some reason, Damian was very certain he still had feelings for Steve. So he might be trying to hold Steve hostage, forcing her to let him go.
Diana pretended not to know, following him upward. At the corner of the top floor, she lost track of Damian.
Logically, she should continue searching upstairs, but Diana already knew Damian's plan, so she decisively flew downstairs. With a wave of her hand, the Lasso of Truth brought Steve towards her. She directly threw Steve to the second floor, and sure enough, saw Damian rushing out from the first-floor corridor.
Diana let out a cold snort and raised an eyebrow at him. But suddenly she noticed something off about Damian's expression. He wasn't angry or panicked; he was calm.
Diana realized something was wrong. She immediately stopped descending, but it was too late. A black light—more accurately, a very thin black line—flashed in front of her eyes. Her battle instincts, honed from countless battles, made her twist in mid-air with a bizarre posture and crash to the ground, but this also prevented the black line from directly hitting her, only making contact with her left arm.
Diana hit the ground hard, but she got up immediately and looked at her left arm. To her shock, her entire arm was starting to turn gray.
It wasn't just turning gray, it resembled necrosis. The muscle tissue gradually turned into a withered dark color. Upon closer inspection, there was a black dot on her wrist, from where the decay was spreading.
Diana gritted her teeth inwardly. She had been very cautious and had never made physical contact with Damian; even at the closest, they were at least a meter apart. Yet, she still got caught.
With a "bang," the door of the mansion was suddenly kicked open.
A large group of agents swarmed in, surrounding both of them completely. The agents made way as Shiller walked out and said to the people behind him, "Search."
The agents split into groups and began searching the mansion. Diana had already guessed some things, but Damian frowned. He didn't know what Shiller was up to.
"Found it! Found it! The real thing is here!!!"
Suddenly, a shout came from the back of the mansion. Diana looked in that direction, and several agents ran over, saying, "The treasure of the Frenes Snake was hidden in this room!"
Shiller waved his hand, "Take it."
He then walked up to Diana, extended his hand to shake hers, and said, "Apologies, madam. I didn't expect these Mars people lurking amongst the human race to be so cunning. To prevent their secrets from being exposed to the public, they resorted to swapping Egyptian treasures."
Although Diana had some guesses, hearing Shiller say this still left her a bit dazed. Why does this snake have a new storyline?!
Then Diana was dumbfounded as she watched the agents pull out the Frenes Snake with a tow truck. To be precise, it was a brand-new version of the Frenes Snake.
Its size and style were about the same as before but with much more content than the original. The composition of the mural was like this: the sky above, with lightning and clouds as symbols, and of course, alien ships; beneath it was the earth with mountains and rivers; in the middle was a giant snake.
The main content was originally all on top of the giant snake. With the addition of alien ships, the sky wasn't so empty anymore. However, there was always nothing on the ground. Yet, in this version of Frenes Snake, the ground featured many typical Egyptian people.
Previously, when it was known that the Frenes Snake was fake, Diana had analyzed it using her expertise. If one had to identify the flaw on the snake's exterior, it was that the content on the painting didn't quite resemble the representation style of Egyptian murals.
A significant feature of Egyptian murals is pictorialization. Pictorialization means that it doesn't convey an event through the image of the entire painting but rather through different elements in the artwork, such as characters, decorative blocks, and text, to convey information.
These elements aren't necessarily related to each other; they might talk about different things, or perhaps express different aspects of the same theme. It looks very much like a collected pictorial guide.
For example, at the feet of a character is a row of Ancient Egyptian text, but the text has nothing to do with the person, only appearing in the same era. Beside it, there is a row of decorative patterns; the patterns are unrelated to both the character and the text, just meant to record this pattern.
Using all parts of a whole painting to serve the same core and ambience came much later. In earlier times, paintings were used to record events rather than to set a mood or convey emotions, so they seemed more rational. They were more like symbols than paintings.
The Frenes Snake crafted by Shiller, however, was more like something from the same era as the Mona Lisa. It features a main subject at the forefront with a background of sky, mountains, and rivers. This isn't the style of People of Ancient Egypt painting.
While considering the possibility of Shiller's lack of professionalism, Diana thought it was more likely done deliberately. It must be admitted that this composition is more in line with modern aesthetics and is easier for people to understand.
If it were really like an Egyptian mural, with the whole wall covered in decorative patterns without a focal point, people might not enjoy looking at it. It wouldn't spread well among the crowd, and Shiller's purpose wouldn't be achieved.
However, this new version of the Frenes Snake makes up for this shortcoming. Because now, in the section with mountains and rivers, there is a row of ancient Egyptian people, text, and decoration. The only slight issue is, these ancient Egyptian people are Mars people.
Even though they're wearing Egyptian clothing, and their postures perfectly match those on Egyptian murals, it's evident that their faces and ears resemble Ron's true form from the other day's speech.
These little people aren't just standing there but performing actions: the front three rows hold weapons, the back three rows also hold weapons, and only in the middle do they carry the Pharaoh's sarcophagus. It can be identified as Pharaoh's because of the sarcophagus' distinctive features. Anyone who's watched a couple of Pharaoh-themed movies could recognize it.
Shiller purposely examined the mural, expressing, "No wonder they infiltrated the British Royal Family, intentionally swapping this mural, worried their existence might be revealed early. Mistress Prince, you not only helped humanity recover this valuable artifact but also thwarted the Mars people's conspiracy. You are a hero!"
Diana's expression almost cracked; if possible, she truly didn't want to be this hero.