Acai's Sky

Chapter 936: Cultural Relics Return Home, Collectors' "Defense Break" Scene

Global shock

On a rainy night in Manhattan, the bulletproof glass curtain wall of a private museum on Fifth Avenue suddenly trembled.

Collector tycoon William Howard stared at the empty display case, his pupils shrinking violently behind his gold-rimmed glasses - the bronze animal heads from the Old Summer Palace that he had just bought for 30 million US dollars three days ago, now turned into a stream of bronze light, smashing through the bulletproof glass worth millions and flying away.

"This is impossible!" He grabbed the priceless Persian carpet and tore it apart frantically. "I signed a legal transaction contract!"

In the underground vault of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, alarms screamed shrilly.

The curator Jack looked at the empty display case where the bronze animal heads originally belonged to the Old Summer Palace in horror, leaving only a strange golden halo.

"Damn it! This is impossible!" He grabbed the walkie-talkie and shouted, his voice echoing in the empty warehouse.

Curator Thompson rushed over upon hearing the news. His face was ashen, veins bulging on his forehead. He kicked over a nearby metal rack with a deafening bang. "These damned Eastern witchcrafts! I spent so much money to get this treasure, and it's gone just like that?"

He grabbed the phone and started dialing frantically, roaring at the security department to conduct a thorough investigation, but he didn't know that at this moment, all the museums around the world that housed lost Chinese cultural relics were performing the same "homecoming" drama.

In the Oriental Wing of the Ingles Museum, tourists are discussing the suddenly disappeared fragments of Dunhuang murals.

Curator Lisa stared at the empty exhibition wall, her delicate makeup blurred by cold sweat. Her lips trembled as she muttered to herself, "That's the museum's treasure. We spent so much effort to get it from those ignorant Orientals..."

The museum's top management held an emergency meeting, and the atmosphere in the conference room was suffocating.

"We must put pressure on China! This is naked 'cultural robbery'!" A director slammed the table and stood up, spitting everywhere.

However, when they turned on the satellite monitoring screen, they saw countless cultural relics on the land of China, dragging brilliant lights and rushing towards their homeland without hesitation. The picture was breathtakingly beautiful, but it also made them feel heartbroken.

An even more dramatic scene took place in Paris.

Beneath the glass pyramid of the Louvre Museum in Paris, a crowd was in turmoil. The exhibition room originally displaying Chinese cultural relics was surrounded by a cordon, and the security guards were on high alert.

"Those cultural relics belong to the world, and China has no right to monopolize them!" A researcher who calls himself a "cultural guardian" shouted hysterically, with resentment written all over his face.

But his voice was quickly drowned out by the exclamations of tourists. Many people took out their phones to record this historic moment and even commented on social media: "Perhaps the true destination of cultural relics has never been a display case in a foreign country."

Amid the alarms in the Louvre's underground vault, several security guards watched in amazement as the display cases containing Chinese cultural relics opened automatically.

When the curator Pierre Renaud rushed in, he saw a fragment of the Ming Dynasty's "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" turn into flowing light, and before leaving, it actually drew a mocking smile in the air.

The old scholar, known for his rigor, was so angry that he smashed his treasured antique pocket watch on the spot: "This is a blatant violation of international cultural heritage protection laws!"

The Shosoin Repository in the Plaster Kingdom was also in chaos.

When the Tang Dynasty pipa collected by Emperor Shomu suddenly made a clear sound, broke free from the display case and flew to the east, the experimental data record book of cultural relic researcher Misaki Kobayashi was scattered all over the floor.

She chased after the remaining image of the pipa and cried, "That's a national treasure from the Nara period! We've spent thirty years researching it..."

Behind her, all the cultural relics from China were trembling slightly in the talisman light, as if mocking these "prisoners" who had been imprisoned for centuries.

At the spring auction of Sotheby's, the originally priceless bronze ware special session turned into a farce.

When the Western Zhou bronze tripod that was about to be hammered down suddenly floated into the air, all the guests were petrified.

The wealthy Middle Eastern businessman, who had raised his bid to 200 million pounds, flipped over the bidding board. The auction house manager furiously faced the empty booth: "This is commercial fraud! We are suing Huaxia!"

However, his roar was soon drowned out by the exclamations that came one after another - all the Chinese cultural relics in the display cabinets turned into flowing light in the talisman light, and even spelled out the words "Goodbye" in the air before leaving.

The funniest one is undoubtedly a European collector who calls himself the "Godfather of Oriental Art".

He had just shown off his new collection of Dunhuang scriptures in a live broadcast from his private castle, and the next second the scriptures broke free from the glass cover and drew a mocking spiral trajectory in his carefully maintained Baroque garden.

The usually elegant gentleman immediately lost his composure and roared into the camera: "This is witchcraft! It's a blasphemy against civilization!"

However, the barrage of comments had already been flooded with "The clown is actually you", and netizens were frantically capturing his distorted expressions to make emoticons.

In an underground black market for cultural relics in Cairo, dealers watched in horror as the Chinese Tang Sancai pottery in the warehouse was automatically pieced together and restored, passing through the wall with streams of light.

The leading black market boss fired three shots into the void, but the bullets were bounced back by the invisible talisman light, and sparks exploded near his precious crocodile leather boots.

He slumped down in the mess, muttering to himself, "It's over, my $80 million..."

In a luxurious manor outside Inglis, antique collector Jason stared at the empty safe with red eyes, like an enraged trapped beast.

The Ming Dynasty blue and white porcelain vases and Song Dynasty calligraphy and paintings that he had collected for many years disappeared overnight.

"My treasure! My priceless collection!"

He grabbed the crystal vase next to him and smashed it against the wall, sending shards flying everywhere.

His wife hid in a corner in horror, watching this usually gentle gentleman completely lose his mind.

Jason trembled as he dialed his lawyer's number, his voice practically roaring, "Sue! We must sue Huaxia! They used despicable means to take my property!"

However, lawyer Lyle sighed helplessly on the other end of the phone: "Sir, those cultural relics don't belong to you..."

In a seaside villa on the west coast of Da Mili, financial tycoon James Morgan slumped on a million-dollar leather sofa, staring at the ceiling with empty eyes.

All the Chinese cultural relics in the private museum that he spent a huge amount of money to build have disappeared.

"I spent hundreds of millions of dollars! That's all my hard work!" He suddenly stood up, frantically tearing down the famous paintings on the wall and tearing the expensive carpet into pieces.

He once enjoyed great social influence by showing off these treasures from the East, but now, everything has vanished into thin air.

He grabbed the whiskey bottle, tilted his head back and drank it, cursing non-stop: "Damn China, damn the mysterious power, I won't give up!"

In an ancient courtyard in Plaster Country, collector Ichiro Yamamoto kneels on the tatami, with empty boxes of his once treasured artifacts placed in front of him.

He clutched the box tightly in his hands, his knuckles turning white, tears streaming down his wrinkles. "This is the hard work of generations of my family..." he muttered to himself, his voice filled with despair.

In his family history, these Chinese cultural relics are symbols of glory. They were looted from wars and carefully preserved to this day.

Now, the loss of the artifact seemed to have ripped away the pillar of his life. He suddenly flew into a rage, slamming the box to the ground and cursing loudly in Japanese. His voice was filled with resentment, fear, and even panic at having his crimes exposed.