Old Gods, Rapid-Fire Guns, and Prohibition

Chapter 178 [The Last Supper]

The crowd rushed to the last floor.

This is a completely open space, with nothing else except two paintings placed at the end.

This is the final work.

People had a premonition.

With excitement, everyone rushed to the two paintings, but tacitly left a large space for Ethan and the others to walk through.

Ethan walked to the front of the crowd and did not move forward. Instead, he stretched out his hand to signal El, Ned, and especially Osvaldo to move forward.

An invitation look.

"Everyone, as you can see, I will be introducing today's two most important works. One of them is, of course, the 'Last Justice' that I promised you before."

Ethan reached out and pointed at one of the paintings.

There is also a difference in the display of these two paintings. One is just placed there, which is the "Last Justice" that Ethan pointed to.

The other one is still covered up, and people can't see even a trace of it.

But "The Last Justice" alone is enough to surprise everyone, because it is a work that is completely different from Ethan's previous painting style.

Ethan's previous paintings were mostly in a fantastical style, with bizarre and detached content, and more symbolic and imagistic expressions, which are also in line with his surrealist philosophy.

But this work has a rare realistic style.

Ethan restored the entire scene of the trial at the seaside that day in great detail and comprehensively.

Including the people present, the details of the environment, even the sky color and the strength of the wind are all achieved to a level that people can perceive.

The overall layout and expression of the idea are easy to understand at a glance.

Ethan did not show the scene during the trial. He captured the moment before the trial. He actually recorded the appearance of the reporter just as he had said during the Q&A session with the reporter.

The painting shows him confronting a reporter. The reporter's face is depicted very clearly and anyone who knows him can recognize him at a glance.

As for Joseph, the chief judge, he was hiding behind Ethan.

Like a hunter with hounds hunting, he watched the whole scene silently.

The whole scene gives the feeling that Ethan is surrounded on all sides and is bravely resisting alone in the sun.

There's even a strong sense of epicness.

Just seeing this picture is enough to make people feel the full impact.

Not to mention what this painting represents.

Silence.

The whole place seemed to be cast under a spell of silence.

It took a full minute before anyone started clapping.

Then there was warm and continuous applause from the audience.

It took a long time, maybe three or four minutes, before the applause slowly died down.

"five million."

Someone in the crowd made a direct bid.

"Mr. Ethan, I don't mean to offend you, but this is truly amazing. I'm willing to pay five million for this painting. Please sell it to me!"

"Ten million."

There were no fancy words, and someone immediately intercepted him.

The one who could afford such a big deal was naturally Jackson from the royal capital.

"Fifteen million."

As it turns out, there was another expert, an art collector who came with Jackson, who seemed to be a large farmer from the South named Wes Costner.

"Wait a minute, everyone. It's not auction time yet. Why don't you wait until you see my second painting?"

Ethan interrupted the bidding. Everyone agreed.

"Last Justice" is already so wonderful, so how great will the covered painting be?

"Sir Osvaldo, weren't you curious about what surprise I had prepared for today? How about you help us unveil it?"

Ethan smiled and looked at Osvaldo.

"No problem, my pleasure."

Osvaldo did not refuse. He walked over slowly and pulled up the covering cloth.

The next moment, the truth about the hidden work was completely exposed to everyone.

This painting is about...

Probably someone was eating.

Yes, this painting returns to Ethan's whimsical, surreal style.

The main subject of the painting is a monster that seems to be made of steel, chewing some fish in big mouthfuls, with blood spilling everywhere.

And this person is just like wandering in the sea, in which there are tall buildings and floating cars.

This is……

The crowd fell silent again.

This time, some people did not understand the silence, while some people understood it too well.

Because some of the people who came to the exhibition today were not from Winster, so naturally they didn’t understand Winster’s current situation.

Then you won’t understand the meaning of this painting.

But the other group of people are the people of Winster. They face everything in Winster every day, and they immediately understood that this painting is about land reclamation and seawater backflow. The people are in dire straits, but some people are still eating with blood in their mouths.

Isn’t that steel monster the Governor Osvaldo who unveiled the curtain?
Ethan's move was too bold.

"Ethan, you really gave me a huge surprise."

Osvaldo seemed to be appreciating the painting seriously.

After looking at it for a while, he nodded: "It's a very bold expression."

"Very bold?"

“Too bold.”

At this moment, someone in the crowd suddenly asked, "Mr. Ethan, what is the name of this painting?"

"The Last Supper." Ethan looked at the man and recognized him as a reporter from the Winchester Morning Post.

This person is not a stooge arranged by Ethan, because anyone with a normal sense of smell can perceive the meaning of this painting.

"Then may I ask another question? Does this painting express your dissatisfaction with the City Hall's land reclamation plan? And is this steel monster a reference to... Mr. Osvaldo?"

This question was so bold that the whole audience was stunned.

It seemed as if there was some undercurrent surging rapidly.

Some people who came simply to attend the auction today suddenly realized that they seemed to be involved in some serious incident.

"Really? I didn't notice it at all, Ethan?" Osvaldo seemed to want to laugh it off.

El quickly stepped in to smooth things over: "Haha, Mr. Robertson, you're being way too sensitive. It's just a painting. Surrealism, haven't you heard of Ethan's theory? Don't link everything to reality, right, Ethan?"

He didn't want all the good things he had today to be ruined, and he wanted to nip all unstable factors in the bud.

But at this moment, Ethan laughed: "What if I say that's it, Mr. Osvaldo?"

He looked at Osvaldo.

There was an uproar.

And there seemed to be more frequent sounds approaching. If you listen carefully, it seems to be the footsteps of many people.

Who is coming?
(End of this chapter)