Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 657 The team splits into two groups to retrieve the treasure and returns to their home in Yangon to verify it.

The patrol boat headed toward the seaplane.

Steve picked up a megaphone and shouted, "This is an archaeological team dispatched by the U.S. Archaeological Institute. They have special permission from Italy to excavate cultural relics. Please leave."

Behind him, armed personnel stood ready, with rubber boats, airplanes, and even the wings of aircraft serving as strongholds for their readiness to fight at any moment.

However, despite the tense standoff, both sides remained restrained, with neither showing any sign of firing the first shot.

That's Steve's confidence.

The American Archaeological Institute (AIA) is a giant in the international archaeological field, and its influence should not be underestimated.

It continuously organizes and strongly supports its members in carrying out archaeological research work around the world. Its members and funders are among the most powerful financial groups and families in the United States, with the Rockefeller family being a typical example.

These conglomerates and families, with their substantial financial resources and extensive networks, often enable AIA to secure cooperation from many countries in its overseas archaeological projects.

On the German patrol boat, Heinrich held up his binoculars, carefully observing the prominent AIA markings on the other aircraft's wing, his brow furrowed.

Professor Achim, the leader of the World Heritage Association team, urged, "They must have found it; we must take it back."

Heinrich did not follow Professor Achim's instructions. He said coldly, "My orders are to avoid direct conflict with them. The current situation does not allow for any move that would push the United States toward Britain, France, and Germany."

"Then what should we do?" Professor Achim asked.

“Wait, wait until they retrieve the underwater treasure, then we’ll rush over and snatch it. As long as we don’t use lethal weapons, it won’t have a major political impact,” Heinrich said.

Just as the two sides were deadlocked, a series of bubbles suddenly rose from the water next to the platform, and Fang Wen floated to the surface.

Gong Xiuneng reacted quickly and pulled him onto the boat.

The moment the two made contact, Fang Wen secretly slipped a small ball into Gong Xiuneng's palm.

Gong Xiuneng, who had followed Fang Wen for a long time, immediately realized that Fang Wen did not want outsiders to discover this thing. He understood and remained silent.

After pulling up Fang Wen, he quietly put the small ball into his pocket, and the whole process went unnoticed by anyone.

In this way, no one saw Fang Wen emerge from underwater with the items.

Fang Wen removed his breathing mask, looked at the patrol boat in the distance, and asked, "What's going on?"

"Shortly after you got off, the ship came up. Steve shouted and told his men to get their weapons ready, and the ship didn't come any closer."

"Let's go over and take a look."

As Fang Wen spoke, he quickly took off his frogman suit and, together with Gong Xiuneng, jumped onto a small boat by the floating platform and rowed toward the Boeing 314.

Seeing Fang Wen approach, Steve stood anxiously at the hatch and asked impatiently, "Has the stone door below been blown open?"

Fang Wen jumped over. "It exploded. I went to the altar inside."

"What did you find?" Steve's voice trembled with nervousness.

"An object made of gold, very exquisite."

Is it a rectangular cabinet?

"No, it's a cylinder. I didn't open it, so I don't know what's inside."

When Steve first heard Fang Wen say it wasn't a cuboid, a hint of disappointment flashed across his face, but when he heard it was just a container shell, his eyes immediately lit up with excitement.

Even in ancient times, gold was extremely precious, and the items used to hold it were certainly worth far more than the gold itself.

But at this moment, Steve was filled with worry that the underwater treasure would be taken by the Germans.

He pondered for a moment, then said sincerely to Fang Wen, "Fang, the Germans have found us now, and I would like to ask you for a favor."

"What kind of help?" Fang Wen asked.

"The Germans are currently at war with Britain and France, while we Americans remain neutral due to the Neutrality Act, not taking sides. They certainly wouldn't want to damage relations between the two countries because of us, so the possibility of them using force is extremely low. But even so, if we retrieve the treasure, we'll still be harassed by them, making it difficult to transport it back home. My idea is for you to fly the plane and take the treasure away first, and we'll contact you after we've gotten rid of these Germans."

This plan is perfectly acceptable to Fang Wen.

Having already obtained the secret treasure, Fang Wen showed little interest in the other treasures. He knew very well that these religious items were not something outsiders could casually touch.

Moreover, he longed to leave this place of trouble as soon as possible so he could study the newly acquired treasure.

Therefore, Fang Wen agreed without hesitation.

With the new plan in place, the divers began their underwater operations from the side of the plane where their view was obstructed.

They attempted to enter the underwater altar while wearing bulky, heavy diving suits.

However, the stone door of that altar was only one meter wide, and a heavy diving suit could not fit through it.

Therefore, the divers had to change into frogman suits and swim in with a tether.

Inside the entire altar, Fang Wen had only explored the central altar at the end of the path directly in front of him; he had not been to any other places.

The divers also searched the other altar spaces and found some ancient artifacts.

Of course, the most important thing is the container with the golden disc as its lid on the central altar.

They secured the cylindrical gold container with a traction line and, with the help of a traction machine, dragged it out little by little.

Once the breach in the stone gate was pulled out, things became much easier. The golden container was then pulled upwards by several ropes.

Just before the gold container was lifted out of the water, the Boeing 314 suddenly turned around, blocking the view of the Germans who had just adjusted their positions.

Subsequently, the gold container emerged from the water under the action of the tractor.

The archaeologists who accompanied the team quickly analyzed the artifact.

The archaeological experts looked at the gold container before them with astonishment.

"The symbol above is the eye of Horus, the falcon-headed god of ancient Egypt, also known as the 'Eye of Ugarit,' which represents 'healing' and 'rebirth.' This symbol can be found inside the pyramids of the pharaohs."

Steve couldn't help but ask, "But these things were left by Solomon's descendants, so how come there are ancient Egyptian symbols?"

In response, archaeological experts analyzed: "Solomon married the Egyptian Pharaoh Siamun, taking the Pharaoh's daughter as his wife and receiving the city of Gaza as a dowry. There was a long-standing connection between the two, and the Farasans have also said that their ancestors came via the Nile River. The appearance of this symbol in Ethiopia may be a result of cultural influence."

Steve stared at the golden container and muttered, "Hopefully, it contains a replica of the Ark of the Covenant. If so, all of this will have been worth it."

Fang Wen, who was watching from the sidelines, had a different guess.

He felt that the most important thing was the glowing bead on the golden container; perhaps the ancients regarded that glowing bead as a magical artifact that could heal and regenerate.

But we'll only know the result once we open it.

Immediately, Steve ordered three armed followers to come and activate it.

The three of them grabbed the bottom of the disc and pulled upwards with force.

The gold-plated lid was extremely heavy, and it took the three of them a great deal of effort to lift it.

The lid was removed, revealing the space underneath.

It's full of water!
Clumps of rotten stuff were floating in the water.

Perhaps many years ago, they were religious texts made of some kind of material, but with that geological disaster and the flood that submerged the temple, the long period of time they were submerged in water caused them to decay and become impossible to examine.

Steve was very disappointed and had the contents of the container retrieved.

Besides the floating rotting matter, there were also some gold ornaments and objects, which were relatively well-preserved in the water. After taking everything out, Steve and Fang Wen walked aside and asked in a low voice, "Have you discovered the mystery?"

Fang Wen shook his head: "No, the mystery you mentioned, I only obtained it by chance. It seems I'm not as lucky as before this time."

Steve, who was initially a little disappointed, turned to look at the gold plaque: "But these things are not bad either, they're worth the trip."

They then transported the goods into the Taishan seaplane under the cover of the Boeing 314.

In the rear cabin of the Taishan seaplane, there is a gold disc and its covered container, along with objects taken from it, and other ancient items retrieved from underwater.

In addition to these, there were four other accompanying personnel, all of whom were archaeologists and geologists in the expedition team.

They nominally left on Fang Wen's plane, but in reality, they also intended to look after these ancient artifacts.

Fang Wen didn't mind; he had already obtained the real treasure.

He turned on the radio.

"Steve, I'm about to take off. If it's successful, I'll fly back to Yangon. Come find me there."

Standing at the door of Boeing 314, Steve replied to Ali with the Taishan walkie-talkie that Fang Wen had given him: "Be careful and stay safe."

"Ok."

Fang Wen ended the call, started the engine, and controlled the aircraft to accelerate and glide on the water.

This scene was witnessed by Germans not far away, and Heinrich immediately shouted: "Send a telegram to the port, order our planes to take off and intercept him."

The plane left a long trail on the lake, lifted off, and took to the sky.

Shortly after the plane took off, Fang Wen detected two seaplanes taking off in the southwest direction through mechanical sensing.

It was still those two German Ar 196 seaplanes. One of them had a slightly wobbly landing float connection, clearly indicating that it hadn't been fully repaired yet.

Fang Wen said, "Attention, everyone, fasten your safety harnesses. The flight ahead may be a bit bumpy."

The two archaeological experts were puzzled, but the two geologists who had flown on Fang Wen's plane understood what he meant.

That's not just a little bumpy ride.

Immediately, everyone in the cabin strapped on their safety ropes, grabbed the handles on the cabin wall, and waited for the impending turbulence.

The three planes flew eastward, one in front and two behind, and soon flew out of Lake Tana.

During the subsequent flight, two German seaplanes continued to try to catch up.

Although they were 10% faster, Fang Wen would use his exquisite aerial maneuvers to shift space whenever they were about to close in, easily widening the distance again.

Each spatial displacement results in a violent jolt for passengers.

After chasing each other for more than three hours, it finally flew out of Ethiopia and into the Gulf of Aden.

This is already a flight of 900 kilometers.

Two German Ar 196 seaplanes still did not give up the chase.

In response, Gong Xiuneng couldn't help but say, "Commander, let me get that aircraft machine gun from the weapons cabinet. Let's teach them a lesson and they won't dare to chase us anymore."

“We can’t attack.” Fang Wen rejected the suggestion. He couldn’t attack German military aircraft. If the matter were exposed, Taishan Airlines would face severe sanctions from Germany, and Taishan Airlines’ business in Europe would be greatly affected.

"What should we do? We're being chased and we can't fight back." Gong Xiuneng scratched his head in frustration.

"Don't worry, they'll leave on their own soon," Fang Wen replied.

As he spoke, Fang Wen controlled the aircraft to change course, flying eastward through the airspace above the Gulf of Aden.

That direction leads to the vast Indian Ocean.

Without navigation, an aircraft can easily become lost in the airspace over the Indian Ocean once it enters the deep waters.

The only result would be that the fuel ran out and the car crashed.

Even seaplanes are nothing more than forced landings on the water, becoming lone boats waiting to die at sea.

Fang Wen's seaplane, however, has ample fuel reserves. It can refuel temporarily on the sea or refuel in the air via the cabin. The fuel it carries is enough for a range of 5000 kilometers. With Fang Wen's supernatural navigation ability, there is no need to worry about getting lost in the Indian Ocean.

Therefore, after Fang Wen flew like this, the speed of the two German seaplanes behind him slowed down significantly.

Not long after, the two German fighter jets abandoned their pursuit and turned back to the East African continent.

As the pursuing planes disappeared into the distance, the passengers in the cabin finally relaxed and sat down.

The subsequent flight involved crossing the Arabian Sea, refueling once in mid-air, and then flying over the Bay of Bengal to reach Yangon.

The plane landed at Yangon's sea airport and docked.

Airport staff rushed over.

"General Manager, where did you fly back from?"

"Africa. Go and inform Minister Fang of the Administration Department to bring a group of people over. Oh, and also bring an extra delivery truck," Fang Wen instructed.

"Yes." The staff member quickly did as instructed.

Not long after, Fang Shouxin arrived with his men, and they even brought a truck.

Next, the airport staff worked together to remove the ancient artifacts from the cabin.

These items were loaded into trucks and transported to the company's warehouse for storage.

The four randomly selected experts were taken to the headquarters guesthouse by the administration staff to rest.

Once everything was arranged, Fang Wen drove back to headquarters.

The car stopped, and Fang Wen instructed Gong Xiuneng: "I'll give you some time off. I'll call you when we go to the base in northern Myanmar."

Gong Xiuneng immediately relaxed and opened the door to get out of the car.

"Wait, you forgot something. Take out what I gave you."

"Oh, right, Captain, I almost forgot." Gong Xiuneng chuckled as he took out a small black ball and handed it to Fang Wen. "What exactly is this thing?"

Fang Wen took the small black ball and replied, "I don't know either; I'll have to study it to find out."

Gong Xiuneng walked towards the company dormitory, while Fang Wen got out of the car and went directly into the headquarters building.

Amid greetings from the employees, Fang Wen took the elevator to the top floor.

After exiting the elevator, he took out his key and unlocked the stairwell door leading to his apartment.

Because his wife Chuncao, Qiuju, and Aunt Wu are not around, the house has been unattended for a long time.

The coffee table was covered with a layer of dust.

Fang Wen picked up the feather duster hanging on the wall, dusted off the dust, sat down, and took out the small black bead and placed it on the coffee table.

He was somewhat excited; it was time to test what functions this newly acquired treasure had.

(End of this chapter)