Because that gold-plated box, according to Mivad's memories... was kept together with the Imperial Seal of the State!
When Chen Xu saw Miva's memories in "Dream Paradise," he clearly saw that when Miva was ransacking that nobleman's house, he found the Imperial Seal of the State in a box like this!
Chen Xu had examined that box hundreds of times; he knew its shape and features by heart. How could he possibly mistake it?!
These treasures were buried somewhere by Mivad, never to see the light of day again. As for the other things, Chen Xu didn't care much for jewels and antiques. He wasn't short of money... but the Imperial Seal of the State—this treasure held immense historical significance for every Chinese person. In fact, one could say that, in terms of historical value, aside from the legendary Xuanyuan Sword of the Yellow Emperor, the Imperial Seal of the State was the most significant!
The Imperial Seal had disappeared after Mivaddi's death, a fact that had caused Chen Xu countless moments of regret. Now, to learn of its whereabouts again, how could Chen Xu not be excited?!
But even in his excitement, Chen Xu couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
This box was originally used to hold the imperial seal, but it's unknown whether it was still with the seal when Miwad buried these treasures. If it was, now that the box has resurfaced, where is the seal?!
Could the imperial seal have been taken by someone else?!
Thinking of this, Chen Xu felt a pang in his heart. Could it really be true?
So now all he can do is pray. Pray that Miwad took the imperial seal out of the box when he buried the treasure, otherwise, where would he find it again? Because some collectors are very old-fashioned and stubborn; they like to keep their treasures hidden away in their basements, secretly enjoying them, but unwilling to tell others. Nor would they show them off… Chen Xu is afraid of encountering such people. Because the box has been there for three years, if the imperial seal really had appeared, then there wouldn't have been any international news about it in the past three years… Chen Xu is certain that if even the slightest news of the appearance of the Imperial Seal had leaked out, even if it was just a rumor, it would have been flying everywhere.
I'm afraid some collector might have stuffed it into their safe and been watching it every day while masturbating. If that's the case, where would you find it?
Chen Xu lit a cigarette, and the nicotine made him feel a little better.
Well, the current clues are focused on that jewelry store in Dubai. Another question popped into Chen Xu's mind... Tian Fang, who gave him the cat's eye stone, said that it was given to him by his father. But such a good thing, worth more than two million US dollars, or fifteen million RMB, was just given to him so casually. Now, Chen Xu felt a little guilty... He gave it away so casually because it wasn't his own, so he didn't feel so bad about it.
So Chen Xu called Tian Fang... He was now equipped with an EU satellite phone, which had worldwide signal coverage. Although it was quite expensive, it was safe and convenient.
Tian Fang was still asleep at this time, but he immediately woke up when he saw that it was Chen Xu calling... because the mention of Chen Xu reminded him of the cat's eye stone. Tian Fang had already changed Chen Xu's name in his phone's address book to "cat's eye stone"... How pitiful!
Actually, if Tian Fang had known that the stone was worth 15 million RMB, he probably would never have taken it out... This actually involves a very beautiful misunderstanding.
Chen Xu's first question was, "Give me your bank account number. That cat's eye stone is too expensive; I can't accept such a valuable gift. I need to transfer the money to you." Tian Fang was stunned. This had happened so long ago! Why was he only now thinking of transferring money to him?!
Actually, Chen Xu hadn't originally intended to covet the cat's eye stone. This thing wasn't just worth tens of thousands of dollars; it was over two million US dollars and fifteen million RMB—the gift was far too valuable, and an apology wouldn't do it justice. So Chen Xu planned to follow Bai Zhantang's example, play with it for a few days, and then return it. However, things kept getting delayed, so Chen Xu never had the chance, and the cat's eye stone remained with him.
As it turns out, he just gave the stone to Prince Maktoum, so he can only offer Tian Fang financial compensation... Chen Xu has always disliked taking advantage of others, especially such a large one. Therefore, he plans to transfer the money to Tian Fang.
But Tian Fang immediately got anxious and said, "How can that be? It was agreed that it was a gift for you, so why would I want money?!"
Upon hearing this, Chen Xu thought for a moment and cautiously asked, "Um, do you know the value of your cat's eye stone?"
Tian Fang's tone was disdainful: "It's just something worth 200,000 yuan. I told you, I was unfair last time and offended your sister, so consider this an apology."
Two hundred thousand?
Chen Xu understood immediately; that made sense. Otherwise, who would casually give away something worth fifteen million as an apology after a minor conflict? He had guessed at the time that Tian Fang probably thought the cat's eye stone wasn't very valuable, otherwise why would he give it to him so easily? Fifteen million, wow, there aren't many people in Harmony City who can casually throw around fifteen million.
Given Tian Fang's family's financial situation, 200,000 yuan worth of goods would be enough to make an apology, though it would certainly sting a little... just like how Chen Xu, with his current wealth, would feel a bit of pain if he had to take out 15 million yuan.
In reality, 200,000 RMB is indeed the true price of a decent cat's-eye stone, but Tian Fang clearly misjudged his treasure. Back in Dubai, the asking price was 500,000 USD. While that might seem like an exorbitant price, if the price were negotiated down, it could still fetch 400,000 USD, equivalent to nearly 3 million RMB.
So Chen Xu was very curious about how Tian Fang had obtained the stone at that price. And how did his father get it?
Although Tian Fang found it strange that Chen Xu asked this question, he still answered honestly. The stone wasn't actually bought by his father; rather, it was bought while his father was traveling in Dubai. Unfortunately, he happened to be browsing in the jewelry store that was being robbed, and then, even more unfortunately… his father was taken hostage by the robbers.
Fortunately, the robbers opened fire on the chaotic crowd, killing the jewelry store owner instantly, while Tian Fangdi's father was only shot in the arm.
What happened next was like a Hong Kong police action movie. After several hours, the robbers were killed by the brave police. Tian Fang's father survived the ordeal and was blessed with good fortune... he obtained the cat's eye stone. It was picked up by Tian Fang's father after the robbers dropped it on the ground during the chaos.
Tian Fang's father embezzled the money without any hesitation, and the jewelry store owner also passed away. Nobody knows what exactly was missing.
After Tian Fang's father brought the cat's eye stone to China, he had it appraised. The appraiser offered 200,000 RMB... There's a misunderstanding here. Tian Fang's father went to a pawnshop owner, who had a decent eye. Although he couldn't tell it was an antique, he estimated its value to be around 2 million RMB... The misunderstanding was that the pawnshop owner thought Tian Fang's father wanted to sell the cat's eye stone, so he immediately cut the price by 90%!
However, to his surprise, Tian Fang's father had no intention of selling it at all... This cat's eye stone was his lucky charm that had saved him from death. Two hundred thousand yuan was nothing to the Tian Fang family; it wouldn't make much difference to them. So, Tian Fang's father kept it for himself. Since this cat's eye stone was considered stolen goods, even after it returned to China, Tian Fang's father didn't let it see the light of day. He studied it himself and finally concluded that the cat's eye stone was a token given by Urhan to his queen. He then told his son his deduction.
Chen Xu suddenly understood; so that's how it is!
But the owner of that jewelry store... is dead?!
The trail has gone cold again... Well, maybe it's only half gone. In any case, we should still try to seize any glimmer of hope. Maybe things will take a turn for the better?
Having learned the origin of the cat's eye stone, Chen Xu had achieved his goal. Before hanging up, he asked, "You really don't want the money anymore?"
Although Tian Fang was pained by the expense, he pretended to be generous: "It's just a small amount of money. Talking about money will hurt our feelings!"
Chen Xu sighed, "Since that's the case, I won't force you. Um, I just had an expert appraise it. Oh, do you know Li Shigang? He's a jewelry tycoon from Shanghai. He offered two million US dollars for this cat's eye stone. Since you don't want it, then forget it..."
Tian Fang: "..."
Chen Xu's last sentence was obviously a joke, after all, it wasn't a small amount of money. In fact, money really does come in different units. Fifteen million RMB sounds high, but two million USD isn't much... In terms of purchasing power for "The Translator," it would only amount to four hundred copies, a negligible number compared to the book's massive sales volume... While the US dollar is valuable, the cost of living in the US is extremely high; two million USD and fifteen million RMB have completely different purchasing power.
For Chen Xu, this amount of money was really nothing. Moreover, compared to finding out the whereabouts of the Imperial Seal of the State, buying such a piece of information for two million US dollars was a great deal!
The trail went cold again; they would have to wait until they got to Dubai to continue their search. Chen Xu looked at the satellite phone in his hand, and suddenly a brilliant idea flashed into his mind.
Today was far from uneventful; on the contrary, it was incredibly fruitful!
At the very least, Chen Xu now knows the whereabouts of the Imperial Seal of the State! No, it should be said that he knows the location of the Miwad Treasure!
If nothing unexpected happens, it should be in Dubai!
Chen Xu recalled the images in Miwad's memory: a cave dug on a desolate beach, as if pirates had hidden their treasure underground.
Dubai is located in the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula, bordering the Persian Gulf to the north, with a coastline of 734 kilometers! It might actually be on one of those coastlines!
Moreover, since Miwad and his group are hiding treasure, they naturally wouldn't hide it in crowded places; it might just be on some deserted beach!
Thinking of this, Chen Xu immediately returned to his bedroom.
He plans to hack into a satellite, then use it to search the entire Dubai coastline, and have Xiaomin filter out beaches similar to those in Miwad's memory. This might be a way to find the Imperial Seal of the State!
Chapter 266 Temptation (Part 1)
There are so many artificial satellites orbiting the Earth now. The United States alone has launched more than 400 satellites of all sizes... of which more than 100 are used for military and espionage purposes.
There are nearly 800 satellites in space today, almost covering the entire Earth. These satellites serve different purposes; besides military satellites, they are used for live television broadcasts, mobile phone signals, navigation systems, and more.
Of course, satellite systems are not so easy to hack.
To hack into a satellite, you need to find a way to communicate, which is to say, a track... No one can enter a completely enclosed room without a house or door, so to hack into a satellite, you need to follow the satellite's signal to enter the satellite's system relay.
Different satellites serve different purposes. Chen Xu now needs to survey the entire 700-kilometer coastline of Dubai, so the satellite must be over Dubai and at least have the function of taking pictures... Therefore, a GPS navigation and positioning satellite would suffice.
Chen Xu hacked into one of the EU's GPS satellites because his satellite phone happened to have a GPS positioning system.
The process of the intrusion is not worth recounting. With Chen Xu's current strength, it might be difficult for him to infiltrate a satellite, but with Xiao Min's help, it was done without anyone noticing.
Hacking into satellites, adjusting systems, setting up planned tasks, assigning IP addresses to transmit these photos, and then cleaning up and removing traces of the intrusion—it's all done so simply.
Chen Xu wasn't worried about his actions being discovered. A satellite handles far too many things, and taking pictures is simply one of its functions.
Chen Xu breathed a sigh of relief after finishing all this. Now came the long wait. After all, photographing and comparing every 700 kilometers of coastline was no easy task. Even if Xiao Min's processing speed was fast, and the satellite's imaging speed was fast… what about the transmission speed? The photos would have to be sent one by one for Xiao Min to analyze.
I don't know if I can get this sorted out before I get to Dubai.
After transferring 15 million to Tian Fangdi's account, Chen Xu finally breathed a sigh of relief. Now, all he could do was try his best and leave the rest to fate.
After finishing all that, Chen Xu went to take a shower. The luxury suite on the yacht was indeed different; although the toilet wasn't made of ivory, the toilet seat was inlaid with gold... Chen Xu was relieved that it wasn't the entire toilet seat that was gold, otherwise, wouldn't his butt hurt from the cold when he sat on it?
Lying on the large bed in the luxury cabin, Chen Xu casually spread out in a starfish shape. Bored, he watched TV programs… well, mostly foreign language channels; without a translator, he wouldn't understand a thing.
Just then, someone knocked on the door. "Tap tap tap," the knocking was very gentle.
Who would be knocking on the door at this time?
Chen Xu jumped off the bed in his bathrobe and ran to open the door... He didn't look through the peephole because there was no way anything dangerous could happen on the ship now.
As soon as the door opened, a fragrant breeze wafted out. A soft, warm shadow seemed to be leaning against the door, and as soon as it was opened, it nestled into his arms.
Who is this?!
Chen Xu's first reaction was... to freeze in place.
He felt two very firm mounds of flesh press against his chest, feeling cool and refreshing. Because Chen Xu was wearing a bathrobe, and the straps weren't pulled tight, his chest was open, so he could clearly feel the cool, comfortable sensation on the other person's skin.
Chen Xu's second thought... this person must be a woman. Because she smelled so incredibly strong. A perfume scent that was almost pungent... As for what perfume it was, Chen Xu hadn't researched it. But it was definitely perfume, because it was so overpowering!
What is certain is that this person is absolutely not Guan Yi, Zhan Jing, or Gao Xiaojie.
Because Chen Xu knew they would never spray so much perfume on themselves... and the feel of their skin didn't match either.
Guan Yi and the other two women also smelled nice, but it was a natural fragrance emanating from their bodies, perhaps mixed with the scents of skincare products and shampoo. It felt completely different from this fragrance.
Who is this woman?
Chen Xu quickly reached out to push her away... Oops, he accidentally put his hand in the wrong place, felt something soft, and then heard a soft laugh from his arms.
Chen Xu was about to faint. This was a fucking huge problem; he couldn't afford to make a mistake! So he quickly pushed the woman in his arms away and said, "Um, you've come to the wrong door, haven't you?!"
The woman looked up, and Chen Xu saw her face through the light from inside the door.
Her looks were decent enough, but her makeup was far too heavy, giving her a very worldly air. It was hard to tell her age; she was probably a bit older than me. She was wearing a low-cut red dress… the neckline was really low! A large portion of her white chest was exposed… well, her size probably wasn't smaller than Guan Yi's.
The woman looked at Chen Xu, a slight smile playing on her lips: "Aren't you going to invite me in for a seat?"
Chen Xu thought to himself, "Who are you? Why should I invite you?" But Chen Xu usually couldn't bring himself to say such impolite things. He politely replied, "Miss, it seems you've come to the wrong door? Do I know you?"
The woman laughed heartily: "We didn't know each other before, but we met tonight, didn't we? Her name is Xin Xin."
Hearing her coquettish tone, Chen Xu couldn't help but shudder... and goosebumps rose all over his body. Now he understood what kind of woman this was. In three words... a social butterfly!
As for how there were socialites on this ship... is that even a question?
Those who boarded this ship were all wealthy and powerful... which basically refers to men! Where there are men, how can there be no women? So, on this trip, in addition to many rich young men, there were also many socialites who were very well-connected in Shanghai... Otherwise, wouldn't it be very lonely on such a long journey, especially a luxury cruise, without beautiful women by your side?
Huang Anping had warned those princelings not to mess with the three girls around Chen Xu... but he forgot one thing... he didn't warn those socialites not to mess with Chen Xu.
Previously, while being an SMMH apprentice might have been valued by many, these pragmatic women, focused solely on wealth, didn't take Chen Xu, a poor student, seriously. But tonight was different. Chen Xu casually gifted Prince Maktoum a cat's-eye stone worth fifteen million, which made all the women on the ship look at him in a completely different light… Who knew such a student was so rich?!
To be honest, Xin Xin wasn't bad-looking, but her makeup was a bit heavy, which wasn't quite to Chen Xu's taste right now. So Chen Xu smiled and said, "Ha, I see. My name is Chen Xu. Okay, we've met. I'm going to sleep now."
After saying that, Chen Xu was about to go back into the house and close the door when Xin Xin rushed forward and stood close to the door. She pressed herself against Chen Xu, her slender fingers and brightly colored nail polish gently tracing across his chest. She giggled and said, "Won't you be lonely sleeping alone? I'll keep you company."
This is blatant provocation!
Chen Xu almost cried. He'd never been good with women... especially women like this.
Back in school, Jixi Road behind the school was a red-light district. Every time Chen Xu and his friends walked there, women in their forties or fifties would come up to them and ask, "Want some services?" At that time, Chen Xu could still say no with righteous indignation, but now, with such a delicate and beautiful woman standing in front of him, and so sexy... to be honest, Chen Xu really felt a surge of desire.
This impulse can't be blamed on Chen Xu's womanizing ways. Men, especially young virgins like Chen Xu, always have many fantasies about women. Normally, they might just watch porn or read erotic novels, and it's unlikely they'd spend fifty yuan to find a woman on the street to lose their virginity. But when someone offers themselves to them, even if they feel some resistance, their bodies will involuntarily react.
And this girl, Xin Xin, really had a certain allure… especially her pair of ample breasts, so white and plump like white rabbits, which made Chen Xu feel dizzy and infatuated under the light. The mature, sexy woman she exuded was something a student couldn't possibly possess. And when her hand, uh, her slender hand gently traced across Chen Xu's chest, the subtle, almost imperceptible stimulation felt like an electric current, making Chen Xu tremble uncontrollably.
Who is this Xin Xin? She's a seasoned pro in the pleasure quarters. Just by looking at Chen Xu, she could tell he was smitten... or at least reacting. So, with a giggle, she gently pushed Chen Xu into the doorway... It's embarrassing to admit, but Chen Xu, a man weighing 130-140 pounds and a trained fighter, was pushed inside with just a push.