Chapter 398: Setting Sail
Even though Jack wasn't exactly a patriot, and even had a somewhat opportunistic personality, he couldn't help but get angry when he heard Ron's words: "Hey! Those are stolen artifacts, when did they become American property? Are you planning to put them in the Metropolitan Museum of Art?"
"Of course not, I think their country of origin is more suitable for them. I'm talking about returning them to where they rightfully belong. What else do you think I'm talking about? Although I'm a secret agent, I'm a righteous one," Ron said righteously.
He could only use this excuse; what else could he say? He couldn't very well say he believed in cultural repatriation, could he? Mary Poppins' bag was ridiculous enough; if he started preaching about historical justice, people would think he was crazy.
"Ron, you're a truly noble man," Jack exclaimed sincerely. "In that case, we're willing to do business with you at the original price, which is 1 million euros each, since they're going back where they belong."
"No problem, nobody turns down money unless they're a fool," Ron readily agreed.
"OK, I'll go to the boathouse now and retrieve the other artifact for you."
The transaction couldn't proceed immediately. Ron had entered the manor with Jack, and according to the rules of the trade, he was entitled to half of everything. So, this trip would only actually sell Ron one artifact.
Jack had lost the other one, so he had to retrieve it from the boathouse.
However, Ron hadn't expected that Jack would be gone for most of the day, returning only close to evening. Besides their companions, he had brought back two women.
One was the antique expert Ron had met in the hall, and the other was a French countess.
"Aren't you going to introduce me to your two new friends?" Ron politely approached Jack and gave him a French cheek kiss.
"This is Coco, a student of renowned archaeologists, now working in antique appraisal. This is Catherine, a French countess. This is Ron, an American philanthropist; he's the one funding the search for the stolen artifacts, intending to return them to their rightful owners. Ron, can you come over here? I need to talk to you about something."
Ron saw Jack's sly grin and immediately realized something good was about to happen. He quickly apologized to the women and followed him. Catherine even gave Ron a flirty wink, which he naturally responded to with a smile.
However, he wasn't interested in Catherine. Having lived in America for a while, he'd met many white women. Catherine's looks might be considered average by ordinary standards, but among his female confidantes, she was definitely near the bottom.
On the contrary, he was much more interested in Coco. Perhaps it was time to add some more variety to his harem.
But all that could wait. Right now, the most important thing was to make money. His instincts told him that if this trip went well, he could not only recoup the money from returning the artifacts but also earn some more.
"Guess what I found in that countess's house?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if you found a lot of interesting things in her bedroom. Rich people like that always know how to have fun."
"No! That's not what I meant!" Jack shook his head excitedly. "I found another artifact in her house!"
"Okay, you can sell it to me along with the one you lost. Congratulations, you've made two million euros. Keep it up, please keep it up." Ron quickly filled out a check and handed it to Jack.
"No, the amount on this check is wrong, I can't accept it." Jack glanced at the number on the check and pushed it back.
"Two million euros, I'm absolutely sure there's no mistake," Ron looked at the number and frowned. "Or are you going back on your word? But it's okay, I can change the number back to four million dollars right now."
Faced with wealth in the millions, few people can remain true to themselves. Ron wasn't surprised at all. He had agreed to this amount himself. He just didn't expect Jack to be such a materialistic person.
From agreeing to changing his mind, less than a day had passed.
"No, that's not what I meant, Mr. Cooper," Jack grabbed Ron's pen as he was about to write, and showed him a photo on his phone. "Look what I found! He's holding the rarest piece! You might have to give me a premium price for this one."
Ron examined it carefully. In the photo, several Frenchmen were showing off various trophies to the camera, and one of them was holding an extremely rare artifact.
"You're right, this is valuable. The question is, where is it? Is it also in the Countess's house?" Ron asked uncertainly.
"No, I tried to get information out of her, and she's never seen it, so it shouldn't be in her house." Jack shook his head. "But she told us something very interesting: her great-grandfather, an officer who came overseas to plunder, ran aground on his way back, and the artifact should be on that ship. We can go find that ship!"
With Jack's prompting, Ron finally remembered that there should be gold on a ship stranded on an island. Just as he was about to speak, his arm suddenly went limp. Turning around, he saw the newly arrived Countess had her arms wrapped around his.
"Hi, they said your name is Ron, right? What are you talking about?"
"Catherine, we're talking about your ancestors, and guess what?" Jack said, and the Countess, without noticing, winked at Ron. "He agreed to help you bring your ancestor's remains home!"
"Really? Thank you so much!" The Countess was deeply moved and immediately showed her gratitude with her actions.
The specific method involved pressing her entire body against Ron's, hugging him, and giving him a forceful kiss. Ron felt two large, soft mounds pressing against his chest, and his heart was filled with longing.
How could Ron refuse such a kind offer?
"Yes, that's right, Jack just said it was on a stranded ship, right? I'm willing to send a ship to help you find it..."
No sooner said than done, that very night, Ron slept near the Countess's manor. French women were indeed so unrestrained, and Ron's prowess, as always, earned him respect, even making the Countess feel overwhelmed. At the same time, she actively helped him seduce another of Ron's targets, Coco, although the results weren't very good.
However, while Ron was busy chasing women, Jack and his team also sprang into action, moving directly into the Countess's house and beginning to search for the ship's whereabouts through various documents in the collection and clues left by the Countess's ancestors.
First, they roughly located the ship on a small island in the Pacific Ocean. Then, using an oil painting by the countess's ancestor, they created a 3D model of two arch-shaped islands in the painting and found a similar island on a map.
Adjusting the angle of the reef to match the position in the painting and inputting it into the map, the deserted island directly opposite was where the ship had run aground. Interestingly, this place wasn't far from Samoa, and Ron's yacht was currently undergoing "maintenance" on a Samoan island.
"No wonder it wasn't on the map; so this is where he painted it." Upon landing on the island, Jack stood at the spot where the Countess's ancestor had painted, comparing it to a photograph.
After drifting at sea for three days, they finally found the place. Ron had originally intended for the ladies to wait on the boat, but unable to resist the two ladies' strong curiosity, he let them follow.
"You are truly amazing!" The Countess excitedly offered a kiss, which Ron naturally accepted.
"Of course, it's all thanks to the power of technology, and of course, thanks to Jack's team." Ron put his arm around one of them. Ever since Coco found out that Ron had indeed returned the artifacts he obtained, her impression of Ron had greatly changed.
Aside from the occasional noise from Ron and the Countess keeping her awake, she had tacitly approved of Ron's presence.
Ron swore he never made a sound; the loud shouts almost always came from the Countess, who clearly enjoyed herself.
Jack and his team went ahead to explore the island, planting landmarks and setting up trails, while Ron accompanied the two beauties, strolling around like it was a leisurely walk, but one fraught with tension.
"Hey! Catherine, can you be a little quieter at night? You're keeping me awake!" Coco was the first to complain.
"I'm expressing myself for the person I like, what's it to you? If you don't want to hear it, you can wear earplugs, or come join us if Ron wants you," the Countess said, clinging to Ron's arm.
"Look at her!" Coco stomped her foot in anger.
Ron was caught in the middle, torn between two options. He never imagined that searching for treasure on the island would turn into another challenge, even though he had brought it upon himself.
Suddenly, Coco stomped her foot, stepped on something, and slipped backward. Ron quickly reached out to grab her but missed, while Coco, in her panic, grabbed Catherine and they both fell.
Ron quickly changed his target to grab Catherine, and this time he caught her, but he stepped on the same thing Coco had just stepped on – a banana peel. Ron slipped and fell as well.
"FUCK!" Ron cursed under his breath. Using his agent-like agility, he quickly grabbed a vine to stop his fall. Just then, Catherine landed right in front of him. Ron had no choice but to let go, grabbing Catherine and, before they both fell again, using his training to hook his legs around the vine.
The way he was holding her was a bit awkward, though. Because of the urgency, he'd been so focused on saving her that he hadn't noticed his own posture. Looking back, his hands were positioned awkwardly under Catherine's legs, stabilizing her. Catherine herself was also clinging tightly to a vine, not putting all her weight on Ron.
Fortunately, the two had already been intimate, so this awkward position wasn't a big deal.
"Thank you for saving me, Ron! I almost died just now, it was all that woman's fault!" Catherine had just breathed a sigh of relief when the vine Coco had been holding onto slipped, and she fell again. This time, by sheer coincidence, she landed right on Ron's face.
"Ahhhhhh!" Coco had stopped, but was still screaming and shaking wildly. Ron was almost suffocating, his eyes rolling back in his head.
"I've been so careful all my life, am I really going to die under a woman's butt?!"
"Hey! Don't move!" Catherine cried out urgently. "You're sitting on his face! Get off!"
Two completely contradictory commands left Coco momentarily bewildered. Fortunately, she finally realized she was no longer falling, regained her composure, and glanced back at Ron, ready to move aside. But what she saw made her blush even more.
She really was sitting on Ron's face!
To make matters worse, she had planned to outshine Catherine that day. Seeing Catherine in a French-style long dress that morning, she went back to her tent and changed into a super-short skirt—a black lace one at that. Sitting on it now exposed her entire lower half to Ron.
"Ah!!!" Coco screamed even louder, kicking her legs wildly.
"Ladies, we haven't reached the bottom yet! Don't move!" Taking advantage of Coco's kicking, Ron managed to finally reveal his face, but before he could even catch his breath, Coco's kicking caused the vines to loosen again.
Ron only had time to grab Catherine before the three of them plummeted again.
"Ah! Ah! Ah! Bang!" Just before hitting the ground, Ron flipped himself over, landing on his back. The immense impact of the two nearly knocked his internal organs out.
Fortunately, Catherine seemed unharmed. Ron pulled her up and checked her over before realizing Coco was missing.
"Catherine, are you alright?" Ron asked with concern.
"I'm fine," Catherine replied, collapsing to the floor, still shaken.
"That's good. I'll go find Coco." After settling Catherine, Ron crawled out of the hole he had fallen into, only to find himself standing on half of a boat.
It turned out they had discovered the boat by accident! Ron stomped his foot in disbelief, the sound of solid wood beneath his feet confirming his suspicions.
However, finding Coco was the most urgent task at hand. He didn't want any injuries during the treasure hunt. Ron jumped onto the ship's deck and looked down, finally spotting Coco lying on the deck groaning.
"Coco, are you alright?" Ron ran to help her up, but before she could speak, he immediately noticed her left foot was abnormally twisted—a sign of dislocation.
"I feel like I can't feel anything in my entire left foot," Coco groaned as she sat up. Ron quickly pressed her down again; he didn't want her moving before he could treat her.
"It's alright, you just have a minor sprain. I'll massage it for you." Ron considerately took off her shoes, revealing a delicate foot.
(End of Chapter)
[Power Stone Goal: 500 = +1 Chapter]
[Review Goal: 10 = +1 Chapter]
If you liked it, feel free to leave a review.
70+chapters ahead on P1treon Soulforger