“Wow—what a beautiful place.” As the boat they were on approached Santorini, Jeanne d'Arc, standing on the deck, softly exclaimed while looking at the small town by the sea.
It was midday, and under the bright Mediterranean sun, the white buildings of the town seemed to shimmer, fully embodying the Mediterranean charm.
“Of course it's beautiful. As a famous tourist spot in the Mediterranean, it certainly has its own unique features,” Liang En said with a smile. “This archaeological trip is not like the ones in the wilderness; we have plenty of opportunities to relax here.”
Santorini Island covers an area of 96 square kilometers, with a coastline of 69 kilometers and a population of about fourteen thousand. The island's western coast is home to its capital, Fira Town, which was the town Liang En and the others were now seeing.
Fira Town is the commercial and tourist center of Santorini Island. Hotels, restaurants, and cafes are built along the volcanic cliffs, with white houses scattered across different levels, connected in layers. The domes of the churches resemble the blue waters of the Aegean Sea, forming a unique cultural landscape.
The most famous landmark is the Blue Dome Church of Fira, a photo of which was once published by National Geographic and is even considered the most representative photo of the Eastern Mediterranean.
Since the team from the National Museum of Ireland would arrive in two or three days, Liang En and the others took the opportunity to visit and photograph these popular spots on the island.
Because the island isn't very large, they managed to visit all the famous spots in those few days while also researching their target.
The target location was closer to the island than expected. From the mountains of Fira, Liang En could see the target sea area and vaguely guess how the other party managed the salvage operation.
“I guess they rented a yacht and blended in with the other yachts to conduct the salvage operation,” Liang En said, pointing to the sea area filled with small yachts next to the Blue Dome Church.
“Considering they eventually left on their own fishing boat, it's highly likely they rented a yacht on the island to carry out their crime,” Fan Meng nodded seriously while looking at the yachts on the sea.
“And it must have been a large boat,” Liang En quickly made the next deduction based on this assumption.
“If it were those small boats of dozens of tons, it would be hard for them to hide their actions. Only the larger vessels would be convenient for such illegal activities.”
So, when they joined the main team the next day, Liang En shared his suspicions. They coordinated with the accompanying Greek police to inquire with the local boat rental businesses.
Soon, they got some definitive information from the local boat rental merchants. According to one boat rental merchant, he had seen the people in the photo provided by Liang En.
“Yes, sir, these were the people who rented a boat from me for two weeks,” the merchant told Liang En, who was accompanied by the police.
“They were dressed like wealthy individuals from the Middle East, but I suspected they were fake because they drank an entire bottle of whiskey while talking to me—”
This merchant was very expressive and, under police questioning, quickly revealed everything he knew, not sparing any details.
At the end, he quickly provided the GPS data of the boat for that period. For these boat rental merchants, installing GPS on their boats is standard practice, making it easier to track in case of any incidents.
However, after Liang En and the others left, the previously smiling merchant's face turned serious as he walked to the back of his room. He turned on a radio, switched to a certain frequency, and said:
“You said the operation was clean and no one would discover what we did. Why are there people now searching for those treasure hunters?”
“Sorry, that was our oversight.” Another voice quickly came through the microphone. “Before we acted, that group sent out quite a few items. I suspect some important items might have been among those common things.”
“If that's the case, why didn't you detect it?”
“It’s a habit of the other party. We couldn't expose ourselves by intercepting those items before deciding to act. More importantly, no
one expected that some key items would be hidden among them.”
“Let's not discuss whose fault this is for now. I just gave them some misleading information, hoping to divert their attention.” After hearing the voice from the microphone, the merchant's face showed an angry expression.
However, he quickly took a couple of deep breaths to calm down, then repressed his inner anger and instructed the person on the other side of the microphone on the next steps.
“Based on my observations, this group appears to be highly professional and capable of gaining local official support. So, I think we should speed up and complete our plan ahead of them.”
“Even with my misdirection, it’s unlikely to fool them for long. They might realize something is wrong within a few days, and even suspect me—”
“Don’t get agitated, Mr. Speer. Our actions will be faster than you think,” the person on the other side of the microphone reassured, noticing Mr. Speer’s evident anxiety.
“At least, our northern division has already been mobilized, and all our resources are converging here. If nothing unexpected happens, we will receive unprecedented support in the next three days.”
“I know we have support, but the problem is that the other party has official backing,” Mr. Speer’s tone grew increasingly strained. “The issue is, I could face a crisis at any moment.”
“Actually, every one of us faces potential crises due to our identities,” the voice from the microphone turned severe.
“However, I understand your current situation, so if it becomes necessary, I can deploy the knights to deal with these problems for you.”
“If the knights are deployed, that would be great,” Mr. Speer relaxed slightly. “But unless it's absolutely urgent, I don't recommend deploying the knights, as their every action attracts a lot of unnecessary attention.”
“Don't worry, the situation shouldn't get that bad. After all, you should know how complicated the procedures are for those official archaeologists,” the tone from the microphone softened after hearing Mr. Speer’s willingness to cooperate.
“So, I believe by the time they realize something is wrong, we should have already obtained what we want and left, so all your concerns might not even arise.”
“Let’s hope so,” Mr. Speer sighed. “It's been over three years; I hope this final operation goes smoothly.”
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