Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 1002: Chapter 998: Huaxia Art Treasure Trove

Watanabe Yasu and Hattori Keiko were themselves people from the antique circle, and the purpose of their request was simply to feast their eyes first, so they had no objection to the few requests put forth by Chairman Tanaka. The two exchanged a glance and nodded in agreement without hesitation.

Chairman Tanaka, finding himself riding a tiger and unable to dismount, could only lead the two of them to the underground warehouse, silently comforting himself that it was just a matter of taking them to see the items. Even if the curator were to blame him, it would be just a few criticisms and admonishments. In pleasing the Watanabe Consortium on this, he could certainly reap substantial benefits.

With this in mind, Chairman Tanaka felt a bit more assured as he made his way down to the underground warehouse.

No one noticed that another person was also trailing them all the way to the warehouse entrance.

Upon arriving at the warehouse, Huo Sining saw six guards wearing special police uniforms and carrying guns standing at the entrance. With so many people guarding the door, Huo Sining felt a bit daunted.

If she hadn’t coincidentally encountered Watanabe Yasu and Hattori Keiko, it would not have been easy for her to enter the warehouse even if she had reached the entrance.

Huo Sining felt secretly grateful and was just thinking about it when she saw Chairman Tanaka negotiating with the guards, who conducted body searches and checked credentials. After verifying everything, one of the guard captains unlocked the password lock, and the warehouse door was opened. The captain led the group of three inside in a single file.

Huo Sining followed closely behind, holding her breath as she entered the warehouse.

Upon seeing the situation inside the warehouse, Huo Sining was stunned.

Huo Sining had read many articles in newspapers and journals describing how, during the Eight-Nation Alliance’s invasion of Huaxia and the wars between China and the Island Country, Huaxia’s accumulated treasures since the Yuan and Ming dynasties, from ceremonial artifacts to national treasures, were plundered completely. The Imperial Capital, which had once been magnificent for centuries, had been reduced to remnants, leaving only one or two traces behind. Instead of a city once filled with glorious golden buildings, Beijing City was left as a desolate wasteland scattered with ruined relics.

The articles also recorded events from the time when the last Emperor Puyi was expelled from the palace, and eunuchs in the palace stole artifacts to sell privately. Later, when the Dongyang Army invaded Huaxia, they established the East Asian Archaeological Society to infiltrate and plunder cultural artifacts from Huaxia and other countries.

Bohai artifacts were lost, and sites like Dan Tuzi and the Lushun Shepherd City Site were successively robbed, all part of the Dongyang Army’s handiwork. Before the invasion of Huaxia began, the Dongyang Army had even sent various expeditions to collect Chinese artifacts, such as prying off the head of the Tianlongshan Buddha Statues. During the war, Dongyang citizens brazenly looted, exemplified by the massive theft of bronze items and ancient books from the Luoyang Jincun Tombs and over 200 Song Dynasty editions of rare books from the Baishan Building, all spirited off to Dongyang.

These records were etched in Huo Sining’s mind, but printed descriptions could never truly compare to the reality of physical artifacts. Standing there in the vast underground warehouse of the National Museum, seeing the rows of Huaxia civilization treasures stored within, she was overwhelmed by a shock that words could not express.

She couldn’t decide whether to rejoice or to be angry.

Even within China, she had never seen a collection of this magnitude. Nearly seventy percent of the artifacts originated from Huaxia, and she could almost be certain that ninety-nine percent of them were looted by the Dongyang Army during the invasion.

Had these treasures not been stolen by the Dongyang Army, Huo Sining could imagine the fate they would have faced during the cultural destruction period. Perhaps destruction would have been their ultimate end. However, being taken by the Dongyang people to this Island Country, they fortuitously avoided such calamities.

Nonetheless, seeing so many cultural jewels of Huaxia Country stored dust-covered in this sealed warehouse by the Dongyang people, Huo Sining could finally understand Zhou Shitao’s anger and sorrow, a shared sentiment in the domestic historical and archaeological communities.

These treasures were fortunate to be preserved here and escape disaster, yet they were also unfortunate. Most were brought here illegally by the Dongyang Army and could only be confined to this basement, with no chance of being openly displayed again.

The influx of so many ”national treasure-level” artifacts to Dongyang explains why this country is known as the ”Treasury of Huaxia Artifacts.” Yet no matter how well-preserved they are here, this does not justify Dongyang’s appropriation of Huaxia civilization.

Huo Sining couldn’t help but sigh internally. For the first time, she felt dissatisfied with the storage ring she possessed. She wished the Storage Space could be ten times or a hundred times larger, enough to take away all the artifacts belonging to Huaxia Country in one go.

However, Huo Sining was also well aware that this was impossible. With so many artifacts, she could only take away one to two percent. Once she left the basement, the National Museum would soon discover the theft, and she would have no chance of entering the warehouse again.

Therefore, Huo Sining had to be extra cautious. While Watanabe Yasu and Hattori Keiko observed the exhibited antiques, her eyes scanned the entire basement warehouse, quickly calculating which of these many treasures she should or must take away.

Watanabe Yasu and Hattori Keiko carefully navigated the warehouse, with Chairman Tanaka quietly explaining the background of each antique. With each explanation, Watanabe Yasu and Hattori Keiko’s eyes sparkled more brightly, greedily fixed on these gems, their gaze lingering longingly, wishing to claim every single piece for themselves.

The guard leader kept a vigilant eye on the three until they finished viewing the last exhibited artifact and left with the group. Finally, the guard captain breathed a sigh of relief. He cautiously turned his head, surveying the entire warehouse to ensure there were no anomalies before walking out behind Chairman Tanaka, firmly closing the warehouse door, returning to his position, and standing guard at his post.

At this moment, Watanabe Yasu and Chairman Tanaka did not know that their reckless entry into the warehouse had attracted a master thief from another time and space, causing the National Museum’s warehouse to suffer a significant loss. This was also the greatest Christmas gift Santa Claus could have delivered to the Dongyang people on Christmas Eve!