章節 96: Chapter 96: The Devonshire Family Secret
William gazed at the alloy-crafted Da Vinci Code-style cylinder lying on the table before him. The device was ingeniously designed with eight rotating rings, each engraved with the 26 letters of the English alphabet. The only way to open it was by correctly aligning the rings to form the correct password. Any attempt to force it open would activate a corrosive liquid inside, destroying the documents it contained.
Following the instructions given by his late grandfather, Henry, William carefully entered the Chinese transliterated letters of his father's name, "Chen Jing." The password cylinder clicked open. Henry had been cunning indeed—no one would have guessed he'd use William's father's name as the password, especially since no one knew what it was.
Inside the cylinder were two vacuum-sealed plastic document bags rolled into tight coils. Opening one, William found the legendary Oxford Ordinance. As he flipped through the pages, he saw a line written in pen:
"The London knight, buried by the Pope's command, whose lifetime achievements sparked the wrath of the Holy See. The sacred orb should rest on the hero's grave, while the pregnant princess remains eternal."
William pondered these cryptic words for a long time, unable to decipher their meaning. Turning to the next page, he found another enigmatic line written on the back of the ordinance:
"Beneath ancient Rosslyn lies the Holy Grail, guarded by the sword and the chalice. The masterpiece dedicated to the Grandmaster, to accompany her into the dream, where she can rest in peace, gazing at the stars."
These words confused William even more. He couldn't make heads or tails of them. What on earth was this talking about? Frustration mounted as he continued to read, but he couldn't unravel the mystery.
On the final page, another message read:
"We are the guardians of the Light, the defenders of Truth. Sacred and faithful, we stand with the Templar Knights, forever."
This sentence was clear and straightforward, implying that the Devonshire family had a longstanding history with the Templar Knights, guarding the truth and the divine. But what truth were they protecting?
William searched through the document bag and eventually found a small note. It was written in his grandfather Henry's handwriting:
"William, I am pleased that you have found this note. It means you have revitalized the Devonshire family. The Devonshire family has been guarding a secret that could potentially destroy the Church. Go to France and find Jacques Saunière at the Louvre. He will tell you everything. Remember, William, we are guardians and defenders. Sometimes, sacrifices and bloodshed are inevitable. This is the essence of our family. Anyone who tries to destroy it is our enemy. Yes, you read that correctly—enemy."
The word "enemy" was written in red ink, emphasizing its importance. William understood Henry's message clearly. There could be no mercy for enemies—they had to be dealt with decisively.
After contemplating for a while, William decided to stop worrying about it for now. He would find this Jacques Saunière and get to the bottom of it.
He took a photo of the third page, the one with the Templar Knights' vow, using his phone. He then carefully put all the documents back into their vacuum-sealed bags, rolled them up, and placed them back into the password cylinder. Next, he opened the second vacuum-sealed bag, which contained only a single item: a diary.
As William read through the diary, he was astonished to learn about the Devonshire family's ancestors, who were part of the Crusades. They had discovered a vast treasure beneath King Solomon's Temple. This treasure had been coveted by numerous kings, pharaohs, and emperors over the centuries, growing in size each time it changed hands until it mysteriously vanished. It wasn't until William's ancestors, the knights, found it beneath Solomon's Temple.
Whether out of a sense of high moral standards or for reasons unknown, these knights decided that the treasure was too immense and powerful for any single nation to possess without disrupting the balance of Europe. They secretly transported the treasure back to Europe and hid it, founding the Templar Knights to guard it.
Centuries later, the Templar Knights had grown significantly in Europe, with many members rising to positions of power. As their influence expanded, their loyalty shifted. They no longer adhered strictly to the mission of protecting the treasure but instead sought to claim it for themselves, leading to internal strife and conflict.
The last group of Templar Knights faithful to their original oath began secretly moving the treasure to the then-untamed lands of America. They established the Brotherhood of the Stone there (known today as the Freemasons) to continue safeguarding the treasure.
However, as centuries passed and America sought independence, a few of the country's founding fathers, fearing the British army might seize the treasure, hid it away. They created an incredibly cryptic map, so concealed that if the password of the secret guardian was lost, the treasure would remain hidden forever.
This betrayal by the Americans made William's great-great-great-grandfather believe that the Americans had taken the treasure for themselves, sparking a 200-year quest by the Devonshire family to find Solomon's treasure. For ten generations, the family had tirelessly pursued the treasure, a quest continued by Henry.
Staring at the journal, William felt a pang of frustration. This seemed like another quest with little to go on. The last page of the journal had an old, tattered piece of paper attached to it. Written on it was:
"The secret lies with Charlotte, Thomas Gates, 1783."
It seemed William needed to go to America and track down the descendants of Thomas Gates to see if they had any further information. The journal documented that the treasure consisted of over 140 tons of gold, along with countless antiques, artworks, and other valuable items.
Just the gold alone, at current prices, would be worth over $4 billion. No wonder the Devonshire family had been obsessed with this treasure for generations. The thought of such immense wealth stirred something within William. A voice in his head kept urging him, "Find it. Find it. It belongs to you."
Determined to find this enormous fortune, William resolved to pursue this quest. "God," he thought, "I'd be a fool not to seek it out."
He stored the journal in his spatial storage and placed the other documents back into the password cylinder, securing them in the safe room's vault. After locking the safe room door, William headed upstairs to get some sleep.
The next morning, William woke up at 7 AM to bid farewell to the Expendables. After getting ready, he went to the dining room and found his mother, Lina, already there, directing the maids to set up the tableware.
Walking up to her, he gave her a hug and said, "Good morning, Mom."
"Good morning, William," Lina replied with a warm smile. "Why don't you go check if our guests are up? Breakfast will be served at 8 sharp."
William nodded, "Sure, Mom. I'll go check."
After breakfast, William first saw the lawyers off and then arranged for the male servants of the castle to drive the six members of the Expendables to the private airport. William had rented a plane the previous day that would take them directly to New York. Before they boarded, William hugged and shook hands with each member of the team. He felt a bit reluctant to part with them.
Barney stepped forward and handed William a lucky ring from the Expendables, "Boss, as a farewell gift, we want you to have this. We hope you'll like it."
William looked at the skull ring, which was similar to Barney's but in gold, with two red rubies set in the eyes. He slipped the ring onto the ring finger of his left hand; it fit perfectly and looked quite impressive. Clenching his fist, he bumped it against Barney's, saying, "Thank you, Barney. I appreciate it. I like it very much."
Barney grinned, "I'm glad you do, boss."
William fist-bumped the others with his ringed hand and saw the Expendables off onto their plane. As their aircraft took off, he got into his car and headed back to the castle, already thinking about the new challenges ahead.
___________________
Read Ahead
P@treon.com/Mutter
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票