ebookslot Chapter 1959 - 515: The Victorious Escape
Chapter 1959 - 515: The Victorious Escape
"Goya’s painting ’The Uprising of May 2, 1808.’"
Huang Kaiwen said in a low voice.
"What’s that?"
Kaka and Ramos asked almost at the same time.
"It’s the one that exposes the French army’s brutality against the Spanish people. A lot of people consider these two paintings by Goya the most gripping and eye‑catching masterpieces of his life." Huang Kaiwen said with a smile. "Spanish Victory Bonds, issued by the United States to help Spain resist the Axis powers. Rumor has it almost none of them were redeemed after being intercepted. Looks like this submarine did a ’good deed’ before coming to Tunisia."
"Can they still be redeemed?"
Ramos asked.
"Of course. Face value of 1,000 dollars, 9 percent annual interest, a total of 67 years. 1,000 × 1.09^67 = 321,800 dollars per bond. Next we just count how many we’ve got and we’ll know what they’re worth."
Huang Kaiwen said.
"Kevin, these are bonds to help Spain fight the Axis. Can we really cash them in?"
Kaka asked worriedly.
"Of course. Sergio is Spanish—helping him is helping Spain!"
Huang Kaiwen said carelessly.
These bearer bonds show up in movies all the time.
Whoever holds them owns them.
By his rough estimate there were fewer than a thousand, and a few hundred million from America wasn’t something they’d dare stiff them on.
"Six hundred eighty‑seven."
A few minutes later, after cross‑checking, Kaka and Ramos reported.
"A bit over 221 million dollars. Not bad news at all."
Huang Kaiwen nodded.
At least it bumped this haul up by quite a lot.
"Since the interest is annual, why don’t we hang on for a few more decades?"
Inzaghi suddenly said.
"Yeah, that way we’d get more interest, right?"
Kaka chimed in approvingly.
"Better to cash them in."
Huang Kaiwen hesitated for a moment, then spoke.
You sit there hoarding interest, and the Americans might not be that indulgent.
Better to get the money in hand.
With the discovery of the bonds, everyone was in great spirits, and they all moved a lot faster at work.
Ramos opened a crate, saw the bronze chunks inside, and said in disappointment, "Is this some sculptor’s work?"
Huang Kaiwen went over, took a look, and said, "Judging from the breaks, looks like part of the remains of a statue."
"This looks kind of like a torch. Could it be a bronze Statue of Liberty?"
Young Master squeezed in and said.
Huang Kaiwen suddenly clapped his hands. "There’s a legend that on Rhodes Island, Greece there was a Colossus of Rhodes, the bronze statue of Helios, holding a torch and a bow. They say after it was destroyed in an earthquake, the remains were sold off by Arabic merchants."
"So what we found is a piece of that bronze statue?"
Kaka asked curiously.
"Who knows. Let’s just say it is. You’ve got to give yourself a reason to be in a good mood!"
Huang Kaiwen said with a laugh.
Whether it was or not, he had no intention of selling it.
When the house in Milan got expanded again, he might as well hire a few artists to build a statue in the courtyard and incorporate this piece into it.
Kaka said excitedly, "Do you think we’ll find the ’Portrait of a Young Man’? That painting was in Nazi hands too."
"Probably not. According to the records it disappeared in the hands of the Governor‑General of Poland, Hans Frank. Frank wouldn’t haul a painting all the way to North Africa."
Huang Kaiwen said.
But even so, it didn’t dampen Kaka’s enthusiasm.
The uncrating of the last two boxes went just as smoothly.
Inside, Huang Kaiwen saw works by quite a few artists.
Some weren’t signed, but he could roughly identify them by style. For example, works by Edgar Degas both reflect the color and aesthetic ideas of Impressionism, yet also inherit the academic techniques and line work that Impressionism rebelled against.
Plus he loved painting dancing women—one glance and you knew it was his.
There were also art pieces whose creators Huang Kaiwen couldn’t identify.
The stuff the Little Mustache sent to Rommel wasn’t necessarily all by masters, since it was picked according to his personal taste.
The only painting that really puzzled Huang Kaiwen was "Saint George and the Dragon."
Those two paintings should be in Washington and Paris; they absolutely shouldn’t be here. There was no way Huang Kaiwen could misidentify such famous works.
Kaka exclaimed, "How can a painting by Rafael be here?"
"No idea. Maybe somebody’s copy."
Huang Kaiwen shook his head.
He couldn’t figure out where Rommel would have gotten it.
"That’s all the crates opened."
Inzaghi said.
"Then that’s that."
Huang Kaiwen looked over everything spread out on the floor around them and said, "This time our haul is over a billion dollars. The exact value still needs experts to appraise it."
As his words fell.
A cheer went up inside the submarine.
Young Master had never made money doing anything besides mowing lawns at home. Hearing they’d made a billion, he was practically about to explode with excitement.
Inzaghi was in almost the same situation.
The amount didn’t matter; what he loved was that sudden‑rich feeling.
Kaka’s face was all excitement too.
Huang Kaiwen figured he was more thrilled by the success of the adventure than by how much they’d scored.
Ramos was the calmest of them all, which worried Huang Kaiwen.
This good brother really didn’t seem to care about anything.
Still, the haul was a bit bigger than he’d expected when he first saw the gold bars. Huang Kaiwen said, "The map was Ricardo’s, so Ricardo gets forty percent. The three of you get ten percent each. The remaining thirty percent, besides my share, I’ll also cut in Neo and use some for greasing palms. Any objections?"
"Of course not!"
Inzaghi said excitedly.
Young Master didn’t even bother to say anything.
Kaka, on the other hand, protested, "Kevin, without you and Neo we might have died on the way. You should be getting half at least, and we’ll split the rest among us."