At this time, at Los Angeles International Airport, Anthony and Jennifer sat down in the VIP terminal. They remained silent for a long time.

Qian Wenhuan had already issued an order for the two of them and the negotiating team to return directly, without having to stay on in Los Angeles.

Even so, they were returning after having failed in their mission. At the very least, they were naturally ashamed. As for the worst-case scenario, the company's senior management might question both of their capabilities, which could even affect their careers.

Nonetheless, there was no use thinking about these things. What was done was done. No one wanted to sell their shares to Blacklight Biotechnology.

“Are you both Mr. Anthony and Ms. Jennifer?”

Just when the two of them were feeling downcast, four or five men wearing black clothes and sungla.s.ses suddenly surrounded them, looking at them condescendingly as they subtly blocked off all escape routes.

“I am. And may I ask who you are…”

Anthony looked up blankly and asked.

“We're with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. There's an investigation that we need your cooperation with.”

The man in black at their head flashed his ID and the other four immediately stepped forward. They seized Anthony and Jennifer by the arms and marched them out of the terminal.

“This is…”

Panic fluttered across Anthony's face. “Wait, what happened? We didn't violate federal law!”

“You'll understand when you reach our destination.”

The FBI agent did not even explain anything to the two of them and hauled them away at once. The rest of the negotiating team was stunned.

“Did any of you attend the ball at Gross Manor?”

“No, we didn't.”

Everyone quickly shook their heads.

“Please come with us first. We won't take too much of your time.”

The man in black continued while gesturing for them to walk ahead.

They could only follow obediently.

Anthony and Jennifer were carted to the FBI office building. They were instantly astounded when they got out of the vehicle.

What they saw was that the entire hall of the Federal Bureau of Investigation was filled with various sculptures, ranging from bronze sculptures to stone sculptures. The large ones were more than ten meters high and the small ones were only ten centimeters tall.

Countless sculptures filled the hall and there was also a large number of trucks that were bringing in more sculptures.

“What's going on?”

Anthony mumbled to himself.

After they pa.s.sed through the hall of sculptures, the two were taken into a makes.h.i.+ft interrogation room. This interrogation room was modified out of an office. The FBI, for some reason, could not even provide a formal interrogation room.

There were people dressed in black coming in and out as well as a large number of people in uniforms. Currently, a man rushed into the interrogation room while drinking water and said h.e.l.lo to the men in black who were detaining the two. Those men immediately withdrew.

All at once, only Anthony and Jennifer remained in the interrogation room, along with the man drinking water.

After drinking the water in the cup in loud gulps, the man exhaled and turned to look at the two of them. “Do you want some?”

“No, it's fine. Thank you.”

Anthony still looked dazed. “Excuse me, what has happened and why are we arrested? Surely we didn't violate the laws of North America, let alone the laws of the Earth Federation.”

“I apologize.”

The man nodded. “First, let me introduce myself. You can call me Investigator Geraldson. Yes, neither of you violated any laws, but everything happened so suddenly. We could only do this to make sure you cooperate.”

After that, the man grew stern. “From now onward, please answer each of my questions seriously. Any falsehoods, once discovered, will likely lead you to be arrested for crimes against humanity.”

“Crimes against humanity?”

Jennifer exclaimed, “Why is that?”

“This is what the Earth Federation has stipulated. We in North America are merely following orders.”

Geraldson spread his hands. “Okay, can the both of you tell me where you were last night?”

Upon hearing these questions, Anthony and Jennifer exchanged a glance and finally, Anthony smiled bitterly. “Do you need to ask that? You seem to have arrested us because we joined the dinner party last night, right?”

“Very well. So you did join the dinner party last night.”

Geraldson took out a pen recorder and recorded what Anthony said. Then he asked again, “So at the party, did you see… Uh, three sculptures?”

“Yes, there were three oddly shaped sculptures.”

Anthony was no longer thinking of anything else — he might as well tell the truth. “One of them had prominent ears and the others had prominent eyes and mouth respectively. The three sculptures seemed to be very…”

Anthony paused here, searching for a description.

“Weird.” Jennifer filled in.

“Yes, the three sculptures gave off a weird vibe, both in terms of their shape and lines.” Anthony nodded.

“Very well…”

Geraldson nodded. “Next question — have you noticed anything unusual about those three sculptures?”

“Unusual? In what way?”

“I don't know either.” Geraldson shook his head. “For instance, if you got a weird feeling, that should count as something unusual, I guess.”

“We only took a look at the three sculptures from a distance,” Anthony said helplessly. “We only noticed each of their three prominent features, which were the ears, eyes, and mouth. I don't remember anything else…”

“Plus, we didn't touch those three sculptures. They were all sealed in the jewelry display. Even if there was an ancient virus or something on them, we wouldn't have been in contact.”

Jennifer chimed in.

Anthony was shocked as he recalled the horror of being dominated by the Blacklight virus. He quickly asked, “Is there really some kind of ancient virus on the three sculptures?”

Geraldson shook his head, “No. To be honest, we aren't sure why those at the top have given us these orders… Forget it, just pretend I didn't say anything. I'll continue with my questions.”

With that, Geraldson continued to ask, “Please explain to me the origins of those three sculptures, including everything you heard, saw, and a.n.a.lyzed. Tell me everything.”

Geraldson's words caused a flutter in Anthony's expression. The investigator's words seemed to imply something, but now was not the time to think about all that, after all.

Thus, Anthony once again narrated the origins of the three sculptures, how they were dug out from a gold mine in South America by a man named Gross. At the same time, he revealed to the federal investigator before him that it was a man named Clifford who had invited them to the showing.

“Very good.”

Geraldson listened to all of this but remained completely unmoved. He had already examined the entire affair thoroughly. At this point, he was just verifying the facts.