Although Philadelphia had long lost its position as the largest economy in the United States, it was still a famous big city in North America. At night, the lights shone brightly.
The hotel was close to the museum, and Li Du and the others walked there.
In the past, the real estate market was cold, so most old buildings occupied vast areas, such as Green Delaware. The museum had an area of twenty to thirty acres and many rooms, each of which was naturally a collection.
The museum was gloomy at night, in sharp contrast to the surrounding buildings. It was old, quaint, dim, and dark.
Compared with the surrounding buildings, Li Du knew that the rumors on the Internet were true. The location of the museum was very good, and the land was quite valuable. After it closed down and sold the land, many real estate developers would be interested.
However, it was a pity that such an old museum closed down.
Compared with the town museums Li Du had seen before, this was a real national museum, or at least it had been built as a national museum.
The lobby of the museum was magnificent, with a fountain with a pointed obelisk in the center at the entrance. The base of the obelisk was carved with intricate patterns. One could imagine the splendor of its heyday.
Looking up at the entrance of the museum and the front hall, Li Du marveled, "It's magnificent."
Brother Wolf said, "It's modeled after the Pantheon, but it's half as magnificent."
The Pantheon was a precious ancient Roman building. It was the only building from the Roman Empire that had been completely preserved. It was built in 27 BC by Agrippa, the son-in-law of Octavian, the first emperor of the Roman Empire. It was used to worship the gods of Mount Olympus. It was a classic building of the Augustan period.
The museum was indeed modeled after the Pantheon, but there were many changes.
For example, there was a pointed obelisk in front of the door, which was carved with Roman mythological scenes, and in the museum were some mythological scenes of plants and animals.
Inside was the main hall. There were niches in the Pantheon, used to worship the god of war, Julio Caesar, and many statues of gods and heroes.
The statues in the museum were of famous people who had made important contributions to the development of natural culture. The niches were dedicated to Leonardo da Vinci and a woman named Maria Sibylla-Merian.
Li Du did not know this woman, who was on par with Leonardo da Vinci. He pretended to look in at the door and then asked, "Do you know Maria Sibylla-Merian?"
He just asked casually. He did not think that Brother Wolf and the others would know such a scientific expert.
In the end, the four bodyguards, including Brother Wolf, nodded in unison.
Li Du was stunned. No way, so many people knew? Then wasn't he too ignorant and ill-informed?
Brother Wolf explained, "Merian is the glory of women in Germany. She is an outstanding biologist. Her portrait is on our 1992 Deutsche Mark banknote."
Li Du suddenly understood. No wonder these Germans were so familiar with her.
He didn't know much about this lady, but he could imagine that she must be very powerful. This was a woman who could be on the German 500 Mark banknote!
Mr. Li was leaning against the door and looking in when a loud voice suddenly rang out. "Hey, what are you guys doing? You, why are you crouching at the door like a pervert? "
A few people jogged over. The one in the lead was a white-haired old man. He was the one who had shouted. There were three middle-aged men following behind him with vigilant expressions, as if they were facing a great enemy.
Embarrassed, Li Du said, "Oh, we are tourists. We saw a museum here, so we came to take a look."
The old man pushed him away rudely and said, "The museum is closed. It's not open anymore. Don't come."
Brother Wolf and the others took a step forward and formed a triangle to protect Li Du.
Behind the old man, a white man with slicked-back hair shouted, "What are you guys doing? I've called the police, I've already called the police. This is the museum director, Dr. Saatchi. He has a very high reputation in Philadelphia. If you hurt him, you'll go to jail. "
Knowing that this person was the museum director, Li Du roughly understood the reason for the other party's fierce reaction.
This director, Saatchi, had the temperament of a traditional intellectual. He had come to the museum at this time, presumably to say goodbye.
Li Du respected people who were obsessed with nature and research. He had once wanted to be such a person. Unfortunately, in the end, he had become a big businessman who reeked of money.
Of course, he liked the smell of money very much.
Seeing that the other party was nervous, Li Du apologized and led the group to the side of the street.
He thought that Saatchi and the others would enter the museum to say goodbye, but they did not. The four people stared at them. Seeing that they did not leave, they left first.
This made Li Du feel quite strange. What were they doing here? Were they here to patrol the public security?
Ignoring these people, he went back to the door and released the little bug.
The interior of the museum was almost empty. There were only some shabby tables, chairs, wooden shelves, and display cabinets. Some rooms were filled with junk, most of which were worthless.
Fortunately, the little bug had its own treasure hunting radar. After scanning the first floor, it went to the second floor. Then some office-like rooms appeared. There were books, paintings, and some animal and plant specimens.
The little bug was not interested in these things. It went straight into a thick-looking solid wood table.
Li Du's eyes lit up. He took out his mobile phone and prepared to use the power of the Internet to value the things that the little bug had found.
A few minutes after he started working, two police cars suddenly arrived with their sirens blaring. Then four or five police officers got out of the car, checked Li Du's identification, and asked why they were wandering around.
Li Du laughed and said, "We are treasure hunters who came to participate in the storage auction. Now we are wandering around to familiarize ourselves with the auction environment."
A police officer frowned and said, "Don't play tricks. What are you treasure hunters doing here?"
Li Du said, "Don't you know? The museum is holding an auction tomorrow. It will be held like a storage auction. I'm here to participate in this event. "
Hearing this, a police officer subconsciously looked into the car.
Li Du noticed this detail. His heart skipped a beat. He released the little bug into the police car, and then saw a familiar face — the white-haired curator, Dr. Saatchi.
This made him feel strange. Was Dr. Saatchi too concerned about the museum? Or perhaps he was too cautious.
He had seen it just now. The museum had definitely been cleaned up, leaving behind some worthless things to fool the treasure hunters.
As the curator, it was impossible that Dr. Saatchi did not know this. So why was he so worried that someone would enter the museum?
Worried that they would damage the museum? That did not make sense. Anyway, after the auction, the museum would be demolished to build a new building. There was no need to worry about damage.
Li Du felt that this was a little unusual. He thought about it and decided to follow the police officer's instructions. He left with his men, but only to the corner of the street.
The police car left. After a while, Dr. Saatchi and the others came back.
This time, they entered the museum …
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