Back in New York, William and Ambrose happily shopped for various furniture, electronics, and household items in luxury stores. One day, Ambrose received a phone call and excitedly hugged William, shouting with joy. Victoria's Secret had called her for training, confirming her participation in this year's show.
After sending off a delighted Ambrose, William lay on his new bed at home, pondering the treasure his grandfather Henry had always been obsessed with. It was time to search for it. Henry's messages indicated that the clue to King Solomon's treasure was on a ship called "Sherlock" in the Arctic Circle.
It was August, the perfect time to head to the Arctic Circle when it wasn't too cold. William took out his notebook from his storage space, connected to the internet, and downloaded a coordinate positioning software. Entering the coordinates Henry left, the computer showed that it was on the ice layer about 37 miles from Point Barrow, America. This was the most stable weather period in Point Barrow; in a month, it would be impassable.
William called National Bank to charter a plane that could fly to Point Barrow and spent twenty thousand dollars on equipment and clothing necessary for the Arctic Circle, based on his online research.
The next morning, equipped with his gear, he set off. After six hours, he finally reached Point Barrow and checked into the best private lodge in the area, as there were no dedicated hotels. He had a special Inuit seal meal for dinner. The taste was not great, too greasy, and William couldn't finish even half of it. He had to ask the lodge owner to prepare a steak for him to feel full.
After dinner, William discussed with the owner about finding a boat and snowmobiles. The coordinates indicated a snowy plain made of ice 37 miles away. He needed a boat to get there and a snowmobile to travel across the snow.
With the owner's introduction, William found two guides the next day, rented a large boat, loaded it with snowmobiles, a metal detector, and food, and set off. After more than an hour of sailing, William, unaware, was within a dozen nautical miles of another seven-person team heading to the Sherlock. This team, led by a university professor named Ben Gates, had spent nearly two years finding this location.
If William knew Ben Gates, he would immediately realize that his ancestor had stolen the Sherlock clue from Ben's great-grandfather. The note with "Sherlock" written on it was kept by Ben Gates' father. For over 200 years, the Gates family had been searching for King Solomon's treasure.
In this twist of fate, both the Devonshire family, who had been searching for thousands of years, and the Gates family, for over 200 years, converged on the Sherlock clue. Due to floating ice on the sea, it took more than three hours for William's boat to reach the island.
After unloading the snowmobile from the boat, William decided not to let anyone follow him. It was better to keep the treasure hunt a secret. Besides, he had a portal and could return to Oxford if needed. He drove the snowmobile alone towards the coordinates on the computer.
He agreed with the guides that the boat would wait at the landing point for two days. If he didn't return by the third morning, the boat would leave. However, his precautions were futile because Ben Gates and his team were just a few kilometers away, driving two snowmobiles.
Since it was William's first time driving a snowmobile, he didn't go too fast. By the time he reached the coordinates, Ben Gates' team had already located the exact spot of the Sherlock and were busily shoveling snow.
Hearing the sound of the snowmobile, Ben Gates and his team looked astonished as they saw another snowmobile approaching. They hadn't expected anyone else in this remote place.
William was also surprised to see Ben Gates and his team. He immediately considered eliminating them, but reason prevailed. He didn't know what was in the ship yet, so there was no need to act rashly. He stopped the snowmobile about forty meters away from them, a safe distance from potential handgun threats, giving him time to react and shoot back if necessary.
After scanning the group with his mental powers, William noted that four of them had holsters hidden under their clothes. These tough-looking individuals were clearly not good people. However, they showed no hostility towards William, possibly because the ship hadn't been excavated yet. Seeing no immediate danger, William approached them.
As he got closer, one bespectacled guy exclaimed, "William Devonshire, that's William Devonshire! God, what's he doing here?"
"Riley, you know him?" asked a middle-aged man, seemingly one of the leaders.
"Of course, Ben, have you been living on Mars? This guy's been on TV and in newspapers every day recently. There's hardly anyone in the USA who doesn't know him," Riley replied, puzzled.
Another leader in the group added, "I recognize him too. William Devonshire, he's a famous figure in England, a nobleman, an earl heir, self-made billionaire with a fortune over $3 billion in just over six months."
Ben Gates was shocked by his companion's words. "What's someone like him doing here? And Ian, you said his name is Devonshire, as in DEVON?"
Ian nodded, "Of course, William Devonshire's family has been nobility for over 600 years, predating even the Duke of Devonshire. He's revived his family's fortune, and now there's hardly anyone in England who doesn't know him."
"God, I know who this guy is now. He's here for the same reason we are, to find the treasure," Ben Gates exclaimed. "This guy is a fraud. His ancestor swindled my forefather out of a clue. He must be here because of the Sherlock."
By now, William had reached them. Initially delighted to see familiar faces from his past life, he quickly realized what this treasure was. However, hearing himself being called a fraud, he smirked and said, "Thomas Gates was the real fraud and thief. This treasure doesn't belong to the Gates family. Thomas Gates was just a messenger who tried to keep the secret and claim it for himself."
"You're lying! My ancestor wasn't a fraud or a thief. He passed the message to the rightful people, and only your Devonshire family used deceit to get the clue from him," Ben Gates retorted loudly.
"Ha, that's because Thomas Gates knew he couldn't keep the secret, so he had to tell the rightful people, albeit nearly twenty years late. Ben, why did Thomas reveal it twenty years later?" William asked with a smile. "Moreover, after revealing it, Thomas sold the information to my ancestor for a thousand pounds. Can you explain that, Mr. Gates?"
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