Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The Anthonys had also gained from that auction. They won four warehouses and found
some valuable items inside. Altogether, they would be able to make more than one
hundred thousand dollars.
A profit of more than one hundred thousand was considered a lot. After all, warehouses
were not gold mines, and rarely did people become millionaires overnight.
However, at that auction, someone did find gold. Moreover, it was someone whom the
Anthonys despised, which made them even more jealous.
At noon, George Anthony met up with Jesus and a few other famous treasure hunters.
He had wanted to bring Conrad along but Conrad was not in the mood. He stayed
behind by himself.
However, he stayed behind not because he wished to calm down. He had other
motives.
Nogales was a town famed for its border tourism. Many Mexicans shuffled between
America and Mexico at that point of the border, and many of them stayed in Nogales as
well.
Other than producing drugs and cacti, Mexico was also known as the home of attractive
ladies.
These beautiful ladies, along with the robust tourism, made up the vices of the town.
There were numerous red-light districts in Nogales. As it was a border area, women
who were investigated would escape towards Mexico. Nogales was not an easy place
to enforce law and order in, so the local police officers often chose to turn a blind eye on
things here and there.
The United States was a capitalist country. Business and money pulsed in the blood of
the people. As long as there was a market, there would be demand, and with demand,
there would be consumption. Hence, it was necessary for those women to exist in
Nogales.
Conrad did not have a stable girlfriend. He was an active youth and had his needs.
Hence, from time to time, he had the urge to relieve those needs.
Like many treasure hunters, Conrad enjoyed visiting the ladies in the red light districts.
Hans liked doing that too, and so did Princeps. In reality, too many treasure hunters
enjoyed the activity.
After all, treasure hunting was still considered tough labor. They were required to travel
everywhere to search for warehouses and attend auctions. Time at home with their
wives was scarce, and they spent more time wandering the streets.
Under such circumstances, they would inevitably have clandestine dealings with a
certain type of women.
Conrad had been to Nogales previously and was very familiar with the area. He knew
where he should go to look for such ladies.
He flagged down a taxi, got off and headed towards a corner building. It was a bar
located on the border of residential estates, and it was his playground.
Business at the bar would only boom at night and there were few customers in the
afternoon.
There were only a handful of people inside when Conrad came in.
He ordered a beer and casually asked the bartender, “Buddy, is Nicola here yet? I want
to have a chat with her about life.”
The bartender picked up his walkie-talkie and uttered a few sentences. Then he said,
“Can you wait? She’s coming over. She is dolling herself up, though. As you know, that
would take some time.”
“How long?” Conrad frowned. He was in a bad mood and having to wait made it still
worse.
“Around twenty minutes.”
That was not too long. Conrad relaxed. Sipping his beer, he said, “Alright, I will wait.”
Bored, he sat in front of the bar, drinking. Two big men reeking of alcohol walked over
and threw themselves over the bar counter.
“Bring two more shots of Azteca tequila, buddy. Azteca tequila, let us fly, haha,” a bald
big man slurred his words.
The two men had yet to sit down. They were pressed against the counter, very close to
Conrad, who was not happy about that. He frowned again.
The bartender quickly served the two men their tequilas. Then, one of the men picked
up the drink and swallowed it. His Adam’s apple moved up and down. He finished the
drink and then he opened his mouth and… spat out a bug!
That’s right, he spat out a bug. It was a larva of the tequila butterfly, a unique product of
the Azteca tequila.
Azteca tequila was famous because of the Azteca people. They believed that
swallowing butterfly larvae in a tequila symbolized courage. Besides, the larvae
improved the taste of tequila and allowed people to experience heightened jubilance.
Hence, that sort of drink had butterfly larvae submerged in tequila. One was supposed
to gulp down the liquid and spit out the larvae.
Conrad knew of the drinking ritual but was unable to accept it. It was too disgusting for
him.
Just as he was about to step down from the counter, the big guy who just drank looked
at the bald guy beside him. He said, “Hey, Trang, it’s your turn, drink up!”
The bald man was about to pick up his glass when his phone rang.
He took out the phone and glanced at it before switching it off moodily. Then he banged
on the table fiercely and mumbled, “Dammit, can’t get rid of this.”
“Princeps is looking for you?” the other man asked.
Realizing that they were talking about Princeps, Conrad settled down in his seat again.
The man said, “No, it’s Mengs who called. However, he definitely called to talk about
Princeps. He wants to make some money on our backs. But what right does he have to
do that? Why must we obey?”
His companion, a dark-skinned man, said with dissatisfaction, “That’s right, we followed
Princeps’ lead because he was supposed to help us make money. In the end? We get
shit!”
“This time around, they have gone too far. They want to make money off us? My
money is mine! It’s mine! I won’t give it to anyone…”
As he continued to complain, his phone rang again.
He could not stand it anymore and picked up his phone grudgingly. As he had had too
many tequilas, he was somewhat drunk and shouted into the phone, “Mengs, talk
louder! I can’t hear you!”
A coarse voice sounded from the phone, “Trang, you had the guts to hang up on me
just now? You sissy, I will kick your balls the next time I see you!”
“If you have something to say, say it. Don’t just babble!”
“Prepare ten thousand dollars. Big boss Princeps found a really great warehouse,
absolutely amazing! You guys can just wait for the profit, this time around everyone can
make at least twenty thousand dollars!” The coarse voice shouted excitedly.
The man said with displeasure, “An awesome warehouse again? Said the same thing a
few times before and look what happened…”
“Shut up, it’s different this time. This time it is a Tucson warehouse. Don’t you know
about Princeps’ connections in Tucson? There is definitely valuable stuff in the
warehouse. It is just waiting for us to pull enough money together to take it down!”
The big guy was not convinced. “Ha, is that so? Then why does he need so much
money? Are there other people from Tucson to compete with him?”
“Dammit, you guessed right. That Chinese dude who schemed against big boss
Princeps found out about it too. He had set his eyes on that warehouse and so if we
want to make money, we need to snatch the warehouse from his hands.”
“Nonsense!” The bald big guy yelled. “That Chinese dude is still in Nogales, I saw him.”
“His partner from Flagstaff had gone off to Tucson to handle that,” the coarse voice
sounded more frustrated. “Stop babbling, you guys should act quickly. Big boss
Princeps has proof of the value of that warehouse, you can see it for yourself!”
Hearing that, Conrad downed the last of his drink and threw down a tip of ten dollars
before leaving the counter.
