Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Princeps was absolutely stunned.
He looked behind as he was shouting. He caught sight of a well-built man’s silhouette.
However, the silhouette moved very swiftly and dexterously. With a couple of
maneuvers, it disappeared into the crowd.
There were too many treasure hunters. In addition, because the bids had risen so
violently, everyone was still agitated.
There were people pushing their way through the crowd to witness the bid war. At the
same time, other people were retreating. The scene was chaotic and hence, nobody
noticed that someone had disappeared among the vast human mess.
Hearing the four hundred thousand bid, Li Du shook his head and quit bidding.
The auctioneer shouted at once, “Four hundred thousand, four hundred thousand, four
hundred thousand, once, twice, four hundred thousand, three times, four hundred
thousand, deal!”
This was a huge deal. Although some warehouses were auctioned off at high bids, none
had been as high as this one. Hence, even though the auctioneer was experienced and
had probably witnessed many different bids, he was still rather agitated.
Princeps started to get anxious. He pushed the people blocking him and yelled, “That’s
not my bid! I did not call out that price! I wouldn’t fork our four hundred thousand!”
The auctioneers ignored him and walked towards warehouse 33.
Princeps went over and grabbed the auctioneer’s arm. He bellowed, “Are you deaf? I
did not call out the bid for that warehouse, it wasn’t me who bid four hundred thousand,
not me!”
The auctioneer was displeased. Staring at Princeps, he said, “What do you mean?
There’s nothing wrong with my hearing, buddy. You were the one who shouted, four
hundred thousand. There’s nothing wrong with my eyes either, I saw it. You raised your
hand and shouted, four hundred thousand!”
A few treasure hunters beside them nodded in agreement. “Yeah, Princeps, you bid four
hundred thousand. You were raised your arm, too.”
“That’s right, I saw it. What happened to you, why are you trying to wriggle out?”
“Boss Princeps, that was your bid, and this is your warehouse.”
Princeps was floored when he heard that voice. Looking around, he realized that the
people around him were not the new recruits he added to the Tucson gang.
Princeps recognized these people. They were all treasure hunters from Flagstaff. When
did they appear? Where were his underlings?
At that instance, he felt like the ground was shaking and giving way under his feet.
Leaning on someone’s shoulder, he mumbled, “Really, it wasn’t me!”
“It was you, I saw you raise your hand,” a treasure hunter said, sounding more and
more vexed. “What’s happened to you, Princeps? There is a Lamborghini in this
warehouse. You were very enthusiastic when you were bidding just a moment ago!”
The auctioneer did not care. He walked towards warehouse 33, opened it and started
the next auction.
He recognized Princeps. Princeps made a living from the warehouse auction trade. He
could not escape from paying the four hundred thousand for that last warehouse.
Otherwise, Princeps could forget about attending any more warehouse auctions.
In the afternoon, the weather in Nogales became warmer. However, Princeps started to
feel cold and shivered.
His new recruits finally caught up with him and, holding onto him, they asked:
“Boss, what happened to you?”
“You don’t look good, is it a heat stroke?”
“Get out of here, heat stroke in winter? Boss Princeps must have low blood sugar.”
Princeps looked at them and asked, “Where did you guys go just now?”
The bunch of them replied at once, “Just around you, but there was someone who kept
pushing me right from behind.”
“Someone was pushing me too, dammit, what were those nitwits pushing for?”
Princeps felt that something was not right. He guessed that he had fallen into
someone’s trap.
He looked towards Li Du, and Li Du was still smiling at him. His expression was
mysterious.
Princeps wanted to open the warehouse to check out the condition of the car inside.
After all, buying a Lamborghini for four hundred thousand dollars would mean a loss,
unless the car was very well preserved. One could buy a brand new Lamborghini for
five hundred thousand dollars.
According to the rules, until the treasure hunters paid up, they were barred from
checking out the contents of the warehouse.
Princeps brought his men, intending to open up the warehouse. A security officer
stopped him and said, “First hand over the money, then you can get in. Princeps, we
have already given you some face. Just now you searched number eleven, I can’t let
you into this one too.”
“This is a conspiracy! Did the Chinese dude bribe you?!” Princeps demanded.
The security officer looked at him strangely and shook his head, saying, “Not sure what
you are talking about. In any case, you have to pay up before you can open this
warehouse.”
The auction proceeded quickly until sunset. Half of all the warehouses had been
auctioned off on the first day.
At sunset, it was time to complete the transactions for the warehouses that had been
purchased.
Li Du had managed to gain two warehouses. However, he was in no hurry to open
them.
Princeps had also acquired two warehouses. He had no choice but to pay for them. He
decided to open up those two warehouses and check out what was inside.
Despite the fact that the auction would continue the next day, the treasure hunters did
not leave. Instead of going home and resting in preparation for the next day’s auction,
they all stayed behind. They stayed with the crowd eager to check out warehouse
number 32.
The winning bid had been four hundred thousand. If there was no problem with the
warehouse, this would be regarded as the master bid of the auction.
Princeps took his time opening the door to the warehouse. Everyone rushed forward,
but the treasure hunters from Tucson stopped them from coming in. “Get further away,
we don’t want to lose anything!”
“Idiots, treasure hunters don’t steal from each other!” Someone who had been pushed
back said in displeasure.
Princeps went forward to organize the random items on and around the car. Then, the
entire body of the Lamborghini emerged.
As Princeps was packing up the place, the treasure hunters who were peering in from
outside inhaled.
The front half of the Lamborghini was a shiny yellow sports car in pristine condition.
Starting from the middle, however, there were scratches and dents on the car. Once
Princeps flung off the last of the cardboard boxes, an utterly mutilated car rear was
exposed in front of everyone!
The Lamborghini belonged in a junk yard.
“Oh my god, this car is worthless!”
“Four hundred thousand down the drain!, Poor Princeps, he’s unlucky!”
“This can only be sold as scrap metal. The engine must be dead. Even the speed box is
damaged. If the undercarriage is working, perhaps it can still be sold for a couple
hundred thousand…
“The back of the undercarriage is damaged, who would spend a few hundred thousand
on this junk?”
A Lamborghini had a mid-rear engine, that is, the engine was located in the middle and
rear. This kind of sports car did not have a trunk and the front part had a hood.
Unlike the luxury family cars, the front of the Lamborghini was worthless compared to
the rear.
The sight shocked the Tucson gang. They had held high hopes and that was the end of
them. Everything in life had its ups and down, like a rollercoaster ride.
Princeps’ expression remained unchanged. With a blank face, he looked at the ruined
car. Then he smiled as he walked out, saying, “Close the door, time to eat.”
That scene roused up great respect for Princeps in many of the treasure hunters. They
said, “This dude Princeps might be demanding, but he is indeed a tough man! Buddy, I
respect you!”
“Shut the door, time to eat!”
“I wouldn’t be able to do that if I were you. If I made a loss of four hundred thousand, I
would faint! Princeps, you are really admirable!”
“Shut the door, time to eat!”
“Princeps, have you gone mad?”
“Shut the door, time to eat!”
Seeing that Princeps could only repeat the same sentence over and over, the treasure
hunters exchanged a strange look among themselves. Then, they shook their heads
and sighed before leaving.
That unlucky chap, he might really have gone mad!
