Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Without Anderson and the Anthonys there to get in his way, Li Du spent the rest of his time there rather happily.
When the gathering came to an end, he exchanged contact details with Carberry and Joel. The three of them agreed to meet up again if they had the time since they had found a common interest, which was hunting.
They agreed upon that, and then the group dispersed. Li Du had to prepare for the upcoming auction at sea.
He went to bed early in the evening, as did all the treasure hunters who were invited to the auction, because they had a fierce bid war starting from tomorrow. There were going to be more than two thousand cargo containers at the auction!
Li Du, Bell, Magic Hand, and the rest brought their assistants to the Seattle Waterfront at eight in the morning. They were preparing to meet up with the treasure hunting team so they could board the large ship together.
The Port of Seattle was a famous, large-scale cargo port in America. When they arrived at the pier, the first thing they noticed was the plethora of equipment. There were loading and unloading equipment, shore cranes, container gantry cranes, heavy cranes, slewing cranes, and tugboats, as well as roll-on and roll-off transportation. The space looked like it was occupied by an army of iron giants standing upright by the shore.
They had to cut through the port to reach the harbor, which was a vast, expansive storage yard. It spanned 140,000 square meters, the capacity of its warehouse was 700,000 tons, and the goods shed spanned 300,000 square meters.
The main area of the harbor was occupied by the cargo containers. These piers had a surface area of up to 1.4 million square meters. The largest was Pier 18 at Harbor Island; the waters there ran about 15 meters deep.
Pier 18 was their destination because that was where the yacht of the insurance company was docked.
Aside from docked ships, there were also cars parked at the pier. This pier was the core district of the harbor and it was connected to a rail yard. This allowed for the cargo containers to be directly transferred to the double-decker container freight train to be stored, greatly expanding their intermodal transportation capabilities.
Seeing the large iron cargo containers being transferred onto the train one after the other, Li Du exclaimed, “Is all of this being done by machines alone? I don’t see a single person here!”
“Don’t underestimate the Port of Seattle. This entire place is automated, more than any other pier in America,” Bell said as he pointed to the tower cranes that were scattered across the area. They seemed to be moving on their own.
The insurance company had chosen to dock their yacht at this most automated pier for this reason: there were not many people at Pier 18, so the ushers could easily identify the treasure hunters when they arrived.
Li Du and the gang have been wandering around the pier for only a short while before someone stepped out to welcome them. After their credentials were checked, they were sent up to board the yacht.
The insurance company was very well-to-do since the profit margin in the industry was huge, but they had lost a lot of money because of a Korean trade group, and they desperately needed this cargo container auction to recoup their losses.
The luxurious yacht docked at the pier belonged to the insurance company and sported its logo. All of the ushers were wearing suits and leather shoes, looking very upper-class.
When the treasure hunters arrived, it was almost time for them to leave the port. It was peak time — after they went on board, people started to trickle in.
Bell had a wide network of friends and connections. He was in several different circles of treasure hunters from all over the globe, who all welcomed him, so he was pretty much in his element here on the ship. He walked around nonstop and almost everyone greeted him with a smile; some of the people had even brought gifts for him.
In comparison to that, Li Du’s reputation was rather dubious. The social circles of treasure hunters from all over the world knew about the man and spread tales of him, though only a few were positive ones. Because he had shot to the top and earned his wealth too quickly, many people were jealous of him and despised him.
As the proverb goes, tall trees catch much wind, which was especially true for Li Du who had shot to fame fast and furious.
However, Bell was a good friend. He didn’t just go around chatting to his friends, but also beckoned Li Du to join him and made a few introductions, incessantly singing Li Du’s praises.
On account of their friendship with Bell, his contacts treated Li Du well.
Li Du was the kind to treat people the way they treated him, so he would be nice and polite as long as no one crossed him.
As such, he went around the room with Bell and made quite a few friends. A few of the treasure hunter bigwigs exchanged a few words with him and told him outright that he was very different from what they had heard of him.
Someone else boarded the ship. Bell took a glance and shook his head. “Where are they from? They don’t look familiar, I don’t think I’ve seen them before.”
Li Du, who had been chatting with a few treasure hunters from Montana, took a look as well, but just a brief one. He felt that there was no reason he would know who the newcomers were if Bell did not.
Then he did a double-take and stared at them!
The people who had just boarded were a pair, a man and a woman. He did not recognize the man, but he knew the woman very well. She had an elegant aura, a slim body, and a vigorous posture. She was no other than Luo Qun!
Luo Qun was walking beside the man. She was silent, smiling occasionally, looking very much like an elegant and indifferent police officer.
Li Du did not know what she was doing there, but the man did everything she asked of him. He ran to and fro with all his might, meekly fetching her alcohol and delicacies.
He did not know what she was up to, so he pretended to sidle up to her inconspicuously and said in a low tone, “Hey, surprise. Guess who I am.”
Luo Qun turned to glance at him in surprise. “Hello, sir, have we met before?”
Her words shocked him. He eyed the woman in front of him carefully — yup, this was Luo Qun alright. So why did she say that to him? Did she lose her memory?
Li Du sucked in his breath and repeated, “‘Sir’? I’m Old Li, don’t you remember? Did you get into an accident and hit your head too hard while you were globetrotting?”
The moment he finished speaking, Luo Qun rolled her eyes. “You’re the one who hit his head too hard. Of course I know you’re Old Li, and you know that I know, so why did you ask me to guess? You’re so silly!”
Li Du could only roll his eyes at what she said. This was definitely Luo Qun. The short-tempered cop he knew was back.
As he looked at her, he said impatiently, “Lady, please, I was just joking with you, but enough about that. What are you doing here at this auction? Did you become a treasure hunter, too?”
Luo Qun side-eyed him. “Yes, aren’t you surprised?”
Indeed, Li Du was surprised. “But didn’t you leave to explore the world? Why are you suddenly back again, as a treasure hunter no less?”
Luo Qun said, “I did, and I became a treasure hunter as well. And what about that?”
Li Du chuckled bitterly. “No, there’s no problem. You’re right.”
Luo Qun hummed and then said, “That’s enough, I’ll stop making fun of you. To be honest, I’m not here for this lousy auction; I came here to look for you!”
Li Du was puzzled. “Me?”
Luo Qun said, “Look down, there are a few people preparing to board the ship. Take a good look at who they are.”
Li Du moved towards the railing to peek at what was going on below. He saw a group of four or five men huddled together, chatting as they smoked, and the sight sent a violent shiver through his body!
