In Conrad’s mind, he was the son of George Anthony, and even though George was now in New York, he had once been the treasure hunting king of Arizona. Since he was the son of the treasure hunting king of Arizona, that naturally made him the prince. So when he came to Phoenix and met the Tucson gang, and the Tucson gang worked to get into his good graces, he went ahead and took them in.
After what had happened in the parking lot yesterday, he knew Princeps had used him like a weapon. However, he didn’t mind, because it demonstrated his status and value. Conrad had grown up doing business with his father. He knew that relationships between people were an exchange of interests. If he could not bring benefits to others, why would others try to please him? Now, it was Princeps’ turn to bring him benefits, but he found Princeps was unwilling to step up!
The treasure hunters who were watching the scene had the same thought that Conrad had. They, too, thought the bids Carl, Ollie, and others made were at Li Du’s behest, and that this was a contest between the two bosses.
As a result, they found the Flagstaff treasure hunters were extremely united. Li Du didn’t need to say anything. They would still try hard to maintain Li Du’s dignity while attacking Conrad.
On Conrad’s side, Princeps didn’t care, and he had to personally face Flagstaff’s treasure hunters.
One of the treasure hunters said, “Master Anthony, this is Arizona, not New York. Your servants are not here. You have to do everything yourself.”
“The storage unit is not profitable. What’s the competition for? The more you compete, the more you lose.”
“I thought Princeps was his dog, but it looks like Princeps has his own dignity.”
It sounded like they were giving Conrad a way to step down, but they were actually holding his feet to the fire, forcing him to continue fighting with the Flagstaff treasure hunters so they could keep watching.
Conrad did not speak and fixed his eyes on Princeps with a fierce look. Princeps made a quick decision and ordered his men, “Bid for the storage unit.”
Tucson’s treasure hunters pretended not to hear him, and some even gave Princeps a disapproving look.
The auctioneer did not want to waste their time, nor did he have time to waste, so when Conrad and Princeps were not bidding, he waved and said, “One hundred twenty-one thousand, 121,000, sold!”
Upon hearing this, Princeps was anxious and said, “Hey, man, you need to give us some time.”
The auctioneer said, “Your time is up. Open the next storage unit!”
“It’s against the rules,” Princeps complained.
It didn’t matter what rules it was against. The point was that he had offended Conrad.
Another treasure collector smiled and gloated. “Ha, Princeps, you know that this is against the rules, but don’t you and the Tucson gang often do the same?”
Many of the treasure hunters there were native Arizonans who had suffered the traps set by the Tucson gang’s treasure hunters and were therefore happy to see him suffer.
The Flagstaff treasure hunters were thrilled. The group high-fived each other, and Ollie yelled, “I got it! Kid, go back to New York. You can’t get storage units in Arizona.”
Conrad was livid. It was no big deal to lose the storage unit, but losing his reputation was a huge deal. He gave Princeps a fierce look and walked ahead with a sullen face.
Princeps felt wronged and said angrily to the people around him, “Why didn’t you do it? Didn’t you hear what I said just now? What’s going on here?”
A big man couldn’t stand it anymore and said, “You know what, boss? We don’t want to be dogs. It’s as simple as that.”
Princeps grabbed the big man’s collar and said angrily, “What is this nonsense? Who is a dog? You know who that kid’s dad is and how good it is for us to get along with him.”
Another guy said resentfully, “How good is it for you to have a good relationship with him? He doesn’t even know what our names are. What can we get following him?” The treasure hunters of Tucson were discontent, and Princeps had brought their humble flattery to Conrad for his own benefit, not theirs.
Someone patted Princeps on the shoulder and said, “Do you see the difference? Li takes his men and makes them rich. He even makes them rich first, so his men follow him with a loyal heart. How about you?”
Hearing this, Princeps was furious. He shook his shoulder and threw off the offending arm.
After the motorcycle storage unit, Conrad felt he had lost his reputation. He made his following bids in a low profile and avoided any high profile bidding.
The most active team on the scene was the Flagstaff treasure hunters, who made repeated offers and frequently won their target units. Nearly 40 or 50 people were rewarded, and some even gained more than one storage unit.
The local Phoenix treasure hunters were full of envy, and someone said sourly, “You are really quite bold with you bids. Did you rob a bank? How rich you are.”
Dickens laughed and said, “We do have money. How can we not make money with Li?”
The first day of the auction ended amid the chaos. On the first day, except for the tenth storage unit, Li Du didn’t bid on anything. The next day, at the opening of the large storage unit auction, he winked at Lu Guan and Hans, and they won two storage units containing minerals. The minerals were illegally obtained, some from the seizure of unlicensed miners and some from the seizure of private mines.
Minerals were the bane of life, and most scavengers didn’t like them because they had a small market, and only a few dealers would accept them. Dealers didn’t like retail investors, and even if they charged low prices, it was hard to buy the ore and make much money.
No one wanted to take over the unit, so the unit’s price was low. Under Li Du’s direction, the removal authority bought two storage units at a price of less than $21,000. The starting price had been $10,000.
The auction didn’t end until the evening of the next day. The hunters were so tired after two consecutive days, that once the auction ended, they went to rest.
The Flagstaff team was also about to leave, but when they saw Li approaching an ore depot, they followed him. The head of state stood right next to the storage units with ore in them, and he sold several of them because they were low in price and had little competitive pressure. This was in line with the style of auctions in which Princeps had helped cast a wide net.
Seeing Li Du walking towards him with a group of people, he said angrily, “Hey, boy, what do you want? You want to fight?”
Li Du looked at him strangely and said, “What for? I’m here to lock up my storage unit.”
