As the auction was held at a rather unexpected period, not many treasure hunters were attending it . Most of the people chose to stay home during the holidays, together with their families .
Out of habit, Li Du and his group arrived at eight o'clock at the location of the auction . He was surprised to notice that no treasure hunters had arrived yet .
He took everyone to search for a coffee shop . It would not be precise to say that the weather in Philadelphia was warm . Compared to New York, Boston, and the surrounding big cities, it was indeed warmer .
However, compared to Phoenix, which Li Du was familiar with, it was still cold . It was especially cold in the mornings when the grass that lined the pavements was covered in a snowy frost .
His breath came out in white puffs resembling a steam engine .
This triggered a memory of playing with his friends when he was in primary school . At that time, in winter, everyone would form a line and run around, exhaling with all their might so that their breaths would resemble the smoke from a departing train .
Thinking back about what happened twenty odd years ago, Li Du found that meaningful and could not help but smile .
Unfortunately, he would not be able to return to the past . In fact, he could not even reconnect with friends from primary school . With the demolition of his county, the old neighbors had all moved away .
Brother Wolf surveyed their surroundings and said, "Boss, there's a coffee shop here . "
"Let's wait inside, it's too cold," Li Du exclaimed . He exhaled a warm breath and it left his mouth like a cloud of white smoke .
They had their coffee and sat at their table until half past eight . Only then did they finally see treasure hunters arriving at the entrance of the museum .
There were few people, and they stood scattered near the door . They did not look like they were interacting . Each was doing their own thing, some rubbing their arms, others smoking .
After a while, more people came .
Li Du examined the treasure hunters who appeared to be strangers to him . Among them, he spotted two familiar faces . One of them was a man whose hair was combed back . They had met the night before .
Seeing that man, Li Du grinned and waited for the museum to open, feeling relaxed .
The man with the back-comb saw him but paid him no special attention . The night before, it had been very dark at the museum . With the poor lighting, the man had only noticed that Li Du's group had quite a few strong men . He had not managed to see the men's faces clearly .
The sun had risen and it was bright and sunny .
The museum auction attracted less than twenty treasure hunters . That was a rare sight for Li Du, based on all the auctions he had been to .
Initially, he did not give it much consideration, but now that he thought about it, it seemed like the museum administration had purposely chosen to hold the auction two days after Christmas . They had hoped that as few people as possible would attend the auction .
The museum had already undergone some cleaning . Once they entered, it became obvious there was little left at the place .
Treasure hunters hated to come to an auction and discover this . In fact, warehouse companies would not do that as it was against the auction guidelines .
A fat man whined with a grouchy face, "Look, buddy . I told you we should have stayed at home to play Call of Duty . Look at this lousy place, it has been cleaned up . "
"Sh*t, let's complain about them to the Warehouse Auction Association . Why would we come? Do they treat us as trash collectors?" A treasure hunter who had a gold chain hanging from his neck said angrily .
The two of them were in a temper and they left after some scolding .
Li Du shrugged his shoulders and the treasure hunter beside him smiled . "So what if they complain about the museum, right? They will only hold the auction once and would not care about qualifying for future auctions . "
That was another reason why few came to participate in the museum auction . Watching the local news, one would know that the museum had undergone bankrupt eviction . Anything valuable would long have been confiscated by the bank or government .
Li Du grinned and said, "Of course, they don't care about our complaints . "
The auctioneer seemed to have guessed already that there would not be much success at the auction that morning . He looked lazy and spoke slowly, "Alright, there's a total of 68 rooms here, big and small . You guys know the rules . Every room will be an auction unit, so let us begin now . "
"For the big hall, the starting bid is one thousand dollars, who is interested?"
Hearing that, the treasure hunters laughed . "Starting bid of one thousand dollars? Are you kidding? There's nothing left here except a bunch of rocks . "
"So there's no value in the stone statues?" The auctioneer rolled his eyes .
A treasure hunter shook his head . "Those statues are not antiques . Two hundred dollars and I will clear this place . "
The auctioneer pointed at him and said, "This buddy here bids two hundred dollars . Is there anyone who will offer a higher price? Two hundred dollars once, two hundred dollars twice, I make the last call…"
The treasure hunters waved their hands, gesturing that they were uninterested .
The treasure hunter beside Li Du spoke up again and said to him, "Hey, Li, aren't you going to give it a shot? These statues look pretty valuable . "
The man recognized him although they were not acquainted . Li Du was not surprised . He was considered famous in the treasure-hunting circle . It was normal for people to recognize him in Pennsylvania as well .
Li Du shook his head . He was not interested in that hall . Those stone statues were not old . He knew that since the little bug was uninterested in their Time Capability .
The little bug had become choosy . It would not just absorb any Time Capability . It would only want to absorb the Time Capability from things that have been around for generations .
"Two hundred dollars, OK . It's yours now," The auctioneer patted the treasure hunter's shoulder and said, "Congrats, you won the first auction . "
The treasure hunter shrugged and said, "Hope that God blesses my win . "
"You should rather hope for Darwin to bless you," another treasure hunter pointed at Darwin's stone statue and laughed .
They staked their hopes on the next room but were disappointed . The next few rooms were empty .
Those rooms were worthless and nobody was willing to fork out even one dollar .
Then, they opened another room and there were some items inside . Seeing that, the treasure hunters perked up .
They turned on their torchlights and wore their glasses for a more careful look . However, they did not spot anything that was very valuable .
However, at least there were some items . That gave them a bit of interest . That room invited the first bid war and was auctioned off for three hundred and fifty dollars .
Another room was opened . It was full of items placed messily inside . Some toppled chairs were all bunched up together . The ceiling of the room was broken and there was a huge hole . It seemed like those chairs had fallen through the ceiling .
After seeing that, most of the treasure hunters shook their heads . There was someone, however, who was interested and joined the bidding . "One hundred dollars, I will take the risk to take it down for a look . "
Li Du also joined in the bidding . "Five hundred dollars, I want to take it down too . Perhaps God's Christmas present for me is inside . "
That price deterred the rest of the treasure hunters . There was not much competition and the auctioneer pointed at him . Li Du had taken down that warehouse .
Although there were many warehouses, few joined the bidding . There was not much competition . Hence, the auction proceeded very quickly . They were soon done with the first floor and moved on to the second .
The man with the back-comb, who had been watching the fun with his arms crossed, shook his shoulders and sat up .
When the first room of the second floor was opened up, he peered in and then his face assumed a shocked expression .
Chapter end
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