"Sh*t, such a huge advertising screen?"
"Where did that bastard Lucas get such accurate news from?"
"Thanks, buddy, you are indeed a generous guy. I admit that I have underestimated you previously."
On hearing the shower of praise from the treasure hunters, the burly Mexican man gave a satisfied smile—and glanced at Li Du and Hans arrogantly—before walking off with his shoulders shaking with laughter.
Hans said gloomily, "I did not expect this guy to know which storage unit the advertising screen was actually in. But is he nuts? Why did he reveal this news in advance?"
Li Du said calmly, "Simple; the last time we were competing for the Yamaha storage unit, and he lost, many treasure hunters had developed doubts about him. This caused his reputation to suffer."
Hans got it at once, and said in realization, "Oh, so this time he had known of the location of the advertising screen, and knew he could not miss picking it up. He decided to pretend to be generous, and used this as a way to prove that he has many news channels in order to regain his lost reputation?"
Li Du nodded; this was his guess.
The appearance of this LED advertising screen had driven the atmosphere at the auction into a frenzy right from the start.
The auctioneer raised his hands and shouted, "Everyone has seen the value of the unit. I originally wanted to call 200 dollars, but it is obviously not the right price. If I call 20,000 dollars, would anyone accept?"
The starting price of 20,000 dollars was considered a high price at an auction. More than 90 percent of storage deals did not reach this price.
But the treasure hunters had no complaints, and were all raising their hands in competition.
"Twenty thousand dollars here, me, me!"
"Twenty-one thousand dollars, Shelton, look at me, I offer twenty-one thousand!"
"Twenty-two thousand dollars, this is worth up to twenty-two thousand dollars."
The prices were rising rapidly. Hans looked at Li Du. "This unit has value?"
Li Du said, "Of course—you see the advertising screen here—you said it could go for 100,000 dollars."
Hans shook his head, and said, "If it could work normally, then it could sell for that much. If it is damaged, especially if there is any problem with the display drive matrix, and LED display array, then it's junk."
Li Du understood what he meant: Hans was not sure if this advertising screen was valuable. He wanted to test it himself.
In the short half-minute conversation between the two of them, the price had jumped to almost forty thousand dollars.
Li Du thought about it, and released the little bug into the advertising screen to have a close check.
The LED advertising screen's main structure was the display array formed out of the display drive matrix and the light-emitting diode. In the screen was a lot of dust, but there was no issue with the light-emitting diode. As the core chip of the matrix was also intact, it appeared that the advertising screen could be used normally.
Seeing that Li Du had nodded, Hans raised his hand to offer a price, "Forty-one thousand dollars, I'll take it!"
If the advertising screen was not damaged, then it was valuable and could sell for 100,000 dollars without any issue. In this case, it would still be worth it to offer 80,000 dollars. It was only going for 40,000 dollars currently.
At the same time as Hans's offer, Lucas, who had been leaning against the door with folded arms, puffed out his chest and said, "Fifty thousand dollars!"
Raising the price by almost 10,000 dollars in one go, dozens of treasure hunters looked at him in shock.
The burly man looked at Hans with a cold expression, and said, "You want to take this sweetheart away? Don't even think about it! This is Phoenix, and Phoenix's treasure belongs to people of Phoenix!"
Such words easily stirred up the locals' pride; the treasure hunters started to clap.
"Well-said, Lucas. Get this unit!"
"Hey, country bumpkin, go back to Flagstaff. Don't go wild here in Phoenix!"
"Phoenix's money and valuables belong to people of Phoenix—this storage unit could never end up in your hands!"
As he had revealed that storage unit 31 held the advertising screen, Lucas had won the favor of the local treasure hunters. Now that he demonstrated that he had the gift of the gab, he had almost become the chief of the Phoenix treasure hunters squad.
Hans snorted and muttered, "These dumb chickens; are they making this ostrich the chicken head?"
The auctioneer pointed at Lucas and shouted, "Fifty thousand dollars, fifty thousand dollars, fifty thousand dollars, a great price. Now, let's continue. I'll raise it to fifty-one thousand dollars, any takers?"
"I accept!" Hans was bent on competing with Lucas.
Lucas evidently thought he had to have this advertising screen, and immediately said, "Sixty thousand dollars! With me here, you can forget about taking away the most valuable storage unit here!"
Li Du shook his head at him, and said, "Lucas, you do not know... you do not know anything."
"Still want to pretend? F*ck!" a treasure hunter flashed him the middle finger.
Lucas raised his head arrogantly, and said, "Are you a psychic, Chinaman? Phoenix only has tough men, and we do not welcome people pretending to be psychics. But I can recommend you a good place to go: Chinatown in Los Angeles. There are fools like you there!"
On hearing his vicious sneer, Li Du was not angry, but remained silent after laughing. Hans raised his hand, and shouted, "Eighty thousand dollars!"
This price had shocked all the treasure hunters who were present; they did not know if the advertising screen could be used. Eighty thousand dollars was an extremely risky, high price to pay.
Even if the advertising screen could be used, it was, after all, a second-hand item. The price at which it could sell for was uncertain; not everyone thought it could sell for a hundred thousand dollars.
Hans's price caused Lucas's eyes to widen; he had not expected the price to suddenly be raised to the maximum he had set in his heart.
The only one delighted was the auctioneer. In an instant, he was holding Hans's arm, shouting, "Eighty thousand dollars, eighty thousand dollars, eighty thousand dollars! Anyone going higher than this? Like eighty-one thousand dollars, eighty-one thousand dollars!"
Everyone looked at Lucas; the burly Mexican man was looking straight ahead with no expression, and then slowly nodded his head, "Me!"
The local treasure hunters cheered instantaneously. With a cheer, the auctioneer went to hold his arm, shouting, "Eighty-one thousand dollars, eighty-one thousand dollars! It is time to raise it to eighty-two thousand dollars. Is anyone willing to accept this price…"
Li Du smiled, and then controlled the little bug as it wormed its way into the display drive matrix. There was a core chip within it, and the little bug crawled on it for a few seconds. At a speed visible to the naked eye, the core chip became old and then fractured.
On seeing Li Du's smile, Hans shook his head and made a throat-slitting gesture at Lucas, "Eighty thousand to buy a damaged advertising screen? Well-done, Phoenix does not only have tough guys, but also fools. It is yours!"
At this, Lucas was relieved. If the other party had continued to raise the price, he would really have no guts to continue competing.
Great—this costly LED advertising screen was finally in his hands. According to the news that he had received, this advertising screen could sell for at least a hundred thousand dollars. Storage unit 31 could make him at least twenty thousand dollars in profit.
Relaxed, his mouth started to get busy. "I have said that I would not let you guys take away Phoenix's most valuable storage unit. In your eyes, I am a fool. But being a fool is better than being soft b*tches—you guys are softies! Chinaman, you are a softer than a soft b*tch!"
He had been bearing a grudge against the one who had caused him to be humiliated. Li Du was the one who had made him drunk, and also the one who had gotten the Yamaha storage unit; he hated this Chinaman to the core.
Lucas' swords were arrogant and vicious, but Li Du continued to smile, then he said to the auctioneer, "You can continue to quote the pricing."
At his words, the facial expressions of Lucas and everyone else who had thought he had given up on storage unit 31 instantly changed.