Driving west along HWY-86 from Tucson, it was a vast wilderness. Driving here, it was easy to feel isolated and lonely.
This road extended into the emptiest part of the Norland Desert. Here, besides the ubiquitous green and white border patrol trucks, there was only wind and sand.
Three days after the auction in Nogales, a convoy of several trucks appeared on the road. Conrad sat lazily in the car.
Princeps was concentrating on driving, and his expression was not pleasant.
Conrad glanced at him and said, "Hey, bro, don't always pull a long face. What's wrong with you?"
Princeps said stiffly, "Nothing, I'm fine."
Conrad crossed his hands behind his head and said leisurely, "We've already talked, buddy. You don't have enough money to take down that warehouse. Why don't we work together?"
Princeps' forehead twitched a few times. He could not help but turn to Conrad and say, "Who said I don't have enough money? I have plenty of money … "
"You have plenty of money, and you still need to borrow money from your men?"
Princeps shouted, "I'm not borrowing money. This is the rule of the Tucson Brotherhood. Everyone invests together, and if there's money, everyone earns it together!"
Conrad raised his hands in surrender and said, "Okay, okay, I understand what you mean. Watch the road ahead and drive properly. Now, how far are we from Bullet Town?"
Princeps did not speak. With a gloomy face, he stepped hard on the accelerator. The huge truck surged forward aggressively.
Bullet Town was a small town west of Tucson. It rose in the 19th century. At that time, a large amount of whiskey flowed into the town, bringing in money and people. The town developed quickly.
As the name suggested, there were bullets in Bullet Town. In the 19th century, when the western frontier culture was still popular, the cowboys in the town settled many disputes with six-shot revolvers and bullets.
There were many old-fashioned western buildings in the town, and there were many corrals.
Unlike other places, the corral in Bullet Town was not used to raise livestock or develop animal husbandry. Instead, it was used for duels between cowboys.
Historically, in 1881, there had been a legendary gunfight here. The Owen brothers and Hurd, nicknamed Doc, had formed a team and faced off against the McCloups and Billy Clanton.
The six of them were famous cowboys in the West at that time. Their marksmanship was amazing and they had a bad temper. In the end, because of the conflict, the two sides decided to settle the dispute with bullets.
This 3v3 shootout ended with the former's victory. The McLaup brothers and the Clanton duo were killed and buried at the foot of Mount Kitt not far away. Now, a cemetery had been built there, called the Gunners' Cemetery.
The auction that Princeps was going to attend would be held here. Three days after the smuggling warehouse auction in Nogales, Bullet Town would hold a public warehouse auction.
The day before, when Conrad found out that Princeps had gotten his hands on a very valuable warehouse, he was immediately interested.
He went back to investigate and found that Hans had indeed driven away from Nogales with his men. Li Du was the only one left there to clean up the warehouse.
Then, he tried to find a way to get some general information about the auction through one of Princeps's trusted treasure hunters and set his sights on Bullet Town.
George Anthony's connections were not just for show. Conrad had used his father's connections and searched for information from the Warehouse Association. He had discovered that the public warehouse manager of Bullet Town was related to Princeps. He was a cousin of Princeps.
After obtaining this information, he contacted Princeps directly and asked him what was going on.
Princeps kept a low profile when Conrad came looking for him. He said that he did not know about the auction in Bullet Town.
Conrad knew that Princeps was trying to cheat, so he went straight to Tucson and stayed with Princeps.
In the end, Princeps had to go to the auction and had no choice but to bring Conrad along.
The truck sped all the way. Mount Kitt rose from the flat ground. Seeing the peak, Bullet Town was not far away.
After entering Bullet Town, Princeps seemed to have given up resisting. He said to Conrad, "Listen, Conrad, this warehouse is very important to me. You know, I lost a lot fighting with you guys against that China guy. I need to make money."
Conrad nodded sincerely and said, "Yes, I know."
Princeps heaved a sigh of relief and said, "I also know that you need to prove your ability in front of your father. I will help you. In the future, when I find a valuable warehouse, I will contact you. This warehouse is not good. This has to be mine. "
Conrad continued to nod sincerely. "I understand, it's yours. But you don't have that much money, do you? Can't we work together? "
Hearing this, Princeps punched the driver's seat and was about to explode.
But when Conrad glared at him, he became timid again. He could only kick the truck and growl in a low voice, "I have enough money. If it wasn't for someone tipping off that China guy, I could have taken this warehouse for a few hundred dollars!"
"What's in there?" Conrad asked immediately. "What information did he get?"
Princeps hesitated and finally sighed in despair. He said, "A telescope. There's an abandoned telescope from the Kitt National Observatory."
Conrad said disappointedly, "Just an abandoned telescope? What's the big deal? "
Princeps laughed coldly. "What's the big deal? This thing is worth more than a million dollars! "
Conrad's eyes narrowed and he said in shock, "How is that possible?"
Princeps said, "This is a national telescope, a real optical cannon telescope. If it was new, its value would have multiplied by many times! Now that it's been abandoned, it's been temporarily placed in the town's warehouse. That's why I got the chance! "
Kitt Peak was surrounded by the largest number of optical telescopes in the world. It was a holy place for astronomical observation. The American government had installed a large number of telescopes of various models. Every year, telescopes were replaced with new ones.
After the truck entered the town, a middle-aged white man who was a few years younger than Princeps received them.
The three of them met, and the middle-aged man handed Princeps a phone. There were some photos on it.
Princeps looked at the photos, and Conrad moved closer. The photo on the phone was of a warehouse filled with wooden boxes of various sizes. Opening the wooden boxes, there were photos of various large optical telescope parts.
The middle-aged man said excitedly, "Cousin, you have to seize this opportunity. This telescope was temporarily placed in the town's public warehouse by the observatory, but the observatory did not communicate well with the town government. The town government did not know that there was such a precious item in there, and the observatory did not know that there was an auction …"
Conrad patted Princeps on the shoulder and smiled happily. "Of course, of course we will seize this opportunity, isn't that right, Brother Princeps?"
"I have to go to the warehouse." Princeps was very cautious. He put down the phone and said, "Cousin Jeremy, open the warehouse. I want to make sure that there are no problems with the telescope inside."
The middle-aged man took off the key ring hanging on his belt. He opened a warehouse and revealed a pile of boxes that looked exactly like the ones in the photo.
Princeps went to find a wrench and let Conrad hold one of the boxes. He pried up the screws and opened the lid.
Some handle-like parts appeared in the box. It was exactly the same as what was shown in the photo.
Princeps was about to open another box when the middle-aged man standing at the door suddenly said anxiously, "Hurry, hurry, hurry, come out quickly. The government is here to check the warehouse."
Conrad pulled Princeps and said, "Let's go. It's enough for now."
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