It was the first time Li Du had participated in such an auction, and it was a novel experience.
It was much quieter and faster this way. Everyone just looked at the units, pondered or discussed with their partners, and then put the bids into the boxes.
For four units in a row, Li Du wrote the lowest bid. He had no intention of buying them at all.
When it came to the fifth unit, he became serious. The short, fat cannon inside looked valuable. In order to bid, he released the little bug and used its ability to relive the past.
In the first scene he saw, the cannon was assembled and placed in a warehouse. There were dozens of similar cannons next to it.
There was a line of German on the wall of the warehouse. It was the same as the words on the base of the cannon, but Li Du still did not recognize it.
The scene changed, and the cannon appeared on the battlefield. It was in a trench, and the cannon was placed there. The short barrel was pointing diagonally at the sky.
He looked at the next few pictures. The cannon was hidden in the trench. Seeing this, Li Du was stunned. There were cannons used in trenches?
He took out his phone and searched online. The internet speed was very slow, and he could not open the pictures. However, from the text on the page, there was indeed such a cannon. It was called the trench mortar.
In the introduction, the trench mortar was a type of smoothbore cannon with a short barrel, a high angle of fire, a low muzzle velocity, and a high arc trajectory. They had a short range, but the power of the projectile was high. They were generally used to destroy fortifications.
After looking at the introduction, Li Du knew that the short, fat cannon was the trench mortar in the text.
He could not find more information, but this type of cannon had been around for a long time, appearing in history in the 13th century. Later, it was replaced by mortars.
Generally speaking, this type of cannon was older. It was very popular before World War II, and the Germans especially liked it. Even during World War II, they still developed it.
In the introduction, the Karl cannon developed by Germany during World War II was specially mentioned, because it was the last type of trench mortar to appear in history.
The caliber of the Karl cannon was a terrifying 600mm, the shell weighed 2 tons, and the charge was 350 kilograms. The Germans created this super abnormal cannon in order to break the siege and restraint of the French Maginot Line of defense against the Germans.
However, the one in the warehouse was definitely not a fierce guy like the Karl cannon. Li Du guessed that it must have been born during World War I. Looking at the uniform of the soldiers in the scene, it was the German artillery uniform of World War I.
After confirming the age and identity of Big Pao, he made up his mind to take down this warehouse.
At the end of the tour, he asked Hans in a low voice, "Generally speaking, how much does this unit cost?"
Hans frowned. "From what I've seen, it's not worth much. There are only some broken bodies and mechanical skeletons. If there's nothing special, it's worth 1,000 dollars at most."
Li Du thought for a while and said, "We'll pay 2,000 dollars."
Hans whispered, "This unit is worth a lot?"
Li Du said, "I can't tell the specifics, but it should be quite valuable. Look at the things wrapped in oiled paper and that wooden box. There are valuable items inside. Let's set it at 2,000 dollars?"
Hans shook his head. "I have to be more confident. Four thousand dollars!"
This was the charm of silent auctions. No one knew how much the other party would bid, so if one wanted to win the storage they wanted, they had to bid the right price. There was no such thing as a bargain.
If it had been a normal auction, they could have won this unit for 1,000 dollars, or even a few hundred dollars.
But there was also the possibility that someone would bid against them. If that was the case, they would have to bid a lot more.
Everything in a silent auction was unknown. Before the storage company confirmed the winner, any price could appear.
Li Du wrote 4,000 dollars on a piece of paper and placed it in a small cardboard box.
He walked to the fifteenth warehouse. There were some old goods packed in boxes and leather bags. He quoted a price of two thousand dollars.
This price was based on his estimation. The value of the goods inside should be around 5,000 dollars. It would be more appropriate to bid 2,000 dollars. Even if it was won by someone else at a higher price, there would be no regrets.
The 18th warehouse was a unit with fishing gear. There were fishing rods, outboard motors, fishing chairs, and other tools. These things were exposed to the public, and the treasure hunters went crazy for them.
After discussing with Hans, Li Du decided to write down the price of 5,000 dollars.
Among the fishing gear, the most valuable was the outboard motor. It was a Mercury brand. This brand was the ace in yacht engines. Just the outboard motor alone could sell for 5,000 dollars.
It was only two o 'clock in the afternoon when all 28 warehouses were auctioned.
Li Du was about to leave when Hans said, "There's still time. Let's go to Monument. There's also a warehouse auction there today."
Hearing this, Li Du frowned. "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
If they had said so earlier, they could have left long ago. The fishing gear storage units were all worthless.
Hans said, "I've asked around about the Monument's storage unit. There's nothing good. Besides, they've just started. We can still make it."
The two of them drove the Hellcat all the way to Monument. The distance between the two warehouses was quite far, and it took them half an hour to get there.
On the way, Hans told them that there were only four warehouses up for auction. They were just there to check out the situation. It was likely that the auction had already ended.
The car drove into the storage company. There was still one warehouse that had not been auctioned off. Li Du quickly released the little bug.
The last warehouse had also entered the auction stage. The treasure hunters had finished viewing, and the auctioneer was ready to raise his hand to call out the price.
However, seeing that Li Du and Hans had arrived, the auctioneer paused for a while and said, "Those who haven't viewed the warehouse, please do so quickly. The auction is about to start —"
Before the auctioneer could finish speaking, a hurried voice rang out, "Hey, buddy, we've finished viewing. It's time to start the auction!"
Li Du thought the voice was familiar. He turned his head and saw two familiar faces. It was Rambis and his brother-in-law, the mustache man, Carl.
When they were in Los Angeles, because of Li Du's responsible behavior, Carl and Rambis had embarrassed themselves. The treasure hunters from Phoenix and Flagstaff despised them.
Li Du hadn't seen them for a while. It was said that the two of them had left Arizona to attend auctions in other cities because they were too ashamed to stay there.
Obviously, the rumors were not true. He saw the two of them again.
Another thing that puzzled him was that the two of them still did not like him. After all, he had joined the Hundred Thousand Club. Logically, the two of them would not dare to offend him.
Looking at the two of them in surprise, Li Du released the little bug into the warehouse and went straight to a small metal cabinet on a shelf.
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