Chapter 224: Another Highest Bid of the Day
Chapter 224: Another Highest Bid of the Day
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In fact, even without using the special ability of the bug he could tell they were imitations. These bikes looked too new. The vehicles in the movie had scratches all over their paint due to the collisions, and looked much older.
The bikes were covered with a tarp, so it was hard to discern what they really were from the outside.
Li Du queued up with his viewing team, the second last group. When it was their turn to view, he let the bug out.
At the same time, he turned back to face Frank and his men. "Prepare to eat sh*t later," he sneered.
Frank glared at him viciously. "You only have thirty more seconds—buzz off!"
Without needing thirty seconds, Li Du controlled the bug and had it absorb the time of one of the motorcycles.
Soon, the coat of paints from the bikes started to peel off, and the original clear windshields aged to a pale yellow.
In just around ten seconds, the process was done. Frank and York went up to chase them away, while Hans glared back at them. "Don’t be unreasonable! Our time isn’t even up yet!"
"Buzz off!" Frank cried demandingly.
Li Du left with Hans and the others, while making use of the extra time to continue absorbing the time of the covers.
The decaying of the covers caused it to fall into pieces, and with that, the front portion of one of the motorcycles was exposed.
Frank and the others gleefully stood at the entrance to observe what was inside. The attention of the two was momentarily drawn to the motorcycles.
There were also some Terminator posters and some props that recreated life from the 80s. Considering all the items in front of them, the two began to ponder as they looked at the motorcycles.
Li Du left without a word, and then gathered the team together and said, "This unit is very valuable—there is a motorcycle in there, and I think it’ll be valuable!"
Mixed in his team were not just treasure hunters from Flagstaff, but from other places as well. Thus, his words spread throughout the vicinity.
The auctioneer raised his hand and called out, "Same thing, we’ll start at 1,000 dollars, 1,000, 1,000—whoever wants it, come forward so I can see you—"
Hans raised his hand and said, "2,000!"
A treasure hunter shouted, "3,000!"
"Five thousand for me!"
"Six thousand for us!" Hans shouted.
Frank gestured to York, who then cut in and said, "10,000!"
Li Du didn’t step down, but raised his hand and said, "11,000!"
Frank scoffed, "15,000!"
Li Du immediately followed, shouting, "20,000!"
Some treasure hunters wanted to compete, but they were stopped by others at their sides.
"No need to bid anymore, buddy. Apparently, they’re gonna start a bidding war—are you sure you can compete against them?"
Some treasure hunters that were interested in the unit cursed under their breaths.
"D*mmit—gotta steer away of these lunatics next time!"
The price quickly doubled. Li Du called for 40,000 dollars.
Frank continued chasing after his bids, making the 40,000 dollars into 45,000.
Hans butted in and said, "50,000!"
Frank was about to speak, but York went to hold him back. He then shook his head grimly.
Seeing such, Li Du’s heart jumped—things were suddenly going south!
Worse, the auctioneer also didn’t want to wait anymore. Frank didn’t have the time to make any offers, and the auctioneer pointed to Hans and yelled, "50,000, 50,000, alright fellas, if there’s no one else then—"
"60,000!" Frank yelled. He then glared at York and said as he gritted his teeth, "I won’t let these guys take any units in front of me!"
Hans glanced toward Li Du, and Li Du revealed a cold smile from the corner of his lips.
He had been worried for nothing; he had mistakenly thought that York had noticed the abnormalities of one of the motorcycles, or that York had become more cautious.
Neither was the case; Frank and York were just pulling some tricks to let the other treasure hunter think they were raising the price because of their grudge with Li Du and Hans; they firmly believed in the value of those motorcycles!
Since they firmly believed this, then what else did they have to worry about? He nodded to Hans, and the value of the unit continued to rise. Hans shouted, "70,000!"
Frank yelled, "75,000!"
Li Du took a step forward and said, "This is a waste of time, 100,000! Any higher and you take it!"
Frank tried to display that he was undaunted. He scoffed, "101,000!"
The auctioneer pointed to them and was about to declare the deal was sealed, but then Li Du also scoffed, "110,000!"
Frank and the others almost puked blood from that call. He roared, "Hey, Chinese man, you’re such a p*ssy. Your guts are as weak as dogshit!"
Li Du flashed a middle finger at them. "Don’t think that I don’t know the value of unit 28. We’ve heard about it as well, about those war props!"
He believed that with the smarts and cunnings of Frank and York, they would understand what he was trying to say.
Before, York had thought that his participation in unit 28 was just to compete against them, and had thought that Li Du didn’t know about the props from Troy.
Now that he had revealed to them his knowledge about those props, with some deduction, York believed that the competition this time wasn’t about their grudge either. They also knew about the motorcycles in this unit!
Frank and York immediately understood; their expressions started to look grim. Frank gritted his teeth and continued to bid: "120,000!"
Hearing that call, Li Du smiled, and immediately backed out from the competition. "You guys have the money, have fun!"
He didn’t know the value of what the movie-original motorcycles would be, but having made the other party buy a worthless unit with the highest bid of the day, he was satisfied.
Hans and the others were right: Frank and York were cunning. They were playing with fire trying to win against them in a game of price exaggeration, and there was no way to know if they were going to get burned.
Li Du backed out after this price was reached. He didn’t dare blindly make any more offers in case Frank and the others noticed something wrong, or in case they felt that the unit wasn’t that valuable and stopped. Then, the plan would backfire.
After Li Du stepped out, the auctioneer immediately pointed to Frank and the others. "Alright, 120,000 dollars, 120,000, 120,000—if there’s no one else competing, then deal! Sold!"
Having obtained the unit, York couldn’t resist showing a joyful expression. "Hey man, we’ve struck another gold mine. Call the actress. She loves collecting famous motorcycles from movies, she won’t let go of this!"
Although Frank had anger management issues and would lose control after being provoked, he was better than his partner at understanding other people’s hearts.
Seeing that Li Du had back offed easily, he slowly creased his brows as he said, "I’m afraid things might not look so good. Let’s go back and see—that bike doesn’t seem right!"
"What could be wrong?" York asked, puzzled. "Don’t overthink it, buddy. We’ve consulted over the phone, right? The chances of that being a movie-original motorcycle are astronomical! James Cameron’s directing team have placed props in there before!"
Frank thought about it and said, "I hope so."