Chapter 312: Spirit of Ecstasy
Chapter 312: Spirit of Ecstasy
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Rambis was confused by Carl’s punch. He got upset and said, "Bro, didn’t you say to tell them?"
Carl yelled in exasperation, "Shut up! Would I really tell them that information? Idiot, stupid b*st*rd!"
Li Du couldn't help laughing, "Hey, are you two here to put on a comedy show? I’ll give you a suggestion: don't be treasure hunters, go to Hollywood and act in comedies."
The treasure hunters guffawed at that comment. But there were still people chasing Carl for an answer.
"What’s in the units? That thief can’t have dismantled the steering wheel, right?"
Someone joked, "It’s also possible that he took the Rolls-Royce car emblem. I read the news sometime back that someone stole the ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’ hood ornament of a Rolls-Royce."
Carl’s face went ashen when he heard those words.
Most of the treasure hunters had a lot of world experience. In no time someone caught on, "Oh God, Pablo got it right? It’s really the hood ornament from a Rolls-Royce?"
Carl waved grumpily and replied in a flustered manner, "Of course not! Don’t make wild guesses. How could it be the hood ornament?"
A treasure hunter said, "It must that hood ornament. You’re looking for that ornament!"
Carl stared at Rambis, who had ruined everything, gritted his teeth and yelled, "Scram! You stupid son of a b*tch!"
Someone teased, "If Rambis was the son of a b*tch, wasn’t his sister also raised by a b*tch? Carl, do you mean you married a female dog?"
Carl's face was livid with anger. He left without saying another word, paying no attention to anyone else.
Li Du asked, "What’s going on? Why is he so angry?"
Hans explained coolly, "If what they’ve guessed is right—that the units might contain the stolen hood ornament—once found, the ornament has to be returned to the victim."
"So that’s how it is," said Li Du, who now understood the whole picture. "Rambis is such an idiot. How could he reveal such information?"
The competition between the treasure hunters was very intense, and everyone wanted to see each other fumble in the face of misfortune.
If any storage unit contained stolen goods and it was found out by other treasure hunters, they would certainly report to the police.
Rambis had done something very foolish. They were now under scrutiny from the treasure hunters who had gone over to watch them pack up the units. If Carl found the Rolls-Royce hood ornament, they would report it to the police.
Hans went to pay and came back to unlock the unit. "We have to find it quickly," said Hans. "The ornament could be in this warehouse too."
Li Du asked, "How much can a Rolls-Royce hood ornament sell for?"
Hans answered, "A new ornament can fetch 40,000 dollars. But it also depends on the material. The cheapest is copper, crystal is second, gold and silver are the more costly ones.
Li Du was startled. "It’s so expensive? Forty thousand dollars?!"
Well, when he had bought the BMW Z4, the car itself was around 40,000 dollars, and now he was being told that a hood ornament was equivalent to the cost of a BMW. It was a bit too much for him to accept, as he did not know much about luxury cars.
Hans shrugged. "Of course a Rolls-Royce hood ornament is that pricey. Bud, it’s the Spirit of Ecstasy, also known as the ‘Spirit of Ecstasy.’ It’s as well-known as the Statue of Liberty."
"No wonder Rolls Royce cars are so expensive," Li Du exclaimed with his mouth agape. "D*mn, just a hood ornament can cost 40,000 dollars. What about the tires, steering wheel, and headlights? Are they more expensive?"
Hans laughed at Li Du, "No, it’s not like that. You are so adorable and silly."
Li clenched his fist and said, "What?"
Hans hurriedly waved his hand and explained, "A Rolls-Royce’s hood ornament is considered to be its face and soul. It’s the most expensive hood ornament of all. The other hood ornaments are cheap, such as Mercedes-Benz's usual hood ornament, which is only 200 dollars.
"The reason why the price gap is so huge is its creation process. The Spirit of Ecstasy needs to go through six processes for six days—each one is hand-made by craftsmen. And even if it is made of bronze, they will gold-plate it, so it is expensive.
"I remember when BMW bought Rolls-Royce, they produced about 5,000 ornaments a year, and before that, the production quantity was much lower!"
As Hans spoke, he took a metal chest off a shelf. The metal chest had a passcode lock, which he tinkered with for a while but still could not open it.
Li Du took a hammer and said. "Why bother trying to unlock it? Watch this!"
Li had not even finished speaking and he slammed the hammer on the metal chest; the door of the metal chest was smashed open.
Hans cried out, "D*mn it, don't be so violent. What if—"
The door of the chest opened and the contents of it were unveiled.
Hans did not finish saying his sentence. He was halfway through talking and suddenly his eyes gawked at what was inside the chest, abruptly swallowing the other half of what he wanted to say.
There was a foam board inside the metal chest. On the foam board, there was a small gold statue sitting on it; there was an umbrella beside the statue as well.
That was what had attracted the little bug—Li Du had not known that Carl and Rambis knew about the Spirit of Ecstasy ornament. It was only after what Rambis had foolishly disclosed that he came to know the whole story.
Carl and Rambis were unlucky. They had taken three out of the four units, so they had a 75 percent chance of getting the Spirit of Ecstasy bonnet ornament. In the end, they were unlucky with their odds.
Li Du was grateful for his good luck—this was an item worth 40,000 dollars!
Nevertheless, he could not let Hans detect any anomaly, and pretended to look astonished. "Oh God, Fly—"
Hans covered the metal chest right away and interrupted Li by shouting, "Oh God, fly out, God is flying out!"
Li Du looked confused. "What?"
Hans gave him a glare and spoke in a low voice: "We can't let anyone know we've got this. Bud, quick, while Carl’s getting all the attention, let’s take advantage of it and leave now."
They stuffed the metal chest into the Hellcat, and called Godzilla to come clean up the unit.
Apart from the Spirit of Ecstasy, this unit had no other valuables. All of the items were trash.
But Carl and Rambis were worse off. The three units they won were all garbage.
The most miserable part was that the treasure hunters thought that the Spirit of Ecstasy was inside one of their units. More than a dozen people huddled at the entrance of the unit and stared intently at Carl:
"Pal, you saw the Spirit of Ecstasy, didn’t you?"
"You don’t need to hide it. We won’t call the police. Take it out and show us."
"Just now I saw Rambis packing up a box, I swear the Spirit of Ecstasy is inside there."
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Carl became so distressed that he roared helplessly, "Shut up, we didn’t get the d*mned hood ornament. We have nothing!"
Despite that, the treasure hunters did not believe Carl. Hans added fuel to the fire by saying, "Well, then you’ve gotten fake news, because our unit’s only a pile of trash. We’ve been fooled!"
When Carl heard this, he started to have a glimmer of hope as he still had two more units to find the ornament. If the last unit won by Li Du and Hans did not have the ornament, then it would be in one of his.
However just as he opened the second unit, a police car came in. The policeman walked out and said, "Someone reported that stolen goods were found. What happened?"
Carl cursed, "F*ck you!"
Rambis was enraged. "Who’s spreading rumors?"