Chapter 717: A Massive Frame
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Magic Hand's expression remained unchanged, but his gaze wavered. Li Du noticed that and knew what was going on.
He ignored Li Du and said to the auctioneer, "Let me make an offer: 2,000 dollars."
After that, he said to Li Du, "Did you see that? I didn't see it. I just wanted to—"
"You don't have to explain. I'll let you have this unit," Li Du laughed. "You're as sure as I am that the gold and silver coins are in there. We've seen traces of them."
After he whispered those words, he retreated and shook his head at the auctioneer, indicating that he would not compete any further.
The money was almost in his hands, but yet he didn't take it. It was not that he was brainless, or regarded money as dirt. Instead, it was because he wanted to return a favor with another favor and remain on friendly terms with Magic Hand.
Magic Hand was a very good treasure hunter. He was not only very capable but also very talented. Li Du liked him and wanted to befriend him.
For the first storage unit, Magic Hand could tell what he was after but didn't make any move out of respect. Now he was returning the favor to Magic Hand, at the same time demonstrating his ability.
The premise of being friends was to accord respect, and the prerequisite for the development of mutual respect was ability.
And so, Magic Hand got the unit for 2,000 dollars.
He attached the lock and then joined Li Du at the back of the group. He laughed and whispered, "D*mn, you are truly the Boy Wonder. How could you tell?"
Li Du casually came up with an excuse. "There's something about that painting on the wall. The old man's art is either beautiful, historical old photos or portraits. This painting stood out.
"What is this painting about? It is probably not valuable but is preserved by a solid and beautiful picture frame. I suppose the frame is being used to preserve something."
"As for why such a tatty painting is being used—he could have been worried about his house being robbed. If the painting was valuable, it would have been taken. So, he used a worthless, ragged painting."
After hearing his words, Magic Hand looked at him with astonishment and nodded. "Powerful reasoning ability indeed—it's no wonder you've achieved so much!"
"Did you see all that too?" Li Du asked.
"Not only that, but I also got reliable news that the old man stored some valuable things in the basement. I've seen all the rooms, and only the last one fulfilled the description," Magic Hand said truthfully.
The rooms on the three upper levels had also been partitioned and filled up with stuff. Although the speed of the auction was fast, it was still very time-consuming.
Li Du was interested in the items in some of the rooms, so he kept at it and continued to offer bids for those storage units.
In the meantime, Magic Hand got himself another storage unit. After all the dilly-dallying, it was already the afternoon by the time the auction ended.
The community organization was responsible for collecting payment and those who had succeeded in their bids would bring the labels and make payment to the community organization's accountant. They would then be given permission to clean up the units.
When Magic Hand paid an extra 1,000 dollars while making payment, the accountant shouted aloud, "Sir, you've given too much."
"The extra money is a token from me in support for your organization. I hope you can help even more people and that my contribution is of some use." Magic Hand then bowed, like how those medieval aristocrats would in greeting.
Several members from the community organization were very moved and thanked him profusely.
Other treasure hunters also heaped praises upon Magic Hand. Li Du flashed him a thumbs-up: this chap really conducted himself well.
He had also wanted to make a donation, but Hans had already made the payment. If he had done so, it would now seem a little contrived. Such acts could only be done at the time of payment. Otherwise, it could give people grounds to talk about him.
Back in the basement, he had a headache over how to move things out. Afterall, the doorway to the basement was very small—it was going to be a laborious task.
Hans was about to open the lock when Brother Wolf stopped him. He then took a look at the door before nodding and moving aside.
"What's this about?" a puzzled Hans asked.
Brother Wolf shrugged but didn't answer. When the door opened, he followed everyone in.
As Big Quinn took off his coat, he laughed, "Hey bro, are you gonna help us out? We'll be super grateful."
Brother Wolf didn't answer. He inspected the unit from several angles after entering and pointed to the window. "This place has been broken into. Someone entered from here."
At that moment, there was chaos at the entrance leading to the basement. Someone yelled out grudgingly, "D*mn, what's with the pushing? What's going on?"
Another person shouted, "It's the police! The police are coming in!"
Li Du thought about the auctioneer had treated him well despite hardly paying him any attention. Both Hans and he thought something had been amiss but weren't about to put their fingers on it.
Now, after the auction had ended, the police had come to the basement, and Brother Wolf had said that someone had broken in through the window—he wondered whether everything was all connected.
Regardless, he would have to manage everything as though they were related just to play it safe!
He hurriedly told Hans, "Bring them out to check on the situation. I'll take a look at why it's all jammed up on this end."
Hans beckoned, and Godzilla, Big Quinn, Brother Wold and Lu Guan followed him out.
Li Du released the little bug into the room for it to start searching for something unusual, starting from the window.
This was considered the villa's basement but was not completely underground. Only the bottom half of it was underground, with windows on both sides. Both Li Du's room and Magic Hand's room had windows that opened up to the ground.
The little bug looked up at the window—there was indeed a problem. The window had not been opened for a long time, and was covered with dust. There were footprints on the dust.
The little bug flew about in search for the footprints' trail. Soon, Li Du saw a small box, which had been wrapped in layers of tape. There was a small bag within, which contained some ice-like crystals.
The mixture of small crystals looked beautiful. As soon as Li Du saw it, he had a sinking feeling. Everyone in the US knew what they were—drugs!
This item makes frequent appearances in Hollywood blockbusters and American dramas. Americans were no strangers to it because the government spoke about its dangers every so often.
Without a doubt, these things had been put in here afterward. They were not there when Li Du had bid for the room.
After Li Du had discovered the drugs, he could not spend time pondering. He hurriedly got the little bug to open the black hole and placed the small box into it.
Upon seeing the drug, Li Du was certain that the police were there for it. As to what was going on, his guess was:
After he'd gotten the unit, someone had gone in through the window, put the bag in there and at the same time, called the police.
The vicious auctioneer must have had something to do with this. He could think of quite a number of people here who would want to frame him. After all, he had a bad reputation among the Californian treasure hunters.
But then, it would be rather costly to be using a big bag of drugs to frame Li Du. It was not something that just anybody could undertake—unless he had a huge score to settle with Li Du.