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Chapter 23 -23-Big Loss! The Streamer is Awesome!
Chapter 23 -23-Big Loss! The Streamer is Awesome!
Chapter 23: Chapter23-Big Loss! The Streamer is Awesome!
"Daniel got cold feet."
"He learned his lesson from last time."
"But he just missed a surefire money maker."
"Turns out, he's not as big as he seemed."
"Joseph Thompson just picked up a huge bargain."
The treasure hunters all shook their heads in disbelief.
Even if Daniel had ended up winning the auction, they wouldn't have felt any regret.
At the very least, this young man was a lot more likable than Joseph Thompson.
Under envious gazes, Joseph Thompson rushed to the container with an excited look on his face.
His eyes were rolling around, observing the treasures filled in the box.
"Here I come, my precious!"
"What the hell are you guys standing around for? Start unloading!"
The porters stared coldly at Joseph Thompson.
They were port employees, here due to work assignments from their superiors.
Was a treasure hunter, essentially a gambler, entitled to speak to them like this?
The label of a gang boss meant nothing to these porters.
As soon as he'd spoken, Joseph Thompson felt awkward.
His excitement over the treasure had clouded his judgement, and for a moment, he lost control.
Seeing the reluctance of the porters, he forced a grin and said, "Brothers, please help me unload this stuff. Do it quick, and I'll pay double."
On hearing this, the porters started moving.
No one in their right mind would turn down money.
The two display cabinets in front, worth about 500 StellarCoins each on the secondhand market, were hoisted out and dumped to the side.
Then, various items were neatly arranged on the ground.
"Knight's swords, soldier's armors, various weaponry, and ceramic crafts like pots and plates."
"Looks like these are all items from the Middle Ages. Each one could be worth over a hundred thousand."
"Joseph Thompson is going to make a killing!"
"Darn, I wish I'd kept bidding."
Many treasure hunters were envious, but all they could do was look on longingly.
Joseph Thompson asked Durant to come over and handed him a medieval-looking knight's sword.
"Mr. Durant, would you take a look at this?"
Durant took the sword and examined it with interest.
Soon, he shook his head.
"This item seems quite old, but it doesn't date back more than 50 years at most. There are clear signs of intentional aging."
Upon hearing this, Joseph Thompson's smile froze.
"So, is this worth anything?"
Durant considered it for a moment, then said, "You could get about a thousand StellarCoins for it in the general market. If you find a collector who likes medieval items, it's not out of the question to get 2000 to 3000 StellaCoins."
Joseph Thompson's lips twitched involuntarily.
3000 StellaCoins, what good is that!
I paid 950,000 for this lot!
He then pointed to the knight's armor on the ground.
"What about this? It looks very old. Should be worth a lot, right?"
Durant squatted down, put his hand on the armor, and looked it over.
He shook his head again.
"Like the sword, there are clear signs of intentional aging. I'm sorry."
Though Durant hadn't finished his sentence, Joseph Thompson got the message.
It's another damn fake!
At this point, he began to waver.
Could everything in this container be fake?
After another look at the armor, Durant said, "The craftsmanship of this armor is quite fine, making it a high-quality craft item. It could sell for about 8000 StellaCoins in the market. If taken to a shop specializing in such crafts, you could get 10,000, and with the right collector, possibly even 15,000."
Joseph Thompson's spirits failed to lift.
15,000 still fell far short of breaking even.
He forced a smile.
"Mr. Durant, could you please check the rest of the items? I'll pay you double your appraisal fee."
Durant nodded and proceeded to open a roughly two-meter-tall cabinet.
Inside was another armor, reminiscent of a certain island nation's samurai armor.
Durant examined it and then said, "Like the previous armor, this is a modern craft, but it's slightly newer, about twenty years old. The craftsmanship is equally fine, and the price wouldn't differ much."
Even if this was also worth 15,000, that would make less than 30,000 StellaCoins. It wouldn't even cover the minor expenses.
Joseph Thompson looked crestfallen.
The other treasure hunters looked around, surprised and even a bit scared.
It seemed that all the items in this container might be replicas.
They had all assumed these were the collections of some rich individual and should be worth a lot.
As it turned out, they were sorely mistaken.
Durant meticulously checked all the items and gave a comprehensive estimation.
Five sets of armor and three knight swords, their prices are more or less the same, could be sold for about 90,000 StellaCoins.
Some clothes and jars, all replicas, and various cabinets together could add up to no more than 20,000 StellaCoins, and that's an overestimate.
He looked at Durant, sighed, and said, "Mr. Joseph Thompson, I'm sorry, but the total value of these items would be, at most, 110,000 StellaCoins."
Hearing this, Joseph Thompson couldn't control his emotions anymore.
His face turned as white as a sheet, and his eyes were filled with disbelief.
These items, they were clearly the collection of the wealthy individual they had robbed.
Why were they worth so little?
And the killer blow was that he had bought them for 950,000!
Had he known, why hadn't he tried everything to retrieve these items as soon as possible?
The other treasure hunters no longer looked at him with envy, only with derision, relief, and schadenfreude.
"Damn, thank god! Thank god I didn't bid."
"It looks so well preserved, yet it's only worth so little!"
"Joseph Thompson took a huge loss this time. I doubt we'll see him around here for the next ten years."
"950,000 StellaCoins for things only worth 110,000 StellaCoins at most, hahaha, he's gonna be left with nothing but his skivvies."
"Strange, do you think that Daniel guy saw through the ruse from the start, which is why he gave up on the bidding?"
At this, the other treasure hunters all looked at Daniel.
"It can't be, right? Even Mr. Durant had to examine the items up close before he gave his verdict. Could he tell just by looking?"
"Daniel did bid. Otherwise, Joseph Thompson would have gotten the lot for 600,000."
"Clearly, he was driving up the price against Joseph Thompson. Why else would he only start bidding when it looked like Joseph Thompson was about to win, then suddenly give up after pushing the price up? Do you think he's less wealthy than Joseph Thompson?"
The crowd went silent.
Everyone knew that wasn't the case.
Of all the people here, no one had deeper pockets than Daniel.
The same was true for Joseph Thompson, a small-time gang leader.
That meant Daniel had indeed seen through the authenticity of the items from the start.
And when he saw that Joseph Thompson, with whom he didn't get along, was the highest bidder, he stepped in and drove the price up.
Realizing this, all the treasure hunters looked at Daniel with a hint of awe in their eyes.
They had all assumed that his luck far outweighed his ability.
Turned out, his appraisal skills were even better than Mr. Durant's!
With awe also came respect.
As professional treasure hunters, their greatest fear wasn't bidding on something worthless.
Even worthless items can be sold for a price, preventing a total loss.
The real fear was failing to recognize a valuable item in front of their eyes and letting others snatch it up.
Like the way Daniel did on his first day here, crushing all the competition with a profit of 50 million StellaCoins.
That was what truly hurt.
It seemed necessary to get on good terms with Daniel, at least to prevent future losses!
In the livestream, viewers were dumbfounded.
"Holy crap, it's only worth 110,000 StellaCoins?"
"No wonder the streamer didn't bid, he knew they were fakes all along!"
"That's awesome, so awesome!"
"That guy Joseph Thompson really did lose his shirt this time."
"My admiration for the streamer is like a river, flowing ceaselessly!"
"I'm following, I'm following!"