123: He contacted me even though I didn't contact him.

Julia looked at the calm Qin Yun and asked in confusion.

"Qin, aren't you disappointed?"

Julia knew how much Qin Yun valued the yongle encyclopedia.

After hearing the news, he immediately dropped his current work and didn't even attend the nearby Warehouse Auction.

He also spent a hundred thousand dollars, only to find that the yongle encyclopedia had been salvaged by someone else first. He should be very sad.

She was afraid Qin Yun was bottling it up, so she brought up the topic.

"It's nothing. Salvaging a shipwreck is a normal thing. The fact that the yongle encyclopedia wasn't damaged is the best news. With this clue, there's a high chance I can still find the yongle encyclopedia."

Qin Yun's face remained composed, without even a hint of negative emotion.

The two of them asked five or six people, but all came up empty-handed.

Hearing a siren, they saw a fishing boat about eight or nine meters long docking.

Julia stepped forward: "Excuse me, have you seen any salvage ships operating twenty nautical miles out?"

The fishing boat belonged to a family. The male owner, the captain, walked off the boat after dropping anchor.

"A week ago, there were indeed three salvage ships twenty nautical miles out for three days. I was curious and watched them for a while."

The captain smiled, his face showing the typical honest and simple image of a fisherman.

"Then do you know which company the salvage ships belonged to or where they went?" Julia asked with a look of surprise.

The captain scratched the back of his head and shook it awkwardly.

"I'm really sorry, I forgot the name of the salvage ships, but they seemed to be from the Storage Company. I heard them say that salvaging the shipwreck was for a Warehouse Auction."

"I remember clearly the direction the salvage ships left in—they were heading south. As for their destination, I don't know."

Seeing the captain's difficult expression, Qin Yun stepped forward and said: "Thank you very much. Your information has already been a big help to us."

"Do you have any good fish here? I'd like to buy one to eat on the road."

Qin Yun asked gratefully.

Now that he had a clue, he planned to drive along and search.

There were only a few ports on the coast that could accommodate salvage ships. Searching along the way, he would soon find where the containers from the underwater shipwreck were located.

The two of them had the salmon they bought prepared at a restaurant in the port. They only ate a third of it and hit the road with the rest.

"Qin, don't you know Arnold from the Storage Company? If he steps in, wouldn't you find out where the containers went very quickly?"

Julia asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Arnold and I have some history, but if I trouble him, it might become known to the whole city. If someone with bad intentions notices, it will be hard to get the yongle encyclopedia. They would definitely hike up the price."

"So, it's best if we arrive at the scene when the containers are being auctioned without attracting attention."

Qin Yun explained patiently.

He was actually worried that Ronald from the Storage Company would cause trouble.

Moreover, troubling Arnold wasn't a good thing; he already owed Arnold many favors.

Qin Yun had no idea how to repay these favors yet.

If Arnold came to him, it would be hard to refuse even things he didn't want to do.

Julia nodded: "Mhm, I see."

She took out her laptop from her backpack and started looking for information on West Coast ports and cities holding recent Warehouse Auctions.

The two of them determined their route and drove along, asking as they went.

They passed through three port cities and asked port management personnel, but there was no news of the Storage Company's salvage ships.

The next morning, the two arrived in Wilmington.

They asked port personnel and found that a salvage ship had docked there.

Julia also found information online that there was a Warehouse Auction in the Eastern District of Wilmington at two in the afternoon.

Qin Yun immediately decided to attend this auction to see if the salvaged containers were there.

"Let's find a nearby hotel to rest for a bit, then we'll go check out the Warehouse Auction here."

Hearing Qin Yun's words, Julia also nodded in agreement.

Although she didn't think the salvaged containers would be in this small city.

But there was a possibility.

The two had been driving for over ten hours; they had to rest no matter what.

"Okay. If they're not here, I'll think of another way. Searching like this is too difficult."

The Storage Company went to so much trouble to salvage the shipwreck probably for other purposes, likely as a gimmick for a large-scale Warehouse Auction.

For fairness, they wouldn't leak key information.

So finding the salvaged containers with just a few clues was indeed too hard.

They had to find another way.

"You're right."

After a day of treasure hunting, Qin Yun also realized he had been too optimistic.

America is so big, and the Storage Company was intentionally hiding their tracks; finding the containers was indeed not an easy task.

If there was really no other way, it seemed he would have to contact Arnold.

It was just owing a favor; for a national treasure of China like the yongle encyclopedia, paying such a price was nothing.

The two of them rested at the hotel and reached the auction site five minutes before the Warehouse Auction began.

The auction location was a warehouse in the suburbs.

Many Treasure Hunters had already gathered at the warehouse entrance.

They craned their necks to look at the rows of warehouses, wondering what good things would be in the auctioned units.

"Look, the miraculous Eastern Kid has arrived here!"

After a sharp-eyed Treasure Hunter shouted it out, everyone ignored the fact that the Warehouse Auction was about to start and swarmed around Qin Yun.

"Qin Yun, did you hear some special news?"

"You just got the caesars armor, why would you still attend a small auction like this?"

"What is the caesars armor like? Does it have any magical power?"

"I heard that every time you make a move, you're bound to get something. Is that true?"

"As a big shot among Treasure Hunters, do you have any experience to pass on to us?"

"Yeah, just say a word or two to us, and we'll benefit for a lifetime."

...Seeing the Treasure Hunters here talking all at once, Qin Yun didn't know what to say.

"Everyone, please don't crowd. The Warehouse Auction is about to start. Let's not disrupt the order of the scene."

"We're just on a road trip. We heard there was a Warehouse Auction here and came to take a look. I'm still traveling, so I won't necessarily bid on a warehouse here."

Qin Yun explained to everyone with a smile and led the way into the Warehouse Auction site.

Seeing Qin Yun say this, although the crowd was curious, they still followed.

They would know if he was telling the truth when the Warehouse Auction started and they saw if Qin Yun bid.

Even if they couldn't outbid Qin Yun, it would be great to witness his style during the auction and see what treasures were in the warehouses he won.

Coming to the warehouse about to be auctioned, they saw it was a small container on a truck.

Most of these containers were used by families to store extra belongings; the containers salvaged from the seabed couldn't possibly be like this.

Qin Yun was a bit disappointed and immediately lost interest in looking at the warehouse.

Sure enough, when the auctioned warehouse was opened.

Even without using the Profound Vision Treasure Eye, he knew there wouldn't be anything good.

The warehouse was filled with household junk; at most, some appliances might be worth something.

But Qin Yun had long since looked down on such things.

He was still thinking about the yongle encyclopedia and had no time to waste on this.

Julia saw that Qin Yun was not interested in these warehouses and spoke the idea she had just thought of.

"The Storage Company is intentionally hiding the containers' whereabouts, so it's hard for us to find them like this. Why don't we change our method and have the containers come to us?"