27: A warehouse with a distinctive smell, a golden legend
Hearing that the auction was about to begin, all the Treasure Hunters felt a strange sense of fanaticism.
Underground auctions were different from ordinary Warehouse Auctions; because the cost of smuggling freight was expensive, the probability of finding valuable treasures inside was relatively high.
Therefore, the competition was even more intense.
As long as one had good luck, buying a single warehouse could lead to a massive profit.
The auction was about to start, and with the rousing music playing on the field, everyone began to go wild.
They raised their glasses, whistled, and shouted loudly.
Qin Yun didn't know what to say.
Perhaps this was the organizers' intention—to whip the Treasure Hunters into a frenzy so they could sell for higher prices.
As everyone clinked glasses, he discovered that Brother Wu Ying was also up ahead.
Qin Yun's heart tightened, and he did not rashly step forward.
If Brother Wu Ying spotted him, there was no telling what kind of trouble might arise.
A minute later, the Host clapped his hands and coughed a few times.
"The rules here are simple: the highest bidder wins."
"We only accept cash. If anyone causes trouble, I'm afraid they'll be leaving stark naked."
"The bidding for the first warehouse officially begins."
As soon as the words fell, a Staff Member used hydraulic shears to snip the lock on the container.
Unlike ordinary Warehouse Auctions, the container was only opened a crack for the Treasure Hunters to look inside.
The observation conditions were terrible; auctions here relied mostly on luck.
At that moment, a thick, pungent, fishy stench wafted out from the container.
It was pitch black inside; no one could see clearly what was there.
The Staff Member hurriedly retreated, running into the shadows and coughing incessantly.
The Treasure Hunters who had excitedly crowded at the front were hit full-on by the smell and quickly backed away, covering their noses.
They had absolutely no interest in going forward to check.
They had encountered this situation many times.
It was the smell of rot, either from animals or from stowaways who had died.
There wouldn't be anything valuable inside, and looking would only ruin their mood.
Some of the more faint-hearted ones turned green and were spitting repeatedly.
"What... what's going on? Could it be..."
"No way, how can we be so unlucky? We hit something bad in the very first warehouse?"
"But this is actually a good thing. It shows these containers haven't been tampered with; otherwise, they'd never allow this to happen."
"I wonder which curious unlucky bastard will buy this warehouse?"
"I wouldn't take this warehouse even if they gave it to me for free!"
...The Treasure Hunters all had a bad premonition, and their excitement was dampened by the pungent odor.
Qin Yun and Julia were a dozen meters away from the container, yet they could still smell the fishy stench.
It was clear the container had been sitting for a long time; the corpses inside had fermented to this extent in the sealed space.
Julia frowned, her face turning slightly pale.
"What exactly is the situation?"
"It's likely protected animals being smuggled inside. For whatever reason, the owner didn't pick them up, and the animals died inside. That's probably what the smell is."
Julia gripped Qin Yun's hand tightly, her body unable to stop trembling.
She kept telling herself mentally:
"It's animals, it's animals."
Qin Yun patted Julia's shoulder to comfort her.
"It's okay. No matter what's inside, it has nothing to do with us."
"The auction organization is responsible for all of this; we just won't participate."
Even as Qin Yun said this, he was extremely curious about what was in the container and couldn't help but use his Profound Vision Treasure Eye.
Inside the container, there was a rich blue treasure light.
The blue treasure light was incredibly intense, with a faint speck of purple light at its center.
Qin Yun sucked in a breath of cold air.
There was actually such good stuff inside the container.
He immediately made up his mind that he had to buy this warehouse.
The Host hadn't expected this situation either, so he didn't bother trying to hype the price up too high.
He wanted to get through this warehouse as quickly as possible so it wouldn't affect the subsequent auctions.
"Starting price is one hundred. Any takers?"
Among the Treasure Hunters, some who weren't afraid of trouble and had high curiosity began to bid.
"One hundred."
"Three hundred."
..."One thousand."
Every time someone bid, the Host immediately began the countdown.
The Treasure Hunters who were just watching for fun didn't really want this warehouse; when the price reached a thousand dollars, they all shook their heads.
Seeing the Auctioneer's countdown was about to end, Qin Yun raised his hand and shouted loudly.
"Two thousand dollars!"
Seeing the countdown was about to finish, Qin Yun placed his bid immediately.
Hearing someone bid from behind, the Treasure Hunters turned around to see what was going on.
But with the lights behind him, they could only see a blurry silhouette and couldn't tell who it was.
Brother Wu Ying felt the voice sounded slightly familiar, but he couldn't think of who it belonged to.
He shook his head, frowned, and after a moment's hesitation, did not bid.
The Host felt his heart tighten when he saw another bid.
However, seeing that no one followed the bid, he was very happy and immediately started the countdown.
After the Auctioneer announced that the first warehouse belonged to Qin Yun, the Treasure Hunters on the field began to gossip.
"Judging by that person's voice, it sounds like a newcomer!"
"Probably a half-wit who's just started attending these underground auctions; he's completely disregarding everything just to strike it rich."
"When he sees the corpses inside, his face will definitely turn green!"
"Only an idiot like him would pay two thousand dollars for a warehouse like this!"
...They felt pity for this newcomer in their hearts, but they didn't leave.
They wanted to confirm exactly what the fishy stench was.
Qin Yun walked up and handed the money to the Staff Member.
The Staff Member pointed to the container: "This belongs to you now."
"Is there anything you need our help with?"
No one wanted to deal with corpses.
However, according to the rules, the person who bought the container was entitled to hire staff to handle and transport it.
Qin Yun shook his head: "No, I'll do it myself."
Hearing Qin Yun say this, the Staff Member laughed.
This guy was alright.
He probably just wanted to see the novelty for himself.
Julia was somewhat puzzled, not understanding why Qin Yun had bid on this warehouse.
But because of their previous experiences, miracles always seemed to happen around Qin Yun.
So she only frowned and did not step forward to dissuade him.
Brother Wu Ying looked at the tightly wrapped bidder and felt the silhouette was somewhat familiar.
But he couldn't think of which friend would participate in this kind of underground auction.
Seeing the Staff Member raise his hand in a signal, the Auctioneer knew the process was complete.
"Open the container!"
Frowning, the Staff Member stepped forward and fully opened the container doors.
Someone pulled out a spotlight and aimed it at the warehouse door.
The pitch-black container was suddenly brightly lit, and everything inside was visible.
Several human corpses lay inside the container.
Their clothes had rotted, and there were traces of a pool of viscous liquid on the ground; they must have been dead for some time.
Seeing this, everyone began to discuss it again.
"I told you, it's definitely people inside."
"The dead ones are definitely stowaways; otherwise, they wouldn't use a container for smuggling."
"Regardless, this warehouse has no value at all."
"He's just buying a lesson. A newcomer will learn a lot after this."
"I wonder how this unlucky bastard feels right now?"
...Everyone stayed where they were, wanting to watch the show.
To see how this reckless newcomer would handle this warehouse.
Qin Yun ignored the crowd's comments; he was somewhat prepared for such a scene.
No matter what, there was a priceless treasure inside; he had to enter this container.
He put on shoe covers, gloves, and protective goggles, wrapping himself tightly to avoid leaving any traces in the container.
Once prepared, he walked into the container with a flashlight.
Bypassing the corpses, he shone the flashlight, and a golden light actually reflected from below.