The value of a document is closely related to its contents, but also heavily dependent on its medium. For instance, a well-preserved medieval document can easily fetch thousands or even tens of thousands of euros.
However, if it's a reproduction from the 1930s or 1940s, only high-quality replicas using the same materials and techniques can sell for hundreds or thousands of euros. Simple transcriptions without any aging might only be worth a few dozen euros.
Of course, the difficulty in selling these items varies greatly. If it's an original, finding a buyer is easy, and it can be sold at a premium. Modern reproductions, on the other hand, are not only difficult to sell but often need to be discounted.
According to the information, the warehouse mainly contains the cheapest type of reproductions from an archaeological perspective, so it’s unlikely to attract professional antique dealers.
Even so, participating in this auction is not easy. As an official auction, it cannot be as disorderly as a private one, especially since they know these items could attract far-right organizations.
As a national library, it represents the country's image to some extent and does not want to be infamous for supplying items to extremist groups.
Therefore, there is a strict identity verification process for participants to ensure notorious far-right organizations cannot obtain what they consider sacred relics.
Fortunately, Liang En is now a somewhat well-known historian and antique dealer, and due to his previous activities in the Czech Republic, he managed to get a ticket to the auction even after the registration period had ended.
One must admit that following the rules and accumulating reputation is valuable. Although this approach may sacrifice some short-term gains, the long-term benefits gradually become evident.
For instance, some events with identity restrictions cannot be accessed just with money. In such cases, the accumulated reputation becomes very valuable, offering more opportunities and benefits.
"Thanks to you this time." Officer Burke said seriously. It was their third day in Prague, the day the auction began. Liang En, along with two officers, headed to a special hall in the library opened for the auction.
According to their plan, the two officers would disguise as Liang En's staff to observe if their target was present at the auction, while Joan of Arc and Fan Meng would stay armed in a nearby vehicle, ready to respond at any time.
Additionally, Liang En used Burke’s connections to transport his three ravens. In an urban area full of people, drones are too conspicuous, but ravens are not easily noticed.
The ravens, equipped with miniature cameras, had already learned to hide these cameras from humans, revealing them only at critical moments for covert photography.
They judged that although the museum would verify identities, an old far-right organization like the Thule Society could still infiltrate.
Even the Golden Society, which constantly monitors the Thule Society, has only uncovered less than one-third of their structure, making it almost impossible for the Czech authorities to recognize them.
However, this also has an advantage—the Czech authorities would filter out the miscellaneous individuals, making it easier for Liang En and his team to identify the real target.
If all the far-right groups swarmed into the auction, it would be confusing. From this perspective, identity verification is indeed valuable.
Due to the requirements for buyer identities, today's auction had few attendees. In a relatively small multifunctional hall, only a dozen people were sparsely seated.
When the time came, a host entered, turned on the multimedia equipment, and announced the start of the auction.
Perhaps because the host was a library staff member rather than a professional auctioneer, the auction differed greatly from typical ones.
There was no emotional hype; items were simply displayed one by one for bidding, with the highest bidder winning.
Naturally, even amateurs know that valuable items should not be auctioned first, or the remaining items would not sell. So, the initial auctioned items were merely some low-value books.
These decades-old books hardly qualify as antiques, merely second-hand books. Fortunately, Europe pays more attention to copyrights, so the second-hand book market is relatively good.
Therefore, when the books were placed on shelves, several obvious second-hand book dealers actively bid.
However, Liang En observed that their bidding had limits; when prices reached a certain level, someone would always withdraw, showing their rationality.
In the second-hand book business, profits are not high. Professional dealers must control auction prices to a certain extent; otherwise, with transportation and sales costs, they might not profit at all.
After over an hour, the old book auction finally ended. Without any break, the library immediately began auctioning the most important item—Heydrich's collection.
This auction became intense from the start. Based on their estimate, this item should be worth between 1.2 and 1.5 million euros. Liang En had borrowed money from several friends for this purpose.
However, the situation quickly got out of control. Although the starting price was only 800,000 euros, the price soared to 2 million after just three bids and kept rising.
"Now we can confirm one thing—the buyers are definitely not antique dealers. The current price has far exceeded the value of similar antiques."
When the price surpassed 3.5 million euros, Liang En quietly shared his assessment with Officer Burke.
"Although the Thule Society is indeed extremely anti-human, items related to them still have a considerable market, and some people specifically collect these items. However, antique dealers wouldn't drive the price this high."
"In other words, the current buyers are likely purchasing for personal reasons, possibly due to some special circumstances." Burke nodded at the three bidders.
"I’ve used the surveillance camera on me to record and upload the situation, hoping to gather information on these people for further screening."
"Can this analysis be completed before the auction ends?" Liang En asked quietly. "If it isn't done before the auction ends, tracking them afterward will be very difficult."
"Don't worry, that's absolutely no problem." Burke nodded seriously. "I uploaded the photos as soon as we entered. Over an hour is enough for them to investigate everyone here."
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