"Why are there so many people here?" Joan of Arc exclaimed in surprise as she arrived at Edinburgh Airport and found the venue for the auction, seeing the crowd queued up outside for registration.
She had attended several auctions like this before, but those only had twenty to thirty participants. An auction drawing nearly two hundred people was almost unheard of for her.
"Of course, it's crowded. These auctions are held only once a quarter, four times a year, and each auction features about a thousand items. Naturally, it attracts a large crowd," Pierce explained, having done his homework on what this auction was all about, and he shared the details with Liang En and Joan of Arc.
"Is it really possible for so many tourists to lose their luggage at the airport?" Liang En wondered aloud as they walked into the hangar filled with items after completing the registration.
"It's not just luggage, but also unclaimed goods," Pierce replied, eyeing the assortment before him. "And these items aren't just from Edinburgh Airport. Many are from surrounding smaller airports."
This auction was unlike any other they had previously attended. According to the rules, they would have an hour to inspect the items, which they could handle but were strictly forbidden from opening any original packaging or damaging the items in any way.
"I don't think it's possible for us to examine all these items," Joan of Arc said sternly after a quick survey of the scene, noting that the biggest problem with this auction was that they might not be able to see all the items on offer.
"Don't worry, we don't need to go through everything," Pierce whispered. "We just need to focus on the cargo; the suitcases can wait if we have time."
This was a little trick for airport auctions; the suitcases contained all sorts of things, and unless one was very lucky, it was hard to find anything of high value, but the cargo was different.
Hence, it wasn't impossible to inspect all the items within an hour, especially for a small group of three, who had plenty of time.
Soon, the inspection began, and Liang En immediately used the 【Divination (SR)】 skill, costing him 7 legendary points, to determine the direction of the most valuable item in the room.
The reason the cost was so low was that he was choosing from a fixed set of items, and the question he prayed for didn't require a very precise answer.
As they approached the area Liang En had pinpointed, they found six large wooden crates about 1 meter on each side. After handling them, they felt quite heavy.
"The auction price for these boxes won't be high," Pierce remarked, glancing at the crate labeled 'mechanical parts'. "I guess they might contain compressors or something similar."
"I plan to buy these items because I have a feeling there might be something valuable inside," Liang En shrugged. "After all, it's odd for such mechanical parts to be here at the airport."
Mechanical equipment rarely required air transport due to their insensitivity to shipping times and sensitivity to freight costs.
Therefore, it was strange to find such ordinary-looking crates of mechanical parts at such a place, making Liang En's reasoning for wanting to buy them quite sound.
"I think it's very likely that this thing is a sample for a large-scale transaction or some urgently needed machinery," Pierce speculated, glancing at the label on the crate.
"However, I believe customs must have already scanned this thing with X-rays, so it's highly likely that it does contain some mechanical parts, or at least something that looks like them."
"These items will be auctioned off together, so if the price is low later, you guys won't lose money by buying them. So if you think it's suitable, go ahead," Pierce finished.
"Thanks, I've decided to buy this," Liang En nodded, then asked, "By the way, did you see anything you like here that I can help you check out?"
"There is actually one," Pierce said as he led Liang En to a display table with some auction items taken out separately.
"These are some of the more important auction items," Pierce pointed out. "I'm interested in some of the antiques, but I'm not sure if they are genuine."
"Okay, I think I can help you with that," Liang En nodded, sensing that this was probably why Pierce had asked him over.
The prices for antiques at this kind of auction were usually very high or very low because it was difficult for everyone to verify their authenticity, and thus bids were naturally uncertain.
This uncertainty was precisely why Pierce had come here to shop, as it allowed him to secure items at a reasonable price for future resale.
However, today's auction items didn't look very promising, like the pair of vases that Pierce was most interested in, which appeared to be from the Qing dynasty's Qianlong period, but Liang En informed him that they were replicas.
Moreover, these were not replicas from later dynasties like the Jiaqing or Daoguang period but purely modern crafts.
This was evident because the replicas were somewhat crudely made, and anyone with a basic understanding could tell that they were modern chemical paintings.
However, another Rococo-style table was indeed an authentic 19th-century French piece, but since it was clearly a fine item, Liang En felt that acquiring it might not be worthwhile.
After checking the items they were interested in, the three dispersed throughout the warehouse and each found some intriguing pieces.
Soon, the auction moved into the bidding phase, and the crate Liang En was interested in was part of the first batch of 100 items to be auctioned, with not many competitors.
After just two rounds of bidding, Liang En successfully purchased the set of six crates for 550 pounds, achieving his goal for attending this auction.
However, Pierce's bidding did not go as smoothly. With seven or eight others interested in the item, he gave up after the price reached 1,200 pounds.
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