Treasure Hunt Tycoon - Chapter 1361

Chapter 1361: Chapter 1361 – Tiger, Tiger, Tiger

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Li Du did not pay much attention to the animals becoming famous on the internet. That was because he could not show himself, and neither did Sophie. Sophie had only filmed the things that had taken place between the six animals.

He found it strange. Sophie had said that the animals were becoming famous, extraordinarily famous.

At the end of June, Li Du brought along Lu Guan and the rest and stepped onto the grounds of Southern Tucson. He was planning to attend an auction.

In the past, when he went to other places to attend auctions, Sophie would go along. That was because, first, she was bored. Second, she had not traveled much around America and was still pretty curious and interested in seeing new places.

However, she had not joined in this time around. She kept the animals at home with her and watched them, keeping her camera and phone close.

The animals did not want that and thought of all imaginable ways to get into the car and run off. For over ten days, being famous had entertained them. However, after the short-lived novelty wore off, they had become sick of it.

Li Du had thrown them out from the car window without a qualm. As the car drove on, the animals howled and cried out. Then, Sophie came out with the camcorder.

On the journey, Lu Guan gave Li Du a quick update of the situation at the auction. “It’s jointly organized by three warehouse companies. One of them is clearing the warehouses because of bankruptcy. It has joined up with two other companies and there will be a total of forty to fifty warehouses.”

“So many?” Li Du asked.

Lu Guan shrugged and said, “That’s right. Because one of the companies has gone bankrupt, all the warehouses that don’t belong to anyone have to be auctioned off. Just that company alone has got 31 warehouses.”

“How about the valuation?”

“Based on the information I have, the valuable warehouses are among those 31. There’s an old military warehouse in there which had belonged to a veteran who has been through the Second World War. As you know, boss, these veterans like to keep some valuable items,” Lu Guan said excitedly.

Li Du said lazily, “That’s right. Old soldiers like keeping good things. But they might not keep them in warehouses.”

The veteran would be at least ninety years old if he were still alive. Having lived so long, he would have had a fruitful life. He would have the money to survive and to be a collector.

Lu Guan said, “This time, the items belonging to the old soldier must be kept in the warehouse. According to the information I got, one of the things he kept is a tank!”

Hearing that, Li Du sat up instantly. “A tank? You mean he kept a tank?! A tank from World War II?”

“Yes, a Tiger Tank!”

Surprised, Li Du asked, “Is he such a bigshot to collect things like that? I’m talking about a Tiger Tank, is that right? A Tiger Tank! How many of them are still around today?”

“Six. Two in France, two in Russia, two in England, and there’s only one that can still be operated. It’s in the military gallery in Britain.” Lu Guan had clearly done his homework.

Li Du said, “And you are telling me that there’s still one in the warehouse? D*mn it, there are six that still exist, and none of them are in America.”

Lu Guan smiled. “No, boss, there’s one in America. The officials have never taken this one into calculation. It is from my personal information source that I know of its existence. If you find it, there are seven Tiger Tanks!”

Li Du did not believe too strongly in information like that. Lu Guan continued to talk. “What I’m saying is the truth, boss, you know. All Tiger Tanks have a serial number. The one that can be operated in Britain is number 131. This one is number 141!”

“I heard that this Tiger Tank was abandoned by the German army due to mechanical failure during the Kharkov counterattack. Then the Soviet First Guard Corps took over it. Of course, it is better to say that the Soviet forces captured it rather than that the Germans had left it behind. In that battle, the Soviet Union had been utterly defeated by the Germans.”

The Kharkov counterattack was a large-scale battle in the Soviet-German power struggle of World War II. The Tiger tanks were famous for their power. The second armored army of the Schutzstaffel, who were equipped with such steel beasts, had almost completely smashed the Popov Mobile Army.

According to historical records, in one battle, two Tiger tanks had slammed into a tank cluster of Soviet troops two kilometers away. The tanks destroyed the sixteen T-34/76 tanks on the spot and also destroyed another eighteen Soviet tanks during the pursuit.

After learning about the greatness of the Tiger Tanks, the Soviet army had wanted to get one to study it at any cost. They fought the tanks with their jets and in the end, gained the upper hand and managed to get two complete tanks that were working.

“The two tanks were sent to Mexico. Stalin himself inspected them and requested for them to be studied. One of the two was dismantled for research while the other was kept.”

“And that was number 141?” Li Du asked.

Lu Guan smiled. “No, it wasn’t. Number 141 was dismantled and number 98 was kept intact. They were then sent to an exhibition at the Kubinka Tank Museum, Russia.”

“After many years, the Soviet Union fell apart. Due to financial constraints, the Kubinka Tank Museum had to put aside the repair and maintenance work of some old tanks from World War II.”

“The museum wanted to generate revenue, and then decided to sell some insignificant old-fashioned tanks. The number 98 tank was a star and could not be sold, but the dismantled number 141 tank was deemed not very valuable and was finally put out for auction.”

“In the end, the tank was purchased by a mystery man. At that time, not many people paid attention to the news. I, too, had to dig deep to find out about it. The mystery man who had bought the tank is the old soldier, the owner of the warehouse. His name is Wisman Trenton.”

“Based on what I know, Wisman Trenton managed to put the old tank together. He purchased the original Maybach engine from Germany and replaced the old torsion bar with some gears and batteries. Other than those, all the parts were the original gear from when 141 was seized all those years ago!”

After hearing Lu Guan’s introduction, Li Du rubbed his chin and asked, “A tank like that, how much is it worth?”

“When tank number 131 was paraded in Europe, Germany had made an offer. That was five years ago. Germany was willing to buy it for four million euros!” Lu Guan said.

Li Du nodded approvingly. “You’ve done your homework well.”

Four million euros from five years ago, taking the inflation rate into account, would be worth at least six million US dollars today. The most advanced M1A2 tank that the US military had was not worth more than that!

Hoping to find the legendary tank, Li Du went to Tucson City cheerfully.

He was no stranger to Tucson and was even more familiar with the Tucson gang.

In the past, when there was an auction like that, the Tucson gang would have thought of all ways to seal the channels. They would have taken all sorts of actions to prevent treasure hunters from other cities from entering.

However, it was different now. The Tucson gang had been reduced to a few small groups. They had a bad relationship with Princeps now and were unable to threaten treasure hunters from outside Tucson anymore.

The result of that was that when Li Du arrived in Tucson, he saw the car plates of many other states.

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Chapter 1362: Chapter 1362 – A Change in Friendship

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Li Du had been to Tucson countless times. The first time he arrived, he found the place interesting and novel. By now, he felt that there was nothing in the town to be curious about.

It was especially so now that he had traveled around the world, been to both the Arctic and Antarctica, dived in Australia, and toured through Siberia. A small place like Tucson was nothing to him now.

The car went around the city as Lu Guan was trying to figure out where they would stay.

Li Du said, “Next time you should find a hotel beforehand. It should be special, the best this place can offer. As for the price, don’t worry about it…”

Lu Guan looked up. “Boss, I’m not looking for a hotel. I’m trying to connect to someone.”

“Who?”

Lu Guan said, “Many of our buddies from Flagstaff and Phoenix are also here to join the auction. Aren’t we going to stay with them?”

Li Du had not thought about that. It has been some time since he has been away. He had forgotten about Big Beard Carl, Dickens, Reeves and the rest.

Perhaps one would be unable to find another treasure-hunting king as unreliable as he was. The treasure hunters from Flagstaff and Phoenix saw him as their leader but he had not even brought them to attend the auction.

Li Du rubbed his nose and said, “You’re right. I had better hang out with them, contact them.”

“I already did,” Lu Guan smiled, “They are staying in Titan Missile hotel. We can go there directly.”

Li Du thought for a while and said, “When we arrive, check if their rooms have been paid for. If not, go and pay for them. If they have, let’s pay for their meals for the two days they will be in Tucson.”

Lu Guan gave him a thumbs up. “Boss, you’re so cool!”

Li Du was about to give himself some praise too when a call from an unknown number came through.

Seeing the number, Li Du strained his memory but did not recall it. It was not a number he was familiar with. In fact, it was not a regular phone number at all.

Li Du picked up the phone and said, “Hi, who is this? If you’re promoting something I’d suggest that you hang up now. At least you’ll be able to save on your phone bill.”

“It’s me, old mate, Tang Chaoyang,” someone said in Mandarin.

Li Du said awkwardly, “Oh, oh, Brother Tang, hi. Sorry, sorry, this number looked strange. I thought it was a phone call from a bot.”

The other party hesitated and said, “Brother Tang… hmm… we are related?”

Li Du did not know how to react. “No, we’re not, as far as I know. Your last name is Tang, so I addressed you as Brother Tang…”

Tang Chaoyang said, “Oh, I see. I thought I had forgotten that we were relatives.”

Li Du burst out laughing. He felt that Tang Chaoyang was cracking a joke.

However, Tang Chaoyang elaborated further to explain. “In the past, I got into some situations that left me suffering from mild amnesia. I can’t remember some things very well now. So when you addressed me that way just now, I misunderstood.”

Li Du was shocked. “You have amnesia? What happened?”

Tang Chaoyang said, “It’s complicated. It’s not like I completely lost my memories. I forget some things, however. Okay, long story short, I’m calling to apologize to you.”

Li Du did not understand. “Apologize? What for?”

Tang Chaoyang said, “I recall that I took some papyrus from you. There are some olden day writings on it.”

Li Du quickly caught on and asked, “You lost it?”

Tang Chaoyang said, “No, I didn’t lose it. It looks like someone stole it. D*mn, this time around, I’ve been duped. Someone tricked me!”

Hearing that, Li Du lowered his phone and looked at the screen, as though expecting to see Tang Chaoyang.

He felt that there was something about with Tang Chaoyang this time. There was nothing wrong with his voice, but it felt like the man did not have his usual smart and steady demeanor that Li Du was familiar with.

Tang Chaoyang went on, saying, “I’m very sorry. However, I have translated the information on the papyrus. It describes a gold mine. The gold mine is situated near Egypt.”

Li Du asked to clarify, “So the papyrus contains information on the location of a gold mine?”

Tang Chaoyang laughed bitterly. “Yes, it should have been found two thousand and four hundred years ago. However, before I confirmed its exact location, it was snatched away by someone else. I’m really sorry.”

Li Du did not harp on that. He smiled and said, “Don’t worry, it’s not an issue. It doesn’t matter whether the information about the gold mine is true or false. Even if it’s real, after over two thousand years, perhaps someone had discovered it already in the meantime.”

Tang Chaoyang stayed silent for a few seconds before he said, “Thank you, Li.”

Li Du said generously, “I thought something worse might have happened. So it’s just this? Anyway, I had no intention to earn money from that papyrus. Hence, it doesn’t matter that it’s gone. Don’t you worry about it.”

Tang Chaoyang said, “I am responsible for this. I will take responsibility. Please wait for a while. I have information about a jewel mine somewhere else. Once I confirm it, I will let you know to compensate for your loss.”

Hearing that there was some information about a new mine, Li Du’s brain went into rapid action. He repeated, “You really don’t have to compensate me for anything. We are friends. So we should give each other some leeway, right? We are very good friends!”

Tang Chaoyang and he was not very good friends at all. They had only met a few times, in fact. However, Li Du knew that that man was very powerful.

Since Tang Chaoyang was suffering from partial memory loss, Li Du took the chance to advance their relationship. He did not want to pursue the issue of the lost papyrus. It was equivalent to Tang Chaoyang owing him a favor.

With that, the two parties could forge a stronger connection, and improve their relationship.

Tang Chaoyang smiled. “Are we very close friends? In that case, I can’t let my friend take a loss. Alright, I have some issues on hand right now. I will contact you again. You will not lose out, I promise. Goodbye, my friend.”

“Goodbye, brother!” Li Du said.

He was quite sincere, however. He really did not care much about the loss of the papyrus. He had no interest in it. Right from the start, he did not have much expectation for earning anything from it.

The truck drove across Tucson. Titan Missile Museum appeared before them. It was located not far from the gallery.

Tucson had one of the largest air force bases in the United States. Hence, some museums in the city were related to the military. The Titan Missile Museum was well known for having an underground launching base of American intercontinental missiles during the Cold War. One could find much to explore in the place.

Following the theme, the hotel had two missiles erected at the door. One was ground-to-air, and the other was ground-to-ground. The ground-to-ground intercontinental missile model was huge and looked like it was ready to be launched.

The truck stopped and Li Du walked towards the hotel. Then when he entered the door, he spotted someone familiar. Princeps!

Princeps was drinking beer at the bar, relaxing with a few of his buddies. There were also some foreign treasure hunters at the bar. They did not look like easy opponents.

When Li Du walked in, the atmosphere changed suddenly.