"The flag of Ernst Tillman Pioneer Organization, this is a rare find. Because after Germany was unified, most of these items were destroyed by the current Federal government."
Being a professional who had worked in this field for a lifetime, Old Pierce quickly recognized what this flag was after carefully examining it.
"How much is this thing worth?" Pierce, who was just rummaging for items on the other side of the corridor, joined in. "It should be worth more than those propaganda signs or red and blue scarves, right?"
"I know money is important, but in this line of work, you can't just think about money." Hearing Pierce's question, Old Pierce sternly stared at his son and said.
"You need to learn to appreciate the cultural heritage these items carry and learn to respect them, only then will they reward you."
After briefly lecturing his son, the group started searching in the surroundings. As expected, they found dozens of either blue or red flags among the paper packages and boxes around them.
"These flags likely belong to the Ernst Tillman Pioneer Organization or the Free German Youth League. Some of them even count as rare regional flags."
Old Pierce unfolded the flags one after the other, explaining as he went along. "To my knowledge, apart from one Cold War-themed museum in Berlin, these flags cannot be found elsewhere."
"However, this flag is a bit strange." Old Pierce then unfurled what was the largest flag among them, a blue flag the size of a single bedsheet.
"I've never seen a flag like this before, Lawrence, can you help see what is written on this flag?"
"This German text translates to 'Vanguard Armored Brigade.'", Leonard Ethan frowned. "This isn't right. There were unified regulations for military flags at the time, but this flag does not conform to those regulations."
"See, this is why being prepared is important. Often, we find our most valuable finds in the most unusual places."
Old Pierce took this opportunity to educate his son before pointing at the flag and explaining, "What this flag says is not wrong. There indeed was an armored brigade in East Germany back then, but it wasn't a regular army."
"How can that be?" Pierce exclaimed in a low voice, "This is an armored brigade we're talking about. Where in the world is there an armored brigade that's not part of a regular army—"
"Wait, I think I remember something." Leonard Ethan suddenly recalled some information he had found on the internet before he came.
"During the military training of the children in the Ernst Tillman Pioneer Organization in East Germany, there seemed to be a kind of miniature tank, and it looked a lot like a real tank—"
"Yes, in 1978. To align with the policy of military education for children at the time, East Germany had a famous manufacturer of satellite cars prepare a batch of miniature tanks specially made for the children."
"This tank could reach a maximum speed of 15 kilometers per hour, made of metal and plastic, and used the engine of the satellite cars. Simultaneously, this Vanguard Armored Brigade began to operate under the supervision of the former East German National Security Department."
"However, these tanks were only in operation for about 20 years. When the Cold War ended, this kind of military training for children was cancelled. At the same time, all the items left over from this Pioneer Tank Brigade were destroyed."
As soon as Old Pierce finished speaking, Leonard Ethan interjected, "In other words, this flag representing the Pioneer Tank Brigade should have been destroyed."
"Theory is one thing, but reality is another," Old Pierce said carefully folding the flag away.
"In the early 90s, during the merger of both East and West Germany, everyone was swamped with a massive amount of work. Therefore, it is completely understandable that some non-essential departments would have had slip-ups."
"But now, we are the ones profiting from it." Pierce excitedly said as he helped tidy up the flags. "They would never have thought that these things, which they considered trash and destroyed 20 years ago, would become valuable now."
After organizing and storing all these precious items, they continued to clear up the iron shelves set in front of the warehouse.
Just as they had speculated before, the people who stored these items all those years ago must have had a plan when arranging them. Consequently, the items displayed on the iron shelf were mostly textiles, or wooden propaganda boards that carry distinct marks of their era.
"What's going on at the entrance?" After classifying and sorting the last thing from the wax paper packages on the iron shelf, loud cursing and the sound of things being thrown could be heard from not far away.
Pierce happened to come back after dumping the garbage, which prompted Leonard to inquire about what exactly was happening outside.
"Those guys who spent a lot of money to win the auction of the weapon-filled warehouse are in a great loss now." Pierce said with a grin.
"They just finished cleaning up, ready to take a good look at their spoils of war, only to find out all the weapon boxes were empty when they opened them."
"This is quite normal, after all, compared to the things we're finding now, weapons would have been the main focus back then." Old Pierce said, pushing up his glasses, "So, it's not surprising that the firearms inside have been taken away."
Even though it's theoretically common for all those gun boxes to be empty, it was definitely the worst of bad news for the person who paid more than 60,000 Euros for that warehouse.
No wonder during the ten or so minutes that Leonard and others were resting, the cursing and the sounds of things being thrown from outside never ceased.
But that was none of their business. After resting for about 20 minutes and eating some snacks, they started to tidy up the stuff covered with canvas behind the shelves.
"I suspect the person who hid these items must have been a government official in charge of the Ernst Tillman Pioneer Organization back then, and possibly specifically in charge of the Vanguard Armored Brigade."
After opening a box and finding all miniature tank soldier uniforms inside, Leonard voiced his suspicions loud to Murphy & Son around him.
"Indeed, it would be quite difficult for an ordinary person to gather up all these things in such a chaotic time." Old Pierce said, nodding in agreement, and then forcefully pried open a dust-covered box.
"An engine, there's actually a satellite car engine in here."
The cry of Old Pierce caught the attention of the two young men. Leonard and Pierce quickly scurried to the box and gazed at the engine, covered in a greasy buttery substance, secured in the middle of it.
"It's so small—" Leonard had owned cars in both his previous and current life, and not just one, so he had seen quite a few car engines.
However, the engine now in front of him was undeniably tiny, seeming even smaller than the engines of some high-powered motorcycles.
"It's a two-cylinder, two-stroke engine, only packing a humble 26 horsepower. In some ways, it has nothing going for it other than being cheap." Old Pierce shrugged.
"There was even a joke circulating back then. Want to make a Satellite car go over 100 kilometers per hour? Push it off a cliff."