285,000.
The same price as Daniel had estimated.
It seems the container truly has other goods inside.
Daniel chose not to gloat.
Abel waved his hand and pointed to Daniel, "No need for compliments, Dan was the one who estimated the price."
Allen then put on an understanding face, "I knew it. We're both equally smart. How could you possibly make such an estimate?"
"Dan, you really are something. If I had known, I wouldn't have bothered making this call."
Daniel just smiled lightly, "It was the safe thing to do."
Just as Allen was about to continue chatting, Robert took to the podium.
"Bidding time is over!"
"We have a lot of items today, so we need to save time. Please understand."
"Now, you treasure hunters can start bidding."
Soon, fierce competition broke out among the crowd.
Wilson, having suffered successive defeats to Daniel, was not willing to give up and made the opening bid, "10000!"
This price wasn't low, but it seemed inadequate for these fishing gear.
Emilia followed with a direct price of 20,000 StellaCoins.
This number changed many faces among the treasure hunters, most of whom were newbies.
To them, 20,000 StellaCoins was an extremely high price for a batch of goods they knew little about, perhaps too risky.
Wilson turned his head sharply, eyes wide, "Emilia, have you lost your mind? Do you know how many fishing gear 20,000 StellaCoins can buy?"
Emilia, holding her large and plump breasts, pouting her flaming red lips, and giving him a coquettish look, replied, "Twenty thousand can indeed buy thousands of ordinary brand fishing gear, but these goods likely come from Habin, possibly produced by Habin Company. Their value could double."
Hearing this, many inexperienced treasure hunters started to show interest.
Before long, the price of these unmarked goods was driven up to 50000 StellaCoins, enough to buy tens of thousands of the lowest-grade fishing gear.
Seeing this, Allen asked Abel, "Bro, aren't we going to bid?"
Abel smirked, "What's the rush? This price hasn't hit their limit yet."
Daniel looked at Abel, inwardly admiring the old treasure hunter's patience and strategy.
Just as Abel predicted, the price kept rising.
It wasn't until Wilson bid 78000 that the vibe cooled down.
Robert looked at everyone, asking into the microphone, "78,000! Is there any higher bid? These could be Habin's fishing gear, potentially worth over 100,000!"
He said this on purpose, hoping to stimulate the crowd.
But no one made another bid for a long time.
Seeing this, Robert was about to announce, "So, this container goes to Wilson for 78000 StellaCoins..."
But before he could finish, Abel raised his hand and interrupted, "Hold on! Robert, I bid 80000!"
Wilson, who was waiting for the result, was taken aback.
He turned towards Abel, anger in his eyes, "Abel, you're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"
Just as the goods were about to be his, Abel decided to stir the pot.
Unfazed, Abel shrugged and said, "I am doing it on purpose. What are you going to do about it?"
"If you have the guts, raise the bid. If not, shut your trap!"
"81,000!" Wilson immediately shouted.
With so many eyes on him, he was not about to back down.
Abel raised his hand and shouted, "82,000!"
Wilson glared, "83,000!"
Abel continued leisurely, "84,000!"
Wilson: "85,000!"
Abel: "86,000!"
Clearly frustrated, Wilson exclaimed, "Damn it, are you ever going to stop? I'm adding ten thousand right now!"
"If you dare, raise it, I won't!"
"96000!"
Abel frowned, clearly hesitating.
Wilson, seeing this, felt a rush of triumph.
However, it didn't last long, as Abel made another bid.
"100,000!"
Abel glared and loudly declared, "Wilson, this is my final offer. If you bid any higher, I'm out."
One hundred thousand StellaCoins for this batch of fishing gear – it would be a massive loss if things went south, and not much profit even if they struck gold.
Wilson's face was a mix of emotions. He hesitated for a while, then finally decided to stop bidding.
Robert was overjoyed.
He already knew the container was filled with fishing gear.
He had thought it could fetch around fifty thousand at most, but to his surprise, it doubled.
All thanks to Daniel – if it hadn't been for the accidental leak of the appraisal results to the Abel brothers, the price of the container would never have soared this high!
Daniel really was his lucky star.
Ever since his arrival, Robert's commission from hosting auctions had multiplied several times.
"I need to find an opportunity to thank him properly," he thought, keeping his excitement off his face.
He scanned the crowd of treasure hunters, asking aloud, "Any offers higher than one hundred thousand StellaCoins?"
"It could possibly be top-tier fishing gear inside!"
"One hundred thousand StellaCoins once!"
"One hundred thousand StellaCoins twice!"
"One hundred thousand StellaCoins third... Sold!"
Just as he was about to announce the deal, Emilia raised her hand. "I bid one hundred and ten thousand StellaCoins!"
Everyone looked puzzled.
Emilia had already placed a bid and had given up when Wilson offered seventy-eight thousand StellaCoins.
Why was she now offering one hundred and ten thousand?
Robert didn't care about the why; he only knew this could significantly boost his commission.
"Emilia indeed is an experienced treasure hunter with a discerning eye!"
"Any bids higher than one hundred and ten thousand?"
As Robert spoke, his eyes fell on Abel.
He knew that at this stage, the only ones who would still bid were the Abel brothers, unless, of course, Daniel told them not to.
Just as Abel was about to speak, Daniel patted his shoulder, "Let me handle this."
Under everyone's gaze, Daniel said, "We all know what's in the first container, and it's meaningless to keep fighting over it. It's worth exactly this much."
"Our final offer is one hundred and thirty thousand StellaCoins. If there's any bid higher than this, even by one penny, we'll withdraw."
Many people found his words sincere, believing what Daniel said was true.
Emilia furrowed her brows, her gaze locked onto Daniel, trying to read something from his expression.
However, in the end, she chose to back off.
The only reason she had upped her bid was because she thought Abel's sudden price increase must have something to do with Daniel.
After hearing Daniel's words, she too felt that this price was indeed their limit.
She didn't know much about fishing gear, only the basics, and she wasn't sure about the condition of the items in the batch.
Buying this batch for more than 130,000 didn't seem like a good deal.
So, Emilia chose to withdraw.
Seeing this, Robert announced the auction result.
"Congratulations to the Abel brothers for winning this container from Habin at the price of 130,000!"
Hearing this, the eyes of the Abel brothers lit up.
They were well aware that the market value of this batch of goods was 280,000.
Even if they had to lower the price for a quick sale, it would still be well over 200,000.
They were sure to profit from this container!
Allen, tears welling up in his eyes with excitement, said, "Bro, we've got a clean profit of 100,000 right here!"
Abel nodded, his eyes excitedly turned to Daniel, "Dan, as soon as we sell these, we'll immediately give you your share."
But Daniel shook his head and said calmly, "Why the rush? We haven't even inspected the goods yet."
Abel and Allen were taken aback, "Dan, we already know how much this batch of goods is worth, and your estimate should be pretty accurate. There shouldn't be any surprises, so why do we need to inspect the goods?"
Daniel smiled mysteriously, "How do you know that this batch of goods is only worth 280,000? Let's open the container and inspect the goods. There might be a surprise."
At this, the Abel brothers were even more confused, not understanding what Daniel meant.
Would there be any unexpected changes with this already set deal?