Chapter 64: The Unfortunate Saudi Prince

Wednesday, around 9:40 in the morning.

Xiao Ran, accompanied by Elaine, drove to a freight yard located at the Port of Los Angeles.

Following closely behind his SUV was the Chevrolet Suburban driven by Anthony and Sam.

The reason they came here today was to attend a container auction.

A total of eleven shipping containers were up for public auction at this event.

Container auctions similar to this one were held periodically at various ports across the United States.

If shipping containers stored at a port remained unclaimed for more than three months, the port authority would hand them over to auction houses to be sold publicly.

Due to the special circumstances of the current times, the number of containers being auctioned off had been increasing steadily.

Container auctions were also becoming more frequent, taking place every few days.

The underlying reason for this was the rising number of bankrupt businesses.

The items packed inside these containers were originally goods ordered by various companies.

When these containers crossed oceans and arrived at various ports in the United States, the ordering companies had already gone bankrupt, leaving the containers completely unclaimed.

There were also cases where people traveled alongside their cargo, but by the time the containers arrived in America, those individuals were unable to make it due to suspended travel routes, forcing them to abandon the shipments.

All of these unclaimed containers eventually ended up at auction houses to be sold to the highest bidder.

As for the rules of container auctions, they were fundamentally the same as storage unit auctions, except that credit card payments were accepted.

Because these containers were much larger, the goods packed inside were often far more numerous and valuable, driving the auction prices up accordingly.

Correspondingly, the capital investment required by bidders was also much higher, easily reaching tens of thousands of dollars, with even higher prices being commonplace.

Once a bidder took a loss, the financial blow could be severe.

Professional treasure hunters with poor judgment and bad luck who suffered consecutive losses could easily find themselves severely crippled financially or even completely ruined.

Because of this, the professional treasure hunters attending container auctions generally had some spare cash in their pockets and established sales channels.

Ordinary professional treasure hunters and curious onlookers rarely participated in container auctions.

After parking their vehicle in the designated area, Xiao Ran and Elaine got out and walked toward the temporary auction office to register.

Because they were carrying firearms, Anthony and Sam had to remain on the perimeter and were not allowed to enter the auction site.

However, they could still keep an eye on Xiao Ran from a distance, ensuring his safety.

As they walked, Xiao Ran was also live-streaming, interacting with the fans in his chat room.

"Xiao Ran, if you hit a massive jackpot today, can you delay the auction time in the stream so us bros have a chance to raise some funds?"

Chu Tianyang, who loved soup skin, said.

"What massive jackpot? It's not that easy. Do you think massive jackpots are lying around everywhere in the United States?"

"Besides, today is a container auction. The containers are much more likely to be filled with all sorts of regular merchandise."

Xiao Ran said with a smile.

As his voice trailed off, Obsession immediately jumped into the conversation.

"The merchandise could still turn out to be a massive jackpot. What if it's a whole container full of high-end graphics cards? That would be an absolute fortune!"

While they were talking, Xiao Ran and the others arrived at the temporary auction office.

A considerable number of professional treasure hunters had gathered here, chatting in small groups, along with some auction house staff members.

Among these people were quite a few familiar faces and a few old acquaintances.

Sylvia, Garcia, Kevin, and Jeremy had all come to attend this container auction.

Xiao Ran's arrival instantly attracted everyone's attention.

Everyone here knew him, and the moment they laid eyes on him, low murmurs broke out.

"Look at that! It's Sean, that lucky bastard. I didn't expect him to still show up at an auction. He never gets tired of making money!"

"Ain't that the truth? Through those previous massive scores, this guy has made at least sixty million dollars, if not more!"

"If I had that much money, I'd retire immediately, go enjoy the sunshine, the beach, and hot beauties, and live life to the fullest. Only an idiot would keep working!"

Amidst the chorus of chatter, these guys were consumed by envy, jealousy, and hatred, their eyes turning red with resentment.

Several of them looked at Xiao Ran with slightly unnatural expressions and gazes.

Meanwhile, Xiao Ran looked back at them with eyes filled with hostility and even a hint of murderous intent.

Fortunately, everyone was wearing sunglasses, which avoided any direct eye contact.

These individuals were precisely some of the people who had previously broken into Xiao Ran's apartment and installed pinhole cameras and wiretaps.

Some of them had gone to the apartment personally, while others had sent friends, but all of them had left fingerprints on those surveillance devices.

Through Anthony and the others' counter-tracking efforts, these individuals lurking in the dark had been quickly identified.

Approaching the group, Xiao Ran had Elaine go register while he went over to greet several professional treasure hunters.

"Good morning, Sylvia, Garcia. I didn't expect you guys to come to this container auction as well. Looks like we're going to be rivals again today."

"Good morning, Sean. We should be the ones saying that."

"You're already so rich, yet you still come to snatch business from us poor folks. Leave us a way to make a living!"

Sylvia said with a smile, stepping forward to give Xiao Ran a hug.

Shortly after, Garcia, Kevin, and the others also came over one by one to greet Xiao Ran and bump elbows with him.

After finishing her registration, Elaine walked over, stood by Xiao Ran's side, and waved a greeting to everyone.

After a few moments of casual chat, Sylvia suddenly lowered her voice and said:

"Sean, I heard that the day you left Malibu, you went straight to the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles."

"Were you afraid of trouble from the LAPD or the FBI? I also heard that you stayed there for a whole week before leaving."

"How did you handle all those priceless, top-tier antique cultural relics and artworks you discovered? Have they all been dealt with?"

Following Sylvia's words, everyone present turned to look at Xiao Ran, each of them full of curiosity.

Clearly, this was a topic everyone cared about and wanted to know the answer to.

"Holy cow! Foreigners are just as gossipy!"

In the live-streaming room, Slashing Hatred said with a laugh.

Xiao Ran shook his head and explained in a low voice:

"The Chinese antique cultural relics discovered that day were artifacts stolen nearly fifty years ago, which is why I rushed to the Chinese Consulate General immediately."

"As for everything else, I didn't think too much about it at the time. All those rumors from the outside world are groundless and baseless; the police never came looking for trouble with me."

"I stayed at the Consulate General initially to authenticate those treasures, and later because my apartment was ransacked. For safety reasons, I ended up lingering there."

With these words, he smoothly steered the conversation away.

Before his voice had even faded, the live-streaming room erupted into laughter.

"It's a total waste for Xiao Ran not to be an actor. He can lie without even blushing!"

"You know what? The way this guy tells it, I almost believe it. When has the LAPD ever been that nice?"

While laughing and joking, everyone also understood Xiao Ran's intention.

Everyone gave a thumbs up: his experience in handling conflicts was top-notch!

Looking at Sylvia and the others, their expressions shifted visibly.

Hearing that Xiao Ran's apartment had been ransacked, they were all taken aback.

They instantly realized that among the people who ransacked the apartment, there were very likely professional treasure hunters they knew.

After a brief pause, Jeremy suddenly lowered his voice and said:

"I heard Howard was arrested by the police yesterday, and he even took a bullet."

"Does this have anything to do with you, Sean? Did Howard ransack your apartment?"

Xiao Ran didn't answer directly, but instead said with a smile:

"Whether Howard ransacked my apartment or was involved in it, I don't know."

"However, my bodyguards searched the apartment and found a lot of surveillance equipment, which was handed over to the police."

"According to feedback from the police, there was a lot of fingerprint information on those surveillance devices, and Howard's fingerprints might just be among them."

"Hiss!"

Sylvia and the others all drew sharp breaths, feeling a chill run down their spines.

Looking at their startled expressions, a flash of smugness crossed Xiao Ran's eyes.

This was precisely the result he wanted; he intended to spread this news through the mouths of Sylvia and the others.

He wanted to warn everyone that he was not someone to be trifled with and that he had plenty of means to deal with those harboring malicious intentions.

Before Sylvia and the others could react, he had already changed the subject.

"Guys, are there any good things hidden inside the containers being auctioned today? Spill some inside information."

The professional treasure hunters exchanged glances before Kevin spoke up:

"Word has it that one or two of these containers come from Saudi Arabia and likely belonged to a certain Saudi prince."

"That Saudi prince was thrown into prison by the Crown Prince, leaving the containers he shipped to America in advance completely unclaimed."

"A lot of people who came here today are targeting the prince's containers."

"A Saudi prince's containers? That sounds a bit interesting."

Xiao Ran nodded slightly, feeling eager to give it a try.