Chapter 17 -17-The Unfriendly Touch

Chapter 17: Chapter17-The Unfriendly Touch

Just as Daniel was about to change his viewing angle, a large hand suddenly landed on his shoulder.

Turning around, he was met with a smirking bald-headed man.

The big man chuckled, "Mr. Roberts, my name's Joseph Thompson."

Daniel's expression remained unchanged, and he didn't engage in conversation.

This response irked the bald man, "I'm also a professional treasure hunter. Missed the last couple of auctions due to some stuff. Heard you scored a couple of high-value pieces. Quite impressive."

Daniel replied, "Just luck."

Joseph Thompson leaned in, "I'm pretty interested in the 'Hundred Horses' and that misprinted coin they were talking about. How about you let me swing by your place for a look after the auction?"

The tone of his words was irksome.

Daniel frowned, "Don't you know those two items have been taken by others already?"

Joseph Thompson feigned surprise, "Really?"

"So, you must have made quite a bit of money, right? Around 50 million?"

Among treasure hunters, asking about the price is considered bad form.

It's akin to outright declaring your envy at the other person's earnings.

Daniel looked at Joseph Thompson, noticing a hostile gaze.

Trouble was brewing!

Raising his guard, he retorted, "How much I earn is my business. It doesn't seem to concern you."

Joseph Thompson was further irked, and his voice turned cold, "You're new here and probably don't know the rules. Newcomers need to share half of their auction earnings with us veterans!"

Daniel frowned even more.

This guy was a tough cookie.

He had instantly set Daniel against the other treasure hunters.

As expected, when Daniel scanned the crowd, except for the Abel and Allen brothers, everyone was pretending to be focused on the items in the container, but they were all sneakily throwing glances his way.

Allen stepped forward, his forehead almost touching Joseph Thompson's, "Mr. Roberts is our friend, Joseph Thompson. Don't push it."

Joseph Thompson didn't back down, and he snorted, "As far as I know, you're only acquaintances from one orgy."

"Why not scare the money out of this kid and let's all share it?"

He said this in a very low voice.

Daniel didn't hear it.

Seeing Allen standing up for him, Daniel didn't want anyone to get into trouble because of him.

So, he turned to Robert, "Robert, is there really such a rule here?"

Was there?

Of course not.

But Robert was tempted.

As Joseph Thompson had suggested, if they could scare the money out of this kid, they could all share it.

Half of 50 million was 25 million.

Despite the number of them, each could get a good few hundred thousand.

How could one not be tempted?

But what Joseph Thompson didn't know was that Daniel had been with Benjamin Taylor these past few days.

Benjamin Taylor wasn't someone easy to mess with.

Thinking of this, Robert shook his head.

For a few hundred thousand, it wasn't a good idea to provoke Benjamin Taylor.

Daniel immediately got the hint.

Pushing Allen aside, he faced Joseph Thompson himself.

Robert had drawn quite a bit of hatred for him today, and he wasn't sure how to handle it.

This guy came right up, just in time for a "kill one to warn a hundred".

Daniel reached out, grabbed Joseph Thompson's shoulder blade, and applied a sudden force.

Crack!

Joseph Thompson's left shoulder was completely dislocated!

"Ah! What the hell?!"

Joseph Thompson let out a pig-like squeal instantly.

Seeing this scene, everyone's faces instantly changed, their eyes twitching uncontrollably.

This kid, he's ruthless!

A move to dislocate an arm, how savage!

"Brutal, too brutal!"

"He looks so harmless, yet he has such a method." noVe)Lb(In

"We must never mess with him."

"Yeah, I don't want my shoulder to be messed up like that."

Daniel swept his gaze over the crowd, and wherever his eyes passed, everyone turned their heads to look elsewhere.

In the live stream, the chat was exploding.

"Holy cow, the streamer's got some moves?"

"So cool, one move and the sound of bone crunching, just like a martial arts movie."

"Those people can't even look at the streamer straight, I'm dying of laughter."

"Talk about making an example of someone."

Daniel glanced at the comments in the live stream and just chuckled.

Then, his attention returned to the container.

In front of the crowd, Robert looked at Daniel unexpectedly.

This young man, so decisive in his actions, not a simple character.

He looked at Joseph Thompson, who had passed out from the pain on the ground, and casually said, "Take him away first, call a hospital to pick him up."

After saying this, he glanced at his wristwatch and shouted to everyone, "Last minute, treasure hunters, make the most of it!"

Daniel gave it another look, but he couldn't find any flaws.

The visible parts of the container were all tightly covered.

Abel, following his younger brother Allen, walked up to Daniel and whispered, "Mr. Roberts, have you figured anything out?"

Daniel shook his head, "It's covered too tightly, I can't see what's inside."

"From the shape though, the things on the outside should be tables, chairs, cabinets, that sort of stuff."

"The question is, are they the secondhand goods Robert was talking about."

Allen frowned, "In that case, it's hard to judge the value of the items inside."

Abel seemed more relaxed, "We can't figure it out, and neither can anyone else. It's all about who's braver and willing to take the risk."

Daniel hesitated for a moment, then suddenly thought of a possibility.

His gaze fell on the container, and a thought struck him.

The next second, a string of data appeared before his eyes.

...

[Item]: Container

[Age]: Modern

[Condition]: Worn

[Details]: Commonly used transport container, previous shipping route: Lomand City, E country – Golden Shores City, A country.

[Evaluation]: The container isn't valuable, the cargo inside is.

[Market Price]: 5,000 StellarCoins.

[Buyback Price]: 2,804,532 StellarCoins. ...

2.8 million?!

A light burst from Daniel's eyes.

He was just trying to see if the system could identify what was inside the container.

Although it didn't specifically analyze what items were inside, the Buyback Price had exposed the value of the cargo.

2.8 million, there had to be something extraordinary inside!

Could it be loot from a robbery gang?

Daniel glanced at the others and fell into thought.

These people were already green with envy over his previous gains.

If he were to win this container and reveal the value of its contents, he feared some might harbor malicious intentions.

He did not want to invite such trouble.

With that thought, Daniel took a deep breath.

Just then, Abel's voice brought him back to reality, "Looks like someone can't hold back."

Daniel looked up to see someone raise their hand, signaling their intention to bid.

"Three thousand!"

A chorus of boos rang out from the crowd.

"Just because we can't see what's inside, you think you can snag it for three thousand StellarCoins? You're underestimating us."

"I bid five thousand!"

"Five thousand five hundred!"

"Six thousand!"

"..."

"Ten thousand!"

Less than ten bids had already driven the price of the unknown goods in the container to ten thousand StellarCoins.

Such a situation would have been impossible in the past.

Everyone's gambling spirit had been stirred up by Robert's words.

Allen was somewhat astonished, "Have these people gone mad? We're not even sure if it contains the secondhand goods that Robert was talking about!"

Abel chuckled, "And if it is, can you guarantee that the stolen goods aren't hidden amongst the old goods?"

"Or, what if that story was fabricated by Robert and his fellow port workers? We wouldn't know."

Allen rubbed his head, somewhat incredulous, "They wouldn't dare to do such a thing, would they?"

"Once they're found out, who would participate in their auctions?"

Abel glanced at Allen and sighed, "My naive little brother."

"Robert didn't directly say that the containers had stolen goods. This is just us making assumptions."

Allen looked puzzled, "Then what are we doing here?"

Abel replied, "Gambling."

"Betting on that slim chance of striking it rich."

With that, Abel raised his hand, "Twenty thousand!"

In one breath, he doubled the price.

Daniel couldn't help but admire his boldness.

Without the system, he would never gamble so recklessly.