Leo was preparing to go to the Triple Element Commerce Association to find its owner, David Ball.
That day at Golden Eagle Plaza, the Triple Element Commerce Association had managed to organize an impressive auction with minimal funds, leaving a lasting impression on Leo.
Half an hour later, Leo was in David’s office at the Triple Element Commerce Association.
Leo explained his purpose, and David listened attentively. He kept nodding but remained silent, while Leo waited patiently for him to finish thinking.
“If that’s the case, we indeed need to take some initiative. How about this?” David suggested. “We can hold a small joint auction at the Spring Dawn Garden auction, pre-selling some Western Xia antiques.”
“A joint auction? Is that possible?” Leo was puzzled. “Isn’t that Ethan’s venue? How could we hold an auction there?”
“Don’t forget that it’s held at Spring Dawn Garden,” David reminded him.
“Spring Dawn Garden?” Leo had never been there and felt a bit lost.
David noticed his confusion and explained, “Spring Dawn Garden is several thousand square meters. Unless Ethan’s Bonham Auction House is ten times bigger, it can’t occupy the entire venue.”
“It’s customary in the industry to invite peers to participate, each setting up booths to sell small items and help create a lively atmosphere.”
Leo finally understood.
“Of course, the premise is that you have an invitation. Did you receive one?”
After Leo confirmed they had, David smiled and said, “Perfect. I’ll join you this time. Our joint sales booth doesn’t need to be too big; a banner will suffice.”
“Brother Leo, looking forward to our cooperation. I hope this helps Triple Element Commerce Association climb up the rankings.”
“Mr. Ball, could you share Triple Element Commerce Association’s ranking from previous years?” Leo asked out of curiosity.
David smiled and said, “Ranked twenty-seventh.”
“Oh.” Leo didn’t expect David to be so straightforward.
“There are only twenty-seven commerce associations in Langstel,” David added.
Leo laughed.
David couldn’t help but laugh too. “I hope this time I can ride on Spirit Moon Antiques’ coattails and shake off Triple Element Commerce Association’s last-place ranking!”
“Alright, it’s settled then. See you at the Spring Dawn Garden auction!”
Leo and David made an agreement.
On his way back to the clinic, Leo took out his phone and called Chloe, but she was still out of service.
This made Leo uneasy, hoping nothing had gone wrong. The auction was approaching, and without specific information about Emperor Lee’s treasure from Chloe, collaborating with Triple Element Commerce Association would be difficult.
After some thought, Leo sent Chloe a text message and a Messenger message. But there was no response.
At the clinic, Leo sat with Shiloh until almost five in the afternoon when he couldn’t wait any longer and called Old Sam to see if he could reach Chloe.
Old Sam couldn’t contact her either but remained calm, reassuring Leo that the treasure’s location was remote and lacking signal was normal. He also reminded Leo of Chloe’s extensive archaeological experience, telling him not to worry.
After some light-hearted banter with Old Sam, Leo hung up.
The next morning, after dropping Sophia at work, Leo finally received a reply from Chloe as he sat down at the clinic.
The phone screen showed a playful emoji followed by a message: “All is well.”
“How are your eyes?” Leo typed back.
Chloe replied: “They’re fine now. We’ve encountered some trouble at the treasure site.”
“What kind of trouble?”
After a while, Chloe responded: “There are mechanisms inside the treasure…”
“Very unusual mechanisms,” came another message.
“Did you go in? Is anyone hurt?” Leo quickly replied, fearing Chloe might lose signal again.
“We’re fine. We were well-prepared and retreated in time. However, some colleagues inhaled toxic gas and are being treated for dizziness in the hospital, so progress has slowed. I’m stuck outside worrying.”
“How long do you estimate?”
“Hard to say.”
“Two days?”
“In your dreams!”
They quickly exchanged messages.
Leo’s heart sank. If they couldn’t get information about the treasure within two days, all his previous efforts would be in vain.
He wished he could fly to the treasure site to help Chloe.
Suddenly, Leo had an idea and sent a message: “What kind of mechanisms?”
“Hidden Crossbow, Quicksand Trap, but their arrangements are different from those found in other tombs.”
“Describe them specifically.”
“How can I explain in a text!?”
“Send me a photo on Messenger.”
“The signal here is terrible; I can’t send photos on Messenger!”
Leo felt frustrated: “Use characters to draw a map of the treasure for me.”
Chloe replied with a crying emoji and added: “Only you could think of that!”
After a while, Chloe managed to draw a character map.
The level of detail exceeded Leo’s expectations; he could understand it even without Chloe’s explanation.
The treasure was designed as a vault within a vault. According to Chloe’s messages, their team was blocked outside the inner vault.
The mechanisms there were far more numerous than those in the outer vault. Although many had failed over time, the remaining ones still posed significant challenges for them.
“Can you draw the mechanisms?” Leo knew this was asking a lot.
“Wait.”
Leo waited for a long time; it seemed drawing mechanisms with characters was much harder.
Half an hour later, Leo received three consecutive messages.
Each was labeled by Chloe with names and basic characteristics.
They were: Hidden Crossbow, Quicksand Trap, and Sky Treasure Dragonfire Top.
Leo furrowed his brows. If he were on-site, these mechanisms would be child’s play, but for Chloe and her team, they were tough to handle.
The Hidden Crossbow was the most common type of mechanism and also the easiest to deal with. The shooting paths could be predicted, and finding the activation method would easily neutralize it.
The Quicksand Trap was relatively more troublesome but still manageable for a well-equipped excavation team.
Moreover, ancient mechanism designers often left a way out to avoid harming people excessively.
The real headache was the Sky Treasure Dragonfire Top.
It had an extremely thin glass top filled with oil that ignited upon contact with air. The glass was very fragile; any forceful attempt to disable the mechanism would break it open.