The emergence of such significant news would greatly impact the strength of the twenty-seven antique shops in Langstel.
Since Landon was at the scene, he naturally wouldn’t miss this observation opportunity.
“Brother, what should we do?” Quentin asked tearfully.
He had been following Ethan these days and knew how much effort and money Ethan had invested in this auction.
“Let’s go home,” Ethan said weakly, unable to muster any more words.
Just as he had reached the peak, with one hand already on the edge of the cliff, ready to stand at the summit with a little effort, he was unexpectedly kicked down by someone already waiting there.
The blow Ethan received this time was greater than any he had ever experienced.
The E-zone was now a completely different scene, with crowds surging like waves, one after another.
Everyone wanted to buy the Western Xia Treasury artifacts before the discount ended.
Leo and David struggled to make their way back to their booth.
The crowd was so large that Henry no longer needed to sing on stage; instead, he stood with a microphone, loudly maintaining order.
Christine and Arlene were behind the booth, answering all sorts of strange questions from the crowd.
“Are these really Western Xia Treasury artifacts? Didn’t they just get unearthed?”
“These are all artifacts from Western Xia, from the same origin as the Western Xia Treasury artifacts. Most importantly, they are from the same era, the time when Emperor Lee ruled.”
“I can’t speak for others, but currently, my shop is the closest to having Western Xia Treasury artifacts. There’s no second place.” Christine said confidently.
The people in line were getting impatient, shouting from the back, “Are you buying or not? If not, move aside!”
“That one… and that one… they’re all half-price, right? I’ll take them all.”
“Uh, sir, that’s a rag we use for cleaning.” Arlene responded helplessly to a customer who didn’t understand antiques.
Seeing the surging crowd, Leo and David exchanged smiles, finally feeling relieved.
“Mr. Ball, it looks like you’ll be busy again. This batch might sell out today.”
“No worries, I’ve been stockpiling goods just in case. By the way, what about the eighty-two million?”
David was referring to the person who had bid on The Dragon Pearl.
“No idea, maybe they got caught up in our crowd.”
At that moment, someone squeezed through the crowd to Leo’s side; it was Landon from the evaluation committee.
“Landon, what brings you here?” David asked respectfully.
Being ranked last every year naturally made him courteous to these committee members.
Landon wiped the sweat from his forehead. “You two… your shops…” He started panting halfway through his sentence.
Leo quickly brought him a glass of water. Landon thanked him and took big gulps before catching his breath.
“You two are trying to kill me with all this!”
Leo and David looked at each other, surprised by Landon’s first words.
“You!” Landon pointed at Leo’s nose without any politeness. “Spirit Moon Antiques was originally ranked seventeenth. After Ethan took over, it dropped to twentieth due to poor management, accumulating losses of five million.”
“Then it was transferred to Christine and Arlene. Mr. Bloomer, am I right?”
“Landon, your investigation is thorough,” Leo replied with a smile.
“Now you’ve pulled this stunt, wasting months of my efforts. Do you know how many adjustments I have to make?”
“Young man! Stop scheming all the time; it’s exhausting. Show your strength openly to intimidate those who would bother you.”
Landon’s words made sense, and Leo pondered them.
“And you!” Landon turned to David after scolding Leo.
David straightened up like a schoolboy being reprimanded. “What did I do?”
“Being last every year is fun for you?” Landon scolded him harshly.
David hung his head like a punished student.
Leo sensed that there was something unusual about their relationship.
Landon didn’t continue, perhaps influenced by the surrounding crowd. He left with a parting remark: “I was supposed to announce the rankings at this auction, but that’s impossible now. Make good use of this opportunity.”
As Landon disappeared into the crowd, Leo asked David, “Mr. Ball, do you know Landon?”
“More than just know!” David replied but didn’t elaborate. He pointed at Christine’s booth. “You need to do something; our booth is about to be overrun.”
Leo saw that their makeshift booth was shaking under the pressure of the crowd.
Christine and Arlene were busy answering questions from multiple customers and couldn’t pay attention to anything else.
Leo hurried to the stage and grabbed Henry’s microphone. He addressed the crowd: “Everyone, Spirit Moon Antiques and Triple Element Commerce Association are extending their discount for two more hours. Please don’t rush.”
The effect was immediate; people stopped pushing and shoving for the 50% discount before five o’clock.
Arlene felt a significant relief in pressure.
“Good job! But this 50% discount…” David showed a pained expression.
“We’ll make it back,” Leo reassured him.
Thinking about Landon’s earlier scolding of David, Leo wondered if David’s vision was too narrow.
If they made a name for themselves at the auction, they’d earn back the 50% discount money in no time.
After sending Ethan home, Quentin wanted to check out E-zone but got stuck at the entrance due to the crowd.
He could only hear people talking about the Western Xia Treasury 50% discount and then heard Leo’s announcement extending it. The crowd cheered.
Feeling uncomfortable in the crowd, Quentin returned to the control room to watch E-zone on the monitors.
He replayed footage of Leo’s area and noticed Landon from the evaluation committee talking with them earlier but couldn’t hear what they said due to the noise.
“Damn it!” Quentin punched the control panel, causing a sharp feedback sound through the venue speakers.
Startled, Quentin sat back down weakly.
The feedback made Leo look towards the glass panel of the control room. According to architectural conventions, that was where the main control room for large venues was located. Leo felt like there was someone familiar inside.