Chapter 343: Spreading His Fame Across LA
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The second storage unit was very ordinary. The treasure hunters lined up as usual for viewing.
With over seventy people, the viewing would take at least half an hour no matter what. With the free time they had while others were viewing, some treasure hunters went over to the cops to watch the commotion.
Hans went to unlock the shutter door. Three cops immediately put on their masks and entered the unit.
One was holding a camera, another had a pair of latex gloves to search, while the third was accompanied by a Labrador. Needless to say, it was a sniffer dog.
The black Labrador entered the unit and went around the place before finally sitting obediently back at the entrance.
Seeing such, the cop with the dog said, "Rhine can’t find anything suspicious."
"There is still another level upstairs," the cop with the camera said. "Go up and check."
The cop with the Labrador went upstairs. Soon, he returned and said, "Let’s go, there’s nothing wrong here. It’s not a meth lab. It’s some sort of perfume or scent manufacturing lab."
After the other two went up to examine as well, they came down and shook hands with Hans, saying, "There’s nothing wrong with this unit. You guys are the ones who bought it? You’re pretty lucky—there’s some good stuff upstairs."
Hans heaved a sigh of relief. As long as the unit was not quarantined, they would surely make a profit off of it. After the gla.s.s equipment was cleaned, it would sell for a reasonable amount.
The cops were preparing to leave, when one of the treasure hunters anxiously asked, "There was a lot of disinfectant used in this unit—it clearly has issues."
One of the cops replied in an irritated tone, "Call us again when you find an issue. From the looks of it, there’s nothing suspicious here."
Hans ran to the attic of the unit and soon came back down. He was holding a small gla.s.s bottle. In it, was about 200 milliliters of viscous liquid.
As if he were raising the Olympic torch, he raised the bottle up and cheered, "Li, come look. Can you tell what it is?"
With a confused expression, Li Du asked, "What’s that? Looks like glycerol?"
Hans took the bottle cap off and pushed the bottle up to Li Du’s face. "Tell me your answer again after you take a whiff of this."
With the cap off, a strong fragrance of rose suffused through the air. The smell was rich but pleasant. It made whoever smelled it feel relaxed.
"What’s this? Perfume?" Li Du guessed. "Rose perfume?"
One of the treasure hunters around them was knowledgeable on cosmetics. He stared at the clear, viscous liquid, and then exclaimed, "Is that rose oil? Is it undiluted or is it essential oil after being mixed with glycerol?"
Hans shook the bottle.The liquid inside churned slowly, and more of its rich fragrance diffused out. It soon overpowered the smell from the disinfectant.
Seeing such, that treasure hunter said enviously, "Oh G.o.d, that’s rose oil! So that’s what’s going on! Someone was using this unit to store rose oil!"
Someone said, "D*mn it, look. Some of the gla.s.s bottles have petals. I should have known, I should have realized it! There is a rose garden nearby!"
Near the exhibition garden and the University of Southern California, was a rose garden. It was a local landmark. Every spring, summer, and autumn, there were many visitors there viewing the roses.
Hans pumped his fist up in the air and yelled, "Yeah! We’ve picked up a sleeper! G.o.d bless!"
Hearing the noise, some other treasure hunters were attracted over. One by one, they asked, "What’s up? What’s up?"
One of them explained the news of the unit being full of rose oil. Hearing the news, the crowd’s expressions became interesting: there was a mix of jealousy and hatred on their faces.
A female treasure hunter said, "How many milliliters of rose oil is this? Two hundred? According to the current market value, ten milliliters would sell for 200 dollars. You guys have struck gold—this bottle is worth 4,000 dollars."
Someone asked, "Rose essential oil is worth that much? I remember my wife using it at the spa. It wasn’t that expensive."
"That’s just normal essential oil," the female treasure hunter explained. "It’s the diluted product. This is the pure extraction, buddy. It’s the pure oil that had been extracted from roses!"
Another treasure hunter came up and patted on Hans’ shoulder, saying, "25 dollars for a unit with 4,000 dollars in rose oil. Buddy, you’ve struck gold."
Hans gave him bizarre chuckle, and said, "Who says that there’s only 4,000 dollars worth of rose oil here?"
The treasure hunter said, "Lilith said it. What’s wrong? Is there something else special about that essential oil? Is it some premium brand from other countries?"
"Bulgaria, Turkey and Morocco, I’m guessing," Lilith, the female treasure hunter immediately answered. The rose oil from those places was even more valuable. Ten milliliters would sell for 500 dollars.
"No, that’s impossible," one hunter said, shaking his head. "This is the lab. All the rose petals would surely have been bought from the garden nearby. They could have even been stolen."
Hans smiled. "The rose oil we have is worth more than this amount."
One of them finally realized.
"Sh*t, there are even more of those upstairs? There are several bottles, aren’t there?"
Lilith tried to grill the answer out of Hans. "How many bottles in total? Big Fox, stop beating around the bush like a sissy. Spit it out."
"I don’t have the exact number," Hans said casually, "but at least 20 bottles."
The answer shocked Lilith—she froze for a moment. "Why are there so many? The extraction ratio is very low. If I recall correctly, 1,000 milliliters of rose oil needs four to five tons of petals, that’s why it’s so pricey."
"Perhaps it isn’t all rose oil. They could be the by-products after some mixing."
Lilith shook her head and said, "No, from the fragrance, I can tell that it’s rose essential oil. D*mn it, I missed the chance. I wanted to bid too!"
Li Du called G.o.dzilla and Big Quinn, instructing them to bring the truck over so they could clear the storage out.
Hans asked, "Aren’t we gonna continue with the auction?"
Li Du said with an anxious look, "What for? Let’s clear these treasures out first. With all these people around, I can’t keep my mind on the auction."
"You’re right, me neither. Quick, let’s get to work!"
The other treasure hunters didn’t continue attending the auction. They gathered at the entrance and watched as they worked.
The unit had been modified into a production lab. Not only was it used to extract rose essential oil, there were also packaging containers prepared.
Li Du took 24 of those packaging containers and carefully placed the essential oils in them.
Besides the bottle that Hans had opened, the other 23 bottles of rose essential oil were sealed with wax to prevent any leakage.
Two hundred milliliters was a small amount. It only took up as much s.p.a.ce as half of Li Du’s palm. With the 24 bottles packed, they could fit in a small briefcase.
Once the auction was over, their unit was cleaned up as well, leaving a bunch of jealous treasure hunters standing at the spot.