189: Chapter 188 Mo Family Mechanism Box

The pace of the auction was far too slow. The two of them had stood until their legs felt a bit weak and sore, yet the item had still not appeared. They found a nearby spot to sit and waited patiently for nearly an hour before finally seeing a box-shaped auction item brought onto the stage.

What made things both funny and exasperating was that, at the critical moment, Xiao Pinger actually couldn't confirm if it was the item her family had lost. Cao Xiao really didn't know how to express his feelings. He was also very curious about what kind of object it actually was; Xiao Pinger's father had kept his own daughter completely in the dark, refusing to share even a shred of information after the theft. Furthermore, if the item was truly that important, her father surely would have hidden it away securely. How could it have been found and stolen so suddenly?

"Everyone, this is a Bronze Mechanism Box from the Pre-Qin period. Though thousands of years have passed, it still looks as bright as new, as if it were just manufactured. The bronze has no ornamentation whatsoever, and it is hard to imagine how our ancestors achieved this. This bronze smelting technology cannot be replicated even today with our highly developed metal smelting techniques. Please note, I am speaking of bronze, not a special alloy. There is no need for doubt; we have conducted rigorous Carbon-14 dating, and it indeed dates back over two thousand years to the Pre-Qin era."

"In terms of its state of preservation, no bronze artifact unearthed to date can compare. Others have varying degrees of corrosion, but the piece before you has none—not a single speck! Based on this point alone, it holds immense scientific and archaeological value. Furthermore, the construction of this mechanism box has never appeared in history. Its internal mechanisms are so complex and precise that they would put modern masters of mechanical design to shame. This is no ordinary dual-phase or even high-difficulty four-phase mechanism box; it doesn't even belong to known types like labyrinth, flowing water, inlay, or jigsaw puzzles. The donor invited multiple archaeologists and mechanical researchers to use supercomputing resources, yet they were helpless against it. In other words, it has never been opened in over two thousand years. In the Pre-Qin era, someone capable of designing such a divinely crafted mechanism box must have been a grandmaster-level figure like Lu Ban, and the person who forged it must have been a smelting master like Ou Zhizi. As for who would be qualified to use it, you can only imagine. It is highly likely to contain world-shaking secrets of the ages, legendary peerless treasures, or perhaps even the Heaven-and-Earth-defying Elixir of Immortality!"

"...This unparalleled, miraculous mechanism box is absolutely not to be missed! This is the grand finale of our auction. The starting bid is two hundred million, with minimum increments of five million. Please place your bids now!"

The auctioneer spoke with a silver tongue, praising the mechanism box to the high heavens as if everyone would regret it for the rest of their lives if they didn't buy it. However, the reaction from the crowd was a moment of clamor followed by silence. No one placed a bid. Anyone who had attended an auction knew that you could only believe half of what an auctioneer said. In modern society, 'fudging the truth' had become a profound art; exaggeration and ambiguity were essential tools. With enough skill, one could describe a common egg as a phoenix egg or a stone as a peerless gem. Thus, it was worth pondering which half to believe. This type of mechanism box had never appeared in historical records. The value of an artifact lies in its documented lineage; an item with no historical record described so outrageously was essentially impossible to verify. Without a basis for a rough valuation, one might buy it for a low price just for fun, but the starting bid was two hundred million. Two hundred million could buy a nice little villa in Hong Kong, which would at least hold its value. If someone bought this thing and it turned out to be empty or had lost its value over time, they would be miserably swindled by that habitual offender, Lei Bishen.

Cao Xiao was also somewhat uncertain. Having read a large number of secret files from the Supervision Office, he knew that while most ancient Huaxia legends were intentionally fabricated by the ancients, they weren't entirely without foundation. Ignoring the auctioneer's boasting, as long as the age of the mechanism box was legitimate, the contents were definitely no ordinary items. Even the royalty of that era would have no reason to manufacture such a precise mechanism box to store common treasures. Unless it was the legendary Heirloom Seal of the Realm, Cao Xiao couldn't imagine what other treasure would be worthy of being placed inside. However, the mechanism box before him was a small rectangular prism, only about fifteen centimeters in height and width, but forty centimeters in length. Subtracting the vast space occupied by the mechanisms, the item inside should be a long, thin object, making it impossible to be the Heirloom Seal.

Furthermore, if this really was the item Xiao Pinger's family had lost, he would hesitate to spend hundreds of millions to buy it back for her. Even if it were just two hundred million, it wasn't a small sum to him. He wasn't a selfless saint; paying such a high price to help someone he had met by chance required a reason that could convince himself. Unfortunately, simple chemistry and sympathy weren't enough to make him reach a decision.

Although Xiao Pinger still couldn't confirm if this mechanism box was the one her family lost, this was already the final item, making it extremely likely. When she heard the auctioneer announce the starting price, her face instantly turned pale. Compared to her ten thousand or so, the five million bid increment alone was enough to drive her to despair, let alone the unimaginable starting price of two hundred million. Large 'golden beans' of tears uncontrollably formed a river on her face. She covered her mouth with both hands, letting out low, suppressed sobs.

Cao Xiao snapped back to reality and realized Xiao Pinger was crying so piteously, making him feel a bit of heartache. This mechanism box concerned her father's illness, and for the filial Xiao Pinger, this blow was simply too great. After a moment of hesitation, Cao Xiao made a decision: he would have Chen Huaiming buy it first. No matter how difficult this mechanism box was to open, for him, he could easily obtain the contents without opening it at all. In any case, Xiao Pinger's father didn't know what was inside. If there really was a treasure that interested him, he would keep the original item and replace it with a gemstone. If the box wasn't that valuable, he would just recover his losses from Lei Bishen later.

Having made up his mind, Cao Xiao lightly patted Xiao Pinger's shoulder to comfort her. "Pinger, don't be sad. We haven't even tried yet. Don't give up until the very end. At worst, we'll call the police after the auction. I have a very wealthy friend; I'll borrow a sum from him to cover the cost for you for now, and you can pay him back slowly later. Stop crying for now, everyone around is looking at you!"

"Ah! Are you serious? Your friend is really willing to lend you such a huge amount of money? That's several hundred million! I'm still a student; even if I worked my whole life without eating or drinking, I couldn't pay it back! My family doesn't have much money either; even selling our house and car wouldn't be nearly enough! Waaaah! Never mind! Let's just leave!" Hearing this, Xiao Pinger didn't become happy; instead, she cried even harder, her sleeves becoming soaked.

Cao Xiao would never admit to the fleeting wicked thought that had just crossed his mind. He said solemnly, "Actually, as long as we report it to the police and they find the donor of the box and catch the thief who stole from your family, proving it's stolen property, it will be returned to its rightful owner without costing a cent. We're just borrowing money to pay for it temporarily. My friend and I are very close; it'll be fine to pay him back once the police recover the stolen funds. Don't cry, the bidding is starting!"

"Really?" Xiao Pinger finally stopped her tears, asking with a look of half-belief.

Although Xiao Pinger was simple, she wasn't an idiot, and comforting her was no easy task. Seeing that his words were working, Cao Xiao breathed a sigh of relief and said firmly, "Of course it's true. If you don't believe me, you can go online right now and check the relevant laws."

The storm passed, and Xiao Pinger quickly wiped away her tears, her face instantly blooming into a smile. She looked at Cao Xiao with earnest gratitude and said, "Oh! No need to check, you're a good person! I believe you wouldn't lie to me."

Receiving another 'Good Person Card,' Cao Xiao was speechless. At that moment, he really wanted to say to Xiao Pinger: 'You really are a silly and naive big dummy. If I had bad intentions, you'd be waiting to be eaten alive!'

He stopped talking and turned to look at Chen Huaiming nearby, giving him a subtle look to signal him to bid on the item. Chen Huaiming understood and gave a slight nod, but immediately sent a message saying he didn't have that much money and told Cao Xiao not to be impulsive. Cao Xiao didn't waste words and told him to just bid, and that he would naturally pay the bill.

The situation on the floor was a bit strange. Several minutes had passed, yet only a few people were bidding, and the atmosphere was lukewarm. The auctioneer's throat was getting dry from talking, yet the price had only reached two hundred and thirty-five million.

Another ten minutes passed. With Chen Huaiming continuously raising the price after getting Cao Xiao's approval, the price only reached two hundred and ninety million. Several times the hammer had almost fallen. This situation was within Cao Xiao's expectations. Seeing that only one person was left competing with Chen Huaiming, Cao Xiao signaled a 'one' to Chen Huaiming. The price reached three hundred million, and the other person gave up immediately. Just as the auctioneer was about to drop the hammer and Cao Xiao thought the dust had settled, an accident occurred—someone else placed a bid, also for ten million. Cao Xiao frowned and looked over, only to see that the bidder was a foreigner. There was no choice; he was determined to get this mechanism box today, so he could only follow the raise. What surprised him even more was that after Chen Huaiming bid again, several more bidders appeared, and they were all foreigners.

With so many 'Cheng Yaojins' jumping out halfway through—and all of them acting as if they'd been injected with chicken blood—there had to be a specific reason he didn't know about. This situation was very eerie. Cao Xiao guessed that these foreigners likely knew some secret information about this mechanism box; otherwise, they wouldn't bother spending an astronomical price on a foreign artifact. He was already curious about the box, and now he had to take it seriously. It would be one thing if it were an insignificant antique with only artistic value, but if there really was an incredible treasure inside, Cao Xiao would never let it fall into the hands of these foreigners. Even if it weren't for helping Xiao Pinger, he would have to do this. Otherwise, there would surely be annoying international incidents later. As a person of Huaxia, he felt it was his duty to uphold national dignity. Even if he bought it just to smash it, he wouldn't give these people the chance to disgust him.

Having made up his mind, he immediately sent a text to Chen Huaiming with only three words: "At any cost."

The originally slow-paced bidding suddenly became intense due to the foreigners and Chen Huaiming exerting effort. Even many domestic tycoons, seeing this, joined the bidding. One foreigner could be explained as a shill hired by Lei Bishen, but a whole group was clearly a problem. In a short time, the price was pushed to five hundred million, and the momentum showed no sign of slowing. Based on this, the price would likely break a staggering one billion.

Perhaps even Lei Bishen hadn't anticipated this. Holding the same mindset as other locals, he also joined the competition. However, his entry this time had no effect on the other bidders. Even if this item had been donated to the Lei Foundation for auction, he wouldn't suffer any loss if he bought it himself; at most, he just wouldn't make any money. But his several large increments failed to scare off the other bidders. Even after he raised the price by two hundred million in one go, reaching 1.1 billion, there were still about ten people bidding. Consequently, he decisively gave up. At the same time, he was very happy, because the money from the auction of this mechanism box would fall into his pocket. He wished it could sell for tens of billions. To a miser, nothing mattered except money.

Another few minutes passed. Without the auctioneer having to work hard to shout, the real-time bid was 1.67 billion huaxia currency, which was nearly 300 million us dollars. This price had already far exceeded the highest transaction price for art in the world, and it wasn't even the final hammer price. Given the current momentum, the final price would likely break the two billion mark. Those foreigners were too crazed; several domestic tycoons couldn't take it and withdrew. Now only Chen Huaiming and three others were competing with them, but as soon as Chen Huaiming or the others bid, the opponents would immediately raise it.

Cao Xiao was hesitating whether this was worth it. If it continued like this, even if he bought it in the end, his heart would ache, and it would only benefit Lei Bishen. After thinking for a moment, he made a decision. He would first see what secrets the box held, then use his intellectual brain to analyze its structure, create a counterfeit to 'swap the leopard cat for the prince,' give the real box to Xiao Pinger, and have Chen Huaiming cooperate in the bidding to ruthlessly swindle those foreigners. Even if it benefited Lei Bishen in the end, it would still be in 'their own pot.' Moreover, Cao Xiao didn't plan on letting Lei Bishen be happy; he intended to use this to stir up trouble for the foreigners and give Lei Bishen some headaches as well.

Time waited for no one. As soon as the thought occurred, he acted. He began scanning the mechanism box, analyzing its structure, identifying the bronze metal composition, forging the outer mechanism shell, filling it with equivalent-mass metal, performing metal decay treatment, and executing a spatial displacement. All of this was completed in just five minutes. In essence, it was just forging an identical outer shell to swap it out; the inside didn't follow the original mechanism settings at all, and the bronze composition was modified so it lacked that miraculous anti-corrosion property. It only looked the same on the outside. Aside from the metal decay treatment and component analysis, the other steps could have been completed independently by small domestic machining factories, just not nearly as fast.

The real mechanism box had now appeared in his private space. After sending a text to Chen Huaiming, he stopped paying attention to the auction. He also ignored the worried, hesitant Xiao Pinger beside him, focusing all his mind on the mechanism box. He wasn't a mechanics enthusiast, nor did he have the knowledge to understand it, so he didn't look at the original object, but rather at the detection results and the analysis from the intellectual brain. Through the analysis of manufacturing characteristics and comparison with historical data, a conclusion was reached: this mechanism box was not, as the auctioneer described, a collaboration between craftsmen and smelting masters. Instead, it came from the ancient Mohists—not a family named Mo, but the Mohist school from the Hundred Schools of Thought before the Pre-Qin era.