Chapter 496: Getting Rich Overnight
Curly Hair grew excited and expressed his desire to fish up the ceramic relics!
Of course, Fang Zhao wasn’t going to let Curly Hair do so. Fang Zhao reckoned that Curly Hair wouldn’t be able to bring back any intact. It would be best to let professionals handle it.
Nanfeng rushed over to the island after receiving Fang Zhao’s message. He was still somewhat in disbelief. Those artifacts were from over 1600 years ago!
Ceramics from a few decades before the Period of Destruction were already worth a considerable amount. Most museums didn’t even have porcelain from more than a thousand years ago! Yanzhou museum did indeed have two intact pieces, but they were small ones!
Nanfeng picked up the porcelain bowl with a shaky hand. His lips trembled and his heart ached when he saw the holes and cracks on the bowl. This was all wasted money!
“Boss, is there really a sunken ship and large amounts of china where here?” Nanfeng gulped as he studied the spot Fang Zhao indicated on the map.
“Mhm, that’s what it is from our understanding of the current situation.” Fang Zhao brought up some photos. He had gotten Curly to take them while out swimming.
Nanfeng… Nanfeng’s heart no longer hurt at the thought of the damaged chinaware.
“Salvage them! We must definitely fish them all up! All of this belongs to whoever retrieves them. Boss, we have to act fast! Do you have any reliable professional salvaging crews to call upon?”
Fang Zhao had also looked into these. But, there were really too few salvage crews that were both reliable and capable. Nevertheless, Fang Zhao planned to partner with museums and get their help. Long-lost items were more valuable to the museums.
With this in mind, Fang Zhao activated his communications device and prepared to contact relevant parties.
Suddenly, he received a new message notification.
The message asked if it was convenient for Fang Zhao to talk now.
Fang Zhao raised an eyebrow.
It was the top authoritative figure of the Inter-planetary Fund, Yu Hua. If it wasn’t anything important, this important person who dealt with countless matters everyday wouldn’t directly contact Fang Zhao. At the time when the warp engine was formally announced, Yu Hua had merely sent him a message.
“You guys discuss this outside. I need to head inside to take a call,” Fang Zhao told Yan Biao and the others.
Nanfeng was still immersed in the revelation of these hidden treasures. He alternated between mumbling to himself and searching for relevant information online.
Then, who shall we contact? Which company is the most professional? They wouldn’t steal anything, right? Nanfeng’s mind never stopped working. Then, he thought about which museums would be good to partner with.
As the top collector family, Bruce Museum was a good choice. But, Huangzhou Museum was well-known too. Should they ask both?
Or, perhaps, contact an auction house?
Nanfeng pondered and wanted to inquire what Fang Zhao’s plans were before he realized that Fang Zhao was no longer here.
“Where’s Boss?” Nanfeng asked.
“He went to take a call.” Yan Biao pulled a face. “You only just realized it? It’s already been twenty minutes!”
“What a long phone call.” Nanfeng was anxious to discuss matters about the hidden treasure.
Fang Zhao finally came out after another ten minutes.
“Boss, do you have any salvage crews in mind?” Nanfeng asked.
“They’ve already been contacted and will be arriving here shortly,” Fang Zhao replied.
“Ah? That fast? Which company?” Nanfeng asked.
“The Inter-planetary Fund.”
Nanfeng, Zuo Yu and Yuan Biao: ???
The Inter-planetary Fund can take on these sorts of assignments?
The three of them were skeptical. When they saw the ship in the distance, their doubts grew deeper.
“Is that the crew Boss employed? Why does the vibe of this crew seem somewhat stern,” Zuo Yu mused as he gazed out to sea.
“Thats… that’s the Inter-planetary Fund insignia! It really is the Inter-planetary Fund!” Nanfeng whispered. “That kind of ship is more fit for battle. Can it really be used for treasure retrieval? Are you sure it isn’t here to invade the island?”
Yan Biao stared blankly. “Very few people can command such a team…”
Nanfeng was astonished.
Awesome!
This really isn’t something that can be bought just by throwing money around!
It’s as though a warship is being deployed to catch some fish! It doesn’t match!
“Perhaps Boss brought them here not only to salvage but also as security? Protecting the treasures isn’t easy!”
This line of thought seemed reasonable. As expected of Boss, he has thoroughly considered everything!
Back when the Poseidonsaur fossil was being excavated, there had been many who tried covert activities that caused quite a bit of trouble. Therefore, having such powerful aid was a good thing.
Nanfeng glanced around. Seeing that Fang Zhao wasn’t present, he asked softly, “Say, do you guys think that Boss really has some very impressive background or a powerful backer? Why else would the Inter-planetary Fund agree to help with a ship salvage? Did they already reach a business deal? But, given the Inter-planetary Fund’s financial prowess and status, they wouldn’t go so far to make an exception just for these cultural relics, right?”
Of course, he only asked about this in private. He didn’t dare ask Fang Zhao in person. Regardless of whether they were assistants or bodyguards, all they needed to do was to listen to their boss’s orders and not be overly curious.
Well, who cares?! It’s all good as long as they are able to do the work! After all, Boss’s reputation is on the line too!
After tossing aside those doubts, delight and excitement started to well up in Nanfeng’s heart once again.
Yan Biao and Zuo Yu had fleeting looks in their eyes. They did have some ideas, but they didn’t dare say it. What they witnessed on Planet Yin wasn’t something they could tell Nanfeng.
They didn’t exchange many pleasantries with the Inter-planetary Fund’s crew. After understanding the situation, the crew left to begin their work.
Even a log submerged in the ocean had immense research value. The value of those ceramics didn’t need to be said. The salvage crew used a special material to seal the entire sunken ship and bring it up.
Nanfeng clutched his chest and lamented, “So many cultural relics! So exciting! Now that I’ve seen the Poseidonsaur and this sunken ship, I doubt anything can ever shock me again.”
Yan Biao and Zuo Yu studied him with complicated looks on their faces.
Sigh!
Ignorance was bliss.
Inside the house, Fang Zhao compiled some photos and videos to send to a few potential partners. He didn’t want to monopolize all of the artifacts.
Fang Zhao started picking partners out of the satisfactory ones from the Poseidonsaur fossil’s excavation.
Yanzhou Museum.
The curator who received Fang Zhao’s email nearly fainted from excitement.
Gold, silver and other precious gems in the sunken ship were quickly overlooked.
Ceramics!
Yanzhou Museum’s curator felt his heart pounding away.
Their museum also had chinaware from over a millennium ago on display. They had two intact articles that survived the calamities of the Period of Destruction. These were artifacts that weren’t allowed to be loaned out since these were items that only their Yanzhou Museum had!
Now, how could he remain calm after hearing about hundreds of 1600-year-old ceramics?
He took two deep breaths and hurriedly stuffed a pill into his mouth.
Stay calm!
Be rational!
…Still can’t remain calm!!
Aren’t they merely ceramics?
More than that, it’s culture!!
These are treasures forgotten by the world and fortunate to survive until now!!
They hadn’t been able to get the Poseidonsaur first last time; that had gone to Huangzhou Museum. But, they could do it this time!
Yanzhou Museum had upgraded itself considerably to prepare for the Poseidonsaur display. This time, the pressure was even greater, but he was confident!
This time, they had to seize the opportunity to be the first to work with Fang Zhao!
At the time when Yanzhou Museum started to move, other parties that had received the email also set off.
Various top ceramic art masters around the world were also shocked from the news.
Even after so much time, people still held the Old Era in a special place. This wouldn’t change even if humankind achieved interstellar migration.
Those brittle artifacts were unfortunate to sink to the depths of the ocean a long time ago. However, this was a blessing in disguise. They had survived the calamities of the Period of Destruction.
All of this was more than enough to cause a frenzy in the collecting world!
The more sensitive media outlets also started to move.
Even though the world’s top collector family, the Bruce Family, had yet to carry out any comprehensive appraisal, they already had a rough estimate from the photos. Given the present market situation, this find was worth at least a hundred billion yuan! They had great value for collectors!
The media had mixed feelings. They were excited at the big news story, but they were also green with envy!
Back then, Fang Zhao had just donated his portion of the few billions from the discovery of the Alkaid. In just a short time, Fang Zhao had achieved an estimated net worth of a hundred billion.
But, envy was just envy. News still had to be released to generate the most traffic!
Thus, there was a new round of news about Fang Zhao.
Fang Zhao no longer was described as the “crazy point-sweeping demon” or as the Outerspace Immigration Plan ambassador. The newest story read: “Fang Zhao, the man who found another fortune overnight”!