152: Chapter 151: Handicrafts 152: Chapter 151: Handicrafts Frey was thrilled to see Gao Yang and Morgan exchanging gifts and couldn’t help but take out his own pistol, then, lifting a hand and looking expectant, he said, “Sir, could you help me see how much this piece is worth?”
By “piece,” Frey was referring to his gold-plated, gemstone-encrusted CZ75.
Morgan merely glanced at the gun in Frey’s hand and said disdainfully, “Young man, please don’t insult the term ‘work of art,’ thank you.”
Despite his disdainful expression, Morgan still carefully slung the shotgun over his shoulder, then took the pistol from Frey.
After examining it briefly, he grimaced and said, “This can’t be called a work of art at all; it’s just a homicidal weapon made of precious metals and exuding the scent of the nouveau riche.
I’d rather call it a craft.
Of course, guns like this are called ‘craft pistols.’ Oh, the gemstone setting isn’t bad, and they’re all Czech meteorite, meaning gem-grade green glass meteorite.
I’m completely unfamiliar with craft pistols like this.
If you trust me, I could take it to the US and ask around.
I happen to know a collector who specializes in these types of craft gift guns.”
Looking anxious, Frey asked, “Is it valuable?
I mean, are the gemstones on it valuable?”
Morgan shook his head and said, “Sorry, I don’t know the specific price of Czech meteorite, but I do know that Czech meteorite doesn’t cost much unless it’s in large volume, and obviously, the stones set in your gun are not big enough.
So, just as gemstones, I can clearly tell you they’re not valuable.”
Frey let out a long sigh, looking disappointed, “I thought it would be worth a lot because it was studded with so many gemstones.
But I have another knife, and its sheath is also studded with a lot of gemstones.
I hope those are real gemstones.”
Morgan’s interest piqued when he heard this and said, “Let me have a look.”
Frey passed the knife over to Morgan, and at this point, Gao Yang laughed and said, “I’ve seen this knife.
It’s a real Damascus knife.
It’s just that none of us knows if the gemstones on the handle and sheath are real.
Hopefully, you can give Frey some good news this time.”
After Morgan took the knife and examined it solemnly, he drew the blade and nodding his head, said, “Yes, indeed it’s Uzi steel, perfectly preserved.
A Damascus knife of this length is worth at least fifty thousand US dollars.
The ivory handle is inlaid with gold wire patterns, and there’s a ruby at the top, while the sheath is studded with rubies and emeralds.
The overall value of this knife should be over a hundred thousand US dollars, much more than the pistol.
Of course, this is just my estimation.
I’m not very familiar with the collection of cold weapons, but I can still help you inquire.”
Frey nodded repeatedly, “Thank you very much.
If someone is willing to buy it after it’s appraised, and you think the price is reasonable, please help me sell it, thank you.”
Cui Bo immediately shouted, “Me, me, and my gun for sale too.”
Gao Yang asked in surprise, “Rabbit, why the change of heart?
Didn’t you claim you’d never sell any of your guns, especially those with both years of value and collectible value?”
Morgan frowned and said, “Gao, you need to improve your collecting taste.
Such craft pieces aren’t worth collecting.
If I had no choice, I’d rather collect old guns from World War II.”
Cui Bo nodded in agreement, “Right, I wouldn’t want this kind of flashy item.
I’d rather sell it for a different gun.
I’d prefer to have a bunch of HK416s at home over this.”
Glolov shrugged and said, “Is an AK47 signed by Kalashnikov himself valuable?
It’s inscribed ‘To my dearest friend, the great revolutionary Omar Muammar Gaddafi.
May victory be with you.’ Mr.
Reeves, do you think it’s valuable?
If it’s valuable, please help me sell it.
If not, I’ll keep it for myself.”
Morgan shrugged and sighed, “I told you, don’t call me Mr.
Reeves, just Morgan is fine.
Your gun, I guarantee someone will be fighting to get their hands on it.
Alright, guys, if anyone else wants to sell their war trophies, give them all to me.
It seems none of you are interested in collecting war trophies.”
Li Jinfang said, “Who says that?
I plan to keep my collection, especially now that you’ve told me it’s valuable, I certainly can’t sell it.”
In the end, the only ones who decided to sell their war trophies were Cui Bo and Frey.
One of them loved guns, but only if they were new, representing the latest technology in weaponry, and the other just loved money—anything that could be exchanged for a significant amount of money was a good thing to him.
As for Glolov, he wanted to see how much the AK47 was worth before deciding whether to sell it or not, while Gao Yang and Li Jinfang were very sure that they would not sell their spoils of war.
They didn’t even want to know how much those items were truly worth.
As Morgan carefully stored away Gao Yang’s gift of a double-barrel shotgun and then proceeded to tuck away the knives and guns that Frey and the others entrusted to him for appraisal, Morgan finally addressed Gao Yang contentedly, “All right, let’s talk business.
You want to liquidate the gold and open an account in a Swiss Bank, no problem.
But you need to tell me everyone’s share.
I can’t just deposit all the money into one account.
Also, considering your special line of work, I suggest opening numbered accounts, the kind where you only need an account number and a password to withdraw money.”
Gao Yang nodded repeatedly, saying, “Do you mean the kind where I just need to tell my parents the account number and password, and then without any proof, they can withdraw the money?
If so, that’s exactly what I need.”
“Exactly, it’s the type favored by gangs, drug dealers, and mercenaries, and it’s the most expensive service.
The good thing is you don’t have to worry about the bank swallowing your money if you die.
The downside is you can’t write checks or withdraw cash from any VISA ATM.
It’s up to you to decide.
You also have to trust me because if you let me help, I will know everything about you,” Morgan replied.
Without hesitation, Gao Yang said, “That’s the type I want, but what about you guys?”
Glolov immediately responded, “Of course, there’s no better choice.
I just need to give Natalia the account number and password, then work hard to deposit money.
Most importantly, I don’t trust American banks; they’re unreliable.”
Jinfang and Gao Yang naturally made the same choice.
Cui Bo was too lazy to decide and just went along with the majority, while Frey, despite having no issues with his identity, ultimately decided to deposit most of his money in the Swiss bank and take a small portion of the cash back to South Africa to deposit in a local bank.
Once they had settled where the money would be stored, the next step was to distribute each person’s share.
Of the twelve gold bars, four belonged to Gao Yang.
The remaining four men received two each.
As for the three million Euros in cash, Gao Yang had one million, while the other four received half a million each—a hefty sum for anyone.
Since they might need access to their funds at any time, Gao Yang and the others decided only to deposit the three million Euros into the bank.
The remaining one hundred and twenty thousand US Dollars in cash were not evenly distributed.
As the leader, Gao took thirty percent, which amounted to thirty-six thousand US Dollars.
Lee, Cui Bo, and Glolov each took twenty percent, while Frey, as the first employee of the Satan Mercenaries, settled for a sixty thousand US Dollar salary.
For Frey, sixty thousand US Dollars used to be an astronomical amount.
But now, it was just a small share of his total cut.
Although Frey’s performance would have warranted a bonus, after receiving his share of the spoils of war, he didn’t care about bonuses any more.
All Gao Yang and the others had to do was write down each person’s total share along with their names on a piece of paper and hand it over to Morgan.
He would naturally deposit the amount into the bank as stipulated and then return the account numbers and passwords corresponding to their deposits.
Watching Gao Yang happily hand over the paper listing their substantial fortunes to Morgan, the most active of the black men couldn’t hold back.
He stood up and loudly declared, “Boss, I quit!
I want to get off the plane now.
I’m going to raid Gaddafi’s palace and make a hefty score.”
Without looking up, Morgan casually said, “Your resignation is approved.
You can go to Libya and rob now.
Let me give you some good news: Gaddafi’s toilet and faucets are gold.
But here’s some bad news: the Aziziya Barracks have been cleared out, toilets and all.
And the rest of the palaces have met the same fate.
If you’re fast, you might still see the ruins, but if you’re unlucky, you’ll probably be standing on an empty plot of land, happily realizing that it was once the site of Gaddafi’s palace.”
The black man immediately sat back down, made a face, and shouted, “Boss, I’ve changed my mind.
I take back my resignation.”
As everyone in the cabin burst into laughter, the pilot emerged from the cockpit and announced, “Boss, refueling and maintenance checks are done.
The tower has given us clearance; we’ll be able to take off in fifteen minutes.”
“Prepare for takeoff.”
After instructing the pilot to prepare for takeoff, Morgan settled into a seat and turned to Gao Yang, “We’re about to take off, but I haven’t yet had a chance to tell you our destination.
Here’s the plan: I’ll drop you off in South Africa, then head back to the US.
You guys should rest for a few days but don’t leave.
I’ll come to South Africa to pick you up because I have a gift for all of you.”
Curious, Gao Yang asked, “What kind of gift?”
Shrugging his shoulders, Morgan replied, “You said not to talk about money, and since you’ve already got a significant amount, I thought I should do something more meaningful to thank you and your brothers for rescuing Abdul.
As for the gift, you should ask Simon; it was his idea.”
Gao Yang looked towards Simon, who smiled and said, “Gao, remember?
I said I wanted to thank you, and also that I wanted to compare our skills to see who’s better with a shotgun.”