The Relic of Past

"So, you just went out to take a few photos at noon and found this treasure?"

In the Grand American Antique Shop, Big Ivan looked at Sam, who was curled up on the sofa counting money, as if he were a monster.

"Accident, accident."

Sam stuffed $30,000 in cash into his waist bag, which he always carried with him. He pointed at the PPK pistol on the coffee table and changed the subject: "Don't worry about how I found it. Are you interested in collecting this gun?"

"You're not going to keep it?" Big Ivan asked in surprise and delight. "Haven't you always been planning to get a pistol for self-defense?"

"Even if I wanted to buy a gun for self-defense, I wouldn't want this weapon that has killed more than 2,000 people."

Ever since he knew the history behind this gun, Sam didn't even want to touch it again.

Even though he had no inhibitions when digging up war relics and didn't care about the horrific corpses, he was still a traditional American man at heart.

In Sam's opinion, digging up the remains of Civil War or World War soldiers is more like honoring these soldiers who cannot return home. It is a good deed to accumulate merit, so he is not opposed or afraid of it.

But this gun is different. What's the difference between collecting this thing and collecting the executioner's sword that cuts off heads?

You have to have craters in your brain to be willing to use this thing for self-defense.

Unlike Sam, Big Ivan fell in love with this legendary weapon at first sight. If the transaction with Sam yesterday had not emptied his wallet, he would have proposed the trade long ago.

This is a weapon that has killed more than 2,000 people. There is no American history enthusiast who wouldn't be fascinated by it. If we expand the scope a little bit, there is no World War historian who wouldn't be intrigued!

There is a popular saying in historical circles: "History is written by the victors, but relics hold the truth." This weapon, drenched in such history, was one of those truths.

Soon after the conversation started, Big Ivan reluctantly put down the PPK pistol and said, "I like this gun very much, but yesterday's transaction has already drained my cash, so I can't afford it for the time being. If you are willing to trade with me through barter, maybe I can give you something you like."

The Thompson submachine gun had already given Sam a huge advantage. Big Ivan really couldn't ask for credit, so he could only find another way to trade.

"Barter? The treasure I like?"

Big Ivan's words aroused Sam's interest. He had lived upstairs in the Grand American Antique Shop for more than a year, and even worked in this shop for half a year. He really didn't know what precious collections Big Ivan had that he hadn't seen.

"Come with me! I'll show you my private treasure trove!"

After that, Big Ivan got up and took Sam to the garage and opened the manhole cover in the corner. This is the entrance to the basement of the Grand American Antique Shop, or in other words, this is the real Grand American Antique Shop.

Sam followed Big Ivan down the stairs under the manhole cover for four or five meters and passed through a locked explosion-proof door.

Behind the explosion-proof door, the underground space of more than 100 square meters is filled with rows of display racks. Various antique firearms from World War II that cannot be seen in public and precious items with historical symbols are neatly arranged by category.

After following Big Ivan for a year, Sam has only been here twice, but each time he came here refreshed his cognition, and this time was probably no exception.

Big Ivan led the way through rows of display racks and then pushed open a dirty wooden bed under Sam's stunned gaze. He saw that the floor that was originally covered by the wooden bed was actually covered by a one-meter square steel plate!

"Come with me! These are all my treasures!"

Big Ivan lifted the steel plate and proudly led Sam to continue walking down. It turned out to be an underground space of only ten square meters. Although the basement under the basement was not large, it was five meters high. The surrounding walls were made of thick reinforced concrete. The shelves against the walls were filled with American rations and barrels of drinking water. The other side of the shelves were filled with various light and heavy weapons and ammunition. Sam even found several boxes of RPG rocket launcher ammunition in the corner!

"Don't be surprised. This kind of underground shelter was a feature of the Cold War. At that time, people all over the world were trembling under the threat of nuclear war. Almost every building had this kind of underground shelter. I just let it continue to maintain its original function."

Sam nodded in agreement. It was not just the Soviets. Didn't the U.S. also have fallout shelters and call for preparedness? The Cold War-era civil defense projects were no less impressive, or even more exaggerated.

While chatting about Cold War stories with Sam, Big Ivan took down a dusty walnut gun box from the shelf in the corner.

"Open it and take a look. Although this gun is not as valuable as the PPK, it is the best pistol I can find here."

"Is this a SIG P210?!"

Sam opened the gun box puzzledly and recognized this famous gun that collectors coveted at a glance!

"To be precise, it should be the SIG P210-A or P49 military model, 9mm caliber. This gun is one of 896 early examples, which you can see from the serial number on the gun. The serial numbers of the early examples are from 6030 to 6924, and this gun is serial number 6677."

"I didn't expect you to have such a treasure!" Sam couldn't put the pistol down and played with it. This gun is much more beautiful than the Colt 1911!

"I bought this gun from a famous collector in the industry in exchange for a historical artifact and an artillery-style Luger PO8 pistol when I first started.

The most valuable thing about it is that it is still in factory condition. Before you see it, apart from the pre-factory inspection, it has not even fired a single magazine."

Big Ivan looked pained when he said this. If it weren't for the PPK pistol in Sam's hand and the fact that he wanted to repay a favor, he would definitely not be willing to take out the gun.

It is more precious and rarer than the so-called 700th anniversary commemorative model of the founding of Switzerland. After all, the former represents history, while the latter is just a gimmick.

"Deal! Congratulations on your prosperity!"

Sam said excitedly as he picked up the walnut gun case.

The gun box is very large and contains a wide range of items, including a gun calibrator, a cleaning rod, a wire brush, a gun oil bottle, two spare magazines, a spare barrel, and the original factory gun test target paper.

Add to that the hard walnut gun case that holds all of the above, and the price of this whole set is not much different from that of the venerable PPK.

"Money is rolling in!"

Big Ivan let out a long breath and happily blurted out the idiom he would say every time he successfully traded with Sam.

After carefully closing the lid of the gun box, Sam raised his head and said, "Ivan, in addition to the PPK I got by accident, I also found some clues. Are you interested in digging them out with me?"

"Did you find any treasure?"

Big Ivan's eyes widened. What's wrong with this guy recently? Is he digging for treasure more frequently than some hobbyists hit the range?

"Let's go up and talk. There's some trouble this time."

"Let's talk as we walk," Big Ivan waved his hand.

"I went out today to verify a clue, but when I got there I found that the place was an abandoned timber processing factory."

Sam took out his cell phone, opened the map, and showed the location of the last arrow to Big Ivan.

"Isn't this the abandoned lumber mill outside the city? This lumber mill has a history of more than a hundred years. How did you find this place?"

"I accidentally got a clue. There seems to be something in this lumber yard."

Sam answered vaguely that he really couldn't explain things like the arrows on the map.

Big Ivan nodded without asking any further questions. Every professional digger has his own information channels, and he would definitely not break the rules and ask too many questions. As long as they can dig up the treasure, it doesn't matter how they got it.

"What are the odds?"

Big Ivan was silent for a long time and then asked the key question.

"At least 70%."

"This lumber mill was closed seven or eight years ago due to economic problems. I'm sure there's no one guarding it. Shall we go take a look now?"

"Will there be trouble?"

Sam asked worriedly. He didn't know what treasures he could dig here.

"What trouble!"

Big Ivan grabbed the car keys on the bar counter and said, "We are relatively law-abiding. Some scumbags even dare to dig up graves from American history."

Although he said this, Big Ivan still took out a black certificate from the drawer and said, "Having this can save you a lot of trouble."

"Where did you get your federal police ID?"

"It's fake, but it's not a big problem to fool ordinary people!"