"Stop fighting! Stop fighting!"
Qin Xiao waved his hand, throwing a handful of Tang swords onto the ground.
"Unless you're too fast to react, you won't be able to break through your shield. But it's so exhilarating! I've never tried unleashing so many strikes in one go!"
"Actually, you're much better today than last time. I almost couldn't keep up with your moves several times, but you know, when you change your moves, you need to change direction, while my shield only needs to be swung slightly left or right, or up and down."
Captain America is right. Using a shield for defense naturally gives you a certain advantage, especially if you control your body well; the shield can almost block half of your body.
"How was it, Captain? How was your experience in Africa the other day? The terrorists were ruthless, weren't they!"
A few days ago, the Captain took Alexei to Africa and wiped out an illegal armed group that had been entrenched in East Africa for a long time, capturing local young men to mine diamonds.
" Alexei too reckless! He completely deviated from the pre-arranged battle plan and almost accidentally injured those innocent miners!"
Speaking of this, the Captain was a little helpless. Alexei kept pestering the Captain to come along, otherwise the Captain actually wanted to take Qin Xiao with him.
"Hahaha!"
Qin Xiao knew just how unreliable Natasha's nominal father really was.
"Don't worry, I gave them some money. He and Melina are going to take Yelena and Antonia on a world tour. He's going to go with you because he probably wants to compete with you."
"You know, when he first became a super soldier, he was known as Captain Soviet Union!"
The Captain certainly knew what this meant; he had thoroughly studied world history after World War II.
"Are you sure Antonia is alright?"
The Captain has been at the base for a while now and has heard about Antonia's story.
"The therapist said she should go out more and see the world. Although Alexei is unreliable, I believe he can make up for some of the fatherly love Antonia lacks!"
"Also, regarding that diamond mine in Africa, we will send people there to mine it. After recovering the cost of the equipment, we will only charge a management fee. The rest of the profits will be used to help them build schools and hospitals locally, and the remainder will be distributed to each family according to a certain ratio. Don't worry!"
The Captain smiled and nodded. In these aspects, Qin Xiao and Tony were much more thoughtful than he had been.
Money in this world has basically lost its meaning for Qin Xiao. The resources that the Red Room originally controlled were astronomical, and Qin Xiao is learning to spend this money wisely and gradually.
For example, there was an auction a while ago that featured several ancient China antiques and calligraphy and paintings.
Qin Xiao took pictures of everything and sent them back through the China embassy.
This time, Christie's's held another auction at the Grand Palais, France.
This auction features two China treasures: the rat head and the rabbit head from the Chinese zodiac.
The Twelve Chinese Zodiac Animal Heads, a set of twelve, were originally placed in the royal gardens of China as ornamental timekeeping devices, with the twelve animal heads arranged in a circle.
Arranged according to the twelve two-hour periods of the day, each period has a corresponding animal head continuously spouting water. At noon, there is a spectacular scene where all twelve animal heads spout water at the same time.
Unfortunately, due to some historical reasons, the twelve animal heads are scattered all over the world and have not yet been reassembled. Qin Xiao absolutely cannot let this opportunity pass him by.
Besides these two national treasures, there is another major item to be auctioned, which is said to also originate from China. Christie's quite secretive about this item, and even photos of it have not been released.
"So? Still wondering what the last item will be for the auction? It's about to start, you'll find out soon enough."
Tony has never been very interested in these kinds of auctions, and he usually lets Pepper Potts handle things he likes.
So Natasha accompanied Qin Xiao this time.
"I don't know, I've been feeling really strange today, my heart is racing, I don't know if it's because my period has started!"
Qin Xiao muttered to himself, head down.
Natasha chuckled and pinched Qin Xiao.
"Then go back and tell me what it's like. I've never been here before!"
The auction officially began amidst their casual, intermittent conversation.
Qin Xiao wasn't particularly interested in calligraphy, paintings, or antiques by famous people.
He held Natasha's hand and chatted quietly.
Until the bronze heads of the twelve zodiac animals were brought up.
The first item auctioned was a rat head.
"The following auction item originates from the mysterious China, designed by the Italian painter Giuseppe Castiglione) over 200 years ago, supervised by the France, and crafted by China imperial artisans..."
Although everyone knows the origin of the Twelve Chinese Zodiac Animal Heads, the auctioneer still gave a detailed introduction on stage.
"This item will be auctioned starting at €3 million, with minimum increments of €200,000. The bidding will begin now!"
As the auctioneer spoke, he brought down the gavel, announcing the start of the auction for the rat's head.
"3 million! Number 121 is the first to bid 3 million!"
At the start of the auction, Qin Xiao didn't rush to bid, but waited for the price to slowly rise before making a move against the remaining real competitors.
Soon, the price of the rat head was driven up to a high of 8 million euros.
As the number of participants gradually decreased, Qin Xiao finally raised his sign.
"10 million!"
By immediately raising the price by 2 million, Qin Xiao gave the impression that he was determined to win.
The auctioneer below also gasped in surprise.
"10 million, bidder number 66 has offered 10 million, raising the price by 2 million in one go. It seems Mr. Qin is determined to get this item."
"Recently, Mr. Qin has been making frequent purchases at major auctions, recovering many China relics that had been lost overseas. I personally admire Mr. Qin's national sentiment. However, the auction must continue. Is there anyone who will bid higher than Mr. Qin?"
The auctioneer rattled off a whole bunch of things, nothing more than trying to stir up some anger, slow down the hammer, and raise the price as much as possible.
Qin Xiao merely frowned slightly at this, without saying anything.
"I'll offer 11 million euros!"
Sure enough, after the auctioneer rambled on for a while, bidder number 146 raised his paddle.
Qin Xiao glanced at the bidder, who, like himself, had black hair and dark skin.
Could they be China?
"He is Japan, named Hishiguchi Kohei, the eldest son of Hishiguchi Shunsuke, the major shareholder of Hishiguchi Heavy Industries in Japan. His family has extremely deep connections in the Japan military and the underworld, equivalent to Stark Industries ' position in the United States."
Natasha knew what Qin Xiao was thinking, so she quickly whispered an explanation in his ear.