144 Chartering a Luxury Yacht for the Auction

Everyone makes various plans: not to stay up late tonight, to wake up early tomorrow to write, or to go hiking once a week. However, when the time comes to act, people often forget the very plans they made. Li Daniu used to be such a person—talking big but remaining unchanged when the moment of truth arrived. But since his transmigration, he had become accustomed to letting actions speak louder than promises or plans.

Once he decided to start his own auction house, Li Daniu got to work immediately. The sooner it was completed, the sooner the funds would arrive—and the sufficiency of those funds was directly linked to the development of New Tuvalu. A mere airport project with a two-billion-dollar investment would take three to four years to build under normal circumstances, not to mention other projects. Li Daniu did not want to wait that long. If funds were abundant, a single airport project could be broken down into seven or eight smaller tasks, subcontracted to different construction teams, or the teams could be required to increase their manpower and equipment. Moreover, other projects could be carried out simultaneously; one shouldn't have to wait for one project to finish before starting another. While the Great Wall wasn't built in a day, there was a limit to construction speed, and Li Daniu did not want the pace of New Tuvalu's development to fall too far behind that limit due to financial constraints.

Starting an auction house was simple: he just needed to register it. Registering a company in Tuvalu was a matter of a single word from Li Daniu. However, this first auction could not be held in Tuvalu. Putting aside whether the wealthy would even be willing to come, Tuvalu lacked the capacity to host them. And even if they did come, how could their safety be guaranteed? The people most afraid of death in this world are often the wealthy.

After researching several developed cities, Li Daniu encountered another problem: taxes. Even if his auction house was registered in his own country, holding the event in another nation would inevitably require establishing a subsidiary there. It was like how TC Entertainment’s country of registration had changed to Tuvalu, but in the United States, it functioned as TC Entertainment’s American subsidiary. Otherwise, you couldn't conduct any business at all. Establishing a subsidiary meant paying taxes. Sotheby’s is a world-class auction house, but it still has Sotheby’s Hong Kong, which pays significant taxes to the local government annually. Paying taxes would not only mean losing a large sum of money, but it would also require disclosing financial reports to the local government. All the jewelry and ornaments were Li Daniu’s own; if he had to disclose financial statements, it would be easy for others to discover that all the proceeds from the auction went straight into his own pocket. How would he explain that? Li Daniu was not yet at the point where he didn't need to explain himself to anyone.

Therefore, the auction location had to be somewhere else. After searching online, Li Daniu made a call to Castro.

"Your Majesty, do you have any instructions?" Castro answered the phone, sounding remarkably energetic.

"Huh? Why are you up so early? Isn't it the middle of the night in the United States?"

Castro was speechless. He wasn't up early; he had just forced himself to wake up upon seeing Li Daniu’s call. Li Daniu was just making casual conversation and wasn't waiting for an answer, so he continued, "Help me contact a cruise line. I plan to rent a cruise ship for seven days."

"No problem, Your Majesty. How large of a ship do you need?"

Li Daniu thought for a moment and said, "Start by contacting the largest ones. If the biggest isn't available, move to the second largest, and so on. But there are two requirements: first, the capacity cannot be less than two thousand people; second, it must be capable of sailing into international waters."

After hearing these requirements, Castro slapped himself hard, wondering if he were dreaming. The sharp pain, however, forced him to believe that what Li Daniu said was real. The largest in the world? A capacity of at least two thousand? Why would he rent such a massive cruise ship? While wealthy people liked to head out to sea with a group of bikini-clad beauties, even the most extravagant would only bring a few dozen people at most. Could it be that His Majesty, being a bachelor, was just too lonely and planned to bring two thousand bikini-clad beauties at once?

Castro gathered his thoughts and asked, "Your Majesty, what is the purpose of renting such a large ship? The cruise company will certainly ask."

"Oh, I’m planning to start an auction house and hold an event. I think if it’s hosted on a luxury cruise ship, it will definitely make a name for itself instantly. And don't you think that’s high-end? The ocean, a luxury ship, jewelry, and even bikini-clad beauties—all these elements combined will surely make those wealthy people spend money like water during my first auction."

*Those wealthy people? You are one of the wealthy people,* Castro thought. Although he couldn't grasp the logic of the ultra-rich, he was very diligent in executing Li Daniu's orders. After hanging up, Castro began searching for information and, once the time was appropriate, started making calls one by one.

After a day of inquiries, Castro gave Li Daniu a clear answer. "Your Majesty, among the cruise ships currently in service, only three meet your requirements. The largest is the *Independence of the Seas*, with a capacity of 4,375 passengers. It also features a large theater that could serve as the main venue for the auction."

"How much for a seven-day rental?"

"Eight million dollars. They can sail into international waters and provide technical and service support. However, we must book it at least a month and a half in advance."

*Damn, that's expensive,* Li Daniu thought. He remembered that such cruise ships cost at most a billion dollars to build; at over a million dollars a day, they would pay for themselves in just a few years. In reality, these ships weren't as profitable as he imagined. Aside from the fact that they ran fixed routes and weren't always full, the annual maintenance costs and staff expenses were staggering. Li Daniu’s seven-day rental fee wouldn't even cover a year of their maintenance costs.

"Fine, let's go with that one. Book it for seven days, a month and a half from now." Although he felt it was expensive, the thought of the auction proceeds put his mind at ease. Perhaps after selling the jewelry, he’d have enough spare cash to buy one himself.

After handing over the cruise rental to Castro, Li Daniu went back to headhunting. He contacted the recruitment firm that had helped him previously, and within a day, they delivered the profiles of many elites in the auction industry. After screening them, Li Daniu selected a general manager with an excellent reputation and lured him over with a high salary. As for the other positions needed for the auction house, that would be the general manager's problem.

In three days, the auction location and staff were secured. This wasn't because of Li Daniu's efficiency, but the efficiency of money. Next was the issue of promotion. To get the wealthy to come and spend, he had to let them know how enticing the auction items were. Unfortunately, Li Daniu couldn't bring out all his jewelry at once.

He went for a dive, retrieved his hidden jewelry, and selected a piece that looked similar to the necklace that had previously sold for over two hundred million dollars. It was nearly the most valuable item in his collection, and he planned to make it the star of the show. He called his technical advisor at TC Jewelry—a former GIA appraiser named Martin. Within a day, Martin and a team from the GIA arrived in Tuvalu. Since this wasn't a private deal, all items required certification from a reputable institution like the GIA.

The final valuation for this piece was 240 million dollars. That was just the market price; if it went to auction, exceeding that by ten or twenty million wouldn't be a problem at all. After paying the appraisal fees, Li Daniu hired professionals to photograph the piece and posted it on his EyeBook page along with the appraisal certificate.

"November 9th, the first TC Auction House jewelry auction in Tuvalu. I'll be waiting for you. Also, if anyone has jewelry they wish to auction, please contact me or TC Auction House. Details can be found at www.TC-Auction.com."

Of course, an EyeBook ad alone wouldn't reach the expected effect, so Li Daniu arranged for TC Entertainment to begin purchasing almost every high-end advertising slot globally for the next month and a half. The theme of the ad was: "Wealthy? Come to this auction for her."