Mercenary’s War
Chapter 1200 - 1200 One Thousand One Hundred Eighty-Three A Kindred Spirit

1200: Chapter One Thousand One Hundred Eighty-Three: A Kindred Spirit 1200: Chapter One Thousand One Hundred Eighty-Three: A Kindred Spirit Seven box cannons, by rights, already belonged to Gao Yang, but before confirming that all the guns were functional and, as Federer claimed, all accessories were original, the procedure couldn’t be completed, and payment couldn’t be made.

The transaction could only be completed after test firing and verification.

For antique guns, the difference between functional and non-functional could mean sky-high price variations, and it’s crucial that all parts be original.

Otherwise, the value would differ by several times.

Federer’s gun prices are very high, far exceeding the market rate, so even without Gao Yang’s request, Federer had to take the initiative to disassemble the guns for Gao Yang to inspect their interior condition.

Now that Gao Yang wanted to go to the shooting range with him, the verification would naturally be done there after arriving.

Since the guns still belonged to Federer, he carefully collected them all, packed them well, and since there was no need to set up the stall anymore, he packed up and was ready to go home.

Feeling excited, Gao Yang temporarily left the gun show and drove, following Federer’s car all the way to the suburbs of Los Angeles.

Federer had a large house in the suburbs.

After inviting Gao Yang and the others into his home, Federer wasted no time in leading them straight to his collection room.

Federer had dedicated his life to collecting Mauser C96s, so his collection room was nothing less than a treasure trove for Gao Yang and the others.

There were roughly a hundred box cannons of various kinds, both original Mauser models and replicas, all stored in glass cabinets made of bulletproof glass, serving both as display counters and secure safes.

Just these glass display cabinets were quite expensive.

Jack said that Federer is the biggest collector of Mauser C96s, and that statement was indeed true.

Seeing the room full of box cannons was a huge visual impact on Gao Yang and the others.

Only because Federer spent his life collecting could he gather so many different types of guns, otherwise it wouldn’t have been easy.

After leading Gao Yang to the collection room, Federer proudly said, “Please have a look.

If you like any, feel free to take it out for a closer look.

There are no two identical guns here; even if they are the same model, there are subtle differences in the year of production and details.”

In a separate cabinet, there was a pistol with a piece of paper underneath that had written details about the gun.

Gao Yang stood in front of the cabinet, glanced at it, and turned to Federer in astonishment: “Is this gun a prototype version?”

Federer, with a proud face, said: “Exactly, a prototype test gun, can be fired, original parts.”

Seeing Gao Yang’s surprised face, Federer smiled like a child who had satisfied his vanity, stood next to Gao Yang, and proudly said: “Would you like to take it out and have a look?”

Gao Yang was momentarily stunned, then quickly replied: “I would certainly like to have a look, if that’s possible.”

Federer gestured with his hand and laughed, “This is my treasure, but you are allowed to see it.

Just a moment, I will get it for you.

Please wait; I will go get the keys.”

Federer briskly went to get the keys to the safe.

During this time, Jack said with a smile to Gao Yang: “Mr.

Federer really sees you in a different light.

You should know, he never lets anyone touch his precious collection.

Mr.

Federer is recognized as the top collector in this field.

He could practically open a museum of Mauser-manufactured weapons; nobody has a more complete collection than him.”

Gao Yang also felt quite fortunate.

After all, allowing private gun ownership, especially where guns are rampant, is a huge problem for public safety, but for gun enthusiasts and collectors, it’s a blessing.

Only in America could there be great collectors like Federer, because in other countries, even if private gun ownership is permitted, stricter regulations make many guns outright prohibited for private ownership.

It didn’t take long before Federer returned with a bunch of keys, opened the glass display, and first took out his most precious prototype gun.

A prototype gun symbolizes the initial stage of a gun’s development from nonexistence to existence; there’s really nothing special about using it, it’s mainly about sentiment and collection value.

Gao Yang took the gun in his hands, played with it for a moment, aimed, and imagined what it felt like when people first made this gun over a hundred years ago.

Gao Yang didn’t even ask Federer if he would sell the prototype gun, because he knew it was impossible; such a question needn’t even be asked.

While Gao Yang was looking at the guns, Mr.

Federer chuckled and said, “I originally planned to establish a private museum solely to display all light weapons from Mauser, primarily focused on the Mauser C96.

However, too few people are interested in this model, making the circle too niche, and the cost of maintaining a museum is high, so I think this wish is unlikely to be fulfilled.”

The Mauser C96, or the ‘box cannon’ as it is called in Huaxia, is truly well-known to everyone there, but outside Huaxia, including its country of origin, Germany, not many people pay attention to this model.

Although there are some enthusiasts, compared to the M1911 or P08 and P38, there are far fewer players.

Mr.

Federer seemed a bit melancholic, and after speaking, he waved his hand in resignation and smiled, “I’ve dedicated my life to collecting C96s, including my financial resources.

Everything in this room, I would never sell.

It hasn’t been easy gathering these guns, and when I die one day, who knows where they’ll end up.

Ah, what does it matter.”

Gao Yang thought for a moment, then cautiously asked, “Do you have children?”

Mr.

Federer nodded and laughed, “Yes, I have two daughters and two sons, but they don’t like my collection.

I guess they’ll keep a few pieces as mementos, and the rest, well, they’ll probably be sold off in a fire sale.”

After speaking, Mr.

Federer shrugged helplessly, saying, “Life is just like this, actually we shouldn’t think too much, right?

It’s already quite selfish to invest so much in our own hobbies, let alone expect our families to continue paying for these hobbies after we die.”

Mr.

Federer seemingly was over seventy years old, and the problems he worried about were indeed very realistic.

Gao Yang didn’t know how to respond, so he could only remain silent.

After handling the original gun for a while, Gao Yang handed the gun back to Mr.

Federer with both hands.

Mr.

Federer, the old principled man, liked how Gao Yang looked and allowed him to admire and handle his treasures.

After Gao Yang carefully returned the gun to Mr.

Federer, who completely ignored Jack and Li Jinfang on the side, he immediately placed the gun in a glass cabinet, carefully adjusted its position, and then promptly locked the cabinet.

The old child, Mr.

Federer now behaved like an old child; everything was fine with Gao Yang who he took a liking to, laughing and joking, but he ignored everyone else.

Gao Yang thought Mr.

Federer was very cute, but from Cui Bo and Li Jinfang’s perspective, they found him quite detestable.

Morgan, Taylor, and Jack were thoroughly left out.

Although they loved guns too, a glance was enough; it wasn’t necessary to keep staring endlessly.

Luckily, Mr.

Federer’s wife was a sincere person and warmly invited them to the living room for some coffee to wait for Gao Yang.

Cui Bo and Li Jinfang were also quite interested in the ‘box cannon.’ Although not valued by Mr.

Federer, the two followed along and continued observing.

And Yelena, she was always beside Gao Yang, keenly listening to the conversations between Mr.

Federer and Gao Yang.

In front of every gun, Mr.

Federer found himself explaining to Gao Yang, able to recount the origins of each piece, and Gao Yang, who could recognize just the especially common ones, managed to engage in a good conversation with Mr.

Federer about a particular gun; thus, Gao Yang gained quite a bit of knowledge while Mr.

Federer found a great listener.

True appreciators are hard to find.

Self-entertaining collectors exist, but the majority of collectors definitely hope for more like-minded people to discuss and admire the collection together, hear others genuinely compliment their treasures, and exchange experiences and insights; this truly is one of the joys of collecting.

The more Mr.

Federer looked at Gao Yang, the more he liked him, feeling a kindred spirit.

Excitedly, Mr.

Federer waved his hand grandly towards the guns in the room and laughed, “Gao, you know, I picked out the best ones to display here.

Nonetheless, I have many more of the same model.

The ones I sold to you were just the surplus ones that were still in good condition.

Now, anything extra I have is up for sale, take your time and pick a few you like later.”

Gao Yang laughed and said, “Great, today I’m really in for a big harvest.

I don’t even know what to say, all I can say is that today is my lucky day.”

Finally, after Gao Yang had seen all the guns displayed in the glass cabinet, Mr.

Federer gestured for him to follow and said, “Come with me, to my storage room.

There are many more guns there, and any you like, I can sell!”

Although Mr.

Federer was selling guns and not giving them away, when he said this, it appeared he made a great decision, and he clearly looked reluctant.

Gao Yang, although not really a collector yet, only a hobbyist, profoundly understood Mr.

Federer’s feelings.

For Gao Yang, any gun that ended up in his collection was definitely liked, and he would never consider selling it.

Though not young anymore, Mr.

Federer walked steadily and briskly led Gao Yang and the others out of the house, to a specially dehumidified basement.

Pointing at the crates packed inside, he loudly said, “The rest are all here, about two hundred sixty or more.

Gao, take your time to appreciate them, then pick a few guns you like, and we’ll go have some fun shooting!” (To be continued.

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