Chapter 39: The Treasure in Hand

After carefully examining the chess piece, Liang En began to take out items from the secret chamber one by one, placing them into the storage box he had prepared before coming.

However, as he continued to take out and tally each chess piece from the secret chamber, his excitement gradually turned into astonishment.

Because the wizard's chess set that Harry and Ron played in the first Harry Potter movie was based on the Lewis Chessmen, Liang En had researched this item out of curiosity in the past.

According to the information, a total of 93 artifacts were unearthed from this treasure trove. This included 78 chess pieces, 14 circular chips, and a belt buckle. But the number of items Liang En was now retrieving from the secret chamber clearly exceeded this count.

In the end, Liang En retrieved a total of 149 items. This consisted of 128 chess pieces, 20 circular chips, and a belt buckle, all appearing to be made from animal bones or teeth.

Although these 128 chess pieces didn't appear to originate from the same set, they could form four complete sets of international chess. This treasure trove seemed to be much larger than Liang En's initial impression.

As for the reason behind this discrepancy, it was quite simple. After all, the previous world's treasure discoverer was a farmer who stumbled upon the first chess piece while tending to his cattle.

In addition, more than a hundred years after this discovery, an ordinary British individual found a chess piece in their own home and auctioned it for a sky-high price of tens of thousands of pounds.

These two incidents indirectly suggested something: in Liang En's former world, the hidden chamber in the dunes might have been destroyed for some reason, leading to the loss of some stored items.

In contrast, in this present world, the chamber in the dunes remained entirely sealed. This meant that the preservation condition of the items inside was more intact than in the other world.

As for the value of an entire chess set, Liang En didn't even need to consider it. In the previous world, it was a national treasure of Britain and essentially priceless.

After clearing out everything from the cave and packing it into his bag, the excavation work came to an end. His next task was to process the items he had excavated.

Liang En had previously studied archaeology at university and had brought along various professional tools and substances. Thus, after a simple treatment, he didn't need to worry about causing any unnecessary damage to these chess pieces.

However, on the other hand, things were more complicated. At least from a legal perspective, these items didn't entirely belong to him at the moment. There were other things he needed to do in order to truly claim ownership.

There were subtle legal differences between this world and the previous one. For instance, in both worlds, the Scottish region had regulations that required treasures to be sold to designated museums after excavation.

However, from a legal standpoint, items designated as "treasure" must have a history of at least 300 years and must contain at least 10% gold or silver.

Meanwhile, in the same vein, any other items found at the location of this treasure's discovery, regardless of their material, can be classified as part of the "treasure."

However, in the treasure site that Liang En found, there isn't even any metal present. So, purely from a legal standpoint, it wouldn't even be considered as treasure.

More importantly, in this world, there is an exception in British law. Specifically, the ancient "Treasure Act" still applies to estates owned by nobles that were purchased before 1900 and have remained under their ownership since then.

This implies that individuals who discover treasures in this region aren't required to compulsorily sell the treasures they've found. Instead, after consultation with the owners of those estates, the distribution of these treasures between both parties is decided.

According to this law, the small sculptures that Liang En obtained naturally belong to him. After all, this island is an estate that fits the criteria of the law, and the previous contract also ensured this.

After all, if it weren't for this, no one would pay the expensive fees of £120 for two days, plus an additional £60 for a metal detector, just to come to the island for treasure hunting.

Of course, not all areas on the island are open for digging. For instance, the stone circle on the island, the city and its surroundings, and a few ancient residential areas, together accounting for more than 1/10 of the area, are off-limits for excavation.

This is why he was provided with a small GPS locator when signing the agreement in the town. As soon as one enters a restricted zone, the locator vibrates and emits a buzzing sound, reminding the bearer to leave.

After driving back to Stornoway for about fifteen minutes, Liang En headed directly to the building where he had previously obtained his excavation permit to process the paperwork for his newfound treasures.

It was a partially open room with several staff members sitting around and chatting. After placing his bag on the counter, those individuals merely cast a fleeting glance at him and continued their conversation.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I've found some items. Could you please assist me with the registration?" After waiting for several minutes without any response from them, Liang En could only remind them by speaking up.**

"Hold on, Asian guy," a slightly overweight middle-aged man turned his head towards Liang En and said, "It's just a bunch of junk, so could you wait until we finish chatting?"

"Please do it a bit faster—" Upon hearing this reply, Liang En could only sigh helplessly and retake his seat. Evidently, these individuals were a bunch of racial discriminators.**

As an Asian, encountering such people in Europe or America wasn't uncommon; it could even be considered the norm.

Of course, actual instances of violent attacks or direct insults from racial supremacists were rare, as engaging in such activities would easily expose them to legal consequences. Nonetheless, using their influence to create some obstacles was a quite common behavior.

While confronting such people directly might be satisfying, in the current situation with the valuable treasures on hand, getting into a conflict with them would be counterproductive. Thus, Liang En simply sat down on a nearby chair and started scrolling through his phone.

While these administrative staff members were indeed prejudiced, they were restrained by regulations and couldn't go too far. So, after leaving him hanging for about seven or eight minutes, someone finally stood up to help Liang En with the paperwork required to take these items.

Due to the island's regulations, the employees here didn't need to possess the skill of authenticating antiques. Moreover, since this batch of treasures didn't contain precious metals, gemstones, or any racial discrimination from the staff, they swiftly went through the process of registration and handed both the documents and the items back to Liang En.

"Some crude international chess pieces. That Asian guy seems to have picked up discarded plastic toys from a landfill and is treating them like treasures—" As Liang En exited the room, he heard a slightly scornful and sarcastic remark from behind, accompanied by laughter filled with mockery.**

"It's like father, like son," Liang En muttered under his breath in Chinese as he left, a disdainful smile appearing on his face.**

After all, this estate had belonged to Sir Malcolm Macdonald since the late 19th century, a notorious opium trafficker with a scandalous history of smuggling opium to China. From this perspective, it was understandable that those employees were just as much trash as the treasures.

After completing the procedures, Liang En took the next ferry back to Stornoway. Since it was already getting dark, he decided to stay the night here and leave the next day.

Due to the significant gains this time, Liang En indulged himself and spent fifteen pounds to enjoy a good meal at a restaurant in town.

Unfortunately, due to his lack of appetite for the famous Scottish dish "haggis," a stuffed sheep's stomach, his dinner consisted only of a common steak with pasta.

After finishing dinner, Liang En returned to his lodging. It was only at this moment that he had the time to inspect the cards he had acquired earlier.