Colored Egg Store

Alloy Creatures were far more terrifying than Steel Creatures. Apart from being stronger and faster, their metal bodies were also considerably harder and more resilient.

Steel Creatures generally had hardness and resilience ratings between 5 and 10, while Alloy Creatures ranged from 5 to 20. Once their hardness and resilience exceeded 10, even handgun bullets found it difficult to damage them.

That meant that even a Steel Grade Gene Mutator would have a hard time breaking an Alloy Creature's defenses, let alone someone like Lin Shen, who had yet to undergo gene mutation and was not even Steel Grade.

Above Steel Creatures and Alloy Creatures were even more terrifying Crystal Grade Creatures. They rarely appeared near Blackbird Base. Lin Shen had only seen them in recorded footage, though he occasionally spotted Crystal Grade Creature materials or Crystal Gene Eggs in shops. Most of those were high-end goods that had flowed out from large bases.

"Lao Ye, we've gone over the key details enough. Let's leave it here for today." Seeing that night was about to fall, Lin Shen rose and spoke.

"Fifth Brother, we should go over it again. We absolutely cannot afford any mistakes in this matter." Lao Ye frowned slightly.

"That's all I can think of. You know my memory isn't that great—I can't remember too much. I still have something to take care of outside, so let's call it a day." Lin Shen knew Lao Ye was doing this for him and the Lin Family, but he had something even more important to do.

"Fifth Brother, if there's anything you need done, I can arrange for someone to handle it," Lao Ye said.

"Don't worry, Lao Ye. I know what I'm doing." Lin Shen understood what Lao Ye was thinking, but he could only do this himself. Before the shops selling Gene Mutation Eggs closed, he needed to visit them all and see whether he could find any other Fire Seed Gene Mutation Eggs. Even finding just one would be of immense help to him.

"I'll wait here for you to return. I'll think over whether we've missed anything, and we can talk again when you're back." Lao Ye felt helpless.

Lin Shen had no way to explain, so he could only apologize silently before pushing open the door and leaving.

"Fifth Brother was sheltered too well by Third Master and Fourth Master. He has never weathered storms and waves. Now that such a huge matter has suddenly fallen on his shoulders, it truly is hard on him." Watching Lin Shen's figure vanish beyond the door, Lao Ye could not help but sigh. "I hope Third Master and Fourth Master can return soon."

After leaving home, Lin Shen headed straight for the market inside the base. One entire street there was devoted to Gene Mutation Eggs. By his reasoning, if his own Egg Catching Store could contain two Gene Mutation Eggs with Fire Seeds, then after searching an entire street, he ought to find at least a few more.

But after he truly made a full circuit, his mood gradually sank.

He had nearly checked every shop on the street, yet he had not found a single Gene Mutation Egg with mosaic patterns.

Could it really be such a coincidence? The only two Fire Seed Gene Mutation Eggs just happened to be in my shop? That's far too much of a coincidence, isn't it? The more Lin Shen thought about it, the more wrong it felt.

Of the two Fire Seed Gene Mutation Eggs discovered so far, one had only recently arrived, and it was the first time he had seen it. The other had been sitting inside a Claw Crane Machine for a long time without showing anything unusual before. That was exceedingly strange.

After thinking it over and over, Lin Shen could only come up with two possibilities.

One possibility was that Fire Seeds were not always present, and the mosaic could only be seen at certain times.

The other possibility was that Lin Shen himself had not possessed the ability to see Fire Seeds before, but had suddenly gained that ability recently, which was why he could see the mosaic.

For a moment, Lin Shen could not determine which possibility it was.

If he had gained this ability recently, he had not encountered anything unusual lately, nor had he obtained anything special. How could he suddenly have such an ability?

If Fire Seeds only appeared on Gene Mutation Eggs at certain times, that did not seem to hold up either. It was difficult to explain why only he could see Fire Seeds while everyone else saw nothing.

Lin Shen still leaned toward the idea that he had acquired some kind of ability. He just did not know how he had obtained it.

Could it be that I'm extraordinarily gifted, and my hidden talent suddenly awakened? Lin Shen quickly dismissed the thought himself.

There were five Lin siblings, all born to the same parents. If the Lineage truly possessed such an inherited talent, Eldest Sister and the others should have awakened it long ago. It could not possibly have awakened in him alone.

As for talent and ability, Lin Shen felt that he was probably the weakest among the five siblings.

Eldest Sister had possessed an unforgettable memory since childhood. Second Brother's physical talent was unparalleled. He had weighed nine and a half jin at birth, grown to 1.8 meters before reaching ten, and possessed famously formidable physical gifts. Added to that were his unyielding nature and willingness to endure hardship. Before the incident, though he was still young, everyone who saw him addressed him as Second Master. The Lin brothers being honored with the title of "Master" had begun with him.

Third Brother and Fourth Brother were also known for having both high intelligence and high emotional intelligence, while their cultivation talent ranked among the best in Blackbird Base.

Lin Shen, on the other hand, had neither Eldest Sister's gift of never forgetting what he saw nor exceptional intelligence or emotional intelligence. Even when it came to enduring hardship and hard work, he was far inferior to Second Brother. If there truly was some inherited talent, there was no reason it should have been inherited by him alone.

What exactly lets me see those Fire Seeds? Lin Shen racked his brains, yet he could not figure it out.

He had searched every shop on the street and even skipped none of the roadside stalls, but the result left Lin Shen deeply disappointed. He truly had not found a single Fire Seed Gene Mutation Egg.

Could it really be that such a coincidence happened, and the only two Fire Seed Gene Mutation Eggs were both in my shop? Lin Shen did not believe things could truly be that coincidental. The odds were even lower than winning the lottery.

But he had searched the entire street and indeed found no Fire Seed Gene Mutation Eggs. Even if others had stock or private collections, they would not show them to him. There was nowhere else to look.

Suddenly, Lin Shen's eyes lit up. He thought of another place that had a large number of Gene Mutation Eggs.

That was right. The place Lin Shen thought of was the Egg Catching Store next to his own.

Speaking of that Egg Catching Store, Lin Shen felt extremely frustrated.

The reason Lin Shen had opened an Egg Catching Store was that it was easy work and required little effort. Furthermore, the Gene Mutation Eggs in his shop were supplied by his family, making it a business that guaranteed profit without loss.

In truth, his family had not expected Lin Shen to make money. As long as he behaved himself, stayed out of trouble, and remained safe, that was enough.

Lin Shen had named his shop Get Rich Quick, originally hoping to make a fortune from it and earn some spending money. Business had indeed been good for the first few months. Although he had not gotten rich overnight, he had made quite a bit. He could practically earn money lying down.

That was until last month, when an Egg Catching Store called "Colored Egg" opened next door. Lin Shen's good days had come to an end.

Colored Egg Store had acquired plenty of high-quality Gene Mutation Eggs, set the claw strength slightly higher, stocked a full range of varieties, offered Claw Crane Coins at a lower price, and had a spacious, extravagant storefront. Not long after opening, it had stolen away all of Lin Shen's business.

If the shop and the Gene Mutation Eggs had not belonged to his family, Lin Shen would have wanted to close down. He simply could not compete.

There was no saying who was right or wrong in business competition, but according to Lin Shen's observations, based on the Gene Mutation Eggs Colored Egg Store had recently had taken away, it was plainly operating at a loss. Not only was it making no money, it was losing money. It was clearly trying to bleed itself dry just to crush his shop.

What Lin Shen found most unbearable was that Colored Egg Store's owner was actually Qi Tianfu.

That brat Qi Tianfu was from the Qi Family. He and Lin Shen had grown up on the same street and were about the same age, so they could be considered childhood acquaintances.

Yet for some reason, perhaps because they had forged a grudge in a previous life, they had disliked each other since childhood. Neither was willing to concede to the other.

Whatever you had, I had to get it too—and mine had to be better than yours.

They competed over who grew faster and taller, who could pee higher and farther, who could run faster and jump higher, whose girlfriend was prettier. There was nothing they would not compete over. Neither could stand seeing the other do well.

If not for that, Qi Tianfu would not have opened Colored Egg Store right next to Lin Shen's shop.

"What wicked wind blew you, Little Fifth Master of the Lin Family, over here?" A fat man weighing more than two hundred jin sat behind the counter. When he saw Lin Shen enter, he was first taken aback, then narrowed his eyes and smiled as he spoke in a sarcastic, mocking tone.

Lin Shen ignored him and wandered through the shop, his gaze continuously inspecting the Gene Mutation Eggs inside the Claw Crane Machines.

Qi Tianfu's shop was more than two or three times larger than his. Lin Shen's shop only had a dozen or so Claw Crane Machines, while this place had a full forty or fifty. The Gene Mutation Eggs inside came in a dazzling variety, and many machines contained high-quality Gene Mutation Eggs.

Suddenly, Lin Shen's heart gave a violent thump. Inside one Claw Crane Machine, he saw a Fire Seed Gene Mutation Egg wrapped in all manner of colorful mosaic patterns.