You're Here to Stock Up, Aren't You?

"Get me a cart." After switching between several Claw Crane Machines, Lin Shen had caught too many Gene Mutation Eggs to carry. He had a clerk bring over a cart. Aside from the one he slipped into his pocket, he placed all the rest inside.

Before long, Lin Shen had caught nearly all the Hundred Refinements Steel Beast Gene Mutation Eggs from several nearby Claw Crane Machines.

Without hesitation, Lin Shen switched to another machine and kept catching. The crowd moved along with him, most of them hoping to learn his egg-catching techniques.

It wasn't as though no one from Blackbird Base had ever wanted to practice egg catching and make a fortune off Lin Shen's store. But Blackbird Base had no manufacturers capable of producing Claw Crane Machines. The machines had to be transported from outside bases, and the journey was fraught with danger. Ordinary people simply had no chance to get one for themselves to practice with.

In truth, as long as one had enough opportunities to practice, learning the Fling Claw technique was not particularly difficult.

"Damn it, did you come here to stock up?" Watching the cart nearly fill with Gene Mutation Eggs, Qi Tianfu cursed Lin Shen viciously in his heart, his face darker than the bottom of a pot.

"Boss, this can't go on. If he keeps catching like this, we'll lose our shirts. How about we adjust the machine Lin Shen is using first?" his trusted clerk whispered beside Qi Tianfu.

"Do it. Lower the claw tightness by two levels." Qi Tianfu could no longer stand Lin Shen's infuriating face. The words seemed to squeeze out through clenched teeth.

The clerk hurriedly took out the remote and secretly adjusted the tightness from afar.

This time, when Lin Shen sent out the claw, it only lifted the Gene Mutation Egg a tiny distance before loosening its grip. Even using the Fling Claw technique, he failed to catch it. Many onlookers sighed inwardly in regret.

He tried twice more, with the same result both times. The claw simply could not lift the egg high enough to drop it into the exit.

By now, even the watching customers could tell that the claw had obviously become looser. It could not pick anything up at all.

"What's the point of playing now? The owner is too damn shameless. How are we supposed to play when he's loosened the claw this much?" Quite a few people muttered under their breaths.

Lin Shen turned to glance at Qi Tianfu. Seeing Qi Tianfu raise his brows smugly, as though saying, I loosened the claw. What the hell can you do about it?

"What are you looking at? Are you still catching or not?" Qi Tianfu said with a curl of his lip.

"Of course I am." Lin Shen smiled faintly at him, without the slightest sign of anger, then pinched the joystick and turned it counterclockwise.

No one quite understood. With the claw already this loose, wasn't continuing just throwing money away?

As the joystick turned, the claw inside the glass case began to swing violently. Suddenly, one of the three hooks caught on the connecting wire between the claw and the machine's top box, tilting the claw at an angle.

At that very instant, Lin Shen pressed the button again. The swaying claw descended and grabbed a Gene Mutation Egg beside the exit. As it rose, the tilted claw nudged the egg, which had only just lifted a little, into the exit compartment.

For a moment, everyone stood dumbstruck. Even Qi Tianfu's eyes widened.

"Little brother, if you want to run an Egg Catching Store, you've still got a lot to learn." Lin Shen took out the Gene Mutation Egg and placed it in the cart.

Qi Tianfu was so furious his lungs nearly exploded. He snatched the remote from the clerk and adjusted the claw to its loosest setting.

"Catch one, then. If you can catch another one, I'll take your surname." Qi Tianfu was nearly mad with rage, swearing viciously to himself.

Who would have expected Lin Shen to suddenly stretch lazily, then step over to the next Claw Crane Machine, insert coins, jiggle the joystick twice, and press the catch button.

Qi Tianfu did not even have time to react or make an adjustment before another Gene Mutation Egg was caught.

"Dog... This dog bastard is too damn shameless." Qi Tianfu was so angry he nearly lost his mind. His teeth ground with a creak as his fingers repeatedly slammed the remote's buttons, nearly crushing it.

Yet Lin Shen had no intention of trying a second time. He moved to another Claw Crane Machine and swiftly inserted coins to catch eggs.

Under Qi Tianfu's murderous stare, he forcibly caught another Gene Mutation Egg.

Thus, an absurd scene unfolded inside the Egg Catching Store. Lin Shen kept switching machines and catching Gene Mutation Eggs, while the enraged Qi Tianfu could no longer care about anything else and desperately hammered the remote. Only after nearly every Claw Crane Machine had been adjusted to its loosest setting did the farce finally end.

The Gene Mutation Eggs Lin Shen had caught were piled like a small mountain in the cart, while the box still contained plenty of chips.

"I'm tired. I'll come stock up again next time. Refund the rest of my coins." Lin Shen casually stuffed the box of chips into Qi Tianfu's hands, then patted him on the shoulder. "Little brother, put in more good stuff next time. I caught for half the day and only got this much junk. It isn't even enough for one month's consumption on my side."

"Refund him." Qi Tianfu wanted nothing more than to leap up and give Lin Shen two resounding slaps across the face, but with so many customers present, he could only swallow his shattered teeth into his belly and endure it. He had someone exchange Lin Shen's remaining Claw Crane Coins for cash.

"I'll borrow the cart. I'll send it back later. You know I'm right next door, I'm not going anywhere." Lin Shen pushed the cart full of Gene Mutation Eggs outside. Reaching the door, he added to the watching customers, "If you want to exchange egg-catching techniques, come visit my Get Rich Quick Egg Catching Store. My claws may not be especially tight, but they won't change no matter who plays. If you've got the skill, catch as much as you like."

With that, Lin Shen pushed the cart away without looking back.

The moment Lin Shen left, the customers in the store also rushed out in a wave, leaving not a single person behind.

Anyone could see that the machines in this store had all been adjusted to their loosest setting. Catching eggs now was no different from throwing money into water.

"You dog bastard, I won't let you off!" Qi Tianfu finally could not hold it in any longer and jumped up, cursing aloud.

Lin Shen did not look back. He turned and entered his own Egg Catching Store, handing the cart to the utterly bewildered Zhao Li.

"These Gene Mutation Eggs are all pretty good quality. Put two or three in each Claw Crane Machine." After giving the dazed Zhao Li those instructions, Lin Shen left the store on his own.

When he returned home, Lin Shen did not see Lao Ye and assumed he had already left. To his surprise, Lao Ye came in from outside and casually shut the front gate behind him.

Lin Shen immediately understood. Lao Ye must have secretly followed him to Qi Tianfu's Colored Egg Store.

"Lao Ye, you saw what happened just now?" Lin Shen asked.

Lao Ye nodded. "These are extraordinary times. Nothing can go wrong. I was afraid something might happen to you, so I followed you. Fourth Master often said you were proficient in everything from eating and drinking to pleasure and amusement. I used to think Fourth Master meant it with a little disappointment that iron had failed to become steel. But after today, I realized that was probably not what he meant. Fourth Master was actually praising you. If I hadn't followed you today, I would never have imagined that a Claw Crane Machine contained so many tricks."

Lin Shen smiled. "We're family, Lao Ye. You don't need to put it so tactfully. Among us brothers, I'm the least talented and the least disciplined. My only virtue is that I like good food, good drink, and novel toys. That hardly counts as a virtue."

"Playing is not all the same." Lao Ye shook his head, but did not continue the subject. After a moment's thought, he said, "Still, now is not the best time to strike at Qi Tianfu. Even if one Egg Catching Store goes under, it won't have much impact on the Qi Family. We should deal with the trouble in front of us first."

"Then let's go over tomorrow's details again." Lin Shen knew Lao Ye meant that they should not lose sight of the big picture over a small matter, but he did not explain, because this matter truly was difficult to explain.

The two went over every detail repeatedly. Near midnight, Lin Shen said to Lao Ye, "Go get some rest. We've got a hard battle tomorrow, so we need to be well-rested to face it."

"I'll sleep in the living room." Lao Ye wanted to say more, but seeing Lin Shen yawning repeatedly, he could only let it go.

Lin Shen nodded and returned to his room. Lying on the bed, he took the Mosaic Gene Mutation Egg from his clothes and examined it over and over, but still could not find what was wrong with it.

"Hopefully, tomorrow will bring a good result." Lin Shen's eyelids drooped. Hugging the Gene Mutation Egg, he fell into a deep sleep.