Chapter 4: The Claw Machine

“Lin Shen, I’m talking to you, didn’t you hear me? Calling you Mr. Lin Shen is

out of respect for your third and fourth uncle, and now you think you’re really

some big shot?” Seeing Lin Shen ignore him, Qi Tianfu said with a snort.

“Today, I really am the big shot, I want all these changed into Claw Egg

Coins.” Lin Shen pulled out a stack of hundred-yuan notes and slapped them

on the counter.

“You think you can act big with just this little money? Who are you looking

down on? I won’t do business with you, get lost.” Qi Tianfu was first taken

aback, then after regaining his composure, he said with a cold snort.

“Is it that you don’t want to do it, or are you scared that I’ll discover your claw

machine has been rigged and you don’t dare do it?” Lin Shen said

unperturbed.

“Who’s saying my claw machine is rigged? My claw machine’s grip is tight,

and the Base Mutation Eggs are of high quality, what do you know?” On

hearing this, Qi Tianfu exploded in rage.

The two’s heated exchange had already drawn sideways glances from the

customers in the shop. Naturally, Qi Tianfu couldn’t take the blame, and

moreover, Lin Shen was indeed wronging him.

“If there’s no trickery, what are you afraid of? Just change the coins then.” Lin

Shen pressed the money down with three fingers and pushed it towards Qi

Tianfu.

“Fine, you want to play, I’ll let you play to your heart’s content.” Qi Tianfu

glared fiercely at Lin Shen, grabbed the money, and pushed a box of Claw

Egg Coins heavily in front of Lin Shen.

Lin Shen took the coins and without another word went straight to the claw

machine that had the Fire Seed Base Mutation Eggs.

At that moment, there was no one at that claw machine. Lin Shen put in the

coins and started to manipulate the joystick.

“Boss, that Lin Shen kid is too arrogant. Should we loosen the claw to show

him the harshness of society?” A shop assistant came over and whispered to

Qi Tianfu.

“Don’t adjust it. I know that scoundrel all too well. He might look harmless and

sunny like a boy next door, but he’s actually very sly. He definitely came here

with no good intentions,” Qi Tianfu thought he had seen through Lin Shen and

coldly snorted, “The moment he came, he deliberately tried to provoke me. If I

loosen the claw now, with so many customers watching him spend a lot of

money and catch nothing, plus with that scoundrel’s racket, it’ll definitely affect

our business. These little tricks are useless in front of me. Let him grab all he

wants. How much can he grab? It will be a good advertisement for us.”

“You’re so wise, boss,” the shop assistant said admiringly.

“Stop sucking up. Just watch here.” Qi Tianfu scolded with a smile and walked

out from behind the counter to stand behind Lin Shen and watch him play the

claw machine.

Lin Shen knew Qi Tianfu was there but didn’t turn to look at him, just kept

playing the machine.

It had to be said that the quality of the Base Mutation Eggs in Qi Tianfu’s claw

machine was indeed better than those in his own shop. In this machine, there

were a total of eight Base Mutation Eggs. Although they were all Steel Mutant

Eggs, the Steel Mutant Eggs also varied in quality.

Strength, speed, hardness, and toughness are important data for assessing

Base Variant Creatures. While it’s true that the maximum value for steel

creatures is ten, most of them do not reach that value. It’s considered pretty

good if they can hit eight or nine, a sort of minor delicacy.

The Base Mutation Eggs mostly used in Lin Shen’s shop were from creatures

like the Iron Horned Beast. Adult Iron Horned Beasts could reach around eight

in speed, and they also had a strength of about seven. However, their

hardness was only a little over five, and with a slightly higher resilience of just

over six, such values were only middle-to-low grade among steel creatures.

The Base Mutation Eggs in this machine came from the Hundred-Refined

Steelclad Beast. Although its speed was slightly on the lower side at just over

five, both strength and hardness were over eight, and some could even reach

nine, with toughness over seven. Its combat strength was far superior to the

Iron Horned Beast’s.

An adult Hundred-Refined Steelclad Beast was as big as an elephant but far

heavier. It could serve as a mount or as a battle pet, and was also extremely

effective in transporting large machinery and materials, making it a quite

practical pet.

In fact, many bases used materials that came from the Hundred-Refined Steel

Beast in their construction. Its value was far above that of the Iron Horned

Beast.

Different claw machines required a different amount of Claw Egg Coins to

play. The machine with the Hundred-Refined Steel Beast Base Mutation Eggs

required four coins to play once, equating to forty yuan for a single attempt—

which was considered quite expensive in Qi Tianfu’s shop.

Lin Shen put in coins and tried a few times. Each time after the Base Mutation

Egg was grabbed, it would drop just as the claw moved towards the exit. After

five tries, he still hadn’t managed to get anything.

“Young Lin Shen, your luck doesn’t seem too good,” Qi Tianfu mocked from

the side.

“People without skills are the ones who need to rely on luck.” Lin Shen didn’t

even look at Qi Tianfu and, saying so, put another four coins in and activated

the claw machine.

“Pfft, if not luck, then what? Are you counting on the Jade Emperor to bless

you?” Qi Tianfu scoffed.

“It can be done with skill,” Lin Shen said, repeatedly rocking the joystick.

At Dark Bird Base, Lin Shen was the first person to open a claw egg shop.

Before him, few people at the base played with such things. Qi Tianfu’s shop

was opened in his wake, having never played before, so his understanding of

the claw machines was far less.

After five tests, Lin Shen had figured out to what setting this claw machine

was adjusted.

Indeed, the claws here were tighter than those in Lin Shen’s shop, which still

presented quite a difficulty for the average person. Based on the set

probability, one could catch a Base Mutation Egg about once in twenty tries.

But that was just the average person’s catch rate. The reason Lin Shen set

the claws so loose, often unable to lift a gene egg, wasn’t to ward off the

regular customers but rather the claw egg masters.

Before opening his shop, Lin Shen had done his research and watched many

videos of claw egg masters. He knew that it wasn’t just a matter of luck. For

masters, something like the tension of the claw made it far too easy to snatch

a Base Mutation Egg.

While Lin Shen wasn’t exactly an incredibly skilled master, he had been

playing before opening his shop. He opened it because he loved to play, so

naturally, he had some skill.

The machine’s claw swayed in rhythm with the movement of the control stick,

and at this moment, the claw was directly above the chute, not positioned over

any Base Mutation Egg.

After the claw swayed to a certain angle, Lin Shen suddenly pressed the catch

button. The claw descended at an angle, perfectly latching onto a Base

Mutation Egg nearby.

The Base Mutation Egg was lifted, but before the claw moved, the egg

dropped down.

However, the original position of the claw was right above the chute, so the

falling egg went straight into the chute and rolled out.

“Flinging the claw!” Qi Tianfu’s expression changed slightly.

He had followed Lin Shen in opening a shop, purely out of a desire to edge

him out, having no real interest in claw eggs. Still, he knew a bit about the

flinging technique, but he hadn’t expected Lin Shen to know it as well.

“You can catch eggs like that?” a young man playing with the machine next to

him exclaimed with wide eyes.

Lin Shen pocketed the Base Mutation Egg he had caught, turned to Qi Tianfu

with a smile, and said, “Xiao Fuzi, I opened a claw egg shop because I love

playing it, while you have no real interest in these things. You rely on luck to

catch eggs, while I rely on skill.”

After speaking, Lin Shen tossed in four more coins and continued to play.

The same operation ensued. With a rhythmic swing of the claw, it descended

at an angle again, grabbing another Base Mutation Egg.

The same scene, the familiar image. The Base Mutation Egg again landed in

the chute.

For Lin Shen, the tension of this claw presented no challenge. Although he

might not always win, he could still achieve a success rate of about fifty to

sixty percent.

In no time, Lin Shen had caught four Base Mutation Eggs, nearly attracting all

the customers in the shop to watch.

Every time Lin Shen caught a Base Mutation Egg, it elicited a gasp from the

crowd.

“So claw eggs can be played like this?”

“I was just playing with loneliness before, is this how you’re supposed to catch

them?”

“…”

Qi Tianfu’s face turned as black as if it had been sprayed with ink. He was

grinding his teeth but couldn’t utter a single word in rebuttal.

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