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.