Chapter 78: Mimic

As the deal was made, Zhi Yan cracked her knuckles and turned briskly to business mode right away. “Alright, whatever we need is already here—cages, labs, reinforced rooms, computers, storage. What we lack are two things: stock and manpower.”

Her voice took on a commanding tone. “Let’s not waste too much time dilly-dallying. Liu Liu, I want you to visit wholesalers and get proper price estimates for the ordinary ingredients—herbs, minerals, and feedstock. Then go through guild channels for rare ingredients you’ll need for medicinal baths or advanced training formulas. And Classmate Lin… No, President Lin…” she turned to him with sharp eyes, “your focus is monster eggs. I need a stock of ten to fifteen different types, at least five of each. I remember Li Xue gave you her business card, right? Visit her store to find them. I hope you can get a preference discount because of your relationship with her. And of course, we’ll need live monsters for rentals, too. Later, we’ll establish partnerships with wholesalers for pet food and meat distribution.”

Zhi Yan then turned to the giant cow demon at last. “Nebula… I know that you would like to be with your master all the time. But for the sake of your master, it is better if you stay behind and do not follow him outside. Your physique itself attracts too much attention, and we don’t know who will find your true identity. When they do, your master will face danger. So, it is best if you stay here and protect your master’s abode.”

The cow demon blinked twice at her, but then looked at Lin Fang. “Master?”

Lin Fang glanced at Zhi Yan and then at Nebula before giving a silent nod.

Zhi Yan clapped her hands once. “Alright. Enough talk. Let’s get moving.”

To accomplish the task he was given, Lin Fang hopped onto his motorcycle. Just before revving the engine, he muttered under his breath, “Best if I call her first.” He pulled out his phone and dialed Li Xue.

On the other end, her voice carried a hint of surprise. “Already? We just separated a couple of hours ago. What’s up? You coming to the guild?”

“No, I’m heading to your store now. Can you come?” Lin Fang replied simply.

There was a pause, then a cheerful laugh escaped from the other side. “Alright. I’m free anyway. Go straight to Golden Trail Co. I’ll meet you there.”

An hour later, Lin Fang arrived at the wholesale giant, Golden Trail Co., which spanned across five hundred thousand square feet over three levels. The logo above the glass-fronted entrance shimmered faintly with mana inscriptions, likely protective wards against theft and beast interference.

She was already waiting at the entrance by the time he parked. Lin Fang noted it silently—by all logic, his store was closer, yet she’d beaten him here. He didn’t ask, though.

“Let’s go,” Li Xue said briskly, leading the way.

Inside, the sheer variety nearly overwhelmed him.

On the first level, entire aisles were dedicated to pet accessories—rows of collars, leashes, harnesses, and muzzles that ranged from ordinary leather to enchanted steelthread that resisted corrosion. Shelves brimmed with soft bedding, pet crates, and mana-imbued carriers. There were grooming kits with self-cleaning brushes, enchanted nail trimmers, fur-polishing oils, and even mana dryers for larger beasts.

The second level was even larger, stocked with consumables. The food section stretched endlessly—plant-based formulas for herbivores, protein-rich blends for carnivores, specialized aquatic feeds, and balanced omnivore packs. They had frozen cuts of exotic monster meat in refrigerated displays, canned nutrient blocks, and sacks of dry feed infused with minor vitality runes. Separate aisles featured supplements and restorative tonics. Another section displayed clothing for the pets.

The third level was where things truly became serious. Weapons and equipment for battle beasts lined the reinforced walls: steel claws of varying sizes, armor sets forged with lightweight alloys, sensory enhancers for vision and hearing, beacon collars for tracking, even mana-resonant signal flares designed to recall a beast mid-combat. Rows of shelves displayed pet toys too—squeaky chew bones sat right next to enchanted training balls.

Finally, at the farthest section of the third level, a restricted access zone awaited them. Behind reinforced glass walls and guarded by staff were the eggs.

Lin Fang’s breath caught as he witnessed hundreds of types, displayed neatly in incubator pods, each labeled with glowing tags that listed species, rank, and breeding origin. The shells gleamed in every shade imaginable—striped, speckled, opaque, or faintly translucent with the shadows of tiny, unborn creatures inside.

Li Xue gestured at the vast collection with an easy smile. “As you can see, some of these come from our own breeding grounds. The labels will tell you how much bulk you can order at once. Others are supplied by independent breeders, explorers, freelance tamers and hunters, and of course, guild consignments.”

She tapped a nearby console, pulling up a holographic display of an egg’s details. “You select what species you want and how many. The availability and delivery dates will be listed. If Golden Trail fails to deliver by the committed date, we return your advance plus fifty percent compensation.”

Lin Fang nodded slowly, still staring at the shelves. He could already see profit margins, system opportunities, and future risks swimming before his eyes.

As she continued to explain the store policies—minimum bills, bulk order requirements, delivery guarantees—Lin Fang stopped in his tracks at a particular egg in the Unknown Section. Unlike the polished, uniform shells around it, this one was the size of his fist, oddly fragile-looking, with streaks of multicolored patterns scattered over it like a careless painting.

He blinked. “Eh? A legendary grade?”

Unknown

Grade: Legendary

Potential: Level-1

“A legendary grade… with zero potential?” the holographic display read. The contradiction pulled his attention instantly.

“This one,” Lin Fang pointed, “you only have one of these?”

Li Xue followed his gaze and nodded. “Yes. As you see, it’s labeled Unknown. That means it isn’t registered in any official monster database. We occasionally acquire eggs like this—usually from ruins or explorers who couldn’t identify the species. The risk is high. Either you end up with a variant no one’s ever seen before… or,” she shrugged lightly, “it stays a yolk forever. Never fertilized.”

Her expression grew serious. “To be honest, nine out of ten of these end up unfertilized. We can’t throw them away, so we sell them at a flat 10,000 credits each. If luck favors you, you get something incredible. If not, you’re left with nothing.”

Lin Fang glanced at the adjacent Unknown Egg. A quick scan labeled it as Unfertilized. He nodded thoughtfully and then pointed back at the fragile, multicolored one. “I’ll take this.”

Li Xue arched an eyebrow but didn’t argue. She wondered whether he saw something in it or was just trying his luck.

Lin Fang inspected further, picking up two more from the Unknown section. Both are registered as Rare grade with Commander-tier potential—a far better gamble.

Finally, he returned to the bulk stock shelves. He carefully selected ten different types of generic monster eggs, each with stable demand and reliable growth prospects. His order sheet showed a bulk request of 20 eggs per type—200 eggs total. These will be the normal ones, while the direwolf eggs will be the premium.

From there, they moved to the Spirit Core Section on the same level. The shelves glowed faintly, each case containing spirit cores of varying density and hue. Rather than being categorized by monster species, the cores were arranged by element and tier—fire, water, wind, earth, light, dark, and so on, each subdivided into Normal, Rare, Elite, and higher grades.

Li Xue, noticing his gaze, offered an explanation. “Spirit cores are the natural elixir for many monsters. Once a monster reaches its mature stage—usually within six months to a year—it can no longer advance just by nutritional food. They must depend on comptaible spirit cores to gain levels.”

Lin Fang nodded. He knew this. In fact, he already had dozens of them stored in his system inventory, ones he intended to sell later at a premium. Still, when he glanced at the price tags, he grimaced. Even at wholesale rates, a Normal-tier spirit core costs a staggering 5,000 credits. Higher tiers escalated from there.

Without another glance, he bypassed the section entirely and walked toward the meat and provisions floor.

By the time he was done, Lin Fang had purchased stock from all three levels of Golden Trail Co. The bill totaled nearly 500,000 credits, of which he paid 50% upfront. The scheduled delivery was set for seven days later—except for the single item he carried with him: the strange Unknown Egg he had chosen earlier.

Tucking the egg safely inside his backpack, strapped across his chest for extra protection, Lin Fang bid farewell to Li Xue and left the wholesale center.

Not long after, he pulled over to an empty roadside, making sure no one was around. From the front pouch of his bag, he carefully lifted the multicolored, fragile egg. With a steady breath, he placed it into his System Inventory.

“Open system character interface,” he murmured instead of spilling his blood on the egg.

A translucent holographic screen materialized before his eyes. His fingers scrolled until he found the Spirit Collection Function. He tapped the plus icon, opening the inventory grid. Selecting the Unknown Egg, he clicked confirm.

The egg shimmered faintly before dissolving into light, vanishing from his inventory, and a cascade of notifications started ringing out:

Ding! You successfully collected the spirit.

[You discovered a new beast: Mimic.]

[Mimic is Legendary Grade.]

[You receive 10,000 Coins as a reward.]

*Ding!

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