Chapter 169: Beast Merging

Things had returned to normal. When the citizens had recovered from the long earthquake, it seemed like things were okay now.

Terrence returned to the shop and fixed the tools he had left behind, which he had gotten from his Gacha Pulls.

From one corner, an exclusive area where only he and Stan could enter, Terrence inspected the Merging Incubator. This was his main artifact in this shop—the very machine that gave him beasts so powerful normal people couldn’t even imagine.

All those seemingly ordinary beasts that turned out to be incredibly formidable despite their low rank, he had created right here with the Merging Incubator.

"Bronze... I can still remember the first merged beast I made from this artifact..." Terrence murmured quietly to himself.

Months ago, after Terrence had defeated... or at least put down the Lee Family’s corrupt activities, he established this beast shop using the artifacts he had obtained from his Gacha Pulls.

The Merging Incubator was just a Bronze-tier Artifact, but it promised him a unique benefit he couldn’t get from anywhere else. With just two ordinary beasts, he could create an even more powerful one.

By his side in the inventory array was a normal slime, and on the other was a goblin. Both were F-Rank, so there was nothing to worry about regarding the success rate.

At that time, Stan still hadn’t officially joined the beast shop as manager, but was secretly working on compiling the Beast Index.

"Hm... I see..."

Terrence had summoned the Merging Incubator in the secure corner. It looked deceptively ordinary. He had expected a giant, complex machine, but it looked more like a sleek photocopy machine, except for two distinct holes on opposite sides that resembled vortexes.

After scanning the structure, he gazed at the holographic interface that flickered to life above the Merging Incubator. He finally understood how to initiate the process.

[Registering Beasts...]

[Scanning Beast Spirits in the Area...]

[Tip: You can select beasts directly from the Beast Sanctuary.]

As he continued, the floating interface shifted to display the inner layout of the Beast Sanctuary. Inside were the roaming beasts he had kept, those he had captured after taking down the Lee Family.

[Beasts Identified!]

[F-Rank Ordinary Slime]

[F-Rank Ordinary Goblin]

’So... I don’t have to manually summon them every time I use the incubator...’

Terrence felt relieved and genuinely happy about this discovery.

Soon, he started the merging process.

The two selected beasts were pulled into each of the vortex holes, vacuumed inside in one fluid motion. The Merging Incubator then began humming lightly, pulsing with three alternating colors: Yellow, Light Blue, and White.

’It really operates just like a photocopy machine...’ Terrence thought, watching the glow.

While he didn’t know what the inner fusion mechanism actually looked like, the holographic interface updated before his eyes.

[Merging...]

[Merging...]

[Success Rate: 89%]

[Please Select a Result:]

[E-Rank Slimy Goblin]

[E-Rank Quick Slime]

Terrence stared at the two options that appeared on the screen, nodding slowly as if receiving another sudden enlightenment. He reached out and tapped the Quick Slime option.

The interface updated immediately.

[Time Remaining: 1 hour]

’That fast?’ Terrence’s surprised reaction was completely sincere. He had assumed this fusion process would take much longer, given that this wasn’t a normal artifact found anywhere in this world.

To be precise, this artifact was so out of this world that if other factions discovered its existence, they would wage war to snatch it from him, fighting and killing without hesitation.

So, he made a firm mental promise to himself never to expose the Merging Incubator to the public.

[You can unlock additional slots!]

[Slot 1: Merging...]

[Slot 2: Locked]

[Slot 3: Locked]

[Tip: To unlock slots, you must earn experience through merging. You can aid the fusing process of two beasts to speed up the countdown.]

[Do you wish to aid the process?]

Terrence nodded. The interface immediately transformed into something resembling a mini-game screen. It displayed colorful bubbles rising from the bottom, floating across the screen at random heights before falling back down.

[Hint: Swipe your fingers across the screen to slice and eliminate impurities.]

Following the instruction, Terrence lifted his hand and began slicing through the impurities popping up on the screen.

These light spheres of dark, murky colors represented the impurities within the beasts’ mana. As they appeared, he sliced through them swiftly with his index finger. To be honest, he was actually enjoying this part.

He checked the countdown timer and was elated to see the remaining time dropping rapidly with every successful slice.

[Time Remaining: 56 minutes.]

And so, Terrence kept swiping, aiding the merging process that turned out to be quite simple on his end. If it required manual alchemy or actual beast manipulation that he knew nothing about, he certainly would have failed.

After just fifteen minutes of focused swiping, the countdown hit zero.

[Time Remaining: 0]

Terrence wiped an invisible bead of sweat from his brightened forehead. He was smiling, enjoying the rare feeling of playing a casual game—a simple form of entertainment he hadn’t experienced in as long as he could remember.

With a soft hiss, the Merging Incubator released a plume of cooling steam, and Terrence waited eagerly for the result.

[Beast Sanctuary Updated! You have received an E-Rank Quick Slime.]

Terrence immediately opened the Sanctuary Spatial Anchor Array to locate the Quick Slime. Upon finding it, he couldn’t contain his happiness. The result surpassed his expectations.

The slime appeared far from ordinary. A subtle blur effect surrounded its bright green blob of a body, making it stand out distinctively from the other standard slimes Terrence had captured.

Just observing the creature, Terrence couldn’t help but look forward to everything he could accomplish with this incubator.

’Shit... I’m gonna be rich again...’

And so, Terrence kept using the Merging Incubator, endlessly slicing impurities on the game interface for countless hours until his arms felt utterly exhausted.

[Fusing Experience: 974/1000]

[Next Reward: Slot 2]

Terrence wiped his brow, completely satisfied with his hard work, unable to wait for the next day to arrive.