Chapter 883: How to Use the Starfish Ornaments

"Wait, can we take care of this outside the store?"

Some black-masked men blocked the Fat Man's path, and the red-masked man turned to look at Lin Ye.

He had to consider Lin Ye's stance on the matter.

"As long as you don't disrupt normal business, it's none of my concern. But I'd advise you not to start anything too close to the store."

Lin Ye wasn't a babysitter for his customers, and customers couldn't stay in the store forever. This kind of situation could only be resolved by the parties involved themselves.

"Fat Man, hand over the Starfish Ornament and I'll let you walk away. That's what the boss wants."

The red-masked man waved his hand, signaling the black-masked men to back off a few steps. He had no intention of fighting here. The slums were their territory, and the Fat Man couldn't possibly escape.

"Heh heh, if this had been any day before today, I'd have handed it over without a second thought. But things are different now."

The Fat Man hurled the flesh-and-blood Starfish Ornament he'd purchased earlier onto the ground. The ornament instantly swelled into a three-meter-tall bloated flesh starfish. A crack-like mouth split open at its center, and it bent down to swallow the Fat Man into its body.

"Haha! Once I figure out how the other two ornaments work, we'll have a nice chat about who really runs the slums!"

The bloated flesh starfish spun around and bolted, plowing through the black-masked men blocking its path and reducing them to splatters of bloody mist.

Heads popped out from the buildings lining both sides of the street, watching the retreating flesh starfish before turning their gazes toward the general store.

"Damn it. This is getting troublesome."

The red-masked man wasn't worried about the Fat Man. He was afraid that others would learn about the Starfish Ornaments' functions. Once that happened, everyone would flood into the slums to buy them.

Including those dangerous figures occupying the city districts.

The black-masked men filed into the general store and swept every Starfish Ornament off the shelves. The red-masked man left a few black-masked men behind to keep watch before departing with the ornaments in tow.

Lin Ye pulled the next batch of Starfish Ornaments from his spatial item and had Lola place them on the shelves with price tags attached.

Before a single minute had passed, a group of slum dwellers living nearby came running over, crowding around the outside of the general store.

They didn't dare approach, because they couldn't even afford food, let alone possess any Rule Crystals.

"You can spread the word about this. I'll give you some food, and those who hear the news should be willing to offer you a little something in return as well."

Lin Ye produced some spare food and tossed it to the slum dwellers.

Most of them grabbed the food and took off, but a few remained. One middle-aged man with a limp suddenly dropped to his knees beside the rocking chair, lowering his head and speaking:

"Sir, I'd like to borrow a Starfish Ornament on credit. I'm willing to pay ten times the price."

"Fine. But I'll need you to provide me with data on the ornament after you use it."

Lin Ye agreed to the request without hesitation. This was a fine deal for him.

Unless the man died, no one could owe him money and get away with it.

"...You're really agreeing?"

The middle-aged man looked up at Lin Ye in disbelief, afraid this was nothing more than a cruel joke.

"Of course. But I'll warn you now, no one gets to owe me and not pay back. Go on in and pick out an ornament. Any price is fine, but you'll owe ten times the amount."

Lin Ye liked giving desperate people a second chance, but no one deserved a third.

"Thank you so much!"

The middle-aged man scrambled up from the ground and hobbled into the general store.

"Sir, I'd like to borrow a Starfish Ornament too! I'll repay tenfold!"

"Sir, me too!"

"Sir, please give me a chance!"

...

A row of slum dwellers knelt outside the general store, all begging to borrow Starfish Ornaments.

"Fine. Remember what you said. You may go in and pick an ornament you like."

Lin Ye could now produce a standard-grade Starfish Ornament in a matter of seconds. He still had plenty of materials. If it were possible, he'd hand one to every single person.

After voicing their thanks, the slum dwellers rushed into the store, terrified that the ornaments inside would run out before they got one.

The middle-aged man emerged from the store. He hadn't chosen an expensive ornament, instead picking the cheapest flesh-and-blood Starfish Ornament available.

"Use it here. Otherwise, you won't make it out of the slums alive."

Lin Ye offered the reminder. After all, the man still owed him 500 Trade points.

"Alright."

The middle-aged man threw the Starfish Ornament onto the ground. It simply bounced once and nothing else happened.

"Every Starfish Ornament functions differently. Don't go copying the Fat Man."

Lin Ye remarked casually.

"My apologies. Let me try again."

The middle-aged man picked up the ornament and thought for a moment. Then he hugged it to his chest and closed his eyes.

The Starfish Ornament suddenly expanded, wrapping around the middle-aged man's entire body.

"This is..."

It was as if the man had donned a red starfish diving suit covered in intricate patterns, his whole form encased within it.

He moved his body, quickly growing accustomed to the new state.

"An extremely stable flesh coating. It can disperse and absorb all kinds of attacks, and it can also launch attacks by destabilizing its own structure... Quite interesting."

Lin Ye reached out and touched the flesh coating, sensing the state of the man's body within.

"...My left leg seems to have been fixed!"

The middle-aged man cried out in excitement.

"It'll help keep you in a stable condition. That's a fine Starfish Ornament. I hope you'll continue making the right choices in the future."

Just as Lin Ye had warned before, it was best to pick an ornament you liked. Expensive ornaments weren't necessarily better, because their price reflected the materials and craftsmanship involved.

And the materials that made Lin Ye slap a high price on something were never anything wholesome.

Take the black Starfish Ornament the Fat Man had bought earlier, for instance. That one had been gazed upon by the Abyssal Eye, which was why it sold for such a premium.

"Thank you very much. I'll go collect the Crystals right away."

The middle-aged man sprinted toward the slums' exit at top speed. He needed to find ten Crystals as fast as possible.

Lin Ye hadn't mentioned a repayment deadline, but that didn't mean there wasn't one.

The middle-aged man wasn't stupid. He knew exactly what would happen if he failed to repay in time.

The other slum dwellers had also finished picking their ornaments. Some had chosen ones they liked, while others had grabbed the most expensive ones available.

Lin Ye had them activate their ornaments at the store's entrance. After several attempts, a young man finally discovered the method for activation.

"All you have to do is hold the ornament and focus hard on what you want to do, and it activates!"

The others immediately began trying the method, and soon everyone had successfully activated their Starfish Ornaments.

Most of the slum dwellers charged toward the slums' exit, while a few ducked into the alleyways.

None of them moved toward the city district. Even with their Starfish Ornaments, they still had no desire to get anywhere near that place.

However, someone from the city did come over from that direction, namely Boss Jin, who had visited once before.