Tommy saw Loki checking out his mech, so he came out of his shop with a smile on his face and said, "Do you like what you see?"
Loki nodded in reply and said, "I do. It is 2,000 energy stones, right?"
Tommyâs face fell when he heard that price. Not only was the price too low, but the fact that Loki was interested in it meant that the two of them were competitors.
But he continued to smile as he said, "Youâre mistaken. It is 4,000 energy stones."
Loki looked at him with a raised eyebrow and asked, saying, "Is that so?"
Then he chuckled and said, "Silly me. I thought it was going to cost 3,000 energy stones at most. Looks like I was terribly mistaken."
He knew that the price was supposed to be 3,000 energy stones. He had only called out 2,000 energy stones in order to irritate Tommy. But he didnât expect Tommy to be more shameless than he was.
So after chuckling, he narrowed his eyes at Tommy and said, "I hope you donât mind the price I offered, seeing as it might make it look like I want to cheat you. After all, I have never heard of a rank 2 artifact that costs 4,000 energy stones."
He said that he had never heard of a rank 2 artifact that costs 4,000 energy stones, but what he was really implying that Tommy was the liar and cheater between the two of them because rank 2 artifacts shouldnât be that expensive.
Anyone else that was accused of making up prices might back down, but not Tommy. To expect Tommy to admit that he was lying was to underestimate Tommyâs shamelessness.
Tommy refused to back down despite being called out. Instead of losing out like that, he shook his head and said with a gentle tone, "It is alright. After all, it is normal for you to be ignorant."
Loki rolled his eyes at the shameless cheater, but he didnât argue with him. Instead of wasting time on doing something futile, he decided to change the subject to something more worthwhile.
So he said, "Iâm not interested in it either way. What I want is a rank 2 exoskeleton armor."
Tommy wanted to cheat him again, but since an exoskeleton armor is cheaper than a combat armor and since he already called out 4,000 energy stones for the combat armor, he couldnât say that the exoskeleton armor would cost 4,000 energy stones or more.
So it was with great pain that he said, "It will cost you 3,000 energy stones."
Loki shook his head and said, "Thatâs not good enough. What I want to pay is 1,000 energy stones."
The low price that he offered made Tommy chuckle dryly and say, "Thatâs too low. Even a rank 1 exoskeleton armor will be more expensive than that. Or are you saying my products are subpar and should be worth less?"
It was clear that he thought Loki was joking, and he wasnât amused by the joke. But Loki took things even further than that.
Loki sneered as he asked him, saying, "So what if a rank 1 exoskeleton armor is more expensive than 1,000 energy stones? If you can lie through your teeth about the prices of things, why shouldnât I?"
This time, it was clear that he wasnât joking around. So Tommy frowned and said, "This is haggling, not cheating. You donât need to resort to insults to get your way. It wonât lead you anywhere."
In response, Loki folded his arms across his chest and said, "I wouldnât have to resort to insults if you were not a cheater. Besides, I didnât insult you. No matter how insulting what I said was, it was the truth."
"So what you need to do is treat me with sincerity, and I wonât say any more insulting words. Treat me with respect, and I will treat you with respect."
Tommy stared at him for a long while. During that time, his mind was grappling with his options. So inwardly, he was undecided. But outwardly, he looked imposing and intimidating.
After 16 seconds of staring, thinking, and waiting for Loki to back down, all to no avail, he came to a decision.
This decision made him smile and say, "Fine. 2,500 energy stones. Thatâs my sincerity."
Loki nodded in satisfaction. Then he counted out 2,500 energy stones and passed them to Tommy.
Tommy quickly collected them and kept them in a pouch. As he was doing this, he saw Loki activate Metacs that encased him in a gleaming plate armor. He also saw a towel shield and a claymore appear in each of Lokiâs hands.
This sight made him step back in fright and say, "What are you doing?"
Loki replied with a deep voice that had been muffled by his helmet, saying, "Iâm waiting for you to cheat me."
In this timeline, he has never had dealings with Tommy. But he is very experienced with Tommy, so he was ready to be ripped off.
In fact, he was looking forward to it. This was why he was already gearing up for battle.
If Tommy dares to cheat him now, he will have a justified reason to attack and kill Tommy. Then he will be able to devour his energy well and use it to raise the cultivation of one of his energy chambers, similar to how he devours Cloudy Date Metacs.
So it will be a good thing if Tommy decides to rip him off. It is all because he is strong now and can do something about being cheated with his power.
Unfortunately for him, he appeared to be too eager for battle. This made Tommy uncertain about his chances of winning if he fought Loki.
There was also the fact that the mech is half of his combat strength. Without it, he wonât be able to fight at his full strength.