Chapter 124: Finding A Shrimp(2)
"So, do you want to eat the shrimp to merge with it and get its powers?" I said. I looked down at the paper again. I shifted my weight, trying to wrap my head around why he was so obsessed with a shrimp in the first place. The drawing looked weird, but the stats were terrifying. This shrimp’s ability is punches. It punches faster than the speed of light. It hits even faster than an Alpha. That kind of power is enough to level a building if you used it right.
"I wish I could, that is a cool power, but I want to sell it online," he said. He sounded way too casual about it.
"Who the fuck buys a shrimp online, and why sell it when it could give you superpowers?" I said. I was still staring at the paper, my eyes tracing the lines of the drawing. It felt like I was looking at a treasure map that didn’t make any sense. Then I started to wonder how the fuck he got it in the first place. The edges were clean. They didn’t look torn. If he had stolen it, I would have said he ripped it out from the book in the library, but this looked different.
"I saw online that for every Beast Morph, one gets a million dollars. Imagine if I find every single Beast Morph. I’ll be rich," he said. He had this happy face on, the kind of look a one gets when they think they’ve found a shortcut to the end of a video game.
I just kept staring at him. I didn’t say anything for a long few seconds. My brain was stuck on that number. A million. I started blinking as the zeros started to line up in my head. One million dollars. For a crustacean.
"1 million dollars for a fucking shrimp? Are you for real..." I said. I felt my face light up. My skin felt hot all of a sudden. That was money. That was a huge amount. It was the kind of money that changed people. I paused and took a breath, trying to see if he was playing a joke on me. I narrowed my eyes. "Are you for real?"
"Yes. And before you ask, I did my research. The website is legit. No scam or any con shit. The dude behind the mask said once he confirms it, he’s going to transfer the money immediately," he said. He was talking faster now, leaning in like he was telling me a government secret. "If this is real and I find every Beast Morph I can, I won’t have to work for anyone. I’ll be my own boss. I won’t have to worry about my siblings’ well-being. They’ll have it all."
He looked like he was already halfway into a dream. He was staring at the tree but seeing a mansion. Then he looked at me, his expression softening. "And you, Faye. Your brother won’t have to work for anyone else again. You’ll be able to provide for him and Kaye."
A smile formed on my face before I could even try to stop it. I started to imagine my brother living a comfortable life. I could see it clearly. No more working overtime at night. No more coming home with heavy eyes and a tired back. His life would just be vacation days. I saw him on the beach, enjoying the sunset, just smiling. He’d never have to worry about expenses again. He’d never have to check his bank account before buying a meal. And my pups. I’d be able to provide for them too. The thought hit me hard in the chest.
"And my pups too... they could have the best life ever..." I muttered. I was still daydreaming, the world around me getting fuzzy as I thought about nursery rooms and the best food and toys.
"Yes, that’s the point. But your pups’ future is already set because they have a mom who is fucking rich and will do anything for their future to be the best," Malo said.
The mention of Princess snapped me back to reality. Immediately, my daydream shifted. I thought about Princess. My mood took a sharp turn, like a car hitting a patch of ice.
"But I can also provide for my pups," I said. My voice was a bit harder now.
"You’re having four pups. Do you really think their lives are going to be easy? Raising a pup requires money, and you’re having four. You should be lucky Princess is not the type to hit and run."
I felt a spark of heat in my chest. "So you think without Princess, I can’t raise my pups by myself?" I said. I gave him a mean stare. I didn’t like the way he said it, like I was some charity case.
"Honestly, yes. You can’t. You live with your brother. He pays your bills and feeds you, cloth you, while Princess owns a club she bought with her own money. If her grandfather dies one day, she’s going to get her inheritance," he said. He started counting points off on his fingers. He was being logical, and that made me even angrier. "I know how much Leo pays Princess for every successful distribution. She’s getting richer by the day. And if she gets control of the underground race, she’ll be ten times richer."
"Wow... how rich is that bitch?" I muttered. I felt a pang of something like jealousy, but mostly it was just pride. I didn’t want to be a footnote in her bank account. "But I can also provide for my pups. With or without Princess."
"If you have the money. That’s why I’m sharing whatever I earn from every Beast Morph we find. 40 percent for you," he said.
I blinked. The math didn’t sit right. "Why 40? What happened to 50/50? I’m also here with you."
"Well, I’ve been doing all the work the entire time," he said, shrugging his shoulders like it was obvious.
"Because you didn’t tell me money was involved!" I shot back. I felt cheated already, even though ten minutes ago I didn’t even know the shrimp’s worth.
"Well, it is. I’m also getting 40. 20 is for Sasha," he said lazily.
The anger faded into confusion. I tilted my head. I actually smiled a little because the idea was so weird. "You and Sasha are friends now?"
"No fucking way. That purple hair still scares me. I’m even thinking she ate a Beast Morph to gain that kind of power. But Sasha is the reason I have this. Since she was working at the Petrova library, I asked her to take pictures of the pages one at a time, and she did," Malo said.
I took another look at the paper. I held it up to the light, squinting at the texture. "Then why is it brown and somehow old?"
"She customized it herself. She was trying to make it look similar so when she finished printing them out, it would look like the exact copy. She’s detail oriented like that," he explained.
"Okay," I said. I leaned back, trying to process everything. My head was spinning with numbers and were-shrimp and images of Princess’s club. If that mantis shrimp was real, and the money was real, everything changed. I could prove it. I could prove that I don’t need to depend on Princess’s money to take care of my pups. I could be the one with the power. I could be the one who provides. The Boss-Bitch.
