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?"
Tommy’s 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, "You’re 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 didn’t expect Tommy to be more shameless than he was.
So after chuckling, he narrowed his eyes at Tommy and said, "I hope you don’t 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 shouldn’t 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 Tommy’s 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 didn’t argue with him. Instead of wasting time on doing something futile, he decided to change the subject to something more worthwhile.
So he said, "I’m 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 couldn’t 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, "That’s 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, "That’s 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 wasn’t 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 shouldn’t I?"
This time, it was clear that he wasn’t joking around. So Tommy frowned and said, "This is haggling, not cheating. You don’t need to resort to insults to get your way. It won’t lead you anywhere."
In response, Loki folded his arms across his chest and said, "I wouldn’t have to resort to insults if you were not a cheater. Besides, I didn’t 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 won’t 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. That’s 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 Loki’s 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, "I’m 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 won’t be able to fight at his full strength.