Kai stood in front of the Super Layer Hall, clipboard in one hand, cracked egg in the other.
The yolk sat heavy in his palm — thick, golden, and warm.
From the outside, it looked like a normal egg.
But the stats didn't lie.
This one came from Titan Layer #3, and according to the Merge System, it was sitting at peak biological efficiency.
"And I'm still not done."
⸻
He walked into the barn and opened the tablet.
Merge Status:
– 2 x Lv.5 = Merge Available
Result:
Lv.6 Apex Layer – UNLOCKED
Class: Hybrid Productivity Hen
Stats:
• Egg Output: 5.5/day
• Egg Weight: 1.3x standard
• Nutrient Density: +110%
• Immunity Boosting Proteins
• Trait: Dominance Aura — Boosts production of all lower-tier hens within 15 ft by 15%
Kai tapped merge.
Two Titan Layers disappeared in a burst of clean light.
When the glow faded, a single hen remained.
She was taller, with sleek, perfectly arranged feathers. Her comb was sharp and symmetrical, her eyes dark and focused like a predator's. She didn't cluck — she observed.
The system chimed again:
Apex Layer Created
Aura Active: Surrounding Output Increased
Bonus Trait: Brood Override – Can hatch unfertilized eggs with Tier-1 trait inheritance (future unlock)
Kai looked at her and muttered,
"You're not a chicken.
You're a production engine."
⸻
He got to work reorganizing the coop. The Apex was isolated in her own nesting chamber with ventilation and direct sunlight. He set all remaining Lv.3 and Lv.4 layers within her aura radius.
By the end of the day, egg production jumped by 18%.
He cracked open one of the new eggs and tasted it raw.
It wasn't just rich — it was clean.
Every sip felt like a dose of clarity.
⸻
That night, he updated his notebook.
⸻
Merge Chain Summary:
Tier
Count
Output (Eggs/day)
Boost
Lv.3
6
~10.5
+15% (Apex)
Lv.4
4
~19
+15% (Apex)
Lv.5
1
~4.3
Base
Lv.6
1
~5.5
Apex + Aura
Total
–
~43.6 eggs/day (~305/week)
Feed cost remained stable.
Net weekly egg income: $375+
Kai scratched out his last goal and wrote a new one:
Next Merge Target: Second Apex Layer
⸻
The system pinged.
Tier 6 Milestone Achieved
New Option Unlocked: Alt-Species Merge Path
Optional Branches:
• Ducks – Egg + Meat Dual Yield
• Quail – High Yield Egg Cluster, Small Space
Merge Chain: Separate
Requires: Separate Coop + Feed
Cross-Merge Lock: Active until Tier 4 in branch
Kai narrowed his eyes.
Ducks would bring meat value.
Quail would bring mass egg output.
But both needed space, setup, and time.
And right now? Chickens still had room to scale.
He closed the prompt.
"Later."
⸻
Instead, he focused on batch rotation.
He picked up 28 more cheap hens from two nearby farms and one roadside auction.
Price per hen: $3–$4. All Tier-1 junk birds. But that's what he needed.
He scanned them through:
28 x Lv.1
Merge Path:
– 28 → 14 x Lv.2
– → 7 x Lv.3
– → 3 x Lv.4 (with 1 leftover)
– → 1 x Lv.5
Total Result:
– 1 new Titan Layer
– 1 extra Lv.4
Merge Queue updated.
Then he merged two of his remaining Lv.5 hens.
Merge Complete:
2 x Lv.5 → 1 x Lv.6 Apex Layer #2
Now he had two Apex Layers in operation.
The Aura Range expanded across the entire Super Layer Hall.
Egg production spiked again.
⸻
The system chimed:
Aura Overlap Detected
• Synergized Boost Activated
Result:
– All lower-tier hens within double-aura range = +25% output
– Apex egg output also receives +10%
Kai leaned against the coop post, watching his hens move with purpose.
No noise. No wasted motion.
They weren't livestock.
They were infrastructure.
⸻
He scribbled the real numbers.
⸻
Real Profit Estimate – Merge Grown Egg Chain
Tier
Count
Daily Output
Boosted Yield
Lv.3
6
10.5
~13
Lv.4
5
24
~30
Lv.5
1
4.3
~4.8
Lv.6
2
11
~13.2
Total
–
–
~61 eggs/day (~427/week)
Sell Rate: $1.30–$1.50 each
Weekly Gross: $550+
Feed Cost: $70
Net: **$480/week from eggs alone**
⸻
At this level, Kai no longer worried about filling orders.
Now he worried about running out of space.
He scouted the north side of the plot — flat ground, unused, good drainage.
He marked the soil and wrote:
Future Plan: Layer Hall II – "East Hatch"
Capacity: 36 hens
Coops: Merged x2
Goal: House 6 Apex Layers
Target Output: 800 eggs/week
⸻
The system pinged one final time before sundown:
Merge Grown – Tier 6 Operation Confirmed
Next Evolution:
• Begin "Egg Branding" Phase
• Unlock Merge Grown Packaging Upgrade
• Create "Titan Line" Label
• Build Dry Storage and Packing Station
Kai didn't hesitate.
He wrote one more line in the dirt with a stick:
Eggs built this. Not magic. Not money. Eggs.