Reboot: Mechanic

378  True Mechanic

Shi Tian and Vanessa were somehow having a relaxing day in contrast to Mary.

Mary seemed as if she was offended or angered by Vanessa's statement of her being a lazy person and not a team player. Thus, she was full-on turbo with the crafting. Her hands were moving so fast that it was hard to even see what she was working on at the moment.

One second, her hand was gathering tools and materials, but the next second, she was already integrating the tiny resistors into the circuit board. By the time Shi Tian and Vanessa got a clear vision or idea of what was going on, Mary was done with the circuit board.

"Jeez, is that how fast you mechanics are with your hands?" Vanessa twitched her mouth in disbelief, and her hands temporarily stopped massaging Shi Tian's shoulders.

She was flabbergasted by Mary's speed and tempo. She was like the racing car in a track field, unstoppable and undetectable. Shi Tian was equally astonished as he tried to mimic the hand movement of Mary, only to end up realizing his hands were uncontrollable when he attempted to hasten his speed. It was the same as if a person was tasked to draw a circle with their left hand and a square with their right hand simultaneously. It sounded simple, but when you really attempted to draw them, you would realize it was a difficult task.

"Maybe that's just how a true mechanic is…" Shi Tian muttered, feeling the large gap between him and Mary. "Didn't you just say you have started taking the path of a mechanic? Why are you trying to compare yourself to someone who has been doing it for a long time?" Vanessa asked, knocking some sense into his brain.

Indeed, the current Shi Tian was a complete beginner when it comes to mechanics like Mary.

However, one needed to take into account the fact that Shi Tian started extremely late, and had already achieved quite the feat. "Is this some kind of pep talk?" Shi Tian joked in response. "I'm just admiring Mary's skills and wish that I could one day achieve them myself. Of course, I'm confident that I can reach it. It's just that I'm not sure when I will reach there." He added, clenching his fist tightly.

There were so many things that had been on his mind but was unable to do anything because of his insufficient power. Mechanics were supposed to build and craft numerous items to their advantage, going as far as assisting them in battle. But he was only able to craft some traps and EMP. In his mind, he does not even qualify as a mechanic. He was no different than those soldiers under Theobold who could only use the items provided to them for assistance in battle.

As Shi Tian was mulling over the fact that he did not feel like he was a mechanic, Vanessa was somewhat silent. She knew what kind of true mechanic would fight, and the reality was– none of them ever fought like Shi Tian.

Only a foolish person would attempt to confront an enemy head-on and not use their machines or items for long-range. "Nathan, I just want to let you know. My offer is still up, and you can always reconsider it." Vanessa whispered softly. She was reminding him that if he accepted her offer, then countless resources and materials would come to him.

And as great as that sounded, Shi Tian still shook his head. He was not an idiot, but he truly did not wish to involve Vanessa further. Just look at the current predicament he was in!

Because he decided to affiliate himself with Optic Mech, and now he has all these messes that he had to deal with. Of course, he could also renege on it and leave without a word, but with Optic Mech's hidden power. He was afraid that he would be chased down and captured in the end. By then, his life might be over as well. Not to mention, Optic Mech had never done anything wrong to him at all. In fact, they even provided him with the foundation of how to become a mechanic. Just these two reasons were enough to make him feel guilt-ridden if he attempted to backstab them.

Shi Tian realized she had stopped massaging his shoulders and knew she was definitely looking for a response to his refusal.

Taking a deep breath and sighing softly, Shi Tian turned around and glanced at her. "Vanessa, I'm sure you know by now, but I don't like to associate myself with others." He spoke softly. "Remember how we met? You were injured and were about to die if you weren't carried out from the pit. But still, you have seen my reaction. I didn't want to help you because I'm afraid of the trouble you might bring." He knew bringing this matter up would definitely irk Vanessa, but he had no choice. That was the only way to make Vanessa isolate herself from him. He doesn't want to cause trouble for other people. But at the same time, he also refused to let other people's trouble come to him.

That was his personality from the very start, and he had never changed from that ideology. Meanwhile, Vanessa closed her eyes, seemingly trying to absorb his meaning. A few seconds later, she reopened them and asked, "You don't want to associate with me despite learning of my identity. Then that could only mean one thing. The enemies you have are stronger than me, right?"

If it was any other people by now, they would have definitely rolled their tongue out and wrapped their arms around her leg. Who doesn't want to befriend her? Yet here we are, with Shi Tian constantly trying to avoid or establish a close friendship with her. Shi Tian remained silent but nodded his head anyway. He couldn't confirm whether the enemies he was looking for were stronger than her, but it was still a decent reason to use in rejecting her.