Reboot: Mechanic

365  Extravagant

When Shi Tian explained how he would be safe, Vanessa could only reluctantly give up.

"Fine, but remember to come back quickly. Otherwise, who knows if you would wind up dead in some place?" Vanessa clicked her tongue, clearly displeased. "Lady Vanessa can be reassured. Our Commander does not plan to harm Sir Nathan here." The soldier was seemingly taking her pouting seriously and swore to her that Shi Tian would be safe.

Meanwhile, Shi Tian nearly laughed in response. Having interacted with her for a while now, he knew when she was pouting and joking about.

But for others, they would see her pouting as serious, and naturally scared the soldier somewhat to be giving such a response. Luckily though, he didn't laugh at the soldier's serious response because of Vanessa's fierce glare at him when she seemed to have sensed he was going to react in such a way. Unwilling to stay any longer, Vanessa pinched Shi Tian's arm as revenge and hissed coldly, "If you don't come back soon, then I'll spread the news that you are having a tryst with Commander Phoebe to everyone." "A what??" Shi Tian was startled by her, but Vanessa had already started to leave, going as far as using her Esper ability to flee faster. He was utterly speechless when he was going to be accused of having a tryst with Phoebe.

Was she trying to kill him with misinformation? Such a lie was enough to garner him massive hatred from others and death flags being raised. 'She better be joking and not actually do it.' Shi Tian exclaimed inwardly, feeling a cold shudder of having imagined the consequences if that truly happened. "Um, Sir Nathan?" As Shi Tian was worried that Vanessa might actually do it, the soldier asked for his confirmation. "Are you agreeing to meet with our commander?"

Snapping out of his thoughts, Shi Tian nodded his head and extended his hand as a gesture of telling him to lead the way. There was no need to converse further with the soldier, given he was merely acting on order.

As for wanting to know the reason Phoebe might want to see him, he would know it when he gets there. Why should he waste his time with a soldier who probably won't interact with him aside from this incident? Sometime later, Shi Tian arrived at the side that Phoebe was tasked upon and noticed almost all of her soldiers were relaxing, almost as if they were here on vacation rather than actually fighting the monster wave.

'Weird… she shouldn't be this relaxed.' Shi Tian pondered silently. Having seen her internal strife with Benedict, Shi Tian could confirm most of her arsenal should have been emptied or close to empty.

So how was it possible for her to be so relaxed?

Additionally, Shi Tian heard zero battle sounds, meaning Phoebe was done with her side already, which caused him to be even more astonished.

"We have arrived," The soldier promptly said. Shi Tian didn't bother saying anything and directly walked toward Phoebe, who just so happened to be enjoying some alcoholic drink, albeit in a somewhat surprising situation.

She had a barrier field surrounding the vicinity of her location, preventing the pollution and other garbage chemicals that are in the atmosphere from affecting her.

Honestly, Shi Tian wanted to investigate what the atmosphere truly contained that made it uninhabited for humans, but it was related to science.

Science was never his strong suit, nor did he want to overwhelm his brain cells with more chemistry or other scientific stuff. Just the mechanical aspect of mathematics and a little bit of science being involved was enough for him.

"I have brought Sir Nathan over here, Commander Phoebe." The soldier reported solemnly and respectfully. Taking another sip of her alcohol, Phoebe waved her hand, a signal equivalent to dismissing him.

She then looked at Shi Tian, who seemed to be keeping his distance. "Don't tell me you're afraid of me now that you're alone, Nathan?" She joked. "No, I'm just wondering about the technological aspect of this barrier of yours." Shi Tian humored, touching the barrier that seemed translucent. It felt as if he was touching the barrier, but if he moved a bit further, then his hand would easily go through it.

The barrier was fascinating, to say the least, so he was wondering how it was constructed. Never hurts to learn more, right? "If you're that interested in it, then I don't mind giving one to you. It's powered through condensed Source Crystal and has to be replenished once it's about to run out. That's the only con of this barrier. It's very expensive to maintain." Phoebe mused. Shi Tian didn't find the battery for sustaining the barrier to be from the condensed Source Crystal. There was a reason why Source Crystal was highly sought after and always in demand. The amount of usage for Source Crystal was limitless. The only thing holding you back was your imagination and creativity to utilize it. And as tempting as Phoebe's generosity sounded, Shi Tian still shook his head in response.

"I'm afraid I would have to decline you, Commander Phoebe." He said, entering the barrier. "I haven't done anything commendable, so giving me a barrier like this means something is quite fishy." To have no merits but still receive a generous reward usually meant a bad omen, and he was not one to let himself be embroiled in such a type of event.

While declining her generosity, Shi Tian also wanted to get a feel of change from being inside the barrier as composed to being outside the barrier.

However, there was practically zero change, further cementing his confirmation that he was unaffected by the atmosphere. Thus, a barrier like this was essentially pointless to him, given he didn't even need it in the first place. Not to mention, this barrier must be burning lots of Source Crystal to be maintained, and he would rather use them for more practical uses than this kind of extravagant.

Imagine putting up a barrier just so you could drink a little alcohol?

Jeez, talk about being so rich that you don't even care about anything. And that was not to mention the fact that she was still engaged in combat with a terrifying monster wave. 'One day— actually no, I still won't waste money like this.' Shi Tian exclaimed inwardly.  Nôv(el)B\\jnn