Reboot: Mechanic

Once it was decided that they would go to the outer layer, Mary ordered Shi Tian to retrieve all the traps that she had laid beforehand on the minefield.

And of course, Shi Tian was cursing her in his mind for pushing this kind of task to him.

He wanted to protest that the traps were laid because of her cautiousness from the ambush last night, but Mary refuted it by proclaiming that she only placed them for his training.

Not to mention, she even went as far as saying that the traps were extremely expensive and that he would need to pay for them if he failed to retrieve all the unactivated traps. 

'Master Isaac was way better as a mentor than her.' Shi Tian pouted inwardly. 

At the very least, Isaac Aaronax wasn't unreasonable like Mary. 

Though it was still a good thing considering that Mary instructed him on how to disarm traps and detect traps. Otherwise, he would have died accidentally from trying to retrieve the traps. 

And as much as it was an annoying task, Shi Tian decided to look at this on the bright side. 

He was gaining experience in disarming traps and learning the characteristics of trap placement. Such an experience was extremely meaningful and helpful in the future.

"Have you finished disarming the traps yet?" Mary shouted from the driver's seat, using some speaker equipment to communicate. It was impossible for her to simply roll down the window and shout, given that a gas mask would then be required to avoid breathing in the hazardous air. 

After all, the hazardous air isn't something that people could breathe in, given that it contained toxic substances as well. One careless mistake would easily render a person helpless. 

"I should be finished soon." Shi Tian replied back, glancing at the minefield and predicting that there should be 2 or 3 traps left.

"Then hurry it up. The time you waste disarming the traps is the time you waste on improving yourself." Mary urged. 

'If time is so precious, then why don't you come to assist me as well instead of staying inside Iron Sentinel?' Shi Tian exclaimed inwardly. If she had come to help, then the time they needed to depart would be shortened dramatically.

Alas, Shi Tian didn't dare to voice any of his opinions, lest he might get a thrasher treatment later on. 

So far, the training equipment and procedure were all handed in by Mary, meaning he was essentially freeloading from them.

To freeload off someone, one should just keep quiet and do as told. 

Sometime later, Shi Tian finally managed to retrieve all the traps that Mary had laid down. And if he had to be honest, Shi Tian believed Mary was definitely a devil's incarnation in her previous life.

In total, the traps that were retrieved numbered in the high 30s, and in such a small field on top of that. Not to mention, Kyle had also triggered some of the deadliest traps on his behalf, using up quite a chunk of traps. 

Just how much did she want him to suffer in the obstacle course? 

Shi Tian patted his chest softly, feeling quite grateful for the sacrifices made by the Night Intruders.

They were truly the heroes for taking the hit for him. Their sacrifices shall be honored just for this moment because the next second, Shi Tian had already forgotten about their pitiful existence. 

"I'm coming, Mary." Shi Tian entered through the back vehicle, took off his gas mask, and made his way to the front.

Sitting in the passenger's seat in the front, Shi Tian explained that he placed all the traps at the back.

"Very well, put on your seatbelt then. The road ahead is going to become slightly bumpy due to the terrible terrain." Mary warned, stepping on the accelerator. 

And given that it was now daytime, all the Night Intruders were in hiding, some seemingly in disguise as average mercenaries or other personnel minding their own business.

"Hmm, aren't those military people?" Shi Tian raised an eyebrow and pointed at a few groups of people through the window. 

He recognized their uniform which was similar to the inspection guard in Gearits City.

Mary slowed down the Iron Sentinel to take a closer look at what Shi Tian was asking about.

A few seconds later, Mary casually explained, "Those people are probably the vanguards of the military. They do exploration of places deemed unsafe and search for possible resources and other types of miscellaneous." 

"So they're a vanguard team huh?" 

"Well, not exactly. Vanguard is merely a name, but not the actual team. The Vanguard military is separated into six groups of teams under the same banner. And each group has a commander in control of their own battalion. The battalion of each group would only listen to their specific commander." 

"Why would the leading organization party do such a thing?" Shi Tian raised an eyebrow, clearly dumbfounded by such an arrangement. 

The military should have been united in one banner, with one person retaining total control to maintain order and loyalty. 

Having so many separate groups of commanders would create numerous conflicts and internal fighting. In other words, it was detrimental to management and having an ineffective military. 

Mary chuckled for a moment and stepped on the brake, stopping the vehicle. 

"Who is in control of the leading organization party in Gearits City?" She then asked.

"The five families?"

"Correct, the five families namely, Harrett, Hill, Hersey, Carlson, and Warner are in control of the party. This meant that each of them possessed their own Vanguard military team at their disposal. A check and balance of each other." 

"But there's a catch to it, right?" Shi Tian asked, recalling that she mentioned there being six groups of Vanguard teams. 

Mary nodded her head in response. "The five Vanguard teams naturally belonged to the respective five families, but there is one team that doesn't serve the five families.

Her eyes then stared at the group of military people and smiled, "Those people are the one that is considered the outsider of the military and serve the citizens wholeheartedly."