Reboot: Mechanic

The transformation of the interior of Iron Sentinel remained unknown to the exterior. 

In fact, the Iron Sentinel on the outside remained perfectly still as it was, but the truth was far from that.

There were a few shaky moments and the interior of the Iron Sentinel was rapidly changing from a normal storage and roomy compartment to something akin to a lab environment. 

For some reason, Shi Tian felt a bit terrified by the lab scenery but was quickly pacified due to his passive ability. Nevertheless, there was clear discomfort on his face no matter how calm he was.

Naturally, with the keen eyes of Mary, she noticed Shi Tian was feeling somewhat uneasy at the transformation. 

"Is there something wrong, Nathan?" She asked softly in concern. 

Never once had she seen him acting so abnormally. Not even when they were being ambushed by the Moles or the Night Intruders. 

Meanwhile, Shi Tian scratched his head and smiled sheepishly. 

"Haha, nothing. I'm just surprised by your Iron Sentinel even more and wondered if I can ever obtain something similar to this." He laughed and explained. 

Mary nodded her head and gave him an understanding look, but inwardly, she knew he was concealing something. 

Despite her previous scheme to force Shi Tian to reveal some information, she wasn't that unreasonable. She could discern whether one was truly willing to disclose information or not based on their posture, expression, and tone of speech.

And right now, every fiber of Shi Tian was practically screeching not to pry further and just leave him be for the moment. 

"You can just take a seat and inspect the laser gun since they are clean and not rigged. The analysis of the drone's interior would take a while." Mary said calmly, letting him take a rest with an excuse. 

Realizing her concern for him, Shi Tian gladly accepted her suggestion and remained seated. The lab environment had truly given him quite a traumatic flashback. 

As Shi Tian slowly pacified his internal trauma with his eyes closed, Mary went on to analyze the structure of the drone's interior.

Now that she knew which was the rigged IC chip, she needed to ensure that getting rid of the other electrical components wouldn't affect the functionality of the drones. 

After all, the IC chip was within the main electrical circuit board. To simplify, it was located in the main control system part, meaning if there were any mishaps in the main control system, then everything else would start to fail. 

It would be like wanting to drive a vehicle, but there are no keys to insert to turn on the vehicle itself. 

'What a disgusting move!' Mary clicked her tongue in annoyance as she began the analysis. 

Time slowly passed by, and under the meticulous skills of Mary, she finally finished her analysis.

However, compared to a joyous moment, Mary instead stood up and stomped the floor, not even caring if it would damage her precious Iron Sentinel.

Her outburst even attracted Shi Tian, prompting him to get up and hold her arm to prevent her from stomping again. 

The stomp was filled with strength– to the point that the Iron Sentinel was trembling even harder than the time it was undergoing a transformation.

After stopping her outburst, Shi Tian asked in a soft tone, seemingly trying to soothe her agitated emotion. "What's going on, Mary?"

Taking a deep breath, Mary composed her emotion as she slowly moved her arm away from Shi Tian's grasp. 

"The rigged IC chip is one of the key control systems of the electrical circuit board." She then explained. 

Hearing that, Shi Tian's expression turned solemn as well. What she meant was that removing the rigged IC chip would essentially destroy the drones as well.

After all, it would be similar to having a gaming computer, but there is no Graphic Processing Unit(GPU) installed on the desktop. 

"Is there another replacement for the IC chip itself then?" Shi Tian asked. Normally, IC chips are mass-produced in bundles, so it shouldn't be difficult to find another replacement. 

Unfortunately, Mary shook her head and said, "The IC chip is a unique version, and it's designed by military mechanics. Without knowing the coding and design of the IC chip, it's impossible to replicate." 

Essentially, the IC chip was a classified item that wasn't distributed to the public, meaning they would have no way of finding a replacement. 

"I suppose we have to ask Commander Theobold for a replacement IC chip. We can use the excuse of wanting to replicate it and demand some from him." Shi Tian suggested.

"I doubt it would work, Nathan." Mary sighed softly. 

Before Shi Tian could ask why, she continued, "We have a total of three drones as assistance for us, and all three of them are rigged with the same IC chip type. Based on this, it's clear that all of the IC chips could be rigged." 

It was only now that Shi Tian understood her outburst. 

If all the rigged IC chips were the same, then even if they asked Theobold for one, the chances of it being rigged were high.

In fact, it would even alert the enemy that they realized something was wrong with the IC chip.

Just when they were contemplating their next choice, Shi Tian suddenly recalled something.

The status screen was always on display whenever he willed for it. Can't that kind of mysterious thing be of use? 

Back then, he understood barely much of the new advanced technologies, but for some reason, he started to understand them quite swiftly. It was as if his brain was suddenly an encyclopedia, able to discern and absorb the information. 

'It doesn't hurt to try.' Shi Tian thought to himself. If it failed, then nothing else changed. 

However, if he actually succeeded in utilizing the integrated chip that was injected into his brain, then this would be a major turning point.

"Mary, do you mind if you let me try?" He turned to her and asked, feeling motivated.