Reboot: Mechanic

As the tense negotiations continued, Mary, Shi Tian, and Vanessa found themselves in a high-stakes digital standoff with Brad, the manager of the StellarVision Media channel. 

The delicate balance of trust and suspicion hung in the air.

Shi Tian, with his persuasive words, had managed to convince Mary to take a significant step – sending back a portion of the hacked data to the other party as a show of goodwill. Mary reluctantly agreed, trusting Shi Tian's instincts and experience in such matters.

In this message, Shi Tian offered the remaining data they had obtained, essentially returning it to StellarVision Media for free as a sign of goodwill. 

It was a strategic move to build trust and show their sincerity in wanting an amicable resolution.

With the message sent, they settled into a tense waiting game. Vanessa continued to wipe the sweat off Shi Tian as they observed the situation.

During this time, Shi Tian explained the logic behind his actions to Mary and Vanessa. 

If the other party genuinely intended to cooperate and end this situation peacefully, they would respond cautiously and not take any hostile actions. 

However, if they were merely stalling for time, the cybersecurity bots would become active again and attack Shi Tian's clone. In that case, all bets were off, and Mary would proceed with the final stage of the hack without restraint.

The trio waited anxiously, fully aware of the gravity of the situation. 

The outcome of these negotiations would determine whether they successfully leveraged this hacking operation for their benefit or if they would need to resort to more drastic measures.

A few minutes had passed by, and Mary was starting to be impatient again. It was clear that she refused to wait when the advantage was hers. 

"They must be stalling for sure, Nathan." Mary crossed her arms and said coolly. 

"It's only been a few minutes, Mary." Shi Tian shook his head and said. 

"Look at Vanessa here, she's patient and believes in me. Why can't you do the same?" He added, purposely throwing Vanessa's name into the conversation.

With how much the two of them despised each other, there was no way Mary would continue to complain if he complimented Vanessa's patient virtue. 

Sure enough, once Mary made a simple glance at Vanessa, who was wiping off Shi Tian's sweat without saying a word, she only clicked her tongue and refused to complain further. 

If Vanessa could remain patient, then so could she. There was no way she was inferior to Vanessa, who couldn't complete this simple task. 

Meanwhile, Shi Tian laughed inwardly at how easy it was to manipulate both Mary and Vanessa simultaneously.

By complimenting Vanessa's virtue, she was now diligently wiping his sweat more thoroughly and seemed to have improved her efficiency. At the same time, he doesn't have to listen to a pouting Mary.

'It seems like I need to keep this in mind.' Shi Tian thought to himself, making sure that he could utilize their bitter relationship to his advantage. 

As Shi Tian was scheming about this, the other party finally sent a message. 

Glancing at the message, Shi Tian smirked coldly and looked at Mary. 

"See what I tell you, Mary? Trust me, and all shall be fine." He said somewhat cheekily, letting Mary personally read the message. 

The message read: We have checked the content of the clone and confirmed it's our users' privacy data. Since you are sincere, we also sent the money to one of the cybersecurity bots. A transaction could be made and there will be an additional prompt from the bot that allows you to type the information you want us to display on the front page of our channel.

Reading them silently, Mary finally nodded her head reluctantly. 

"Hmph, I've never once doubted your persuasion skills. I was merely acting earlier to enhance the mood." Mary rolled her eyes and said haughtily. 

Naturally, Shi Tian understood it was her method to downgrade her earlier impatient act, so he didn't bother to nitpick about her.

Alas, Vanessa was different as she believed this was finally her chance to take a jab at Mary, who had repeatedly called her stupid for failing the simple task.

Vanessa smiled and muttered, "Heh, says the whining-" 

However, before Vanessa could even finish her sentence to humiliate Mary. 

Shi Tian swiftly grabbed her by the waist and covered her mouth in time/ He was trying to prevent Mary, who was returning to her seat, from being unable to hear what Vanessa was going to say. 

Meanwhile, Vanessa made a few muffled sounds as she glared angrily at Shi Tian, her eyes clearly asking what he was doing.

"Don't make a fuss about it and just stay put," Shi Tian whispered very softly, hoping that Mary wouldn't be alerted. 

Little did Shi Tian know, with Mary's skills and excellent hearing ability, how could she not hear them despite the low volume?

It was just that she was unwilling to listen to them, given that it would only cause more embarrassment. Not to mention, she knew Shi Tian was a clever person to stop Vanessa from trying to humiliate her.

After all, they still required her expertise in numerous things, especially when all the hacking was done by her. 

If Shi Tian was truly a fool and let Vanessa humiliate her, then she sure as hell would give him a piece of her ability. 

While still being covered in the mouth by Shi Tian, Vanessa said in a muffled tone, "I can't breathe, Nathan." 

She even started slapping his hand, prompting Shi Tian to release his strength and gradually remove his palm from her mouth. 

Vanessa had an aggrieved expression, her eyes staring right at Shi Tian, almost as if she was trying to guilt trip him or something. 

A few seconds later, Vanessa started pinching Shi Tian's arm. 

"Why are you so mean to me?" She pouted and said. "I'm not even talking to you, but you still interrupt me and defend her. And did you want to suffocate me to death?"