Reboot: Mechanic

As Shi Tian explained the potential consequences of an attack, Benedict's face grew pale. 

He realized how close he had come to making a grave mistake. 

Damon's downfall had been a significant blow to Gearits City's leadership, and he didn't want to follow in his footsteps. Damon's position was at risk, but Benedict enjoyed his power and did not wish to lose it at all.

Meanwhile, Phoebe, with her usual pragmatic demeanor, had already grasped the implications. 

"You're clever, Gavin," she acknowledged. "You've made your point. We'll agree to the ceasefire as proposed."

"Hmph, it's only because Phoebe said so." Benedict, still grasping onto the tiny pride he had left, snorted and left the scene swiftly. His soldiers were trained, so it didn't take long for them to carry the wounded to retreat to the scene.

As for the dead soldiers, they could only blame themselves for being inadequate and forfeiting their lives. 

That was just how the reality was for those who succumbed to their death, regardless if the fight was justified or not.

These soldiers might be soldiers, but they also enjoyed privilege better than the average citizens. They were well fed, and families were guaranteed to have a household, so what more could they complain about? 

Do they dare to defy the commanders' orders and lose all of those benefits? 

The moment they accepted being a soldier, then they should have prepared that one day, they would die. It was just a pity that their death was for something as insignificant as this. 

However, Shi Tian didn't feel any pity for them despite knowing their fate. 

He had seen the true hideous actions that humans could take once laws were thrown out of the window and had personally experienced inhumane acts as well. 

Did anyone take pity on him back then?

No– not a single one had stepped forward to aid him. In fact, they were all accomplices and agreed to let him be the sacrificial lamb simply because of one concrete fact. 

And that was being weak.

Only the weak would get trampled on repeatedly and receive zero assistance. 

With Benedict promptly leaving the scene, Shi Tian watched as rows of military vehicles swiftly followed behind. With his keen perspective, he also noticed not a single one of the soldiers was feeling sad about their fallen comrades. 

"Mary, did you send the injured soldier back to them?" Shi Tian suddenly recalled the injured soldier, who was residing in the Iron Sentinel. 

Mary nodded her head. 

"I've already instructed Vanessa to kick him out." She responded.

"And the compensation?"

Instantly, Mary's face turned dark, a clear indication that she had forgotten to demand compensation. 

And although she didn't say any words, Shi Tian was able to discern that she was probably cursing in her mind and remembering to put this compensation into a list. 

Alas, that wasn't important now, considering the event wasn't over yet.

"Well, Benedict has left, so I guess we can have a proper discussion now, right Commander Phoebe?" Shi Tian turned to Phoebe and asked calmly. 

Others might not have noticed, but Shi Tian had discerned Phoebe's speech when she complimented him for being clever. 

She wasn't complimenting him for having the transmitter ready to save themselves from being attacked by them. 

Instead, she was complimenting him for giving her leeway and an excuse to negotiate with Benedict that she wasn't on Theobold's side completely. 

Why is that, you might ask?

Just the fact that Shi Tian had given her a chance to halt Benedict from making the same mistake as Damon, was leverage enough to dispel some of Benedict's discontent. 

After all, if Phoebe was truly against Benedict, then she wouldn't have stopped him in time and allowed him to fall into the trap that Shi Tian had laid out for him.

However, that wasn't even the main objective of Shi Tian. His main objective was to befriend Phoebe, who was clearly leagues above Benedict in terms of intelligence, wisdom, and deployment strategy.

From the battle so far, it was clear that Phoebe was at the advantage, so how did the battle stall for so long? 

The answer was simple– Phoebe was taking it easy on Benedict. 

"Speak, what kind of discussion do you want to talk about?" Phoebe crossed her arms and asked curiously. 

"Naturally, it's being an ally. Whether it's the wilderness or back in Gearits City, having someone in a high position like you as an ally will reassure us." Shi Tian said straightforwardly. 

"You're quite honest. Aren't you afraid that I'll reject you right here and then, or possibly even risk my reputation to silence you?" 

"Please stop the joke, Commander Phoebe." Shi Tian chuckled softly and shook his head. 

"If you weren't interested, then you wouldn't have stayed around and even understood my hidden implication. Let's not play any more word games for now?" He added, suggesting that they just go straight to the point with their intention. 

Word games were truly a headache to maneuver around, and Shi Tian was too lazy to continue with it. 

With that said, Phoebe no longer bothered with her double-meaning sentences as well.

"Theobold gave me some warnings in advance that the three of you seemed to have different motives for coming here, and it seems like he wasn't wrong." Phoebe calmly said, casually revealing that she was in fact communicating with Theobold secretly. 

"I'm sure Commander Theobold had taken quite the care for us." Shi Tian replied amicably, almost as if he was unaffected by the revelation of being scrutinized by Theobold. 

Truth be told, Shi Tian truly didn't take into mind Theobold monitoring them and sending elite soldiers at them. After all, he would have done the same thing as well if the roles were reversed.

Hence, Shi Tian wasn't holding much grudge against Theobold once he had thought it over. 

Did Theobold actually harm him?

The short answer was no.

As for the long answer, that was merely a possibility and not something that had occurred.

'Some people aren't enemies forever, but can be allies depending on the circumstances.' Shi Tain thought to himself.