Reboot: Mechanic

As Shi Tian concluded his thoughts, he resolved to honor the fallen soldiers in the best way he could. 

Despite the ongoing chaos and instability of the world, he understood the significance of paying respect to those who had lost their lives in this tumultuous landscape.

"You may have been forgotten since no one would be bothered to send your corpses back to Gearits City. But at the very least, you can rest in peace, unlike some other unfortunate beings." Shi Tian mumbled softly.

Gently walking over to the pile of corpses, he took a moment to set up a makeshift memorial. 

Gathering rocks and wooden remnants from the battlefield, he carefully constructed a small altar to commemorate the fallen soldiers. Placing some wildflowers and whatever remnants of respect he could conjure up, he created a touching tribute to the departed souls.

While Shi Tian was busy doing this, Mary smiled softly in the Iron Sentinel. 

"Look at him, always acting so cold-hearted, but it seemed like he still had some heart." Mary calmly said, turning her attention to Vanessa. 

"I'm sure his inner nature isn't bad, but it's just that the world is an unforgiving place. He probably doesn't want to show his weakness to anyone." Vanessa chimed in. 

The time she spent with him wasn't much, but she could feel that despite his shrewdness, there was a hint of humanity left in him.

"Whatever, he's probably doing this to repay his gratitude for the resources he looted from them. The resources should be decent enough to warrant him to do such acts." Mary stretched her arms. 

Although she knew there was something fishy, she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. 

"Why does it seem like Nathan is doing this with a nefarious intention now that I've heard you?" Vanessa raised an eyebrow, seemingly suspicious of Shi Tian's action.

"Could it be that he's going to demand some money from the deceased soldiers' families?" She suddenly gasped and looked at Mary in disbelief. 

Mary quickly faked a few coughs, clearly not trying to answer that question. 

Truth be told, she came to such a conclusion as well but found it rude to point it out.

Who told Shi Tian to always be so calculative and shrewd? 

Because of his character, it had become increasingly difficult for anyone to believe he would ever do something out of goodwill without trying to look for benefits.

Poor Shi Tian didn't know the two women were judging him so poorly and was focused on continuing his business.

As the makeshift memorial took shape, he whispered a silent prayer, a plea for their souls to find peace in this ravaged world. 

Even though their names and faces were unknown to him, he at least gave them a proper burial compared to most unfortunate ones that can't even have a memorial tablet. 

"Rest assured, deceased soldiers. I have taken a picture of each one of you, so if your family ever comes up to me. I'll make sure to send them the picture, albeit with a bit of reward." Shi Tian mumbled, not feeling a bit ashamed of his conduct. 

What he did was considered magnanimous already.

Just the fact that he wouldn't actively look for the deceased soldiers' families was his gratitude for looting them. 

Clasping his hands, Shi Tian returned to the Iron Sentinel promptly.

As soon as Shi Tian arrived at the front, Vanessa looked at him and asked, "So, are you going to demand payment from the deceased soldiers' families?" 

Unlike Mary, who was going to keep silent since she did not wish to pry information from others, she was still somewhat curious. 

Starting the vehicle, Mary pretended to focus on driving but actually had it on auto-driving mode as she perked her ears up to listen in. 

Shi Tian didn't plan on hiding his intention either, so he was directly confused. 

"Yes, I will naturally demand payment for such works since I'm not the one that got them killed. But I also won't actively search for them unless they come to me themselves." He shrugged his shoulders and responded.

Call him cold-hearted or disgusting or whatever insulting term you have in your mind. But he was someone doing his best to survive. It might seem immoral, but at the very least, he wasn't like some criminals who would actively search for troubles from others to sustain themselves.

Hell, there were even worse criminals who were willing to kidnap women to pleasure themselves and possibly even kill them later on as well.

Comparing these vile villains, Shi Tian's actions could be considered mild and gentle.

While Shi Tian was having such a thought process regarding his action, Mary and Vanessa only silently glanced at each other. They were speechless that their intuition was correct, and that Shi Tian was truly a profit seeker in any situation. 

Given that the atmosphere had turned somewhat awkward, Shi Tian was also too lazy to have a conversation. Taking a seat by the side, Shi Tian mentally began to recalculate the resources he had managed to gain this time.

Time slowly passed by, and Mary soon drove the Iron Sentinel back to the camp area. 

Although not many days had passed since they had left the camp, it still felt like an eternity with the amount of turbulence and obstacles they had to deal with. 

What was worse was that Mary seemed to have realized there might be more troubles back here.

"Trouble after another… just which one of you is the bane?" Mary exclaimed in disbelief when she saw the scene up ahead. 

Her limit was reaching near the end as she turned to Vanessa and Shi Tian, seemingly trying to discern who was the unlucky star in their group that constantly attracted trouble.

And before Vanessa could even speak up, Shi Tian smoothly raised his hand and pointed his finger at Vanessa. 

"It's obviously Vanessa. There's no other possible candidate." Shi Tian responded, extremely smoothly and swiftly throwing her under the bus without hesitation.