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Reboot: Mechanic

In the year 2139, the world changed. Fundamentally and irrevocably. Everything happened too quickly. The sky cracked like an egg and armored dinosaur-like monsters lurched out of the fissure. The split, though small at first, quickly widened. Within a few short hours, these beasts had overrun the world. Countries, even those who had been enemies for centuries, sounded a global alarm. Political differences were cast aside as humans scrambled to find a solution—any solution—to what became known as the Great Disaster 1.0. Human experimentations began, first in reluctance, then in earnest. As days turned into weeks and weeks into months, failure rates remained high. Desperate for results, global authorities started turning a blind eye to how experimental subjects were sourced. Countless victims were kidnapped and trafficked to state-run laboratories. Shi Tian was but one of them. But unlike those who died nameless, in pain, and unrecognizable, he had the fortune of surviving after being injected with humanity’s last hope—an integrated chip. Except… the chip remained dormant. It seemed that certain circumstances must be met before the chip could be activated. What those circumstances were, even the scientists in charge could not answer.

Idczhen · Sci-fi
Not enough ratings
440 Chs

Cellos

It had been a long time since Shi Tian had awakened, and it doesn't come as a surprise that the current era of mobile devices had changed.

The device he obtained from Yolanda was rectangular, but tiny enough to fit in the hand while storing numerous data in a holographic manner if one decided to activate such an option.

Such devices were something that Shi Tian had never seen before, and it just goes to show how different the world had become.

It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Shi Tian was now a caveman in the old stone age, entering a modernized world that had advanced technologies beyond the means anyone could have ever thought of.

'The device of Yolanda is called a Cellos, and apparently, it's one of the pricey items on the market. With the current money I have, I doubt I can get a new Cellos unless I take an older version or model of it.' Shi Tian exclaimed inwardly, pondering over what to do.

Now that he had decided to use an alias of Nathan to live within Gearits City.

Then he must have a Cellos registered for Nathan as well. Otherwise, people would get suspicious, and worse, if they realized he was using a Cellos from Yolanda, then everything would be over.

Although he doesn't completely comprehend the significance Yolanda had in Geairts City, just the fact that everyone was afraid of her former teammate, Xavier, proved how valuable and important she was.

Shi Tian refused to take any chance of the possibility of being exposed to be connected with Yolanda. After all, Xavier and Hugo would definitely come to silence him to keep the incident hidden from the public.

Shaking his head, Shi Tian prompted himself to stop overthinking once again. Being overly paranoid would do him more harm than good if he continued such behaviors.

'They are in the light whereas I'm in the dark. All I need to do is wait for the ideal timing.' Shi Tian thought, exiting Optic Mech as he decided to walk around to search for any old model of Cellos that are on sale.

Westwood Avenue might not be a shopping district, but the streets were still bustling with lively people, all with gear equipped on them. Occasionally, there are stalls set up by people, selling miscellaneous at a fixed price point.

Numerous chattering could be heard among these stalls in which customers would attempt to bargain for a cheaper price.

"Boss, don't you know that I'm a regular patron? If you lower the price of Eons by a little, then you would have me as a customer continuously."

"But this is already the lowest price I'm asking for."

"Don't be like that, boss. You get to stay within the safe zone city so you don't know how harsh the outside world has become. Each day I step foot outside with my team, we are practically facing death at every corner."

"Ugh, I can only lower it for another 10 Eons. Otherwise, I'm really making a loss here."

While walking through these stalls, Shi Tian heard a particular person bargaining in a somewhat unique manner.

The person was using the outside world as an excuse to get a cheaper price. Normally, that kind of bargaining would be nonsensical, but considering the world outside was a complete mess, it had an effect on the stall owner.

Shaking his head, Shi Tian decided to stop probing how this bargaining worked as he continued to browse for an old model of Cellos. A few seconds later, Shi Tian found a stall that had different kinds of Cellos models displayed.

He walked toward the stall and glanced for a few moments. And naturally, the owner of the stall was delighted to see a customer after so long.

"Hello, sir, are you interested in these latest models of Cellos? These are all produced by one of the best companies and include the latest technology. 500 Eons each, guarantee quality." The owner of the stall said enthusiastically.

Meanwhile, Shi Tian frowned a bit as he finally realized why no one bothered to patronize this stall.

The owner was in no doubt, a hundred percent, a scammer to the brim. It wasn't the fact that the owner was selling outdated models of Cellos, but the fact that he tried to scam unknowing customers while overcharging them.

"You know… if you want to scam, then you should do it properly, owner." Shi Tian furrowed his brows and said calmly.

"I don't know what this sir is saying." The owner feigned innocence and acted shocked. "All my items here are genuine and work perfectly fine."

"They sure work fine, but anyone with a keen eye can tell it's an old model. Trying to pass it off as the latest model, then you should have done some painting work of the Cellos."

"This sir, please refrain from accusing this honest old me." The owner had no shame in his behavior and continued to proclaim his innocence.

But what made Shi Tian utterly speechless was his attempt in selling his items again in a grand and magnanimous manner.

"If sir really found my charging price a bit expensive in your range, then I could do a bit of a loss and lower the amount by 100 Eons, making it a total of 400 Eons only."

At this point, Shi Tian had to admit that this owner deserved to be an owner of a stall. Only someone as shameless as him with a thick face enough to proclaim their innocence till the end despite being exposed was qualified to manage a stall.

As the two of them had a staring contest, Shi Tian finally breathed out and said with the calmest tone ever. "120 Eons, take it or leave it."

And without hesitation, the owner snickered coldly, almost as if he was ridiculing Shi Tian for the horrendous price cut down.

"Hmph, did you take me as a fool?" The owner sneered coldly.

Though, the very next moment, he extended his hand and said solemnly, "120 Eons it is!"