Returning to Gearits City, Shi Tian witnessed the same scenery ahead of him, except this time, his status was different.
Unlike previously where he needed to avoid interaction due to being ignorant of the current world, he now could walk around the streets without being afraid of getting caught.
As Mary continued to drive slowly in the streets, Shi Tian subtly remembered the area on the east side. The east side was a slum area, and it was also the time that he had an unpleasant encounter.
“What’s the matter, Nathan?” Mary suddenly asked once she felt something was amiss with him.
“Oh nothing, just some bad memories that I had over there.” Shi Tian replied without thinking much.
Alas, who would have thought Mary would suddenly stop her vehicle by the curb.
“Oh? What kind of bad memories,” She then asked curiously. It wasn’t her fault for being overly curious given that Shi Tian had rarely shown much of his displeasure aside from the mention of Yolanda.
“It’s nothing important. We shouldn’t delay our journey.” Shi Tian brushed it off. He didn’t think it was more important than returning to his apartment and requesting Vanessa for help.
However, Mary didn’t seem to have any intention of driving until she got an answer from him. She even went as far as changing the gear shift to parking.
“Why are you doing this?” He questioned, unable to believe her current action.
Shouldn’t the matter regarding Vanessa take top priority instead of enquiring about his displeased encounter that occurred in the past?
Why was she suddenly acting so childish?
Despite the questioning and constant stare that Shi Tian gave her, Mary seemed oblivious, even yawning in the process.
Shaking his head, Shi Tian decided to just explain it as quickly as he could.
Sometime later, Mary clasped her hands and nodded her head.
“I see, so you went to a shady mechanic workshop in the slum area. Hush’s Workshop? What kind of trashy name was that?” She snickered coldly.
“Yes, can we move on now?” Shi Tian asked, pointing at the watch on his wrist which was borrowed from her, indicating that time was running out.
“Why are you in such a rush?”
“Because we needed to meet up with Vanessa? Something that you kept urgently telling me about throughout the journey?”
“Oh, that?” Mary chuckled softly and stretched her arms. “We don’t need to rush back any further because the issue has been resolved already.”
And before Shi Tian could ask why, Mary showed him a message that Isaac Aaronax had sent her.
Within the message, Isaac Aaronax informed Mary that the people he sent to assist Vanessa weren’t needed. After all, the people that tried to sneak into the apartment complex were all swiftly dealt with by none other than the Crimson Mage.
“Right, the Crimson Mage is the owner of the apartment complex.” Shi Tian seemed to have been enlightened, clearly forgetting about this fact given how tense the situation was earlier.
With the Crimson Mage overseeing her property, only someone stronger than the Crimson Mage could possibly sneak in and harm others.
“The Crimson Mage’s reputation isn’t for show, Nathan. Since the possibility of Vanessa being in danger is voided, we actually have time to idle around.” Mary flatly said.
“Even if Vanessa won’t be in danger, shouldn’t we still rush back?”
“Not possible at the moment. Crimson Mage rarely shows her presence and when she does, there is usually a barricade of flames created by her. This was done on purpose by the Crimson Mage to avoid being seen or interrupted by other people.”
“Not even the resident could enter during this phase?” Shi Tian twitched his mouth in disbelief.
Meanwhile, Mary simply shrugged her shoulders, equivalent to answering Shi Tian’s question.
Sighing softly, Shi Tian was dumbfounded, but not surprised by the outcome. He was merely a renter and not the owner.
Not to mention, would anyone dare to go against the Crimson Mage when even the military and other intruders failed to do anything to her?
“So how long does the barricade of flames last?” Shi Tian then asked.
“About 30 minutes to 1 hour,” Mary responded. “Though the time is mainly for her employees to clean up the corpses or areas that were ruined by the fighting,” she added.
“Damn, then what do we do now?”
“That was my concern originally since I don’t feel like returning to Optic Mech. But thanks to you, I found something fun to do.” She smiled mysteriously.
Shi Tian was speechless because he knew what she was planning to do.
And sure enough, a few minutes later, Mary kicked him off the Iron Sentinel and strode toward Hush’s Workshop.
Facepalming, Shi Tian could only pray that Mary would not overdo things.
Silently following Mary, Shi Tian once again walked through the slum area where he had not been here for a long time.
While walking through, Shi Tian suddenly paused his movement. His eyes focused on a particularly dark alley.
‘So she’s been feeding these orphans.’ He thought to himself.
“Hm? Did you meet an acquaintance?” Mary, who realized Shi Tian wasn’t following him, turned around and asked once she noticed his eyesight was somewhere else.
“Huh?” Shi Tian snapped out of his daze and glanced at Mary.
“Do you know that woman?” Mary pointed at the woman in the dark alley. “You seem to be staring at her quite intensely, so I thought it was an acquaintance of yours.” 𝘦𝘯.𝘰𝘳𝘨
“Ah, no, she’s not really an acquaintance, but just someone I have met and interacted with briefly.” Shi Tian shook his head and proceeded to introduce who she was.
“So, she’s Krissie and someone that was an early guide of you here.” Mary rubbed her chin, seemingly in deep thought.
“Well, it’s nothing important, so let’s just leave.” Shi Tian then suggested.
However, Mary shook her head and said, “Why don’t you introduce us? She doesn’t seem to be a bad person either if she’s willing to feed those orphans.”