The Mechanic [BL]

[45]

Chapter 45 - Machinery and Life (3)

As the sun went down, Zhang Xun was sat on the edge of the roof of the Lab, watching the endless undulating roofs that looked like building blocks, uniformly rendered into a similar copper red by the twilight. A sketchbook and a charcoal pen were placed beside him and the design drafts of several arms were drawn on a few pieces of white paper that had been blackened with charcoal.

A cigarette burned quietly between his fingers.

He hadn't smoked in a long time. This thing was nothing but harmful, it accelerated human ageing and destroyed human alveoli, but sometimes, people would want to do something to hurt themselves to make themselves calm.

These days, he still had nightmares from time to time, dreaming that he was cutting Adam's body with a chainsaw in his hand. Every time he woke up, his whole body was soaked in cold sweat and there seemed to be a tragic scream in his ears.

Fearing that Adam next door might hear his disturbed dreams, Zhang Xun moved out of the Lab and went back to his cramped apartment to sleep every night. Apart from getting enough sleep every day and one or two meals, he shut himself in his studio, made a prototype robotic arm and then threw it into the "garbage heap" at the side. He overturned his designs time and time again, and no matter how he changed it he still felt that it wasn't good enough.

He wanted to use this to make up for what he owed to Adam.

Adam had told him countless times not to worry about it, but the more Adam tried to comfort him with his uniquely down-to-earth attitude, the more he couldn't let it go.

He wanted to create the best mechanical arm, a prosthetic limb that was better than all Feathered Serpent City's designs.

Because of his lack of sleep, guilt and anxiety, he turned to cigarettes to relieve these negative emotions and stress. Although smoking wasn't a big deal in Lost Paradise, he still didn't want to be seen doing so, as he had always had great self-control, so he would always come here in secret.

Suddenly, the sound of the door opening came from behind, followed by Adam's call, "Ah-Xun!"

Zhang Xun hurriedly put out the cigarette butt and threw it off the building. He fanned away the smell of the cigarette in front of him and turned around as if nothing had happened. "What's wrong?"

Since returning from the Feathered Serpent Base, Adam had been allowed to move freely in the Lab. Even the Round Table had conceded on this. Adam held Alloy in his robotic right arm as he pushed the door open with his foot then strode towards him. Arriving in front of Zhang Xun, Adam suddenly frowned slightly and his nose twitched, as if he was smelling something.

Zhang Xun somehow felt a strange guilty conscience of being caught.

"Ah-Xun, did you smoke?" Adam asked with a serious expression.

Zhang Xun cleared his throat, "No."

"Ah-Xun, nicotine and tar can seriously damage your lung tissue and respiratory organs, accelerate your skin ageing, increase your risk of cancer and ultimately greatly shorten your life expectancy."

"...I know!" Zhang Xun rolled his eyes. Adam was acting like his Dean at school, "I don't smoke often..."

"Using cigarettes to relieve stress is not healthy. If needed, I can recommend some other decompression activities." Adam sat down beside Zhang Xun and imitated Zhang Xun by hanging his feet from the top of the rust-colored box building, "For example, colouring games, or outdoor sports..."

"I know, I know, I won't smoke in the future..." Zhang Xun muttered.

Adam put Alloy aside and held out his mechanical right hand, "Give them to me."