《Transformers Begin》


 CH 1

    Late at night, after a terrifying thunderstorm that came and went in the blink of an eye, a black and white Ford Mustang police car with the number 643 printed on its body slowly drove deeper into an abandoned factory on the outskirts of Fairfax City.


    The headlights illuminated the area!


    If someone happened to pass by the car at this moment, they would undoubtedly be frightened to the core. Because as they looked into the car, whether at the driver''s seat on the left or the empty passenger seat on the right, there was not a single soul inside!


    "What the hell... Was the core template damaged by the lightning strike just now?" Sun Cheng gradually regained consciousness, his head throbbing intensely as if a searing iron rod had been forcefully plunged into it. The pain, nausea, and intense dizziness made him even contemplate the thought of immediate death.


    To make matters worse, he was now experiencing hallucinations.


    "...I am Frenzy...a mechanical life form from Cybertron Planet..."


    "No, no... I''m Sun Cheng, a failed college student who passed out after drinking too much..."


    An overwhelming flood of unfamiliar memories and consciousness clashed in his mind, exacerbating his torment.


    Fortunately, this state of mind didn''t last too long. Accompanied by a sudden and inexplicable sensation of coolness, Sun Cheng finally managed to completely assimilate the consciousness data of the Mechanical Life Form known as Frenzy, taking control of the mechanical body.


    Yes, it was a mechanical body, not a human one!


    Once he had fully processed the absurd information in his head, Sun Cheng regained his awareness. He lowered his head, his face adorned with a pair of field of view lenses that covered an astonishing range of nearly three hundred degrees. Even in the darkness of the night, he could clearly discern tiny particles on the ground over ten meters away to the left, with eyes that resembled high-definition cameras. He stared at his own slender, metallic arms.


    "...Is this not a dream? Have I actually transformed into a robot? This..."


    Sun Cheng couldn''t help but doubt!


    Apart from the fact that the unique construction of a mechanical life form''s body couldn''t be faked, a barrage of information flooded his mind, originating from the storage and encryption of memory-related files, the energy consumption of the mechanical body, the wear and tear of its various parts, and even the mechanical body''s ability to transform and combine. All of this information manifested itself in his head, or rather, in the core template, at a frequency of once per second.


    [Frenzy: Spy Robot]


    [Faction: Decepticon (Cassette Legion)]


    [Partner: Barricade]


    [Height: 2.6 feet. Weight: 27.51 pounds]


    [Core: Level 1 Spy Template]


    [Status: Good!]


    [Currently executing mission 1: Go to Earth and search for information about the leader ''Megatron'' and the ''All Spark''.]


    [Secretly executing mission 2: Monitor Barricade and investigate the reason behind the sudden departure of the deputy commander, Starscream, from Cybertron to the Solar System decades ago.]


    ...


    Caught in a state of confusion and panic about the events happening to him, Sun Cheng suddenly felt his head spinning. Before he could even comprehend it, his incredible mechanical eyes had already conveyed the drastic changes in his surroundings to the core template within his brain.


    "Hold on... has the police car I was in also transformed into a robot? Is he my current partner, Barricade?"


    As this thought emerged in his mind, Sun Cheng quickly realized his mistake!


    "Damn it... worthless Cassette Legion..."


    Accompanied by a furious roar, Sun Cheng hadn''t even hit the ground yet when he felt a weightless sensation, firmly caught in a pair of dark mechanical hands. "Warning... Warning, Exoskeleton sustains minor damage..."


    Although the mechanical body prevented him from feeling the pain, the continuous warnings from the core template flashing in his mind, along with the sparks emitted by Barricade''s tight grip on his mechanical body, indicated the severity of Sun Cheng''s current condition.


    "...I''ve run out of patience... insignificant vermin... Now, either tell me if the mission can still proceed or perish..."


    With Baricade''s cold, mechanical voice, the danger warning in Sun Cheng''s mind became even more piercing, accompanied by an indescribable sense of despair.


    In that moment, it was as if a voice emerged from the depths of his soul, incessantly issuing warnings.


    I''m going to die!


    I''m really going to die!


    "Wait... Lord Barricade... it seems my template has been affected by the recent lightning strike..."


    Under the imminent danger, Sun Cheng immediately replied, almost instinctively.


    Even though he could sense the tremor and panic in his own voice.


    A semblance of a smile appeared on Barricade''s grim metallic face, appearing cruel and violent.


    He seemed highly satisfied with Sun Cheng''s terror, but as the glimmer in his two pairs of blue mechanical eyes flickered, his cold voice once again shocked Sun Cheng''s core template to the verge of malfunction. "Oh? Does that mean I need a new assistant?"


    The fear and unease intensified, echoing the subconscious warning from Frenzy, the original owner who had been devoured by him.


    And Sun Cheng, who has taken over all of Frenzy''s memories, finally reacted and realized his current dangerous situation.


    He, Frenzy, is a Mechanical Life Form from the Decepticon faction of Cybertron Planet, a member of the Cassette Legion under Lord Soundwave.


    As an intelligence officer of the Decepticons, after following Lord Soundwave to the Solar System in a remote corner of the Milky Way, he received orders to go to Earth with the Decepticon warrior named ''Baricade'' in front of him to search for the missing Decepticon leader, Lord Megatron, and the Sacred artifact called the All Spark. Intelligence suggests that they are likely to be on Earth.


    In addition, he also received a secret mission from Soundwave, the commander of the Cassette Legion.


    However, it was clear that Baricade did not trust him.


    He couldn''t help but make a subconscious swallowing motion, but unfortunately, it only produced an indistinct electronic sound.


    In response to the warning of the crisis, Sun Cheng''s brain started to operate at an unprecedented frequency. "My... my lord, although my condition has been affected to some extent, it does not hinder the upcoming mission..."


    As far as he knows, although Decepticons are Mechanical Life Forms, their strict hierarchical system is even more oppressive than the feudal era that humans have long surpassed.


    The higher-ranked Decepticons have a suffocating level of suppression over the lower-ranked ones, which is one of the laws deeply ingrained in the most important aspect of their existence, the Core.


    This also means that Sun Cheng, who has taken control of the mechanical spy named ''Frenzy'', can''t muster any resistance in the face of Baricade, who is suppressing him with his higher rank.


    This undoubtedly heightened his unease!


    "Oh? Is that so?"


    Seeing Baricade sneer and reveal a mouthful of ferocious serrated alloy teeth, even tightening his grip with a bit more force, it seemed that he had no intention of letting him off easily.


    Sun Cheng''s heart tightened, and he was about to beg for mercy when a piece of information suddenly flashed in his mind. He couldn''t help but shout, "Lord Baricade, kill me, because the next intelligence officer sent to assist you won''t arrive on Earth for who knows how long. I''ve heard that Lord Blackout is about to reach the Solar System!"


    As soon as the words left his mouth, he initially felt a sudden tightening all over his body, thinking he had overplayed his hand. However, the next moment, he was forcefully thrown out, first colliding with a stone pillar inside the abandoned factory, and then landing on the dirty ground with a loud "thud."


    "Hmph..."


    Accompanied by a cold snort, Baricade stared down at him menacingly for a while, then transformed back into the original black and white Ford Mustang police car with a mechanical sound. "Get in the car, let''s go!"


    Decepticons'' mechanical bodies are made of Memory Metal, so Sun Cheng''s non-fatal injuries will heal on their own in no time. Therefore, even though his mechanical body is damaged, it doesn''t hinder his movements.


    However, the experience of having his life completely in someone else''s hands just now left him feeling stifled and extremely angry, thinking to himself that he couldn''t let it slide so easily.


    Silently, he got into the car and sat in the passenger seat. Sun Cheng lowered his head, and the blue light in his electronic eyes flickered incessantly as he began to organize his thoughts.


    Just a moment ago, if he hadn''t fully absorbed all of ''Frenzy''s'' memories, his current partner, Baricade, might have taken the opportunity to kill him.


    Sun Cheng wasn''t merely indulging in delusions. In ''Frenzy''s'' memories, Baricade was known as a cunning and ferocious Decepticon warrior. He would readily kill a low-ranking Decepticon like Sun Cheng without hesitation. Even the leader of the Cassette Legion, Soundwave, to which they both belonged, wouldn''t intervene on his behalf against Baricade.


    Luckily, they were sent to Earth on a mission this time, and Baricade had a strained relationship with another Decepticon warrior, Blackout. Otherwise, Sun Cheng would have become the unluckiest adventurer in history.


    Although, in his perspective, he found it inexplicable how he had transmigrated to this new world and transformed into a Mechanical Life Form. It seemed like a stroke of terrible luck.


    Indeed, Sun Cheng had come to realize the truth of his transmigration.


    While sorting through ''Frenzy''s'' memory data, he had learned that he was still on Earth, but his location had changed from his homeland of China to Fairfax City in Virginia, USA.


    If it were only a simple change of location, Sun Cheng wouldn''t have felt so disheartened.


    However, from ''Frenzy''s'' memory data, he discovered that in this world, although there was a country named ''China,'' its political system was modeled after Soviet-style socialism. This stretched his imagination to its limits.


    After all, in the world he knew before, China and the Soviet Union had been embroiled in territorial disputes and border conflicts for over a century. Their enmity was deep-rooted, making it unimaginable for either side to adopt the other''s system.


    Furthermore, this world had only reached the year AD 2007, and the existence of "mechanical life" as a type of intelligent extraterrestrial lifeform was something Sun Cheng had never anticipated, despite his attempts at wild speculation.


    Given these circumstances, only one conclusion remained.

 CH 2

    After Baricade transformed into a Ford Mustang police car and drove out of the abandoned factory, he drove around for a while before heading towards Sun Cheng''s intended destination in his memory.


    The journey was uneventful!


    As one of the few high-ranking warriors in the Decepticon army, Baricade probably didn''t bother with small roles like him.


    And Sun Cheng, who was afraid of him, didn''t want to cause trouble for himself. He carefully studied the current mechanical body while he still had some time before reaching their destination.


    Although he still couldn''t figure out how he had inexplicably crossed over!


    But without a doubt, "Frenzy", which he had taken over, was the lowest existence among the Decepticons.


    It was very easy to distinguish the level of these mechanical lives, much easier than distinguishing the rich and the poor among humans.


    The difference in physique between high-level and low-level Decepticons was like night and day, just like the difference between Frenzy, who was only about one meter tall in humanoid form after transforming, and Baricade, who was over five meters tall after transforming.


    The reason for this huge difference was the "Core".


    For Decepticons, this mechanical life form, the importance of the "Core" was even higher than that of the human brain and heart. It was not only the source of life for Decepticons, but also the processing center and functional management center for all information of this Mechanical Life Form.


    Decepticons of different levels were equipped with different "Cores", ranging from the lowest to the highest: "Template", "Spark", and the legendary "Matrix".


    "Template" was undoubtedly the worst of all "Cores" and was generally only equipped by first or second-level Decepticons. It could be broadly divided into three types: "Medical Template", "Spy Template", and "Production Template".


    Compared to the Core, Spark is obviously much better. Not only can it provide more energy for the Decepticons to sustain prolonged battles, but its lifespan also far exceeds that of any template.


    Unfortunately, Frenzy doesn''t know much about Spark, only that it seems to be equipped by Decepticon Leader Megatron.


    As for the Matrix, it is a legendary artifact that only exists in Cybertron Planet. It is rumored to have been created by a super leader a long time ago, but whether it is true or not cannot be verified.


    The car was driving smoothly on the road, at a fast speed. After twenty-one minutes and seventeen seconds, Sun Cheng snapped out of his thoughts as his body slightly leaned forward.


    Through the car window, he saw the familiar building outside, and his eyes flickered with blue light.


    "We''re here!"


    A cold electronic sound came from the driver''s seat next to him.


    Hearing the sound, Sun Cheng turned his head subconsciously, only to find that at some point, a middle-aged white man with an old-fashioned beard had appeared out of nowhere in the empty driver''s seat.


    He looked about forty years old, dressed in a standard American police uniform, with a cold gaze and no expression on his face, emitting a strong killing intent.


    "Not a real person... is this a projection?"


    Although the man in the driver''s seat next to him was almost indistinguishable from a real person, Sun Cheng''s ultra-precision electronic eyes still detected a layer of hazy light around him, and he realized that it was just a projection activated by Baricade.


    "Snap!"


    The door on the passenger side suddenly opened. Sensing two cold gazes on him, Sun Cheng silently jumped out of the car, his small body rolled on the ground, and then he ran towards the wall of a nearby building without looking back.


    The Advanced Computer Technology Research Center affiliated with George Mason University, a prestigious school in Virginia!


    Located in an inconspicuous building in Fairfax City, it is one of the few research institutions in the United States that can barely meet the speed requirements for Sun Cheng''s mission. It is also their destination tonight.


    "Warning, electronic surveillance device detected. Security route has been avoided as follows..."


    Frenzy, a mechanical spy from the Decepticon army, had two pairs of electronic eyes with not only ultra-clear resolution and night vision capabilities, but could also sense electromagnetic radiation and the operating frequency of electronic devices within a certain distance. When the information is fed into his core, the core will automatically design the best route for him.


    Undoubtedly, the Spy Template provided great assistance to Sun Cheng. So much so that he, who was engaging in this kind of espionage for the first time, was able to easily bypass the array of surveillance cameras and research center security personnel, and swiftly darted into the research center building.


    Time: AD 2007, April 20th, 2:34 AM.


    It''s unclear whether anyone was working overtime at this time, or if security personnel were just patrolling the building.


    Regardless, Sun Cheng only discovered after entering the research center that the door to the first floor lobby was open and the lights in the hallway were on.


    After being a little cautious and avoiding some surveillance cameras, Sun Cheng arrived at the door of an office on the second floor.


    After guarding the area for a moment and confirming that it was safe nearby, he looked up at the password lock on the tempered glass door in front of him and then made a low electronic sound of "beep beep beep," "Is it a six-digit Arabic numeral password lock?"


    Sun Cheng had a look of disbelief on his face as he scanned the two sets of electronic eyes. After his Core had determined that he could easily crack the password, he reluctantly followed the instructions and extended his right arm.


    The transformation function immediately activated, and his right index finger quickly turned into a long, cylindrical metal rod.


    Sun Cheng inserted his transformed finger into the maintenance hole of the tempered glass door''s password lock in the office. The intrusion function of his Spy Template immediately kicked in and read all 7842 input records saved on the password lock memory card in less than 0.0001 seconds.


    After a simple nearby screening, he quickly selected the most frequently used set of numbers, and in less than a second, a group of six digits appeared in Sun Cheng''s mind - 198264.


    "That''s it?"


    Although he had already realized the power of Decepticons, a mechanical life form, from the memory data of "Frenzy" he had absorbed, this was still too much.


    Human electronic devices, even with encryption, were completely defenseless in front of Decepticons!


    Despite his astonishment, Sun Cheng still had some expectations as he entered the door code.


    Without disappointment, the door of the office opened with a light click, and Sun Cheng quickly entered the room.


    It was a small office with a sign hanging outside reading "Vertical Writing Technology Lab," but it was only about forty square meters.


    Several desks were cluttered inside the office, three of which had rare IBM desktop computers on them, while the others did not, suggesting that the owner preferred to use a laptop.


    Judging by the personalized placement of materials on most desks, it was clear that the researchers who worked here were not much different from ordinary office workers.


    After picking a random computer and checking that the network and power connections were fine, Sun Cheng decisively turned on the computer, preparing to use it as a port to invade the All-American Internet to search for information on the Decepticon Leader, Megatron, and the Sacred artifact, All Spark.


    Speaking of which, both Sun Cheng and the already-devoured "Frenzy" were full of doubts when they read this task from the Core, which had been set as Sun Cheng''s current top priority.


    How could the Decepticon leader and their planet''s Sacred artifact be on Earth?


    As far as he knew, the Cybertron planet was near the center of the Milky Way, while the Solar System where Earth was located was not less than 15,000 light-years away from the center of the Milky Way. Even if the Cybertron planet had mastered the technology of artificial wormholes, which could greatly reduce the interstellar journey, new doubts arose.


    How did Starscream, who was appointed as the deputy commander of the Decepticon Legion by Megatron, know that Megatron and All Spark were definitely on Earth at this time?


    Soundwave, the commander of "Frenzy" belonging to the Cassette Legion, was also skeptical about this.


    Therefore, after leading the Cassette Legion to track the Starscream''s footsteps all the way to the Solar System and being actively approached by the Starscream to inform him of this information, he promised to dispatch some spies to cooperate with the Starscream''s actions but also handed over some secret tasks.


    Shaking his head, Sun Cheng quickly threw all the doubts in his mind behind him.


    His partner, Baricade, was still waiting for him outside, and although he was not happy about it, Sun Cheng knew that he didn''t have the patience to waste time with him and had to complete the task quickly and report back to him.


    Therefore, as soon as he saw that the computer on the desk was already turned on, he jumped onto the desk with a stool and was ready to get to work.


    Although the office looked a bit messy in terms of hygiene, it was still a computer used by researchers, and the user of the computer that he turned on had good security awareness and had encrypted the computer.


    However, Sun Cheng, who had just tried his hand at hacking, now completely ignored this small trouble.


    Without even bothering with the computer''s startup password, Sun Cheng directly used the Transformation function. This time, he transformed both his arms into USB ports and connected them to the computer''s mainframe.


    Sure enough, the invasion function of the "Spy Template" was activated, and in less than a second, his "Core" had already cracked the startup password, allowing him to use it as a port to infiltrate the All-American Internet.

 CH 3

    In this world, it was only AD 2007 and the development of the internet was undoubtedly different from the world before Sun Cheng''s time travel.


    Not to mention other things, although the telecommunications service providers in the United States have also launched 100Mbps internet packages, there are few users, mostly research institutions and corporate units like the Advanced Computer Technology Research Center.


    As of AD 2007, the average internet speed of ordinary American citizens has not even exceeded 2Mbps. The "information superhighway" strategy proposed by former President Clinton more than a decade ago is obviously no longer valued by his successors.


    If it were a high-level Decepticon, such as Soundwave, the leader of the Cassette Legion, which Frenzy belongs to, he would not need to care about these things.


    According to Frenzy, as the intelligence master of the Decepticons, Soundwave can even directly transform into a spy satellite in outer space and invade, monitor, and even destroy the Earth''s internet by capturing electromagnetic waves and various communication signals.


    But Sun Cheng cannot do that. After all, he is only the lowest-level Decepticon spy and cannot break through the constraints of basic physics, so he needs a relatively high-quality port like the Advanced Computer Technology Research Center.


    "The information channel is successfully linked... Activate temporary port reinforcement... Authorize the use of the second storage area... Security protection function is activated... Filter function is activated... Add key search terms such as ''aliens, robots, mysterious characters, unknown patterns, extraterrestrial civilizations''... The invasion function is fully activated... Target: World Network..."


    A series of commands were quickly sent out from the Spy Template, and Sun Cheng once again discovered the horror of these Mechanical Life Forms known as Decepticons.


    With the Core running at full power, he didn''t even need to interfere anymore. The invasion of the internet was already proceeding smoothly, to the point where Sun Cheng didn''t know what he should do.


    "The truth hidden by the White House, uncovering the unknown Area 51!"


    "NASA discovered a planet-like object 174 light years away, could there be intelligent life?"


    "Houston saw a UFO, who is spying on our space base?"


    "The unknown ghost of Tucson, many people saw what appeared to be an F22 fighter hovering over the ''cemetery'' late at night!"


    With the two arms connected to the computer fiber optic interface, countless filtered information searched from the internet is now being downloaded at a terrifying speed to the storage area in Sun Cheng''s brain.


    1M, 10M, 1G, 10G...


    Despite setting up search filters with keywords, in just over ten minutes, Sun Cheng''s brain storage area has accumulated as much as nearly 10G of various complex content, which has already pushed the laboratory''s download speed to its limit.


    At this point, Sun Cheng finally realizes the limitations of the "Core". While his "Spy Template" is strong, when it comes to specific intelligence analysis, he still relies mainly on himself.


    Finally understanding what he needs to do, he discards distractions and focuses his consciousness into the storage area of his brain, flipping through the many network news and materials that were downloaded by the "Spy Template".


    "The mysterious Area 51? Another alien story that''s everywhere..."


    "The Apollo moon landing program was inexplicably cancelled... conspiracy theories... wait, is it true that the Decepticon''s forward base is now on the far side of the moon... is there really a connection between the two?"


    "Hmm, these characters on the Mayan pyramids are a bit blurry, but there is no doubt that they are the text of the Cybertron planet..."


    "What''s going on? Why is there a Decepticon logo on the first car invented by Karl Benz?"


    Despite the fact that most of the information he found on the internet was chaotic and useless, Sun Cheng was able to sift through the clues with his analytical skills that were comparable to a supercomputer. Although he was very surprised, he was certain that he saw the Decepticon logo in a black and white photo of Karl Benz and his first car, which he found online.


    What surprised him even more was that Sun Cheng found one or several groups of Cybertron Planet text in promotional pictures of many historical sites. Although he could only interpret a few of the words, most of the text was encrypted and only higher-ranking Decepticons who understood the encryption could decode them.


    "There''s something strange... definitely something strange..."


    While he was pleasantly surprised, Sun Cheng couldn''t help but break out in a cold sweat when he thought about it more deeply. What happened to this world?


    Mechanical life forms from Cybertron Planet may have arrived on Earth a long time ago, and some Decepticons may have hidden their identities and blended into human society. Based on his limited knowledge of the Decepticon army, this mechanical race could be described as full of conspiracies, arrogance, and war.


    What he couldn''t understand the most was why these Decepticons who may have arrived on Earth a long time ago didn''t destroy the world or control Earth and enslave humans, which they considered to be ignorant and inferior life forms like reptiles.


    It was terrifying to think about!


    He had to admit that even a country like the United States, which claimed to be free, had much stricter internet censorship than outsiders knew.


    Due to some clues he had caught, Sun Cheng quickly made some adjustments to the intrusion and began a more targeted search. However, what troubled him was that he soon discovered that on the internet, information about the Decepticons and Cybertron Planet had been erased as if by an invisible hand. Apart from a few pieces of information with high exposure or those saved in some remote corners of the internet, the rest of the information had been deliberately erased.


    This kind of efficiency was not something that one or even several internet companies could achieve. There was no doubt that only one force could do it, and that was the government!


    "Could it be that the U.S. government is erasing the traces of the Decepticons? Or is it that the humans on Earth are not what we think they are? Have they known about the existence of these mechanical life forms for a long time, and even had contact with them?"


    Doubts accumulated in Sun Cheng''s mind. When he found that he could no longer find any more clues from the ordinary network, the thought of retreat came to his mind.


    He immediately shut down the intrusion function and pulled out the two arms that had been plugged into the computer''s mainframe.


    However, just at this moment, Sun Cheng suddenly felt a violent tremor from the [Core]inside his body. Before he could react, he immediately felt dizzy. When he regained consciousness, he realized that he was no longer in the office he was in before. The surrounding environment had changed into a small, softly lit, blue ball-shaped space.


    "What''s going on?"


    He couldn''t feel his arms or body, and fear began to creep into his heart.


    When he noticed that he was suspended in mid-air, although he couldn''t see his own expression at the moment, he was certain that it must look terrible.


    "Where am I?"


    He looked around warily and soon breathed a sigh of relief.


    In this small ball-shaped space of only a few square meters, there was no one else except for two dim and lifeless screens floating not far ahead, and there was no sign of anyone else.


    However, Sun Cheng remained cautious and stayed in place for a while before floating forward. He walked all the way to a screen and stopped alertly.


    But he didn''t expect that, as if sensing his presence, the screen in front of him suddenly lit up. A small mechanical figure, only three heads tall, quickly appeared on the screen. The figure sat quietly on a chair.


    "A robot? Wait, why does this office look so familiar... isn''t this my current body?"


    The sudden appearance of the robot on the screen stunned him, but after taking a closer look, he was completely sure that it was displaying himself.


    "What''s going on?"


    Still confused about the situation, he hesitated for a moment before floating to another screen next to him.


    Just like before, when Sun Cheng came to the front of the screen, it immediately lit up and projected the image of a young man lying on a bed with a blank expression.


    "That''s me, that''s me!"


    When he saw the young man on the screen, even though he couldn''t feel his body at the moment, a surge of blood rushed to Sun Cheng''s forehead. He excitedly floated back and forth in front of the screen, silently shouting in his heart.


    "What''s going on? Where is this? Why am I seeing my body before I time-traveled? Is anyone there? Get out here..."


    As he excitedly floated back and forth, he accidentally touched the screen.


    The next moment, a huge suction force suddenly came from the screen.


    Sun Cheng suddenly felt a blackout in front of his eyes and fainted on the spot!

 CH 4

    After who knows how long he had been unconscious, Sun Cheng was suddenly awakened by a loud noise coming from the next room.


    Still feeling a bit groggy, he instinctively groped around and picked up a cold object to hold up in front of him.


    Struggling to open his hazy eyes, he glanced at his phone and saw, "April 14th, 8:23 AM. Am I late?"


    Rubbing his sore brain, Sun Cheng threw his phone to the side and closed his eyes again.


    "I am Frenzy...a mechanical life form from Cybertron Planet..."


    Recalling fragments of the confused memories that still lingered in his mind, Sun Cheng stretched and muttered, "It was just a dream after all..."


    It must have been!


    Only in dreams could such absurd things happen!


    But what a wonderful and unbelievable dream it was!


    Surprisingly, Sun Cheng didn''t forget his memories as he regained consciousness. He could still clearly remember how he had transformed into "Frenzy" in his dream, a mechanical spy from a extraterrestrial civilization - Cybertron Planet.


    Together with his partner - Baricade, they infiltrated a US research institution and used a computer in that facility as a port to invade the internet of that world.


    "What a ridiculous dream, how could a human become a mechanical warrior?"


    Sun Cheng laughed at himself and got up from the bed. He took the last cigarette from the dried-up pack on the corner of the computer desk and was about to light it up when he heard some playful voices. He walked to the window and looked down through the balcony, watching the young college students radiating endless youth and vitality under the bright morning sun, feeling a tinge of envy and regret.


    If only everything could be restarted, that would be great!


    This was a thought that had been lingering in Sun Cheng''s mind for the past half month.


    Because once, he also had such youthful times, with many friends who could talk with him all night about dreams, games, or gossip.


    Unfortunately, now they are all gone!


    He lit a cigarette, took a mechanical puff, and Sun Cheng turned his body with a touch of sadness, quietly looking at his dormitory, which was now only left with him. After a while, he sighed lightly in the smoke.


    "Serves me right!"


    He cursed himself silently, since he was already late, Sun Cheng didn''t plan to go anymore. After leisurely finishing his cigarette, he realized that he had a foul smell from sleeping after drinking too much last night. So he picked up a basin and went to the opposite dorm to take a shower, and then changed into a new outfit.


    After finishing, he came back to his room, first took a pack of instant noodles, tore it open and poured hot water into it. Then he carried it to his computer desk.


    The computer desk in front of him was messy, with three empty bottles of beer, and a stack of cold dishes and a few leftover hot and sour shredded potatoes emitting a poor smell, which made Sun Cheng feel heavy-hearted.


    After sighing, he put down the noodle box and bent down to pick up the trash can, throwing all the garbage on the table into it.


    After doing all of these, he found a cloth and wiped the table clean. Then he sat down in front of the computer desk and turned on the computer.


    "Hmm? Crashed again?"


    As he watched his IBM laptop, which he bought less than a year ago, freeze during the startup process, Sun Cheng''s brows slightly furrowed.


    Recently, his laptop had been giving him a lot of trouble, often crashing for no reason, which really made him confused.


    He took it to the store for repair, but the repairmen there couldn''t find any problems in front of him.


    He reinstalled the system, but it still crashed mercilessly when it was supposed to, which really gave him a headache.


    In general, a computer often crashes for only a few reasons: too much dust, hardware failure, software incompatibility, or system problems.


    The two possibilities of hardware malfunction and excessive dust in the computer can be ruled out first. Sun Cheng, a senior student majoring in microelectronics at South Industrial University, has the habit of regularly disassembling and cleaning and inspecting hardware. He had just done so a few days ago.


    As for software incompatibility, there aren''t many software programs on Sun Cheng''s computer, and he has tried them all, so there''s no compatibility issue.


    That leaves only one possibility, system problems.


    Upon careful consideration, it''s hard to say for sure that it''s a system problem.


    Although most of the computers in China have already been updated to Windows 7, 8, or even 10, there are still many people like Sun Cheng who are still using the outdated XP system.


    Like most Chinese people, he has not chosen to upgrade his system because he has been using XP since he first came into contact with computers. Even though he has used Windows 7 a few times and found it easy to use, it still feels a bit awkward, so he has never switched.


    "Let me check the forum later and see if there are any new patches available..."


    Sun Cheng shut down his laptop and reopened it a few minutes later. As soon as he looked at the screen, he was stunned.


    "Huh, I can understand all these English characters?!"


    He was shocked by his own new discovery!


    Sun Cheng is well aware of his own English proficiency. Although he passed Level 1 and obtained a National Professional English Level 1 certificate last year, he has already forgotten most of the English words he learned within half a year after the exam.


    Furthermore, he not only understood the English but also the startup principle of the program. Sun Cheng knows better than anyone else that his computer skills are only slightly better than average.


    "This..."


    Rubbing his eyes in disbelief, he looked again and found it to be true. With a desire to try it out, Sun Cheng quickly pressed the F8 key to enter Safe Mode.


    The XP system installed on his computer was still an old version XP that his former roommate had collected. Compared with the popular fully Chinese version system in China, many places still used English.


    If it were in usual times, even if Sun Cheng entered the safe mode with all English annotations, he would not know how to proceed to the next step.


    But now, his state was a bit strange.


    After entering safe mode and scanning through the pure English options one by one, Sun Cheng fully understood the meaning and function of each line. Various instructions constantly emerged in his mind.


    For a moment, he seemed like a different person. His left and right hands quickly tapped on the keyboard non-stop. He could even control the mouse while distractedly selecting options. The operating system that was once difficult to understand for him, now seemed to be completely open to him. Every character and code, without any secrets.


    After tapping on the keyboard for a while, Sun Cheng finally controlled the system to conduct a comprehensive and deep self-check of the software and hardware.


    As he watched the self-check program start, he finally regained his senses and sat in front of the computer in disbelief, staring at his hands, then back to the computer screen with a shocked expression.


    "Did I really do this?"


    What had just happened to him was really strange!


    If Sun Cheng could understand the English characters in the system program, he could barely explain them using his learned English knowledge. But what about computer technology?


    In that instant, his brain seemed to have an additional super consciousness. Even the top-notch hackers in China couldn''t claim to fully grasp the XP system, but in front of that consciousness, not only did no secrets exist, it could even be described as childish and laughable.


    Sun Cheng knew better than anyone what his computer technology level was. Although he was better than ordinary people as an electronic engineering major, he was no better than a professional.


    Not to mention, he didn''t think that there was any computer master in the world who could infer dozens of ways to improve the XP system in just one or two minutes of manipulating the safe mode. It was simply unbelievable.


    As he racked his brain thinking about what had happened to him, Sun Cheng''s laptop suddenly made a "ding" prompt sound, causing him to frown.


    It turned out that the XP system had completed the deep self-check but still found no abnormalities.


    He temporarily put aside his curiosity about what had happened to him and, with a few clicks on the keyboard, he called up the hidden abnormal crash record in the system files. After looking through it for a while, Sun Cheng''s face sank, "There is an inaccessible folder in the C drive system? Every time the computer crashes, is it when it scans my computer files during the network connection?"


    After all this time, it turned out that his laptop was infected with a virus.


    However, Sun Cheng finally figured out why his laptop was frequently crashing recently.


    He was about to kill the virus file in safe mode when Sun Cheng suddenly remembered his inexplicable increase in computer skills, and became interested in the virus in his computer.


    He immediately wrote down the name of the folder where the virus was located, and selected to boot in safe mode.


    After the computer started up, Sun Cheng immediately opened the C drive and found the suspicious folder hidden among many system files. He tried to open it but was denied access.


    If it had been a day earlier, he would have had no solution.


    But now, Sun Cheng only frowned slightly.


    Indeed, when he realized that the suspicious folder could not be accessed, various solutions came to his mind. With his basic computer knowledge, he quickly confirmed that these solutions were feasible.


    He chose the simplest one, which was to increase his own computer permissions to the highest level and then access the folder. This time, there were no surprises, and he easily clicked to open it.


    "Swttrs.exe? It''s actually a Trojan..."


    After examining the source code of the file, Sun Cheng''s frown deepened. "The installation date is February 24th, isn''t that the day I reinstalled my computer?"


    After carefully reviewing the source code for a while, his face had already become gloomy.


    "It''s not wrong. The Trojan was installed in my computer together with the system... Could it be..."


    He suddenly bent down and searched for a while in a drawer under the computer desk.


    After a while, he finally found an old 2GB USB flash drive and held it up in front of him with a hesitant look in his eyes.


    "I hope it''s not what I''m thinking..."


    "Muttering under his breath, Sun Cheng''s face looked very unpleasant. He had lost his appetite and immediately turned off the computer in front of him. After putting the USB drive into his pocket, he rummaged through the bed and picked up his phone, hastily grabbed his keys, and went out the door."

 CH 5

    "It''s almost nine o''clock. Why hasn''t Sun come yet?"


    Yang Fei yawned and glanced outside the door, then turned to the person next to him and complained with a sour expression, "Sun sent a group message yesterday afternoon telling everyone to arrive early today. A few of us were here before 8 o''clock, but he hasn''t shown up yet."


    "You''re just too impatient!"


    Luo Nan, who was sitting next to him, didn''t even lift his head. He played with his phone while replying irritably, "Given our current situation, even a blind person can understand it. Unless something unexpected happens, they will announce the dissolution soon. Is there any difference between coming early or late?"


    Yang Fei''s face darkened, indicating that he had the same idea. It took him a while before he shook his head and said, "It''s just a pity for everyone to have worked hard for three months..."


    This remark only received silence from Luo Nan. He became annoyed and placed his phone on the table in front of him, then rested his head on the table without making a sound.


    ...


    Standing at the staircase of an old office building in the old campus, Sun Cheng hesitated for a long time before finally gritting his teeth and walking towards an office a few steps away.


    As soon as he arrived at the door of the office, he felt several pairs of eyes staring at him simultaneously, causing his face to turn red.


    "Sun, you''re here!"


    He saw a young man with a chubby face immediately stood up and greeted him. His eyes revealed anticipation, which made Sun Cheng''s heart ache.


    This young man''s name was Yang Fei, who was a computer major student one year below him. Like Sun Cheng, he was also a student at the South Industrial University, and probably the person here who had the best relationship with him.


    Sun Cheng knew exactly what Yang Fei was looking forward to, but just thinking about it made his heart hurt.


    "How did it come to this?"


    He couldn''t help but ask himself, glancing at the five people in the office. His nose suddenly felt sour.


    Three months ago, Sun Cheng was so ambitious that he didn''t hide his confidence. He even boasted to more than one person around him, "This is a miraculous era, where success favors those who are prepared. We may have nothing today, but tomorrow we may still be poor. However, we have dreams and actions, and the future will reward us a hundredfold, a thousandfold for our efforts today!"


    He had said this more than once, to himself, to others, and even to teachers.


    Now, perhaps in the eyes of those people, he, who had both feet in the door of failure, was just a fool with a touch of late adolescence.


    However, he just couldn''t accept it!


    Sun Cheng took a deep breath, holding back the increasingly sour feeling in his nose, and walked into the office under the expectant gaze of several people.


    "Sorry for being late because of something, and for taking up some of your time! I won''t beat around the bush, you probably guessed why I asked everyone to come here today, right?"


    He sighed, it was time to face it, dragging it out would not only hurt himself, but also be irresponsible to everyone here.


    So, after quickly calming himself down, Sun Cheng looked calmly at Yang Fei, Zuo Nan, Lu Yu, and the young people whose names he knew in the office, and said, "This year is my graduation season, and like everyone here, I am a young person full of vigor, ideals, and aspirations. We planned and prepared, so three months ago, I collaborated with two roommates and another senior brother of yours to develop a startup project and applied for entrepreneurship support from the school, hoping to make a name for ourselves as young people!"


    He paused here, smiling at the silent few.


    "Although I don''t want to admit it, the result was very bitter. I failed and lost miserably, so much so that today, I have to say ''sorry'' to everyone here who once had hope in me."


    Sun Cheng had a dream he wanted to achieve no matter what, but he also knew better than anyone else how difficult it was to achieve it. So, for a long time, he had been planning how to get closer to success.


    So, three months ago, he led two classmates and another roommate to create a startup plan and applied for entrepreneurship support from the school.


    Perhaps their business plan was done well enough, but after a short review by the school, they approved Sun Cheng''s application. They not only provided a temporary office in the old teaching building on the old campus, but also five desktop computers and 30,000 yuan in support funding.


    At the beginning of their entrepreneurship, everyone was working hard.


    Sun Cheng had the weakest technical skills among the original four team members, so he was not responsible for development. However, he was good at talking and was the initiator of the startup, so he was in charge of personnel recruitment, daily management, and fundraising.


    Looking back now, although that period was a bit tough and tiring, it was filled with a bittersweet happiness.


    Unfortunately...


    "I''m sorry!"


    Bowing and lowering his head, Sun Cheng solemnly apologized to Yang Fei, Zuo Nan, and the other five people one by one.


    "I am solely responsible for all the mistakes, perhaps this entrepreneurial plan was wrong from the beginning!"


    Thinking of the USB drive in his pocket and the still unconfirmed speculation, he felt even more pain in his heart. His teeth clenched together tightly and couldn''t be separated.


    Obviously, Sun Cheng''s humble attitude made the young people present remember his past care for them.


    As he bowed and apologized earnestly, taking all the blame on himself, Yang Fei, who had the best relationship with him, couldn''t sit still and was the first to stand up for him.


    "Sun bro, what are you talking about? Everyone knows the situation we''re in now. If it weren''t for that guy Huo Miao being so money-hungry, things wouldn''t have turned out like this!"


    "Huo Miao..."


    Hearing the name "Huo Miao" from Yang Fei''s mouth, Sun Cheng opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing, just shaking his head slightly.


    Huo Miao was his classmate and one of the original four members of the start-up team. Sun Cheng had put in a lot of effort to recruit him as the team''s skilled technician because he had programming skills that were no worse than those of a professional.


    Half a month ago, as one of the four elders of the original team, Huo Miao sent in a resignation letter through someone and never came back. Later, it was heard that he had joined another start-up team, which made Sun Cheng hate him for a while.


    But now, he also realized that the start-up plan formulated by the initial few people had problems from the beginning and was far beyond what their small team could achieve.


    Huo Miao may have set a bad example and accelerated the collapse of the team, but after realizing everything, Sun Cheng felt that he should thank him instead.


    If Huo Miao hadn''t left decisively, he might still have hopes for this start-up project and be running around trying to raise money to invest in it.


    If that were the case, he might have been even worse off than he is now.


    Taking a deep breath, Sun Cheng remained silent for a while before finally speaking up what he had been holding in his throat, "I proposed the project. At first, I only saw the potential of cross-platform operation of mobile games and hoped to develop a more compatible and user-friendly emulator. Unfortunately, I only saw the prospect and neglected the development difficulty. Without an investment of over a million, half a year or even longer time, failure is inevitable!"


    "Several key technical backbones have left, and the follow-up development funds have been cut off. We''ve come to this point, and I''ve thought about it for a few days before making a decision. Maybe it''s time to say goodbye to everyone."


    Speaking of this, he bowed to everyone again, "I''m sorry, everyone. I promised so much, but I didn''t fulfill any of them. I can''t even afford a farewell dinner now. I''m really sorry!"


    During this bow, Sun Cheng bent down heavily and didn''t straighten his waist for a long time.


    There was silence in the office, and then the sound of sobbing was heard. It was the only young girl among them who was covering her mouth and crying quietly.


    Afterwards, no one spoke. But footsteps began to appear, one after another, walking straight to the office door until they could no longer be heard.


    Throughout the whole process, Sun Cheng remained bowed, never raising his head.


    After a long time, he wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes. He thought everyone had left, but he unexpectedly found that someone had stayed behind in the office.


    "Yang Fei?"


    Sun Cheng sniffled and suppressed the urge to cry alone.


    "Brother Sun..." Yang Fei sighed, "The team has disbanded, and you shouldn''t be sad. Actually, we don''t blame you at all. We all know that you suffered the most!"


    Sun Cheng remained silent.


    For three months of entrepreneurship, for the dream in his heart, he borrowed three to five thousand yuan from his roommates who had known him for three years, and even borrowed ten to twenty thousand yuan from some of them. In order to maintain the team''s daily expenses, he not only borrowed ten thousand yuan in his own name from a campus loan platform, but also borrowed fifty thousand yuan in the name of the startup project. If you calculate it, the debt he is carrying now is almost a hundred thousand yuan.


    Now that the entrepreneurial project has failed, he has lost his roommates and the bonds of friendship. Whether it''s right or wrong, all the debts will fall on Sun Cheng, who is the most miserable.


    Yang Fei obviously read his current mood from his dim eyes and pale complexion. He tried to comfort him, but couldn''t find the words. After hesitating for a while, he sighed and said softly, "Brother Sun, I left the keys on your desk. You''re a man who can do great things. One failure doesn''t mean anything. If you need anything from me, just call me!"


    Seeing him nodding slowly, Yang Fei reluctantly turned and took a few more glances at the office where they had spent several months before leaving.

 CH 6

    Everyone had left in a flash, leaving Sun Cheng alone in the large office.


    Feeling low, he stood still in his spot for a while before he let out a sigh and closed the office door. He walked towards his desk, the one at the far end of the not-so-large office. They had obtained this place temporarily when they received entrepreneurial support from the school.


    Although there were only a few desks and five desktop computers lent to them by the school, which were neither high-end nor low-end, the office was simple but warm. Sun Cheng and his team had created too many beautiful memories here.


    Unfortunately, none of it remained.


    Walking towards his favorite desk, Sun Cheng''s lonely expression deepened. The desk no longer had the shadow of his roommate''s high-end laptop, and the few scattered files on it were covered with a layer of thin dust.


    It seemed like no one had used it for some time.


    His fingers gently slid across the desk, feeling the rough touch of the dust on his fingertips. After a moment of silence, Sun Cheng took out a USB flash drive from his pocket, his eyes flickering.


    "Don''t be like what I''m thinking!"


    He murmured to himself, more like a self-consolation.


    Sun Cheng quickly regained his focus and walked over to the desk next to him. He didn''t sit down but turned on the computer directly.


    If he remembered correctly, the computer provided by the school had a Chinese version of Linux system that was modified to protect against Microsoft XP. Later, some team members were not used to it, and a few computers were changed to Windows 7. However, none of this affected what he was about to do.


    He entered the safe mode first and used his suddenly emerged computer skills, which he himself had not fully understood, to carefully examine the computer in the office.


    "Nothing? Could it really be my imagination?"


    Still puzzled, he opened several other computers one by one, and after checking them all, he didn''t find any Trojan horse inside his laptop as he discovered earlier. Sun Cheng returned to the first computer he opened.


    After hesitating for a moment, he took out the USB flash drive again and inserted it into the computer, ready to install the system from the flash drive to this computer to verify his guess.


    More than forty minutes passed, it was a long wait.


    Perhaps it was because he had been staring at the computer screen for a long time, Sun Cheng clearly felt a little dizzy.


    He rubbed his slightly dizzy forehead, but his hands didn''t stop moving. After the computer finished installing the system, he quickly set himself the highest authority and entered the C drive. It took only a short ten seconds for him to find the inconspicuous Trojan horse folder among many system files.


    Instantly, Sun Cheng''s face sank, and some neglected fragments of memories rushed into his mind.


    "Ah''cheng, if you want to make a career, I fully support you. You know my family''s situation, I can''t help you financially, but if you don''t mind, I can lend a hand!"


    "...Don''t think the money is too little, Ah''cheng. These seven thousand yuan were hard-earned by me, it should be enough for some time...don''t refuse...hey, you are just too stubborn...oh well, consider it as a loan from me."


    "When it comes to borrowing money, a classmate in our class mentioned a campus loan platform the other day. It seems to have preferential treatment for college students'' entrepreneurial loans, I don''t know if it''s true or not!"


    "Huh? The repair shop didn''t detect any problems? Why don''t you just reinstall the system, here, I have a classic version of the XP system installation package..."


    The more he remembered, the more Sun Cheng felt that the words that had moved him deeply were full of doubts. He felt like a big stone was pressing down on his chest, and the dizziness in his head became stronger.


    "My head hurts, could it be the hangover from last night?"


    In just a moment, his vision began to sway. Even if he was still drowsy, Sun Cheng realized that there was something wrong with his body. He had to pull a stool from the side and sit down. He wanted to lie down and see if he could recover.


    He didn''t expect that as soon as he closed the computer and moved the keyboard in front of him, he felt the dizziness getting closer and his eyelids getting heavier.


    As a result, he hadn''t been lying down for a few minutes when he suddenly blacked out and passed out.


    ...


    "What''s going on?"


    As soon as he opened his eyes, Sun Cheng found himself not in the office located in the old campus of the school, but in a strange yet familiar aqua blue spherical space. He couldn''t help but shout out loud.


    Unfortunately, although he had made a shouting motion, he did not hear his own voice. It was only when he felt that empty feeling of losing his body that he realized what had happened to him.


    "A spherical space emitting an aqua blue light, unable to feel the body... does that mean that everything that happened last night was not a dream?"


    As if a sudden enlightenment, Sun Cheng''s face changed slightly.


    To verify his speculation, he quickly raised his head, like a ghostly figure, and looked towards the center of the spherical space. Sure enough, he could clearly see that in the center of this mysterious space, there were two equally sized screens standing on the left and right.


    He drifted towards one of the screens, and as soon as he approached, he saw the figure of a young man leaning over a table, which appeared on the dim screen.


    "Office, it''s me!"


    Suppressing his excitement and anxiety, after the experience last night, Sun Cheng roughly realized that something seemed to have changed in him, but he couldn''t determine whether these changes were good or bad.


    Last night, because he was too eager, Sun Cheng didn''t take a serious look at the screen.


    Now that he was sure he could leave from here, he became interested and carefully examined the screen in front of him, and soon saw something he had not noticed last night in one corner.


    There were two sets of numbers, which looked very regular, with a different colored star symbol in front of each one. They were Blue Star: 65/1000 and Red Star: 51847:56:12.


    Sun Cheng didn''t understand the meaning of the first set of numbers, but the second set of numbers after the Black Star was decreasing with his breathing, like a countdown.


    After staring at it for a while, Sun Cheng vaguely gained some confidence and silently calculated for a moment, and came up with a number: "36 days? Does this have any special meaning?"


    However, there was too little information available, and no matter how much he racked his brains, he couldn''t figure out what these two sets of numbers meant. He had to give up and continue to carefully examine the screen until he confirmed that there was nothing more on the screen. He then drifted disappointedly to the other screen next to it.


    Whoosh!


    As if sensing his arrival, as soon as he approached, the other screen also lit up, and a familiar image of Sun Cheng was projected onto it.


    "That''s the office of the research center I invaded last night? Why is it still the same image? Hasn''t anything changed since I suddenly passed out in that office last night?"


    On the screen, the same image that Sun Cheng saw last night was displayed, a small mechanical figure the size of three heads falling onto a chair.


    After carefully examining it again, he quickly found two sets of numbers from the corner of this light screen.


    One set of numbers was the same as the one on the adjacent light wall, displaying a blue star in front and 65/1000 behind. The second set of numbers was different from the previous one. It had a white star symbol in front and a completely new set of numbers, 1/1, behind it. Sun Cheng, who was trying to analyze something from it, felt helpless.


    "It seems that I wasn''t dreaming last night, but what is this place exactly? What happened to my body? Are these two light walls really representing two different worlds? What should I do? Should I verify it?"


    Although his subconscious mind kept warning him that everything he was experiencing now was not only surprising but also terrifying, not to mention the fact that the idea of freely traveling between two worlds alone is pseudoscience. Just recalling his memory from last night when he was almost strangled by Baricade in another world proved that this kind of adventure not only had risks but also endangered his life!


    Sun Cheng swallowed hard and stared firmly at the light wall in front of him.


    After all, he was still a young man. After hesitating for a while, he couldn''t resist his desire for this unexpected encounter.


    He hesitated for a moment and then, without looking back, he gritted his teeth and ran towards the light wall in front of him.

 CH 7

    When Sun Cheng regained consciousness, the blue light was flickering in his four mechanical eyes.


    "Only one second of unconsciousness before and after?"


    After learning of the time change from the Core within his body, Sun Cheng was obviously surprised. He was somewhat incredulous as he quickly reconnected the computer in front of him. After calibrating the time between the interconnect network and this world, he confirmed that he had not made a mistake.


    The long night and various experiences of the next morning in another world had no effect on this place at all.


    As if a pair of mysterious hands had frozen the time of this world with incredible power at the moment he crossed back to reality.


    It was truly miraculous!


    "Incredible!"


    He murmured softly, but unfortunately, it came out as electronic sound. Sun Cheng stood up, retrieved his right arm from the host box, and was about to turn off the computer and leave when he suddenly heard a sound. He looked for the source of the sound and found a palm-sized object had fallen from the chair beside him.


    A palm-sized phone, a phone that shouldn''t even exist.


    When his ultra-clear electronic eye clearly captured the shadow of the phone in the dim environment, Sun Cheng was visibly stunned.


    "Is this my iPhone 5?"


    Looking closely, wasn''t it the iPhone 5 developed and manufactured by Apple in the United States?


    Although there was also an Apple company in this parallel world, the world line had only just reached AD 2007. Even the first generation of the iPhone had just been released two months ago and had not even been officially launched.


    Although he was full of doubts, he immediately jumped off the stool and picked up the phone from the ground, then turned it over to see a barely visible scorch mark. It was the mark left by a cigarette butt when he had dinner with his roommate two years ago.


    Suddenly, Sun Cheng was sure that this was the phone his family gave him when he entered college.


    "It''s really my phone. Strange, how did it cross over with me?"


    After quickly entering the startup password and entering the phone''s operating interface, Sun Cheng looked at the empty signal bars and felt deeply puzzled.


    Just as he was puzzled, his face suddenly changed. He had already sensitively detected a sound of footsteps outside the office hallway, followed by the voice of a middle-aged man.


    "Hey, why is there light in the office ahead? Hey, Tom, is someone working overtime today?"


    "Oh no!"


    Sun Cheng secretly cursed. Although he had turned off the computer, the light emitted by the phone screen in the dark night was very eye-catching.


    Subconsciously, he closed the screen of his phone!


    But as soon as he did, Sun Cheng regretted it. Wasn''t he telling the other person that there was something suspicious going on here?


    Sure enough, just as he closed the screen of his phone, the footsteps in the hallway, which had been slow and steady, suddenly accelerated, and the middle-aged man''s voice became tense: "Unknown lights detected on the 2nd floor, repeat, unknown lights detected on the 2nd floor, suspected intruder..."


    Sun Cheng wasn''t a professional spy, and he was nervous for a while before he regained his senses. He put his phone on the computer desk and immediately activated the Transformation function, transforming himself into a tape recorder and carefully hiding.


    Although he had transformed into a tape recorder, it did not affect his observation of the outside world in the slightest, although his field of vision was somewhat smaller than when he was in his humanoid form.


    Sun Cheng clearly saw that about twenty seconds after he transformed, the door to the office opened and a flashlight shone into the room.


    "Is anyone here?"


    It was the middle-aged man he had heard earlier, cautiously hiding outside the door, holding a flashlight in one hand and a Colt revolver in the other, cautiously shouting into the office.


    After shouting four or five times and still not discovering any suspicious figures lurking inside, the man, who seemed to be a security guard at the research center, could no longer hold back. He temporarily put the flashlight in his mouth, held the gun in one hand, and carefully felt along the wall with the other hand. When he found the switch for the room light, he pressed it without hesitation.


    "Snap!"


    The dim office suddenly became bright, and Sun Cheng could finally see clearly. A black man in his forties with a common bald head was cautiously guarding outside the office, although he had a potbelly, his sturdy arms revealed that he exercised regularly.


    After the lights came on, everything in the office was clear, but there was no sign of anyone.


    However, the black security guard remained vigilant and cautiously walked in with his gun, step by step, checking the few possible hiding spaces under the desks in the room. After he confirmed that there was no one there, he breathed a sigh of relief and put the gun back in its holster.


    "Hey, Hatch, how''s it going? Should we call the police?"


    An urgent inquiry came from the walkie-talkie on the black security guard''s waist.


    The security guard wiped the sweat from his forehead and reluctantly picked up the walkie-talkie. "Sorry, buddy. I think I was mistaken. It might have just been someone''s phone ringing suddenly..."


    Walking up to Sun Cheng''s desk where his transformation was, he saw the iPhone 5 he had placed on the table. The black man picked it up and fiddled with it, making Sun Cheng extremely tense and ready to transform at any moment. But then he put it back in its original place.


    "Oh, Hatch. I finally understand why they let you retire before the Iraq War ended. Buddy, I suggest you go see a therapist!"


    "Shut up, Tom!"


    Perhaps being mocked by his colleague, the black security guard shouted through the intercom and then shut it off.


    He stuffed it back in his pocket, seemingly still unsatisfied. He turned around and kicked the desk next to him.


    "Bang!"


    The violent shaking caused the iPhone 5 that he had carelessly placed on the edge of the desk to fall to the ground, making a "crack" sound.


    "Damn it!"


    Seeing the phone being kicked to the ground by the black security guard, Sun Cheng felt a surge of anger. This phone had special meaning to him.


    Seeing that the black security guard only glanced at the phone on the ground and walked towards the office door without any intention of picking it up, he even stepped on it, leaving a set of dirty marks.


    Feeling even more angry, Sun Cheng activated his transformation function and jumped up high, flying towards him.


    Obviously, the sudden sound behind him alerted the black security guard.


    Unfortunately, he had just turned around and only caught a glimpse of two silver-white figures. The next moment, he felt a pain in his throat and forehead, his eyes immediately became congested, and his body convulsed for only two or three seconds before he fell heavily to the ground.


    "Bang!"


    Sun Cheng landed steadily next to the black man''s corpse, trembling slightly in his mechanical body. Despite the discomfort after killing someone, he coldly looked at the guard for a moment before immediately walking over to pick up the phone.


    Seeing a dent in the corner of the phone, he felt even more heartbroken. Along with the remorse and fear that was boiling in his heart, they all dissipated. Without looking back, he left the office.

 CH 8

    Due to seeing blood during the mission and fearing being discovered, Sun Cheng hurriedly left the research center. Outside the center, the police car transformed from Baricade was still parked in its original position.


    Obviously, the other party had already captured his whereabouts in advance. As soon as Sun Cheng approached the police car, the passenger door opened with a swish. Two cold gazes fell on Sun Cheng, making him tremble in fear of his terrifying partner who had made little progress tonight.


    However, Sun Cheng didn''t dare to gamble and run away. He clearly remembered from the memory data of "Frenzy" that there were hundreds of Decepticons stationed at the front base on the far side of the moon. Although only the high-ranking Decepticons above level three had the ability to fly in outer space, if Sun Cheng dared to escape and couldn''t leave Earth, it was only a matter of time before he was found and shattered by the enemy.


    At this moment, suppressing the inexplicable warning from the "Core," Sun Cheng carefully climbed into the passenger seat. The car door slammed shut not because Baricade was afraid he would escape, but because he started the car and drove in the opposite direction of the research center.


    "How''s the search going?" The cold mechanical voice sounded.


    "I have found a lot of clues. Although I can''t confirm whether ''Lord Megatron'' and the ''All Spark'' are on Earth or not, there is one thing that is beyond doubt: Decepticons have visited Earth before, before us or a long time ago!" Sun Cheng carefully organized his words and repeated them in his mind before answering him cautiously.


    "So, you haven''t found any information about the ''Megatron Leader''?" Baricade''s voice turned cold, carrying a hint of killing intent, causing Sun Cheng''s "Core" to jump around in fear.


    Sun Cheng quickly replied, "Lord Baricade, I have almost accessed all the interconnected networks of countries, enterprises, institutions, and research institutes in this world through intrusion, but I can''t find any information about ''Lord Megatron.'' Even some of the clues I found have been erased! "


    In the end, Sun Cheng was still worried that Baricade would not accept these words, so he bit his teeth and took out his iPhone 5. After transforming his right arm and connecting it to the phone through a borrowed port, he showed Baricade the many clues he had found and downloaded to the storage area, especially the "Cybertronian text" imprinted on many historical sites on Earth and the black-and-white photo of Karl Benz with the first car he had made.


    "Hmm, Elder Text? The Pathfinder has really been here..."


    The middle-aged white man projected by Baricade was quickly attracted by the frequent flashing images on his iPhone 5 screen. Especially when he saw some "Cybertronian texts" and photos of Carl Buntz''s car, the usually silent Baricade showed a surprised expression on his face and even inadvertently revealed something!


    "Elder texts? So there is a kind of elder texts in those advanced encrypted texts that I cannot decipher? But what about the Pathfinder? Is it a kind of Decepticon?"


    Recording the secrets inadvertently revealed by Baricade in his mind, Sun Cheng wanted to clarify what the "elder texts" and "pathfinder" were, but he didn''t dare to ask Baricade.


    After a moment of hesitation, he asked again, "What should we do next, Baricade?"


    Baricade was silent for a while before answering, "Continue to investigate the information about ''Megatron Leader''!"


    He did not mention "All Spark", which made Sun Cheng''s blue eyes flicker. He carefully recalled that he had been sent by Soundwave to assist Baricade in investigating the intelligence on Earth for so long, and the words "All Spark" had never been mentioned by Baricade.


    "There must be something behind this that I don''t know about..."


    The more he thought about it, the more he felt that there was something suspicious behind it. But Baricade''s attitude also made Sun Cheng feel relieved.


    Immediately, he agreed, "I have already invaded the global Internet, and basically confirmed that there are forces on Earth that specialize in clearing this kind of intelligence. So, if we use conventional methods, it will be difficult to continue to investigate!"


    At this point, suppressing the anxiety in his heart, Sun Cheng played a little trick.


    He wanted to test Baricade''s attitude towards him now.


    Two cold gazes were quickly projected onto him, making Sun Cheng''s core tremble violently.


    Fortunately, he obviously won the gamble. Although Baricade snorted coldly and grunted in dissatisfaction, saying, "Finish your words..."


    It seemed that he was not going to continue targeting him.


    After reaching this conclusion, Sun Cheng couldn''t hide his excitement. He quickly threw out the organized words he had prepared, "Yes, Baricade. What I want to say is that if we want to continue to investigate, I need to invade the government, defense, and military insiders of various countries on Earth. But if I do this, I cannot guarantee that our existence as Decepticons will not be exposed!"


    After speaking, Sun Cheng couldn''t conceal his excitement and looked at Baricade with anticipation.


    It was not that he hoped Baricade would grant him access to invade, but quite the opposite. Sun Cheng hoped that the other party would decisively refuse his request.


    Compared to the fragile human beings, the advantage of Decepticons as mechanical life forms was too obvious. Even he, the lowest-level Decepticon spy, could easily beat a team of professional soldiers. If a high-level combat Decepticon like Baricade were to take action, even directly facing the army of a small country on Earth, it would be as easy as pie.


    However, inherent strength does not mean that Decepticons are fearless of humans. In fact, because they pay more attention to individual combat effectiveness, the alloys equipped by Decepticon''s senior warriors can resist most light and heavy weapons on Earth, as well as small ground-to-air and ground-to-ground missiles. But when faced with tactical nuclear weapons and strategic nuclear weapons produced by the human race, they have to back down. As far as he knew, Decepticons not only feared human nuclear weapons, but some high explosive bombs and depleted uranium armor-piercing shells equipped by some human countries could also severely damage Decepticons.


    It was precisely because there were too many risks and uncertainties in a full-scale war with humans that Decepticons were not willing to try to explore the bottom line of various countries on Earth unless they could bring the main force of the Decepticon army stationed on Cybertron Planet across more than 10,000 light-years or replace the leader of the Decepticons with a madman. At least, the Decepticon leaders in the base on the dark side of the moon currently didn''t have that intention!


    Sure enough, as soon as Sun Cheng made his proposal, he was met with a silence from Baricade. After a while, he coldly replied, "I will consult with Lord Starscream..."


    There was no sound all the way!

 CH 9

    Sun Cheng shook his brand new iPhone 5 casually in his hand, feeling extremely bored. Baricade had disappeared two days ago, leaving him with the words "Wait for me here" and then vanished into thin air.


    The boss had left him stranded, and Sun Cheng regretted returning to this world so carelessly. He gazed around at the piles of garbage surrounding him in a large scrapyard outside Washington, feeling frustrated despite not being able to smell anything.


    It had been two whole days. Sun Cheng had come back to this world to confirm whether he had the ability to travel to parallel universes, but now he regretted his rash decision.


    He had assumed that after traveling back and forth once, he would be able to return to the real world easily. However, Sun Cheng wished he could slap himself for thinking that way.


    He had played himself!


    Baricade had left him intentionally and quickly left for the real world after he had dealt with Sun Cheng. However, Sun Cheng had overlooked the most crucial issue - he had no idea how to enter the spherical space.


    This was a major embarrassment!


    Sun Cheng had yet to figure out how he had entered the spherical space the last time he was at the research center. He didn''t even know how he could enter the spherical space while in the real world, only having a vague feeling that certain conditions needed to be met.


    Unable to return to the real world for now, Sun Cheng dared not run around recklessly. He worried that if the US government discovered him, they would send out an army to capture and disassemble him to research the composition of mechanical life.


    Having nothing to do, he could only wander around quietly at night. Sun Cheng had taken the opportunity to study his Core and mechanical body carefully, discovering a function that the Decepticons seemed to neglect, but was extremely powerful - enhancement!


    Perhaps because Decepticons are Mechanical Life Forms, they have an innate ability to enhance electronic devices.


    In fact, Sun Cheng had already used this ability when he invaded the network that night.


    Although the IBM computer hardware he temporarily commandeered was not bad, it wasn''t exactly great either.


    After the invasion function was activated, Sun Cheng''s [Core]--[Spy Template]took over all the data processing and downloading. But he still needed to use that IBM computer as an intrusion port, so he temporarily enhanced it by assimilating it with his mechanical body, making it part of his body and greatly improving its configuration.


    Strictly speaking, this enhancement was not a true enhancement. Sun Cheng had only temporarily assimilated the IBM computer with his body. After he canceled the assimilation, it would return to its original state and would not waste much of his energy.


    The enhancement function Sun Cheng discovered could permanently enhance electronic devices by consuming Decepticon''s energon. The effect was unimaginably significant.


    For example, Sun Cheng was now enhancing the only electronic device he had with him, an iPhone 5 that inexplicably came with him on his time travel journey.


    An invisible blue fluorescence flowed from his fingers, which had already transformed and inserted into the phone''s interface, and comprehensively detected the phone.


    At the same time, the [Core]in his mind kept sending Sun Cheng prompts: "Processor has reached the enhancement limit...screen has reached the enhancement limit...camera has reached the enhancement limit...battery can be further enhanced...memory card can be further enhanced. Do you want to consume one unit of energy to enhance this electronic device?"


    "Enhance!"


    As he gave the command, Sun Cheng suddenly felt a sense of emptiness in his body. Having experienced this feeling several times in the past two days, he naturally knew that it was due to the permanent loss of energy stored in his [Core].


    Decepticons have many similarities with humans, such as humans having a heart and brain, while Decepticons have their [Core].


    Energy is like blood for Decepticons.


    It is a bit unfortunate that while humans can constantly produce blood through the bone marrow, Decepticons cannot. The amount of energy stored in a Decepticon''s [Core] after birth determines their status and life.


    For example, the lowest level Decepticon spy, "Frenzy", has about 750 points of energy stored in the Core. Based on Earth''s time, it would take him about five days to consume one point of energy, so his theoretical lifespan is about 3750 days, or just over ten years.


    Of course, that''s just a theoretical algorithm. As seen in a recent internet intrusion a few days ago, "Frenzy" consumed four points of energy in just a few minutes. This shows that he is nothing more than a low-level cannon fodder for the Decepticon army.


    Fortunately, the energy in the Core can be replenished. From "Frenzy''s" memory data, Sun Cheng learned that if they do well for the Decepticons, they will be rewarded with some energy to replenish their consumption. This is one of the reasons why he is willing to waste energy to enhance his phone.


    However, it is somewhat regrettable that Sun Cheng could not find information about the promotion of low-level Decepticons. It seems that once this mechanical race is born, its future status is determined.


    This is not good news!


    Energy is still flowing into the phone continuously, and Sun Cheng can feel the changes in the phone through the data monitoring function of the Spy Template, with blue light flashing in his eyes.


    It''s unbelievable!


    Although the phone his family gave him back then was also top-of-the-line, it was still an old model from three or four years ago, and being outdated was inevitable.


    However, after several enhancements he made to his phone in the past two days, not only did the performance of the Core A6 processor increase by nearly eight times, but the performance of the dual-core processor was almost maximized, and even the screen and camera had remarkable improvements.


    But that''s not the most surprising thing to Sun Cheng. What really amazed him was that the original lithium battery with only a little over 1,000 mAh in his phone had increased its capacity by at least twenty times after a few enhancements.


    And the most insane discovery was the memory card in his phone. The original 64GB memory had now been expanded by nearly 48 times, which is simply insane!


    These discoveries undoubtedly temporarily diverted Sun Cheng''s energetic attention.


    As there were no further references available, he decided to study it himself. As a result, Sun Cheng discovered the Decepticons, a kind of mechanical life form that possessed advanced technology beyond his imagination in both energy and memory storage chips.


    Let''s not talk about energy for now, as it''s not his field of expertise, and Sun Cheng only has a vague understanding of it.


    However, he had some knowledge of memory storage chips as he majored in microelectronics, which enabled him to have some idea of where to start.


    Over the past few days, Sun Cheng repeatedly studied his current mechanical body and discovered that he had two storage chips embedded in it. One of the chips was integrated into the Spy Template and could store an incredible amount of information, equivalent to nearly 440EB if converted into human data formulas.


    The other chip was placed outside the head of the Core and used for storing invaded or stolen data, though its capacity was lower than the memory chip, it was still around 165PB.


    Even the lowest-level Decepticon spy had such powerful memory storage chips, which amazed Sun Cheng. After learning about this, he could not imagine how advanced the technology of this mechanical race was in this area.


    After spending half a day thoroughly enhancing his iPhone 5, he hadn''t had a chance to try out its new features yet when he suddenly heard a dog barking.


    Just as he was about to climb up the scrap heap to investigate, Sun Cheng''s body suddenly froze. It turned out that the Core inside him had received an audio message, "Come out, it''s me!"


    The familiar tone belonged to Baricade, who had been missing for two days. Although he was curious where Baricade had been all this time, he dared not ask.


    Sun Cheng quickly grabbed his phone and headed to the corner of the junkyard, tracking Baricade''s signal.


    There, a black-and-white Ford Mustang police car was parked quietly, and the passenger door was wide open.


    On the driver''s seat, the middle-aged white man projected by Baricade stared coldly at Sun Cheng, who had just climbed into the passenger seat. When Sun Cheng looked up at him, the middle-aged white man squeezed out a smile that was cold and stiff.


    "Let''s go. Someone important wants to see you!"


    Sun Cheng was taken aback and wanted to ask who it was, but he was afraid Baricade would not tell him. He hesitated for a moment before asking, "Where are we going now?"


    "Tucson!"

 CH 10

    Tucson, a city located in a desert valley surrounded by mountains.


    It is located in Pima County, southern Arizona, USA, almost spanning the entire United States from Washington, D.C.


    Despite the long distance and to avoid attracting human attention, it took almost fifteen hours for Baricade to drive Sun Cheng''s police car on empty roads, to reach Tucson.


    Silenced throughout the journey, Sun Cheng finally felt the car slowing down and stopping.


    "We''re here!" Baricade said.


    Looking out of the car window, Sun Cheng couldn''t help but feel suspicious.


    With his vision, even though it was late at night and there were no lights around, it didn''t affect his observation of the surroundings.


    "Is this a mountainous area?" he asked.


    Hundreds of meters away were hills, barely visible in the darkness, resembling terrifying beasts waiting to prey on their next victims.


    This feeling made Sun Cheng uncomfortable, especially when the Spy Template installed in his body suddenly warned him as Baricade opened the passenger door.


    Although it was only a moment, it had just captured a hostile gaze from the endless darkness.


    "Get out of the car!" Baricade urged impatiently.


    Sun Cheng had to jump out of the car and cautiously keep watch around him. The two pairs of electronic eyes on his head were utilized to their maximum, trying to find the target that had shown hostility towards him.


    Unfortunately, he was going to be disappointed.


    There was a clatter, and after the sound of metal and gears grinding stopped, Sun Cheng suddenly felt his body light. Before he could react, he was already grabbed by Baricade.


    "Ro... Baricade, who are we here to see?" Although Baricade only held him in the palm of his hand this time, unlike the previous time when he had murderous intent, the feeling of being at the mercy of others was still terrible. Sun Cheng tried to control himself, not to make any moves that could provoke a reaction from Baricade, but his Core was still jumping wildly, and the warning voice in his mind was incessant.


    It seemed that Baricade was very satisfied with Sun Cheng''s attitude of not resisting, and although he didn''t stop walking, he started heading towards the nearby mountain area. However, he answered Sun Cheng''s question in a cold tone, "You will soon find out who the big shot is!"


    Baricade''s pace was fast, and even though he was carrying Sun Cheng, they didn''t walk much slower than running.


    He didn''t take Sun Cheng up the mountain, but instead walked around the mountain for at least four or five kilometers before they saw a long-abandoned rusty railroad track leading straight to the nearby mountain.


    "An abandoned mine?"


    Following the railroad track with his gaze, Sun Cheng quickly spotted the outline of a mine and wondered if Baricade was planning to take him inside.


    It''s no wonder he was suspicious. The mine was obviously a product of human activity in the past, and just by looking at the rust on the railroad track, it was clear that it had been abandoned by humans for at least ten years.


    The height of the nearby cave alone was not something Baricade could enter after transforming.


    As they were still puzzled, the two had already arrived in front of the abandoned mine.


    Seeing Baricade stop, Sun Cheng was about to ask about the situation when he suddenly felt dizzy, and when he came to his senses, he found himself sitting in the passenger seat while Baricade had transformed back into a police car.


    "Vroom..."


    With the engine roaring, Baricade controlled the wheels to maneuver on the abandoned railroad track, and without hesitation, he drove into the mine.


    "Hmm!"


    Although the surveillance equipment was quite concealed, as soon as they entered the mine, Sun Cheng''s two electronic eyes frequently caught the fluctuations of the monitoring devices, causing him to murmur in his heart.


    At the beginning, Baricade''s speed was clearly not fast, and the vehicle made occasional collision sounds, perhaps hitting some abandoned rocks or minerals. However, Baricade had no intention of avoiding them.


    After going through four different tunnels, Sun Cheng, who had been staring outside the window, suddenly brightened up.


    It turned out that although the railroad track only went up to this point and then stopped, this side of the abandoned mine had obviously been renovated. Not only was it more spacious, but there were also cables and other things around.


    As they moved forward, heading straight towards the depths of the mine, Sun Cheng counted the time silently in his mind. When he reached 129 seconds, the area suddenly opened up in front of him, revealing a huge space that was at least ten meters high and possibly over a thousand square meters in size.


    After they exited the fork in the road, Baricade stopped without any warning and transformed, throwing Sun Cheng off guard and sending him flying. He first collided with a metal pillar not far away, then fell to the ground.


    "Hey, you idiot, don''t interfere with my work!"


    Sun Cheng picked up his phone and stood up, but before he could confirm whether it was broken, he heard an angry mechanical voice beside him.


    He looked over and his eyes lit up. The one who had just yelled at him was a robot that looked like a bulldozer and was two heads taller than him. Sun Cheng had seen information about this Decepticon, a Production Template named Core, in his memory. It was just like him, a low-level Decepticon.


    "Shut up!" he yelled back in annoyance. After making sure his phone wasn''t damaged, Sun Cheng looked around with interest.


    This was a small Decepticon base hidden deep in a mine in the mountains near Tucson. Although its scale was obviously inferior to that of the moon base he remembered, it was still quite impressive.


    There were at least thirty or forty Construction Templates busy shuttling back and forth in the hall alone. Some were moving machinery from nearby mine tunnels into the hall, while others were busy assembling. It was a bustling scene.


    Due to the fact that they were using Spy Templates, there were some machine equipment data among them.


    Sun Cheng studied them carefully for a while and was able to identify the machines that the Construction Templates were assembling as sets of geothermal generators. This piqued his interest and he stared at them intently.


    "You seem very interested in my geothermal generators, little guy from the Cassette Legion..."


    Suddenly, a voice rang out not far from him. Sun Cheng immediately reacted and turned his body around to look, only to be startled by what he saw.


    Standing not far away from him was a giant Decepticon who looked even bigger than Baricade, smiling at him.


    This Decepticon''s mechanical body looks very funny. Although it is huge, it is somewhat graceful, and it is somewhat similar to a crab.


    However, even though this Decepticon appeared with a smile and looked very friendly, after Sun Cheng saw who he was, he was so shocked that his "Core" almost crashed, "Lord Star... Starscream."


    Sun Cheng''s eyes were full of despair. "Damn, why is it him..."


    If he had known that Lord Starscream had also come to Earth, even if he was given ten times the courage, Sun Cheng would not dare to come and see Lord Starscream.


    The reason is simple: this Decepticon named Starscream has a reputation in the Decepticon army that is too terrifying!


    Starscream, a Leader-level Decepticon, commander of the Air Squadron and deputy commander of the Decepticon army, has a reputation that is second only to Megatron in the Decepticon army.


    Although "Frenzy" was a new spy born recently by Soundwave''s hand, it did not mean that he knew nothing about the target that Soundwave emphasized the need for special caution in the secret mission.


    According to the information he had, this notorious figure had launched at least six rebellions in the past thousand years, two of which almost overthrew Megatron''s rule.


    If it were humans, any country would have executed such a hero after a failed rebellion.


    However, this lord had repeatedly rebelled and repeatedly failed, but Megatron had not done anything to him. Not only did he still allow him to command the Air Squadron, but he did not even revoke Starscream''s position as deputy commander.


    Seeing this lord''s calculations and methods is just the tip of the iceberg.

 CH 11

    Fear!


    Deep-seated fear!


    Even the leader of the Cassette Legion, Soundwave, was extremely wary of Starscream, and even before sending Frenzy to Baricade, he had repeatedly warned him not to get close to Starscream.


    Starscream not only had strong power, but also had a bad temper and was difficult to figure out, and he was one of the top scientists in the Decepticon army.


    If he wanted to, it would be easy for him to break through the security of the Spy Template and access all the data in Sun Cheng''s memory chip.


    The thought of his identity as a time traveler being exposed because of this made Sun Cheng even more anxious. But Starscream was right beside him, and he couldn''t run away, so he could only raise his guard and stand there, watching Starscream cautiously.


    Starscream looked down at him with a smile on his face, and the murderous intent in his red electronic eyes grew clearer.


    He still smiled at Sun Cheng and said, "It seems like our little friend is very distrustful of me..."


    Baricade slowly walked over and respectfully bowed to him. "That''s because he doesn''t yet know of your greatness, Lord Starscream!"


    After speaking, he turned his face to look at Sun Cheng, and his ferocious face was also filled with a smile.


    "Crawler, offer your loyalty to the great Leader!"


    "No no no... Baricade, there''s no need to scare our little friend like that..." Starscream also walked towards Sun Cheng with a smile, but an engineer carrying equipment didn''t believe he ran into his leg and then fell to the ground with a bang, along with the machine he was carrying.


    Starscream looked down at the engineer, the smile on his face still not disappearing, and then he bent down and lifted him up. Ignoring the engineer''s struggles, he tore him in half with a single pull and then casually threw him onto the empty ground next to Sun Cheng, making a loud sound.


    The sound shook Sun Cheng''s mechanical body slightly, but he still didn''t dare to move, just stood there anxiously watching Starscream slowly walk over to him. Then, he bent down as much as possible to make his head closer to him and still showed a smile with his ferocious teeth, slowly saying, "I want you to do two things for me..."


    As soon as he spoke, Sun Cheng felt like his heart had reached his throat, but at least for now, Starscream needed him to do something and wouldn''t harm him before it was done.


    However, the fact that the other party wanted him to do something made Sun Cheng even more uneasy. Starscream''s eyes were fixed on him, obviously waiting for him to respond.


    Concerning his own life, Sun Cheng didn''t dare delay and hurriedly replied, "Lord Starscream, it is my honor to serve you!"


    Although he said so, he had made up his mind to find a way back to his original world as soon as he left this broken base. This place was just too dangerous!


    As the cunning strategist that he was, Starscream saw through Sun Cheng''s decisive answer and suddenly hid his smile, his eyes growing cold and indifferent.


    "Don''t try to fool me. I will kill you, and Soundwave wouldn''t dare to say otherwise!" He calmly warned Sun Cheng, his tone flat but with a clear intent to kill.


    Sun Cheng''s body trembled as he truly believed these words. He knew full well that with Soundwave''s combat power and the strength of the Cassette Legion, he would not stand a chance against Starscream for his own sake. Not even his loyal pet and confidante Laserbeak could protect him from Starscream''s wrath.


    Unless Shockwave arrived on Earth, or the leader he served, Megatron, returned.


    Realizing the dire situation he was in, Sun Cheng abandoned his thoughts and immediately followed Baricade''s example, respectfully bowing to Starscream and declaring himself as Decepticon spy Frenzy, ready to serve.


    "Very good!" Starscream''s eyes flickered as he suddenly asked, "Tell me about Soundwave''s mission to Earth!"


    Sun Cheng''s body shook, his blue eyes shimmering. Although he had already realized that Starscream wouldn''t be fooled by a few words of allegiance, he didn''t expect him to be so decisive and not give him any chance to report to Soundwave.


    Sensing Baricade''s movement beside him and feeling the weight of danger, Sun Cheng decided not to hide anything and sold Soundwave out.


    "Lord Soundwave sent me to follow Baricade to Earth for two main missions. First, to assist Baricade in searching for any clues about Lord Megatron and the All Spark. Second, to investigate why you suddenly left Cybertron and came to Earth decades ago!"


    Starscream''s face lit up with a brilliant smile as his blood-red eyes glared at him, still pressing on, "When did Blackout arrive in the Solar System? Did Shockwave also come?"


    Blackout is also one of the elite warriors of the Decepticon army. He is a staunch supporter of Megatron and has a somewhat tense relationship with Starscream and Baricade.


    However, Sun Cheng feels that what Starscream wants to know may not be information about Blackout, but about Shockwave.


    Leader Megatron''s disappearance has obviously caused internal factions and power struggles within the Decepticon army, which is used to his authoritarian rule. Two of the largest factions are undoubtedly Starscream and Shockwave.


    Both of these individuals were Megatron''s right-hand men. Before Megatron disappeared, the former had launched several rebellions, with ambitions that need no explanation. Several decades ago, he suddenly left Cybertron planet and came to the solar system, creating a moon base. If he really came to find Megatron, even Starscream himself probably wouldn''t believe it.


    Shockwave cannot strictly be considered a faction because he is the temporary commander of the Decepticon army and, like Blackout and Soundwave, is a supporter of Megatron. Shockwave is undoubtedly the person Starscream fears the most after Megatron.


    There is no doubt that Starscream has stumped Sun Cheng with these two questions. Although he had previously used Blackout to intimidate Baricade, Sun Cheng really didn''t know when Blackout would arrive in the solar system. He only learned from Frenzy''s memory data that Soundwave had mentioned that Blackout would arrive soon.


    As for Shockwave, he knew nothing about his appearance except for his identity.


    After organizing his thoughts, Sun Cheng replied, "Lord Blackout may arrive in the solar system soon, as for Lord Shockwave, Lord Soundwave has never disclosed any information about him!"


    The implication is, "My boss Soundwave may know, but he didn''t tell me."


    Starscream apparently immediately understood the meaning behind his words, or he never expected a low-level Decepticon spy like Sun Cheng to possess such classified information.


    Therefore, he did not show any signs of impatience on his face. Instead, he groped for a gray crystal the size of a walnut from under his ribs and threw it at Sun Cheng''s feet.


    "Your answer is satisfactory. I reward you with a Level 2 Reconnaissance Soldier Template, and after the job is done, I will give you a Spark!"


    "What?"


    Sun Cheng [Core] jumped around in confusion, instinctively thinking that he might have misheard.


    But as he bent down to pick up the gray crystal thrown to him by the Starscream, he immediately felt a wave of heat throughout his body. His mind was filled with excitement and excitement, as if a voice kept reminding him to take this gray crystal, which was the key to making him evolve into a stronger being.


    In an instant, Sun Cheng was filled with ecstasy.

 CH 12

    Seeing Sun Cheng tightly holding onto the [Scout Template] that he had bestowed upon him, a faint smirk appeared on Starscream''s lips.


    After he had put away the [Scout Template], Starscream concealed his mocking expression and his face was once again filled with a smile. He asked, "So? Little guy from the [Cassette Legion], are you satisfied with my gift?"


    "Very satisfied!"


    Sun Cheng couldn''t help but express his satisfaction. Evolution is the instinct of every living being, and mechanical life is no exception. Unfortunately, after completely absorbing the memory data of ''Frenzy'', Sun Cheng''s consciousness seemed to have been affected.


    The difficulty of advancing from a low-level Decepticon to a higher level was much higher than one could imagine. At least, it was much lower than the possibility of a human going from rags to riches by working hard.


    Decepticons are a strange race. Sun Cheng, who has already digested all of ''Frenzy''s memory data, is also shocked by the information he has absorbed.


    This kind of mechanical life seems unable to naturally give birth. In any case, in ''Frenzy''s memory, low-level Decepticons seemed to have come out of a factory-like production line. They only needed enough resources and energy, as well as some life energy that could not be explained in words, to give birth to a Decepticon.


    Therefore, compared to investing more resources in cultivating a low-level Decepticon to advance, it is more cost-effective to directly give birth to a higher-level Decepticon with fewer resources.


    That is why, from the era of the [Cybertronian War] to the present, there have been few low-level Decepticons who have been able to advance before their lifespan ends.


    Although it''s unclear what Starscream''s motives are for bestowing him with a higher-level [Scout Template] filled with life energy, with it, Sun Cheng only needs to gather enough resources to transform his mechanical body and advance to a higher level Decepticon.


    After receiving benefits from Starscream, Sun Cheng couldn''t help but throw Soundwave''s instructions out of his mind and his gaze towards Starscream became fiery.


    "Lord Starscream, please give me your orders."


    Although he didn''t know what he wanted him to do, at the thought of possibly obtaining a higher-level [Spark] after completing the task, Sun Cheng became even more excited.


    "Help me out, and you won''t be short of benefits!"


    Smiling, Starscream looked down at him with red eyes, and without beating around the bush, he gave him the task he needed to complete.


    "I want you to do two things for me. First, immediately send a interstellar transmission to Soundwave and tell him everything about me being on Earth and this base truthfully."


    "Interstellar transmission..."


    Sun Cheng was puzzled for a moment, then his face changed drastically.


    He knew what an interstellar transmission was. It was one of the highest technologies on Cybertron Planet, a super technology used for remote information transmission between planets. It was said that advanced Decepticons could even use it to transmit information across galaxies.


    However, although every Decepticon had the ability to use interstellar transmission, no one would use it casually.


    Because every interstellar transmission requires a huge amount of energy to be consumed in an instant, causing great damage to the Core.


    Sun Cheng conservatively estimated that sending a transmission directly from Earth to Soundwave in the lunar base would consume four to five hundred points of energy, which would immediately severely weaken him.


    Moreover, the other party asked him to send a transmission to Soundwave and inform him of his presence on Earth.


    After a little thought, Sun Cheng realized that Starscream''s first request was too strange, so he had to ask courageously, "My Lord, do you want me to send an interstellar transmission to Soundwave and expose this base?"


    Although the base where Starscream was located in a mine in the mountains of Tucson City was not good, it was rich in geothermal resources. Once the engineers laid out geothermal power generation equipment, it would become an energy base that could provide a continuous supply of energy for his forces, which was not bad.


    Moreover, Sun Cheng did not believe that this base was built just for energy.


    Therefore, as soon as he heard the other party mention that he wanted him to report everything he saw to Soundwave, and even expose this base, even if Sun Cheng was stupid, he quickly realized that Starscream might be asking for too much.


    "Yes, I will have someone take you around the base later to get to know it, and I want you to honestly report everything you see to Soundwave. What? Can''t do it?" In the end, Starscream still had a smiling face, but it was full of ferocity and cruelty.


    Feeling that his blood-red electronic eyes had locked onto him, Sun Cheng felt his heart tighten and quickly nodded in agreement, "I can do it, my Lord Starscream!"


    As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a sudden lightness in his body and couldn''t help but take a breath. The blue light in his eyes also dimmed.


    "Turned around on the brink of death again!"


    Sun Cheng sighed bitterly. Just now, he sensed that if he dared to say anything negative, Starscream would definitely slap him down and make him a thing of the past!


    "Very good!" Starscream nodded at him, and his eyes were filled with satisfaction.


    He was truly a cunning character. After using a combination of threats and incentives, he now reassured Sun Cheng, "Don''t worry about energy consumption. Baricade will take you to the supply room later to replenish your energy!"


    These words eased Sun Cheng''s mind a little. He knew he had no resistance in the face of this Decepticon leader. So, apart from his secrets being exposed, he was most worried about being used up and then kicked out, or even crushed.


    Starscream''s reassurance may have been just a means to an end, but it at least proved that he still had value in the other''s eyes, and for the time being, he didn''t have to worry about safety issues.


    Breathing a sigh of relief, Sun Cheng gritted his teeth and asked, "My lord, what about the other task you gave me?"


    "I want you to go to a human military base with Baricade and help me get something!" Starscream answered calmly. As soon as he finished speaking, he turned to look at Baricade. This Decepticon warrior who was imposing in front of Sun Cheng seemed to have lost his presence in front of Starscream. He had been quietly waiting on the side and didn''t say anything.


    Seeing that Starscream was looking at him, Baricade nodded and assured him, "The ambush has already been set up in advance. With me and Lord Starscream, it''s enough!"


    It seemed that they were planning to do something big!


    Sun Cheng could only smile bitterly. These two big shots didn''t give him any details, obviously anticipating that he would definitely report to Soundwave. So they simply asked for his help, without mentioning what the specific task was or which human military base was the target.


    What could he do?


    He could only agree immediately, but his heart was raised again. He had a feeling that these two tasks were probably a big trap!

 CH 13

    Starscream clearly didn''t care whether Sun Cheng was sincerely offering his help or not. After he agreed, Starscream''s face revealed a meaningful smile that made Sun Cheng uncomfortable. Suddenly, Starscream said, "Come out!"


    "Huh?" Sun Cheng was puzzled by his sudden shout, but his [Spy Template]reacted faster than his conscious mind.


    As soon as Starscream finished speaking, [Spy Template]instantly detected a set of special electromagnetic frequencies.


    Two pairs of electronic eyes instinctively looked toward the location where the electromagnetic frequencies had suddenly appeared. Sun Cheng then noticed a small Decepticon figure with a similar build in a corner not far behind him.


    "Are you summoning me, master...?" The small Decepticon seemed to sense Sun Cheng''s scrutiny and bared its teeth at him, not concealing its hostility.


    Starscream acted as if he hadn''t noticed and instructed, "Spectro, take our little friend around the base with the holomatter avatars. Make sure he sees everything!"


    So this new small Decepticon was called "Spectro."


    The name was familiar to Sun Cheng, and a thought came to his mind. Then, a piece of information surged out of his memory chip.


    After reading it carefully, he suddenly realized that Spectro was a member of the Decepticon scout team, "Camera," which was once part of the Decepticon intelligence team. The team consisted of three members: "Reflector," "Spectro," and "Spotlight."


    Although all three members of the Camera team were only second-tier low-level Decepticons, it was said that they were all born from a great plan of a mad scientist in the Decepticon army years ago. The three of them had a special combination transformation method that could elevate their strength to that of a fourth-level high-level Decepticon like Baricade in a short period of time.


    However, the Camera team''s efficiency in gathering intelligence was far inferior to that of the [Cassette Legion]led by Soundwave. They had been used by their surveillance targets a few times in the past, causing losses to their own side and eventually being kicked out of the Decepticon intelligence team.


    Perhaps for this reason, Spectro, as a member of the Camera team, held a grudge against Sun Cheng, who was from the [Cassette Legion].


    After understanding the reason, Sun Cheng became more guarded against Spectro. Although the difference in strength between a first-tier and a second-tier Decepticon was unimaginable, and combat was not his specialty, if Spectro specifically targeted him, Sun Cheng would undoubtedly have a hard time.


    After hearing Starscream''s orders, Spectro''s eyes lit up, and he eagerly replied, "Master, leave it to me. I promise to take him around the base with the holomatter avatars!"


    After just agreeing, he saw Starscream grin at Sun Cheng with a malicious intent on his face, without any attempt to conceal it.


    "Take him for a stroll..." Starscream ordered without even glancing at him.


    It was Baricade who seemed to have noticed that Spectro had some ideas about Sun Cheng and snorted as a reminder, "Rein in your thoughts, Spectro. Starscream has other tasks for Frenzy to do..."


    "Yes, Lord Baricade!" Spectro reluctantly looked at Starscream with disappointment, then lowered his head and replied.


    However, seeing his restless eyes, Sun Cheng knew that Spectro probably didn''t take the reminder to heart.


    But even though Sun Cheng knew that he might be targeted by Spectro, since Starscream had given the order, he didn''t dare stay here any longer and had to follow Spectro, who was constantly sneering at him like a lunatic.


    As soon as the two of them were far away, Baricade suddenly spoke up, his voice cold and full of sarcasm, "What is Soundwave thinking? I felt strange when he sent ''Frenzy'' to help me after he resurrected him a few days ago. Although I didn''t have much contact with Frenzy on Cybertron Planet, we did missions together. He doesn''t even know me!"


    "His memory chip was sealed, it''s just a small punishment!" Starscream rubbed his chin and sneered, "The Cassette Legion expanded too quickly during the war, and Laserbeak, Frenzy, and Rumble all had thoughts of replacing Soundwave. A bunch of idiots who thought they could win Megatron''s appreciation with a little combat achievement. As a result, Soundwave used some means to make Laserbeak and Frenzy die before the end of the war, and Rumble was nothing without Frenzy."


    He smirked, "I''m starting to appreciate Soundwave a bit now. I didn''t expect him to resurrect Laserbeak and Frenzy again, turning the former into a pet and the latter into a cannon fodder! Unfortunately, his temper is still too small. If it were me, I would keep their memories!"


    This lunatic!


    No wonder he could challenge Megatron!


    Baricade''s eyes flickered, "The Cassette Legion is no longer a concern. Do we still need to worry about Soundwave?"


    "Worry about him?" Starscream sneered disdainfully, "Even if I leave the moon base and let him investigate, what difference does it make? Only three people know about that transaction, Megatron is not here, the old man is still in his slumber, and I''m the only one who knows. Shockwave may have sensed something, which is why he sent Frenzy. But we''ve already done all the preparation work, so he''s too late!"


    However, he quickly restrained his smile and looked a bit displeased. "But letting Soundwave stay on the moon indefinitely is not an option. Another old guy is waking up soon. As expected of the legendary elders, each of the protection devices they left behind. If we use violence to remove them, we''ll only wake them up sooner. It seems we need to find the All Spark and Megatron as soon as possible..."


    "So that''s why you had me bring Frenzy and lure Soundwave to Earth?" Baricade asked.


    "Not just for him..." Starscream''s eyes flickered. "I released a probe into the asteroid belt, but it was accidentally captured by one of your old rivals a few days ago. He seems to be interested in the Solar System and has arrived on Earth."


    "Old rival?" Baricade was taken aback.


    "The Autobot, Bumblebee!"


    "It''s him!" Baricade''s body trembled with excitement, and the metal knuckles in his palms made a cracking sound. "Where is he now?"


    "The Reflector and Spotlight have been sent to track him, but I haven''t received a response yet. He''s probably in another country or continent!"


    Starscream could tell that Baricade was eager to fight Bumblebee, but he coldly reminded him, "You''re not his match. Although you stabbed him in the throat last time, he cut off half your body. Until I find the All Spark and help you all upgrade, don''t make pointless sacrifices. It will expose us and also bring those damn Autobots to Earth!"


    Baricade clenched his fists in frustration!


    Seeing Starscream glaring at him again, he reluctantly lowered his head. "I understand!"


    After suppressing his urge to find Bumblebee, Starscream turned his attention to other matters, thinking of Sun Cheng, who was wandering around the base with the Spectro. His eyes glinted with a red light. "Should we make trouble for Soundwave again? Like helping Frenzy regain his memory?"


    At the thought of something interesting, a bad smile appeared on his lips.

 CH 14

    The premonition was verified in just a second. Throughout the next day, Sun Cheng finally experienced what it was like to be targeted without reason by others!


    It seemed that the Camera Team held a deep grudge against the Cassette Legion. Despite all the ridicule and sarcasm, Spectro always seemed to be trying to provoke him, seeking an excuse to attack him.


    This dim-witted guy suddenly sent invasive information towards him. Rather than just disrupting his defense functions, it was more like he intended to invade his Core.


    What was even worse was that this guy would disappear from sight while leading him on a tour of the base. If Sun Cheng wasn''t careful, he would soon find himself surrounded by Decepticons, drawn by the alarm bells ringing in the vicinity.


    Fortunately, Spectro was still wary of Baricade''s warning. Moreover, since the base had only recently been built and had not yet installed any armed defense systems, Sun Cheng was not in immediate danger.


    Despite this, Sun Cheng was driven to the point of nervous exhaustion by Spectro''s constant provocation. At his current level, he was powerless to resist Spectro and could only follow him weakly, constantly on guard against his provocations while also keeping an eye on the Decepticon''s underground base where Starscream and the others were located.


    It had to be admitted that the Decepticon construction workers who he had previously underestimated were the most qualified slaves and workers.


    According to Spectro, this base had only been established for about a month.


    However, these hard-working Decepticon construction workers, who could work non-stop for twenty-four hours, had managed to excavate and expand a mine that had been abandoned for years, stretching for tens of kilometers. This was a monumental project that even humans would have struggled to complete in several years.


    Even more unimaginable was that while juggling this excavation project, the construction workers had also managed to decompose metal and manufacture machines. This massive project was accomplished by over a hundred Decepticon construction workers that Starscream had brought from the Moon base.


    From a human perspective, this base was undoubtedly still rough.


    However, Decepticons were different from humans. Sun Cheng quickly realized that this base was already well-formed when viewed from the Decepticons'' field of view, after slightly shifting his perspective.


    Starscream''s base is mainly composed of three parts: the supply room that stores energy, the manufacturing factory that assembles various machines and parts, and the numerous geothermal power generators that are scattered throughout the area, with various passages intertwining between them.


    Decepticons, as a mechanical life form, do not need to rest unless they want to save energy. No wonder their efficiency is so high.


    The geothermal resources near Tucson are abundant, and the mountainous areas are the most complex areas of the earth''s veins here. Decepticon engineers directly found suitable locations deep underground and densely set up groups of geothermal power generators from Cybertronian civilization. They convert the continuous energy generated by the power of nature into electrical energy that Decepticons can directly absorb to supplement the energy of the core, or through a complex conversion program, transform it into easily storable energy liquid or energy blocks.


    Conservatively speaking, when all the geothermal power generators start to work, this base can convert energy of no less than a hundred points per day, which is comparable to a medium-sized thermal power plant.


    "Slap!"


    Sun Cheng was kicked from behind and slammed into the wall again. After landing, he turned around and saw Spectro standing in the distance, looking down at him without any concealment.


    "...Boring, are you already so weak after being resurrected? No wonder the Cassette Legion is all trash..."


    Silently getting up from the ground, Sun Cheng continued to walk towards the hall where he first met Starscream and his team.


    In the brief contact, he had already realized that Spectro''s head was definitely not normal. He not only continued Decepticon''s usual temper tantrums but also seemed to have poor memory.


    At first, Spectro also targeted him with various jabs, but he didn''t directly attack. Unfortunately, it didn''t last long before he couldn''t help but really attack him.


    Sun Cheng had no way to deal with him.


    He couldn''t win in a fight.


    So when he realized that Spectro was really coming for him, he tried to avoid him as much as possible.


    Unfortunately, this guy was also idle and annoying, and he actually tracked him down every time. Every time he was found, he had to endure a few hits, and the guy started hitting harder and harder.


    However, thanks to the fact that this guy seemed a little dim-witted, Sun Cheng accidentally extracted a lot of information he didn''t know from him.


    After digesting all memory data, Sun Cheng originally thought that the unfortunate Decepticon he possessed was just a new low-level spy.


    However, Spectro from the Camera Squad seemed to be familiar with him. In his repeated provocations, he mentioned the Cybertronian Civil War more than once. From his tone, it seemed that the original ''Frenzy'' was also a high-ranking Decepticon, but had apparently died in battle and was only recently resurrected for some reason.


    Although these were just speculations based on what he heard from Spectro, after summarizing them, Sun Cheng still felt that there were many problems behind him.


    He was eager to learn more, but he now wanted to avoid Spectro and was unwilling to have more contact with him. He could only temporarily suppress the new doubts in his heart.


    Seeing him back down and run, Spectro laughed crazily and chased after him as if he had lost his mind.


    "Shoo..."


    With just a slight distraction, Sun Cheng saw a shell hole that was only two or three centimeters away from his feet. Feeling uneasy, he quickly turned his head to look and immediately started running away.


    "Damn, is this guy trying to kill me?"


    Just now, when he briefly looked back, he saw that Spectro had already raised his right arm, revealing the rapid-fire machine gun he was equipped with. Sun Cheng felt his scalp go numb.


    As far as he knew, all the rapid-fire machine guns used by the Decepticon army were loaded with shell-less energy bullets, which were several generations ahead of the entry-level shell-less bullets developed by humans. They not only had special effects on electronic equipment, but the heat generated by the explosion upon hitting the target could easily destroy the memory alloy on his mechanical body.


    This was not even Spectro''s most terrifying weapon. It seemed that he was also equipped with a chemical cannon that could easily corrode the special alloy mechanical body of high-ranking Decepticons. If this guy crazily fired at him, Sun Cheng did not dare to say whether he would be killed by a single shot.


    "Snap!"


    The dense bullets kept shooting towards his direction, Sun Cheng ran and jumped, struggling to avoid them, and the blue light in his eyes became even more intense.


    "Hahaha, keep running, keep running..."


    Spectro kept waving his right arm and laughing like a clown, letting the grating electronic sound make people frown.


    Suddenly, Spy Template detected an electromagnetic wave nearby, and after realizing it was Baricade, Sun Cheng couldn''t help but feel even more annoyed, grinding his teeth in anger. He shouted, "Lord Baricade, if you don''t come out soon, I''m afraid I won''t be able to serve you and will die here first!"


    Each one of them were either crazy or neurotic. Sun Cheng now deeply regretted returning to this world again!


    What kind of people were in the Decepticon legion?


    From his brief encounter, not a single one of them was good. Either they were hiding somewhere plotting against him, or they were blatantly scheming against him. No one saw him as a person.


    The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he became. Sun Cheng was determined to join in with Starscream''s plan to scheme against Soundwave and help take down this group.

 CH 15

    He didn''t know if it was because Sun Cheng called him out, or if he thought Spectro had gone too far, but in any case, when he shouted out, Baricade didn''t hide anymore and walked straight out from nearby.


    "Stop it, Spectro!" He calmly looked at Spectro, who was getting too excited from playing.


    "Lord Baricade, I haven''t gone against Master Starscream''s will..." Spectro smirked cunningly, but he didn''t stop shooting at Sun Cheng. "See, I didn''t hurt him!"


    He had just been playing all along, even though he had been shooting at himself!


    Spectro''s words made Sun Cheng even more angry. He gritted his teeth and swore that he would make Spectro pay once he was promoted.


    Baricade was also somewhat suspicious of Spectro''s attitude. He glanced at Sun Cheng struggling and then looked at Spectro with interest. His eyes glinted dangerously, "Do you think you can go against my will so easily?"


    As soon as he said that, cunning Spectro immediately sensed that something was wrong. His eyes rolled around and he immediately stopped shooting at Sun Cheng. "No, no, no, Lord Baricade. I was just joking with an old friend..."


    He then transformed his right arm, and the rapid-fire machine gun that was originally attached to his hand disappeared into his bones.


    Unfortunately, Baricade''s temper was even harder to figure out than Spectro''s.


    Sun Cheng hadn''t had a chance to breathe a sigh of relief yet, when suddenly he felt a flash in front of his eyes, and then heard a loud bang on the nearby wall.


    When he finally came back to his senses, he couldn''t help but feel relieved.


    Do you know why?


    It turned out that Spectro, who had been sticking to him all day like a piece of gum, was now deeply embedded in the nearby wall.


    Looking at Baricade, who was standing in Spectro''s original position with a fierce glint in his eyes, it was he who had slapped Spectro into the wall.


    "Don''t let there be a next time, remember that, you reptile..." After growling out a warning to Spectro, Baricade turned around to look at Sun Cheng, and the ferocity on his face gradually faded away.


    After his expression flickered for a while, Sun Cheng finally heard him say, "Follow me, Lord Starscream is waiting for you!"


    Sun Cheng glanced at Spectro. Although this guy had been slapped by Baricade and had cracks all over his mechanical body, he dared not show any dissatisfaction towards Baricade. After crawling out of the wall, he looked at Sun Cheng with even more fierce eyes, apparently blaming him for what happened.


    "Yes!" He immediately agreed, his blue eyes flickering with determination to quickly gather resources and advance, preferably to leave this place completely.


    Baricade didn''t waste any time and led him to the hall where he had seen Starscream when he first arrived yesterday.


    Soon after arriving at the hall, Sun Cheng couldn''t hide his surprise.


    As if hearing footsteps behind him, Starscream continued to stay in the center of the hall without turning his head, gently playing with a dark blue fruit-like object that was tied to a steel vine. He casually asked, "Have you checked the entire base?"


    "Yes...yes, Lord Starscream!" Sun Cheng quickly replied, but his eyes couldn''t help but look at the strange vine.


    To say that the object on the vine was a fruit was not quite accurate. More accurately, it looked like an organ that was nurturing a fetus, filled with sea-blue liquid and emitting an irresistible attraction.


    "It''s energon, highly pure energon!"


    With the reminder from the Spy Template, Sun Cheng quickly realized what the sea-blue liquid was, but new questions came to mind.


    What is this thing?


    With his vision, it was not difficult to see clearly.


    Inside the dark blue fruit-like organ, a Mechanical Life Form that was only the size of a palm and had not yet taken shape was sleeping. Between the expansion and contraction of the fruit organ, various small metal particles, which were so small that they were almost invisible to the naked eye, were continuously transported into the fruit organ and gradually condensed around the still unformed Mechanical Life Form inside.


    "This is a new life egg!" Starscream, who seemed to sense that he would be suspicious of the fruit organ, gently touched the outer wall of the "new life egg" without turning back to face him. After a while, he said again, "Unfortunately, the life source energy is not enough. It is difficult for it to give birth to a true Decepticon!"


    Sun Cheng''s heart stirred. The memory chip of "Frenzy" didn''t contain much information about life source energy. He only knew that life source energy was crucial for Decepticons. Without life source energy, there would be no "Core."


    As for the records of the "new life egg," there was none at all.


    Seizing the opportunity, he hesitated for a moment before carefully asking, "Lord Starscream, what are the ''new life egg'' and life source energy?"


    Starscream turned around and glanced at him with a calm expression, but Sun Cheng felt a numbness in his scalp because in that instant, he seemed to see a flash of hostility in Starscream''s eyes.


    "What life source energy is, you don''t need to know. As for the ''new life egg,'' it is the natural way for Decepticons to be born and has been passed down since the birth of Cybertron Planet civilization. Unfortunately, it requires more time, energy, and life source energy!"


    After Starscream warned him, Sun Cheng had countless doubts in his heart but dared not ask any more questions. However, he remembered these two new terms.


    Seeing that Starscream had been staring at him, he avoided eye contact and looked at other places in the hall, but was even more surprised. When he arrived here yesterday, he saw many metal pillars and pipelines in the hall, but he didn''t think much of it at the time. Unexpectedly, in just one day, with the efforts of the Decepticon workers who could work tirelessly, all the metal pillars and pipelines were assembled into the vine-like structure used to cultivate "new life eggs" in front of him. At a glance, there were probably no less than twenty or thirty main trunks, some of which already had one or several "new life eggs" hanging on them.


    "This is the [Nurturing Room]!"


    After Starscream explained once again, he suddenly seemed a little impatient and commanded in a cold tone, "Since you''ve already seen the base, go send an interstellar transmission to Soundwave. You can write whatever you want in the message, I won''t ask and I don''t care. But as I''ve already stated, I demand that you tell him everything you''ve seen in the base without leaving out a single detail!"


    After finishing his words, without waiting for Sun Cheng''s response, he looked at Baricade and gave him a nod.


    Baricade nodded in response, approached and grabbed Sun Cheng. Without waiting for his reaction, he immediately transformed into a police car and placed Sun Cheng in the passenger seat, driving straight out of the base.

 CH 16

    Baricade took Sun Cheng out of the base in a manner similar to escorting someone, and drove straight into the desert far from Tucson. Only then did he transform and throw Sun Cheng out.


    "I need to go see an old friend. You stay here and send interstellar messages. Wait for me here after it''s done..."


    "Yes, Lord Baricade!"


    Seeing him quickly transform back into a police car and drive off in another direction, Sun Cheng looked up at the mesmerizing starry sky, which resembled the Milky Way, and sighed slightly. He sat down on the sand and began to write the contents of the interstellar message.


    He had no intention of running away, even though he really wanted to. But, ignoring whether he could really escape, Sun Cheng didn''t believe a word of what Baricade said.


    "Who knows, he might be watching me nearby!"


    With this alertness and uneasiness, he suppressed the urge to escape and began to write the interstellar message.


    Admittedly, Cybertronian text was truly magical. It was similar to a programming language that humans created for computers, but more sophisticated. This mechanical civilization had perfected the technology of compressing images and language into text. Each symbol, which looked like a child''s scribble, contained rich information left by the writer. Even more incredible was that the advanced Decepticons had mastered the technique of encrypting text. Just thinking about it was unbelievable.


    Sun Cheng had realized that Starscream probably had designs on his boss, Soundwave. However, this guy seemed to be sure that he would win, and didn''t force Sun Cheng to write the content according to his wishes. This gave Sun Cheng, who had been feeling unjust for the past few days, the opportunity to operate.


    As he thought and wrote, he spent half an hour before he finally produced a message that he was very satisfied with. After looking at the quiet and somewhat frightening desert around him, he even scanned the area with the Spy Template to confirm that he hadn''t detected any suspicious electromagnetic waves nearby. Then, he lightly pressed a spot on the back of his head, and a crystal emitting a rich blue light appeared.


    That blue alertness was his Core, and also the most important part of the mechanical body that Sun Cheng had taken over.


    Any slight injury would put him into a coma, and if the problem was more severe, it could even lead to death. Therefore, unless it was absolutely necessary, no Decepticon would easily expose their Core to the outside world.


    But now he had no choice, because interstellar communication required the Core, so he had to take the risk of being attacked and severely damaged while exposing it.


    With Soundwave''s communication frequency stored in his memory chip, Sun Cheng made some angle adjustments towards the direction of the moon. Then, he gritted his teeth and activated the interstellar communication function. After locking in Soundwave''s communication frequency, he input all the content he had written.


    The next moment, he silently gave the command to send to the Core. In an instant, he felt as if all the strength had been drained out of his body. He was weak, ...


    Before his consciousness drifted away, Sun Cheng subconsciously looked up to the sky and saw a beam of light shooting straight towards the direction of the moon from his location, and a Decepticon emblem was clearly visible in the air.


    ...


    On the far side of the moon, in a huge crater that seemed to have been hit by a falling meteorite, Soundwave walked out with a gloomy face.


    With anger, he kicked a piece of surface rock that had already completely turned into sandstone, and the immense force sent it flying like a shell until it completely disappeared.


    "Master, did Dirge refuse to awaken Starscream again?" With a high-pitched flattering voice, a huge bird-shaped robot with two machine guns hanging from its belly slowly flew around him, and only after seeing Soundwave extend his right arm did it obediently land on Soundwave''s right arm. It was the Laserbeak of the Cassette Legion.


    "Hmph, stupid Dirge!" Soundwave was extremely angry. "How long has Megatron been gone, and this idiot wants to find a new master for himself!"


    "He''s not the only one with this idea!" Laserbeak said, "I just received a star transmission from the robot dog. Lord Shockwave has also left Cybertron Planet and is missing, and sent Thunderbolt to track him down, while also sending the robot dog and Buzzsaw to support us!"


    "Thunderbolt?" Soundwave clearly didn''t expect it. "That guy finally left Cybertron?"


    Thunderbolt was one of the high-ranking members of the Decepticon army. Everyone who knew him would naturally label him as "smart" and "dangerous", and even Megatron, who was proud and impulsive, trusted him greatly.


    However, Thunderbolt was not a powerful warrior, so Megatron dared to reuse him, making Thunderbolt''s position in the Decepticon army somewhat embarrassing. All his power came from Megatron''s trust rather than his military achievements.


    When Megatron was still leading the Decepticon army, Blitzwing was full of power and arrogance. However, after Megatron''s disappearance, the Decepticon army quickly split into two factions, led by Starscream and Shockwave. Under their coordinated suppression, Blitzwing''s status declined day by day after the end of the Cybertronian Civil War.


    So, when Soundwave left Cybertron, he didn''t find it too strange that Blitzwing would leave as well.


    Instead, it was a bit surprising when Shockwave sent Buzzsaw to him.


    In the Cybertronian Civil War, the Decepticon army paid a heavy price to defeat their arch-enemies, the Autobots, and gain control of Cybertron Planet. Although the rewards for the veterans who survived the war were not extravagant, they were satisfactory. Many senior Decepticons who had made contributions during the civil war received generous rewards.


    Soundwave was also one of the beneficiaries, gaining a lot of Energon and energy cubes. He also replaced some individuals as one of the commanders of the current Decepticon army.


    The members of the Cassette Legion, especially Buzzsaw, also benefited from this. Without the suppression of Laserbeak and Frenzy, Buzzsaw, with his simple brain circuits, could not be controlled by anyone.


    As a result, just after Soundwave had dealt with a few subordinates who challenged his authority, he discovered new challengers popping up.


    "Well, it''s time to let them see what happened to Laserbeak and Frenzy. I do need their help now. With Buzzsaw and the machine dog, and with the cooperation of Blackout and the others, even Starscream would not dare to delay the search for Lord Megatron''s actions any longer..."


    Thinking of this, Soundwave''s expression softened a bit, and he continued to ask Laserbeak, "How long will it take for Blackout and the others to arrive at the Solar System?"


    "About two months!" replied Laserbeak.


    "So long? Tell them to speed up!" Soundwave ordered impatiently. "Starscream has been missing for several days now. Although Dirge said he was upgrading his weapons, I have a feeling that this is just a delay. He arrived on the moon decades before us and has too many secrets hidden here! I even suspect he might still be on the moon!"


    "Yes, master!"


    Laserbird flapped its wings and said, "I''ll go urge Blackout to hurry up..."


    It was about to take off, but suddenly saw Soundwave''s expression change. In the next instant, the Spark placed in his chest suddenly lit up.


    Immediately realizing that it was an interstellar communication, Laserbird folded its wings and waited quietly on the side.


    About two or three minutes later, after Soundwave finished reading the contents of the communication he just received, his face had completely darkened. "Damn Starscream, is he really not on the moon anymore? That bastard Dirge, he still wants to hide it from me..."


    "Master, who is the communication from?" Laserbird curiously asked.


    "Frenzy from Earth!"


    He reached out and tapped on Laserbird''s forehead, instantly transferring the contents of the communication to his head.


    After quickly reading it, Laserbird was also surprised, "Starscream still has a base on Earth? Although it seems to be newly built, why is there a ''Nursery''? According to the information from Frenzy, this base is far inferior to the moon and does not have the possibility of incubating ''Newborn Eggs''."


    "Could the All Spark really be on Earth?"


    Soundwave gritted his teeth and roared, "Damn it, we must not let Starscream find the All Spark first!"


    As one of the commanders of the Decepticon army, Soundwave not only saw the All Spark but also knew its importance to the Decepticons.


    Based on his understanding of Starscream, if the All Spark was not really on Earth, he would not have left Cybertron and come to this remote star system.


    And once this schemer mastered the All Spark, a new civil war within the Decepticon army was likely to erupt.


    At this thought, Soundwave''s face could only be described as ferocious. He quickly gave Laserbird an order, "Hurry up and urge Blackout to speed up. I want you to go to Earth as soon as possible to see Frenzy and confirm the authenticity of the communication!"


    "As you wish, my master!"

 CH 17

    "Are you awake?"


    Sun Cheng opened his eyes again and before he could even see his surroundings clearly, he heard a cold mechanical voice beside him.


    His body was filled with an unbearable weakness.


    He didn''t know if it was an illusion or not, but ever since he crossed over and took over a mechanical life form''s body, this was the first time he felt the sensation of life entering old age.


    "Is this what Decepticon''s aging feels like?"


    Although he had received some warnings from Frenzy''s memory data before and had a general understanding of the importance of energy for Decepticons, he had never personally experienced it.


    Now, after consuming most of the energy stored in the Core, he was left with a weak state that was neither alive nor dead. He finally learned his lesson and silently told himself not to make the same mistake again.


    At this moment, Sun Cheng was inside a police car. Without even looking, he recognized the familiar interior decorations and knew the one talking to him was Baricade.


    "I have completed the mission entrusted to me by Lord Starscream!" He answered, suppressing his weakness. "I have conveyed everything I saw in the base to Soundwave, as instructed!"


    Perhaps realizing that he didn''t address Soundwave with respect, Baricade was silent for a while before speaking again in a cold tone. "I see. When we get back, I will notify the supply room to replenish the energy you consumed."


    "Thank you, Lord Baricade!" Sun Cheng breathed a sigh of relief. The feeling of weakness from excessive energy consumption was terrible, like being an old man on his deathbed. He couldn''t stand it for even a second longer.


    As they spoke, Baricade quickly drove into another entrance and into the mine. After a series of twists and turns, they finally returned to the underground base.


    Baricade carried him directly to the nursery and stopped there.


    It was clear that in Starscream''s eyes, the only place in the base worth his attention was the nursery. Therefore, most of the time he spent his time there.


    "Your Excellency, we''re back!"


    Baricade transformed back into his human form, but this time he didn''t recklessly throw Sun Cheng, who was weak and fragile, out of his way. Instead, as his body flew up due to the inertia of the transformation, he reached out and caught Sun Cheng in his hand. After completing the transformation, he placed the weak and still in tape recorder form, Frenzy, beside him.


    Starscream was standing in front of a thick vine, continuously inputting data into a screen projected onto the main trunk. It seemed like he was debugging.


    "Is the mission completed?"


    Seeing that Baricade and the others had returned, Starscream paused his work and casually asked Sun Cheng.


    However, Sun Cheng understood from the way he looked at Baricade that his guess was correct, and that Starscream must have instructed Baricade to keep an eye on him.


    "The interstellar communication has been sent out, Lord Starscream. I am certain that Soundwave has received the message and will soon come to Earth to verify its authenticity!"


    Sun Cheng was not accustomed to his tape recorder form, so he forced himself to transform back into his human form, enduring the weakness in his body, and honestly answered.


    "No, you don''t understand him." Starscream looked at him, a smile playing at the corners of his lips. "You intelligence people are always very suspicious. I know him too well. If I''m not mistaken, he should send a laser bird to verify the accuracy of the message first!"


    Sun Cheng was taken aback, then stood quietly on the side without saying a word.


    He couldn''t relate to what Starscream was saying, because, as he mentioned, he really didn''t know much about his boss, Soundwave, who was the leader of the Cassette Legion.


    Perhaps it was because Starscream had used him as a pawn in some plan, he seemed to be in a good mood and was unusually talkative. "It''s really pitiful. After being resurrected, you have forgotten too much!"


    This inexplicable remark made Sun Cheng''s heart sink, and his eyes became unfocused.


    If I remember correctly, Spectro had used this to mock him more than once when targeting him before. It seems that "Frenzy", who was possessed by him before being resurrected, must have had an unusual experience before, otherwise even big shots like Starscream would not remember him.


    It seemed like Starscream had something to say to Baricade, he gave him a signal and the latter shut up. Then he continued to speak to Sun Cheng, "You should remember what resurrection means, right?"


    Starscream paused for a moment, as if to give him some time to think.


    Sun Cheng hesitated for a moment before nodding. He knew what Starscream meant by resurrection.


    For Decepticons, the most important part of their body is the Core, which serves as their heart, brain, and energy storage center. Once the Core is destroyed, it means the end of life.


    However, even humans can obtain a second life through head transplant surgery with the development of technology.


    Decepticons, who have a more convenient body and more advanced technology than humans, have naturally realized the legendary "resurrection" technique.


    For Decepticons, even if the Core is destroyed, as long as the memory chip stored in the Core is intact, they can reconstruct a new Core and mechanical body based on it, achieving almost perfect resurrection of a deceased Decepticon.


    Seeing him starting to think, Starscream continued, "You have been working for Soundwave for so many years, what have you gained? Only inheriting the code name ''Frenzy''?"


    As soon as Sun Cheng came back to his senses, he heard these provocative words from Starscream''s mouth and felt a sudden sense of confusion.


    Doubts arose in his mind, and he asked after thinking for a moment, "Lord Starscream, does my name have any special significance?"


    As soon as he finished speaking, Sun Cheng felt a lightness in his body and saw himself being held in Starscream''s hand.


    Then he lifted him up until he was in front of himself.


    Seeing him looking uneasy, Starscream grinned a fierce smile and said, "Soundwave must have tampered with your memory chip. Now stop resisting and let me help you unlock the seal..."


    As soon as he finished speaking, two red beams of light shot out from his eyes, and before Sun Cheng could react, they directly entered his eyeballs.


    In an instant, the Core in his body began to sound crazy.


    "Warning, warning, unknown data intrusion detected... Activating intercept function... Activating defense system... Core data encryption... Misleading data function activated..."


    "Warning, intrusion data has exceeded the interception limit and has breached the active interception system... Warning, unknown error has occurred, defense system deactivated... Misleading data system being accessed... Warning, warning, Core data being accessed..."


    Boom!


    A thunderous sound rang through his mind!


    Despite Sun Cheng''s quick response to issue a defense command to [Core] upon realizing the intrusion, it was too late. With Starscream''s sudden attack, a massive amount of terrifying data poured into his [Core], destroying his defense system and subsequently conquering the second memory storage area.


    In the frenzy of the invading data, Sun Cheng soon felt that he had completely lost control of his body. His [Core] was completely taken over, and he was at the mercy of the mechanical body.


    With [Core] compromised, the memory chip was no longer defended against Starscream.


    "So there is encryption after all? Soundwave is still so paranoid..."


    In the next moment, Sun Cheng could clearly feel a surge of information flooding into his head.


    The problem was that not only could he browse through it at will, but Starscream, who had just removed the encryption on his memory chip, could as well. Not only did he show no intention of leaving Sun Cheng''s [Core], he even blatantly read through all his memory data line by line.


    It was a terrible experience, as if suddenly having an extra consciousness in his head and having it scrutinize all of his memories in front of him.


    Helplessly watching all his secrets being examined by this Decepticon boss, who he couldn''t even tell was a friend or foe, Sun Cheng felt nothing but despair and unwillingness.


    He was afraid of his biggest secret as a time traveler being exposed, and even more afraid that once Starscream learned of it, he would immediately attack him, leaving him with no chance of going back.


    "No... I don''t want to die... I don''t want to die here..."


    The will to survive was fully ignited in an instant, and Sun Cheng desperately tried to regain control of his body and [Core].


    It was unclear whether his efforts had been successful or not, but just as Starscream was about to fully read all his memory data, Sun Cheng suddenly felt a strange, icy sensation erupting from within his [Core].


    In an instant, Starscream''s consciousness, which was still trying to read his memory data, was completely expelled from his [Core], and Sun Cheng regained control of his body.

 CH 18

    "Huh!"


    Just as Sun Cheng''s memory data was about to be fully read, a strong will forcibly expelled Starscream from his Core. Starscream couldn''t help but utter a soft sound of surprise, and when he looked at Sun Cheng, who was in his hand, his expression suddenly became suspicious.


    "My lord... Lord Starscream!"


    Just as he regained control of his body and before he could even be happy about it, Sun Cheng suddenly felt the grip of the mechanical body around him increase dramatically. He saw that the transformation was about to happen and he couldn''t help but shout in panic.


    "How interesting!"


    It was as if Starscream had just come to his senses. He looked at Sun Cheng with constantly changing expressions for a while before giving him a meaningful glance and tossing him casually next to Baricade. "Take him to the supply room to replenish his energy. Once you''re done, go directly to the attack site to meet us. I need to get that thing as soon as possible!"


    "Yes, I understand!"


    Baricade apparently noticed his subtle changes, but he had known Starscream for too long and knew better than to ask what he had seen in Sun Cheng''s memory chip.


    So although he was curious about what Starscream had seen in Sun Cheng''s memory, he didn''t ask. After giving his order, he just picked up Sun Cheng, who was lying motionless on the ground, and walked directly to the supply room.


    Soon, only Starscream was left in the supply room. He stood there scratching his chin, looking at the strange sets of data he had projected in front of him, and muttered to himself in a low voice, "Can''t decipher it? Can''t even get started? Are these special characters that have never been seen before ancient Cybertronian text? Frenzy was born in the lunar base, could it be him who did it?"


    His voice grew smaller and smaller, and his face grew more and more impatient. After a long time, he muttered under his breath, "Damn fallen Cybertronian..."


    ...


    "Have you regained your memory?"


    As he carried Sun Cheng towards the supply room, not long after leaving the breeding room, Baricade couldn''t help but ask.


    Sun Cheng, who was still trying to digest the new memory data that had just emerged in his head, was startled by the question and replied, "Yes, Lord Baricade!"


    He had indeed "regained" his memory, but strangely, he had not been affected by the consciousness of Frenzy. Sun Cheng, who had fully received all of Soundwave''s memories after Starscream completely unlocked the seal, naturally knew what Frenzy meant.


    "The Cassette Legion" was born thousands of years ago during the "Cybertron Civil War". Initially, it was made up of eight high-ranking Decepticons with code names such as "Recon Vehicle", "Laserbeak", "Buzzsaw", "Ravage", "Rumble", "Frenzy", "Ratbat" and "Overkill". However, because Cybertron Planet was still at war at that time, the Decepticons and another kind of mechanical life called "Autobots" fought fiercely for control of the planet. Therefore, "The Cassette Legion" was sent to the battlefield soon after its formation.


    As members responsible for the most dangerous intelligence work, it was inevitable that some of the members of "The Cassette Legion" would die in battle, including "Recon Vehicle" and "Overkill". Later, new members such as "Buzzsaw", "Slugfest", "Tyrannosaurus" '','' Slugfest '','' Horned Dragon '','' barbarous''  joined the group, but most of them did not survive until the end of the civil war.


    [ShaneFreak: If anyone can find proper names, Thank You... I couldn''t]


    The "Cybertron Civil War" had just ended over a hundred years ago. Unfortunately, the two most outstanding Decepticon spies, "Laserbeak" and "Frenzy", were killed in the last battle when they tried to capture Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons.


    Although Sun Cheng had not fully assimilated the memory data of "Frenzy", he also discovered many suspicious points from it. It seems that the internal situation of "The Cassette Legion" is not as harmonious as he imagined. Although Soundwave, the commander, is powerful, none of his eight generals are good companions except for the machine dog, who is loyal to Soundwave.


    "Laser Bird" thinks that his spy ability is better than Soundwave''s and has been trying to gain Megatron''s favor to replace Soundwave as the leader of "The Cassette Legion". "Buzzsaw" is unruly, and his passion for destruction is creepy. "Ratbat" is a cold and solitary person, and his disregard for everyone except himself makes it impossible for him to be loyal to anyone.


    As for "Rumble", as a Decepticon warrior with powerful destructive power, he has never been convinced by Soundwave since he was included in "The Cassette Legion". "Frenzy", who was originally an ambitious person, made "Rumble", who was not very bright, his friend and henchman. From the memory data that Sun Cheng received, they even confronted Soundwave face-to-face more than once.


    In "The Cassette Legion", only "Ravage" and the machine dog, who was later resurrected, could be used by Soundwave. The former is simple-minded with not many ideas, and in reality, only the machine dog is truly loyal to Soundwave.


    Sun Cheng couldn''t help but laugh or cry at such a bizarre team that had achieved great military exploits. He had to admit that Soundwave definitely had a reason to stab his own people in the back.


    It''s not surprising why Soundwave would go after Frenzy when he resurrected him after the war.


    A call of "Lord Baricade" momentarily stopped Baricade''s movements on the road, and it wasn''t until a while later that Sun Cheng heard his laughter, "Not bad, it seems you''ve made your decision. How about considering pledging loyalty to Lord Starscream like me?"


    If it weren''t for his memories being restored, Baricade''s words might have been believed by Sun Cheng.


    But as soon as he spoke, Sun Cheng secretly sneered in his heart.


    From his regained memories, he already knew Baricade''s origin.


    This guy was born as a sworn enemy of the Decepticons - an Autobot, and his belief in "might makes right" had led him to defect to the Decepticons during the Cybertronian Civil War.


    Well, as a rebellious person who ate both sides, he probably wouldn''t be genuinely valued even within the eccentric Decepticon army.


    But this guy, despite his violent temperament, had been skillfully maneuvering between the different factions within the Decepticons.


    It was said that he had been loyal to Shockwave, flattered Blitzwing, obeyed Megatron''s orders, and had never spoken ill of Starscream.


    During the time when Megatron ruled the Decepticon army, Starscream, who had repeatedly rebelled, was practically a target that Megatron had set up, and the many small factions within the army would often spit on him or stab him for no reason, making it the daily norm within the Decepticons.


    It''s easy to imagine that someone like Baricade, who had joined Starscream''s side as soon as Megatron disappeared, would claim to be loyal to someone.


    Sun Cheng estimated that he didn''t even believe it himself.


    However, even though he sneered in his heart, he didn''t show it on his face, and even promised very crisply, "As long as you don''t mind serving under Lord Starscream!"


    Obviously, his immediate stance satisfied Baricade, who soon led him to the supply room and personally called a spider-type Decepticon equipped with a Medical Template to give him some instructions before leaving.


    Before leaving, he even reminded him, "After replenishing your energy, come to the cultivation room to find me. Lord Starscream may already be getting impatient, and we need to complete the task he assigned us as soon as possible!"


    "I understand, my lord!"


    As soon as Baricade left, Sun Cheng was immediately carried by the spider-like Decepticon responsible for the cultivation room to a strange machine and asked, "Expose the Core!"


    Sun Cheng nodded. He knew this was indeed a necessary process for supplementing energy, so he directly exposed the Core.


    The next moment, the spider-like Decepticon casually touched the machine and immediately projected a light screen in front of him.


    After inputting some data quickly on the light screen, the spider-like Decepticon saw several transparent tubes, resembling plant tendrils, floating out of the machine in no time.


    Soon, after the tubes adhered to his Core, a continuous stream of aqua blue liquid flowed into his Core through the tubes. A series of small energy fluctuations resembling lightning suddenly appeared on his body.


    "Ding...energy source detected...absorption function activated..."


    In an instant, Sun Cheng felt as if his body was a parched land that had just encountered a downpour of rain. A feeling of joy and satisfaction emanated from deep within his soul, and he couldn''t help but devour the constantly flowing energy into his body.


    "Huh?"


    The spider-like Decepticon next to him looked at the light screen with some confusion. "Not enough with 500 energy points? Why does it consume so much?"


    Without any hesitation, he added another 500 energy points for Sun Cheng.


    After all, Baricade personally delivered it, and he even mentioned Starscream. His identity was definitely not comparable to that of the lowest-level medical Decepticon like him.


    However, this move unexpectedly helped Sun Cheng a lot. With ample energy continuously flowing into his Core, he unexpectedly detected an unknown attraction from a certain corner of his body.


    With a little curiosity, he immediately explored the place where the attraction came from. Soon, he felt as if there was a terrifying vortex there. Before he could react, his consciousness was attracted into a water blue spherical space that had been troubling him for several days.

 CH 19

    Once again returning to this mysterious spherical space, Sun Cheng finally felt the relief he had been seeking for the past few days.


    "Seems like there are still certain conditions to enter here," he thought unconsciously as he looked around the empty space, similar to the previous times he had entered, except for the two screens in the center.


    However, after looking around a few more times, Sun Cheng noticed some small changes. The fluorescent blue light in the spherical space was much brighter compared to the last time he entered. Other than that, there were no other changes.


    Surprisingly, the empty spherical space brought a sense of safety to Sun Cheng. Even though he still felt uncomfortable losing control of his body, he quickly regained control and floated towards the center of the space, stopping in front of the screen on the right.


    The screen instantly lit up, revealing a scene of Sun Cheng quietly replenishing energy in the supply room of Starscream''s base.


    Sun Cheng stared at the image for a while before shifting his gaze towards the bottom right corner of the screen.


    Suddenly, his eyebrows furrowed as he exclaimed, "Huh!"


    If Sun Cheng remembered correctly, a few days ago when he entered this space from the real world, the bottom right corner of the screen displayed two sets of numbers: Blue Star: 65/1000, White Star: 1/1.


    However, after a few days, he returned to find that both sets of numbers had changed to Blue Star: 437/1000, White Star: 2/1.


    "What do these two sets of numbers represent?" Sun Cheng pondered for a while, but still couldn''t figure out what they meant. He sighed and moved on to the next screen.


    The screen on the left represented the real world and lit up just like the previous one when he approached it, revealing a young man hunched over a table.


    "Phew, there''s still no change!" Sun Cheng breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that nothing had changed from a few days ago.


    However, his eyes brightened as he glanced at the corner of the screen. "Blue Star: 437/1000, Red Star: 44996:14:58... has there been a change?"


    He still didn''t understand the meaning behind the Blue Star and its accompanying numbers, but he suspected that the Red Star and its numbers represented time.


    He calculated in his head and realized that he had been in the Decepticon world for over four days. After verifying his initial guess, he was even more surprised.


    He remembered that he had inexplicably traveled to the Decepticon world while drunk and stayed there for most of the night before returning to reality. The next morning, when he returned to the Decepticon world, time seemed to have stopped.


    But now, even though he had spent four or five days in the Decepticon world, it seemed like it had no effect on the real world except for the timer on the screen. However, he hadn''t confirmed the last point yet.


    Without hesitation, Sun Cheng immediately chose to collide with the screen in front of him and return to the real world. Even though he had only spent a few days in the Decepticon world, he felt exhausted as if years had passed.


    The threat of Baricade, the danger of Spectro, the means of Soundwave, and the most unpredictable one is Starscream.


    Dealing with these non-human life forms is too exhausting.


    With insufficient strength, he could only rely on his wits to cope. Fortunately, most of the Decepticons he has encountered so far are powerful seniors who have never taken him seriously, which has given him a lot of operational space.


    Even so, the experiences he had in this other world in just a few days have left him feeling overwhelmed.


    Now, he has finally returned to the spherical space, and when faced with the choice of returning to his original world, Sun Cheng did not hesitate and made his choice.


    Whoosh!


    Suddenly, a bright blue light shone, accompanied by a strange sense of soul being extracted and a brief dizziness. When Sun Cheng regained his senses, he subconsciously looked around and saw that he was back in his office.


    "Back already?"


    The slight dizziness caused by the time travel was still affecting him, making Sun Cheng feel as if none of this was real.


    He couldn''t help but slap himself in the face. The crisp sound of the slap was like a cool antidote, finally dispelling the negative feelings.


    He rubbed his temples and got up from his seat. Sun Cheng subconsciously touched his stomach, feeling uncomfortable with the empty feeling.


    "I''m back? Good..."


    He comforted himself silently and looked out the window. It was a sunny day.


    However, his experience of traveling back and forth between two worlds has made Sun Cheng''s sense of time somewhat blurred. He subconsciously reached into his pocket to take out his phone and check the time.


    But when he reached into his pocket, his face suddenly changed.


    His fingertips touched something cold, but it was not the familiar metallic touch of his memory of the iPhone 5. It was another kind of coldness, smaller and completely different in shape.


    After quickly taking out what he had touched from his pocket, Sun Cheng''s eyes widened in amazement as he looked at the black crystal in the palm of his hand. It was the Reconnaissance Template that Starscream had given him a day ago.


    "This...this is the Reconnaissance Template?"


    There was no mistaking it!


    This 2nd level Core that Starscream had given him, along with the iPhone 5 that he brought from the real world, were both kept in his body using the Transformation function, and he treasured them dearly.


    Although he had some disdain for this problem-ridden low-level item after he had unlocked all of Frenzy''s memories, a 2nd level Core was still a 2nd level Core. It was a higher level existence than the Core equipped in Frenzy''s body when he took over it in the other world. Not to mention, its computing power alone far exceeded all of Earth''s supercomputers.


    But what puzzled Sun Cheng was how he managed to bring this thing back with him?