Chapter 6

The team opened their eyes from that familiar dreamy state to discover they were in a dark sewer. Rotten and unpleasant smell struck them from every direction. Rats were running outside their perimeter. Lan screamed at once but quickly covered her mouth.

“It’s fine. The plot hasn’t started yet. We are safe.” Zheng chuckled. He knocked on the invisible wall and they were indeed isolated from the world.

Zheng turned around and looked to Xuan. “You awake? What were you doing in these ten days that you only came out at the last two minutes?”

Xuan frowned. He observed around. “Making something.”

“Making something? What thing?” Zheng was curious. He looked over Xuan from top to bottom. “Where is it? Why don’t I see you carry anything? And did you craft any mithril rings? Don’t waste the chance since we have so much mithril.”

Xuan nodded. “To make a pair of glasses that stores Qi, converts Qi to electricity, converts electricity to psyche force, and contains a hypnotizing function. The result looks good. Help me store some Qi in it.” He took off his glasses and threw them over to Zheng.

Zheng felt a noticeable weight from the glasses. He channeled Qi into them and asked. “Why didn’t you bring it to me a few days ago? We are starting our battle today. We shouldn’t spend Qi so easily…” He suddenly heard HongLu spoke.

HongLu also observed around like Xuan did. “Xuan, don’t you feel strange? If we are in the sewer, I think there’s only one likely scenario.”

The rest of the team looked at him in confusion. Xuan gave him a deep look before speaking. “Yes. If we are in the sewer, a certain scenario is very likely.”

Zheng immediately clapped his hands. “Hey! Don’t the two of you speak in riddles. We have two strategist in the team not to let you act profound. You have to tell the team the truth. Hurry, what’s the case right now?”

HongLu twirled his hair. “Uh. It’s in regard to the time of this world we entered on. The Transformers world depicted the story of the Cybertronian race comes to Earth in search of their most important source of energy and the battle between Autobots and Decepticons. There aren’t many big battles in the first half of the movie. Aside from the Decepticons’s attack on the military base in the beginning, the world is pretty safe. Judging by the dirty condition of the sewer and it’s complexity, we are probably not in the military base. Which means we are not in the beginning of the movie.”

Zheng continued asking, still confused. “And? Just because of where we entered?”

HongLu shook his head. He pulled a strand of hair and played with it. “The key isn’t about our location but the protection God gives us. Have you noticed that God nearly always start us in a safe location in addition to the invisible wall. The one or two times God altered difficulties are the exception where we were in danger in the beginning. So I think we are in danger. Therefore, God put us in the sewer instead of anywhere inside the city.”

The rest of the team looked to each other. Gando said. “Then do you mean we entered near the end of the movie? A battle is coming up soon and we will return after fighting the robots?”

“I am afraid not…” HongLu frowned. “It’s perhaps worse.”

Zheng quickly looked at his watch. It displayed: Obtain and hold AllSpark for one hour or destroy AllSpark. Then return to God’s Dimension. So the mission for this world revolved around AllSpark.

“There doesn’t seem to be any problem as long as we follow along the plot. The Autobots aren’t as strong as the Decepticons but they can hold for a while. We will just seize AllSpark while they hold.” Zheng said as he looked at the watch.

Xuan suddenly said. “No new members in this movie. The mission difficulty is at twelve people or lower. This corresponds to one of the possible difficulties I anticipated. Transformers might not be so simple.”

The team looked confused. Xuan and HongLu seemed to be the only ones understanding the situation. HongLu said. “I speculate we are not in the timeline of the plot.”

“Not in the timeline of the plot? Then where?”

“After the end. Furthermore, it’s not the end of the original plot. This is a plot where the Decepticons obtained AllSpark.” HongLu breathed out.

A silence fell upon the team. Everyone carefully studied the movie before they entered the world. Two things painted the deepest impressions in the movie, the power of the Transformer race and the unique function of the AllSpark, which could create Transformers from any mechanical object. Even a radio would become a Transformer upon contact with AllSpark’s power.

In the movie, the two factions of Transformers came to Earth in search of AllSpark that fell into the planet. The Autobots desired peace with humans while the Decepticons wanted to create Transformers in order to annihilate humans. If the ending of the movie was altered and the Decepticons obtained AllSpark… the human race would be in dire danger.

The ground trembled. Zheng reached for the side after the trembling stopped. “The plot has begun. Let’s leave the sewer first. We have to climb up and see no matter what timeline we are in. This smell is unpleasant.”

Lan frowned and said. “There’s a gathering area for waste water over that way… Hurry, there are a lot of…” She started running before she finished talking.

The team was confused but everyone followed after her. HongLu summoned a hound with a level one magic. He mounted on the hound and ran along with the team. As they made a turn, they saw a tunnel for waste water filled with corpses. The dead bodies piled up one on top of another and floated in the water. There were over a hundred dead bodies just in this one tunnel. None of these bodies looked intact. It was as though they were blasted from explosions.

Everyone’s expressions turned tense as they watched and Lan even threw up. No one had any word in response. The scene screamed a slaughter of humans. Transformers took place in the twenty first century and in the U.S. If there were mass slaughter of humans in this country, then either World War 3 had started… or the Transformers were killing humans.

Zheng’s face looked pale. “Let’s go up first no matter what the situation is. Get your weapons ready. WangXia and Kampa offer heavy fire support. Zero snipe the Transformers in the air. Xuan, you haven’t fully grasped the Lambda Driver yet, so don’t use your power for now. Heng offer ranged fire support. YinKong and ChengXiao protect everyone. And Gando. You have the most combat strength and flexibility in this movie. It might be dangerous since your robot is a large target but I hope you can fight with all your have, whether it is covering for us or offensively… Make use of your Valkyrie!”

Gando nodded, although he still seemed a little hesitant. The Transformers in the movie weren’t weak. They were much more powerful than helicopters, tanks, and other human weapons. He only nodded but didn’t say anything in reply.

Zheng naturally felt Gando’s attitude. He couldn’t bother saying anything more. He took the lead and headed toward a passageway. Zheng was usually nice but this was a movie world they were in. Everyone could die the next second… As the leader of team China, he had to be responsible for the survival of the team!

They made several turns and finally found a ladder leading up. Zheng touched the Dragonshard necklace on his chest and said. “Don’t panic if you get attacked. This is a sci-fi world and we have the Dragonshard necklace, which means we begin off with an upper hand. Just don’t lose your cool. The Dragonshard can block off quite a few attacks from sci-fi weapons… Then, let’s go up! And see the time we are at!”

Zheng climbed up the ladder after he finished talking. The further he climbed, the further away he was from the rotten smell. In contrast, the smell of gunpowder flowed down from above.

Zheng carefully lifted the manhole cover then jumped up at once. Tiger’s Soul came out from the Na Ring. A white mist spread from the sword forming a seemingly tiger shape. The mist contracted and expanded at a frequency. Zheng confirmed the area was safe then put his sword back into the ring.

“Everyone come up. Doesn’t look like there are any enemies here. It’s just that…” Zheng stood on shattered concrete as he looked around.

This place was the aftermath of a battle. Houses were blasted from missiles. A pungent gun power smell floated in the air. Some of the houses were still smoking. The concrete ground was shattered.

Once the team climbed out of the sewer, Lan said hurriedly. “Zheng, there’s a fight going on over that way. Tens of robots are attacking a group of tanks. The tanks seem to be covering retreat for civilians. They are heading to the mountains outside the city. However, the robots’ firepower is too strong and there are only twenty tanks left.”

Zheng opened his mouth as though he was about to speak. Yet, he halted himself and turned to Xuan and HongLu. “Should I assist the human army? I don’t know if you have any plans in mind. I am going to save them. Stop me right now if you want to!”

Xuan shook his head. “I won’t stop you. The situation confirms the Decepticons have obtained AllSpark and the plot altered. However, it looks like they haven’t had AllSpark for long. Otherwise, humans wouldn’t be just retreating now… You will make the decision. You are the leader.”

Zheng then turned to HongLu. The little boy also nodded.

Zheng said. “Xuan, take the other Sky Stick. Bring Lan, HongLu, TengYi, YingKong, and ChengXiao. I will bring Kampa, WangXia, Zero, Gando, and Heng. You guys fly toward the direction of the retreat. Lan keep us connected. Remember not to attack the robots. Your powers aren’t effective at fighting them. Leave the robots to us!” He opened the storage bag and took out the Sky Sticks.

The Sky Sticks took off toward the battling area once everyone boarded the baskets. Lan spread out her psyche scan. Over a hundred robots occupied the city. The biggest ones were eighteen meters tall. Their huge bodies were striking. The smaller ones were six meters, still bigger than the Valkyrie. Agility and firepower were yet to be determined.

The number of tanks were decreasing as time passed. The tank cannons could not hit these agile robots while the missiles from the robots blasted the tanks apart. Only seven tanks remained, struggling to stay whole. A thousand troops were unloading their bullets without any pause. Yet, it was obvious that only anti tank missiles were powerful enough to damage the robots. Other guns did not leave more than a scratch on them. The fate of the troops were determined once all the tanks were gone.

Zheng shouted through Soul Link as he saw the situation becoming dire by the minute. “Gando! What are you waiting for!? Your robot is equipped with a Dragonshard. Sci-fi weapons can’t hurt you. And your Dragonshard is powered by the energy storage of the robot. It has much more energy than everyone else’s Dragonshard! Hurry over and test the power of those robots!”

Gando had started up his Valkyrie. Even the smallest of the Transformers was bigger than the Valkyrie. He knew Zheng was right. Staying behind and deferring was not a good option. If the humans died, he would get into trouble with Zheng and the others, especially Xuan… Gando gave a shout. A stream of electricity burst out from the robot and it sped ahead.

The tanks had nearly been wiped, only three was remaining but their efforts to survive were futile. The robots prepared themselves for another round of fire when one of them in the back was blasted. The explosion blasted it into a collapsed building nearly a hundred meters away and left a hole that covered its back.

Both humans and robots looked behind to see a jet flying over in lightning speed. The sight halted any cheers from the troops. Any robot that could transform into jets or tanks was a member of the Decepticon. The Autobots would take the form of cars. This newly arriving jet could likely be another addition to the Decepticons. Another robot would not make the situation much worse but despair had fallen on the troops.

Gando had entered the unlocked mode. He managed to have the reaction to fire a missile under than lightning speed. The process took less than a second from aiming to firing and the missile actually hit the target. The Valkyrie began to transform while still in the air. It entered Battroid mode and smashed toward a black robot with the inertia.

The black robot was quick in reaction. It raised its arms to defend before the Valkyrie approached. However, that was its limit. The Valkyrie wielded a progressive blade the moment it finished transformation. This was a weapon Gando exchanged after the Lord of the Rings.

The four meter blade pierced into the black robot’s chest. The Valkyrie then dragged it backward. The vibration shattered a hole in the robot’s chest, the weak spot of the Transformers depicted in the movie.

The rest of the robots were shocked at the scene. The Valkyrie flipped backward as the black robot exploded. Gando yelled. “This Valkyrie is created with Extra-Over Technology. It won’t have any problem flying out to space, not to mention your attacks! Come and die!”

Gando was still in the unlocked mode. The Valkyrie transformed to GERWALK mode when the black robot exploded, which allowed gliding over the ground. This provided faster movement speed than running or jumping. Blue lightning burst out from the robot’s back bringing its speed beyond what the bare eyes could capture. The progressive blade sliced through the legs of multiple robots. These robots collapsed at once.

Still, these robots weren’t powerless beings. Dozens of missiles flew at the Valkyrie as soon as it stopped. Gando immediately jumped and transformed into Fighter mode then flew off. A series of explosions occurred behind him. The shockwaves were so intense they trembled his flight.

“Ah! An Autobot! He’s our aid. God! The Autobots haven’t been wiped. We still have hope!” A troop stood out and cried in excitement.

The rest of the troops also cheered. Many fired their anti tank missiles at the robots closing on the Valkyrie, although these missiles weren’t effective.

Gando was becoming irritated from being chased by the robots. He attempted to enter melee range in Battroid mode but the bullets and missiles deflected him. The robots also had a particle bullet that could shake the Dragonshard barrier. It felt as though it would rip the barrier apart. The stored Qi in the Valkyrie was dropping extremely fast.

That was not to say the Valkyrie was weak in a ranged battle. Its missiles struck over a dozen robots in the chest and turned them into junk. Though the remaining twenty robots learned to dodge as soon as he fired any missiles.

“Gando! We are here!” A Sky Stick approached and with it came Zheng and the rest of the party. Their speed was slower than the Valkyrie. Pah! Following the cry, a force pierced through a robot and brought it back tens of meters before it exploded. This was the power of the Gauss sniper rifle.