Chapter 8

The inside of the research building was a completely different world. The floors reached hundreds of meters beneath ground level. Its total space was extremely large and was enough to accommodate all the civilians living in the tents outside.
Zheng was feeling confused as he followed the movie characters. He had Lan connected him to HongLu then asked. “Was it Xuan’s idea to claim us as humans from the future? There’s no other way to explain where we came from. Plus, we need an important identity since we have to get the American government’s help for this war. Yet… do you really think this lie fit the situation we are in? The vice president said the last hopes of humans are here but we don’t even know what they are. And Xuan didn’t even bother to explain. I think there are just so many flaws in claiming we come from the future to help this war.”

HongLu sighed. “This is where Xuan is smart. Do you remember his plan to steal the password to the nuclear weapons? Do you believe it will be so easy to steal something that affects the fate of humanity? It won’t be possible with just his hacking skills. People on Earth would have been extinct long ago if a hacker can steal a password and simply press a button. This absurd identity is probably one of his steps to stealing the nuclear weapons.”

Zheng was more confused than before. He entered the third stage to simulate HongLu’s mode of thinking. Ever since he reached the fourth stage, his simulation could reach 50 to 60 percent of the original person. This percentage continued to increase as his power grew.

“You mean the identity of future humans is a setup Xuan planted since the beginning?” Zheng asked.

HongLu nodded. “Correct. His plan is to let you claim that we are future warriors. This excuse will be full of flaws such as what do future humans have to isolate their weapons from the AllSpark’s power. If there was no such thing, why did we bring our weapons back in time? If we can isolate it, why would Xuan asked for a way to do so during the conference? The only possibility I can come to is… this is a fraud.”

“A fraud?” Zheng felt the bulbs lighted up. “I get it! He intentionally let the government know we are fakes which would lead them to put us under surveillance. Probably with needle cams or something. He would then act like we have obtained the password and change it. Once the people overwatching us see it, and just like what people normally do when something is stolen, they would first check if that really happened. They might confirm the password in a secret location but no place can escape the psyche scan. This plan is splendid!”

HongLu wasn’t looking too happy. “Right. This plan is splendid. The key is since the password would not be changed, the government would only think we trolled them. Given that we are fighting for humanity and we have the strength and equipment people in this world lack, they can only hand the mission to us. The fake identity is merely a tool to connect us with the government. So what if aren’t actually from the future? Xuan is… truly amazing.”

Zheng laughed and comforted him. “You are not bad either. You figured it out in such a short amount of time. Not only did you see every step of his plan but also what he was thinking. Haha. If he ever pulls any schemes again, you have to let me know as soon as possible.”

HongLu shook his head. He pulled a strand of hair from above the forehead. “If it’s just the analysis and deduction, you can also see part of his plan when you stand at the same height and possess the same information with your intelligence.”

“Hey, what do you mean with my intelligence! Are you saying my intelligence is embarrassing?” Zheng was furious and shouted in his mind.

“Do you expect muscles to think?” Zheng put out his hands and continued. “People standing near him can see the analysis clearly. That is unless he schemes his own team. However, analyzing and doing are two separate things. I can think of nuclear weapons and stealing the password but I couldn’t set up a plan with such ease. He started calculating since the very beginning when you mentioned we came from the future. I couldn’t achieve this.”

Zheng laughed. “It’s fine. There are far and few people who can do what you did. You are at least within top five in intelligence in all the teams in this realm. However, Xuan is the most inhuman person in this regard that I have ever met.”

HongLu smiled coldly. “How do you know that I am not as good as him? Just wait. Quick wit does not equate to wisdom. He can think of the password. Why can’t I come up with something else? Just wait and see!”

(So that means HongLu has his plan. Hope they don’t drag the team behind to compete their intelligence. Man. Some teams don’t even get a strategist and we are troubling over two of them. Sometimes you just don’t realize how fortunate you are.) Zheng thought.

The elevator descended several hundred meters down from the floor of the conference room and was still going down. A minute later, the elevator stopped and the door opened. Outside of it were numerous people moving busily. There were military troops, researchers, and people dressed normally. It was a platform with access to multiple corridors.

Team China also saw the final hopes of humanity, or perhaps they were hopes. Two half broken robots lay on the platform. One of them was huge. It looked like Optimus Prime. The other was smaller and had a yellow body. It was probably Bumblebee. The two robots were damaged but could still move and talk. They were still alive.

The president sighed. “They are our last hopes. The only two surviving Autobots. The Sparks in their chests protected this base from the power of the AllSpark. Shelter 2 has another Autobot. The three of them destroyed a lot of Decepticons in the war but they lost in the end. The AllSpark was seized and the Autobots nearly wiped.”

Xuan nodded. “Then the issue with our weapons is settled. The Autobots certainly have a way to protect them, or at least protect a small amount of weapons. The final question is, how can we find the main base of the Decepticons in order to seize or destroy the AllSpark?”

Roosevelt sighed. “There are no good methods. We can only send more troops to scout but their fates are likely… You should meet with Optimus Prime first. Perhaps you can come up with an idea. As for the three Autobots, they might be…”

Roosevelt didn’t finished his sentence. He turned around and walked to Optimus Prime. This robot was damaged all over and was missing a leg. He raised his head to look at the group. He even greeted Roosevelt politely.

Roosevelt explained the issue with team China’s weapons. Optimus Prime was silent for a while before he said. “Take the Spark from my chest. Radiate your weapons with the Spark. The neutral energy of us Autobots can protect them from AllSpark’s power. This is the only way you can approach the Decepticons with your weapons.”

Bumblebee suddenly said. “You can’t! You will die from this!”

Optimus Prime looked at Bumblebee then looked back down to team China. “A boy once fought together with us. He did not hand the AllSpark to Megatron even in the abyss of despair. Yet, in the end we failed him. He died. He once said, no sacrifice, no victory. I want to say the same thing right now. No sacrifice, no victory… Courageous humans, destroy the AllSpark. You should not bear the fruit from the fault of us Transformers. Bumblebee, I am happy to have fought together with you. I can not let sacrifices of all my friends be in vain!”

Although Optimus Prime intended to sacrifice himself for mankind. But he wouldn’t be allowed to sacrifice himself just because he wanted to. He was protecting this base after all. He explained the Spark within every Transformer was a mini AllSpark without its unique power. The Sparks radiated a power that protected nearby mechanical objects from the AllSpark’s power.
“The Spark’s powers are separated into two attributes much like Yin(dark) and Yang(light). If the Autobots’s Sparks are Yang, the Decepticons’ Sparks are Yin. Hence as the two parties of Transformers nears each other, they could sense the existence of the other even in their vehicle or object forms. Which means our plan to sneak into the Decepticons’ city becomes impossible as soon as our weapons become affected by the Sparks. The only way we have at that point is to charge in after the nuclear strikes. The few of us might have to fight a thousand or more Decepticons. This isn’t a fight we can bear… As such, we need to initiate a bait tactic.” Xuan looked at the people in front while eating a banana.

Zheng felt strange as he looked at the banana. He thought to himself why did this dude suddenly changed his habit? But things that pertained to the team’s survival took priority. He asked. “I can understand having a bait to lure the majority of Decepticons away from the AllSpark. Which is why you and HongLu should plan it out together and come up with the perfect plan. One more thing, about Optimus Prime…”

Zheng looked around and said awkwardly. “Not going to lie. I admired Optimus Prime when I watched the animation and the movie. After his death, I did not watched the sequels. So I want to.”

Xuan waved his hand. “It isn’t difficult to save Optimus Prime. The Spark’s power is also a form of energy. Coincidentally, energy is something we have great control over… The One Ring. Your Qi can be converted into the Spark’s power or even to the Decepticon Spark’s power. Unfortunately, we haven’t obtained the Decepticon Spark’s form yet. Hm… I understand.” Xuan showed an expression of enlightened. He put his hand over his forehead and murmured to himself.

It had been so long since Zheng saw such action from Xuan. He always understood everything without you even realizing when. Expressions of enlightenment were extremely rare. Although Zheng didn’t know what he figured out.

“The One Ring is a product of the Saints, similar to the mask. However, neither of them are complete products. It seems like all the quest items are such products. The One Ring can convert energy. The golden mask allows a person in the fourth stage to experience the fifth stage once. The Spear of Osiris, the Bracelet of Anubis are all weapons or items with a main focus on energy manipulation. What the Saints are trying to tell us… Perhaps we speculated it wrong! We were wrong! Perhaps God’s realm isn’t created as a training ground to create new Saints… Perhaps… this is the last refuge created to leave their final words.” Xuan frowned. It would be beyond any living being’s capacity to deduce the truth with the little amount of information in hand. Not even he could accomplish this feat with his intelligence. Xuan needed information to deduce and he was met with such lack of information.

“What are the Saints trying to tell us? The One Ring, the Spear of Osiris, the golden mask, Xiuzhen that was related to the wipe of the Saints. What are they trying to tell us?”

Seeing the frowning was getting increasingly tense in Xuan, Zheng hurriedly said. “Leave this for later. Let’s talk about what’s coming now. Since the issue concerning Optimus Prime is solved, the remaining questions is choosing the bait. This is going to be an extremely dangerous task. You can’t accomplish it without the necessary strength. Why don’t I be the person of choice. I should have the strength for this task…”

Xuan rejected the suggestion firmly. “No. Your combat strength is important for the ambush. You will likely fight dozens or more Decepticons at the same time. Your task is to defeat them and seize the AllSpark. So you can’t be the bait. The person of choice is…”

(Fuck. It’s definitely going to be me. I don’t know how much he hates me. He’s been intentionally difficult with me every time.) Gando was hating him.

Xuan turned to HongLu and said. “I will hand the task to you. You can choose three people from the team aside from Zheng, Zero, and Lan. I don’t care how you do it. We will ambush within an hour after the nuclear strike. Your task is to lure away at least 70% of all the Transformers. When our team ambushes, there can’t be more than 30% of the Decepticons protecting the AllSpark. Understood?”

The order had such a militaristic style. Xuan only wanted the results and disregarded the process. HongLu accepted it without any hesitation.

Seeing that Zheng wanted to say something, Xuan said. “As we get more members and our strength increase, the team must be reorganized. It is inevitable to for us to end up with two parties and cooperate with each other. Our strength as team will increase as a result. The Transformers world isn’t dangerous. It’s perfect to let us become familiar with this style… This is the basic situation. Zheng and Gando, for the next five days starting from this afternoon, you will proceed with the search. I will also proceed with my plan. Zheng bring Lan back at the third day whether you found the AllSpark or not.”

Zheng smiled bitterly as he agreed. Was there really no danger in this world? The robots were in the millions, the AllSpark’s location was still unknown, and the power of the robots could all push the team into an abyss. Perhaps their only advantage was the influences they had obtained. The American government and military, and the nuclear weapons were their influences. These were probably the factors Xuan believed could turn the tide of the battle. The key was how he controlled these influences.

On the other hand, HongLu was lost in thought once he accepted the task from Xuan. He was feeling unease. (He handed the task to me. Did he perceive my plan? That can’t be. I haven’t shown any indication of the plan. He couldn’t perceive it no matter how miraculous he is. Then why did he do this?)

The next day, Zheng brought Lan and Gando piloted his robot to two different directions. They had to find the gather place of the Decepticons. Before they left, Zheng converted a bunch of fire energy stones into the Autobot Spark’s power using the One Ring. He coated the Valkyrie’s armor with this power. Once it neared any gather site of the Decepticons, they would attack him for certain. It saved him from attacking each city.

Time flew by. The remaining nine people stayed in Shelter 1. They did not do anything out of place. The military also didn’t place much control over them. As Xuan handed out some minor sci-fi items, the researchers went into mad scientist mode and researched the items with all their attention. A scrap metal that was completely different from any metal in this Earth. Humans did not have the technology to replicate this metal. This was a scrap Xuan got from the Valkyrie, a piece of gundanium alloy. The American government focused their attention on him.

“Then? Did you do all of this for the nuclear weapon passwords? They are dynamic passwords. Each one can only be used once and each nuclear weapon requires a new password. Can you steal all the passwords?” Zheng was curious.

Xuan shook his head. “It’s not possible to steal all the passwords. There is no need to steal but rather control the generation. Due to the security placed on nuclear weapons, it is nearly impossible to steal the passwords from the outside. What about getting them from the inside? The moment they open the computer that contained the passwords is when we should act… Lan, YinKong, start.”