Chapter 368: Battle with the Autobots Again 1

The Autobots want to enter Russia!

Optimus Prime's explosive statement immediately stunned Major William and the others!

"Wait... wait a moment..." Galloway was the first to react; his face changed drastically as he hurriedly tried to stop Optimus Prime: "Lord Optimus Prime, I remember that when we signed the agreement, we explicitly mentioned to you that you Autobots cannot enter the five permanent members of the United Nations at will!"

The UN Permanent Five, commonly known as the five major rogues of Earth, are the direct masterminds behind regional instability and threats to world peace.

Although the above view might contain some conspiracy theory elements, it is nonetheless an undeniable fact.

To give the simplest example, among the military weapons tradable on Earth, over seventy-five percent are manufactured by the five major rogues, with the United States and Russia jointly accounting for about eighty percent of that share; one can see the whole from a small part.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, although the United States has adopted step-by-step diplomatic and military countermeasures against Russia to desperately squeeze Russia's living space.

But the Americans know better than anyone that Russia still possesses the ability to drag the entire Earth to hell with them; the massive nuclear arsenal they inherited from the former Soviet Union could level the Earth at any time once put into operation.

The five major rogues are also the only five nuclear-armed states recognized by the UN Charter; although the number of nuclear weapons held by each country varies, they all possess the ability to drag invading countries and forces to hell with them.

Therefore, although the Americans are arrogant, when they reached the cooperation agreement with the Autobots, they explicitly wrote the prohibition of Autobots entering the countries of the Permanent Five into the agreement.

Or perhaps, the Americans had another layer of worry in mind.

They were also afraid that the Autobots would straddle two boats, being enticed by other countries among the Permanent Five to kick the United States aside and throw themselves into someone else's arms.

"Lord Galloway, I remember the agreement very clearly!"

Optimus Prime pointed to his own head, looking at him with his tone as usual: "That is why I requested to convene the Joint Chiefs of Staff to inform and discuss this matter with you!"

"No, this is absolutely impossible!" Galloway shouted hoarsely to stop him: "Russia will not agree to our soldiers entering their territory to search; NEST has not yet fully recovered from the heavy losses of the Battle of Sawatch, and the President cannot agree to such an unreasonable request!"

"My Lord!"

Optimus Prime bent down and stretched his head above Galloway's, looking down at him from a superior position, and said solemnly: "Electromagnetic interference equipment capable of affecting the Dark Spectrum Satellite cannot be built with your Earth's technology in a short time. I suspect that something may have already happened in Severodvinsk. If the Decepticons have finally begun to take action, then a great war is imminent; this is no longer just a matter for you humans."

He looked at Major William again, just about to speak but seemingly thinking of something immediately, frowned, and then looked back at Galloway.

"... We never force friends to do anything against their will. If your government has any concerns, the Autobots can choose to act alone!"

After saying this, he stood up straight and then started to walk outside.

This was exactly what Galloway and the others were most worried about!

"Lord Optimus Prime... you cannot do this, this is a violation of the agreement..."

Galloway hurriedly ran to his side, waving his hands in an attempt to stop Optimus Prime from leaving.

Unfortunately, Optimus Prime did not even look at him, walking out of the communications office with a firm attitude.

He had no choice but to turn his head helplessly to look at Major William and the others. Seeing that the Major and the others were also frowning in deep thought, he couldn't help but shout loudly: "Hey, Major... do you want to see a nuclear war? Hurry up and stop them..."

This shout immediately summoned back the wandering mind of Major William, who was deep in thought.

Although he and Galloway did not see eye to eye, the Major had to admit that Galloway was right.

Although Galloway and Washington had deliberately kept them out of the loop, leaving NEST completely unaware of what had happened in Russia's far-northern military port—Severodvinsk—over the past ten-plus days.

But there was no doubt that the Autobots might have the confidence to break into Russian territory and eliminate the Decepticons who might still be entrenched in Severodvinsk.

However, what if their actions angered Moscow?

If the Russians truly felt that their country was facing an unprecedented crisis, would they crazily use nuclear weapons to destroy these threats from outer space?

And once Earth's nuclear button was pressed, who could guarantee it wouldn't trigger other chain reactions?

Facing a nuclear monster like Russia that has the ability to drag the entire Earth to hell, Major William knew that no amount of caution was too much.

At that moment, realizing the gravity of the situation, he had to call out to stop Optimus Prime, who had already reached the door of the communications office.

"Optimus, this matter is of great importance. Russia and our United States both possess enough nuclear weapons to level the Earth many times over; once the other side misunderstands, the consequences will be unimaginable. How about this, you wait a moment, I will apply to convene a remote Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting to discuss this matter..."

Major William's words successfully made Optimus Prime stop in his tracks. The planet Cybertron had also once developed its own nuclear technology; whether it was the Autobots or the Decepticons, both possessed advanced nuclear energy technology far exceeding Earth's by decades or even centuries.

However, although the Cybertronians did not continue down the path of developing nuclear weapons like the people of Earth, this did not mean that Optimus Prime was unaware of the destructive power possessed by nuclear weapons on Earth.

Although Silicon-based Lifeforms are far less fragile than carbon-based life, their powerful bodies allow them to even resist high temperatures of thousands of degrees, high pressure, and shockwaves, but even someone as powerful as Megatron has to temporarily avoid the explosion of a kiloton-yield tactical nuclear weapon; facing the threat of nuclear war, even Optimus Prime has to be cautious and more cautious.

"I understand, Major..."

Optimus Prime stopped and turned around again, "The war against the Decepticons is no easier than a nuclear war; we do indeed need to have a good talk with your side!"

"Okay, please wait a moment, I will go arrange it..."

One hour later, following the dialing of over a dozen encrypted satellite calls, a technician inside the Joint Chiefs of Staff communications office, having just finished the final calibration of the equipment, said to the microphone in front of him: "The Joint Chiefs of Staff encrypted line is connected, Major, you may begin..."

Following his reminder, Major William took a long breath and nodded, "Begin!"

As the words fell, on the walls surrounding the communications office, one specially customized monitor after another lit up, with an error of no more than five seconds.

Not long after, the figures of over a dozen American generals in military uniform appeared on the monitors one by one.

Major William hurriedly walked to a row of high-definition cameras, saluted the cameras, and then said: "... Report, the NEST unit commander requests to convene this Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting. We have just received intelligence sent by the Presidential Envoy and National Security Committee Director Galloway, that an incident of Decepticon invasion occurred in Severodvinsk, Russia, over ten days ago..."

"Major, who is he?"

A white general wearing an Air Force General's uniform frowned as he looked at Galloway, who had just appeared in front of the camera, and asked with a frown.

"Uh!" Major William only then realized that Galloway had come to his side at some point.

Although he looked unhappy, he still answered quickly: "Mr. Secretary, he is the National Security Committee member and Presidential Envoy—Director Galloway—whom I just mentioned!"

"Mr. Secretary, hello!"

Galloway straightened his tie, as if he hadn't seen the row of frowning faces on the screen at all, and just as he was about to speak with poise, he was interrupted by a black general wearing a Navy Admiral's uniform, "Galloway, I know you. But what I am curious about is the matter the Major just mentioned? A Decepticon invasion incident occurred in Severodvinsk, Russia, ten days ago... wait, why didn't we receive a single whisper of news?"

This was not the kind of challenge Major William had just faced, but a reprimand from the Commandant of the United States Marine Corps, a four-star general of the United States of America.

Even though Galloway was a confidant of the current President Cheney, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead at this moment. Seeing that most of the military bigwigs on the surrounding screens were looking at him with displeasure, he could only answer in a conciliatory tone: "Generals, this was the President's intention. You know, Russia is not like other countries; after we received the intelligence regarding Severodvinsk, the intelligence agencies had to send a large number of personnel to spy on and verify the news..."

"Hmph!"

The Chief of the National Guard Bureau gave a cold snort, not giving him any face at all.

2008 was a US election year; President Cheney had completed two terms and had already entered the countdown to get out.

Moreover, the Joint Chiefs of Staff had just been deceived once by Cheney in league with the intelligence agencies; the few generals who were in the dark naturally wouldn't give Galloway a good look, especially General David, who was directly responsible for managing NEST, who was so annoyed he didn't even want to pay attention to him, and directly asked Major William: "So, Major. How do you plan to handle this matter?"

As soon as General David asked the question, the communications office suddenly became quiet.

"Since the Battle of Sawatch, NEST's equipment has been withheld by the Ministry of National Defense and not approved. We currently only possess individual equipment, and our combat capability is very limited. Moreover, Severodvinsk is an important Russian military port, and Director Galloway has hidden from us what exactly happened in Severodvinsk after it was invaded by Decepticons over the past ten days. Therefore, even if the government could persuade Russia to agree to us sending troops, I do not support NEST deploying!"

His words were reasonable and well-founded, causing most people, including General David, to nod upon hearing them, clearly very satisfied with his political and military literacy.

After a pause, Major William turned his head to glance at Optimus Prime, then continued: "However, Optimus Prime has a different opinion, and it was he who proposed convening this Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting. I will now yield the camera to him so he can speak to you generals personally!"

Having finished, Major William gave a military salute and walked silently to the side.

He moved away from the camera, and Optimus Prime, who had been waiting quietly to the side, quickly walked in front of the lens, nodded slightly in greeting, and then said: "Generals, although the Alliance Army has been established for less than half a year and has encountered some setbacks, in our past cooperation, we have joined forces three times to destroy two bases established by the Decepticons on Earth. However, in recent times, my Warriors and I have still been able to track the traces of Decepticon activity, and it is becoming increasingly frequent!"

"From North America to Asia and then to Oceania, this is very unusual. Combined with the invasion incident in Severodvinsk that the Alliance Army just received, we suspect that the Decepticons may be looking for something, or perhaps brewing a new conspiracy! Therefore, I discussed with the Major and applied to convene this Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting. Citing the provisions of Article 19, Item 5 of the cooperation agreement, I hope you will agree to let me send people into Severodvinsk to eliminate the invading Decepticons!"

Optimus Prime's words immediately caused an uproar at the Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting.

General David's expression was extremely ugly as he leaned close to the camera, so his image displayed on the screen was significantly larger than the others.

"Your Excellency Optimus Prime, we cannot agree to let you and other Autobot Warriors enter a nuclear-armed country based on a piece of intelligence that is already outdated, was deliberately concealed by certain people, and whose authenticity cannot even be confirmed!"

"General!" Galloway interjected displeasedly, "Temporarily withholding the intelligence was the President's intention!"

"I will confirm this matter with the Ministry of National Defense later. For now, can you please shut up? This is a Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting; letting you stay on the sidelines is already an exception!"

General David scolded sternly. Clearly, as the person directly in charge of NEST, he was exceptionally furious that he and NEST had actually been kept in the dark about the Decepticon invasion intelligence.

Galloway was rebuffed, his face turning a mix of green and white with anger, and his chest heaved rapidly for quite a while.

Everyone ignored him and focused their attention on Optimus Prime; there was no other way, because he had spoken, and his attitude was firm and unquestionable.

"Generals, the situation is likely much more troublesome than you can imagine. On the images captured by your satellites, I saw large areas of interference. If my guess is correct, that should be the result of a powerful electromagnetic weapon that cannot be mastered by Earth's technology in the short term. I suspect that the Decepticons may have already occupied Severodvinsk and are rapidly expanding with it as a Base. If you do not want Earth to become a second Cybertron, I hope you can agree to let me dispatch a team of the most elite Warriors to raid Severodvinsk to investigate and even destroy the Decepticons that may still be there..."

PS1: Thanks to readers 'Qian Yu Shang Cheng', 'Wen Pangzi', 'Nan Jian Feng Zhong Wu', and 'Bu Sha Zhi Xiao' for their tips and support.

PS2: In Chapter 363, when I was typing that day, I inadvertently wrote 'China' instead of 'United States' when dispatching the scouts. I only noticed it today while correcting typos in the previous text, and it has already been corrected.