Chapter 397: Mora Cortetier

La Paz, in a mountain range about twenty-some kilometers away from the city center.

Six specially manufactured all-terrain trucks, each towing a massive shipping container, were crawling slowly over the rugged, undulating mountain terrain.

Four or five hours later, the trucks finally crested several small hills only two or three hundred meters high and arrived at the bottom of an open mountain ravine.

There, a makeshift military base had already been constructed.

A large number of artificial vine nets woven from rope had been erected in the ravine, and the nets were covered with fresh branches and grass; this was a very low-cost but quite practical method for countering high-altitude reconnaissance.

If one looked more closely, they would discover that this not-so-deep valley was faintly wreathed in smoke, an effect actually created by several large smoke generators.

Four sets of S-300 Anti-Aircraft Systems had been delivered here not long ago and were currently hiding in the newly built semi-permanent caves in the valley, awaiting deployment orders.

As the six all-terrain trucks slowly drove into the valley, a black heavy armored off-road vehicle with a distinctly strong Russian pedigree also arrived at this makeshift military base located within the valley.

Then, accompanied by a harsh sound of grinding gears, the body of the black heavy armored off-road vehicle transformed rapidly.

Before long, a black mechanical giant with a body height of no less than four meters and a slightly bloated appearance appeared before the Pioneer.

"Lord Pioneer, Sprint has come to report to you!"

The Pioneer nodded at him expressionlessly. He first stared at this black mechanical giant with a scrutinizing gaze for a moment before speaking: "Sprint? Is this the new name the Master bestowed upon you?"

Upon hearing this, Sprint showed no further reaction, though there was a faint hint of pride on his face.

He was none other than the former reconnaissance-type Decepticon—Number Two—who had just returned to Base No. 2 from Rio not long ago to undergo New Body modification.

And this name 'Sprint' was indeed a title Sun Cheng had recently given him.

Truth be told, although he, Frenzy, Defender, and Avenger had the lowest origins—initially being nothing more than the four Micro-reconnaissance Drones carried within Sun Cheng's body—it would have been impossible for them to be born with their own intelligence had they not been fortunate enough to come into contact with the AllSpark twice while following him.

Although neither he nor Frenzy knew where the Master had sent Avenger and Defender to carry out tasks.

There was one thing they could be certain of: Avenger and Defender were definitely executing very important tasks.

The Pioneer understood his expression, his eyes flickering without saying anything more.

It was not only intelligent lifeforms like humans that could develop greed; Mechanical Life had it too, especially the Decepticons, whom the Autobots always considered the embodiment of evil. They were equally selfish, greedy, and would stop at nothing to achieve their goals.

It was no surprise that the Decepticons under Sun Cheng now had their own individual thoughts.

The promise that everyone had originally cared about and worried about most had now been basically fulfilled by Sun Cheng. Except for a very small number of Decepticons whose New Body replacements had been delayed for certain reasons, most of the Decepticons had now obtained a New Body they once would never have dared to covet.

After the initial promise of body replacement was fulfilled, a seed called ambition took root in the hearts of all the Decepticons.

Even those like Atlas, who came from a Worker background, were now racking their brains to perform better in front of Sun Cheng; the purpose was self-evident.

Everyone was thinking about how to climb to higher positions, especially since the secret that their Master held a large number of AllSpark fragments was no longer a secret. The desire to receive his commendation and obtain further Evolution no longer required Sun Cheng to spur them on; it had already automatically transformed into a desire for expansion from the top of the base to the bottom.

Everyone wanted an opportunity to perform successfully and earn extra credit!

Including himself, no one was an exception!

Having followed Sun Cheng the longest, the Pioneer had always been trying his best to learn from and imitate him.

Therefore, although he had some thoughts in his heart, he did not show them.

Instead, he took the initiative to continue speaking, detailing the instructions: "... I have received orders from the Master and am about to head to the United States to execute a task for him. The situation here in Bolivia has basically stabilized. With the Humanoid Decepticon sent by the base and Yuri and the others operating behind the scenes, we have almost completely seized control of the interim government... You have come at the right time. The next phase requires us to completely seize control of all military and administrative power in this country as planned, while simultaneously reorganizing the military... All of this requires you and Yuri and the others to pay attention..."

Sprint listened attentively, nodding slightly from time to time.

Although they each had their own ambitions, their goals were consistent. Sun Cheng was a person who valued results very much, so even if his subordinates started to feel a bit unconvinced by one another, few dared to risk failure by jumping out to help others gain experience.

"I understand, Lord Pioneer. Please rest assured and leave Bolivia to me. I will go all out to ensure it remains under the Master's control forever!"

"Hmm!"

The Pioneer handed over the supervisory authority of Bolivia quite readily, looking rather impatient to leave.

This behavior immediately sparked some thoughts in Sprint, who couldn't help but ask: "Lord Pioneer, does the Master have any special arrangements for sending you to the United States this time?"

The Pioneer looked at him calmly with no intention of answering, though his eyes flickered.

Two months ago, when returning to the base from North Port, Sun Cheng had given him an important task: after completing his New Body modification, the Pioneer was to immediately head to the United States and find a way to meet two humans, then hand an item over to them; incidentally, he also required the Pioneer to make a trip to Washington D. C., provided he was certain he had not been exposed.

These were clearly two tasks, though the Pioneer could barely understand the former.

His Master, a clever and cunning Decepticon, was attempting to use the hands of two humans who had close ties with the Autobots to pass a certain item to the Autobots.

This was undoubtedly a very dangerous task, because the Pioneer already knew from the base's intelligence channels that a powerful Autobot Warrior—Bumblebee—was protecting those two humans almost twenty-four hours a day.

Bumblebee's hatred for Decepticons was also well-known. Even with his New Body, there was a clear gap in strength compared to Bumblebee, so if the two were to clash, his chance of defeat was one hundred percent. Thus, the task carried considerable danger, which would truly test his wisdom and ability to adapt to changing circumstances.

As for Sun Cheng's other request...

The contemplative Pioneer couldn't help but frown slightly. The Master needed him to go to Washington D. C. to a set of latitude and longitude coordinates he had provided, to see if there was any special pattern or object there.

As for what exactly the pattern or object was, Sun Cheng had been vague, so he was naturally even more confused. Therefore, although he had noted it down, he hadn't taken it too much to heart.