Chapter 444: Looking at Each Other with New Eyes

Inside the dimly lit, massive exhibition hall, a Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft sat quietly in a corner; its special airframe and paint job made it inconspicuous within the dim hall.

However, both Sun Cheng and Pathfinder had long since memorized the entire layout of the exhibition hall in their minds.

Therefore, the moment they pushed open the doors and entered the exhibition hall, both of them tacitly looked toward that Blackbird.

"Is it this one?"

Sun Cheng asked, his expression incomparably grave.

Just moments ago, while hijacking control of all the museum's surveillance equipment, he had scanned the entire museum, and the exhibition hall before him had been a key target of that scan.

Yet, his scanning ability, which had never failed him before, had malfunctioned here.

He had not captured even a shred of special fluctuation; the Blackbird not far away seemed exactly like an ordinary U. S. military aircraft, with absolutely no trace of anything special to be felt.

Pathfinder nodded, his tone very certain: "Yes, Master. Just like you, I didn't notice anything unusual when I came here last time. Not until the scout I deployed discovered a Decepticon insignia on the underside of this Blackbird's fuselage!"

Sun Cheng nodded; he had seen the footage Pathfinder transmitted to him, so he naturally knew.

The reason he had asked just now was merely out of shock that his reliable scanning ability had failed.

The two Decepticons walked a few quick steps and soon arrived beside the Blackbird.

Because he had already hijacked control of all surveillance equipment in the museum, Sun Cheng had long since frozen the surveillance footage in this exhibition hall to one minute before they entered, so as long as they didn't make a thunderous noise in the hall, they didn't need to worry about being discovered by the two guards who were clearly slacking off.

Furthermore, while controlling all the museum's surveillance equipment, Sun Cheng had also taken the opportunity to paralyze the museum's fire alarm system.

However, to avoid arousing the guards' suspicions, he did not cut off the communication signals within the museum, so being careful was always the right thing to do.

Upon getting this close, Sun Cheng soon realized that this Blackbird before him was indeed problematic.

Reaching out to gently stroke the Blackbird's fuselage, the blue light in his eyes suddenly brightened.

"The material is definitely not Titanium Alloy... This is System Alloy... No, it's another type of unknown alloy..."

This discovery immediately sent his interest soaring, and he promptly ordered: "Pathfinder, stand guard for me on the side. I am going to thoroughly check the status of this Decepticon..."

"Yes!"

Pathfinder responded, then immediately walked to the side, not even looking at the Blackbird, and began to guard for him earnestly.

Seeing this, Sun Cheng nodded inwardly with satisfaction, and then the palm he was using to touch the Blackbird began to twist and deform, his fingers immediately transforming into metal tentacles that writhed like liquid.

Without any further movement from him, those metal tentacles began to split rapidly, quickly turning from the initial five into countless thin, long tentacles that spread toward the top and bottom of the Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft before him, soon wrapping it within them.

"Initiating full-body scan... No signs of life... Preparing to link to Core... Warning, Core refuses access... Changing reading method, Core refuses access... Changing reading method, Core refuses access... Changing reading method, Core refuses access... Changing reading method, Core refuses access... Changing reading method, Core refuses access... Successfully linked to Core, obtained temporary authorization... Performing airframe self-check, confirmed Spark is depleted... Irreparable..."

"Dead?"

Sun Cheng opened his eyes in surprise!

He had thought this Decepticon was hibernating here, but he hadn't expected it to be already dead.

However, as more data fed back from the tentacles detecting the other's airframe, he knew he was wrong; more accurately, this Decepticon whose alternate form was a Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft had not yet completely died.

It was currently in a very peculiar state, about to die but not yet dead; to use a concept from Earth, it was in shock.

Yes!

The data fed back by the tentacles showed that this guy's current state was extremely dangerous.

Perhaps due to its advanced age, although it couldn't be seen from the exterior for the time being, the airframe of this Decepticon who transformed into a Blackbird had long since decayed beyond repair.

Coupled with the depleted Spark and the long-term lack of energy replenishment, the major structures inside its airframe had all severely rusted; even if it received a large amount of energy replenishment immediately, it could only barely hang onto its life.

Unless...

Unless someone was willing to use a holy relic like the AllSpark to forcibly trigger an Awakening, otherwise its consciousness would fall into eternal sleep.

After confirming the status of this Decepticon, Sun Cheng breathed a sigh of relief.

If his previous guess was correct, then this guy could be considered the third Pathfinder he had dealt with.

It was just that, unlike the other two Pathfinders he had interacted with in the past, this guy was the only living Pathfinder he had ever seen.

Although all the information Sun Cheng possessed indicated that the Pathfinders, who could be called the elders of Cybertronian civilization, were not as difficult to deal with as the current Decepticon Legion, he had no certainty in his heart whether the rumors were true or false.

This was just as well; the existence of a dying, suspected Pathfinder undoubtedly better served his interests.

Taking advantage of the fact that he had just stolen temporary authorization to the other's Core, Sun Cheng hurriedly focused his mind and quickly searched for the other's Memory Chip.

To his surprise, unlike his previous encounter with Megatron, almost as soon as the thought emerged, he discovered he had already found the other's Memory Chip.

He hurriedly and tentatively linked it to his own consciousness, and the next moment, countless Memory Data surged toward his Core, churning continuously.

"... Oh, let me see... A cute little fellow, you will surely be a brave Warrior..."

"... I am Jetfire, your creator, which is to say your father... This is my Laboratory, located on the Skyfire Plateau of Cybertron; your name shall be Jetfire..."

"... Jetfire, my pride... You are intelligent, valiant, and kind; you have accompanied me here since your birth, over two thousand years ago now... But you are different from me, you are still young, while I, your father, am already old; I have no more knowledge to impart to you..."

"... I once loved Cybertron deeply, this planet that gave birth to me... But the nobles exiled me, just because I was loyal to the Primes... My passion has already withered, but you are still young... I know you have always wanted to understand the world outside, and there is much knowledge outside that I cannot teach you... Leave here, child... Go to Kaon, go to Iacon, go to the Soaring City, and then go find Shockwave; you will learn more things from him..."

PS:

1. Corrected the error from earlier where the exhibition hall door was a rolling shutter; having watched the movie a long time ago, my memory was blurred and mistaken.

2. Apologies, today, in order to find more information about 'Jetfire', I had to spend some time re-watching the 'Transformers 2' blockbuster and the animation.