Chapter 475: The Mountain Rain is About to Come

While Sun Cheng was in Severodvinsk, introducing the newly developed electromagnetic rocket to the Russians, his name was frequently appearing in the heated discussions of a team of Autobots far away in the Indian Ocean.

Diego Garcia, Nest Base.

Optimus Prime stood with a cold and solemn expression inside a massive building resembling a garage; this building, codenamed "Garage," was a supply warehouse specifically cleared by the Americans for the Autobots to use while resting on the island.

Inside the garage, over a dozen Autobots gathered.

Ironhide had something resembling a cigar in his mouth, and having fully repaired his injuries, he was lost in thought.

Sideswipe toyed with his only remaining Triangular Blade, his expression cold and solemn.

Ratchet, Mudflap, and Skids stood together, all of them much quieter than in the past.

The three Chromia sisters were not particularly conspicuous among the tall Autobots, but as rare female Autobots, the various Autobot Warriors still accorded them sufficient respect.

It is worth mentioning that the Autobot Warrior Bumblebee, who should have been by the side of the American boy Sam to protect his safety, had now also appeared in this garage at the United States Navy Base on Diego Garcia.

"... My Leader, what should we do now?"

Seeing that Optimus Prime had not spoken, the hot-tempered Ironhide could no longer hold back; he put away the cigar he was chewing on and was the first to break the silent atmosphere.

Four days ago, Bumblebee—who should have been in the United States protecting the human boy Sam, or more accurately, staying by Sam's side to protect an AllSpark fragment that the Autobots had intentionally hidden there—suddenly arrived at Diego Garcia.

Along with him came two pieces of terrible news: the Decepticon Barricade had suddenly appeared in the city where Sam was, and had intentionally shown himself to lure Bumblebee away, resulting in the final loss of the AllSpark fragment hidden with Sam.

Almost simultaneously with the loss of the AllSpark fragment at Sam's place, another fragment stored in a certain United States laboratory was also lost.

After the Battle of Las Vegas, not only did the Autobots discover an AllSpark fragment while clearing the battlefield, but the United States military had also found one, and they stubbornly refused to hand it over to the Autobots, taking it away to continue researching its mysteries.

Humans might not understand what the AllSpark fragments meant, but the Autobots knew all too well.

The AllSpark contains abundant energy and can transform any machine with internal electronic components into a Decepticon.

Even a single fragment possesses the ability to replenish energy for Mechanical Life, and can even forcibly trigger an Awakening in dying Mechanical Life, causing the dead Mechanical Life to be reborn.

"... Bumblebee..."

After a long silence, Optimus Prime finally spoke; he looked at Bumblebee, who was standing to the side with a still-depressed expression, and said in a grave tone: "Is it still impossible to determine who took those two fragments?"

Bumblebee shook his head: "After the fragment kept by the United States military in B-14 Sector was stolen, I infiltrated and checked the surveillance footage; it has been confirmed that the one who invaded and stole the fragment was Ravage, who belongs to the Cassette Corps... As for the fragment lost at Sam's place, it cannot be determined for the moment... Sam once saw a miniature Decepticon break into his home and steal one of his old clothes... but I detected the energy signature of a different Decepticon near the residence... however, as far as I know, Barricade rarely teams up with other Decepticons for a Task..."

As soon as these words were spoken, Optimus Prime's brows furrowed together.

He understood the meaning behind Bumblebee's words: the Decepticons on this Earth were not all loyal to Megatron.

After Megatron died in battle, Starscream, who had once openly rebelled against Megatron, would definitely harbor ulterior motives.

And there were those like Frenzy, who were currently lurking on Earth under the guise of a Guerrilla, who might truly have developed the idea of setting up on their own.

Therefore, it was truly hard to say who had stolen the AllSpark fragment they had kept at Sam's place.

The pink female Autobot Chromia, seeing Optimus Prime lost in thought again, spoke to express her view: "... According to our agreement with the United States government, all Autobot activities within the United States require the permission of the United States government, which has greatly hindered our tracking of the Decepticons who stole the fragments. Therefore, I suggest we temporarily ignore the AllSpark fragment lost at Sam's place in Duluth and focus all our efforts on tracking Ravage..."

After the AllSpark fragment kept by the military in B-14 Sector was lost, the United States government notified the Autobots; they had dealt with the Decepticons quite a few times, and despite their aggressive attitude toward the Autobots, they were well aware of their own ability to capture invading Decepticons.

Chromia's sister, the sky-blue female Autobot Arcee, also expressed agreement with her sister's suggestion.

"Chromia is right, Ravage and Laserbeak have always operated with Soundwave... His sudden appearance on Earth undoubtedly confirms the intelligence previously provided to us by Frenzy; Soundwave must have also come to Earth... This is not good news..."

"It is indeed not good news; we must recover the fragments as soon as possible, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable!"

Optimus Prime nodded with a heavy expression; Soundwave was Megatron's right-hand man and had always been loyal to Megatron.

If he had truly come to Earth and learned of Megatron's death, he would inevitably try every possible means to resurrect Megatron.

Yet, while resurrecting the dead is impossible for Earthlings, it is entirely achievable for Mechanical Life due to its unique nature.

The reason Optimus Prime had kept Megatron's remains in the first place was, firstly, due to his nature—he could not allow the remains of a supreme leader of the planet Cybertron to fall into the hands of the Americans and become an object of research; secondly, he understood Starscream and knew he would never take the initiative to resurrect Megatron; furthermore, Earth is far from Cybertron, making it relatively safe.

The Mariana Trench is the deepest trench on Earth; they had thrown Megatron's remains into the deepest part of the trench, and within a few years at most, they would begin to decay, and time would completely bury that former dictator.

Now it seemed that he had been too wishful at the time.

Although Optimus Prime was young, he had been an Autobot Leader for over a hundred years, and both his shrewdness and strategic thinking were approaching those of his former teacher, Sentinel Prime.

After a brief period of thought, he quickly made a decision.

"Ironhide..."

Optimus Prime looked at this fierce general under his command with a solemn expression, "Take Sideswipe, Mudflap, Skids, and Chromia, and head to the Mariana Trench immediately to ensure the safety of Megatron's remains! If you discover any Decepticons, eliminate them. I will have Nest inform the United States government afterward to prevent any conflict with the United States military stationed at Guam..."

Previously, he had requested that the United States government dispatch Ironhide to lead a team stationed at Guam so that they could patrol the Mariana Trench at any time.

Unfortunately, this proposal was stubbornly rejected by the United States military, and even the Nest Commander was scolded by the White House for helping them appeal; Nest had already been warned that their military budget for next year would be cut.

Optimus Prime naturally knew the reason: not long ago, the Autobots' Severed Dawn Operation to invade Severodvinsk failed, and after the war, the United States government once again used the excuse of possible cooperation between the Decepticons and Russia to aggressively demand that the Autobots transfer Cybertron Technology to the United States as well.

Regarding the greed of the Americans, Optimus Prime had decisively refused, so the constraints they faced afterward became more and more frequent, and the differences between them and the Americans grew larger and larger.

But now, in order to ensure that Megatron's remains did not fall into the hands of the Decepticons, even knowing it would anger the Americans, he had no choice but to bypass them and act directly.

"... Looks like I'll be soaking in seawater for a while; I really hope my body can still take it!"

Although he complained, Ironhide flicked the cigar in his hand and still solemnly accepted the Task: "Leave it to me, Leader!"

Optimus Prime nodded: "I will arrange for Mirage and Ratchet to be ready to support you at any time; be careful, Soundwave might take the field himself!"

Ironhide froze for a moment, and it was a long while before he nodded silently.

He had dealt with Soundwave before, and in one clash during the civil war, he had nearly lost his life at Soundwave's hands; Ironhide knew just how difficult this Intelligence Chief of the Decepticon Legion was.

"Bumblebee, hurry back to Sam's place. Our relationship with humans is becoming increasingly tense, which is not conducive to our cooperation with them. Sam is a very good link; you must protect him with care, and while you're at it, continue to investigate Frenzy and the lost fragments. I will have Arcee go with you to prevent the last incident from happening again!"

"Yes!"

Bumblebee's throat had been healed by Ratchet not long ago; perhaps having experienced quite a lot recently, he was quieter and more mature than in the past.

"Ultra Magnus has already led the Wreckers and the Aerialbots to Earth to support us, but bad news has also come from the Guerrillas lurking on the planet Cybertron: Shockwave has been missing for some time... This is not good news... I will continue to lead the team to search for Starscream, Brawl, and the others who might be lurking, as well as the Matrix of Leadership..."

Optimus Prime paused, then looked at Bumblebee again, "Frenzy has already passed on quite a bit of intelligence to us, and some of it has been confirmed... Regardless of what their purpose is, at least from the current perspective, we do not want Megatron to return... You can try to take the initiative to contact them to see if you can get more intelligence from them... Of course, do not forget the necessary vigilance... After all, they are all Decepticons..."

"I understand!"