Chapter 477: The Fierce Battle Begins (Part II)

For an existence as arrogant as Megatron, even if he were severely wounded, dying, and completely devoid of combat power, he would never allow his body to become a nest for sea fish.

Ironhide clearly shared the same thought as Sideswipe; furthermore, after the Battle of Las Vegas, the examination of Megatron's remains was conducted personally by Optimus Prime and Ratchet, and he did not believe they could have made a mistake.

Therefore, having confirmed that Megatron's remains were still abandoned deep in the Mariana Trench and had not been stolen by the Decepticons, he finally let go of the worry he had carried the entire way.

"Safe, let's go!"

"Understood!"

In the trench, ten thousand meters deep, even though both were powerful Autobot warriors, they could not help but feel uncomfortable; every second they stayed here, the consumption of their Sparks was comparable to being in the midst of an intense battle.

The two Autobots soon left the bottom of the trench and floated toward the surface.

"Is everything okay over there on the seabed?"

Upon seeing the two companions surfacing, Chromia, who had been hiding and keeping watch dozens of meters below the sea surface, swam over like an agile dolphin.

Ironhide: "No problem, Megatron's corpse is still on the seabed, it hasn't been touched!"

An impatient voice from Brake-Neck also came through: "I told you already, how can you believe the words of a Decepticon."

Ironhide looked at him but said nothing; among the four Autobots in the group, the hatred between Brake-Neck and Frenzy was the deepest, as his brother Mudflap had not only died at the hands of Frenzy, but his remains had even been snatched away.

"What should we do next? Just soak here?"

Sideswipe took a while before asking Ironhide, his tone very impatient: "I hate diving!"

Ironhide opened his mouth and spat out a string of bubbles.

"The Leader's orders must be executed resolutely! Regardless of whether the intelligence passed over by Frenzy is true or false, as long as there is even a glimmer of possibility that those Decepticons are plotting something regarding Megatron, we cannot lower our guard!"

After saying this, he looked at Chromia again, "Chromia, how do you think we should arrange things next?"

Ironhide was a warrior, a warrior who feared no death; let him charge into the fray on the battlefield, and even if he were facing Megatron or Shockwave, he would dare to rise up and resist.

But he was not a qualified commander, a point that Ironhide himself was very clear about.

Although Optimus Prime had appointed him to lead this mission, he had still sent Chromia to his side; besides their special relationship, it was also in the hope that her composure and calmness could prevent his reckless behavior at critical moments and provide him with advice during the mission.

Chromia did not like soaking in seawater either; she thought for a moment before offering a suggestion: "Let's report our situation here to the Leader first, and then confirm with them whether the humans at Guam are already aware of our actions. If the Leader and the others have already communicated with the humans, let them temporarily resume their previous fleet patrols!"

Before the mission, they already knew that the U. S. military currently had only one tactical nuclear submarine patrolling the surrounding waters.

As a battle-hardened female warrior who had participated in many civil war campaigns, Chromia knew the combat power of the Decepticons very well; it would be one thing if the news they got from Frenzy was fake, but if the intelligence was true, that would be disastrous.

Even if only one or two cannon fodder-type Decepticons attacked, it would be enough to make that patrolling U. S. tactical nuclear submarine suffer.

The tactical nuclear submarines deployed by the U. S. military at Guam were all Los Angeles-class and Seawolf-class; not to mention that they were not the most advanced Virginia-class, even if the Virginia-class came, it would be useless.

With their underwater speed of no more than thirty-five knots, they were just a piece of cake in front of the Decepticons.

Ironhide only thought for a moment before he understood what Chromia meant.

He nodded, "I will report to the Leader now; at least until there is some action over at Guam, we will temporarily take over the patrol here!"

Sideswipe gave a light snort, and Brake-Neck said nothing.

The few companions he had been assigned were all considered troublemakers now, so Chromia had to play the mediator, and then, relying on her status as a female Autobot, she took the initiative to divide the patrol area for each Autobot in the name of consultation, which finally settled the matter.

Meanwhile, on Optimus Prime's side, after receiving Ironhide's report, he could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"... Very good, Megatron's corpse is still there..."

He had not yet left Diego Garcia, and after receiving Ironhide's report, he summoned Prowl, the Chief of Staff who had arrived on Earth not long ago.

"Leader, you summoned me!"

Prowl was an Autobot warrior who was not particularly burly; his physique was sixty or seventy percent similar to Bumblebee and Jazz, and in fact, that was indeed the case.

If one were to really calculate it, his body used the same design structure as Jazz, Barricade, Bumblebee, and Mirage; it would not be an exaggeration to call them brothers.

Seeing Prowl walk into the garage, Optimus Prime's face immediately brightened with a smile, and he nodded at him with a smile, "Prowl, no need to be so formal; you and I are old friends who have known each other for millions of years..."

Prowl nodded silently, a look of nostalgia clearly visible on his face, though it faded quickly.

His original name was Prowl, and during the Council of Ancients era, he was the Intelligence Chief of the Cybertronian Internal Security Department and a trusted general of King of Primus Sentinel Prime; he personally experienced the overthrow of the Council of Ancients' rule and witnessed with his own eyes the major historical event on Unification-Day when Sentinel Prime announced that "Cybertron will be ruled by the Academy of Sciences led by Optimus Prime and the Defense Force led by Megatron."

Subsequently, after Megatron treacherously seized the military and political power of Cybertron and established the Decepticon Legion, cruelly persecuting and suppressing the Autobots, he followed Sentinel Prime once again, becoming a tactical advisor for the resistance army and the first-generation Intelligence Chief of the Autobots.

During the civil war, Prowl died in battle while covering Sentinel Prime, who was carrying a large number of Energy Pillars, as they retreated from Cybertron, after being surrounded by Megatron, who had personally led the pursuit team.

Afterward, when the Autobots were clearing the battlefield, they discovered his remains; under Optimus Prime's orders, with his Spark kept very intact, he was resurrected after obtaining a new body.

Now he had voluntarily changed his name to Prowl, following Optimus Prime just as he had followed Sentinel Prime in the past, working hard for the Autobots to win the war against the Decepticons.

After a brief silence, Prowl spoke again: "Leader, is there any task that requires me to take action personally? I have been on Earth for a few days now; Bumblebee introduced a lot of intelligence about Earth to me before he left, and I think I should be able to participate in some tasks."

"That is good; the situation on Earth is more complex than I had anticipated, and before Ultra Magnus and the others arrive, I am indeed in urgent need of manpower!"

Optimus Prime smiled, his right hand extended, with blue light flickering at the tip of his index finger.

This was a common way of transmitting information among Autobots, and Prowl was not surprised; he also extended a finger and tapped the blue light at the tip of Optimus Prime's index finger, and some things immediately appeared in his mind.

"So that's it!"

Digesting this information in the blink of an eye, Prowl suddenly realized.

"Are you planning to have me investigate that Decepticon named Frenzy?"

"This is the intelligence just sent back by Ironhide and the others; they have already checked Megatron's corpse, and there are no signs of it being stolen or touched!"

Optimus Prime shook his head, "Starscream, Soundwave, and Barricade have all arrived in the Solar System now; we cannot be sure whether they are hiding on the Moon or lurking somewhere on Earth. And The Fallen—there is no need to be distracted by Frenzy for the time being!"

Regarding the legendary Thirteen Primes of Cybertron, he indeed did not know much.

After all, during the Council of Ancients era, the Thirteen Primes had already disappeared for countless years and had long been regarded by Cybertronians as myths and legends.

Initially, when Frenzy passed over the intelligence regarding The Fallen, almost all the Autobots who had arrived on Earth regarded this information as an exaggerated lie, including Optimus Prime himself.

However, with the continuous organization of information about the Thirteen Primes from the past, and the arrival of Prowl, who had served as the Intelligence Chief of the Cybertronian Internal Security Department during the Council of Ancients era, Optimus Prime had to once again face this intelligence that they had always deemed a 'lie'.

Because Prowl told Optimus Prime very firmly and positively that the legendary Thirteen Primes of Cybertron were real; King of Primus Sentinel Prime had once been in contact with Alpha Trion, one of the Thirteen Primes, and under his full support, became the King of Primus.

Even during the Council of Ancients era, Alpha Trion had spent a long time in the archives of Iacon, and it was not until Megatron formed the Decepticon Legion and Shockwave was ordered to control Iacon that he completely disappeared without a trace.

As for the Matrix of Leadership, Prowl had also heard of it.

In the past, King of Primus Sentinel Prime had sent him to investigate the Matrix of Leadership; it was said to be a treasure that far exceeded the AllSpark by countless times, and it seemed that even the AllSpark was a product artificially created based on the Matrix of Leadership.

Alpha Trion had once told Sentinel Prime that it was the symbol of a Prime, the source of power and life.

It is a pity that the Matrix of Leadership had already become a legend during the era of the Council of Ancients; Sentinel Prime had searched for it for tens of thousands of years, never expecting that when he would hear news of it again, it would be on Earth, located in a remote corner of the galaxy.

With this intelligence regarding the Thirteen Primes and the Matrix of Leadership coming from the mouth of Prowl, Optimus Prime already believed most of it, especially since it also mentioned his teacher, Sentinel Prime.

Therefore, he summoned Prowl, not for anything else, "Regardless of whether this intelligence passed on by Frenzy is true or false, I cannot sit idly by. If The Fallen is truly an evil Prime, then letting the Matrix of Leadership fall into his hands would be incredibly dangerous. I cannot get away for the moment, so I intend to have you personally lead a team to investigate The Fallen and search for the Matrix of Leadership. What do you think?"

Clearly, this was a very dangerous Task, as it was highly likely that one would have to face a Prime-level super leader.

However, Prowl did not have the slightest hesitation; almost the instant Optimus Prime finished asking the question, he straightened his body and gave his reply.

"Leader, leave it to me!"

Transformers: Starting from the Beginning