Chapter 663: The Trade (Part II) 1/11

The Autobots are even harder to deal with than I imagined.

Although Sun Cheng was mentally prepared, he couldn't help but feel a bit irritable when his proposal for a trade was rejected by the Autobots.

"The energy within the Matrix of Leadership... it really is something to be concerned about..."

Controlling another body thousands of miles away, he had it cross the African continent and fly back to Trindade Island.

Sun Cheng was currently thinking about how to get some of the energy from the Matrix of Leadership from Optimus Prime.

Not long after, Thunder suddenly burst into the side hall where he was.

"Master, Swindle wants to see you!"

"Let him in!"

Although he had already seen through Swindle's cunning and hypocritical nature, Sun Cheng did not go too far in targeting or humiliating him.

Occasionally spurring Swindle on was enough; if he went too far, who knew what kind of fury this poor wretch, who had been played by Starscream and Megatron for millions of years, might erupt with.

The wisdom of the ancestors had long ago left behind warnings and lessons for future generations, such as "a dog will leap over a wall in desperation" and "too much is as bad as too little."

Retracting his old, unconscious body back into the Spherical Space, Sun Cheng frowned slightly as he watched Swindle walk into the side hall, looking both angry and timid.

"You want to see me? Is the weapon I entrusted to you finished?"

Sun Cheng really couldn't say he knew everything about how many advanced technologies and weapons were born during the peak of Cybertronian civilization—the era of the Council of Ancients—even though he went to check Jetfire's memories every few days now.

Jetfire might be a qualified Scientist, but he was not a weapons expert.

In this regard, Swindle, who had been trafficking arms on the Black Market during the era of the Council of Ancients, was undoubtedly more capable than Jetfire in some matters.

Sun Cheng had previously given Swindle a Task: to produce five heavy weapons capable of threatening an Elite Warrior within one month.

This was by no means an easy thing, but it was not impossible to complete.

The Decepticon Engineers under Sun Cheng could manufacture weapons capable of threatening an Elite Warrior, but because the technology they possessed was very limited, they had only unlocked the technical line for manufacturing Energy Weapons so far, and could only produce one type of Energy Weapon—the Plasma Weapon.

Energy Weapons also come in many varieties; Laser and light-based weapons are all different ways of utilizing energy.

The technology involved here is too complex, far beyond what Sun Cheng, who only has twenty-some Decepticon Engineers and about two hundred Decepticon Workers under his command, can fully involve himself in right now.

This is also one of the reasons why he is willing to win over Swindle; Sun Cheng is very curious about how many types of powerful weapon manufacturing methods from the peak of Cybertronian civilization this weapons expert actually possesses.

Upon hearing the weapon manufacturing Task mentioned by Sun Cheng, Swindle's face looked even worse.

"Master..." he tried to squeeze out a fawning smile, but unfortunately, it looked very ugly: "With my current body, it is very difficult to manufacture weapons. In one month, I can complete at most one!"

His words had some merit, but Sun Cheng did not believe him.

"Only by completing this Task can you show me the value of your existence!"

It had been some time since the Pioneer left Trindade Island with Hailishi and returned to Base No. 2.

After they returned, they immediately sent over a batch of materials for Swindle to use to manufacture weapons.

That batch of materials was absolutely enough to manufacture far more than five weapons, and the materials Sun Cheng had selected were very comprehensive, ranging from low-level common steel to all kinds of rare metals.

However, after the materials were sent to Swindle, this cunning and hypocritical guy was black-hearted enough to secretly take quite a lot to modify his own body in secret.

Sun Cheng was not blind; he knew better than anyone how many materials had been sent over.

Yet, to this day, Swindle hadn't even produced a single finished weapon, while the materials had already decreased significantly.

One can only say it's no wonder this guy was played as a pawn by Starscream and tortured by Megatron for millions of years.

With this level of intelligence, he couldn't even put on a decent act.

However, Sun Cheng still had plenty of patience for Swindle; as long as he could manufacture some of the weapons he needed, he could turn a blind eye until Lockdown arrived—it was just a matter of him being greedy for some materials, anyway.

Swindle was choked up by his words, and it was a good while before he lowered his head slightly, "Master, it's Starscream... Starscream just contacted me, wanting to meet with you..."

"Starscream..."

Sun Cheng immediately narrowed his eyes. That guy had just orchestrated an assassination attempt against the Autobot Leader Optimus Prime not long ago, and he had actually pulled it off.

After that, Starscream had vanished without a trace; he hadn't even appeared when The Fallen met with disaster.

Although Sun Cheng had guessed before, he felt that a hegemon like Starscream could not possibly pledge loyalty to others.

That was why he had previously sold the information on the location of the 【Matrix of Leadership】 to Starscream, making a trade with him.

But after that, they had never contacted each other again.

Heaven knows what Starscream has been doing during this time, but for this guy to take the initiative to contact him...

In an instant, many thoughts raced through Sun Cheng's mind.

He had a vague feeling that the other party was likely cooking up some conspiracy in private.

"... Optimus Prime shouldn't have lied to me; The Fallen has likely been dealt with by him... Soundwave is no match for Starscream, Megatron only has a head left, and Starscream would never be so kind. Unless Shockwave arrives, Megatron shouldn't be able to wait for a New Body in the short term..."

He lightly reviewed the information from recent times in his mind, but still couldn't fathom why Starscream was contacting him.

After pondering for a moment, Sun Cheng decided to meet with him.

Among the Decepticons, that guy Starscream could be considered the most difficult yet also the easiest big shot to deal with.

He loves to scheme and is constantly playing with conspiracies and tricks.

But as long as he feels it is appropriate, Starscream is always very generous.

Just like when Sun Cheng himself was let go by him; afterwards, he always felt that after the Battle of Las Vegas, Starscream didn't settle scores with him not only because he couldn't figure out the attitude of the attackers, but also because he looked down on him.

Of course, a greater possibility is that Starscream really wants to hide behind the scenes and watch him and his former superior, Soundwave, fight to the death.

During the Cybertronian Civil War, Starscream's two betrayals of Megatron were both thwarted and suppressed by Soundwave and Shockwave working together.

If one were to list the Decepticons he hates most within the Decepticon Legion, Megatron, Shockwave, and Soundwave would definitely rank in the top three of Starscream's list of enemies.

Having decided to meet with Starscream, Sun Cheng looked at Swindle, "Go tell Starscream: he sets the time, I choose the location. Have him tell me once he's confirmed it!"

After Swindle responded and went out, Sun Cheng fell into deep thought once again; he was considering a crucial question: how much longer until Shockwave reaches Earth?