Chapter 665: Terms Agreed

Sun Cheng admitted that he was indeed swayed by Starscream.

But being tempted did not mean he would take action; without sufficient profit, it was impossible for him to be used as a tool by Starscream.

"You might be right!"

Suppressing his temptation, Sun Cheng appeared calm and composed: "But the risk I would need to bear to snipe Soundwave is too great; in my view, the losses outweigh the gains."

He stared silently at Starscream; two equally insidious villains had no need for excessive probing.

Starscream knew Sun Cheng would certainly not let this opportunity pass, but without paying a price to drag him into the water, the end result would only be a parting on bad terms.

"Ten Energy Pillars!"

Starscream was the first to reveal a smiling face, "Even in his prime, it wouldn't be easy for Jetfire to manufacture Energy Pillars!"

Here it comes!

The Spark within Sun Cheng's chest beat violently; he calmly multiplied that number by ten, "I want one hundred. Sniping Soundwave means a complete break with the Decepticon Legion; afterward, we will inevitably be hunted by Shockwave and Megatron, to the death."

Starscream had anticipated that he would haggle, but he had not expected Sun Cheng to make such an exorbitant demand.

His face full of mockery, he sneered without hesitation: "One hundred? You really dare to shout that out. This is Earth; I can bring out fifteen at most!"

"Ninety!"

Sun Cheng conceded slightly, "I heard that Sentinel Prime's spaceship crashed on the Moon!"

A year ago, he had once pried into Megatron's memories; although Sun Cheng only saw a small portion, it was not lacking in highly classified information.

Among these, it shockingly included a terrifying secret: Megatron had reached some kind of cooperation with the former Autobot leader, Sentinel Prime.

That was why, before the civil war ended, the Transport Spaceship Sentinel Prime was on had been hit and disappeared.

And the location where his ship ultimately crashed was exactly on the Moon, a few light-years away from Cybertron.

This was a very secretive matter; even Starscream only understood the surface of it.

Within a pair of scarlet eyes, Starscream did not hide his killing intent.

"It seems you know quite a lot; I underestimated you. That is something Megatron has his eyes on; no one dares to touch it. Twenty. If we still can't agree, I'll have to go find someone else!"

"Eighty. You can go ahead and look; see who else besides me dares to make a move on Soundwave!"

"Twenty-five. I will help you draw Astrotrain away; you only need to deal with Soundwave and your two former colleagues. The difficulty isn't that high!"

"Seventy. Because you will definitely betray me afterward!"

The two conspirators refused to yield, and ultimately, at the cost of forty-five Energy Pillars, Sun Cheng agreed to the deal.

"You plan the timing and the operation. If necessary, I can expose myself to lure Soundwave into the trap, but I need to receive the forty-five Energy Pillars first! I don't trust your credibility!"

To Sun Cheng's surprise, Starscream actually agreed.

After agreeing that he would send the Energy Pillars first in four days, this abruptly arrived conspirator left quickly, without even leaving behind a single threatening remark.

Watching the Decepticon leave—who knew what schemes he was plotting behind the scenes—the expression on Sun Cheng's face vanished entirely.

Thunder looked at the F-22 fighter jet, which was becoming smaller in the sky, and suddenly asked: "Master, why accept such a dangerous Task?"

Formerly Blackout, he usually appeared very cold, but that did not mean Thunder lacked intelligence.

On the contrary, he simply never showed it because there was no need to.

Sun Cheng did not show the slightest sign of happiness at having obtained forty-five Energy Pillars for nothing; he remained silent for a long while before answering Thunder.

"Because Starscream has me figured out. He hates Soundwave to the core, and Soundwave hates him just as much. But Soundwave is not his match, so once Shockwave arrives on Earth, he will be liquidated at the first opportunity!"

Two blade-like fingertips rubbed together unconsciously, sparks flying constantly.

Sun Cheng could not yet guess if Starscream's sudden contact was a scheme against him, against Soundwave, or if it had schemed them both into it.

Even knowing there was likely a trap behind this, he still had to jump in.

This was the brilliance of Starscream's methods; he calculated that he, a Decepticon traitor preparing to set up his own shop, would certainly fall into a panic due to the imminent arrival of Shockwave.

So, to avoid being liquidated in the future, Sun Cheng had no choice but to follow the path Starscream had designed for him and snipe Soundwave.

As for the forty-plus Energy Pillars, they weren't Starscream's anyway; he didn't feel the pain of selling someone else's property.

It was said that Sentinel Prime's Transport Spaceship back then held the Autobots' final assets, at least several hundred Energy Pillars.

After Sentinel Prime's ship crashed on the Moon, where were the Energy Pillars on the ship now?

They had naturally fallen into the hands of Starscream, or rather, the Decepticons.

Taking some out to hire Sun Cheng, an unstable variable, to help him clear out a major enemy.

This was exactly the kind of thing Starscream would do.

"Starscream is likely plotting something, but he did indeed calculate me... Base No. 2 really only needs to resolve Soundwave first; before Shockwave arrives, I can continue to develop in peace..."

This was also the reason Sun Cheng agreed to the deal; he had to strike first to gain more room for survival.

"However, Starscream cannot be fully trusted either... Perhaps he will hide behind the scenes, wanting to watch me and Soundwave tear each other apart, only to come and finish us both off when we are both battered and exhausted!"

In the 【Transformers Universe】, a severe lack of security led Sun Cheng to never easily trust anyone but himself.

So, after watching Starscream leave, he did not rush to leave Saint Helena.

Sun Cheng was thinking about how to resolve Soundwave and his Cassette Corps, as well as Starscream, who might be hiding behind the scenes to launch a sudden attack.

The Warriors he could first commit to battle were few: Firstborn, Thunder, Hailishi, and at most, an unstable Swindle.

Other Decepticon Warriors besides them each had protection and guard duties, and their combat power was barely enough to deal with Ravage and Laserbeak.

Thunder watched him standing there thinking, and suddenly, whether intentional or unintentional, said a sentence.

"If only the base could also mass-produce replicated Warriors now, then we could easily resolve Soundwave and the others, just like Starscream and his lot did when they sniped Optimus Prime before!"

A single word awakened the dreamer; upon hearing this, Sun Cheng felt his somewhat chaotic brain clear up.

"That's right, how could I have forgotten the Autobots!"

Instantly, a plan formed in his mind, and the corners of Sun Cheng's mouth curved into an arc.

PS:

I must apologize to everyone; I got up very early today, originally intending to strive for three or four chapters.

As a result, near noon I received a call from Ping An; there was a problem with my father's insurance claim.

I spent the whole afternoon there queuing to refill forms to handle this matter, and in the evening I treated someone to a meal; this chapter originally had over a thousand words done in the morning, but upon returning home I could only hurriedly write a few hundred more to make up the second update.