Chapter 712: Deceit and Treachery (End)

A large amount of Autobot military operational plans were leaked, allowing the Decepticons to lock in their path to victory.

Sentinel Prime, having lost all patience with the Autobots, simply gave more power to those old nobles and pedants who had been undermining him from behind; aside from forming an Autobot Council modeled after the former Council of Ancients and beginning a frantic struggle for power, their performance was simply appalling.

The failure of the Autobots was already destined the moment Sentinel Prime lost patience with them.

As more and more transport spaceships and territories fell, the Autobots' living space was squeezed bit by bit, until only the final capital remained—Iacon.

The deal Sentinel Prime made with Megatron using the entire Autobot faction and the planet Cybertron truly made this commander of the Decepticon Legion, who was ready to deliver a fatal blow at any moment, even more wary.

He had dealt with Sentinel Prime for millions of years and understood that arrogant King of Primus far better than the vast majority of Autobots.

Only sufficient benefits could make this king, who was single-mindedly focused on restoring the glory of the Prime Dynasty, willing to abandon the Autobots he had cultivated for years.

Because of his wariness, and because Megatron also wanted to obtain more from the deal.

Even until Sentinel Prime boarded a spaceship, preparing to fake his death and flee the planet Cybertron, Megatron still suppressed his murderous intent, letting everything continue according to the plan he and Sentinel Prime had made.

Afterward, the Decepticon Legion captured the Autobot capital—Darkmount; although a portion of the Autobots fled to the moon, a small number of Autobots escaped the Decepticon encirclement through secret passages and continued to wage guerrilla warfare on the planet Cybertron.

However, the Decepticon Legion did indeed win the final victory of the civil war and gained control over the entirety of Cybertron.

Although this unparalleled achievement raised Megatron's prestige within the Decepticon Legion to a new level, even careerists like Starscream had to bow down to him.

But this glory did not cause Megatron to lose his way, because there had always been a strong sense of crisis in his heart.

Only Megatron himself knew that his fate had never been entirely in his own hands.

Whether it was in the ancient past, when he was sent to the Quintesson laboratory just after his consciousness was born to undergo various inhumane experiments and modifications.

Or later, when he was scouted by The Fallen, who called himself one of the Thirteen Primes, and taken as an apprentice to be taught various combat skills and abilities.

Or even later, when Megatron relied on the combat abilities learned from his teacher, The Fallen, to rise from a gladiator slave to the King of the Arena.

The young Prime, Sentinel Prime, in order to completely eliminate the Council of Ancients that was holding him back, chose him once again; he ignored Megatron's resistance and forcibly cultivated him into a hero in the hearts of the Cybertronians, so as to better package him and let Megatron reclaim military power from the hands of the Council of Ancients for him.

Megatron knew very clearly that for the vast majority of his life, his fate had been manipulated from behind by a pair of invisible hands.

Even when he was pushed by Sentinel Prime into the position of military commander of Cybertron, Megatron still could not control his own fate.

A pawn that has lost its utility has only one end, and that is to be eliminated.

Not long after joining forces with Sentinel Prime to successfully lead the revolution and resolve the Council of Ancients, he fell into a chessboard set up by someone else.

Megatron soon discovered that the self-satisfied Sentinel Prime had made him the next target.

Just at this time, his cheap teacher who had been missing for who knows how many years—The Fallen—appeared again; he bestowed upon him even greater power and guided him to find the transformation factories and laboratories from when the Quintessons colonized the planet Cybertron.

And the only orders The Fallen gave him were to eliminate the Prime Dynasty and kill Sentinel Prime.

Only then did the rebellious Megatron finally understand that the black hand that had been manipulating his fate from behind since his birth was none other than his cheap teacher—The Fallen.

No one likes their fate to be controlled by others, and Megatron was no exception; even though he had received infinite benefits from The Fallen, it could not fill the anger and fear in his heart at having his fate controlled by others.

It was precisely driven by this fear that he accepted the deal proposed by Sentinel Prime during the Second Cybertronian Civil War.

Although he vaguely guessed the calculations behind this former King of Primus who had once wished to kill him, Megatron truly could not refuse the conditions Sentinel Prime offered.

Completely eliminating the Autobots and ruling the entire planet Cybertron were only secondary.

The condition Sentinel Prime offered that moved Megatron the most was none other than his mastery of The Fallen's whereabouts.

As the former King of Primus, many of the Pathfinders sent out by the planet Cybertron during the Council of Ancients era had mostly pledged their loyalty to Sentinel Prime upon returning to Cybertron after the Council of Ancients was overthrown.

Thanks to this, Sentinel Prime possessed a great deal of important intelligence that Megatron did not know.

For example, resource planets discovered and remote colonies established in the ancient past by colonists and Pathfinders sent out during the Council of Ancients era.

For example, some civilizations the Pathfinders encountered in the universe, and the life-bearing planets they recorded.

And for example, a Pathfinder who, in a remote star system several light-years away from Cybertron, witnessed with their own eyes a battle between followers loyal to seven different legendary Primes of Cybertron.

What finally made Megatron suppress his murderous intent and cooperate with Sentinel Prime was precisely the condition he brought out: that he would help him kill The Fallen.

In his mind, countless thoughts rolled and turned.

Megatron forcibly suppressed the hatred and anger toward Frenzy in his heart: "Starscream, is there still no news of my teacher, The Fallen?"

Starscream bowed slightly, "I am sorry, my master. I have sent more men to search, but so far we have not found Lord The Fallen!"

The Fallen had been missing for over a month; although both Starscream and Megatron suspected that he might have been defeated by Optimus Prime, who possessed the Matrix of Leadership, no one yet suspected that he had been killed by Optimus Prime.

After all, as one of the legendary Thirteen Primes of Cybertron, even if The Fallen was severely injured, he was still a Prime, and his combat power was enough to easily crush leaders like Megatron and Optimus Prime.

With such a powerful ancient existence, and without a deep understanding of the Matrix of Leadership, the greatest possibility that either Megatron or Starscream could think of for the time being was that The Fallen had lost to Optimus Prime, who had obtained the Matrix of Leadership, and had therefore gone into hiding due to his serious injuries.

Thinking of this, Megatron looked at Prowl, his gaze becoming even more fierce, "The Decepticons will protect the Moon well and not let the Autobots get close before I recover. But go back and tell your master, he had best not hide anything from me. What secret is hidden in the Matrix of Leadership? I need an answer!"

"Now, take your ridiculous arrogance and get out of here!"

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