Chapter 717: The Black Market Takes Shape

Sun Cheng was not overly worried about Base No. 2 being exposed.

Under his Pig-Raising Policy, the economic growth rates of the several South American countries controlled by Base No. 2 did not change much, but their cost of living, income, and national welfare were constantly improving.

Even if someone wanted to rebel, they wouldn't even need Base No. 2 to personally tear off its mask and intervene; the military, firmly held in the hands of a group of Decepticon spies, would suppress them by force.

However, not being worried did not mean Sun Cheng could not see the various drawbacks after exposure, such as human resistance, blockades by other human nations, and the vigilance and hostility of neighboring countries, among others.

Once this stable rear base fell into chaos, it would inevitably affect Sun Cheng's mischief elsewhere.

Of course, what he worried about most was that Base No. 2, due to human exposure, would attract the attention of the Autobots and the Decepticon Legion.

Especially the latter; if Megatron were determined to take Sun Cheng's life, given the might of the Decepticon Legion, Base No. 2 might be able to resist for a short time, but it would not last two months before being destroyed until not even a scrap remained.

This was not Sun Cheng belittling himself, but the Decepticon Legion truly possessing this capability; they wouldn't even need the army led by Shockwave to arrive, as just Starscream and the forces under his command going all out would suffice.

Therefore, the Mars Project must be carried out ahead of schedule.

Time, while Sun Cheng was fully devoted to the research and development of a small spacecraft, slipped away rapidly like an uncontrollable tide.

In the blink of an eye, a month had passed!

When Sun Cheng sent the design data back to Base No. 2 and returned to Trindade Island, he, who had not paid much attention to this island for nearly a month, finally discovered the changes that had taken place.

The current Trindade Island had become a completely different place from when Israel had secretly arrived for the first time over a month ago.

In the southeast of the island, a massive building complex resembling an ancient Greek temple had already occupied most of the southeast corner.

It covered an area of nearly 700,000 square meters and consisted of a main hall and two adjacent side halls.

The main hall, which looked very much like an ancient Greek temple, was the place where the Forerunner conducted transactions with visiting human nations.

The grand hall was 15 meters high, and the walls inside the spacious hall did not feature murals symbolizing the majesty of gods; instead, they were lined with rows of displays introducing various commodities that Sun Cheng was willing to trade with human nations.

The variety of these commodities was vast, numbering as many as seven or eight hundred types.

Although there was not a single piece of alien black technology that human nations yearned for, and not even the shadow of a weapon could be found, it did not mean there were no good things here.

On the contrary, the items Sun Cheng brought out to trade with the human nations in the Transformers multiverse were all high-tech precision equipment and instruments that were monopolized, strictly controlled, and prohibited from export by European and American countries on Earth.

Not only that, but the precision equipment they provided, due to unique Decepticon craftsmanship and some modifications made by Workers while practicing, performed one to two generations ahead of the top-tier products currently manufactured by European and American countries.

The Israelis, who were initially used as pathfinders, were the ones who willingly placed an order after discovering this point.

In one corner of the main hall was a large conference room specifically for the Forerunner and representatives of various countries to negotiate.

And the two side halls next to the main hall were built by Workers according to the requirements of human hotels on Earth, provided for representatives of various countries visiting the island to rest, hold meetings, and contact their home countries.

Both side halls were four stories high, possessing 160 guest rooms, four medium-sized conference rooms, two bars, and some facilities like Canting.

The chefs and even some of the waiters responsible for cooking on the island, although they looked like humans, were actually first-generation Decepticon Workers.

They were the spy reserves that Base No. 2 prepared to cultivate in batches, and the Black Market on Trindade Island had now been treated as a place for these future spies to practice.

The person who formulated and arranged for this batch of spies to come over was Mola, who had already accepted a promotion and successfully upgraded from a first-generation humanoid Decepticon Worker to a true humanoid Decepticon spy.

He was the future Intelligence Chief whom Sun Cheng valued and prepared to cultivate heavily, and thus he began to possess a certain amount of power within Base No. 2.

Mola no longer served as a high-ranking official in Bolivia, but another Worker, disguised to look exactly like the original him, had already received most of his data and taken his place.

Mola was currently training Workers inside Base No. 2, and he only had two requirements for the first-generation humanoid Decepticon Workers sent to Trindade Island: mimic humans as much as possible, and at the same time, inadvertently spread some half-truth, half-false intelligence.

Sun Cheng returned to the island and had just walked out of the Sub-base in the belly of Trindade Peak when the Forerunner hurried over.

"Master, I was just about to report the situation on the island during this period to you!"

He extended a hand, and a ball of blue light gradually emerged from his palm.

Looking closely at the blue light, one could clearly see streams of azure data constantly flickering between the Forerunner's palms.

If Sun Cheng had a need, he could link up to a Smart Brain on the island at any time and instantly grasp what had happened on the island over the past period.

That was a Pseudo-AI he had requested Atlas and the others to develop by studying Mirage.

It possessed about 8% of Mirage's intelligence and one-fifth of the computing power; by human standards, it could definitely be called a powerful super-intelligent brain.

Although it still had significant shortcomings, it was perfectly capable of handling the daily management of a sub-base.

If the Forerunner had not come over, Sun Cheng would indeed have linked up to the island's Smart Brain to understand what had happened on the island over the past period.

However, since he had come and there was a better choice, Sun Cheng nodded slightly, and two beams of blue light shot from his eyes, instantly scanning all the data streams shared by the Forerunner.

After this data was digested, he smiled and nodded at the Forerunner, his face looking very satisfied.

"You've worked hard during this time!"

Although it was because the idea of building a small spacecraft had suddenly popped up, Sun Cheng had acted as a hands-off manager and dumped everything here onto the Forerunner.

However, he also had the intention of using the Black Market on the island to temper the Forerunner.

Judging from the memories shared by the Forerunner, he had done quite well over the past period.

The current Trindade Island had already realized all of Sun Cheng's original requirements; it was now open to all human national forces capable of discovering this place, and it had already begun to gain a small reputation among the high-level officials of some countries on Earth.

……

PS:

I haven't updated for three days, my train of thought was interrupted, and I need to carefully consider how to write the following parts.

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