Chapter 768: Ironhide

A certain section of the East African Rift Valley, New Iacon.

After attending the funeral of a former comrade-in-arms, Ironhide had just returned to the vicinity of his quarters when he encountered Chromia.

His girlfriend, the female Autobot Chromia, sensed the restlessness in the heart of this hot-tempered, fearless Warrior and advised him understandingly: "Birth, aging, sickness, and death are universal laws that no one can escape, Captain. Try to look on the bright side."

Ironhide silently pulled out a cigar, lit it, and began to smoke.

He remained silent for a long while before shaking his head: "I witnessed too many partings and deaths during the war years, Lia. Death is not terrifying; what is terrifying is the human heart!"

Lia was a nickname for Chromia, one that generally only the Arcee sisters or her boyfriend, Ironhide, would use to address her.

Female Autobots are born with a massive disparity in chassis strength and combat power compared to male Autobots.

However, the Creator is fair; most of them possess rationality and wisdom that surpass male Autobots.

The Arcee sisters are either excellent Warriors, Commanders, or Senior Engineers and Scientists, so they are naturally very outstanding in terms of wisdom.

Chromia sensed that there was more to her boyfriend's words; Ironhide was not an Autobot skilled at concealing his inner thoughts.

She thought about the changes in him over the past few days, lost in thought.

"Are you worried about the Leader?"

She asked very vaguely, without specifying Optimus Prime or Sentinel Prime.

In fact, ever since Optimus Prime and the others successfully rescued the former Autobot Leader, Sentinel Prime, from the Moon, and Ratchet examined his body and confirmed that Sentinel Prime had fallen into a deep coma only because his injuries were too severe and the energy within his Spark was severely depleted, the atmosphere in New Iacon had indeed become somewhat subtle over the past few days.

Sentinel Prime was a King of Primus, and during the era of the Council of Ancients, he was the nominal supreme commander of the entire planet Cybertron.

After Megatron created the Decepticons and ignited the civil war, he immediately established the Autobot faction and sheltered the vast majority of civilians.

Although the Autobots sacrificed too much and lost all their territory on the planet Cybertron during the first and second civil wars.

Sentinel Prime, the Leader who had ruled the Autobots for millions of years, still possessed an extraordinary appeal within the Autobot faction.

His reappearance immediately made the position of Optimus Prime—a young Leader who had only succeeded to the position for a hundred years and had been scapegoated by the Autobot Council for the "failure of the civil war"—awkward.

Although the vast majority of Autobots who had come to Earth to join Optimus Prime were inclined toward him, Sentinel Prime's admirers surely existed as well.

At the very least, some rumors unfavorable to Optimus Prime had begun to appear in New Iacon over the past few days.

Ironhide nodded; Chromia had guessed his thoughts correctly.

He was a staunch confidant of Optimus Prime and had followed him into battle since the time Optimus Prime was only a Senior Engineer.

At the very beginning, like many hawkish Autobots, Ironhide was dissatisfied with the young Optimus Prime's overly gentle and kind personality, believing that his weakness made him ill-suited for heavy responsibilities.

However, as the time they spent in contact grew longer, Ironhide was gradually influenced by Optimus Prime.

His temper used to be much more volatile than it was now, and he had caused quite a few disasters because of it, but he had changed a great deal now.

Sentinel Prime was a high-and-mighty ruler; born as a King of Primus, he was destined to never truly stand with the civilians.

During the millions of years he ruled the Autobots, in order to concentrate the Autobots' strength as much as possible to resist the powerful Decepticons, Sentinel Prime did many things even more cruel than the Decepticons.

Back then, in order to force civilians into service, many civilians who resisted him were executed under his orders.

To concentrate resources, the assets of a large number of civilians and nobles were forcibly confiscated.

Whenever the war with the Decepticons reached a stalemate, many Autobot civilians could not obtain enough energy and metal to satisfy their basic needs.

Ironhide acknowledged Sentinel Prime's power and did not deny the greatness of this Leader in the past.

But he treated the Autobots with the same coldness as he treated the Decepticons.

At least in Ironhide's view, Optimus Prime was more qualified for the position of Autobot Leader than Sentinel Prime.

Chromia was silent for a moment before speaking to comfort him: "This kind of matter is not for us to worry about. Trust the Leader; he will handle everything."

The Arcee sisters were all staunch followers of Optimus Prime, and they clearly also hoped that this young Leader would continue to lead the Autobots.

Ironhide nodded helplessly, took a few puffs of his cigar, and seemed to have more to say.

Chromia quickly noticed his hesitation, looked around, and then lowered her voice to ask: "Did something happen on the Moon? Ever since you all returned, I've found that many people have become very strange. Even Ratchet—when asked, he won't say anything."

Recalling the war that took place on the Dark Side of the Moon afterward, many participating Autobots sensed something strange.

Ironhide was just one of them; even someone like him, whose mind was not particularly meticulous, realized there was a problem, so it was normal for other Autobots to sense something odd.

Ironhide scanned his surroundings, and seeing no one nearby, he said in a deliberately lowered voice: "It's likely that everyone has realized there's a problem, but because of the Leader, no one has been the first to say it out loud yet."

After thinking about it, Chromia was not an outsider, and her mind was more delicate than his own.

Without further ado, Ironhide described in detail the encounter he and the other Autobots had on the Moon.

After listening, this delicate female Warrior indeed realized the oddity as well.

"The Decepticons didn't pursue? Could it be that they deliberately let you find the crashed ship?"

"The Solar System is over four light-years away from our planet Cybertron. We all saw the King of Primus's ship get destroyed when the war was about to end. How did he cross those four light-years to appear on the Moon? And the Decepticons hadn't discovered him yet?"

"Captain, I think it's necessary for you to talk to the Leader personally; there is something strange about this. It is very likely a conspiracy by the Decepticons!"

Ironhide had also been thinking about this matter for the past few days, and Chromia's persuasion clearly firmed up his thoughts.

He crushed the cigar and nodded heavily.

"I understand, Lia. You go back first; I'm going to see the Leader right now. I'll tell him all of our findings and concerns!"

Chromia did not agree; she held back Ironhide, who was about to leave immediately, and advised: "Don't be in such a hurry. I think it's necessary for you to exchange opinions with Ratchet and Sideswipe first, especially Ratchet!"

Ironhide was only hot-tempered; that did not mean he was a fool.

After thinking for a moment, he understood his girlfriend's meaning.

Ratchet was also one of Optimus Prime's lieutenants, while Sideswipe was a lieutenant newly promoted after Optimus Prime was last harmed.

With Jazz sacrificed and Bumblebee's whereabouts unknown, there was no doubt that these three lieutenants were the Autobots Optimus Prime trusted most in New Iacon.

He nodded and immediately contacted Sideswipe and Ratchet, preparing to talk to them first before going to see Optimus Prime.

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