Chapter 855: Total War 9

The rebuke from his teacher, Sentinel Prime, left Optimus Prime speechless for a moment.

In a sense, he knew his teacher was not wrong.

The Decepticons were the great enemies of the Autobots, and the people of Earth also held considerable hostility toward the Autobots.

Therefore, letting the humans of Earth fight the Decepticons and exhausting the strength of both sides as much as possible was, for the Autobots, a move with only benefits and no harm.

But Optimus Prime had his own beliefs: "Teacher, to the people of Earth, we are indeed foreign invaders; this is a point no Autobot can deny!"

"Although we did not bring the Decepticons to Earth, because of our presence, more and more Decepticons are now gathering in the Solar System. The war between the Autobots and the Decepticons may already be unavoidable. The tragedy that once occurred on our home planet, Cybertron, is very likely to play out on Earth once again!"

"This is something we caused!" Optimus Prime's expression was exceptionally grave.

For some time now, following the Awakening of Sentinel Prime, although this former teacher of his had never openly shown any intention of vying with him for the position of Autobot Leader—and had even strongly supported him as the new leader on many public occasions, expressing his high regard and appreciation—

Optimus Prime still felt a mountain-like pressure.

This former teacher of his was using his vast experience to teach Optimus Prime the schemes, cunning, and tactics that a monarch should possess.

It had been over a month since Sentinel Prime woke up.

Over the past month, Optimus Prime's confidant, Bumblebee, had been busy running about, gathering intelligence regarding Sentinel Prime.

The results chilled him!

All sorts of signs indicated that this teacher of Optimus Prime was constantly calling for more of his own followers to come to Earth, and even tacitly allowed them to organize multiple protest activities directed at him.

Optimus Prime was not a power-hungry politician; he had more than once humbly requested his teacher, Sentinel Prime, to take back the power.

Not only in private, but even during military meetings and in public, Optimus Prime had expressed many times that he would step down as Autobot Leader so that Sentinel Prime could lead the Autobots once again.

But what was the result!

His teacher, Sentinel Prime, had refused him time and time again, sometimes with earnest advice, sometimes with stern rejection.

But the intelligence Bumblebee had gathered could not deceive Optimus Prime.

This former mentor of his acted one way on the surface and another behind his back.

Because of this, the young Autobot Leader was now not only chilled by Sentinel Prime but also began to be wary and guarded against him.

Direct clashes between him and Sentinel Prime due to differing beliefs, like the one today in the important military meeting, had also been gradually increasing recently.

Sentinel Prime was displeased; born into the Prime Dynasty and placed on the throne by the nobles who controlled the Council of Ancients shortly after his birth, even during those years when his power was hollowed out, his status remained incomparably noble.

At the very least, those Cybertronian Nobles who relied on royal power, for the sake of the legitimacy of the power they held, while constantly hollowing out his authority, also constantly boasted of the supremacy of this Prime.

It was because of this that Sentinel Prime developed a self-centered, overbearing personality; during the years he ruled the Autobots, he suppressed countless internal resistance movements with an iron fist, using methods no less ruthless than the Decepticon Legion's massacres of Autobots.

"Optimus Prime!"

Displeasure could be clearly heard in his voice, "As the Leader of the Autobots, you should think about problems from the perspective of the Autobots."

"Although I hate the Decepticons to the core, I also know that war means destruction and sacrifice. If you, in order to protect Earth, take the initiative to intervene in the conflict between the humans—who do not welcome us—and the Decepticons, Optimus Prime, have you thought about how many Autobots will be sacrificed because of it?"

"Teacher, if we Autobots are selfish to this extent, and do not even have the responsibility to resolve the mistakes we have made, then how are we any different from the Decepticons?"

The clash of beliefs between the two leaders caused the atmosphere in the conference room to suddenly become awkward.

Several of Optimus Prime's confidant officers, including Ironhide, kept their mouths tightly shut.

It was true that they were Optimus Prime's confidants, and they did indeed support Optimus Prime continuing to lead the Autobots.

However, Sentinel Prime was no ordinary Autobot; this Prime had also served as an Autobot Leader, ruling the Autobots with an iron fist for millions of years.

When it came to the struggle between these two leaders, Ironhide absolutely could not openly take a side.

Otherwise, given the complex situation in New Iacon now, it was very likely that once they took a side, a group of Sentinel Prime's die-hard supporters would also come out to back him, causing the already disadvantaged Autobots to experience another painful internal split.

However, although Ironhide and the others could not interject, among the Autobots invited to attend this military meeting, there were still those who could step forward to ease the increasingly tense relationship between Optimus Prime and Sentinel Prime.

And he was none other than Wheeljack!

Sensing one gaze after another landing on him, Wheeljack exchanged a subtle look with Ratchet, with whom he had a good relationship.

He actually did not want to get involved in the conflict between the two leaders, but looking at his friend's pleading gaze, Wheeljack sighed helplessly.

He nodded slightly at Ratchet, effectively agreeing.

However, Wheeljack did not bluntly interrupt the conflict of perception regarding beliefs and leadership between Optimus Prime and Sentinel Prime.

He needed a good excuse to interrupt the two leaders; otherwise, even with his high prestige in the Autobot camp, the two leaders might not necessarily give him that face.

Thinking about what excuse to use, his gaze inadvertently drifted over the virtual images continuously replaying on the projection equipment in front of him.

He tapped the projection equipment, and a portion was immediately isolated from one of the virtual images that was replaying.

Suddenly, Wheeljack thought of a very good excuse.

"Ironhide!"

Wheeljack spoke suddenly, interrupting the dispute between Optimus Prime and Sentinel Prime, "I remember that in the intelligence Bumblebee sent back last time, there was a segment of electromagnetic waves obtained from inside a human Laboratory, right?"

As a well-known scholar and great Scientist in the Autobot camp, Wheeljack possessed considerable prestige.

Because of this, although his sudden opening interrupted the dispute between Optimus Prime and Sentinel Prime, the two leaders still tacitly stopped arguing and all looked at him.

"What did you discover, Wheeljack?" Sentinel Prime asked first.

Wheeljack shook his head, "I can't be sure yet, I need that segment of electromagnetic waves that Bumblebee sent back earlier!"

After Bumblebee was re-Awakened, he gained a new life under the name Bumblebee.

After re-Awakening, Bumblebee became more silent than before but also more reliable.

He could always complete the work assigned to him with the highest efficiency.

Whether it was intelligence gathering or assassinating Decepticons.

Because of this, he was entrusted with important tasks by Optimus Prime.

Not long ago, upon learning that a large-scale Decepticon force had invaded Earth again and clashed with humans, he, who was operating in the North American region, immediately set about investigating the matter.

Ironhide nodded, "Bumblebee did indeed transmit back a segment of electromagnetic waves!"

He tapped the projection equipment, and the battle images of the Decepticons and the US military in Severn Town, which were being projected, immediately turned into segments of thin, chaotic electromagnetic waves that seemed to have no pattern.

This segment of electromagnetic waves was transmitted over from North America by Bumblebee not long ago.

It is said that he obtained this electromagnetic wave from a United States military ground satellite data receiving station, and the source of the electromagnetic wave is said to be the very place where the Decepticons and the United States military have broken out in conflict: the wilderness town of Sewei'er.

It is said that this electromagnetic wave was captured by a United States satellite, and it was transmitted from the Sewei'er region out into deep space.

Jiazhong realized the strangeness of this electromagnetic wave; he attempted to decrypt it but found it chaotic and complex, seemingly unable to piece together any information at all.

However, the keen intuition of an excellent intelligence master still made Jiazhong realize its suspicious nature.

Thus, Jiazhong transmitted that electromagnetic wave back to New Iacon, hoping that Ironhide could ask Wheeljack for help in processing it to see if it truly contained some secrets.

Ironhide did indeed do so, but unfortunately, his attempt to ask Wheeljack for help was met with a refusal.

For some time, Wheeljack had been entirely focused on his research project named "Dinobot".

At this moment, it suddenly occurred to him that it would be a good excuse to interrupt the conflict between the two Leaders.

High-pitched, chaotic, and seemingly irregular electromagnetic waves began to sound in the conference room as the projection equipment played them back.

Wheeljack did not pay much attention at first; his goal was merely to stop the two Leaders from continuing to argue.

However, after he performed some simple processing on that electromagnetic wave, he could not help but let out a soft sound of surprise.

"Huh?"

Jiazhong's predecessor was Bumblebee; as an intelligence gathering expert for the Autobot faction, Bumblebee himself was also an expert proficient in decrypting communication waves.

Originally, he had not detected any abnormalities, and Wheeljack had only assumed that Jiazhong wanted him to help confirm it because of his overly cautious personality.

But after processing that electromagnetic wave slightly, Wheeljack inexplicably developed a feeling of déjà vu.

"Such a strange feeling; I seem to have seen this electromagnetic wave somewhere before!"

This sentence made Sentinel Prime, who was preparing to speak again, close his mouth.

All the Autobots looked at Wheeljack, and he closed his eyes.

Within his Core, he conducted a precise search of his memories regarding electromagnetic waves.

Not long after, Wheeljack finally found that memory, which he had almost forgotten, in a corner of his memory sea.

"... Quintessons... Planet Transformation Force... Damn it, this is a communication signal from the Quintessons summoning a colonial fleet to take over a planet that has already been transformed and is ready for colonization..."