Chapter 873: Disappointed Optimus Prime

Putting aside the unpleasantness on the Moon, after Frenzy and the others retreated in such a sorry state.

Located above Earth in the Arctic Circle, a grand drama was not over just because one of the protagonists, the Decepticons, had retreated.

On the contrary, after the U. S. military communicated with the Autobots and learned that a small number of Decepticons had escaped while the rest had been wiped out by them.

Very quickly, batch after batch of ground troops began entering the Sewei'er River Valley region under the escort of the United States Air Force and Army Aviation.

In an open area still covered in ice and snow, Optimus Prime watched a team of Americans walking toward him, and the smile on his face quickly vanished.

"Lord Optimus Prime, this place has been taken over by us. We hope you Autobots can evacuate as soon as possible. A word of advice: everything here belongs to America!"

The speaker was a middle-aged white man in a suit; Optimus Prime had dealt with the U. S. government for over a year and instantly realized the man must be from the White House.

This condescending, arrogant attitude could only come from that group who wore the skin of so-called political elites, while inside their bodies flowed the sinful blood of ancestors who trafficked in black slaves, burned and plundered the Indians, and were insatiably greedy.

With ancestors who built their fortunes on sin, the character of these elites was to be expected.

Good cultivation allowed Optimus Prime to suppress his anger.

Unfortunately, the Autobots under his command did not all have good tempers.

Hound suddenly reached out and grabbed the middle-aged white man who had been pointing fingers at Optimus Prime, snorting coldly: "Humans, what right do you have to point fingers at the great Autobots?"

The middle-aged white man, caught in Hound's grip, was also frightened pale by the sudden move.

However, seemingly having received a good education, although he was scared to death, his lips still trembled as he sternly threatened: "... You... what do you want to do? Are you preparing to make an enemy of America? Aliens?"

Clearly, the Americans had not expected Hound to pull such a stunt.

Although the middle-aged white man was followed by several attendants, there was not a single bodyguard among them.

However, there were squads of U. S. soldiers patrolling not far away, and upon seeing this scene, they immediately exclaimed in shock.

And immediately, the soldiers quickly raised their weapons and sprinted toward the scene, while various orders and threats were issued constantly.

"Release the hostage!"

"Damn machines, what are you trying to do!"

"Alert... alert... Level 3 emergency... everyone prepare for combat..."

As for the Autobots, they were not to be outdone in the slightest.

They were inherently proud beings, and among them were many Autobots who had opposed rescuing the Americans and had only come along reluctantly because of the Leader's will.

Once they saw the American soldiers aiming their weapons and gun barrels at them, and even heard soldiers daring to loudly threaten them with the derogatory term 'machine'.

Instantly, the Autobots also summoned their weapons and aimed them back.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense!

"Hound, put him down!"

Optimus Prime glanced at Hound and ordered him with some disappointment.

He was not disappointed in Hound's actions; after all, he was the leader of the Autobot faction.

A mere group of indigenous creatures on a backward Earth that had not yet entered the interstellar era were being disrespectful to him time and time again; even if Optimus Prime had a good temper, he was not without a shred of dissatisfaction.

This time, Optimus Prime was disappointed in himself.

As a leader, he felt his own inadequacies more clearly at this moment than ever before.

He also felt some regret, regret for this rescue mission.

"Perhaps I was wrong from the start! Even if we hold goodwill toward Earthlings, in their eyes, we are ultimately just invaders from outer space..."

As this thought abruptly surfaced in his mind, Optimus Prime also felt at this moment that he understood some of Frenzy's past actions.

"That's it... in the end, I turned out to be less clear-sighted than the Decepticons... Frenzy and the others must have seen through the greedy nature of Earthlings, which is why they chose to use interests to maintain the fragile relationship with humans, rather than trying to build friendship with them!"

He signaled for Hound to put down the middle-aged white man, who was still clamoring despite having been startled.

Although Hound was indignant, he still obeyed the order and tossed him onto the ground in front of them.

Although he did not intentionally make things difficult for the man, his height was a factor, and this was almost equivalent to being dropped from a height of two or three meters; the middle-aged white man was in no state to handle it and was instantly thrown face-first into the dirt.

And that middle-aged white man, having been thrown so miserably, scrambled up in a sorry state after being released by Hound and hid behind his own people.

Then, as if remembering the humiliation from just a moment ago, he sternly lashed out at Optimus Prime: "You damn aliens, get out of our planet immediately, right now!"

Optimus Prime shook his head at his lieutenant, Ratchet; he had already realized that the goal of this rescue mission could not be achieved.

The attitude of the Americans explained everything; they had been wary of the Autobots from the very beginning, even placing them in the same hostile position as the Decepticons.

And the reason they did not act immediately upon discovering them was likely due to the heavy losses they had suffered in the previous battle.

Optimus Prime was no fool; he had more or less guessed that besides the heavy losses inflicted by the Decepticons, the Americans were likely also fearing the Temperature Difference Bomb that had been fired from outer space earlier.

"That human president in the White House probably doesn't know which weapons didn't come from the Autobots... Perhaps they are also worried that if they anger us now, a missile will explode in Washington!"

Shaking off his disappointment, Optimus Prime turned to the Autobot Warriors who had already formed a circle and were in a standoff with the U. S. military.

"Let's go!"

He said to his companions with some apology: "I was wrong this time; I thought I could make friends with humans using sincerity and actions, but they clearly regard us as enemies from the bottom of their hearts!"

Sideswipe, Drift, and a group of other Autobot Warriors who had fought the Americans all tightened their grips on their weapons, and as they looked at the American soldiers surrounding them, killing intent already appeared in their eyes.

However, Optimus Prime was Optimus Prime; although his dream of becoming friends with the Americans again had been shattered, he had no intention of actively becoming their enemy.

"Autobots, move out!"

He sighed; this erroneous mission would severely damage his prestige in New Iacon and might even become an excuse for some restless radical Autobots to attack him.

But Optimus Prime was still the kind and righteous Optimus Prime; whether it was his past life as Orion Pax or the present, his experiences and the education he had received did not allow him to be like the Decepticons.

Having received the Leader's order, the Autobot Warriors, though still filled with anger, all put away their weapons.

Watching the Autobots prepare to leave, the surrounding American soldiers looked at one another, and then all looked at their commanding officer.

And their officers looked at the middle-aged white man, who was still being protected by a group of soldiers and was still aching all over from the fall earlier.

"Let... let them leave..."

He endured the pain in his body and waved his hand.

Clearly, although the U. S. government was hostile toward all aliens, including the Autobots, it was not yet arrogant enough to start a fight with the Autobots after having just fought a battle with the Decepticons and suffering significant losses.

The soldiers received the order and immediately scattered to clear a path, allowing the Autobots to leave.

Optimus Prime was the last to leave, his eyes never leaving the middle-aged white man who had been sent to negotiate with them until the very moment he departed.

As for that middle-aged white man, for some reason, he had dared to meet his gaze at first, but later began to avoid his line of sight.

"You will regret this!"

Shaking his head, Optimus Prime finally left as well.

He already knew why the middle-aged white man was so hostile toward the Autobots; after connecting to a satellite just now, he had used the human internet to look up the identity of this middle-aged white man.

If the reports in the media and on the internet were correct, then this middle-aged white man named 'Hawkinson' was the White House Chief of Staff for the new United States President.

Before serving as Chief of Staff, he had long served as a director at a United States arms giant—Lockheed Martin—and was responsible for public relations with the government.

A hawkish official recommended to the new administration by an arms giant was certainly not there to protect their interests.

As for whether cooperating with the Autobots would be beneficial to the United States, what did that have to do with them?

Not to mention that the Autobots had once raided several United States arms giant research institutes and Laboratories to retrieve the remains of their comrades, causing them heavy losses.

Even just the fact that if the United States government cooperated with the Autobots, it was highly likely that due to the Autobots' protection, they would no longer continue to print large amounts of money to purchase arms, which was detrimental to the interests of the arms giants!

Therefore, the equal cooperation between the Autobots and the Americans that Optimus Prime hoped for was destined to be impossible.

The Autobots had come in a hurry, and they left in a hurry!

They had gathered quickly under the order of their Leader, Optimus Prime, and rushed over without stopping.

As a result, after rushing all the way, they were met with this outcome, and all the Autobots left feeling angry.

Optimus Prime also sensed the silence of the team, but he had no heart to manage them right now, as he was worried about other things.

The cause of this battle was that humans had accidentally dug up some ores created by the Quintessons who had visited Earth untold years ago using Matter Transformation Technology.

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The Decepticons attempted to seize those ores of decent quality, but were driven away by the humans and the Autobots, with Frenzy hiding behind the scenes.

Now, those ores had fallen back into human hands, and Optimus Prime was very worried.

He did not know if the Quintessons had left behind any hidden traps; if the humans accidentally triggered one, it might attract those cosmic-locust-like villains to Earth.

When that time came, it would not just be the humans who suffered.

Whether it was the Autobots who had already begun to rebuild their home on Earth, or the Decepticons like Frenzy who had the same idea, all would suffer.

"I hope it doesn't get any worse!"

Carrying his worries, Optimus Prime, just as he had when he arrived, took the lead and galloped rapidly across the snowfields of the far north, leading the Autobot convoy.