Chapter 994

Inviting Jetfire to join his faction was something Sun Cheng had calculated long ago.

He had peered into Jetfire's Memory Data and knew that although this guy had a bit of a foul temper, his personality was also very upright.

But as a Decepticon born during the era of the Cybertronian Elder Council, Jetfire was undoubtedly a top-tier Scientist, and he and Shockwave each had their own merits.

If he could truly be kept here and serve as the dean of the 【Academy of Sciences】, the technological improvement for his entire force would be immense.

Jetfire did not reply to him immediately, and Sun Cheng was not anxious, waiting for his reply with great patience.

Just as he had said, there were not many choices left for Jetfire now.

Perhaps the motherland he missed and yearned for in his heart, that once-glorious Cybertronian civilization, no longer existed today.

The civil war between the Decepticons and the Autobots that had lasted for millions of years had long since beaten their home planet, Cybertron, into a dead planet.

Even if nature's uncanny workmanship could slowly repair that planet, it was estimated that it would take more than hundreds of millions of years.

Jetfire had undergone modification by the Decepticons; his current identity was that of a Decepticon, a past he did not want to admit but could not erase.

Although under the leadership of Optimus Prime, the Autobots would also give great trust to Decepticons who genuinely defected to them.

But the Autobots were not run by him alone!

Otherwise, Optimus Prime would not have left the temporary Autobot headquarters hidden on a satellite of Cybertron to wander throughout the galaxy, until he was summoned to the Autobots by Bumblebee.

The Autobots currently on Earth were faring far worse than Sun Cheng.

Regarding this point, he was still very confident.

The Autobots might have a deeper foundation, and if given some time to develop, they could soon catch up to his side.

And this time might only be about a year or two.

But did they really think Sun Cheng was so kind back then to hand over Africa, known as the last colony on Earth, to the Autobots for nothing?

Not to mention that for the Autobots to develop, they would need a large amount of mineral and metal resources, which would seriously damage the interests of various African countries.

Old Europe also retained quite a bit of influence and privilege in Africa.

Moreover, after the United States lost South America as its important economic and mineral Garden, domestic capital had been pouring into Africa in large quantities in recent years.

With several factors combined, if the Autobots wanted to develop in Africa, it was destined that they would become a thorn in the side of various African countries and the West.

Otherwise, did they really think that for the past few months, the Autobots would be harassed by various human armed forces from time to time in Africa for no reason?

And why would the Tombstone unit have appeared in Africa not long ago?

Humans were pressing step by step, and the development time left for the Autobots was already running out.

Sun Cheng had enough patience to wait for Jetfire's answer.

However, as his gaze fell on Atlas, he decided to add some fuel to the fire.

Immediately, Sun Cheng spoke up and asked: "Atlas, is the 'Sky Bridge Project' you are currently pushing forward going smoothly? Earth is very unsafe right now; the appearance of the Quintessons has made me smell the scent of war. I need to know how much longer it will take to achieve the goals of the first phase."

Atlas was stunned at first. Although the Sky Bridge Project had been implemented for a few months, Sun Cheng had personally visited the test a month ago, so he should be very clear that with their current technological reserves, it was impossible in the short term to achieve the ability to rapidly transport over ten thousand tons of supplies within two thousand kilometers!

He was just about to speak!

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration hit him, and he reacted abruptly.

The Commander was not really asking him about the Sky Bridge Project, but had other motives.

Atlas gave a subtle glance at Jetfire on the side, and suddenly everything was understood.

Immediately, he organized his words slightly and replied: "Commander, the progress of the Sky Bridge Project is not going smoothly. The Space Bridge technology you obtained from Sentinel Prime is not perfect. We also had no technical reserves in this area before, and currently, we are all relying on repeated experiments to constantly verify and accumulate relevant experience."

Sun Cheng frowned slightly: "Give me a rough timetable; how long will it take you to complete the first phase goal."

Just as Jetfire was about to speak, he immediately interrupted again: "No need to find too many excuses. The Sky Bridge Project is very important for our safety in the next phase. I have already given the 【Academy of Sciences】 the maximum degree of resource tilt. Although I know this is indeed a bit difficult for you, you also need to understand one point: the native indigenous civilization on the planet we are currently on is very repulsive to us. And, the Quintessons are coming!"

Atlas opened his mouth and looked at Sun Cheng seriously.

At this moment, he also felt the pressure weighing on the Commander.

Thus, Atlas, who originally only wanted to cooperate with him to pique Jetfire's interest, also began to think seriously.

After comparing in his heart for a while, Atlas gave an answer that was not so certain.

"At least three years, possibly even twice as long!"

"Commander, the breakthrough of the first phase Task of the Sky Bridge Project is far from as simple as you imagine."

"We previously increased the transmission distance to 10 kilometers during the third test, and the weight of the items was also increased to 500 kilograms; although the test was a success!"

"But for the fourth test, if we follow our original plan, the distance will be increased by 50 kilometers, and the weight of the items to be transported will also be increased to 5 tons. The risks that may be encountered in this process and the amount of calculation required mean we need to use the Super Intelligence to repeatedly simulate over a thousand tests to ensure nothing goes wrong."

"Currently, I am still in the preparation stage of the fourth test. In the process of simulation testing, we have already encountered many cases of simulation failure. The Sky Bridge Project team is currently focusing on tackling and solving the technical difficulties encountered!"

Sun Cheng nodded with a heavy expression, which was, of course, faked.

He had long been mentally prepared for the slow progress of the Sky Bridge Project.

Although the Memory Data of Sentinel Prime provided them with a lot of convenience, those Memory Data were ultimately incomplete, and many key parts were encrypted.

He also didn't know if the Cybertronians were all guarding against others prying into more secrets from their own Memory Data after they died.

After Atlas finished answering, Sun Cheng did not forget the reason he asked him just now.

He followed up on this question and turned his head to look at Jetfire again.

"Lord Jetfire, we very much hope that you can stay, join us, serve as the dean of the 【Academy of Sciences】, and start from scratch with us to rebuild the Cybertronian civilization."

"Of course, if you are unwilling, we will not force you."

"However, in order to cope with the war that is very likely to come next, I hope to use minerals and energy in exchange for your help in perfecting our Sky Bridge Project, to ensure that the Spark of the Cybertronian civilization will not be extinguished again."