"Bzzzz..."
The dawn light swept across the horizon, shining over the yellow desert and reflecting a faint golden glow.
Under Stark and the others' watchful eyes, a pitch-black Attack Helicopter descended slowly into Camp like a massive black eagle.
When the cockpit door opened and Stark saw the youthful face of the teenager stepping out, his eyes widened at once.
"Merlin! My God, Merlin's Beard, it really is you." When Frank and the others had told him that Merlin was responsible for the logistics and planning for this mission, he had still found it hard to believe.
After all, Merlin was still a high school student. The thought of him traveling all the way to Afghanistan to save Stark was something he had never even dared imagine.
Merlin smiled and waved at him. "Long time no see, Mr. Stark."
"Long time no see. Honestly, seeing you really gave me a fright." Stark shook his head, sounding somewhat emotional.
After chatting for a while, Merlin looked at the two people lying on the ground.
Erica, dressed in red, had been pierced through the chest by a sai and no longer showed any sign of life.
Bullseye's back, meanwhile, was a mangled mass of flesh and blood, though he still had a weak breath.
"Bullseye is pretty tenacious, but even if we save him, he'll only be bedridden and paralyzed from now on," Frank said. That shotgun blast had shattered Bullseye's spine.
If he had been any closer, there probably would have been a gaping hole instead.
"Tsk. Wouldn't it have been better to just finish the mission properly? Why insist on stealing the kill?" Merlin shook his head.
The mission had gone smoothly. With Merlin constantly calling out positions, almost no one had been injured. Even without Merlin, they would have had no problem dealing with the enemies, and there had been plenty of room for error.
Yet in the end, infighting had left one dead and one crippled.
Merlin had expected this to some extent, though, so he was not too surprised.
"Still, it's pretty surprising that you didn't finish him off," Merlin said, recalling Frank's methods.
"We're still teammates for now," Frank replied flatly.
The game was not over yet.
Merlin shrugged, then looked at Stark and Yinsen.
"Are you coming back with us, or waiting for someone to pick you up?"
"There just happen to be two empty spots." Merlin pointed at the two people on the ground.
Yinsen looked at Stark. Honestly, he was still rather confused about the current situation.
"Of course I'm coming with you. I don't want to stay in a Camp full of corpses," Stark answered without hesitation.
"Alright, carry those two up and put them in the middle of the cabin. Let's go. We can talk on the plane."
"What about my armor?" Stark asked, pointing at the prototype suit he was wearing.
"Leave it here, obviously. My aircraft can't fit it."
"If you can't bear to part with it, call your people and have them pick it up."
"Looks like that's the only way..." Stark naturally did not want to abandon it. It was his first suit of armor; even if it was crude, it was worth keeping as a collectible.
After taking off the armor, he boarded the helicopter with Natasha and the others. He called Obadiah and Pepper to let them know he was safe and told them to send someone to retrieve the armor, then left Camp with the group.
Natasha also reported the situation at the scene to Director Fury.
But Fury was currently dealing with a mysterious intrusion signal that was giving him a headache.
Apple City, Manhattan, Broadway.
Broadway was Apple City's theater and entertainment district. Close to Wall Street, it had always been a place where many upper-class people came for amusement.
But today, chaos had erupted on the prosperous streets of Broadway. A yellow Chevrolet sports car raced down the road, pursued by a police car.
Both vehicles sped through the streets. In the driver's seat of the worn-out Chevrolet was a short-haired high school student, clutching his head with both hands in panic and shouting incoherently.
The Ford Mustang 281 police car pursuing him was even stranger: the driver's seat was completely empty, with no one at the wheel.
"Bumblebee, stop and hand that human over to me!" Barricade's roar was transmitted as a special frequency.
Bumblebee received the signal but did not answer. He simply carried Sam toward an open area.
Soon, after the two chased each other back and forth, they arrived beneath a remote overpass. The area was deserted, filled with rows of towering concrete pillars.
Bumblebee drifted sideways, flung open his door, and tossed Sam out.
Then, under Sam's dumbfounded gaze, he began transforming.
"Click! Click! Click..."
Accompanied by crisp mechanical sounds, the car's components split apart and reassembled. The Chevrolet sports car Sam's father had bought for four thousand dollars transformed into a towering robot.
The instant Bumblebee transformed, his arm cannon sprang out and aimed at Barricade's pursuing police car.
Boom! The Plasma Cannon exploded right in front of Barricade, kicking up thick smoke and sparks.
Barricade drifted sideways to evade it. The next moment, he transformed into a massive robot with glowing crimson eyes, bursting through the smoke as his hands became cutting claws that lunged straight at Bumblebee.
At the same time, a small robot shot out from Barricade's body like a spider and chased after Sam.
Barricade was a scout and hunter among the Decepticons, usually equipped with a Cybertronian Spider similar to a tracking hound.
Faced with pursuit, Sam, who still had no idea what was happening, could only flee frantically through the Stone Pillar Forest.
But in his panic, he was clearly no match for the small robot chasing him. Before long, its hooked claw snagged his backpack.
Thud! Dragged by the small robot, Sam crashed to the ground.
"Bzzzz..." The small robot's claw spun at high speed, closing in on Sam like a drill.
"Tell me! Are you Mr. Popular?"
"No, no, no! I'm Sam, Sam Witwicky!" Sam screamed in terror as the drill drew closer and closer.
"No. You are Mr. Popular."
Just as the drill was about to reach him, Sam suddenly remembered something. "Wait, wait, my online username is Mr. Popular..."
But before he could finish, a red laser pierced straight through the robot's head.
Sam turned back in shock and saw a modified red Ducati motorcycle racing toward the two massive Autobots.
Whoosh!!! At that moment, a piercing roar came from the sky as a gray F22 Raptor suddenly appeared above the battlefield.
Whoosh! Whoosh!!! Four missiles howled through the air, enveloping Bumblebee.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!!
The force of the fiery explosions blasted Bumblebee away, sending him crashing heavily into a concrete pillar.
But just as Starscream prepared to transform and seize Bumblebee, several missiles suddenly exploded across his body.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!! Fireballs erupted across the F22 Raptor Starscream had transformed into, and his main body plummeted toward the ground.
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