Secondary Augmentation Technique

Tony Stark awoke from a coma only to discover a strange mechanical device embedded in his chest. As a genius scientist proficient in mechanical engineering, he understood at a single glance that it was an electromagnet.

"Don't move around. Several pieces of shrapnel have entered your chest. If it weren't for this magnet, those shards would have pierced your heart." A young man's voice reached him, causing Tony Stark to turn his head and glance to the side.

An Asian man who looked to be only about twenty years old; Tony realized he had never seen this person before and had absolutely no impression of him.

The only thing he remembered was arriving in this godforsaken desert, being attacked by terrorists, getting hit by a rocket, and then passing out.

"Did you save me?" Tony Stark asked.

"Not me. The one who saved you is over there." Luo Xia gestured toward Yinsen; he had no interest in claiming credit for this.

"Regardless, I must thank you. You must be the one who took out those terrorists." Tony Stark was a genius, and not just in the field of scientific research.

As a successful businessman, reading people was a vital skill. With just a cursory glance, he saw the corpses of the terrorists and the terrified captives.

Only the young Asian man before him remained calm, so it was obvious that he was the one who had neutralized the terrorists.

"These Ten Rings members are just an appetizer. I fear greater trouble lies ahead," Luo Xia said to Tony.

"What do you mean?" Tony frowned, understanding that there was more to Luo Xia's words.

"Haven't you wondered how those terrorists knew your itinerary? Was your kidnapping truly just a coincidence?" Luo Xia reminded him.

"You mean... someone leaked my whereabouts to them."

Tony fell into deep thought, as there were very few people who knew his itinerary, and all of them were people of great importance in his life. If any one of them had truly done this, it would be a devastating blow to him.

"Now is not the time to dwell on that. A few of those terrorists escaped earlier, and I'm not sure if they'll return. But if they do appear again, they will likely bring more terrorists and more powerful weapons. Therefore, I believe we should waste no time and get moving," Luo Xia said to Tony.

"What do you suggest? With just the few of us, it's impossible to deal with those terrorists."

"I have two suggestions. First, you need to contact the U.S. military as soon as possible. This place is a terrorist stronghold, so finding communication equipment shouldn't be difficult. If all else fails, I believe you can build something yourself."

"That's no problem. I will contact Rhodey as soon as I can. He is an Air Force colonel and a good friend of mine."

"Second, if possible, I hope you can help me fix this vehicle as soon as possible." Luo Xia pointed to the off-road vehicle that Luo Fei had transformed into.

Tony heard this and asked with some confusion: "Why? Aren't there several identical vehicles over there? That should be enough for all of us to leave."

Tony had assumed Luo Xia wanted to use the desert off-road vehicle to evacuate the area, so he truly couldn't understand why he wouldn't choose one of the intact ones, instead wasting time repairing a damaged one.

Luo Xia didn't explain, simply snapping his fingers.

Then, the damaged off-road vehicle flashed its lights and roared to life, driving over to Luo Xia's side.

"Luo Fei, meet Tony Stark, your next surgeon."

As soon as Luo Xia finished speaking, the damaged off-road vehicle transformed back into its robotic form.

"Hello, Mr. Stark. I am Luo Fei, a newly born Cybertronian..." Luo Fei was about to launch into a long-winded introduction to the stunned Tony Stark.

Luo Xia immediately interrupted: "Shut up, Luo Fei."

"As you command, honorable Commander," Luo Fei saluted.

"What... what is this thing?" Tony asked Luo Xia, shocked by the scene before him.

"An intelligent robot, though now is not the time for explanations. I need you to repair Luo Fei, because he will be our trump card for survival."

If he could, Luo Xia really didn't want to expose Luo Fei to others. However, many people here had already seen him, and since he would need to rely on Tony's abilities moving forward, there was no point in hiding it; he might as well show it openly.

It took Tony quite a while to suppress his astonishment, and then he began to study Luo Fei with great interest.

Seeing Tony walking toward him with an almost drooling expression, Luo Fei quickly said: "Mr. Stark, what are you doing? Please control your emotions."

"Don't worry, I'll keep it under control. But for now, let me see your damaged parts. Don't be afraid, I'll be very gentle," Tony said with a smile.

Luo Xia didn't really care whether Tony would take Luo Fei apart. Even if he did, he believed this genius scientist would be able to put him back together. Therefore, Luo Xia went off on his own to search the corpses of the terrorists.

In a situation where he didn't know how many days he would have to wait in this desert, any supplies were precious, especially water and food. Luo Xia couldn't survive on gasoline and lubricant like Luo Fei.

However, when he touched one of the terrorist's corpses, he sensed another piece of information.

[Detected firearm: pistol, caliber...]

A series of basic data regarding this Browning pistol appeared in Luo Xia's mind.

With his previous experience, Luo Xia went straight to the final line: [Integrity 99%, meets requirements for secondary modification technology, can consume 500 points of AllSpark energy to modify into a pulse pistol.]

Secondary modification technology? Luo Xia wasn't quite sure what this ability actually was.

Luo Xia's understanding of the AllSpark was still limited to the movie version, the setting where it could create Transformers. Although Luo Fei had told him that this AllSpark was more powerful than the one in the film, Luo Xia didn't have a clear concept of it.

Seeing this information now, Luo Xia began to seriously study his "cheat."

When he closed his eyes and focused his attention on his hands, he found a flood of information pouring out, making his head throb.

[AllSpark Energy (Stage 1): 1000/1000, energy recovery rate 1/sec.]

[Skills possessed: 1. Intelligent Sequence Activation; 2. Secondary Modification Technology;]

[Please increase the AllSpark energy cap as soon as possible to unlock more functions.]

Unlock more functions—Luo Xia almost misread it as "unlock more positions." Intelligent Sequence Activation was what Luo Xia understood it to be: creating Cybertronian robots like Luo Fei using AllSpark energy. Luo Xia opened the details for the second skill, Secondary Modification Technology, and found that the content was quite extensive.