The Bumblebee Is Standing By

"A robbery and homicide occurred in Queens, New York; the perpetrator is currently at large..."

"Recently, a mysterious masked vigilante has appeared on the streets of New York to fight crime, whom the citizens of New York have affectionately dubbed the Justice Kid..."

"The Justice Kid frequently patrols the streets, and after knocking down criminals, he habitually checks their wrists, seemingly searching for something..."

"Captain George Stacy of the Queens Police Department has publicly denounced the Justice Kid's actions, stating that he has no law enforcement authority, that this is an abuse of force and a contempt for the law, and declaring that he will do everything in his power to bring the Justice Kid to justice!"

In a flash, two days passed like a white horse galloping past a crack in a wall.

Li Si, who had been reviewing the news reports from the past two days, sighed, closed his laptop, and stood up while stretching his stiff neck.

"Max, continue the tests, get ready to record!"

Li Si shouted while stretching his back.

"No problem!"

Max, who had been resting, flipped up and grabbed the camera from the side.

The garage, which had been incredibly cluttered and filled with various parts, had now been cleared, leaving only a tall, silver-white robot standing in the center of the warehouse.

"Log, 12th power-on test begins!"

Li Si turned his head and said calmly to the camera Max was holding, then pressed the wireless headset on his right ear with one hand to issue the command: "Bumblebee, activate!"

"Beep~"

A warning sound came from the robot, then its eyes suddenly lit up with a brilliant azure glow, and at the same time, the speaker in its mouth emitted a synthesized mechanical voice:

"Transformer Bumblebee, sleep mode cancelled, executing default self-check sequence..."

"Self-check complete, all systems operating normally, Bumblebee standing by!"

Li Si signaled to Max and said, "Perform the voice recognition test, Max!"

"OK!"

Giving an OK gesture, Max took the headset Li Si handed him, put it on, and then faced Bumblebee: "Bumblebee, transform into vehicle mode!"

"Voice signature does not match, command rejected. If special authorization is required, please recite the emergency voice password."

"Activate combat program module!" Max said again.

"Voice signature does not match, command rejected..."

"Deploy remote weapons..."

"Voice signature does not match, rejected..."

After a series of tests, Max handed the headset back to Li Si.

"Voice recognition test passed, beginning transformation test, chassis performance test..."

Li Si took the headset and put it back on his right ear, then recorded a note for the camera and proceeded with the remaining test items: "Bumblebee, transform into vehicle mode!"

"Command received, beginning vehicle mode transformation!"

Bumblebee's eyes flashed, and the parts all over its body began to shift rapidly.

First, the chest armor shaped like the front of a car lifted to cover the head and merged with the back armor; then, the entire torso crouched to the ground as the limbs folded inward and pressed against the sides of the torso to form the car's chassis; finally, the doors, wheels, and other scattered components shifted into place.

The entire transformation process was incredibly fluid, taking less than two seconds in total. Once finished, a sleek, silver-white, cool sports car sat in its place, and the car automatically ignited, emitting a heart-pounding roar.

"It's done!"

Li Si and Max both broke into joyful smiles.

"Transformation process took one point zero eight seconds, the stalling phenomenon has been eliminated, transformation successful!"

Li Si turned his face toward Max's camera again; despite his inner excitement, the experimental logs still had to be kept.

Next, the two conducted a series of tests on the flexibility of the mechanical arms and the mounted weapons; Bumblebee's performance perfectly met all expected goals.

"Li, we did it!"

After all items were tested and it was confirmed there were no other defects, Max cheered.

"Spray the shock-absorbing coating, then we'll go out for a big meal to celebrate!"

Li Si was also invigorated, the exhaustion of the past three days swept away, and he led Max to begin the final painting work, full of energy.

The color of the paint was, of course, bright yellow; since he had named it Bumblebee, he had to respect the original image.

However, this paint was not an ordinary automotive coating, but a special coating material he had formulated using real-world Earth technology. It had strong shock-absorbing capabilities; it could be said that even if a watermelon were sprayed with this coating and thrown from the third floor, it would remain intact, or even bounce like a billiard ball.

"Although there are still some issues with dealing with super-powered combatants like Spider-Man who have off-the-charts agility, it should be more than enough to deal with the Lizard, and it could even go toe-to-toe with the Hulk right after he transforms."

After spraying was finished, Li Si looked at the four-meter-tall bright yellow giant robot beside him and smiled with satisfaction.

Bumblebee's limbs used a hybrid of hydraulic and electric power, with the arms outputting 10 tons of force; considering parameters like mechanical energy transmission and inertia, the maximum theoretical output could reach 18 tons, while the legs output 16 tons, with a maximum output of 24 tons.

The whole body was covered in a high-strength gold-titanium alloy shell, and the shell had a special anti-explosion and anti-drop coating, making its defensive power absolutely off the charts.

For the power system, the vehicle form used a traditional internal combustion engine and was equipped with a power generation device for daily charging, while the combat form used eight graphene series battery packs as an energy supply.

The weapon system featured a six-barreled Gatling gun hidden within the arm armor, two micro-missile nests set on the shoulders, and a huge ammunition box inside the chest cavity; the firepower was absolutely sufficient—it wouldn't move unless necessary, but once it did, it would provide barrage-style coverage, which Li Si had specifically prepared for those agile super-powered individuals.

In addition to this, there was also a special weapon system, the inventor of which was Max.

Max not only improved the chassis circuitry but also designed a discharge system; once activated, the entire outer shell would be enveloped in high-intensity electrical currents, and the stinging sensation released during melee combat was something no enemy would ever want to experience a second time.

Unfortunately, this system was not without its flaws. After all, Bumblebee's power source was merely a battery pack rather than black-tech miniaturized nuclear fusion energy like an Arc Reactor; the electricity he could store had a limit, and that limit was not particularly high.

Activating this discharge system could not be sustained for long, and if the enemy was not dealt with in a short amount of time, he would fall into the predicament of being low on power.

However, having an extra combat method was always a good thing, and since the required modifications were minor—involving only the wiring and the addition of an internal insulation layer—it had no impact on the chassis's inherent performance.

"Max, get in the car, let's go for a spin!"

Sitting in the driver's seat of Bumblebee, Li Si patted the passenger seat and called Max over.

Immediately following, the engine roared, and amidst the blood-pumping growl, they transformed into a streak of yellow light and sped away.