Rewards from the Ever-Changing Steel System

Just as Optimus Prime and his remaining warriors were planning a full-scale retreat, Starscream received a long-awaited system notification.

"Ding-dong. Congratulations, Host, for helping the Autobots escape successfully. The system has now unlocked 20%. Please accept your mission reward—Mimetic Transformation!"

"What's going on? Could you explain it in more detail? What's this thing for?"

"This is an Impersonator Skill. Without altering any of your existing functions, you may transform into any form you wish. This skill will undoubtedly prove invaluable in your future missions!"

All right, it didn't sound like a particularly powerful skill. It felt a bit like Sun Wukong's Seventy-Two Transformations from Journey to the West. Maybe someday Starscream could transform himself into Megatron just for fun. Unfortunately, it could only imitate appearances and could not truly transform him in every sense. Otherwise, wouldn't Starscream be invincible?

Just as Starscream was speaking with his system, the red light on his communicator suddenly began flashing.

"Commander Starscream, Lord Megatron is summoning everyone to assign new combat missions. Please report to the High Command immediately. The meeting will begin in fifteen minutes!"

What the hell? Megatron really knew how to stir things up. They had just been beaten black and blue by the Autobots—was he unwilling to accept it and planning to win back face? That war maniac was unbearable. Still, Starscream believed his performance earlier had been flawless. At most, Megatron would call him a coward or a piece of trash a few times, and that would be that. That idiot Decepticon leader had always been like this, anyway.

Having figured that out, Starscream pressed the button acknowledging the order and set off.

"Starscream, transform!"

Amid a series of clacking mechanical assembly sounds, Starscream, who had been in robot form just moments ago, instantly turned into a brightly colored jet fighter. With a whoosh, he vanished into Cybertron's pitch-black starry sky. About eight minutes later, he appeared at the Decepticons' high-level roundtable meeting with one leg crossed over the other, seated in the position directly beneath Megatron.

"Good, is everyone here? Soundwave, begin!"

Megatron was utterly pleased with himself at that moment. Once an unknown nobody, he had now become the ruler of all Cybertron. He commanded the powerful Decepticon army and possessed energy reserves so vast they were nearly inexhaustible. This was surely every Transformer's dream.

Yet Megatron had always had a thorn in his heart, and that thorn was called the Autobots. Although the Autobots had already been completely marginalized, as long as he had not taken the sparks of those bastards, Megatron felt uncomfortable in every single part.

"Thank you, Commander Megatron, for giving me this opportunity. As everyone knows, our archenemies, the Autobots, are practically on their last legs. All that remains is that small band of rebels led by Optimus Prime. But if we do not wipe them out completely, Cybertron will never know peace. Therefore, we..."

Megatron really was harping on the same old tune. Who knew what kind of grudge he had against the Autobots? They had already become an endangered species, yet these people still wanted to exterminate them all. In truth, most Decepticon leaders had already grown bored of this way of life.

Just as Soundwave was enthusiastically explaining, a massive Headmaster immediately voiced his impatience.

"Soundwave, are you ever going to shut up, you old fossil? Every meeting, you keep rambling on and on. It's always Autobots this, Autobots that. Don't you have anything new to talk about? For example, how many female sparks have you gotten? The Autobots used to have quite a few females, while we Decepticons are basically all men. Don't you think something's missing?"

The one who stepped forward to challenge him was Great Dinosaur Saurus, a rising star from the Southern Theater who had already gathered tens of thousands of supporters. To appease him, Megatron had no choice but to grant him the title of Commander of the Sixth Theater.

And the opinion Great Dinosaur Saurus had raised seemed to reflect what all the Decepticons were thinking. They had shed their former identities as low-level Transformers and become some of Cybertron's most sought-after figures. Wasn't it time to start talking about enjoying themselves?

"Saurus, quiet down for a moment and let Soundwave finish his intelligence report. We are already working on the things you mentioned. As the commander of the Sixth Theater, shouldn't you first eliminate our enemies before bringing up matters of pleasure?"

It seemed Megatron still had to step in personally to keep the situation under control. Sure enough, the moment their leader stood up, Great Dinosaur Saurus, who had been shouting just moments before, fell silent.

Although everyone had long since grown dissatisfied with stubborn old Megatron, they still had to give him some respect on the surface.

"As you command, Lord Megatron! Then hurry up and tell us where those Autobot remnants are hiding. Let me take my men and wipe them all out, so we don't have to bring up such depressing nonsense at every meeting!"

It seemed Megatron had achieved the result he wanted. Although the Decepticons present did not share the old man's blood-deep hatred for the Autobots, they all understood the principle of pulling up weeds by the roots. Especially that Autobot leader named Optimus Prime—he had once been Cybertron's shining star, considered the best candidate to lead the planet back to prosperity. Now, however, he was nothing more than the leader of a rebel force. Such were the times that made heroes!

"Then let us continue! Please look here. This is footage captured by our spy satellites. We have reason to believe that the Autobots have reached the end of the road. They appear to be building a spacecraft launch base, intending to use their limited resources to escape Cybertron. Therefore, what we must do next is completely destroy the Autobots' final base and turn them all into dust in the cosmos!"

All right! It seemed Optimus Prime and the others really were in terrible straits. Every move they made was completely under Megatron's watchful eye. Even though they planned to leave Cybertron, the Decepticon leader still had no intention of letting them go!

"You have all seen it—Soundwave's intelligence has always been the most accurate! I now announce that we will launch a universe-wide manhunt for the Autobots. This will also be the horn sounding the Decepticons' domination of the entire universe. Do you understand what I mean?"