Decepticons Once Appeared on This Planet

"Great System, what are you trying to tell me? Are you saying that this senior named Skyfire built this place not just to replenish energy temporarily, but because he had a long-term plan? Then why didn't we detect any Decepticon or Autobot bases when we arrived on this planet? And that Skyfire guy has been here for at least a thousand years—what was he doing here?"

Starscream's reasoning was perfectly sound. Although he had just sampled the energy converted from that substance called oil, similar energy sources and substitutes existed on other planets. Even if Skyfire had been an old-timer from a thousand years ago, he could not possibly have been that shortsighted!

Unless this planet beneath Starscream's feet concealed some even more astonishing secret. But as far as Decepticons were concerned, aside from fighting over energy, Starscream really could not think of anything else that would be especially valuable.

"Host, since we now have a steady energy supply, why not take this opportunity to inspect this planet inside and out?"

It seemed the Ever-Changing Steel System was no less curious than Starscream. In any case, they were in no hurry to return to Cybertron—they were worried Sixshot might recognize them—so staying here for a while was not a bad idea.

"Fine! Then let's check whether there are any other valuable clues in this Decepticon outpost. Even if that Skyfire fellow vanished, he must have left something behind, right?"

Just as Starscream made up his mind to search the outpost from top to bottom, restless explosions seemed to sound again aboveground. However, this disturbance did not seem nearly as intense as when Swoop had attacked earlier. Could another Autobot have arrived outside?

Naturally, the answer was no. When Starscream returned to the surface, he discovered that it was a battle between humans. More precisely, a group of soldiers carrying tattered banners had launched another surprise attack on this Xiongnu gathering site.

"Great divine envoy, we are terribly sorry for disturbing your communication with the Needle God! These hateful Central Plains people truly do not know their place. They sent only a few common soldiers to provoke us again. We will drive them all off shortly and offer these brats' lives to the great true god."

Well, the battle before him truly left Starscream speechless. These humans, averaging less than 1.7 meters in height, only knew how to hack at one another with all kinds of sticks and crude blades. At most, they fired wooden arrows at each other while shouting at the top of their lungs. It really left Starscream, a super robot, utterly speechless.

What was more, after the commander of the opposing army saw Starscream appear, he actually pointed his little blade in Starscream's direction and ordered his men to fire.

"Starscream, activate the energy shield!"

A pink, purely optical shield condensed under the infusion of energy into a dense, non-physical barrier, directly blocking a volley of arrows flying toward him.

Starscream had not intended to join the battle between these low-level humans. But they refused to leave him alone. What else could he do? Use his laser cannon to show these tiny humans what anger truly meant?

"You fools who don't know what's good for you, I'll show you the fundamental difference between cold weapons and firearms. Let me teach you a lesson today!"

Watching the human soldiers firing arrows at him, Starscream immediately drew his laser gun. But just as he was about to pull the trigger, the spark within his body began to throb inexplicably again.

Black hair, black pupils, yellow skin... That was Starscream's first impression of those attackers. They seemed different from the Xiongnu beside him, perhaps due to regional differences!

Boom!

"Neigh!"

But disturbed by the pulse of his spark, Starscream's muzzle dipped slightly when he fired. Even so, the power of that shot was still more than ordinary humans could withstand. The several leaders riding horses were immediately thrown from their mounts, then seized by the swarming Xiongnu soldiers.

Starscream did not know why he had shown mercy, but these black-haired humans gave him a feeling that was familiar yet exceedingly strange, as though he himself had once been one of them.

Could it be because his circuitry had not fully recovered since arriving on this planet?

"Thank you for lending us a hand, Divine Envoy. These Central Plains people truly do not know their place. With so few men, they still dared come here to cause trouble. Once we find the Great Demon God's temple, we will sacrifice every last one of them. What does the Divine Envoy think?"

What was going on? What exactly were these Xiongnu looking for? Did it have anything to do with the Decepticons? Or had Skyfire been involved back then as well?

"Take those Central Plains people away. I will interrogate them personally. Without my permission, none of you may kill them. Understood?"

Perhaps Starscream's earlier shot had broadened the horizons of the humans holding primitive weapons around him, or perhaps it was their innate fear of the Decepticons. Even though those Central Plains people had caused significant damage to the Xiongnu stronghold, they still did not dare defy Starscream. They obediently delivered the prisoners to the entrance of the Decepticon outpost, but not one of them dared step inside.

"Let me see what secrets you little ones are hiding."

There were three captives before Starscream, and they appeared to be the leaders of the earlier disturbance. He did not stand on ceremony, lifting the three humans into his base as easily as chicks. He then shut the reinforced steel door behind them to prevent anyone outside from overhearing.

"Y-you hateful demon god! Our Great Han will never allow your king to be resurrected! Our ancestors should have sealed all of you away during the Battle of Zhuolu. You should stay underground and behave yourselves!"

Though they were tightly bound, and the towering steel giant before them looked immensely powerful, the leader among the three showed no sign of yielding. That stubborn expression was just like those Autobot warriors who had desperately resisted the Decepticons until the very last moment of the Battle of Cybertron.

What secrets were hidden within the long river of human history? And what did those secrets have to do with the Decepticons or the Autobots?