Crisis and Opportunity

Fear!

Fear from the depths of his heart!

Even Soundwave, the leader of the [Cassette Corps], was extremely wary of Starscream. Before sending Frenzy to Barricade, he had repeatedly warned him never to get close to Starscream.

Not only was Starscream immensely powerful, but he was also vicious and unpredictable. Worse still, he was one of the Decepticon Corps' foremost scientists.

If he wished, breaking through the [Spy Template]'s security safeguards and examining every piece of data in Sun Cheng's memory chip would be effortless.

The thought that his identity as a transmigrator might be exposed made Sun Cheng even more uneasy. Yet Starscream was right beside him; there was no way he could run. He could only heighten his vigilance in secret, standing there stiffly as he watched Starscream warily.

Starscream looked down at him, the smile on his face widening while the killing intent in his red electronic eyes grew ever clearer.

Still smiling, he said to Sun Cheng, "It seems our little friend doesn't trust me very much..."

Barricade sauntered over and respectfully bowed to him. "That is because he has yet to learn of your greatness, Lord Starscream!"

Having said that, he turned to Sun Cheng, his savage face likewise crammed with a smile.

"Vermin, offer up your loyalty to the great leader!"

"No, no, no... Barricade, there's no need to frighten our little friend like that..." Starscream said with a smile as he walked toward Sun Cheng. Just then, an engineer carrying equipment bumped into his leg. The engineer fell with a slap, and the machine in his arms crashed to the ground in pieces.

Starscream glanced down at the engineer, the smile never leaving his face. He bent slightly, grabbed him, and, ignoring the engineer's struggles, tore him in half with a single pull of both hands. Then he casually tossed the halves onto the open ground beside Sun Cheng, where they landed with two heavy BOOMS.

The sound made Sun Cheng's frame tremble, but he still did not dare move. He could only remain honestly where he was, watching uneasily as Starscream slowly approached and bent down, bringing his head as close as possible. Still smiling and baring his mouthful of vicious teeth, he said unhurriedly, "I want you to do two things for me..."

The moment he heard that, Sun Cheng felt as though the heart lodged in his throat could finally settle down for the moment.

Since Starscream needed him to do something, he probably would not harm him—at least not before the job was done.

But what exactly did the other party want him to do? That only made Sun Cheng even more uneasy.

Seeing that Starscream kept staring at him after finishing, clearly waiting for his response, Sun Cheng did not dare delay when his life was on the line. He quickly agreed, "Lord Starscream, it is my honor to serve you!"

Though he said that, he had already made up his mind. Once he left this damned base, he had to find a way back to his original world as quickly as possible. This place was simply too dangerous!

As expected of Starscream, a scheming warlord. Seeing how readily Sun Cheng agreed, the smile abruptly vanished from his face, and his gaze turned cold as well.

"Don't try to fool me. If I want to kill you, Soundwave wouldn't dare say a word against it!" he warned Sun Cheng calmly, his tone flat but brimming with killing intent.

Sun Cheng's body jerked. He truly believed those words. He knew full well that, with Soundwave's combat strength and the power of the [Cassette Corps], he would never fight Starscream over a low-ranking spy like him. There was no chance of winning.

Sun Cheng even suspected that Starscream could kill Laserbeak, Soundwave's pet and trusted lieutenant, and Soundwave might still not dare go to war with him.

Unless Shockwave also came to Earth, or the leader he served—Megatron—returned.

Having quickly recognized just how terrible his current situation was, Sun Cheng completely abandoned some of the thoughts in his heart. He immediately imitated Barricade and respectfully bowed. "Decepticon spy—Frenzy—stands ready to serve you. Lord Starscream, please give your orders..."

"Very good!"

Starscream's eyes shifted, and he suddenly asked, "First, tell me about the mission Soundwave sent you to Earth to carry out!"

Sun Cheng's body shook, blue light flickering in his eyes. Though he had long known that Starscream would not be placated by a few casual words of loyalty, he had not expected him to be so decisive, leaving him no chance at all to report back to Soundwave.

When he sensed Barricade beside him seem to move, the crisis looming over him felt even more pressing. He made his decision at once and, not daring to hide anything, directly sold Soundwave out.

"Lord Soundwave sent me to Earth with Lord Barricade for two main missions. First, to assist Lord Barricade in searching for any clues regarding Lord Megatron and the [AllSpark]. Second, to investigate why you suddenly left Cybertron and came to Earth decades ago!"

A brilliant smile bloomed across Starscream's face again. His pair of blood-red eyes, radiating an ominous light, fixed on Sun Cheng as he continued asking, "When will Blackout reach the Solar System? Has Shockwave come as well?"

Blackout was also one of the Decepticon Corps' elite warriors. He was a staunch supporter of Megatron, and his relations with both Starscream and Barricade were somewhat tense.

However, Sun Cheng felt that what Starscream truly wanted to know was probably not information about Blackout, but about Shockwave.

Megatron's disappearance had clearly left the Decepticon Corps, once accustomed to his iron-fisted rule, fractured into countless factions that vied against one another. The two largest forces were undoubtedly Starscream and Shockwave.

Both were Megatron's right-hand men. Even before Megatron disappeared, the former had repeatedly launched rebellions, so there was no need to mention the extent of his ambition. After suddenly leaving Cybertron for the Solar System decades ago, he had even established a Moon Base. If he claimed it was truly for the sake of finding Megatron, probably not even Starscream himself would believe it.

Strictly speaking, Shockwave could not be considered a faction of his own. Like Blackout and Soundwave, the Decepticon Corps' acting commander was a supporter of Megatron. The fact that the Decepticon Corps had remained in control of Cybertron after Megatron's disappearance was undoubtedly due in no small part to Shockwave. At the same time, he was probably the person Starscream feared most after Megatron.

Without question, Starscream's two questions had truly stumped Sun Cheng.

Although he had once used Blackout to intimidate Barricade, he genuinely did not know when Blackout would arrive in the Solar System. He had only learned from Frenzy's memory data that Soundwave had mentioned Blackout would be coming soon.

As for Shockwave, apart from knowing his identity, Sun Cheng did not even know what he looked like.

After organizing his words, Sun Cheng answered, "Lord Blackout may arrive in the Solar System before long. As for Lord Shockwave, Lord Soundwave has never disclosed any information about him!"

The implication was, My boss Soundwave might know, but he never told me.

Starscream had clearly understood the meaning in his words at once. Or perhaps he had never expected a low-ranking Decepticon spy like Sun Cheng to possess such classified intelligence.

Therefore, no impatience appeared on his face. Instead, Starscream retrieved a walnut-sized gray crystal from beneath his ribs and tossed it at Sun Cheng's feet.

"Your answers are fairly satisfactory. This Level 2 [Scout Template] is your reward. Once you finish the task, I will reward you with another [Spark]!"

"What?"

Sun Cheng's [Core] raced wildly. Instinctively, he thought he had misheard.

But when he bent down and picked up the gray crystal Starscream had thrown him, heat immediately surged through his entire body. His mind was flooded with sudden excitement and exhilaration, as though a voice kept urging him: Quickly accept this gray crystal. It is the key that will allow you to evolve into something stronger.

In an instant, Sun Cheng was overwhelmed by wild joy.

PS: Taking into account the readers' preferences, this book is based on the film version of Transformers.

Once I started writing, I realized that while Hollywood screenwriters were certainly professionals, adapting animation into commercial films had left behind far too many plot holes. To avoid failing to connect with the plots of the later movies, I had no choice but to use my own imagination to clean up their mess.