Mutation

At this point, this world had only just reached the year 2007. The development of the internet was undoubtedly far behind the world Sun Cheng had known before crossing over.

Not to mention anything else, although American telecommunications providers here also offered 100 Mbps internet packages, there were very few users. Most were research institutions and corporate entities like the [Advanced Computer Technology Research Center].

In 2007, the average internet speed for ordinary American users had not even exceeded 2 Mbps. The "information superhighway" strategy proposed by former president Clinton more than a decade ago had clearly long since been neglected after his successors took office.

If it had been a high-ranking Decepticon, such as Soundwave, the leader of the [Cassette Corps] that Frenzy belonged to, he would not have needed to care about such matters.

According to what Frenzy knew, as the Decepticons' intelligence master, Soundwave could even transform into a spy satellite in outer space and instantly infiltrate, monitor, or even destroy Earth's internet by intercepting electromagnetic waves and all kinds of communication signals.

But Sun Cheng could not do that. He was, after all, merely a lowest-ranking Decepticon spy, still incapable of overcoming the constraints of basic physics. That was why he needed a fairly high-quality port like the [Advanced Computer Technology Research Center].

"Information channel connected... Activating temporary port enhancement... Authorized access to secondary storage... Security protection functions activated... Filtering functions activated... Adding search keywords: 'aliens, robots, mysterious symbols, unknown patterns, extraterrestrial civilizations'... Infiltration functions fully activated... Target: global network..."

Commands streamed rapidly from the [Spy Template], allowing Sun Cheng to once again discover just how terrifying these mechanical lifeforms called Decepticons were.

With the [Core] operating at full power, he did not even need to intervene further. The work of infiltrating the internet was already proceeding in an orderly fashion, leaving Sun Cheng momentarily unsure of what he should do.

"Truth concealed by the White House: Revealing the unknown Area 51!"

"NASA discovers Earth-like planet 174 light-years away; intelligent life may exist?"

"UFO spotted above Houston—who is spying on our space base?"

"The unknown ghost of Tucson: Several people saw what appeared to be an F-22 circling above the 'graveyard' late at night!"

Through the two arms connected to the computer's fiber-optic ports, countless filtered pieces of information retrieved from the internet were being downloaded into the storage area within Sun Cheng's brain at an utterly terrifying speed.

1 MB, 10 MB, 1 GB, 10 GB...

Even with keyword filters in place, in just over ten minutes, nearly 10 GB of miscellaneous content had accumulated in Sun Cheng's cerebral storage area, pushing the laboratory's download speed to its absolute limit.

Only then did Sun Cheng finally realize the limitations of the [Core]. The [Spy Template] he had equipped was powerful, but when it came to detailed intelligence analysis, he still had to rely primarily on himself.

Now that he finally understood what he should be doing, he cast aside all distracting thoughts and sank his consciousness into his cerebral storage area, sorting through the countless online news reports and materials the [Spy Template] had indiscriminately downloaded like a fishing net.

"Area 51? Another overused alien story..."

"The Apollo Moon Landing Program was mysteriously terminated... conspiracy theories... Wait, isn't the Decepticon Corps' forward base currently on the far side of the moon? Could the two really be connected?"

"...Huh? Although these symbols on the Mayan pyramids are a little blurry, they are undoubtedly Cybertronian writing..."

"What the hell? Why was the Decepticon insignia printed on the first automobile invented by Carl Benz?"

Although the vast majority of what he found online was chaotic and useless, Sun Cheng still managed to piece together a few clues from the jumble of information with his supercomputer-like analytical abilities.

Though he found it highly unexpected, he was certain that in a black-and-white photograph online of Carl Benz, the "father of the automobile," and the first car he had made, he had seen a Decepticon insignia printed in an inconspicuous corner of the vehicle.

What surprised him even more was that Sun Cheng found one, several, a group, or even multiple groups of Cybertronian characters in promotional pictures of quite a few historical sites.

He could decipher only a very small portion of these words. Most had been encrypted, and only their writers or higher-ranking Decepticons familiar with encrypted writing could decipher them.

"Something's wrong... Something is definitely wrong..."

Even as delight rose within him, the moment Sun Cheng thought a little deeper about it, he broke out in a cold sweat.

What exactly had happened to this world?

The mechanical lifeforms of Cybertron might have arrived on Earth a very long time ago.

Some Decepticons might even have concealed themselves and mingled among humanity.

From what little he knew of the Decepticon Corps, this mechanical race could simply be described as "filled to the bone with conspiracy, arrogance, and war."

Yet what baffled him most was that the Decepticons who might have arrived on Earth long ago had not destroyed this world, or taken control of Earth and enslaved humanity—these lowly lifeforms they regarded as ignorant and no different from crawling insects!

The more he thought about it, the more terrifying it became!

He had to admit that even a country as powerful as the United States, which claimed to be free, exercised far stricter control over the internet than outsiders knew.

After spotting a few clues, Sun Cheng quickly adjusted the infiltration and began conducting more targeted searches.

But to his frustration, he soon discovered that the internet seemed to have been scrubbed by an invisible hand. Aside from a tiny amount of information that had survived due to excessive exposure or because it had been forgotten in remote corners of the web, nearly all traces of information regarding the Decepticons and Cybertronian writing had been deliberately erased.

This level of efficiency was far beyond what one or even several internet companies could accomplish. There was undoubtedly only one kind of power capable of doing this: a nation!

"Could the American government be cleaning up evidence of the Decepticons' existence? Or are the humans on this Earth not as simple as I thought? Did they actually know about the existence of mechanical lifeforms like the Decepticons long ago, and perhaps even make contact with them?"

More and more doubts piled up in Sun Cheng's mind. After realizing he could no longer find further clues through the ordinary internet, the thought of leaving began to emerge in his heart.

He immediately shut down the infiltration functions and pulled the two arms inserted into the computer mainframe's ports free.

Yet at that very moment, Sun Cheng suddenly felt the [Core] within his body tremble violently. Before he could react, a wave of dizziness struck him. By the time he came back to his senses, he realized he was no longer in the office from before. His surroundings had transformed into a small spherical space glowing with a soft aqua-blue light.

"What's going on?"

Unable to feel either his arms or body, he felt fear continually welling up inside him.

When he realized that he was floating in midair, Sun Cheng could not see his own expression, but he was certain it looked awful.

"Where is this?"

He warily glanced around, then quickly relaxed a little.

Within this spherical space, only a few square meters in size, there was no one else besides two dim, lightless screens floating a short distance ahead.

Still, after cautiously remaining where he was for a while, Sun Cheng finally could not hold himself back and drifted forward. He stopped warily only after reaching one of the screens.

But as if it had sensed Sun Cheng, the screen before him suddenly lit up. A small mechanical figure, only three heads tall, soon appeared upon it, sitting quietly slumped in a chair.

"Robot? Wait, why does this office look so familiar... Isn't that my current body?"

The robot figure that suddenly appeared on the screen made him freeze. After taking a few more careful looks, he became completely certain that it was indeed himself displayed there.

"What's going on?"

Still unable to make sense of the situation, he hesitated for a moment before floating toward another screen beside it.

Just like before, when Sun Cheng arrived in front of this screen, it immediately lit up as well, projecting the image of a despondent young man lying flat on a bed.

"It's me—that's me!"

The moment he saw the young man appear on the screen, even though he could no longer feel the existence of his body at all, Sun Cheng felt his blood rush to his head. In his agitation, he floated back and forth before the screen, roaring soundlessly in his heart.

"What is going on? Where the hell is this? Why can I see my body from before I transmigrated? Is anyone there? Get the hell out here..."

As he drifted back and forth in excitement, he accidentally bumped into the glowing screen.

The next instant, an immense suction force suddenly surged out from the screen.

Sun Cheng's vision went dark, and he immediately passed out!