Strengthening the Body (Begging for Recommendations, Favorites, and Rewards)

Onslaught's base, like Starscream's, was located in Arizona. The only difference was that one lay in southern Pima County, while the other was hidden within a section of canyon in the northwest.

"We're here..."

With dawn approaching, the group finally reached their destination after traveling through the night.

After giving the reminder, Onslaught quickly transformed back into his humanoid form.

He was clearly far more cautious than Starscream. Not only had he chosen a location far from human activity for his base, but he had also arranged several safeguards. Both Sun Cheng and Laserbeak had already noticed the faintly discernible surveillance around them.

"Let's go down!"

Standing above a section of canyon, Onslaught pointed below, then jumped straight down.

Only when Sun Cheng stepped closer did he realize that this was a concave mountainside. Though it looked extremely high, a platform jutted out cleverly from the cliff dozens of meters below. Onslaught's base was clearly hidden within the mountain behind that platform.

The height was no challenge for him. Without asking Laserbeak to carry him down, Sun Cheng followed Onslaught's example and leaped into the depths. After a brief moment of weightlessness, he landed on the platform.

Once he had steadied himself, he looked ahead and saw that a massive cave had indeed been excavated into the mountain behind the platform. Onslaught had clearly disguised the entrance. Unless one inspected it from close up, it would be easy to mistake it for a natural cavern torn open by ancient geological forces.

Onslaught moved quickly. He entered the cave, turned a corner, and disappeared from sight.

Seeing Laserbeak fly in as well, Sun Cheng could not afford to linger and hurried into the cave after them.

Onslaught had installed quite a few surveillance devices throughout the cavern. As Sun Cheng walked, he examined them and was surprised to find that this place did not seem recently completed. Although it was far more rudimentary than Starscream's base, a careful inspection revealed that the excavation marks on the cave walls all indicated that it had likely existed for quite some time.

After only a few minutes of walking through the cave, the space before them suddenly opened up.

Onslaught's base was not as complex as Starscream's. A massive cavern was nearly filled with all kinds of bizarre-looking machines. There were also some low-level Decepticon laborers busy maintaining and inspecting them. Judging by their appearance, they seemed considerably more advanced than the cannon fodder in Starscream's base.

Whether Onslaught was genuinely that easygoing, or whether he was showing respect for the real big shot behind the two of them—Soundwave—after bringing Sun Cheng and Laserbeak back to his base, his voice seemed to have become much gentler. "Don't break my machines. Other than that, look around as much as you like!"

After landing, Laserbeak unexpectedly transformed into a pink robot. In humanoid form, he was only about half a head taller than Sun Cheng, but the precision construction of his body made one thing clear: although Soundwave had also worked on him, he had not treated Laserbeak too badly after reviving him. This was especially obvious with unlucky Sun Cheng as a comparison.

Ignoring Sun Cheng's completely undisguised envy, Laserbeak looked around for a while, the orange-yellow light in his eyes flickering constantly. "Lord Onslaught, how long have you been on Earth?"

"Ten years and seven months? No, no, perhaps nine months... I can't remember either..." Onslaught waved away two laborers attempting to continue servicing a machine in front of him and answered without turning around.

"I know what you want to ask. Since Soundwave has come too, it must be because of Starscream!"

He fiddled with the machine for a while before stopping, then turned to answer, "Unless the [AllSpark] is really on Earth, I won't intervene no matter how much trouble you cause!"

This veteran Decepticon clearly was not particularly fond of Megatron either. He had never shown any concern for the Decepticon leader from beginning to end. That was probably one reason he had been willing to cooperate with Starscream.

Laserbeak's gaze flickered, but he did not press further. He was clearly deeply wary of Onslaught.

That was hardly surprising. While Onslaught was not a powerful Triple Changer, the strength he had displayed in his recent operation showed just how formidable this veteran Decepticon warrior was. He might even have been capable of fighting opponents like Soundwave, Starscream, or Shockwave. Even if he fell short, it would not be by much.

If such a powerful being developed the intent to kill them, Sun Cheng and Laserbeak would probably truly meet their end here.

Compared to Laserbeak, Sun Cheng was somewhat less wary of Onslaught.

Watching Onslaught tap lightly on the machine before him with a finger, projecting a light screen that displayed blueprints for what appeared to be two long-barreled weapons, Sun Cheng asked curiously, "Lord Onslaught, what is that?"

"A railgun, a weapon design I discovered by accident on Earth!"

Perhaps because it was not his own creation, Onslaught did not hide anything and answered directly. "Those frail, insignificant humans did not come to occupy this planet for no reason. I greatly admire many of their ideas. The railgun is one of them. I intend to further refine this design and use it to strengthen my body!"

With a movement of his fingers, the single-barreled weapon design on the light screen was quickly altered into a double-barreled one. From the firing mechanism to the internal barrel structure, Onslaught redesigned everything. Before long, a brand-new design for an elongated twin-barreled turret appeared.

"Strengthening the body..."

Sun Cheng's heart stirred at those words.

Previously, because he had been wary of Starscream and feared that a mistake during an operation would make Starscream turn on him, Sun Cheng had kept his nerves tightly wound. Even after obtaining the Level 2 [Core] that was enough for him to advance, he had not had time to consider advancing.

Now, with one fierce battle after another looming ahead, his lack of combat strength had been fully exposed during last night's infiltration of Davis-Monthan Base.

Aside from Starscream and Barricade, the others probably still did not know that he had obtained a Level 2 [Core]. Moreover, he had accidentally brought the thing back to reality last time.

But Onslaught's words today had awakened Sun Cheng.

After hesitating for a moment, he ultimately could not resist asking Onslaught, "Lord Onslaught, my low combat capability was exposed during the last operation. To better search for information on Lord Megatron and the [AllSpark], could I ask you to help strengthen my body?"

The moment the question left his mouth, Sun Cheng immediately sensed several gazes fall upon him.

Danger flashed through the orange-yellow glow in Laserbeak's eyes. If Onslaught had not been standing nearby, Sun Cheng did not doubt that he would have pounced on him immediately and torn him to pieces.

As for Onslaught, when he suddenly turned to look at him, there was surprise on his face, but even more was an indescribable emotion.

Sun Cheng's heart sank. It was not as though he did not understand what his words had implied.

But Soundwave could arrive on Earth at any time, and that had already filled him with too great a sense of crisis. That was why he had forced himself to ask.

For mechanical lifeforms like the Decepticons, asking someone else to strengthen one's body was not the same as advancing, but it was almost equivalent to openly declaring one's allegiance.

After all, if someone else modified your body, then given the Decepticons' vile nature, it would be difficult to say whether they might secretly impose restraints or other hidden measures during the process. One's life might even end up in another's hands.

Yet Sun Cheng had no choice but to seize this opportunity. He knew very well that if he missed it, then let alone independently completing his advancement, even further strengthening the body he currently used would not be something accomplished in a day or two.

Unfortunately, it seemed he had placed his bet on the wrong person!

Seeing Laserbeak's expression grow increasingly hostile, Sun Cheng felt a chill in his heart and regretted his recklessness just now.

Just as he was considering how to placate him later, his body suddenly felt light. When he came to his senses, he realized that Onslaught had grabbed him and lifted him before his face.

Sun Cheng looked up and met his gaze. In that instant, he clearly caught the emotion in Onslaught's eyes—an emotion called "found a new toy."

"Interesting. I happen to have some matters that require help as well. I agree to this!"

PS

First update. There will be another chapter later. Sorry for the late update. I had written half of it, then reread it and felt dissatisfied, so I deleted everything and rewrote it. That made it even later.