New Body (On My Knees Begging for Votes, Favorites, and Tips)

It seemed that after Onslaught agreed to reinforce Sun Cheng's body, Laserbeak realized that his current situation was extremely dangerous.

Laserbeak hurriedly left Onslaught's base without even bothering to make an excuse, and Onslaught had no intention of stopping him.

Sun Cheng was probably the only one worried. Over the next few days, he remained restless, unable to forget the undisguised killing intent in Laserbeak's eyes when he looked at him before leaving.

Four days after the nighttime raid on Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, the location was still Onslaught's base.

After returning to his base with Sun Cheng, Onslaught could not hide the smile on his face. "All right, the necessary preparations are complete. We can upgrade your body now!"

Sun Cheng's blue optics flickered as he looked at the platinum-like metal gleaming before him.

This metal was called hafnium alloy. It was a valuable material he had recently stolen from a special materials laboratory under Raytheon Company. It was a high-quality alloy with a high melting point, oxidation resistance, and corrosion resistance.

After spending several days at Onslaught's side, he was no longer the ignorant fool he had once been. At last, he had gained a deeper understanding of Decepticon body modification and advancement.

According to Onslaught's casual introductions, there were quite a few experts among the high-ranking Decepticons who had mastered all kinds of enhancement and modification techniques.

He mentioned many Decepticons whose names Sun Cheng had never even heard before, but in the end, Sun Cheng only remembered a few: Shockwave, Starscream, Soundwave, and Onslaught.

There was no need to say much about Shockwave and Starscream. These two were originally two of the Decepticon Corps' most renowned scientists.

The famous Triple Changers were Shockwave's signature creation. After modifying them, Shockwave created these special warriors unlike any Decepticons before them. Not only did they retain the robot forms common to most Decepticons, but they also possessed flight forms and powerful ground-combat forms.

Though their numbers were small, every Triple Changer had combat power surpassing that of most high-ranking warriors from the moment of its birth. Shockwave's skill was evident.

As for Starscream, he was also an extraordinary scientist. The Decepticon aerial combat units modified by him possessed absolute aerial superiority over the Autobots. At the same time, he personally designed several highly efficient geothermal energy conversion devices for the Decepticon energy supply lines.

And that was not all. Though combiners were not a black technology pioneered by Starscream, this technology, born during Cybertron's ancient era, had long vanished amid the millions of years of war.

Yet Starscream refused to accept that. Relying on his astonishing research talent, he forcibly recreated this powerful black technology. Though it was said to have many limitations, the combat power of the Decepticons after combining was enough to destroy heaven and earth. Perhaps this was another important reason why Megatron repeatedly forgave his repeated betrayals.

Compared to Shockwave and Starscream, Soundwave and Onslaught were undoubtedly somewhat inferior.

Although both had mastered respectable body modification and enhancement techniques, like most high-ranking Decepticons, they merely regarded them as a means of improving their own strength.

Decepticon bodies mainly used two types of alloys: titanium alloy and hafnium alloy. The former was primarily used by low-ranking Decepticons, while the latter was widely used by high-ranking Decepticons.

Unlike humanity, which was still in the exploratory stage, Cybertron's mechanical lifeforms had mastered technology that gave metal stronger regenerative properties long ago. Combined with their innate racial advantages, whether Decepticons or Autobots, their bodies were difficult for humans to destroy easily.

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Sun Cheng was so thrilled that he wanted to roar a few times.

At first, he thought Onslaught would still use the same special titanium alloy as his current body for the enhancement. He had not expected Onslaught to bring him out of the base, have Sun Cheng use his [Spy Template] to locate and steal the needed hafnium metal, and then actually plan to design an entirely new body for him.

Now that the preparations were complete, Onslaught was about to begin manufacturing his new body.

Seeing Sun Cheng fidgeting excitedly beside him, unable to restrain himself, Onslaught, who was designing his new body, grew a little impatient. "Kid, don't get happy too soon. A powerful body also means greater energy consumption. Your [Core] is too poor. Although I've studied the [Core]s of low-ranking Decepticons and should be able to enhance yours further, it still won't be able to break through to a higher level!"

"Yes, I understand! Thank you, Lord Onslaught!"

"Thank me? No need. It's merely an equal exchange!" Onslaught waved a hand. Though he did not say it outright, Sun Cheng already understood what he meant.

When Onslaught had taken him out to steal hafnium metal, Sun Cheng had also taken the opportunity to steal several controlled metals that were even rarer on Earth for Onslaught. Clearly, those metals would not be used to manufacture his body; they were materials Onslaught needed to enhance himself.

Besides that, Onslaught had already made it clear to Sun Cheng that he needed his spying abilities to help search for the [AllSpark].

Though he did not fully trust Onslaught, he at least felt that this guy was much easier to deal with than the unpredictable Starscream and Soundwave.

After another three days of waiting, Sun Cheng awoke from a brief period of unconsciousness and instantly felt the change. His original body had been nearly skeletal in humanoid form, thin and wiry. How could it compare to how sturdy and refined it was now?

The moment Sun Cheng regained consciousness, the [Core] within him relayed his current data.

[Frenzy: Spy Robot.]

[Faction: Decepticons (Cassette Corps).]

[Energy: 1199/1200.]

[Height: 9 feet. Weight: 79 pounds.]

[Core: Lv. 1 Enhanced Spy Template.]

[Equipment: Two 56mm rapid-fire machine guns, 400 rounds.]

[Status: Good!]

"Awake? Want to try out your new body?"

Apparently disturbed by the movement after Sun Cheng woke up, Onslaught, who was bent over a machine nearby perfecting his two railguns, merely tilted his head slightly. After glancing at Sun Cheng, he turned back and said blandly, "Remember to go outside. Don't damage my machines!"

"Yes, Lord Onslaught!"

Unable to suppress the excitement in his heart, Sun Cheng answered and jumped down from the workbench he had been lying on. With a thought, he immediately felt himself transform into a mechanical beast that closely resembled the North American lynxes common in the area.

After switching from humanoid form to beast form, he unexpectedly felt little discomfort. Wanting to test his current speed, he kicked off the ground and sprinted forward. In only a dozen seconds or so, he reached the cave entrance. Then Sun Cheng leaped down from the platform, briefly circling through the air before landing steadily on the ground. He then began running excitedly once more.

Only after running dozens of kilometers did Sun Cheng finally vent the suffocating frustration in his chest. He stopped atop a large boulder in the canyon and silently calculated for a moment. Then his optics lit up. "In beast form, my top running speed is probably close to three hundred kilometers per hour. Although it's far inferior to Barricade's, it's enough for escaping!"

Noticing that Onslaught had also equipped him with two rapid-fire machine guns as weapons, Sun Cheng tried summoning them. He immediately felt two machine guns extend from the outer sides of his forelimbs. Excited, he aimed at a huge boulder in the distance and opened fire.

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat...

The flying bullets left crater after crater in the boulder. Unfortunately, they used standard human ammunition. Though their destructive power did not seem inferior to Beam Splitter's rapid-fire machine guns, their endurance was far worse.

With a sigh, Sun Cheng did not blame Onslaught.

He had only tested his speed for a short while, yet the energy stored in his [Core] had already decreased slightly.

After carefully running the numbers, Sun Cheng quickly understood what Onslaught had meant before.

His new body was indeed powerful. Not only had it retained most of his original body's functions, and its defenses were no weaker than Beam Splitter's, but it could also transform into a beast form.

However, the corresponding daily energy consumption of this body was far greater than before.

According to Sun Cheng's calculations, even outside of combat, he could now consume one unit of energy every two days. Although the enhanced [Core] stored more energy in total, his theoretical lifespan had plummeted from 3,750 days to 2,400 days—a reduction of over a third.

That explained why Onslaught had not equipped him with energy-consuming rapid-fire machine guns. Simply put, the energy stored in his [Core] could not support that kind of expenditure.

"Sure enough, every gain comes with a loss!"

Though he felt a little disappointed, Sun Cheng quickly adjusted his mindset.

Just as he was about to test the changes in his humanoid form, the [Spy Template] inside him suddenly detected a trace of danger. Sun Cheng instinctively leaped behind a rock.

Before he even landed, two streams of fire instantly struck the massive boulder where he had been standing.

Sun Cheng looked up into the sky, and his expression immediately changed.

High above, a steel bird gleaming with a cold metallic sheen was staring down at him. With a slight lift of its wings, the two machine guns beneath its belly immediately aimed at him again and began firing wildly.

This steel bird was none other than Laserbeak.

PS

Sorry, I wasn't very smooth when writing these two chapters about the protagonist's new body. I spent seven or eight hours revising and cutting things before I finally finished them. Sorry to have kept everyone waiting.

I need to get some sleep. I still have work during the day.