Carving a Bloody Path Through (Begging for Votes, Favorites, and Tips)

Seymour Simmons, a senior agent, hurried back from Tucson with an extremely grim expression. "Damn it, Sector Seven really covered itself in glory this time. So many people surrounded a single NBE, and they still let it get away!"

"Simmons, they did their best!"

Tom Bannejack, head of Sector Seven's Advanced Technology Research Department, offered his old friend a word of comfort, though the smile on his face was somewhat forced.

"This is terrible. I'm telling you, Tom, we may be in serious trouble! You didn't go to Tucson, so you didn't witness the crimes those NBEs committed firsthand. I'd wager that even an entire army from Russia or China couldn't have inflicted that level of damage on Davis-Monthan Air Force Base!"

Simmons violently shook his head, his expression agitated. "Damn it, the President has ordered us to find those NBEs hiding within the United States within a month. But have you watched the footage I brought back from Tucson? Those disgusting machines can transform!"

Tom nodded helplessly. This was also one of the issues that worried him most.

As one of Sector Seven's senior officials, he had not only personally led the research on that alien meteorite for years, but was also very familiar with the massive entity discovered in the Arctic, codenamed NBE-1.

Yet after all these years of research, Sector Seven had only managed to grasp the barest surface of it.

Still, if that were all, they would not have been so distressed.

After all, as technology continued to advance, when NBE-1 had first been discovered decades ago, Sector Seven's pioneers had found it difficult to extract even a tiny particle from its surface armor. Now, however, they could use more advanced scanning equipment to conduct a rough scan of its structure.

Unfortunately, it seemed God had no intention of giving them any more time.

More NBEs had suddenly appeared from who knew where, and they appeared to have come from the same place as the NBE-1 they had imprisoned.

Worse still, they had attacked two U.S. military bases and stolen four nuclear warheads.

Those lawless alien mechanical lifeforms were not only powerful, but insane. God knew where those four nuclear warheads might be used tomorrow in their hands.

The White House was unable to eat or sleep in peace, while those in Washington who knew the truth were now like terrified cats. Tom, who had been summoned to the Pentagon again two days ago, still remembered what the Secretary of Defense had said before he left.

"Perhaps after tomorrow, civilization will no longer exist on Earth. America's nuclear weapons are standing by for launch orders at any moment..."

"Damn it..."

Unable to help himself, he cursed like his old friend Simmons, feeling utterly exhausted.

Trying to find an unknown number of extraterrestrial mechanical lifeforms across the vast territory of the United States, especially when they could transform... At the thought, his face fell even further. He could only say helplessly to Simmons, "Seymour, you'll have a hard time ahead of you..."

Before he could finish, alarms suddenly blared throughout the base.

Tom froze, but Simmons beside him reacted first. His face changed drastically as he roared, "What's going on? A fire?"

One of his agents pulled out a phone and contacted the command center. His face pale, he replied, "The PB laboratory has been infiltrated. The intruder is an NBE!"

"Damn it!"

Simmons yanked a weapon from his waist and shouted at those around him, "Bastards, what are you standing around for? Hurry! Raise the base's security to the highest level! Send some people to NBE-1's hangar—don't let the intruder get near it! Order the entire security force to deploy! Everyone, follow me..."

"Yes, sir!"

When the brand-new core data flooded back into his mind, Sun Cheng was so excited he nearly jumped up.

[Frenzy: Intelligence Specialist.]

[Faction: Decepticons (Cassette Corps).]

[Energy: 27500/27500.]

[Height: 5 cm. Weight: 12 kg.]

[Core: Lv. 3 Enhanced Spy-Type Spark.]

[Equipment: Two 56mm rapid-fire machine guns, 397 special armor-piercing rounds, 8 sets of advanced insect scouts.]

[Status: Excellent!]

As expected of Cybertron's sacred relic—the [AllSpark]. A brief contact had allowed Sun Cheng to complete a thorough advancement. Its effects were simply incomparable to the body modifications Onslaught had given him not long ago.

The enhancements to his body were obvious. The body Onslaught had designed for him before was not bad, but it had plenty of shortcomings.

Under the effects of the [AllSpark], not only had his body's strength improved again, but the two rapid-fire machine guns that he both loved and hated could finally fire energy rounds directly, just like Laserbeak and Beam Splitter.

The hundreds of human munitions stored inside his body had also been converted into special armor-piercing rounds. Beyond that, what excited him most was that the final eight sets of insect scouts within his body had also been enhanced by the [AllSpark]. Not only had their scouting range expanded from ten kilometers to thirty, but their endurance had risen dramatically as well. This undoubtedly took Sun Cheng's intelligence-gathering capabilities to another level.

Of course, compared to the changes in his [core], the improvements to his body were nothing.

Sun Cheng excitedly discovered that his [core] had finally evolved from a low-level template into a Spark!

[Spark], the symbol of an advanced Decepticon.

Not only did it possess terrifying information-processing capabilities, but the energy it stored was dozens, even hundreds of times greater than that of a low-level Decepticon.

Even a Spark advanced from a non-combat unit like his stored more than twenty times the energy of the [Spy Template] that Onslaught had modified before. Only then did Sun Cheng finally understand why, in the eyes of Barricade, Onslaught, Soundwave, Starscream, and the others, he had previously been nothing more than worthless trash they could summon and dismiss at will.

Because the gap was simply too enormous!

Compared to a template, the strength increase a Spark brought him was far too obvious. With his current body, it would take six or seven days just to consume one point of stored energy. One could imagine that even if he went all-out in battle now, he would no longer be like before, going limp after firing only a few shots.

The [AllSpark] was even more miraculous than he had imagined. After his core upgraded from a [Spy Template] to a [Spark], all of the template's original functions had been enhanced. In addition, Sun Cheng had gained a new ability, one possessed only by advanced Decepticons with [Sparks]—simulated transformation.

With the absurd structural scanning capabilities granted by a Spark, advanced Decepticons could complete structural scans of most machines in an extremely short time, then use their Sparks for reverse deduction and ultimately transform themselves into the target they wished to imitate.

Of course, while this ability was absurdly powerful, it was not without limitations.

Simulated transformation was limited by the strength of one's body and the performance of one's [Spark]. For instance, if he, who already possessed a beast form, used simulated transformation, he would have to give up his beast form.

Because simulating a new transformation form involved major alterations to the entire structure of his body, he could not preserve multiple transformation configurations at once unless his [Spark] was more powerful and his body had been specially designed to handle changes between more forms.

Bang!

A gunshot snapped Sun Cheng out of his study of the AllSpark. When he came back to his senses, he immediately saw a squad of fully armed base guards in black combat uniforms rushing toward him from not far away.

"Trouble!"

Sun Cheng frowned and unwillingly glanced at the enormous AllSpark before him. He wanted to take it with him, but it was simply too large. There was no way to move it.

The AllSpark's enhancement to his strength was not merely a one-time benefit. There was a reason the Decepticons regarded it as a holy relic.

At his current stage, Sun Cheng could only accept this much. Any more energy or information would exceed the limits of what his current body and core could withstand.

However, that also meant that one day in the future, after Sun Cheng had completely absorbed the AllSpark's gift, fully mastered his [Spark], and obtained an even more powerful body, he could use the AllSpark to advance once again.

"Forget it. The AllSpark is so huge that even humans can't move it easily. I'll just leave it stored here for now!"

Compared to humans, Sun Cheng was equally wary of the Decepticons now.

So after hesitating for only a moment, he made his choice.

Without transforming back into his beast form, Sun Cheng raised the rapid-fire machine gun in his palm, which had also been enhanced, and unleashed a barrage at the approaching base guards. "Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat..."

Amid the spraying blood, his face cold and savage, his heart remained utterly calm. He was prepared to carve a bloody path out of here.

PS:

I didn't explain myself clearly in the previous chapter's PS. When I discussed the next-stage transformation with everyone, I left out a part. Strictly speaking, it should have been the transformation for the stage after next. I already designed the protagonist's transformation at the Lv3 Spark stage in the outline: it will be a Predator drone, which better suits Frenzy's current smaller body. It will focus on intelligence gathering while also beginning to possess considerable combat ability. The stage-based transformation I discussed with you all is the new form I'm planning for the protagonist after he upgrades his body again in the next stage. It will probably be used before long.

Thanks to readers "Patriotic Resistance War" and "Purple Fascination Chief" for their donations and support.

Also, a quick promotion for the reader group—170012408. Anyone who likes chatting can join. I'll drop by when I have time around noon and in the evening.