Request for Instructions

Having drawn blood during the mission, Sun Cheng hurried away in fear of being discovered and soon escaped the research center.

Outside the research center, the police car Barricade had transformed into was still parked where it had been.

Clearly, Barricade had already detected his movements. The moment Sun Cheng approached the police car, the front passenger door flew open with a swish.

Two cold, stern gazes immediately fell upon Sun Cheng, making his body tremble. With little progress made that night, he finally remembered just how terrifying his partner was.

Though he wanted to run, Sun Cheng did not dare take that gamble.

He clearly remembered that Frenzy's memory data had mentioned hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Decepticons stationed at their forward base on the far side of the moon.

Although only advanced Decepticons of Level Three and above possessed the ability to fly through space, as long as Sun Cheng fled and failed to leave Earth, it would only be a matter of time before they found him and tore him to pieces.

Suppressing the inexplicable warning rising from the depths of his [Core], Sun Cheng carefully climbed into the front passenger seat.

The door slammed shut. It was not because Barricade feared he would escape, but because he had started the vehicle and driven away from the research center.

"How did the investigation go?" a cold mechanical voice asked.

"I found many clues. Though I still cannot confirm whether Lord Megatron and the [AllSpark] are on Earth, one thing is beyond doubt: before us—or rather, long before us—Decepticons had already visited Earth!"

Sun Cheng carefully chose his words, repeatedly revising every sentence in his mind before cautiously answering.

"So, you found no information regarding Leader Megatron?"

Barricade's icy voice immediately took on a murderous edge, making Sun Cheng's [Core] pound wildly.

He hurriedly replied, "Lord Barricade, by infiltrating this world's Internet, I have accessed nearly every connected country, corporation, institution, and research facility. Yet I found not the slightest trace of information regarding Lord Megatron. Even some of the clues I found had already been purged!"

Still worried that Barricade would not accept his explanation, Sun Cheng hesitated before gritting his teeth and pulling out his iPhone 5. After transforming his right arm, he extended a cable into the phone's port and displayed the many clues he had found and downloaded into his storage area—especially the Cybertronian script engraved upon numerous ancient Earth monuments, as well as the black-and-white photograph of Carl Benz and the first automobile he had built.

"Hm? Elder Script? Pathfinder really did come here..."

The middle-aged white man projected by Barricade was quickly drawn to the images flashing across the iPhone 5's screen. When he saw several samples of Cybertronian script and the photograph of Carl Benz's automobile, the usually taciturn Barricade unexpectedly showed a look of surprise—and inadvertently revealed something in the process.

"Elder Script? So among the advanced encrypted texts I could not decipher, there is one known as Elder Script? But what is Pathfinder? A type of Decepticon?"

Sun Cheng immediately committed the fragments of secret information Barricade had accidentally revealed to memory. Unfortunately, though he desperately wanted to know exactly what the Elder Script and Pathfinder were, he did not dare ask Barricade.

After a brief hesitation, he spoke again. "Lord Barricade, what should we do next?"

Barricade fell silent. After quite a while, he answered, "Continue investigating information regarding Leader Megatron!"

He did not mention the [AllSpark] at all. Blue light flickered in Sun Cheng's eyes as he thought back carefully and realized that ever since Soundwave had sent him to Earth to assist Barricade in gathering intelligence, the [AllSpark] had seemed like a taboo. Barricade had not uttered those three words even once.

There must be something I don't know going on here...

The more he thought about it, the more Sun Cheng felt there was something suspicious behind it all. Yet Barricade's attitude also made him suddenly breathe a sigh of relief.

He immediately followed up, saying, "I have just infiltrated the global Internet and can basically confirm that some force on Earth has specifically purged this kind of information. If we use conventional methods, it will be difficult to continue the investigation!"

At this point, suppressing the unease in his heart, Sun Cheng played a small trick.

He wanted to test Barricade's current attitude toward him.

Two cold gazes soon fixed upon him, making Sun Cheng's [Core] thump violently in terror.

Fortunately, he had evidently won his gamble. Though Barricade snorted coldly and growled with some irritation, "Finish what you were saying..."

It appeared that Barricade did not intend to keep targeting him.

Having reached that conclusion, Sun Cheng could barely contain his excitement as he quickly delivered the explanation he had prepared long ago. "Yes, Lord Barricade. What I mean is, if we are to continue this investigation, I will need to infiltrate the government, defense, and military intranets of Earth's various nations. But if I do that, I cannot guarantee that it will not expose the existence of us Decepticons!"

The moment he finished speaking, Sun Cheng could barely hide his excitement as he looked at Barricade expectantly.

It was not that he wanted Barricade to grant him authorization to infiltrate them. On the contrary, Sun Cheng hoped Barricade would firmly reject his request.

Compared with the physically frail humans of Earth, the advantages of Decepticons as mechanical lifeforms were simply too obvious. Even a lowest-tier Decepticon spy like him could easily crush a squad of professional soldiers. If advanced combat Decepticons—elite warriors like Barricade—were deployed, even taking on the army of a small Earth nation head-on would be effortless.

But innate strength did not mean the Decepticons had no reservations about Earthlings.

In fact, because they placed greater emphasis on enhancing individual combat power, the alloys equipped by advanced Decepticon warriors could withstand most of Earth's light and heavy weapons, as well as small surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles. Yet before the tactical and strategic nuclear weapons produced by humanity, this warlike race, they would still have to bow their heads.

As far as he knew, Decepticons feared more than just humanity's nuclear weapons. The high-explosive bombs and depleted-uranium armor-piercing rounds equipped by certain human nations could also seriously damage them, not to mention unknown black technologies that might exist.

It was precisely because the risks and uncertainties of an all-out war with humanity were far too great that, unless they could summon the main force of the Decepticon Corps stationed on Cybertron across more than ten thousand light-years—or replace their leader with a madman—the Decepticons were unwilling to casually test the limits of Earth's nations.

At the very least, the Decepticon leaders at the base on the far side of the moon had no such intention for now!

Just as expected, Sun Cheng's proposal was met by a stretch of silence from Barricade.

Only after quite some time did Barricade coldly reply, "I will request instructions from Lord Starscream..."

The rest of the journey passed in silence!