Predicament

The moment this idea surfaced, even Sun Cheng himself was startled.

But soon, that sudden thought left his mind abnormally energized.

"Yeah, why shouldn't I try to win over Optimus Prime and the Autobots of his faction?"

Strictly speaking, the relationship between the Autobots and Decepticons was not irreconcilable.

Only during the earliest stages of the Cybertronian Civil War had Megatron and Sentinel Prime both issued death orders to ruthlessly kill prisoners and deserters from the opposing camp.

As the war reached a stalemate and both factions continued to suffer manpower losses, neither the Decepticons nor the Autobots could endure much longer.

Thus, the Decepticons were the first to change their approach. Through all manner of schemes, coercion, and enticement, they induced Autobot soldiers trapped by their forces, as well as civilians within besieged base regions, to defect to their side.

The Autobots soon retaliated in kind, exploiting the brutal factional struggles within the Decepticon Corps and the oppression of lower-ranking Decepticons to successfully persuade a number of peace-loving Decepticons to join the Autobots.

Although most Decepticons and Autobots who defected to the opposing faction suffered no shortage of unfair treatment in their new camps, at the very least, there was no truly insurmountable gulf between the two Cybertronian factions.

And Sun Cheng did not lack resources now. After nearly three years of quiet development, his forces had gained control over the vast majority of newly discovered mineral veins in South America, as well as mining companies formerly monopolized by state-owned enterprises in certain countries. They were now all under the control of Base Two.

They did not lack basic labor, either. New Decepticons were continuously being born, and Sun Cheng was confident that he could more than triple the number of Decepticons under his command within the next year.