Nine Ren High, One Basket Short

Egypt!

The vast desert was deathly silent, as if time had stood still. As far as the eye could see, the endless sea of yellow sand stretched to the golden horizon in the distance.

Under the scorching sun, the monotonous yellow remained unchanged, and the burning Heat Wave swept over every inch of the land. The desolate death made it hard to breathe, creating a sense of despair from which one could never escape.

Boom!!!

A loud bang shattered the Eternity silence, and several tall mechanical figures appeared in the center of the desert.

Ironhide crawled out of the sand, spitting out the yellow sand in his mouth. He didn't care about complaining about the bumpy teleportation tunnel and hurriedly dug Optimus Prime out of the sand with the ambulance.

"How is it? Is Optimus Prime's body alright?"

"No problem, I fixed it very well."

"That's good!"

After confirming there was no danger, Ironhide turned around to look for Skyfire, as he had a lot of "MMP" to say to him face to face.

But seeing Tianhuo stuck upside down in the sand, with only his two legs Skyfire, he swallowed back the "MMP" he was about to say. He covered his face and called for Jazz and Sideswipe to drag him out.

"Ouch, my back, my back... Can't you be a little gentler?" Skyfire was dragged out by his legs, full of complaints. He had become very talkative as he got older, and kept muttering to himself.

Ironhide and the others ignored them and began contacting Bumblebee, giving him their coordinates to meet up. Under the Decepticon's watchful eyes, everything had to be done with extreme caution; at the same time, they had to race against time to revive Optimus Prime.

"The teleportation location is very subtle. We and Bumblebee are located on opposite sides of the pyramid, and it will take them some time to get around the pyramid."

"This is troublesome; what we lack most right now is time."

"But we can't let them take the risk; we can only wait."

"Skyfire, can it teleport you there?"

"I'm not that accurate!"

Ironhide was out of luck; several Autobots dragged Optimus Prime to the foot of a rocky mountain and hid him in the shadows.

The Autobots set up defensive fortifications around the rocky mountain. During this time, Skyfire volunteered to go out and complete patrol missions, but Ironhide and the others persuaded him to stay.

There's no way around it; Skyfire is too old. Its entire body is covered in rust, and even transforming is extremely difficult. If he were to go out on a patrol, he would definitely end up like Optimus Prime.

As one of the oldest Transformers, Skyfire and the Fallen belong to the same era, and he possesses many pieces of equipment that his successors lack. With these abilities, he can perform spatial teleportation, making him extremely strategically valuable.

Because of this, after discussing it with Ironhide, Jazz was even less willing to let Skyfire participate in the war, regarding him as the last line of defense to protect Optimus Prime.

"How many times have I told you, don't underestimate me. If it really comes down to a fight, I can crush you bunch of brats with one hand." Upon learning of Ironhide and Jazz's deployment, Skyfire was immediately enraged. They actually wanted him to lie down side by side with Optimus Prime, which was the most serious insult to his warrior dignity.

Ironhide snorted coldly, "You can beat us to a pulp with one hand because we know how to respect the elderly, but the Decepticon don't. You'll be beaten to death."

"That's right, you'll be torn to pieces, leaving only a limp, flexible fuel line," the ambulance added, its deep resentment undisguised.

"Just you wait and see. When the Decepticon show up, I'll show you what I'm capable of." Skyfire huffed and left the war council. He spent half an hour walking to Optimus Prime's side, and then... he lay down on the spot.

"Let me make this clear first, I'm just too hot and want to rest for a while, it's definitely not because I'm tired."

No one paid him any attention. Jazz gave Sideswipe a wink, signaling the latter to talk to Skyfire to make sure he didn't actually fall into a deep sleep. This task would have been better handled by an ambulance, but Jazz was too worried, fearing the ambulance might secretly euthanize Skyfire.

"Mr. Russell, before we reunite with Bumblebee and revive Optimus Prime, if our location is exposed and discovered by the Decepticon, we hope you will immediately move Optimus Prime's body. He is the leader of the Autobots, and we cannot lose him."

"It's alright. The most dangerous place is the safest place. The Decepticon definitely don't know that Optimus Prime is right under their noses." Seeing that the Autobots seemed to be entrusting their fate to him, Russell quickly waved his hand and comforted them to think positively, "The key to the battle is still the Fallen and the Energy Matrix. As long as we deal with those two, the remaining Decepticon are nothing to fear."

Before setting off, Skyfire had already explained the capabilities of the Energy Matrix. The reason the Decepticon occupied the pyramid was obvious: the Energy Matrix was hidden inside the pyramid.

At the same time, this intelligence was also passed to the America government, which said that if they didn't want to lose Mother Sun, they should quickly find a way to blow up the pyramids.

Egypt has already switched sides, and no one cares about their thoughts. Russell guesses that the America has already begun preparing for nuclear annihilation. When this country goes crazy, it even dares to bomb its own New York. Flattening Egypt would be a piece of cake.

The other four thugs would definitely vote in favor as well, since it wasn't them who were being bombed... cough cough, after all, for the sake of preserving human civilization, appropriate sacrifices are inevitable.

Of course, voting is one thing, but the formalities of condemning America imperialism and hegemony still need to be done!

Russell gazed at the sky in the direction of the pyramids and whispered, "My biggest worry right now is Bumblebee's side. I just hope they're careful and don't let the Decepticon catch them by the tail..."

As for the AllSpark Key turning to sand, Russell wasn't worried at all about this seemingly unsolvable problem. The AllSpark Key turning to sand as soon as it left Optimus Prime must have been the work of the six Primes. They wouldn't let Optimus Prime die indefinitely; otherwise, they wouldn't be happy if no one stopped the Fallen.

Queen of Heaven, a loud bang came from afar, and a small sun rose slowly, releasing all its energy.

Then...

And that was it. The intercontinental ballistic missile carrying Negasonic Teenage Warhead was intercepted. It had just flown out of the sea and hadn't even landed in Egyptian airspace when it was destroyed by the Decepticon, who then maliciously detonated it.

Then came two more major events, no less significant than the previous ones. With the failure of these three nuclear missiles, humanity finally quieted down.

To prevent the Decepticon from discovering Silk, the Autobots cut off contact with the America when they arrived in Egypt, so Ironhide and the others had no idea what the situation was there.

Just as the human side is eager to destroy the Energy Matrix, the Autobots' first thought is to resurrect Optimus Prime. The two sides are fundamentally different, and expecting mutual trust and loyalty is just nonsense.

"They're here! Bumblebee and the others are very close!"

Finally, around noon on the fourth day, Jazz's exhilarating voice reached everyone's ears.

Russell warned, "Be careful, watch out for the Decepticon's plot."

A mountain nine ren high can be ruined by a single basket of earth!

Countless people have fallen at the last step before success, failing to firmly grasp victory in their hands. We must not be careless in the slightest, especially now, when it is the easiest time to let our guard down.

Jazz suppressed his excitement, nodded calmly, and signaled to Bumblebees to circle the area and make sure there were no pursuers before proceeding.

Because of the rarity of the AllSpark Key, it is protected by a considerable number of Autobots, including Bumblebee, Mudflap, Brake, Shake, and the famous Arcee sisters.

Arcee! Chromia! Elita!

According to Jazz, the three female Autobots take the form of motorcycles on Earth: the red one is a Ducati 1098S, the purple one is an Agusta F4RR, and the dark blue one is a Suzuki BKING 1300.

This puzzled Russell greatly. Elita, one of the three sisters, was Optimus Prime's girlfriend, while Chromia had an ambiguous relationship with Ironhide. So the question arises: three motorcycles, and their transformed size is quite small...

Half an hour later, after confirming that no Decepticon were following, Jazz breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Don't worry, Mr. Russell, they are all battle-hardened warriors and won't give the Decepticon any opportunity to take advantage of us..."

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom—

Before the Jazz could finish speaking, a deafening roar erupted in the distance. Russell, with Russell sharp eyes, spotted about a dozen tiny black shadows approaching on the horizon. Leading the pack was an F-22 Raptor, the rest either Cybertron jet fighters or F-16s.

Although the Egyptian Air Force is equipped with American weapons, there would be no F-22 Raptors at this time, let alone Cybertron fighters mixed in.

Without a doubt, the F-22 is an old acquaintance, Starscream, the Decepticon's air combat commander.

"Damn it, it's Starscream!"

Ironhide clenched his fist. He looked at Optimus Prime's body, then at his comrades who had been bombed in the distance, and said in a deep voice, "Ratchet, the AllSpark Key is the only hope to save Optimus Prime. I will do everything in my power to bring it out. I'm leaving this to you."

"Ironhide, without me on the battlefield, who will provide for you..." The ambulance looked surprised and was about to say something when Ironhide interrupted it again.

"Ratchet, you have a more important mission!" Ironhide said firmly. "You, Mr. Russell, and Skyfire stay here. If necessary, move Optimus Prime's body. Don't shirk your responsibility. If I'm still alive, it means I've definitely obtained the AllSpark Key. I need to provide the coordinates as a contact person."

"Well... be careful!" The ambulance driver's clenched fist loosened and tightened repeatedly before finally obeying the instructions.

"Jazz, Sideswipe, it's time for us to show our skills! Let's go!!" Ironhide shouted, transforming into a pickup truck and charging ahead towards the battlefield.

"Jazz, received!"

"Sideswipe and attack!"

The three cars sped away without hesitation, leaving behind a cloud of dust and the somewhat reluctant silhouette of the ambulance.

"Kid, if you want to go, I won't stop you." Skyfire suddenly spoke up, "I've been through too much of this kind of thing, I understand how you feel. If you don't go now, you'll regret it for the rest of your life!"

"No, I have a more important mission." Ratchet glanced at Optimus Prime and said in a low voice.

Skyfire abandoned his usual roguish demeanor and said seriously, "You are a respectable soldier, and so are they. You are all excellent."

Just then, Russell suddenly stood up, his left hand forming a fist with five fingers, and the Desert Eagle God with silver background and gold patterns appeared in his hand. He fired a powerful Mana Bullet at the sand in front of him.

Bang!

"Hiss hiss hiss! Ga ga ga—"

A huge crater was blasted open in the sand, and a giant metal scorpion flew out into the air, its two front pincers open, firing continuously at the ambulance.

Scorponok!

The ambulance's shield lit up, and it was knocked back and fell by the sudden attack. The Scorponok's cold electronic eyes swept over it, preparing to launch a second attack.

Just as he was about to fall into the sand and lie in ambush again, a flash of silver light appeared in Russell's hand. The Adamantium Blade, imbued with sharp sword energy, pierced through his shield and long tail, pinning him to the stone wall.

Sizzle!

A powerful electric current flashed, Scorponok trembled and collapsed to the ground, unable to move. Skyfire roared and swung his fist at the Scorponok's head, smashing it against the stone wall with a single blow, smashing it to pieces.

"Skyfire, when you were young, could you have brought all those Decepticon down from the sky?" Russell asked, looking at the distant battlefield.

"Don't underestimate me. I participated in the battles of the Supremes back in the day. I don't even consider these trash a threat!"

"That puts my mind at ease..." Russell held the AllSpark fragment in his palm and slowly channeled its energy. "System, use 'Character Card: Skyfire'!"