Chapter 963
Autobot Leader: Optimus Prime
Optimus Prime glanced at Bumblebee, then at Roosevelt and Zheng Zha.
Finally, he closed his eyes, raised his head, and said in recollection, "Bumblebee, have you forgotten?"
"Have you forgotten the boy who fought alongside us?"
Even when the other Autobots chose to abandon or betray him in the end, he did not hand over the AllSpark, but stood firmly by our side.
"In the end, we failed him and let him die in vain, while I survived."
"I remember Sam once said: 'No sacrifice, no victory.'"
"That's what I want to say right now."
"I can't let my fallen comrades and Sam die in vain."
"Now it's just my turn."
"I, Optimus Prime, have no choice but to do it!"
When he uttered his last words, Optimus Prime's powerful voice resounded throughout the entire underground base.
Almost everyone fell silent and looked at this person.
Team leader Zheng Zha was no exception.
Although the meeting only lasted a few minutes, he had a feeling about it.
That is, Optimus Prime seems to be the same kind of person as him.
Despite different races and life forms.
But as a captain, as a leader, I'm the same as him...
The same helplessness, the same tragic ending!
Is this the only way?
Zheng Zha spoke his first words after meeting Optimus Prime.
The enormous mechanical head looked at Zheng Zha, the human who gave him a special feeling, and said with certainty:
"Yes, this is the only way."
Behind him, Li Xiao's gaze fell downwards, landing on the glowing core that was half-exposed to the air due to its injury.
This location is Optimus Prime's chest, and also the source of the Autobot leader's spark.
The spark that Optimus Prime ignited.
Li Xiao had a feeling that if the Demon Refining Pot were to refine this source of fire, it could at least produce an A-grade energy stone.
In other words, in Chu Xuan's formula, this source of fire is equivalent to an A-level side quest.
However, a seemingly alive Optimus Prime would probably be more useful.
What Li Xiao could think of, others could naturally think of as well.
They even think about things more deeply.
Chu Xuan spoke up: "May I take a closer look at your Fireseed Core?"
Optimus Prime tapped the steel head.
After obtaining consent, the white muscles behind Chu Xuan began to twitch rapidly.
Within a second, it expanded and extended to form a pair of distinct wings.
Then he slapped it hard, and his whole body flew up without any warning.
Finally, he landed on the steel structure in front of Optimus Prime's chest.
This scene also caused the other staff members besides the Zhongzhou team to scream in surprise.
Those who hadn't been paying attention before started looking up one by one.
Then you see the white-flesh-colored wings retract and disappear, and finally the color of the exposed back begins to change.
It miraculously returned to the original color of the clothes, without any difference whatsoever.
It was as if what had just happened was an illusion.
Ignoring the commotion beneath him, Chu Xuan spoke calmly:
"May I ask what principle you were referring to?"
"A simple explanation will suffice."
"After all, we have many other Decepticon core sparks in our possession. The fact that you haven't let us use these Decepticon core sparks means that you can't do it."
"If it were just a matter of factions, Bumblebee would have taken the initiative to take responsibility, but he didn't."
"So only your Spark can do that?"
"why?"
Optimus Prime, his sapphire-like eyes fixed on Chu Xuan in front of his chest, nodded and said:
“Intelligent humans, just as you said.”
"Only I can grant machines the ability to temporarily shield them from the radiation of the spark source."
"In fact, the energy of each of our robots can be seen as a miniature version of the Spark Cube."
"It's just that this weakened version doesn't have the same unlimited energy or the special ability to transform other machines into robots through lossless radiation."
"But it is also a source of energy that emits radiation."
"The reason why neither Bumblebee nor other Decepticons can do it is because their energy sources lack a certain characteristic."
"I call this characteristic the will of a leader!"
"The leader's will is born from the leader module."
"As the name suggests, this is a status that only a leader can possess."
Optimus Prime stretched out his still-intact right hand and pointed to his chest.
Then a beam of light was projected from the spark source on his chest.
As the patterns of light and shadow shifted in mid-air, Optimus Prime explained:
“You can think of the Leader Module as an energy matrix inscribed on the core of the Spark.”
"According to the legends of Cybertron, the Leader Module was left behind by the First One who created the AllSpark Cube."
"The energy matrix contains the wisdom and spark of leaders throughout history, and this power is the key to leaders' discernment."
"Of course, the most important thing is that the leader module can autonomously choose its successor and is not controlled by human intervention or consciousness."
"Free choice?"
Chu Xuan asked.
"Was the leadership module you possess also chosen autonomously?"
Megatron nodded again.
"Yes, not just me, Megatron is the same."
“We don’t even know when it happened; it’s as if one day, this energy matrix suddenly appeared above our source of fire.”
"Then we became leaders."
Optimus Prime's words caused everyone on the Central State team to exchange glances.
They had discussed this before, since they were all life forms created after the radiation from the Spark Cube.
So how are the strengths and weaknesses, and the gaps between them, determined?
It's impossible for whoever is the biggest to be the leader.
But that's not right either.
After all, in the original storyline, both Optimus Prime and Megatron had subordinates who were larger than them.
Now they finally know the reason.
It turns out that besides size and ability, other factors also play a role.
There is also a concept similar to the chosen one.
Chu Xuan's gaze fell on the projected energy matrix.
Optimus Prime continued:
"To get back to the point, it is because I possess the Leader Module that the radiation from my Spark Source can define the surrounding machinery as being in a radiation-protected state."
In this state, one can be immune to the radiation effects of the AllSpark Cube and the Decepticons.
Chu Xuan was closest to Optimus Prime. As he spoke, a crack appeared in his drooping hand, unseen by anyone.
Countless tiny worms, like molecules, entered Optimus Prime's body through the gaps in his flesh and blood, spreading rapidly in all directions. At the same time, Chu Xuan asked again:
Are there many leaders?
How many leaders are there in the entire Cybertron?
Optimus Prime replied:
“There is a legend of the Thirteen Vajras in ancient times. It is said that each of them possesses a leader module, but I can confirm that at this moment, only Megatron and I remain as leaders.”
Chu Xuan nodded and continued to ask:
"Can you tell me the difference between the Decepticons and the Autobots?"
"Why do I feel that the Autobots' AllSpark is different from the Decepticons'?"
As the insects ventured deeper, Optimus Prime felt a little uncomfortable, but he answered the question again.
"Actually, Sam asked me this question before, and I didn't know how to answer it then, but now that I understand the development process of the Earth, I know."
“I remember Sam saying that the only energy source he knew was electricity.”
"Electric energy is divided into positive and negative charges. You can think of the Autobots and Decepticons as two different charges."
"Even though they are all forms of electrical energy, different charges result in different final products."
"The Autobots admire civilization and peace, while the Decepticons admire violence and war."
Chu Xuan: "There's a concept in the East called Yin and Yang, do you know it?"
Optimus Prime pondered for a moment and nodded: "I know, it's the same concept I just mentioned."
Chu Xuan: "What is the Spark Source Cube? Is it a container?"
What's inside the container?
Why was Megatron, after acquiring the Decepticon's power, able to create so many new-generation Decepticon robots without limit?
"If you get your hands on it, does that mean the robot you create will be a new generation of Autobots?"
"Why do the individuals created from the same Spark Cube belong to different factions?"
Optimus Prime pondered for a moment before answering:
"It is pure energy. The Spark Cube is not a container, but an aggregate of energy. The energy inside it has no positive or negative, no distinction between yin and yang."
"But it possesses infinite properties..."
Optimus Prime, seeing that the Central Continent team members still had doubts, finally raised his right hand and pointed to his forehead.
"Like this!"
The next moment, beams of brilliant light shot from the eyes of the Autobot leader.
The rays of light curved in the air before falling towards their feet.
Followed by.
Li Xiao and Saito were stunned as they looked at the cracked and churning earth beneath their feet.
Then they realized that these were fake, just a projection technology they had never seen before.
Moreover, it is more realistic than the four-dimensional projection they have mastered.
Except for the area where the few people were standing, the rest of the ground was completely submerged and disappeared.
It was as if they had suddenly traveled from this underground world to an alien planet.
Looking down at the exposed crust beneath my feet, I saw flowing magma and the planet's core.
"This is Cybertron."
It was also a powerful empire, an empire made of metal, which was originally peaceful and serene.
"Until one day, Megatron betrayed us and became the leader of the Decepticons."
"Millions of years of accumulated contradictions were ignited in an instant, and war began."
"On Cybertron, those who disobeyed their orders were to be eliminated, and our once powerful planet was the first to perish in the long war."
Looking down at the planetary-class war fortress, which was entirely constructed of metal, he saw...
There are also utopian-like metal buildings and traces of war scattered across the entire planet.
Even across the limitations of time and space, everyone in the Zhongzhou team "smelled" the cruelty of war.
In the end, the planet they were home to was shattered.
The casualties were devastating; not a single one survived.
Optimus Prime looked at the scene before him with a complex expression:
"The outbreak of war also caused the most important source of the spark, the Rubik's Cube, to be lost and disappear into the universe."
"Megatron and I, as leaders of our respective factions, had to follow the AllSpark and travel to distant lands. That's how we ended up on Earth."
"The new generation of robots was born from the AllSpark Cube. They should have had no stance, but under Megatron's control, he spread the ideas of war and violence."
"This changed the neutral stance of those new generation robots."
Chu Xuan nodded, having received the answer. At that moment, the flesh worms had completed their task and disappeared back into Chu Xuan's body.
Seeing that the goal had been achieved, Chu Xuan spoke again:
"We can't sense the energy radiation you just mentioned, but you should be able to clearly perceive it, right?"
"So, even if the weapons we carry weren't turned into Decepticons, Megatron can still sense them because of your radiation?"
Optimus Prime paused for a moment, then nodded as he put away the projection.
Looking at Optimus Prime's appearance, Chu Xuan shook his head and said:
"If that's the case, then there's nothing we can do. Even if we know the location of the AllSpark Cube, we can only use the most covert method of surprise attack, otherwise we simply cannot withstand the massive robot army head-on."
"And if they want to launch a surprise attack, once they are irradiated by your spark source, it's like cheering them on before the attack even begins!"
"If it eventually escalates into a full-scale war, the losses will be too great, so..."
Zheng Zha understood what he meant and quickly said, "So, this method won't work either?"
After saying that, Zheng Zha suddenly breathed a sigh of relief for some reason.
He was genuinely worried that Optimus Prime would die after helping them, as it would be too unfair for a leader to die like that.
At the same time, during the spiritual sharing, Zheng Zha quickly said:
"I'm sorry everyone, I don't know what happened either. If I could, I would like to save Optimus Prime."
Zhan Lan: "Don't worry, I think Chu Xuan has already thought of a solution since he said that."
Roosevelt, who was listening nearby, also breathed a sigh of relief before saying:
"Excuse me, everyone, I was just curious. Don't you guys have that kind of warp equipment?"
"Can't space even block this kind of radiation?"
Chu Xuan jumped off the steel structure and said calmly:
"Space is certainly an option, but what if our space equipment itself is a type of high-tech device?"
"Moreover, even if it can be isolated, it will still be detected once it is used. Facing such a powerful opponent, a single moment is enough to decide life or death."
President Roosevelt then realized what was happening.
With a surprised expression: "Okay, that is indeed a problem."
"Then what do we do?"
"It's simple, it's a bait plan!"
Upon hearing these four names from Chu Xuan—Zheng Zha, Li Xiao, Ling Dian, and Zhan Lan—it's safe to say that all the seasoned veterans who recognized these names twitched at the corners of their mouths.
I almost couldn't hold back.
There's no way around it; this plan is so well-known, I've heard it more than once.
President Roosevelt was stunned:
"Bare?"
"What bait plan?"
Chu Xuan pulled out a banana from somewhere, and while peeling it for himself, calmly said:
"As the name suggests, after finding and confirming the location of the source of the spark."
"Send out a sufficiently large decoy to lure most of the Decepticons away from the AllSpark." (End of Chapter)