Shane Freak
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Chapter 712: Journey to the New Iron Fortress City (Part II)
🕑 Added 2023-10-10 12:34:57 +0000 UTCTransformers Begin : Table of Content/Chapter List
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As they rounded the corner of the deep and secluded canyon, Sun Cheng and his companions felt like they had stepped into a whole new world.
Before them, the first thing that caught their eyes was a gradually emerging Autobot city, located several kilometers away.
It was a relatively small city, occupying an area of only around twenty square kilometers, nestled within the great canyon. It had a long, narrow shape, with a width of just two or three kilometers and a length of about ten kilometers.
Various buildings with distinctive Cybertronian features rose from the barren canyon floor, a place that had remained desolate for countless years.
Sun Cheng carefully examined the city and confirmed Optimus Prime's ambitions.
"Council Hall, Scientific Research Institute, Jazz's workshop..."
He recognized at least three buildings, identical to those he remembered from the former Autobot capital on Earth, Iron Fortress.
There was no doubt that Optimus Prime was here on Earth to rebuild a new Autobot capital.
Sensing a few scrutinizing gazes, Sun Cheng withdrew his gaze and noticed two mountain-based gate outposts not far away.
These outposts resembled the traditional dwellings of Far East nomadic tribes on Earth, known as yurts, with only a small portion exposed while the majority was embedded in the adjacent mountainside.
It was evident that Autobot life on Earth was improving.
The exposed portions of the outposts were constructed from metal, indicating the presence of Autobot mines within a hundred kilometers, which were already producing resources steadily.
Outside the two outposts, there were two Autobot warriors each, responsible for surveillance.
Upon spotting Sun Cheng and his group, the four Autobots showed a slight nervousness but didn't display much hostility.
After a brief exchange among two of the Autobots, one of them approached Sun Cheng and the others.
"Lord Frenzy, I am Autobot Ironhide. Please follow me."
"Thank you."
Sun Cheng nodded. He had accepted Optimus Prime's invitation to attend the inauguration of the new Iron Fortress City and had no intention of provoking any conflicts.
Guided by Autobot Ironhide, the three Decepticons entered the canyon and headed towards the new Iron Fortress City, which was several kilometers away.
Sun Cheng had long felt that something was peculiar. He couldn't determine whether Cybertron had influenced Earth or if it was the other way around. Regardless, many of the names among the Decepticons and Autobots, with their human-infused souls, seemed strange to him.
Names like Excavator, Crankcase, Ironhide, and others either shared names with Earth vehicles, machinery, or tools, or were similar to them.
Lost in thought, the journey of several kilometers passed quickly.
Sensing a familiar electromagnetic spectrum nearby, Sun Cheng followed the sensation and spotted the towering mechanical body of Optimus Prime standing solemnly outside Council Hall.
"Lord Frenzy, welcome to the inauguration ceremony of the new Iron Fortress City!"
Optimus Prime extended his hand in a welcoming gesture.
Sun Cheng, following the local customs, shook hands with Optimus Prime. "We come from the same homeworld, share common enemies and interests, and should naturally be closer."
Optimus Prime tightened his grip on Sun Cheng's hand for a moment before releasing it.
"You're right."
Cybertronians were not oblivious to politics, even though war seemed to be the dominant theme on this planet. However, upon careful analysis, most of the disasters that had occurred on Cybertron Planet throughout history could be summed up in a single word: politics.
This is Sun Cheng's recent summary of the Cybertronian history, based on his continuous digestion of memory data from Decepticons and Autobots like Megatron, Skyfire, Soundwave, Jazz, and others.
Up to this point, the Council of Primes era, which is only briefly mentioned, can be summed up in two major sources of turmoil: the power struggle between Sentinel Prime and the old aristocracy and the irreconcilable contradictions between the ruling class and the governed.
Amid these political conflicts, Sentinel Prime supported Megatron to seize military and political power, leading to a revolution that overturned the Council of Primes.
Unfortunately, he only saw the power struggle and overlooked the needs of the governed.
Megatron capitalized on this, using his military authority to transform a large number of dissatisfied civilians who opposed the aristocratic rule into Decepticons, using the Quintesson colonial-era reconstruction factories he stumbled upon. This gave rise to the ongoing Civil War that lasted for millions of years.
Sun Cheng did not deeply involve himself in politics, but that didn't stop him from researching the Cybertronian civilization that fascinated him during his leisure time.
In his view, Megatron was indeed a cunning schemer, but Optimus Prime had redeeming qualities as well.
If it weren't for his teacher, Sentinel Prime, betraying him, the Autobots led by Optimus Prime wouldn't have suffered such a devastating defeat.
At least since coming to Earth, even though some Autobots perceived Optimus Prime's cooperation with the humans, including concessions to the United States, as a sign of weakness, neither the Autobots nor Sun Cheng himself had lost anything during their collaboration with the humans.
What the United States wanted most was Cybertronian technology, and Optimus Prime hadn't given them a single piece of it. All he had offered was a few dozen Decepticon corpses.
Though this went against Autobot values, the warriors who later established bases on Earth and revived the Autobots did not align completely with Autobot mainstream values either.
Sun Cheng admired Optimus Prime. At least in his eyes, Optimus Prime was a competent leader who was not as inflexible as he appeared. He consistently made the right decisions when they were needed.
If given more time and room to grow, Optimus Prime could truly lead the Autobots towards revival and perhaps even surpass the era ruled by Sentinel Prime.
This is why Sun Cheng accepted Optimus Prime's invitation and forthrightly expressed his willingness to stand with the Autobots.
With this declaration, Optimus Prime's attitude towards them became even more cordial.
However, this young leader had some concerns to voice.
"Lord Frenzy, we've noticed that you are selling more advanced mechanical equipment to the humans than they can manufacture themselves!"
"Yes," Sun Cheng didn't deny it.
Optimus Prime furrowed his brow slightly but continued in a gentle tone, "Humans are, to date, the most warlike race I've encountered. Now that we are staying on Earth, we should make every effort to prevent Earth from becoming another Cybertron!"
"Rest assured, we have only sold devices to humans that are roughly ten years ahead of the current technology on Earth. We won't provide them with more advanced equipment. We're concerned that if the humans grow too powerful, they may turn their weapons against us!"
He didn't reveal his plans to gather more resources to build the Mars base to this Autobot leader. Still, this statement somewhat eased Optimus Prime's displeasure.
He nodded slightly, "Remember the words you've spoken today, Lord Frenzy."
Seeing that Optimus Prime had something to discuss with him, Sun Cheng waved to Thunder and Hynix, "You two can explore the city for now!"
He knew that Optimus Prime had something important to discuss with him.
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Next Chapter >>Chapter 713: It's Not the Right Time Yet
