Chapter 8-1
The inside of the research building was a completely different world. The floors reached hundreds of meters beneath ground level. Its total space was extremely large and was enough to accommodate all the civilians living in the tents outside.
Zheng was feeling confused as he followed the movie characters. He had Lan connected him to HongLu then asked. “Was it Xuan’s idea to claim us as humans from the future? There’s no other way to explain where we came from. Plus, we need an important identity since we have to get the American government’s help for this war. Yet… do you really think this lie fit the situation we are in? The vice president said the last hopes of humans are here but we don’t even know what they are. And Xuan didn’t even bother to explain. I think there are just so many flaws in claiming we come from the future to help this war.”
HongLu sighed. “This is where Xuan is smart. Do you remember his plan to steal the password to the nuclear weapons? Do you believe it will be so easy to steal something that affects the fate of humanity? It won’t be possible with just his hacking skills. People on Earth would have been extinct long ago if a hacker can steal a password and simply press a button. This absurd identity is probably one of his steps to stealing the nuclear weapons.”
Zheng was more confused than before. He entered the third stage to simulate HongLu’s mode of thinking. Ever since he reached the fourth stage, his simulation could reach 50 to 60 percent of the original person. This percentage continued to increase as his power grew.
“You mean the identity of future humans is a setup Xuan planted since the beginning?” Zheng asked.
HongLu nodded. “Correct. His plan is to let you claim that we are future warriors. This excuse will be full of flaws such as what do future humans have to isolate their weapons from the AllSpark’s power. If there was no such thing, why did we bring our weapons back in time? If we can isolate it, why would Xuan asked for a way to do so during the conference? The only possibility I can come to is… this is a fraud.”
“A fraud?” Zheng felt the bulbs lighted up. “I get it! He intentionally let the government know we are fakes which would lead them to put us under surveillance. Probably with needle cams or something. He would then act like we have obtained the password and change it. Once the people overwatching us see it, and just like what people normally do when something is stolen, they would first check if that really happened. They might confirm the password in a secret location but no place can escape the psyche scan. This plan is splendid!”
HongLu wasn’t looking too happy. “Right. This plan is splendid. The key is since the password would not be changed, the government would only think we trolled them. Given that we are fighting for humanity and we have the strength and equipment people in this world lack, they can only hand the mission to us. The fake identity is merely a tool to connect us with the government. So what if aren’t actually from the future? Xuan is… truly amazing.”
Zheng laughed and comforted him. “You are not bad either. You figured it out in such a short amount of time. Not only did you see every step of his plan but also what he was thinking. Haha. If he ever pulls any schemes again, you have to let me know as soon as possible.”
HongLu shook his head. He pulled a strand of hair from above the forehead. “If it’s just the analysis and deduction, you can also see part of his plan when you stand at the same height and possess the same information with your intelligence.”
“Hey, what do you mean with my intelligence! Are you saying my intelligence is embarrassing?” Zheng was furious and shouted in his mind.
“Do you expect muscles to think?” Zheng put out his hands and continued. “People standing near him can see the analysis clearly. That is unless he schemes his own team. However, analyzing and doing are two separate things. I can think of nuclear weapons and stealing the password but I couldn’t set up a plan with such ease. He started calculating since the very beginning when you mentioned we came from the future. I couldn’t achieve this.”
Zheng laughed. “It’s fine. There are far and few people who can do what you did. You are at least within top five in intelligence in all the teams in this realm. However, Xuan is the most inhuman person in this regard that I have ever met.”
HongLu smiled coldly. “How do you know that I am not as good as him? Just wait. Quick wit does not equate to wisdom. He can think of the password. Why can’t I come up with something else? Just wait and see!”
(So that means HongLu has his plan. Hope they don’t drag the team behind to compete their intelligence. Man. Some teams don’t even get a strategist and we are troubling over two of them. Sometimes you just don’t realize how fortunate you are.) Zheng thought.
The elevator descended several hundred meters down from the floor of the conference room and was still going down. A minute later, the elevator stopped and the door opened. Outside of it were numerous people moving busily. There were military troops, researchers, and people dressed normally. It was a platform with access to multiple corridors.
Team China also saw the final hopes of humanity, or perhaps they were hopes. Two half broken robots lay on the platform. One of them was huge. It looked like Optimus Prime. The other was smaller and had a yellow body. It was probably Bumblebee. The two robots were damaged but could still move and talk. They were still alive.
The president sighed. “They are our last hopes. The only two surviving Autobots. The Sparks in their chests protected this base from the power of the AllSpark. Shelter 2 has another Autobot. The three of them destroyed a lot of Decepticons in the war but they lost in the end. The AllSpark was seized and the Autobots nearly wiped.”
Xuan nodded. “Then the issue with our weapons is settled. The Autobots certainly have a way to protect them, or at least protect a small amount of weapons. The final question is, how can we find the main base of the Decepticons in order to seize or destroy the AllSpark?”
Roosevelt sighed. “There are no good methods. We can only send more troops to scout but their fates are likely… You should meet with Optimus Prime first. Perhaps you can come up with an idea. As for the three Autobots, they might be…”
Roosevelt didn’t finished his sentence. He turned around and walked to Optimus Prime. This robot was damaged all over and was missing a leg. He raised his head to look at the group. He even greeted Roosevelt politely.
Roosevelt explained the issue with team China’s weapons. Optimus Prime was silent for a while before he said. “Take the Spark from my chest. Radiate your weapons with the Spark. The neutral energy of us Autobots can protect them from AllSpark’s power. This is the only way you can approach the Decepticons with your weapons.”
Bumblebee suddenly said. “You can’t! You will die from this!”
Optimus Prime looked at Bumblebee then looked back down to team China. “A boy once fought together with us. He did not hand the AllSpark to Megatron even in the abyss of despair. Yet, in the end we failed him. He died. He once said, no sacrifice, no victory. I want to say the same thing right now. No sacrifice, no victory… Courageous humans, destroy the AllSpark. You should not bear the fruit from the fault of us Transformers. Bumblebee, I am happy to have fought together with you. I can not let sacrifices of all my friends be in vain!”