Transformers: Survival of Defective Products

Chapter 165 Megatron - D-16

Tong Tianxiao was the first to react: "The home team cannot completely turn around."

"No need, I'll go." Vector looked at the signal markers on the shared layer. "You take the Knights of Justice and continue towards the Inquisition. The Ark rescue team is approaching from the west, the heavy armored team is guarding the middle outer ring, and the Zerg swarm is dismantling nodes in the lower layers. All of this must proceed according to plan."

Tong Tianxiao frowned: "You're going alone?"

"Mechanical dog, follow me," said Vector. "AZ, lead the way."

The mechanical dog stood poised at her feet, ready to pounce.

AZ's voice came from another channel, still the same crocodile demon's disguised voice: "There is an independent isolation zone in the lower level of the energy port. The five-faced monsters have access to lock three layers. Two patrol teams on the perimeter are being redeployed."

BICk0: "Diversion recorded. Commander-in-Chief temporarily relocates to the lower isolation zone of Energy Harbor. Deputy Commander, please continue with the trial proceedings."

Crystal Prism's voice was cold and tense: "The Aquitron patrol system is being recalibrated; the lower level of the Energy Harbor has a very short window of opportunity."

AZ immediately replied, "I'll give you the way."

A side door opened silently in front.

The vectoring force, carrying the mechanical dog, charged into the lower passage of the energy port.

Countdown 21』38』』.

The walls here are thick and the pipes are dense. There are many enclosed chambers and abandoned maintenance rooms along the way.

The mechanical dog ran half a step ahead of her, its nose constantly scanning the residual energy in the air: "There's a patrol on the left."

"quantity?"

"Three shark demons."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than footsteps echoed from the end of the side corridor.

The traction vector raised its hand, and magnetic attraction pulled one of the shark-like machines off course. The mechanical dog pounced close to the ground and bit off the arm of the second machine. The third machine had just opened its mouth to issue an alarm when a control port above the passage suddenly lit up, and the alarm request was forcibly rejected remotely by AZ.

By this time, the gravity vector had already rushed in front of it, the energy blade sliced ​​through the communicator, and the shark demon fell without even making a sound.

Countdown 20』49』』.

Outside the quarantine zone, AZ, disguised as a crocodile spirit, stood in the control room, facing three layers of five-faced monster access locks.

He has already shut down the first layer, and he is disguising the second layer as routine maintenance.

The third level doesn't accept the Crocodile Demon's authority, which isn't surprising, since it's where Megatron is imprisoned.

"The third layer requires core authorization," he said. "I can't touch it."

Before the directional vector reached the isolation zone, the door was as thick as a city wall.

She glanced at the floating permission markings on the door and decided to stop bothering with those complicated things.

She deftly drew the double-edged sword from her waist.

Pale gold patterns gleam from the handle and spread along the broad, double-ended blade.

The mechanical dog took a half step back to the side.

The vector held the middle of the battle sword with both hands, and the magnetic core lit up.

She chopped down with all her might.

The access lock in the quarantine zone emitted a piercing cracking sound.

-

Countdown 19』56』』.

Inside the quarantine zone, Megatron did not sit idly by and wait for his death.

He was strapped to a central restraint frame, with his shoulders, neck, wrists, waist, and back thrusters all secured by heavy-duty locking arms.

The restraint field pressed down on his body in layers, all with frequencies adjusted to his exertion habits and internal energy circulation.

The Five-Faced Monster put in a lot of effort and thought.

Megatron has been researching this for a long time.

The energy pulse of the left wrist lock arm will have a slight delay every thirty-seven seconds, and the waist restraint field will be misaligned for half an instant when synchronized with the back lock.

But that's not enough.

He tried it three times, and each time the restraints automatically readjusted themselves.

Megatron stared coldly ahead, searching for the next opportunity to break free of his restraints and escape.

The five-faced monster showed him something, the so-called new leadership module. The curator told him in a gentle voice that made him nauseous that it would be his authority and symbol.

When Megatron looked at that thing and listened to the continuous sound of the tide, there was indeed a moment when he wanted to accept the path they had prepared.

Then he remembered the gravitational vector.

Megatron's fingers tightened on the inside of the lock arm, his eyes shining even brighter.

He didn't regret refusing, and he really wanted to break up the curator.

Suddenly, a cracking sound came from outside the quarantine area door.

Megatron raised his head.

With a second sound, a pale golden light pierced through the crack in the door.

The heavy isolation door was cut in half, the edges of the cut glowing red. Then, one half of the door was pulled apart and twisted by magnetic attraction, slamming into the wall with a dull thud.

Megatron saw the double-edged sword, which originally belonged to Sentinel Prime.

The next second, he saw the gravitational vector.

She stood outside the broken door, her blue-green optical glasses gleaming with a sharp clarity, her body bearing the marks of a battle along the way.

She wore an old nameplate necklace on the side of her neck, the nameplate swaying gently in the turbulent air of the quarantine zone, reflecting a fleeting metallic sheen.

D-16.

All sounds in the quarantine zone disappeared, and the world seemed to slow down for a moment.

Megatron couldn't speak.

She glanced at the restraint frame, her brows furrowed, and said, "How did you end up in such a sorry state?"

Megatron finally regained his voice: "You've come."

"Or what?"

"It still sounds awful."

"You have no right to criticize the rescue efforts now."

She walked to the restraint frame, switched the double-edged sword to her other hand, and popped out an energy blade from her left arm to cut the wrist lock first.

The mechanical dog pounced from her feet to the other side of the restraint frame, tearing at an energy supply line of the restraint device.

Megatron cooperated with her, tearing open the right arm lock the instant the first hand was freed from its restraints.

His hand, now free, should have reached for another lock or weapon, but instead it landed on the lower back of the vector.

He simply ran his knuckles along the edge of her carapace, gently caressing it.

The warm, metallic touch caused his brain module to momentarily lose focus; it wasn't a hallucination, a dream, or another trick of the Quintesson.

The vectoring motion paused, and Megatron also stopped for a moment.

She's grown taller. The thought suddenly popped into his head.

She was no longer the sharp, stubborn woman he remembered, bearing many flaws and imperfections.

Now she stands here, still sharp, but with more complete body lines and greater power, holding Sentinel Prime's sword in her hand.

She is real.

Yin Xiang glanced down at the hand on his side, then continued to untie the restraints on his hand: "Take your hand off."

Megatron didn't even move a finger: "I've confirmed you're real."

"Use an optical microscope."

"not enough."

The alarm lights in the isolation zone were flashing low. She didn't continue arguing with him. Instead, she cut off the last shoulder restraint. The magnetic force then tore open the waist lock, removing the heavy restraints designed for Megatron from his body.

The metal lock arm hit the ground with a heavy thud.

Megatron finally stood up straight from the restraints.

He was still taller than her, his armor bearing the marks of the restraint field, and his optics, reflecting renewed fury and the red glow of a Decepticon tyrant, were fixed on her as he looked down at her.

Yin Xiang looked at him, stood up straight, and said bluntly, "I haven't forgiven you yet."

Megatron remained silent, listening attentively.

"What you owe me, whether it's an apology, an explanation, or the debt from the war, none of it has been settled."

She offered absolutely no comfort that should have been given after the rescue.

"But I don't want to give up on you either."

Megatron's optical mirror trembled slightly.

Yin Xiang stared at him, placed his hand briefly on his waist for a moment, and finally softened his tone slightly: "So don't make me reach the point where I have to give you up."

The quarantine area was very quiet.

Megatron could have had a lot to say: sarcasm, rebuttal, commands, or, in his usual way, suppressing his hurt feelings beneath a sharp shell.

But he couldn't say a word.

His brain was filled with too many thoughts, wanting to say, "Don't give up on me, you're very important to me, maybe I have indeed made many mistakes." But his habitual awkwardness kept the words stuck in his throat.

He really didn't want to be abandoned.

For a fleeting moment, he wrapped his arms around her waist, stared at her face, and wanted to pull her closer, lowering his head—

But he stopped in time; alarms and pursuers were imminent, and now was not the time, nor was she necessarily willing.

Before he could respond, the vector suddenly ripped the old nameplate off his neck, scattering the metal beads.

Then she pressed the name tag against his chest: "This was originally yours."

Not knowing how to secure it, she simply used magnetic attraction to forcefully embed it into the gap on one side of his breastplate, a slightly rough but firm method.

"Tell me what D-16 means later," she said. "But anyway, I know it's important to you."

Megatron looked down at the name tag on his chest, which she had clearly polished to a much cleaner finish.

"Don't leave important things with other people for no reason, or let them keep them for you."

Yin Xiang withdrew his hand, his tone solemn, and the two looked directly at each other: "Take it yourself."

Mines, arenas, riots, speeches, ideals, anger, betrayal, war—all of these were ultimately overshadowed by the name Megatron.

But now, she personally took that old name tag off her neck and pressed it back onto his chest.

She roughly shoved the old self he had left her to keep back into his arms.

Megatron stared at her blankly, suddenly remembering many things.

The house that hadn't collapsed back then, the image of her holding the administrator's hand, her handling court proceedings bathed in the light of the courtroom, the repeated arguments, the curator, the replica leadership module...

Megatron's optical glasses were fully awake, his hand still gently around her waist.

"They have modules that control the shark demon army," he said.

The vector's expression turned serious: "Location?"

"I don't know the specifics, but the curator showed it to me," Megatron said coldly. "Its shape is similar to the Leadership Module, but it's not the same thing."

Are you sure that's real?

Megatron paused for a moment; he genuinely believed it to be true.

The tide, the curator, and the court are all pushing that thing to the position of "authority".

Looking back now, it all seems too smooth, which is highly suspicious.

"Uncertain."

The vector nodded: "Then treat it as if it's not necessarily true."

The mechanical dog looked up from the side: "The pursuers are here."

AZ scoffed, "They're only now realizing they've been tricked."

BICk0 promptly announced the time: "Countdown 13'06''".

Tong Tianxiao immediately reported: "We are close to the outer perimeter of the courtroom. You must return to the home team as soon as possible."

The vector looked at Megatron: "Can you walk?"

Megatron sneered, "Not only that, I can kill too."

Outside the quarantine zone, several shark-themed law enforcement officers rushed to the entrance of the passageway.

Megatron started with the Fusion Cannon, then grabbed the heavy lock arm that had been severed by the pull vector on the ground, and smashed the chest armor of the first Shark Demon with a backhand.

The mechanical dog led the way, its swift figure darting through the corridor.

The double-edged sword, guided by a vector, swept across, its pale golden blade cleaving through the remaining half of the sealed door.

They rushed out of the quarantine zone, and Megatron looked towards the courtroom.

"Where is Optimus Prime?"

"After all, they're going to put Optimus Prime on trial."

Megatron couldn't help but scoff: "Utterly absurd."

Countdown 13』02』』.

Vector, Megatron, and Robot Dog headed back towards the courtroom from the lower isolation zone of Energy Harbor.