Transformers: Survival of Defective Products

Chapter 95 Beginning

When Megatron returned to the Calon Military District, the guards at the gate stood even straighter than usual.

In the past, people would automatically give way to him, but that was because they knew he was not someone to mess with, and they also knew that many machines in this area had long assumed that his orders were more effective than those from above.

Things are different now; a public announcement has already been issued.

Megatron walked in without stopping or looking at the guards.

From today onwards, this place is nominally under his jurisdiction as well.

really interesting.

Parliament probably thought that by giving a location, it could confine certain things within that location.

Unfortunately, it seems they never seem to have learned one thing.

Megatron has never been one to be confined.

The innermost command room was already lit up.

Tianzhen and Haiyi arrived first, and the two machines stood in front of the main screen, looking at several military region rotation lines.

On the other side, the sound waves emanated from the facial display screen, which glowed coldly and faintly, as layers of data streams swept past him.

Shockwaves were also present. He stood further inside, a single red optical lens pointing at several structural diagrams, so quiet it was as if the air here wasn't worth his emotions.

The red spider leaned against the other side, its wingtips twitching slightly, clearly growing impatient.

Knockout and Deadfire stood to the side. Knockout was looking down at the surface of his newly repaired armor, while Deadfire stared at the military district lines on the screen, his expression more serious than usual.

When Megatron entered, all the machines looked over.

Tianzhen spoke first: "The announcement has been confirmed."

"I saw it," Megatron said.

Red Spider snorted softly: "All of Cybertron saw it. The council was quite willing to put your name out this time, even though it's written as if they rewarded you with something good."

Knockdown glanced down at his forearm armor, which still gleamed almost perfectly: "The wording of the announcement is indeed very elegant. It's as elegant as if it's just been repainted, without saying anything about how rusty it is underneath."

Deadfire glanced at him: "Can you stop attributing everything to touch-up paint?"

Knockout replied quickly: "Oh please, that's professionalism."

Haunted Wing ignored them and looked only at Megatron: "The edge outposts have received new permissions. The area we can mobilize is larger than before."

Tianzhen continued, "But those above will definitely be watching even more closely. The announcement gives you a shell, but it also gives them an excuse to continue interfering."

"Let them keep an eye on us." Megatron walked to the main screen, raised his hand and pushed several anchor lines outwards. "The tighter they keep an eye on us, the more it shows they don't know where we're really headed."

A voice came from the side: "External monitoring frequency is increasing. It is expected that within twenty-three cycles, the council will attempt to access some of the Caron Military District's dispatch records under the guise of a compliance review."

Red Spider turned to look at him: "Could you put some emotion into what you said? For example, at least say something like 'They're such a pain.'"

The sound wave looked at him, but the screen remained unchanged.

"There's no need."

Red Spider sneered, "I knew it."

Shockwave looked up, his tone calm: "If Parliament uses compliance reviews as an entry point, tracing their authority in reverse is feasible. The success rate depends on the accuracy of the data provided by Soundwave."

Sound waves: "We can provide it."

Red Spider glanced at the sound wave, then at the shockwave, his expression as if he were listening to two cold, impersonal reports courting each other.

He hesitated for a moment, but ultimately swallowed his words.

He didn't want Megatron to be thrown out on guard duty on his very first day as the supervisor of the Caron Military District because of his excessive mockery.

Megatron ignored them.

He looked at the several layers of structural lines of the Caron Military District on the main screen.

Some are overt, some are covert. Some have stabilized, some are still wavering.

This wasn't something he just got today; these threads had been there for a long time.

The arena, the lower district, the outposts on the edge of the military district, the energy distribution point, supporters, soldiers, and the embers that have been suppressed for too long but have not yet been completely extinguished.

The announcement simply made part of it more legal.

well.

Parliament is quite adept at using the legal shell, and now it's its turn to use it.

"Heavenly Tremor," Megatron said.

"exist."

"The outposts on the periphery don't just need to be guarded," he said. "Continue to expand outwards and thoroughly investigate the newly replaced personnel. If you can't find them, then get them moving."

Tianzhen nodded: "Understood."

"Halphite".

Haiyi looked up.

"Maintain informal ties with the surrounding military districts. Don't let them think this is just Karon's own business."

"They're already watching," said Haunted Wing, "but they haven't decided how close they'll get yet."

Megatron sneered, "Then let them see it clearly."

He raised his hand, and several outer lines of the military region lit up.

"Kalon is not the end."

The room fell silent for a moment.

It wasn't surprising; everyone present already knew, but the fact that these words came from Megatron's mouth was like putting something that was still shrouded in mystery directly onto the main screen.

The Karon Military District oversight sounds like a position.

But Megatron was never satisfied with just one position.

Red Spider finally straightened up, its wings fluttering slightly: "So, we can finally discuss that name now?"

Knock Down and Look Up: "It's time to decide on a logo. A name can be spoken, but a logo needs to be printed."

Megatron turned around.

The sound waves have already projected several patterns.

The first set of lines resembles a military region insignia, sharp yet heavy.

The second group is closer to the gladiator style, with a strong sense of oppression, but it looks too much like a simple battle symbol.

The third group has a complex structure and a distinct sense of old-fashioned heraldry.

The room quieted down a bit after the fourth group came out.

It was an abstract mask.

Sharp, cold, with lines pressed downwards, like some ancient, battle-hardened face dragged back from the depths of an archive.

Not quite like Megatron.

Older, and more ominous.

The one who was knocked down noticed the difference: "This isn't your faceplate."

Megatron looked at the symbol: "No."

The voice of the sound wave was calm: "Reference source, one of the thirteen primordial ancestors, Zhen Tianzun."

The air in the room paused for half a second.

Red Spider laughed first, not with a pleasant laugh, but more like he found it absurd yet had to admit it was effective.

"The Fallen," he said. "You've picked a choice that really doesn't intend to give the Council a good night's sleep."

Shockwave looked at the symbol: "The symbol possesses high recognizability, historical deterrence, and dissemination efficiency. As a faction symbol, it's reasonable."

Red Spider tilted his head: "Could you please stop making your provocation sound like a purchasing report?"

Shockwave: "No."

Deadfire looked at the symbol and slowly said, "If you take this out, all the machines will know that this is not some benign organization."

Megatron looked at him.

Deadfire added, "I'm not objecting, I'm just stating the facts."

Megatron looked at the symbol.

The Thirteenth Ancestor, Zhen Tianzun, is always mentioned in the archives.

I always wanted to write about him as far away and dangerous as possible, as if he were a mistake that could be sealed away.

They wrote power into mythology, and then locked that mythology in warnings, so that future generations would forget that power itself never disappears just because it is shrouded in taboo.

"They're afraid of the name," Megatron said.

Red Spider raised an eyebrow: "So you're going to use his face as a marker?"

"It's not his face," Megatron said. "It's something they can't get around."

The facial display screen lit up slightly.

"Mark confirmed?"

Megatron looked up, and the red optical lens fell on the sharp emblem.

"confirm."

The sound waves removed the other options, leaving only the symbol.

It hangs in the center of the main screen, cold and sharp, like some kind of shadow that has finally been rekindled from the old archives.

"From this day forward," Megatron said, "it stands for Decepticons."

There were no cheers, and no one immediately shouted any slogans, but the atmosphere in the room changed.

A shadow that had been flowing underground finally found a shape that could be etched onto the outer armor.

Starscream looked at the symbol and lowered his voice slightly: "Decepticons."

When he said those three words, his tone carried his usual critical and arrogant air, but he did not deny it.

Knockout stared at the logo for a few seconds, then finally nodded: "It's alright. At least it won't look so bad on the outer armor that I want to repaint it."

Deadfire: "That sounds like a very high compliment."

"Of course," Knockdown said. "I'm rarely this forgiving."

Tianzhen crossed his arms and looked at Megatron: "So, what's next?"

Megatron did not answer immediately.

He stared at the icon on the main screen for a moment before speaking: "Make it appear."

The sound waves immediately understood: "Internal communications, military region identification, supporter channels, layered delivery."

Shockwave: "It is recommended to first enter some military equipment with replaceable markings to observe the parliament's reaction."

Red Spider sneered: "Observe? They'll jump as soon as they see that."

"That would be even better," said Megatron.

He turned around, his gaze sweeping over every machine present.

"The parliament thought that by giving me the authority to oversee the Caron Military District, they could allow me to operate within their confines."

The whole room fell silent.

"Then let them see clearly that what they're providing is the entrance."

-

It was much quieter in Orion than in the Karon military district; it felt like a completely different day.

The meeting room in Iron Castle was brightly lit and evenly lit, with several formal documents hanging on the table.

There are only a few lines of text.

The succession process for the leader has been confirmed.

Arrangements for the leader's appointment and public announcement.

Public channel live streaming plan.

Orion sat at the table, looking at the documents, having not turned a page in a long time.

Jazz leaned against the other side, unusually refraining from making a joke first.

The ambulance was standing nearby, arms crossed.

Alita and Arcee were also there.

Alita didn't sit down; she stood by the window, her gaze sweeping over the documents before returning to Orion.

Arcee sat nearby, watching quietly.

Master Titanium sat on the other side of the table.

None of the machines in the room were activated.

This silence was not peaceful; they were waiting for Orian to take the final step himself.

After a long silence, Orion finally spoke: "If I refuse now, will the process be paused?"

The ambulance glanced at him but didn't say anything. The jazz didn't smile either.

Master Titanium replied, "Yes."

Orion looked up.

Master Titanium's voice remained as steady as ever.

"But the issues we need to face won't disappear because of this."

Orion nodded slightly.

Of course he knew.

He's been thinking a lot these days.

I've wondered if I'm even qualified.

I've thought about why Parliament relented, and how many unspoken conditions they still have hidden.

I've thought about Megatron.

I'd also like to consider using vectors.

I've thought about how, if I were to take this position, many things would no longer be just personal judgments.

He wasn't afraid to stand up; he just knew very well that once he did, he wouldn't be able to push many consequences back to "I'm not ready yet."

Alita spoke up at this moment: "You've already made up your mind."

Orion looked at her.

Alita's expression was calm: "You're just giving yourself one last confirmation."

Jazz let out a soft breath and finally added, "It sounds like she read what was in your brain module directly."

The ambulance driver said calmly, "It's better than letting him run around ten times on his own."

Orion chuckled softly at the remark, but quickly suppressed it.

Master Titanium looked at him and said, "You don't have to make 'being fully prepared' a prerequisite for accepting this position."

Orion listened quietly.

"Many locations won't wait until the contractor has no hesitation before appearing," Master Titanium said. "If there really is such a contractor, then we should be even more wary of them."

The ambulance driver whispered beside him, "At least you know you're not prepared."

The jazz coach looked at him and asked, "Is this considered a blessing?"

"Yes." Ambulance lane.

The jazz nodded: "A physician's blessing, quite impactful."

Orion looked at them and remained silent for a moment.

He placed his hand next to the confirmation document.

His old name is on the document.

Orion Parkers.

The space below is empty, waiting for the new leader's name to be written by him personally.

—Optimus Prime.

It's not just a simple new name; it signifies recognition.

This also means that from that moment on, when some people look at him again, they will not only see Orian.

He can't just nod casually, nor can he remain completely silent.

Orion finally raised his head and looked at Master Titanium: "I accept."

The vector has bought him a few days of breathing room and preparation time, which he shouldn't waste.

The room fell silent for a moment.

Orion continued, "I may not be fully ready yet."

He paused for a moment.

"But if we keep waiting, there will never be a moment when we are fully prepared."

Master Titanium looked at him and slowly nodded.

"Then, the process of succession to the leadership will officially enter the public announcement phase."

The file will automatically light up.

Orion's confirmation permission was granted, and several beams of light spread along the edge of the document.

Jazz straightened up a bit. The ambulance driver's expression didn't change much, but the taut lines on his shoulders relaxed a little.

Alita looked at Orion, observing the situation. Arcee also didn't interrupt.

The system prompts for the next confirmation.

[Inauguration Ceremony: Live Broadcast on Public Channel.]

[Successor Name Confirmed: Optimus Prime.]

Orion stared at those words.

This time, he didn't look away.

"Looks like we're going to be busy tomorrow," the jazz man said softly.

The ambulance driver said coldly, "You've had your share of excuses to slack off."

Jazz shrugged: "Can't you let me retain a little dignity at a time like this?"

"You have it first."

Orion smiled softly.

The heavy atmosphere in the room eased a little, but everyone knew that this relaxation wouldn't last long.

The enthronement ceremony will be broadcast live.

All of Cybertron will see that Orion has accepted the position.

The next time he stands before all the machines, he will no longer be just Orion.

-

When Yin Vector received the messages from both sides, he was still sitting in the paperwork hell of the judicial center.

The Holy Grail and Golden Fruit mark on her chest was still faintly glowing, and she had finally processed the three-page access control list up to the second page.

This was already the result of her trying her best to restrain herself from flipping the table.

Megatron lit up first.

The content is very short.

The logo has been chosen.

Next item.

Decepticons.

As he looked at those three words, Yin Zongxiang paused in his hand movements.

She had known the name for a long time, but before it was more like a direction that was taking shape, a shadow that had not yet fully settled.

It's different now.

Megatron said the logo was set, which meant it was beginning to take shape.

Before she could decide what to reply, Orion's message lit up.

I accept.

The inauguration ceremony will be broadcast live on public channels.

The next message appeared a few seconds later.

The name will also be announced at that time.

The vector stared at these messages.

The list of powers of the judicial center still hung in front of her, and the mark on her chest, pasted on the outer layer of the ignition capsule, reminded her that she had just been nailed to another position today.

On Megatron's side, the Decepticons have made their decision.

On Orion's side, the succession to the leadership is also about to be announced.

She looked down at the confirmation form she hadn't finished filling out, and suddenly felt a very sincere urge to ask:

Can we stop here for today?

Unfortunately, the terminal won't answer her, and reality certainly won't.

She paused for two seconds before returning to Megatron.

[They don't seem to have any intention of keeping a low profile at all.]

They replied very quickly.

The Decepticons don't need to keep a low profile.

Looking at this sentence, one can almost imagine Megatron's expression when he said it.

She went back to Orion.

I will watch the live stream.

After thinking for a moment, she added a sentence.

【take it easy.】

Orion didn't reply for a while.

I will try my best.

When Yin Zongxiang looked at this sentence, he couldn't help but chuckle.

That's good; at least I know I'll get nervous.

She turned off the frequency, looked back at the pile of permission confirmations, filled in another item, and then suddenly looked up at the window.

The light outside the judicial center was cold, and the public screen in the distance was still displaying announcements.

After today, many things will be different.