The bait was set, and the trap awaited on Mars. Once they arrived, William planned to deploy electromagnetic cables constructed by Sunday to capture Starscream.
For now, Starscream couldn't catch up with him. To keep Starscream motivated, William even deliberately throttled the spaceship's speed. But staying cooped up on the Mars-bound spacecraft for an entire month didn't appeal to him.
"Sunday," William instructed, "prepare a chamber identical to the interior of this ship on Earth and on Planet X17. That way, when I return to Earth, there won't be any issues with using the teleportation gate, even with the ship in motion."
"Understood, Sir," Sunday replied.
A few minutes later, Sunday reported back. "The chambers on Earth and Planet X17 are under construction and will be completed in three hours."
"Good. I'm heading back to Earth. Until we reach Mars and launch the landing pods, the ship's priority is reaching Mars. If an emergency arises, use the space jump. My goal in going to Mars is to bait them into giving me the Tesseract. Understood?"
"Understood, Sir."
Testing the teleportation gate in the cargo hold of the spaceship, William found it worked flawlessly, stabilizing even with the ship in motion. Relieved, he stepped through the gate and returned to the underground lab in his Oxford castle.
"Create a new project. Project name: Mark VI Energy Suit. Use energy crystals as the primary power source instead of the Ark Reactor."
"Project created. Please name the new suit," Sunday prompted.
"Name?" William didn't hesitate. "Mark VI. Also, start the design of an anti-Transformer battle armor. Make it ten meters tall, capable of encasing the Mark VI. Equip it with a battle sword, shield, and other primary weapons. We'll test the weapon capabilities after we capture Starscream."
"Understood, Sir."
For the next seven days, William remained in the castle's underground lab. Apart from spending one night with Selene and Nysa, he dedicated himself entirely to the energy experiments and designing the new suits.
On the ninth energy crystal output test, William once again encountered the same issue. At maximum output, the metals he currently possessed couldn't handle the energy crystal's power, which was a hundred times greater than that of the Ark Reactor. The metals melted almost instantly.
Frustrated, William slammed his fist onto the workbench, leaving a deep dent. "Why is it that Predator metals can't handle full output when miniaturized? What kind of material do I need?"
"I'm sorry, Sir," Sunday replied. "Even Predator ships don't utilize energy crystals at full power. Space jumps only require 60% of the energy output to open a spatial rift. At 40% power, the energy core we've developed produces instantaneous output equivalent to 40 times that of an Ark Reactor, with a total capacity 100 times greater. It's sufficient to power ten Mark VI suits and the anti-Transformer armor simultaneously."
William thought for a moment and shook his head. "Forget it. I'll wait until we find vibranium or some other advanced metal to try again. For now, build one Mark VI and one anti-Transformer armor for testing."
Leaving the lab, William headed into the Mars ship replica chamber, which connected to the active Mars spacecraft. He used this setup to contact the London Space Center.
"Good afternoon, Jessie. You're on duty today? Where's Abby and the others?"
"Well…" Jessie hesitated. Already aware of the situation through Sunday, William feigned confusion and asked, "What's going on?"
"We received a threat," Jessie said, fear evident in her voice. She donned a headset to avoid being overheard. "Someone sent a letter to Chelsea Stadium, threatening Lady Lena. They demanded we disclose the location where their leader is being held, or they'd target her—and us."
"Who delivered the letter?" William frowned.
"A... small robot," Jessie replied nervously.
"Heh," William sneered. "It seems I've been too lenient." His expression turned icy. "Go home now. Tell my mother to gather everyone and return to the Oxford castle. I'll handle the rest."
"Okay, darling," Jessie said, reassured by William's confidence.
After Jessie left, William spent another half-hour discussing the progress of the second spacecraft with England's officials. Learning that construction was accelerating and would be completed in 51 days, he offered profuse thanks before ending the call.
The moment the call ended, William smirked mockingly. "They think I don't know their plan? They're just waiting for me to land on Mars, desperate and cornered, so I'll have no choice but to beg for their help. Too bad for them—I've never trusted them."
Turning to Sunday, he asked, "How's the spaceship construction on Planet X17?"
"I've reprioritized the construction of a spaceship factory on the second base of Planet X17. It will be operational in three days, and building a ship will take about ten days."
William chuckled. "So by the time the Mars spacecraft reaches Mars, I'll already have two backup ships ready. If Pierce from S.H.I.E.L.D. finds out, he might die of a stroke."
Sunday replied dryly, "Sir, Alexander Pierce doesn't have a history of heart disease. However, his high cholesterol might make a fabricated stroke plausible."
"Haha!" William burst into laughter. But after a moment, he turned serious. "Then draft a plan, just in case. Can you handle it?"
"I likely can, Sir. However, I'd need authorization, as my core directives prevent me from actively harming humans."
William immediately dismissed the idea. "Forget it. There are plenty of ways to deal with Pierce."
In truth, William trusted Sunday the most, yet he also distrusted it the most. Who could say what would happen if its restrictions were lifted? It might start eliminating anyone it deemed a threat to the Devonshire family, leading to countless deaths of innocent people who might have simply cursed William in frustration.
An hour later, Sunday reported that Lena, accompanied by Abby, Jessie, Selene, and Nysa, had returned to the castle via helicopter. William narrowed his eyes. "Are the Predator warriors ready?"
"Yes, Sir. A team of 32 Predator warriors has been stationed outside the solar system for six days. They're ready to accept your orders at any time. However, their commander has stated that each day they remain on standby will cost one energy crystal. Alternatively, they're willing to accept 100 healing stones as payment."
"Nice try," William scoffed. "I've got over a thousand energy crystals lying around, but there's no way I'm trading precious healing stones for something I have in abundance. Tell them they'll get the agreed 100 healing stones as payment, along with 192 energy crystals."
"I want Megatron disassembled into six parts—head, torso, and limbs—and transported to Planet X17's satellite base."
(End of Chapter)
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