The rain kept falling.
A torrential downpour poured down, shrouding the entire land in a curtain of rain and mist. Beneath the ruins of an overpass, Optimus Prime cautiously poked his head out, looking around.
"It doesn't seem like there are any pursuers."
"There'd better not be!"
Megatron said viciously, at the same time moving his hands. A gun assembled itself from his arm, then disassembled again, as if he were venting his anger that way.
To be honest, if they had a choice, neither of them would want to be together with the other. But the situation was different now.
"According to the intelligence I obtained, this planet should only have a low-level civilization that hasn't even broken through a gravity well! Damn it, what the hell is going on?"
Megatron couldn't figure it out. Of course he knew that what had attacked them earlier was an orbital strike, and orbital strikes were the hallmark of a mature interstellar civilization. But the intelligence he had clearly stated that this planet only had a ruined human civilization and a low-level mechanical civilization that hadn't even left the planet—so how could it possibly possess such means?
"But no matter what, we must obtain the AllSpark."
Optimus Prime looked at Megatron, a sharp glint flashing through his blue eyes.
"The AllSpark must absolutely not fall into anyone else's hands!"
"I know!"
Hearing Optimus Prime's words, Megatron glared at him impatiently. In truth, Megatron had originally planned to ditch Optimus Prime and run for it alone. But after thinking it over, this planet was extremely strange, and there was even orbital bombardment involved. And with the AllSpark so close at hand, he couldn't bear to give it up. In the end, Megatron agreed to temporarily join forces with Optimus Prime—this way, if something dangerous happened, at least he'd have someone to block bullets for him, right?
Megatron had already tried contacting his subordinates earlier, but not a single one responded. It could be said they were basically wiped out. He was now a lone commander. Optimus Prime didn't look much better either, so now was definitely not the time for an internal war. First get the AllSpark, and then… then talk about "then"!
Optimus Prime, of course, knew that Megatron harbored ill intentions. But he also understood Megatron's personality very well. This guy was greedy and afraid of death. In a situation like this, Megatron would definitely use him as a shield and bait. But conversely, that also meant that before obtaining the AllSpark, Megatron wouldn't make a move against him.
Of course, Optimus Prime wasn't some kind of saint either. If the AllSpark were right in front of him, that would be the moment for him to strike at Megatron—no doubt the other side was thinking the same.
And so, a fragile alliance filled with ulterior motives was formed just like that.
"How much farther?"
"Not too far now! Follow me!"
After saying this, Megatron moved out from beneath the wreckage of the overpass. Seeing his figure, Optimus Prime frowned slightly and followed close behind, racing off into the distance.
However, neither of them noticed that shortly after they left, a small drone quietly rose from the nearby wreckage. It stared at the retreating figures of Optimus Prime and Megatron, its bright red camera lens flashing continuously. A moment later, the drone also flew off in their direction.
All of this was seen clearly by Duanmu Huai.
"Tsk tsk tsk, being the villain really is more comfortable…"
As he spoke, Duanmu Huai shifted into a more comfortable position in his chair. No wonder so many Hollywood treasure-hunting and tomb-raiding blockbusters had bosses who loved to sit back and wait. How comfortable was this? The protagonist risks life and limb, drinking muddy water and struggling desperately, while you sit in the rear drinking ice-cold cola and eating chips, blocking the exit and catching them like fish in a barrel. Truly a life even immortals wouldn't trade.
That's right—mere enjoyment isn't real enjoyment. Enjoying yourself while watching others suffer—that's real enjoyment.
Right now, Duanmu Huai was watching two abominable intelligences scrambling like drowned dogs through ruins and mud, with several Skynet drones trailing them. Meanwhile, he was holding Aegis, with Kura and Bambi crawling on his shoulders—tsk tsk tsk, just look at that. Who's living comfortably is obvious at a glance.
At the moment, this planet had completely descended into chaos. These two abominable intelligences from outer space were trying to find some kind of holy relic, while Skynet had been beaten into a depressive state, turning itself into a turtle that only dared to send out drones for reconnaissance, even cutting off connections with its other branch bases.
On the other hand, the Resistance wasn't doing much better. Their headquarters had been completely wrecked by these abominable intelligences. Fortunately, Skynet itself was currently in shutdown mode. Otherwise, the Resistance would probably have been finished. Luckily, Skynet didn't have the spare capacity to deal with them right now, and the Resistance was in the process of searching for a new location to serve as their base.
As for Duanmu Huai, he was holding a little girl, drinking cola, eating chips, and watching a blockbuster… mm, comfortable.
By the way, just to be safe, Duanmu Huai had brought along a few more destroyers and reconnaissance ships to blockade the area around the planet, to prevent any more Cybertronian abominable intelligences from coming here to stir up trouble. Once things here were settled, he'd go blow up Cybertron itself to eliminate future problems.
At the moment, everyone else was busy with their own tasks. Only a few people stayed here to watch the live broadcast with Duanmu Huai.
But some still had questions.
"Adjudicator."
Liumier looked at Duanmu Huai with some hesitation.
"We destroyed the time machine database. Is that really okay?"
"Of course."
Duanmu Huai glanced at Liumier and immediately understood what she was thinking.
"I can guess what's on your mind, but don't do something so stupid. Anyone who tries to control time will instead be controlled by time. The moment you proudly create a time machine and think you can change the past, you've already fallen into time's trap. In the end, you'll gain nothing, and what awaits you will always be only desolate emptiness and despair."
Skynet was just an artificial idiot with no feelings. Otherwise, it should have understood this long ago. Trying to change the past doesn't mean you can control the future. Everything you do is just part of an inescapable net woven by time. Like a fish—the more you struggle, the tighter the net becomes. In the end, you'll only exhaust yourself in despair, waiting for the final doomsday.
"The past is fixed, the present is fluid, and the future is blank. Knowing this is enough."
This was Duanmu Huai's attitude toward time. He wouldn't think about changing the past, nor would he peek at the future. To him, both past and future were unchangeable—or rather, as long as you don't know you can change them, you won't.
Like that overused trope: the Demon King learns from a prophecy that the Hero will destroy him, so he sends troops to eliminate the Hero—only to end up creating the very Hero who destroys him. A perfect closed loop of time, a self-fulfilling prophecy.
And there was also… frustration.
That's right. If the Demon King didn't know the future, then the Hero would just be one challenger among many. Victory or defeat would only be known after fighting.
But if the Demon King knew the future, then subconsciously he would believe the Hero was destined to destroy him. When the Hero stood before him, fear, despair, and unimaginable frustration would naturally arise. After all, he already knew the future and even tried to change it, yet the future still appeared before him in this form. Wouldn't that mean everything he did was meaningless in the face of time?
Thus, the Demon King's morale instantly drops by 50.
So you see, foreknowledge of the future is not a good thing.
That was why Duanmu Huai kept his distance from both changing the past and predicting the future. He couldn't be bothered to sink into that powerless struggle of despair and emptiness. To him, the reality in front of him was everything. Whether he could win or not—he'd know after fighting. Fixed pasts and foretold futures? As long as I don't know, the future doesn't exist!
After all, even the Deceiver of Tzeentch couldn't see through the future and had to give himself a two-headed monster to help.
This showed that in the face of time, even Chaos Gods couldn't act freely.
So any idiot who tried to control time would ultimately become a pawn toyed with by time. No exceptions.
"That's right, Liumier."
At this point, Eclair also patted Liumier on the shoulder.
"The Adjudicator is right. Things like the future and the past don't need to be worried about. We just need to live well in the present! Besides, even if you went back to the past but couldn't change it, wouldn't that be even more of a failure?"
"But… isn't that a kind of cowardice?"
Liumier still seemed unconvinced. Duanmu Huai shrugged.
"Running away is shameful, but useful is enough. There are no perfect people, and no perfect gods. There will always be a fate you can't change. When that happens, just turn around and leave. Of course, if you insist on smashing your head bloody against it, I won't stop you. What your fate becomes after that is something only you can decide. However… in that case, the Tribunal won't sign a formal contract with you."
Not branding you as a heretic and killing you on the spot would already count as mercy.
"…I understand."
Hearing Duanmu Huai's answer, Liumier fell silent for a moment before replying. Then, a trace of surprise appeared in her gaze as she looked at him.
To be honest, Liumier's impression of Duanmu Huai hadn't been very deep. Judging by his appearance and earlier behavior, she had thought he was similar to her partner Eclair—the type who would rather act than think, hot-tempered and reckless. When she said that escape was cowardice, she had even prepared herself for Duanmu Huai to fly into a rage.
But what she hadn't expected was that not only did Duanmu Huai not get angry, he openly admitted it. This genuinely made Liumier look at him in a new light. After all, if it had been Eclair, even if she knew she was wrong, she would stubbornly argue to the end before grudgingly apologizing.
This inevitably changed Liumier's impression of Duanmu Huai. Clearly, this rough, wild, and frightening man wasn't as simple as he looked. He not only thought things through, but also had clear boundaries and restraint. Even Liumier herself had felt momentarily tempted when she learned that Skynet really could create a time machine.
After all, she and Eclair had experienced an unbearably tragic past. If it could all be changed… if they could start over… such temptation was hard for Liumier to resist.
But now it seemed she really had been thinking too simply.
How could the power of time be something she could change?
Thinking this, Liumier glanced at Duanmu Huai again, then withdrew her gaze. She had always been curious about why such a fierce and terrifying-looking man was surrounded by so many beautiful girls. Now, she finally realized that beyond his ferocity, this man also possessed a certain… peculiar charm.
"What's wrong, Liumier?"
Seeing his partner standing there absentmindedly, Eclair asked curiously. Liumier snapped back to her senses and shook her head.
"Nothing. Sorry for disturbing you."
"Oh, it's fine."
Duanmu Huai waved his hand. At that moment, Bambi, who was lying on his shoulder, excitedly pointed at the screen.
"Retainer! Retainer! Look! They ran into a cave! Does that mean they've found the place?"
"Oh? Let me see…"
Duanmu Huai activated the radar again and scanned the area. The results showed that there was indeed a large hollow beneath the mountain. It looked like some kind of research facility… and the lowest level seemed to have some kind of barrier that couldn't be penetrated by scans… mm, this was probably it.
"All right."
Having confirmed the destination, Duanmu Huai stood up.
"It's time for us to properly play the role of the mantis behind the cicada!"
(End of Chapter)