**Chapter 438: Enemy, Eradicate the Roots**
The blue energy beam that struck down instantly blew the lower half of Starscream's body to pieces!
On the gravel-strewn road, Starscream, having lost his legs, crawled with difficulty using his hands. The exposed parts of his body scraped against the ground, leaving trails of sparks. Soon, Starscream collapsed in a Pile of Rocks, the red light in his eyes losing its luster.
Megatron couldn't spare a thought for this traitor at the moment. It scanned the surroundings warily. The two energy particle pulse beams just now clearly came from nearby, indicating that this group of unknown enemies had already arrived close by.
"Found them!"
Megatron's optical sensor switched to thermal imaging mode, and it suddenly discovered several thermal imaging figures a dozen meters away. Without thinking, it propped up its massive body with one hand and pounced towards those red dots.
While in mid-air, its only remaining arm switched to grenade mode, and it unleashed over a dozen grenades towards the target in one go.
Boom boom boom boom boom! After a series of explosions, smoke and dust billowed on the Highway... After unleashing all the grenades, Megatron switched its remaining arm back to blade mode. As its massive body pressed down towards the smoke and dust, the blade, flashing with cold light, swept out.
Before Megatron could land, countless hissing sounds suddenly came from the thick smoke and dust. Immediately after, over a dozen pitch black snake-like tentacles extended from the smoke and dust.
These viscous tentacles were each as thick as an arm, like wet liquid asphalt, pitch black all over. Their heads resembled strange snakes, each opening its mouth wide to reveal sharp, spike-like fangs.
These tentacles were over a dozen meters long, shooting straight at Megatron like black arrows.
As they approached Megatron, the serrations on these tentacles bit into Megatron's body one by one. Some tentacles were like soft whips, their bodies rapidly descending. Their strong and powerful bodies whipped fiercely at Megatron's arms, waist, and legs, producing crisp cracking sounds.
Megatron was completely entangled by over a dozen black tentacles. Seen from within the smoke and dust, it looked like a giant marionette.
"Looks like this should be a Robot Leader. Dig out its mechanical core! Take it back to the Weapon Research Laboratory. Those guys should pay a high price for it!"
From the smoke and dust, four or five figures walked out. Looking at the humans seemingly wrapped in asphalt-like liquid, Megatron angrily shook its body, trying to break free from the restraint.
But even with its own weight of dozens of tons and the strength of hundreds of tons when struggling, the viscous tentacles extending from these humans held it firmly bound.
"Do you want it alive? I feel like Mr. Wanke would be interested in this kind of robot that can transform between a machine and a car—"
Several Special Operations Soldiers wearing Symbiote Suits stood in front of Megatron, discussing how to deal with it as if no one else was present. Megatron could only let out bursts of angry roars. It was unwilling. It was the Leader of the Decepticons.
It was the hope of Cybertron. How could it die here? "Forget it, looking at its unruly appearance, if it causes trouble for our mission, it would be a case of losing more than we gain. I don't want to be punished by being sent to the Arctic Training Camp!"
"How should we handle this thing?"
"The glowing part should be its energy source. Dig it out. Cut off its head and keep it. There might be some chip or something inside."
"Snap-"
"Rip-"
Starscream buried itself in the Pile of Rocks, not daring to move. The sound of those "Demons" dismantling Megatron echoed in its ears. If it didn't lack human physiological structure, it would already be trembling.
"All dismembered!"
"Take everything you can!"
"There's another one over there! Looks like it's dead! How should we handle it?"
"The mission is important. Let's go support Cobra Commander!"
"Alright!"
Under the gravel, Starscream listened to the receding footsteps and voices, feeling a sense of relief. After five or six minutes, Starscream felt that the group of humans should have gone far away. Only then did it prop itself up with its arms and crawl out from the Pile of Rocks.
"Yo! White Bear, you guessed right. This robot was really playing dead!"
Starscream raised its head, only to see four people on top of the surrounding Pile of Rocks, holding several high-energy rifles that looked high-tech, aiming at its head.
These seemingly human figures were completely enveloped in black liquid. Their heads were also covered, with mouths stretching back to their ears, taking up a large portion of their heads. The one speaking, a suspected human existence, opened its large mouth filled with sharp teeth and stuck out a tongue three or four feet long, licking the corners of its mouth.
Starscream had seen that gaze before. It was when it was infiltrating the Human Air Force Base, the gaze those Pilots had when secretly looking at the scantily clad cover girls in erotic magazines.
"How should we deal with this guy? I say just cut off its head and take it back!"
A Special Operations Soldier shook his head. The Symbiote Suit on his back simulated eight sharp, spider-leg-like appendages, pointing them remotely at Starscream.
"Don't kill me, I surrender. I'm different from Megatron, I'm willing to obey your orders! Hiss hiss hiss..."
As Starscream looked up, it happened to see Megatron's head being carried by a Special Operations Soldier. It quickly let out a string of pleading sounds.
Perhaps because it lacked its lower limbs, Starscream's voice was accompanied by a series of electrical leakage sounds... "He knows what's good for him!"
Several Special Operations Soldiers exchanged a gaze. The leading Soldier said, "If you want survival, don't move!"
Saying this, a three to four-meter-long Symbiote Tentacle extended from the Soldier's back, coiling around a fist-sized, cylindrical instrument flashing with blue light, and approached Starscream.
Starscream suppressed the thought of counterattack, watching with its eyes wide as the black tentacle approached its body surface. The cylindrical object flashing with blue light directly attached itself to its head.
The next moment, accompanied by a blue light bursting from the cylindrical object, a strong electromagnetic pulse current instantly enveloped Starscream.
Starscream's two eyeballs, which emitted red light, also dimmed! A Special Operations Soldier stepped forward, activated a shrinking gun loaded with Pym Particles, and hit Starscream with a shot, instantly turning the several-meter-tall Transformer into a mini-toy the size of an ant.
Then he bent down, picked it up, and put it into a metal storage box he carried. This matchbox-sized silver metal box was not only made entirely of Adamantium but also had a Sealing Formation engraved on the outside.
The Soldier put the unconscious Starscream into the storage box, then took out a spray bottle and sprayed liquid nitrogen gas into the storage box, freezing Starscream. Only then did he close the storage box. The viscous Symbiote Suit on his back directly extended a tentacle with sharp teeth and fangs and swallowed the Adamantium storage box in one gulp.
"Boss, we're done here! Do you need us to come over and provide reinforcements!"
After dealing with Starscream, a Special Operations Soldier contacted Cobra Commander via Encrypted Channel.
"You're not needed here. Head to the Evacuation Point. Evacuate in fifteen minutes. Before that, go to the Dam Base. I have a feeling there should be a lot of good things there!"
"Received!"
Ten minutes ago, just as Optimus Prime led the Autobots to block the Decepticons' pursuit, two Special Operations Team Cobra Commanders quickly took a shortcut and caught up with Sam's convoy, blocking several vehicles.
"Enemy attack! Be wary!"
Captain William, driving an Armed Humvee at the front, saw a group of Mysterious Persons suddenly appearing and blocking the middle of the road. While grabbing his walkie-talkie to warn others, he stomped on the accelerator, crashing towards the strange-looking Mysterious Persons.
On the Humvee, a Black Soldier even set up the vehicle-mounted machine gun and sprayed bullets at the blockers—
"Da da da da da da..."
Dense squad machine gun bullets instantly shot out, riddling the blockers.
Captain William watched the shot blockers from afar, somewhat doubting if he was being overly nervous and had accidentally injured civilians. As he stomped on the accelerator and the Humvee military vehicle rapidly approached the mysterious blockers, he was horrified to discover that the Heavy Machine Gun Bullets had indeed penetrated the blockers' bodies, creating bowl-sized Holes in them.
But these Holes didn't reveal red flesh and blood, but viscous black liquid. This liquid constantly wriggled in their wounds, quickly filling the Holes made by the Heavy Machine Gun shots.
"My God, are these guys really human?"
William Lennox felt as if his experiences these past few days were a dream. First, he encountered two strange large robots that ambushed their Camp. After barely escaping with his life, he was transferred to this mysterious Sector 7.
Here, he finally understood that those mysterious robots were actually extraterrestrial intelligent lifeforms. But before he could catch his breath, Sector 7 was hit by a terrorist attack.
If those robots were extraterrestrial life, then what were this group of strange-looking guys in front of him! Through the Humvee's windshield, William Lennox suddenly noticed a strange person carrying a weapon that looked like a Rocket Launcher, its gun port faintly glowing with blue light.
"Rocket! Watch out and evade!"
William Lennox slammed on the brakes, then turned the steering wheel sharply. The Humvee immediately did a drift on the spot, blocking the front of the convoy. Then he opened the car door and jumped out.
"Poof!"
A blue light beam pierced through the convoy almost the instant William Lennox jumped out of the vehicle!
The first to bear the brunt was William Lennox's modified Humvee. The Humvee's steel plate, which could withstand normal rifle bullet shots, didn't even last a second under this blue light beam, being directly pierced with a Hole the size of a water tank.
Rumble!
The fuel tank of the modified Humvee military vehicle was directly ignited, and William Lennox, who had jumped out, was knocked unconscious directly by the strong explosion shockwave.
Perhaps the energy generated by the explosion interfered with the Neutron Cannon's attack, or perhaps they were afraid of damaging the Allspark, the Special Operations Soldier who launched the attack deliberately lowered the Neutron Cannon's energy output strength.
The blue light disappeared after penetrating two Humvee military vehicles.
"Boss, found it! The thing is here!"
"Take it, let's go!"
Sam lay slumped against the front windshield, his face covered in blood. In a daze, he heard the sound of the car door being torn off, followed by a conversation between two people.
Thing, take away, not good, they want to take the Allspark! Realizing this, Sam wanted to get up and stop them, but even though he was on the verge of fainting and used all his strength, he still couldn't move a single finger.
Just as Sam felt despair, he suddenly heard an angry roar: "Autobots, attack!"
Optimus Prime saw the tragic state of the convoy from afar, as well as the Allspark being carried by a Special Operations Soldier. It immediately let out a bellow, transformed into its combat form, and charged towards the Special Operations Team with the rest of the Autobots.
In the blink of an eye, this group of Transformers intercepted the Special Operations Soldiers who were trying to evacuate. To Optimus Prime's surprise, these Human Soldiers showed no fear towards them, their eyes staring coldly at them.
This situation made Optimus Prime feel a sense of strangeness. Although it didn't want to harm humans, it had protected humans from harm multiple times during conflicts with the Decepticons.
In the eyes of the compassionate Optimus Prime, humans on this Planet were weak existences, so weak that they couldn't even withstand the aftermath of its clashes with the Decepticons.
"Who are you, and why are you stealing the Allspark!"
Optimus Prime stepped forward, extending a Battle Blade from its arm, pointing it at the Special Operations Soldiers: "Leave the Allspark!"
Facing Optimus Prime, a robot eight or nine meters tall, an Ordinary Person would feel a sense of helpless suffocation just standing in front of it.
But facing the group of Autobots blocking their way, these Special Operations Soldiers showed no fear in their eyes and directly charged towards the blocking Autobots.
Optimus Prime, who was at the front, was even targeted by a focused fire attack from two people!
The Autobots, facing the enemy's attack, immediately raised their guns and counterattacked! "Boom!"
"Swish swish swish swish swish—"
"Bang, bang bang..."
The pulse beams emitted by the Energy Rifles and the firelight of grenade explosions illuminated each other. Brass shell casings as thick as a human forearm rolled onto the Ground.
Several Autobots grew more and more alarmed as they fought.
"Optimus Prime, there's something wrong with the armor on these humans!"
Ironhide watched as a grenade he fired hit a human's body directly, but the next second, some viscous, humanoid black liquid separated from his body. This liquid seemed to have vitality, opening its large mouth filled with sharp teeth and spitting out several grenade fragments.
Seemingly sensing Ironhide's gaze, the Symbiote grinned and let out a hissing scream at it.
Optimus Prime was currently engaged in melee combat with two Special Operations Soldiers. It used both the Battle Blade in its hand and its Energy Cannon, yet it couldn't gain any advantage against the two Special Operations Soldiers.
The combat strength displayed by these humans in front of it far exceeded its understanding of humans, especially the black liquid on their bodies, which seemed to be able to transform into various weapons.
They could extend seven or eight-meter-long spider-like spears, sharp greatswords, warhammers, and also transform into soft tentacles. At the same time, they could assist them in jumping over ten meters high to engage in combat with them. Optimus Prime felt like he was fighting two flexible fleas with a hundred arms.
"I know, but these things aren't afraid of bullets or cold weapons!" Optimus Prime sliced off a viscous liquid arm extended by a Special Operations Soldier, watching with its eyes wide as the fallen mass of liquid grew hands and feet on its own and leaped back into the host body.
Facing such troublesome things, Optimus Prime had no good method for a while and could only watch as the other Special Operations Soldiers left with the Allspark.
"Bastards!"
Just as Optimus Prime let out a helpless bellow, Bonecrusher and the rest of the Decepticons also followed the Autobots' footsteps and arrived.
Several Decepticons instantly locked onto the Allspark being carried by Porcupine. Blackout immediately sent out a sonic attack towards Porcupine from afar.
The Symbiote Suit on Porcupine's body instantly vibrated under this High-Frequency Noise, trying to separate from Porcupine's body.
Porcupine was George, one of the two Special Operations Team Cobra Commanders. Each Special Operations Team member had their own codename. The reason his codename was Porcupine was because his name was the same as an animated character his daughter liked.
George didn't like those pink pig-headed hair dryers, but he couldn't resist his daughter's fondness for them, which is why he chose the not-so-pleasant name "Porcupine" when selecting his codename.
Part of the reason his military merit was lower than Viper's was that he took two to three days off each week to go back to Raccoon City to accompany his two-year-old daughter.
"The things on them are afraid of sound. Activate the High-Frequency Oscillation Cannons on your bodies!"
Ratchet saw that Blackout's attack was effective and immediately understood the weakness of these strange Symbiotes. It quickly signaled its fellow Autobots, including Optimus Prime, to immediately activate the Sound Modules on their bodies and adjust them to a high-frequency state. Indeed, under the High-Frequency Noise, the black liquid tentacles and sharp weapons all retracted as if they had encountered a natural enemy.
Under the High-Frequency Noise, they all wanted to separate from their hosts.
However, neither the Autobots nor the Decepticons noticed that these Special Operations Soldiers, when facing the failure of their armor, did not show any panic. Instead, their eyes revealed an excitement for a big fight.
Green blood threads even spread in the pupils of many people! "Useless trash, indeed the guys in the Weapon Research Laboratory were right. Things with too many weaknesses are easily restrained!"
After the Symbiote on Porcupine's body detached, it shrunk into a basketball-sized mass of black liquid in his Palm. As if knowing Porcupine was cursing it, this mass of Symbiote extended tiny tentacles, rubbing against Porcupine George's Palm.
Porcupine clenched it in his Palm. The other Special Operations Team Cobra Commander beside him pressed the Wireless Communicator by his ear.
"You're not needed here. Head to the Evacuation Point. Evacuate in fifteen minutes. Before that, go to the Dam Base. I have a feeling there should be a lot of good things there!"
"Porcupine, ten minutes, should be enough, right?" Cobra Commander looked at Porcupine. The Symbiote on his body had also been stripped away, and his eyes had somehow turned into snake-like vertical pupils.
"Eight minutes to deal with them!" Porcupine threw the Allspark in his hand to a Soldier nearby, then shook his head. His entire body rapidly expanded, directly tearing through the carbon fiber fabric on his body. He transformed into a four to five-meter-tall green brute.
Porcupine charged towards Blackout, leaping hundreds of meters away. Withstanding Blackout's continuous high-frequency oscillation waves and the various attacks from the surrounding Decepticons, he fell from high altitude and punched towards Blackout's forehead.
"Creak!"
Blackout was hit in the head by Porcupine's fist. Its metal forehead instantly dented significantly with a creaking sound of bending metal.
With one punch, Blackout, true to its name, immediately stumbled, entering a dizzy state.
Clang clang clang—
Porcupine's fists, larger than clay pots, rapidly swung. Every punch left deep fist marks on Blackout's body.
Under Porcupine's heavy punches, Blackout's chest armor was directly smashed into a pile of scrap metal, revealing the Energy Core within.
Porcupine grabbed this luminous body and pulled hard! The seven to eight-meter-tall Transformer immediately fell to its knees, completely motionless.
As for why the other Decepticons didn't support Blackout, it was naturally because they were also preoccupied. Each Decepticon was blocked by a Special Operations Soldier who had transformed into Hulk Form.
Hulk Serum, as a flagship product distributed internally by Tang Group to the Armed Forces, although it didn't possess energy attack after transformation like Titan Serum, the Hulk's own powerful physical quality and super healing factor were themselves an extremely powerful weapon.
In terms of strength, even a Strength-type Transformer like Bonecrusher might not gain an advantage against a Special Operations Soldier in Hulk Form.
And these Transformers didn't have weapons that could cause fatal damage to the Hulk... First, Blackout's Energy Core was dug out, then Barricade was seized by a Special Operations Soldier who found an opportunity, smashing the back of the head with a punch. A Special Operations Soldier who hadn't transformed hit it with a Neutron Cannon Strike, blasting Barricade's body into countless scrap metal pieces.
Bonecrusher was a staunch supporter of Megatron. Seeing their side falling into a disadvantage, it charged, breaking free from the blocking Special Operations Soldier, and rushed towards the Viper Cobra Commander who was holding the Allspark.
It wanted to snatch the Allspark.
The next moment, it charged into a patch of green poison mist. Accompanied by the faint 'hissing' corrosive sound, Bonecrusher's body visibly rusted and corroded at a speed visible to the naked eye... Parts of various sizes rolled onto the Ground from its rust-thin body... "Thud!" Before Bonecrusher could reach the Cobra Commander codenamed Bushmaster, its massive body collapsed.
"All Autobots, retreat! I'll cover the retreat! Ironhide, take Ratchet and go!"
Optimus Prime blasted back the green-skinned figure in front of him with an Energy Cannon. It looked at the almost completely wiped out Decepticons and the precarious situation of its own side's Autobots, especially after seeing the barely alive Ratchet. It realized now was not the time to prolong the battle.
Optimus Prime continuously fired its arm-mounted Energy Cannon. With the cooperation of Ironhide and several other Autobots, after temporarily forcing back several Hulk-transformed Special Operations Soldiers, it immediately ordered the Autobots to evacuate.
He himself stayed behind to cover the retreat! Facing the siege of four or five Hulks, even Optimus Prime, a Transformer with the Leader Template, fell into a precarious state after delaying for two minutes, his body covered in fist marks.
If Optimus Prime weren't a Body of Steel and didn't show signs of injury, his appearance at this moment would be not much different from a human with a bruised and swollen face.
"Bang!"
A Special Operations Soldier leaped up. Relying on the strong jumping power in Hulk Form, while Optimus Prime was being contained, he directly leaped onto Optimus Prime's back. His thick arms, full of bulging muscles, tightly wrapped around Optimus Prime's neck. Just as this Special Operations Soldier's muscular arms tightened and exerted force, trying to directly pull off Optimus Prime's head.
A yellow sports car suddenly sped over from the Interstate Highway. It leaped over the road blocked by gravel. This Bumblebee sports car directly transformed into its humanoid combat state, its Dual Pistols continuously firing at the Special Operations Soldier on top of Optimus Prime's head.
The Special Operations Soldier, who was exerting force to pull off Optimus Prime's head, was caught off guard and was hit by Bumblebee's dense firepower, feeling a burst of pain. His arm loosened slightly.
Optimus Prime seized this opportunity to swing out a Battle Blade, forcing back the crowd surrounding him. With a large Mechanical Hand, he grabbed the Special Operations Soldier's arm from his back, yanked him down, and slammed him onto the Highway.
The Ground instantly shattered, cracking open a large pit... Bumblebee rapidly rushed towards Optimus Prime's Direction, while its various Heavy Firepower also continuously poured bullets onto the Special Operations Soldiers surrounding Optimus Prime, remotely relieving the siege for Optimus Prime.
"Buzz!"
Viper looked at the constantly approaching Bumblebee, gave a gaze to the Special Operations Soldier beside him, and the Special Operations Soldier who hadn't transformed into Hulk Form directly shouldered a Neutron Cannon and fired a shot at Bumblebee! Bumblebee acutely perceived the energy light beam attack, leaped up, trying to jump and dodge this attack. But it forgot that the wound it suffered from Starscream's sneak attack in front of the Hoover Dam had not yet been repaired. Only when it leaped up did it feel the damage to its body from behind, which caused its dodging height to deviate slightly from what it had expected.
This resulted in the powerful Neutron Cannon exploding directly on its body. "Bumblebee!"
Optimus Prime looked at his companion engulfed in a patch of azure blue light beam, let out a bellow towards the sky, then swung his Battle Blade like crazy, fighting with his life, wanting to kill the enemies in front of him to get revenge for Bumblebee.
"Viper Cobra Commander, a Federal Air Force Formation is flying towards your Direction. Expected arrival in four minutes! Please evacuate in time!"
Viper listened to the alert sound by his ear, looked at the Countdown on his wrist watch, and pressed the in-team command Communicator. Just as he was about to issue the retreat order, he suddenly heard Optimus Prime's roar: "No matter who you are, you killed Bumblebee, and I will never let you go. Whether I have to chase you to the ends of the earth, I will kill you. I swear on the Autobot honor!"
Viper's snake-like pupils stared coldly at Optimus Prime. He remembered the story Boss told them several years ago when he personally visited the Siberian Training Camp.
When facing enemies, never show any mercy. Once you sense the enemy's strong desire for revenge, solve the problem at the source.
What to do when "Wildfire cannot burn it out, the spring breeze blows it back to life"? "Then pull up by the roots!" Boss's teachings seemed to still echo in his ears.
Viper adjusted the countdown time on his wrist watch and ruthlessly issued the order to the Team.
"Everyone attack together! Deal with the Rival within two minutes! Then evacuate from here!"
So, seven or eight strong green figures, accompanied by two blue light beams, simultaneously pounced towards Optimus Prime.
(end of chapter)