DOTM: Chapter 436/437

Chapter 436: Who Killed Him?

The rest of the journey was uneventful. Starscream's appearance confirmed that the Decepticons had received the news that Megatron was being transferred by humans, and they did indeed launch an attack on the transport convoy.

Starscream was the fastest, so he arrived at the convoy alone.

He thought he had the advantage in mobility and could just run if he could not win, but he did not expect to be caught and killed by one of Tony's "ultimate moves".

"How did you come up with that move?"

Ethan had seen it very clearly. Tony's move was a combination of technology, magic, and even some magic stone technology.

It utilized the energy of the Arc Reactor, and the energy release clearly used the shaping techniques of an Arcane Mage, which allowed him to form a thick energy layer outside his body.

"At first, I just wanted to see if forming an energy layer outside my body could help increase flight speed. Then I started thinking about how to attack while accelerating rapidly. The result was that at such high speeds, the surrounding energy is the most powerful weapon. I did not need to do anything else, just control the direction and crash into them."

The equipment that deformed on the armor was actually various pre-set magic structure deployment devices in the armor's program, because with Tony's current magical strength, he could not complete such a complex spell in an instant.

But with the help of the armor, he could mobilize sufficient powerful energy in a very short time and complete this spell to deliver a fatal blow to a strong enemy. This was the power of combining technology and magic. You could pre-set spells like a Spell Slot Mage and instantly cast them in battle, and you could also repeatedly use the same spell like a Mana Mage.

Ethan could certainly do it too, but it would take Tony who knows how many years to reach Ethan's current level if he did not use technological assistance.

He had already gone very far on the technology side, and there was no need to abandon his previous advantages. The best choice was to effectively combine the two and forge his own path.

"It's a shame there's still a cooldown issue. This move can't be used for a long time, otherwise, even you wouldn't have a very good way to deal with it, right?"

Tony, wrapped in that massive energy, would be severely injured even by a strong gust of wind. Simply grazing him would be fatal. Coupled with his extremely fast flight speed and the ability to control direction freely, it would be very difficult for ordinary people to resist.

But for Ethan, this was no trouble at all, so he simply replied with two calm words.

"Heh heh."

Tony, of course, understood what Ethan's reaction meant. Just as he was about to say something else, he suddenly remembered the scene where Thor was utterly thrashed by Ethan.

For a master skilled in controlling space, flying fast seemed useless. The opponent could interfere with and distort the spatial structure. He might fly until he vomited blood and still be spinning in place. Even if the opponent seemed to be right in front of him, he could not actually get close.

Thinking of this, he lost his previous confidence. He did know a few ways to break such spatial magic, but with his current strength, he could not do any of them.

"Looks like you figured it out."

Seeing Tony suddenly fall silent and lost in thought, Ethan knew the guy had realized it. Although his move had strong lethality, it lacked duration and stability. Seeing that even the armor overheated afterward, the burden of this move on the armor was definitely more severe than he showed.

"Anyway, the direction is right. Next is to solve those technical problems."

After cooling down for a while, and with the armor's cooling system running at full power, Tony could finally retract the nano-armor. Returning to the command vehicle, he did not have to fly at a constant speed with the convoy alongside Ethan anymore.

Of course, the most important reason was that he did not want Ethan to show off inexplicably again. Because Tony's armor could not be retracted temporarily, Ethan had been flying outside with him, following the convoy.

It was not a big deal that Tony had armor on, but Ethan did not show any mysterious spell runes, did not have wings, and did not have any high-tech equipment like jet propulsion devices on him. He just flew up like that. This scene was even more attention-grabbing than Tony's armor.

When they returned to the command vehicle, Sam was the first to press for answers.

"How did you do that? Was that magic too? Why didn't I see you make any spell-casting movements? Or do you have some special equipment on you? Like an anti-gravity device or something?"

Sam listed almost every possibility he could think of, yet Ethan answered with the one possibility he had not mentioned.

"Uh... this is kind of an instinct, I guess? Like how people walk or fish swim."

Sam's mouth hung open, not knowing what to say, but Mikaela, who had successfully obtained the assistant position, had fewer reservations. She directly blurted out what everyone wanted to ask but could not articulate. "You can fly on your own?"

"I only recently mastered this ability. Actually, I didn't know I could fly originally."

If Diana had not suddenly wanted to see if Ethan could fly on his own, he would still have been flying using the wings he created with magical energy.

Although flying that way was cool and "impressive", it was ultimately not as effortless as it was now. One was like waving your own arm or wiggling your own finger; the other was like holding some kind of tool in your hand and then using these tools to do things you could previously do with your hands.

Which was more convenient was obvious at a glance.

For Sam, this was merely another amazing ability displayed by the miraculous alien (or god) Ethan. However, in the eyes of two sharp-sighted and highly experienced individuals, this meant that Ethan, a creature of unknown race, did not have fixed innate abilities and could even continuously improve.

Kevin Smith pondered for a moment and asked a question he had been thinking about for a while. "Mr. Ethan, you mentioned earlier that beings like you were once revered as gods on Earth. I wonder if there are any familiar gods who happen to come from the same civilization as you?"

Ethan stroked his smooth chin. Kevin Smith's question was interesting, a kind of probing, but if they were to discuss this, he certainly could not mention characters from the Ocean World.

Tony suddenly rolled his eyes discreetly. He already anticipated what was going to happen next.

"Thor."

Ignoring Tony's "I knew it" look, Ethan shamelessly included Thor as one of his own kind.

"Thor?"

If Thor were mentioned normally, it might not be easy to associate him with the Norse god of thunder, but when there was a man nearby who called himself Iron Man, everyone's first reaction upon hearing the name was the Norse god of thunder.

Sam, the young man, had a very strange expression. In fact, Kevin Smith and his advisor's faces were equally strange.

Iron Man, and now Thor, the God of Thunder... this guy was not going to say the Avengers were actually his compatriots, was he?

"Cough, the God of Thunder from Norse mythology?"

"Yes."

Ethan's expression remained normal. This was a test of thick skin. If he showed even a hint of embarrassment, the other party would take it as a lie.

He had to look completely matter-of-fact so that the other party would not question his words.

Ethan also wanted to mention others, but after thinking about it, he realized that the only gods he knew were Odin, Thor, and Diana. Diana was not considered a "god from mythology". Like Tony, she was a comic book character.

However, thinking of Diana, he suddenly thought of another god.

"Oh, and Ares."

"Ares? The God of War Ares from Olympian mythology?"

"Yes, that Ares." Ethan nodded. "And in terms of bloodline, I'm a bit closer to him than to Thor..."

The key ingredient in the divine blood potion that helped Ethan take a crucial step was Ares's blood, so saying this was not wrong.

In this regard, Ethan was indeed closer to the Olympian gods in Greek mythology and more distant from Thor, the God of Thunder from Norse mythology, in terms of "bloodline".

"Is Ares still alive?"

Compared to Mikaela and Sam being shocked that a legendary god actually existed, Kevin Smith was concerned about something else.

As someone who once had considerable fame on Earth and whose legendary stories have been passed down to this day, even though there were no true believers left, there was still fertile ground for developing believers. Would that Ares suddenly return to Earth?

From Ethan's strength, it was clear that these so-called gods possessed very powerful abilities. If they wanted to rule Earth, humans would have almost no power to resist.

"Oh no, Ares died a while ago."

"Died?"

Kevin Smith's spirits lifted. Such powerful beings could also die. This was truly good news.

"How did he die?"

He thought Ethan would not answer this question. This question seemed to involve the secrets of "gods", and perhaps one might inadvertently expose their weaknesses, so he would likely be vague and gloss over the question.

If that were the case, it would mean that although the other party was powerful, they were not invincible.

Unexpectedly, Ethan did not mind discussing the cause of death of Ares, his kinsman, at all, and stated it very directly.

"Killed by someone."

Kevin Smith felt his head buzzing. He realized things seemed to have become more complicated.

The God of War Ares was killed?

In his mind, Ares, having the name God of War, must be more powerful than this unknown alien Ethan. Extrapolating Ares's combat power from Ethan's strength, it was simply terrifying...

Such a powerful God of War was actually killed? How terrifying was the being who killed Ares? Was this universe really that dangerous?

"Killed by whom?"

Kevin Smith did not realize that he was asking this question almost through clenched teeth.

Ethan did not care about his tone, he just did not know how to answer. Should he tell him: "Killed by my girlfriend."

He felt that if he really said that, the senator would immediately "gasp" and pass out.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 437: Water

In the end, Ethan still revealed the "truth", though he did not mention Diana's name.

Upon hearing that Ethan had a girlfriend capable of killing Ares, the God of War, Kevin Smith became even more wary of him and increasingly grateful that the White House had not taken any drastic actions.

If Ethan had truly been attacked by humans, how would his companions have reacted? Could Earth withstand their retaliation?

These were all things they had to consider. He decided to report all of this information to the President and his colleagues. Until they had a complete understanding of the full extent of Ethan's power, it was best not to casually make an enemy of him.

Ethan's goal of showing off his strength was largely achieved ahead of schedule by this unexpected turn of events, which meant he had no part in the subsequent battle to use Megatron as bait to ambush the Decepticons.

He understood the principle of diminishing returns. If he kept displaying his strength frequently, it would not make the other party more wary. Instead, it could arouse suspicion about his true intentions.

If he accidentally overstimulated them, and these people, in their panic, decided to go for a mutually destructive outcome, it would be a huge waste. Not that he would be harmed by it, but after spending so much effort and time to finally establish contact and being on the verge of cooperation, only for talks to suddenly break down, anyone would feel annoyed.

Tony did not try to steal the spotlight again either. He and Ethan sat quietly in the command vehicle, watching the spectacular performance of the Autobots and the American soldiers.

With full preparations and a large deployment of equipment, the combat effectiveness of the US military was astonishing. Moreover, the number of Decepticons attracted this time was very small. Even without the help of these soldiers, the Autobots could have fought them to a standstill.

Now, with the large number of soldiers equipped with various advanced weapons joining the fray, it was simply a brutal, one-sided beatdown.

The Decepticons were beaten terribly.

Brawl and Blackout, powerful military weapons, became prime targets. Not only were they destroyed, but the ground they stood on was blasted several meters lower than the surroundings.

Although Bonecrusher was large, he was no match for Optimus Prime and was easily torn apart, just like in the original plot.

Even worse, Megatron, the most powerful fighter among the Decepticons, was completely immobilized, frozen by Ethan's magic, unable to wake up for a while.

He wondered if Megatron could receive information in this state. If so, what would he think watching his subordinates being killed one by one by the Autobot traitors in league with outsiders?

Unfortunately, no one would ever know. After annihilating the Decepticons, Ethan casually finished off the Decepticon leader, directly crushing the space within Megatron's head, ice and all, into fragments.

Seeing Ethan merely clench his fist from a distance toward Megatron, causing the massive metal head to be crushed into pieces like a rotten tomato, the Secretary of Defense and the Senator became even more wary of this powerful interstellar friend.

This was why Ethan did not participate in the battle. Showing too much strength would be counterproductive.

Megatron had to be eliminated. Throughout the Transformers movie series, Megatron was like an unkillable cockroach, constantly popping up to cause trouble. Since Ethan wanted to use this world as a logistical base, he could not tolerate such a character constantly causing disruptions.

The bodies of the Decepticons, including Megatron, would be transported away by the US military. As for where they would be sent, Ethan did not care at all.

During the previous discussions, no one had mentioned the Decepticon corpses. This was an unspoken agreement. All these war trophies would be handed over to the humans for research.

Optimus Prime was initially a bit reluctant to accept this, but Ethan persuaded him.

"You want to live on Earth, but you will not pay for lodging? And you expect humans to understand and trust you?"

It sounded unreliable no matter how you looked at it. In the Transformers movie series, some human politicians who suddenly appeared were quite annoying, but putting yourself in their shoes, Optimus Prime and the others' actions could not help but cause suspicion.

They suddenly arrived on Earth, started frantically gathering comrades without permission, claimed to help humans fight the Decepticons, but kept all the core technology in the Autobots' hands, sharing nothing with humans. Even if you just brought out some outdated Cybertronian technology for a show of technological assistance, that would be something.

Instead, the great Optimus Prime declared: You humans are a bunch of war maniacs, I will not give you Cybertronian technology.

His domineering attitude was utterly overwhelming.

To put it bluntly, from the beginning, the Autobots did not treat humans as equal allies. Optimus Prime saw humans as an uncivilized, weak civilization, while they were guardians from a higher civilization who had descended upon this world.

But now it was different. From the beginning, Ethan had guided Optimus Prime onto a different path. The Autobots had contacted the Earth government from the outset, engaging in something akin to formal diplomatic negotiations. This meant that from the beginning, humans and Autobots were interacting on a relatively equal footing.

Especially after this major battle, Optimus Prime also realized that the Transformers were not invincible when facing human weapons. Against the endless variety of weapons, the Transformers did not hold the advantage.

"I would like to know how many of you Autobots are still on Earth?"

"All of us are here. If Bumblebee had not sent a signal to contact us, we would not be here."

"What about the Decepticons?"

After the battle, the remaining task was cleaning up the battlefield, but the big shots from the three sides had more issues to discuss. The soldiers cordoned off an area so that Optimus Prime, John Keller, Kevin Smith, Ethan, and the others could talk without being disturbed.

"We used Megatron as bait to lure out the Decepticons. When the Decepticons received the message, they would definitely have come out in full force. Since no new Decepticons appeared, this should be all of them."

Optimus Prime spoke with great confidence. As an old opponent who had fought the Decepticons for who knows how long, he felt he understood them very well.

However, in the eyes of Ethan, who knew the subsequent plot, this was full of things to criticize.

As the Autobot leader in the movie version of Transformers, Optimus Prime's portrayal was definitely not as perfect as in the animated series. He often made inexplicable judgments, and the Autobots' tragic fate in later plots was definitely partly due to Optimus Prime's contribution.

As a spoiler enthusiast, Ethan could not help but almost start spoiling again, but this time he managed to hold back.

He still wanted to recruit Dylan Gould, the human traitor controlled by the Decepticons in the third movie, to his side. Before that, he could not reveal too much.

But this did not mean he and Optimus Prime had no excuse to stay on Earth. After all, if they wanted to find reasons, there were plenty.

"The Decepticons received the message about Megatron's location and would definitely transmit it. More Decepticons might come to Earth in the future. It is foreseeable that there will be many battles against the Decepticons on Earth in the future."

The Secretary of Defense's face was as dark as could be. He had originally thought there would be no trouble during his term, but who would have thought such a thing would happen just before the transition? If not handled properly, it could become a lifelong stain on his record.

"As the Autobot leader, I absolutely cannot stand by and watch the Decepticons wreak havoc on Earth. So you do not need to worry, we will help humanity fight the Decepticons from now on."

Ethan frowned. He had originally wanted to say something, but ultimately held back. He was not an Autobot member, nor was he a Transformer, so he could not keep telling Optimus Prime what to do.

Moreover, Optimus Prime might not be willing to listen to his advice. Ultimately, these were Transformer matters.

Compared to what might happen to the Transformers in the future, Ethan was more concerned about his own treatment in this world.

While the Secretary of Defense and Optimus Prime discussed how to form a military alliance against the Decepticons, Ethan and Kevin Smith walked away slightly to discuss other matters.

Compared to the Transformers, who were completely different from humans, Kevin Smith felt closer to extraterrestrial life forms like Ethan who had the same appearance as humans. And in some ways, Ethan's race had many connections with Earth.

When a politician deliberately tries to get close to someone, most people, unless they are resistant from the start, can have a very pleasant conversation with them. Even though Ethan knew the other party was trying to please him and get close for various reasons, he still felt that Mr. Smith was a very nice person.

At the same time, he repeatedly emphasized that he would not stay on Earth permanently, but could visit frequently and engage in some trade activities with Earth.

"Mr. Ethan, what goods do you plan to sell?"

Ethan thought for a moment. Introducing high-end technology right away was definitely not suitable. This could wait until after multiple transactions had built a certain level of trust between the two parties.

"How about ore?"

"Ore?"

"You know, minerals that are very rare on one planet are actually not worth much in the universe. Perhaps some minerals rarely seen on Earth are floating around in space in unknown quantities."

Kevin Smith's eyes lit up. He also felt that ore was very suitable for increasing mutual trust, and his advisor immediately whispered another resource into his ear.

"Water?"

After a male advisor with glasses whispered a few words in his ear, Kevin Smith immediately understood what this meant and quickly brought it up with Ethan. "If possible, we hope you can collect more meteorites with rich water resources in space."

Ethan could naturally hear the advisor's words and understood why the other party wanted meteorites with water resources, and this was not difficult for him.

"Meteorites containing water? That is easy."

The advisor beside him, seeing Ethan's indifferent attitude, was afraid Ethan would not take it seriously and quickly added, "Preferably water that is harmless to humans and potable."

(To be continued.)