DOTM: Chapter 422/423

Chapter 422: Intercept the Fox in Advance?

Bumblebee was quite familiar with the surrounding area and quickly found an abandoned factory district.

Due to the vast land and sparse population in North America, even in a large city like Los Angeles, there were still plenty of desolate and uninhabited areas if you ventured a bit away from the city center.

To avoid overhead satellites, Bumblebee drove straight into a deserted factory building and stopped in the middle of a spacious workshop.

Tony looked around and quickly realized this was a very safe place.

The workshop was large, and a quick glance was enough to see the entire area. There was a roof overhead, so there was no need to worry about satellite surveillance. Also, being a remote and abandoned area, it was far from crowded streets. Even if someone shouted loudly, it would be difficult to draw any attention.

"Truly an excellent spot for murder and robbery."

As soon as he finished speaking, both car doors opened automatically, signaling that Bumblebee wanted them to get out.

Neither of them lingered in their seats. They immediately got out of the car, and following Ethan's signal, Tony also stepped back a few paces to give Bumblebee some space.

Then, under Ethan's admiring gaze and Tony's astonished expression, Bumblebee transformed into a robot. The mechanical transformation sound in their ears brought a strange sense of excitement.

Ethan knew this feeling came from his past life. After all, Transformers weren't just childhood memories, but had also left a mark during his youth and adulthood.

"Wow."

Tony didn't have that emotional attachment. Besides being amazed, he was also incredibly curious about the internal structure of Transformers. The movie version of Transformers depicted them as highly complex silicon-based lifeforms, with their intricate components equivalent to human bones, muscles, blood vessels, and more.

These intricate mechanical structures were a goldmine for Tony.

"Who exactly are you?"

Bumblebee's voice module was damaged, so he couldn't speak normally. He could only communicate using the car radio's broadcast. Although a bit cumbersome, his messages were still understandable.

"We're not from this planet either."

Ethan was tired of looking up while speaking to Bumblebee, so to make his words more convincing, he slowly floated into the air until he was eye-level with Bumblebee.

"I just happened to run into you, recognized you as a Cybertronian, and said hello."

Bumblebee looked Ethan up and down. As a scout sent to Earth by Optimus Prime's Autobot team, he had been here for a while and knew that Earthlings didn't possess the ability to fly.

Unfortunately, he didn't have Ratchet's scanning capabilities. Otherwise, he could immediately determine whether Ethan was telling the truth based on his body composition.

What Bumblebee wanted to ask most was about the Allspark. But since he couldn't speak properly, and there were no radio programs discussing the Allspark, he was stuck.

He scratched his head and seemed to struggle for a while. Finally, Ethan noticed and asked, "You want to ask about the Allspark?"

Bumblebee immediately nodded, looking unexpectedly silly and cute.

"I know where the Allspark is. It's not impossible to tell you, but are you sure you want to go find it alone? That thing is heavily guarded, and more importantly, both the Allspark and Megatron are stored in the same place."

Even though Bumblebee couldn't speak, his body language and radio broadcasts conveyed his emotions effectively. This excellent Autobot scout quickly realized that this wasn't something he could handle alone. He needed to contact his leader, Optimus Prime, as soon as possible.

The brief conversation ended without getting into specifics. Both Ethan and Bumblebee knew that any serious matters would need to wait until Optimus Prime arrived.

Although nothing had been finalized, Ethan didn't mind.

He didn't have any particular goal he had to achieve in this world. Even the Allspark wasn't something he absolutely had to obtain. Observing and studying it would be enough.

Just as he and Tony had planned from the start, they were simply wandering through different universes, letting Tony witness otherworldly wonders.

"Where are you going next?"

Bumblebee planned to leave this location first, find a place to contact Optimus Prime, and after that...

"Sam."

"You're going back to Sam?"

"Danger," Bumblebee broadcasted through the radio. "Protect."

Although it was disjointed, Ethan immediately understood what Bumblebee meant by combining it with the original plot.

Sam had posted his grandfather's glasses online for auction. The glasses contained a hidden map, which attracted the attention of the Decepticons. Bumblebee, who was on a scouting mission, noticed the Decepticons' movements and went to the used car lot, hoping to be purchased by Sam.

In other words, Bumblebee's approach to Sam wasn't just about finding the Allspark. He also wanted to protect Sam from the Decepticons. The Autobots' principles would never allow them to let innocent humans be harmed due to Transformer conflicts.

However, Bumblebee was no longer Sam's car, so he could only protect the boy from a distance.

Tony watched, dumbfounded, as Bumblebee transformed back into a car and sped off, disappearing with a drift at the intersection.

"My five thousand dollars just ran off?"

Ethan shrugged. Bumblebee didn't trust them at all, so he wouldn't take care of them like he did for Sam.

Besides, the person in danger now was Sam. As long as they didn't provoke the Decepticons, those war-hungry Decepticons wouldn't have a reason to target them.

"Huh?"

"What is it?"

"I just realized, we can actually capture a Transformer and take it back."

It didn't need to be alive. Ethan simply wanted to give it to Tony for research. A Decepticon corpse would do just fine.

"A robot that big, can your storage space even fit it?"

"Not a big one, but we can catch a small one."

"There are small ones?"

Now Tony was also interested. He had only watched Bumblebee's transformation briefly, and his understanding of Transformer anatomy was still very rough. If he could study a Transformer corpse in detail, this trip would be more than worth it.

"Where is it? Are we going now?"

Ethan thought for a while, roughly piecing together the timeline. In the early stages of the first Transformers movie, multiple storylines ran in parallel. At this point, Frenzy should be on Air Force One.

"Air Force One? You mean the President's Air Force One?"

Ethan nodded. Seeing this, Tony rolled his eyes helplessly.

"You want me to suit up, locate Air Force One escorted by fighter jets, knock on the door like I'm visiting a neighbor, and say, 'Hey, can I come in? I just need to grab a little thing. I'll leave right after.' Are you sure I won't be hunted down by every jet in America?"

"I actually think that's a pretty good idea."

Ethan's joking tone still made Tony speechless. "Alright, knock it off. Just tell me where we can find that little Transformer next."

Tony had already noticed that Ethan seemed to know a lot about this world's plot. He clearly understood what was going to happen next.

Tony wasn't particularly curious about it. He knew the Ancient One in his own world could see countless timelines, so it wasn't strange that someone who could travel between universes would have access to this kind of information. Maybe it was related to the secret behind Ethan's multiverse travel, so he didn't ask.

"Uh... just keep an eye on Sam."

The Decepticon Frenzy was a small Transformer that could disguise itself as everyday electronics. After getting the intel he needed from Air Force One, he would team up with Barricade to go after Sam Witwicky. After a fight, Sam would be rescued by Bumblebee and brought to Optimus Prime, kicking off a dramatic and exhausting chase.

"Why don't we just go with Bumblebee?"

"Bumblebee doesn't trust us. Do you think he'd let us ride with him?"

Tony paused and had to admit Ethan was right. In the end, he could only follow Ethan out of the abandoned factory on foot.

Fortunately, Tony's physical fitness was now excellent, and Ethan's was even better. Not only did they keep up a good pace, but they didn't feel tired at all.

Before long, they reached a more populated area, hailed a taxi, and with the driver's recommendation, checked into a comfortable hotel.

After settling in, neither of them went looking for Sam, even though they knew he was the key figure.

Tony didn't feel like moving. Ethan already knew what was going to happen. Frenzy would soon disguise himself as Mikaela's phone and lurk near Sam. When the time came, they could just go find Mikaela, who was much easier to locate than Frenzy.

Moreover, once Optimus Prime received Bumblebee's message, he would definitely come to find him. Sam would certainly appear as well, and Frenzy, who was hiding by Mikaela, would follow. In other words, they didn't need to go searching for Frenzy. Frenzy would come to them.

If this world were a dungeon waiting to be cleared, Ethan had simply chosen the easiest method of conquest. All the plot-critical characters would come to him. From this perspective, making early contact with Bumblebee was clearly the right move.

As for the downside... maybe it was that he couldn't snatch Mikaela, that little vixen, before Sam did.

After all, the most memorable parts of the movie for Ethan were Transformers, explosions, and Mikaela's honey-toned slender waist.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 423: Under Control

Without Ethan's intervention, the subsequent developments gradually returned to the original plot.

Using the marking spell he had left on Bumblebee, Ethan watched the entire process unfold from his hotel room. This spell was learned from Merlin's Book of Inheritance and was essentially the same as the one Merlin had previously used in Arthur's office.

The biggest difference was in power. Merlin could freely target any area and project a view, while Ethan needed a coordinate and could only observe events within a certain range of that coordinate.

When he first encountered Bumblebee, Ethan had left a magical coordinate to ensure he would stay informed of the situation's development, preventing any unexpected changes from occurring without his knowledge.

Since Bumblebee had been quietly following Sam, Ethan could see Sam's every move.

"This guy's luck is pretty good."

Although Sam hadn't bought Bumblebee, he picked up another muscle car at the used car lot. While it couldn't compare to Bumblebee, who was a Transformer, after a thorough cleaning and detailing, it looked much more presentable than the dilapidated Bumblebee.

So Sam still went to flirt with Mikaela in his new car, just like in the original plot, but the following developments diverged from the original.

There was no sudden engine stall, no honey-toned waist, and Bumblebee didn't run out at night to send a signal, nor was he seen by Sam, leading to Sam being suspected of drug use and taken to the police station for questioning.

Compared to the relatively uneventful progression of the original plot, Ethan found it a bit dull. Occasionally, Tony, who was using the same spell to observe, would complain that Ethan was boring.

"What are you complaining about when you've got a girl to look at?"

"I'm not interested in this kind of young girl at all. Maybe in a few more years I could consider it."

Ethan really wanted to tell Tony, stop dreaming. This "fox" looked like this when she entered a modeling contest at thirteen. She'll still look the same in ten years. There won't be much of a change.

But he also understood that Tony wasn't talking about her looks or figure. Mikaela was still a high school student. Girls her age weren't within Tony's hunting range. He would at least wait until they were adults before making a move.

"You seem really into it. Are you interested in her?" Tony stroked his chin. "I always thought long legs were your thing."

Although Mikaela was very beautiful and charming, she was only about 1.6 meters tall. She definitely couldn't compare in leg length to Diana or Ada, who were over 1.7 meters tall barefoot.

"Cut the crap. The Autobots will probably contact us tonight. Are you ready?"

Tony wore a knowing expression, as if he saw right through Ethan's attempt to change the subject. But what he said next wasn't as unserious as his look. "Are you sure we can catch a small Transformer tonight?"

"Based on how things are going, there shouldn't be any unexpected changes."

Overall, the plot hadn't deviated much. Only some minor details were different. Sam and Mikaela had at least met and interacted. Next, Sam should be running around being chased by Bumblebee and even bumping into the Decepticon Barricade, which would trigger a big battle between Bumblebee and Barricade.

This part of the plot was finally getting interesting. Tony, with a tub of popcorn in hand, watched with great enthusiasm. If fans in the Marvel Universe knew that their idol, the famous tycoon and superhero Iron Man, was watching a Transformers battle like it was a drama, they might feel their faith collapse.

"Oh, so this is a Decepticon?"

Barricade's figure had already appeared in the image cast by Ethan's spell. Although he still maintained the appearance of a police car, Ethan's spell could clearly display every detail. Tony quickly noticed the driver was actually a holographic projection.

"Should we keep watching, or go take a look ourselves?"

After watching the car chase between Barricade and Bumblebee for a while, Tony couldn't sit still.

"This scene is too good to just sit and watch. Let's join the fun."

"Let's go then."

With Bumblebee as the locator, even if he sped off somewhere, Ethan didn't have to worry about tracking him. He casually put away the observation spell and directly opened a portal.

Tony was already used to this method of teleportation. Without needing Ethan's reminder, as soon as the portal opened and he saw what was on the other side, he stepped through without hesitation.

But just as he arrived on the other side and hadn't even gotten his footing, he was almost flattened by Barricade's hammer.

"Hey, watch it, you ugly freak!"

The nanotech armor didn't deploy fast enough, but Tony was at least an entry-level arcane mage. He wouldn't be taken out so easily.

With a wave of his hand, he summoned a magic shield, powered by the arcane energy stored in his watch. Since it was a prepared spell, it activated instantly, designed precisely for sudden encounters like this.

The shield had strong defensive capabilities, but it could only be maintained for a short period.

Still, as long as it bought a few seconds, Tony could finish activating his nanotech armor, and the shield would have served its purpose.

Barricade didn't know what had happened. Then, a small figure suddenly shot out from the ground beneath him and landed a heavy blow on his jaw.

Sam and Mikaela were still running in a panic and didn't notice what was happening behind them. It was Bumblebee, who had been protecting them, who noticed first. He stopped and looked behind to see Barricade being beaten up by a small metallic being that was likely one of his own kind.

Bumblebee couldn't speak. With questions filling his head, he could only observe the situation quietly.

At this point, Sam also noticed what was happening behind him. Seeing the giant robot that had been chasing him getting thrashed by a smaller robot, he finally felt a bit of relief.

"Is that your friend? Is he here to help us?"

Sam really hoped the yellow robot would answer yes. But Bumblebee just shrugged, indicating he didn't know.

"I think we should keep running."

Mikaela reacted much faster than Sam. After understanding Bumblebee's response, she realized staying to watch wasn't a wise choice. They should get far away while the other robot was keeping Barricade busy.

"Don't worry. We're not your enemies."

Tony was already locked in battle with Barricade when Ethan slowly walked out of the portal and greeted Bumblebee.

Everyone's attention had been on Barricade and Tony, who was flying through the air and attacking with various moves. If Ethan hadn't spoken, no one would have noticed the portal at all.

Now, seeing someone casually walk out of a strange circle, Sam felt like his brain might be malfunctioning. Otherwise, how could he be hallucinating?

"I must be dreaming. This can't be real."

Mikaela thought the same, but she didn't mutter like Sam. At most, she asked, "Are we having the same dream?"

Sam turned to look at Mikaela and finally declared, "This is also part of the dream!"

Ethan was still considering whether to explain things when Tony, caught off guard, was struck by Barricade's heavy hammer. Like a baseball hit by a bat, he flew through the air and slammed into the ground with a thud.

The defensive energy layer on the armor protected Tony and the Iron Man suit perfectly. When he hit the ground, it flashed with a burst of light, then quickly stabilized. Everyone could see that he was completely unharmed.

But Ethan wouldn't miss the opportunity to poke fun.

"Nice home run. How does it feel to fly out of the park?"

"At most, that was a ground ball."

"..."

Was there a difference? He still got knocked away!

Ethan was momentarily speechless. While he stood there, Tony shot back into the sky and even stopped Bumblebee, who had been preparing to charge forward.

"Stand back, Little Bee. This ugly freak is mine."

Ever since seeing Ethan, Bumblebee had known that this metal-clad being, who somewhat resembled a Transformer, wasn't one of them. He should be the same guy he had met before.

Though being called "Little Bee" annoyed him a bit, he was still worried that this small guy couldn't handle Barricade and might get hurt, so he was ready to jump in at any moment.

Soon, he realized his concerns were unnecessary. This little guy's combat strength was extremely high, and the energy shield around him was unbelievably tough. Barricade had no way to break through it. If you couldn't breach your opponent's defense, then you couldn't win.

After fighting for a while, the opponent remained unharmed. No matter how little damage the opponent dealt to you, they could still wear you down.

Transformers also had energy shields, but they weren't nearly as durable. Many weapons could break through them with ease.

What shocked Bumblebee even more was that the purple energy weapons this guy used were terrifyingly powerful and came with many strange effects. These were, in fact, magical attacks.

Under the barrage of magic-based energy weapons, Barricade was quickly reduced to a pile of scrap. Seeing this, Bumblebee knew there was no need to intervene.

When Barricade had completely turned into scrap metal, Tony descended and walked toward Ethan.

He didn't remove his nanotech suit, only revealing his head. He still remembered Ethan saying there was another Decepticon around.

"Where's the small one?"

With a flick of his wrist, Frenzy, who was bound by a ball of blue energy, slowly floated out from the nearby grass and appeared before everyone.

"Naturally, he's within my control."

(To be continued.)