DOTM: Chapter 420/421

Chapter 420: Where Are We?

Ethan looked at Tony speechlessly. This guy had just been arguing with him, and now he was unhappy and wanted to go play in some other world. How was that any different from his own behavior just now? It didn't seem like this guy had emphasized needing to go through the teleportation room to travel either.

Under Diana's gaze—the kind reserved for 'naughty kids'—Tony, despite his thick skin, still cared about his image in front of a beautiful woman and eventually changed his tone.

"There's nothing much going on lately. I think it'd be a shame to come all this way and head back without seeing anything."

Tony's main purpose for coming out this time was to conduct various tests on the Prinz Eugen to ensure there were no problems with the ship, and also to explore other worlds, preferably ones with something unique.

As a result, he traveled with Ethan twice. Last time, he stayed at Arthur's place for a while. The time before that, he lived on Paradise Island for half a year. Although the scenery on Paradise Island was stunning, for Tony, who was used to modern life and various high-tech facilities that kind of primitive lifestyle was fine to try occasionally, but living in that environment long-term was torment.

Fortunately, he had brought a lot of things with him back then and had also completed the final stage of perfecting the nano-magic armor.

The watch on Tony's left hand was a special nano-storage device. In addition, there was a device on his chest that, besides storing nano-materials, housed a specially made arc reactor to ensure the nano-armor had a stable energy source once deployed.

Although he could use arcane energy to power the armor, Tony currently didn't have much arcane energy stored in his body. It could only be used in emergencies and couldn't serve as a regular power source.

In any case, Tony's combat strength had improved several levels compared to before. More importantly, the issue of the armor being difficult to carry had been solved.

The nano-armor had its drawbacks: its defense wasn't as strong as traditional armor, and it lacked heavy weaponry with strong destructive power.

However, these problems were solvable. The former could be significantly improved by adding an energy shield layer to the armor's surface.

As for the latter, Tony was already considering building external heavy armor and detachable weapon systems. Plus, now that he had mastered arcane magic, he could use the arc reactor's energy to cast powerful offensive spells when necessary. The downside was the high energy consumption, which would affect the armor's battery life.

Precisely because his strength had improved, Tony was looking forward to exploring more "exciting" worlds. He now had enough ability to protect himself.

Considering Tony hadn't really seen anything during this trip, Ethan decided to fulfill his wish.

"Any specific requests?"

Tony thought for a moment, then listed his preferences. "Let's avoid overly primitive worlds this time. Even ones with magic aren't that appealing to me right now. I haven't digested the magic knowledge you taught me. I'd prefer to see advanced technology."

"High-level technological civilizations?"

Ethan rubbed his chin. For the moment, he couldn't think of a reliable world. It wasn't that there were no suitable options, there were just too many, and he didn't know which to choose.

Fortunately, his space-time orb had a particularly useful function: after locking onto a general target range that met the criteria, it could execute a random teleportation.

When unsure where to go, this kind of teleportation was a good choice. And since it didn't require precise coordinates, the space-time energy consumption was also very low.

"Go back and get ready. Meet in the teleportation room in an hour. I'll take this time to see if anyone else feels bored."

The first person he asked was Diana, who was standing beside him. But Diana had no interest in the activity and directly shook her head.

"I won't join your boys' adventure activities."

Diana had become increasingly feminine lately. Only in combat could you still see traces of the tomboyish nature from before—though "heroic" would be a more fitting description now.

She had once heard from Pepper, that men were sometimes like overgrown children who did very childish things.

Back then, she hadn't fully understood what that meant, but now she did.

Whether it was Ethan's sudden teleportation earlier, or Tony egging him on to "find a world to play in," it all seemed childish.

"Then I'll ask the others."

For Diana, it was just a short trip out and back. She could even be back in time for dinner.

What Ethan didn't expect was that the others on the ship weren't very interested either. If it had been a targeted traversal, maybe someone would have come along.

But this kind of aimless random teleportation? Logan, who had suffered losses before, didn't want to go through that again. Evelyn was only interested in worlds related to history and archaeology. Jonathan was interested but worried about his lack of strength and would feel frustrated if the world turned out to be dangerous.

Imhotep was conflicted, unsure whether he should follow his "master." In the end, Ethan saw that he didn't really want to go and simply told him to focus on his training.

The final conclusion: no one else wanted to come. Even Mordred, who had just boarded the ship, wasn't interested in traveling to other worlds at the moment. There was already enough for her to study on the ship, not to mention the many "lessons" awaiting her. Selene had already started introducing the course content she'd be learning in the near future.

"So it's just the two of us?"

When Ethan circled back to the teleportation room, Tony saw that he was alone and immediately realized it was just the two of them.

"Looks like it."

Tony didn't mind. He hoped this trip would take him to a world that truly piqued his interest so he could go back satisfied.

He was already thinking about returning home. But if he didn't get a good look at some otherworldly wonders before leaving, he'd feel like something was missing.

"What kind of world are we heading to this time?"

"Well..." Ethan looked at his left hand. "Random teleportation, but it should meet your criteria."

"Sounds fun. What are we waiting for then? No one else is coming anyway."

Since no one else was joining, Ethan activated the teleportation magic directly.

His storage space had grown larger over time and could now hold more and more items. He usually stored his commonly used weapons and equipment inside and took them out periodically for maintenance.

Before heading to another world, he would also stock up on food and water.

Of course, during the previous "sudden craziness" episode, he hadn't prepared any supplies. Before departing this time, he had replenished all the food and water in his storage space. Any unused food would be taken out upon return and used as the ship's priority food supply.

However, after Ethan completed the teleportation, he realized the food and water probably wouldn't be needed this time. They had arrived in a modern city. The bustling streets didn't look post-apocalyptic, so food and water were unlikely to be scarce.

"What world is this?"

"How would I know right away?"

Standing on the street, Ethan observed the surroundings for a few minutes. Judging from the accents of the pedestrians, they were in North America. But there were too many movies set in North America. The teleportation magic circle in his hand wasn't a system that could directly tell him which world he was in—he had to figure it out himself.

"Forget it. Let's get a sense of the basics first, like what year it is."

To make a more accurate judgment, he'd have to rely on the people's clothing styles and the car models on the street.

Tony casually took out a pair of sunglasses and put them on. These weren't ordinary sunglasses but a display device for a miniature computer. The core of the computer was the watch on his left wrist, which had a built-in independent energy source and incorporated a lot of magical tech, allowing him to operate it with just his mind.

"What are you doing?"

"Connecting to this world's internet to find some basic info." Tony quickly determined the time. "This is Los Angeles, 2007."

That answer didn't help much. Ethan still didn't know what world they were in. "Anything noteworthy?"

"It's hard to find anything useful from the public internet." Tony shook his head helplessly. "If Jarvis were here, I could process a massive amount of information quickly and find special events worth investigating. But right now, I'm browsing the internet manually…"

His efficiency was low. Tony spread his hands. Without a clear direction, it was hard to find any so-called "special information."

This also reminded him again that he needed to consider creating a "branch" for Jarvis. Otherwise, he'd lose access to Jarvis whenever he traveled to other worlds, and even within his own world, he'd lose the AI's assistance if he strayed too far from Earth.

The problem was, the hardware capable of housing an artificial intelligence was huge and required a lot of space. It couldn't be crammed into just any device, not even a sub-program.

Just as the two were at a loss on where to begin, Ethan noticed a used car lot not far from where they were standing.

In this country, a used car lot wasn't unusual; they were everywhere. After all, this was a car-centric culture.

What caught Ethan's attention was a portly middle-aged man driving a convertible and bringing a young man into the lot.

"I know where we are."

(To be continued.)

Chapter 421: Preemptive Interception

Whether it was the overweight middle-aged man or the young man sitting in the passenger seat, Ethan had a very deep impression of them.

Not to mention that his memory had been enhanced countless times, even memories buried deep in the corners of his mind could be recalled if he searched for them. Let alone people and films that had left such a strong impression on him.

"Oh? You recognized someone?"

Tony, who had been wearing his sunglasses while trying to find information, took them off when he heard Ethan's words and looked in the direction Ethan was staring.

By then, the two had already driven into the used car lot, and Tony had no idea who Ethan was looking at.

"Or is there something special about this used car lot?"

Ethan didn't answer directly, but slightly lifted his chin, signaling Tony to keep watching.

"Something special is coming."

An old and slightly worn yellow Chevrolet Camaro slowly drove into the lot. This didn't attract anyone's attention. An old car entering a used car market was a perfectly normal occurrence. Who would bother looking at it?

But Ethan and Tony just happened to be standing by the roadside, watching this area, so the anomaly of the yellow Camaro was clearly seen by both of them—it had no driver, yet it steadily drove itself into the lot.

Ethan also noticed that when the car turned, it paused slightly as if it had noticed them before continuing inside.

"What was that just now?"

"An alien."

Transformers: the first film. This was the world they had entered.

The plot of this film wasn't complicated. In short, it was about a young man and his first car, intertwined with the Decepticons trying to locate their leader, Megatron. Both the Autobots and Decepticons were searching for the Allspark, and along the way, various random characters made appearances to showcase themselves.

What Ethan had just witnessed was the early scene from the movie, where the protagonist, Sam Witwicky, and his father went to buy his first car.

That yellow Chevrolet Camaro was none other than the familiar Bumblebee. Although he was no longer in the form of a Beetle from the original cartoon and had become an American muscle car, his eye-catching performance in the movie made him very popular. The Chevrolet brand also gained more recognition, after this movie was released in Ethan's previous life, he saw more Chevrolet cars on the streets.

In his previous world, this was considered a successful advertising campaign. But in this world, it wasn't that complicated, Bumblebee just happened to choose this form.

"You're saying that Camaro is actually an alien? What kind of alien looks like a car?"

Tony didn't doubt Ethan's words, nor did he think Ethan was joking. He was genuinely curious about what kind of creature this was.

"It's a silicon-based lifeform called a Transformer."

"Oh?"

Tony became interested. He was ready to go interact with this amazing silicon-based lifeform. Although he wouldn't behave like a mad scientist and try to capture and dissect Bumblebee, he would be happy to exchange some tech for research opportunities.

Ethan could have stopped Tony, but he felt that interacting with Bumblebee wasn't a big deal. Although Transformers were aliens, the Autobots were a very special group among them—they cared more about other species in the universe than their own.

From a human perspective, the Autobots were admirable. But from a Cybertronian standpoint, they had so many flaws that one wouldn't know where to start.

However, Ethan wasn't a Transformer, so siding with the Autobots was natural.

The two walked into the ordinary used car lot. When they reached the "display area" where the used cars were parked, the protagonist Sam was inspecting Bumblebee, who was mixed in among the other used cars.

Compared to the surrounding vehicles, although Bumblebee looked a bit worn and had some chipped paint, he still appeared better than the others.

So, the protagonist Sam took a liking to Bumblebee at first glance. The chubby owner, unsure if the car was even part of his inventory, immediately quoted a price of five thousand dollars.

According to the original plot, Sam's father was only willing to pay four thousand, so the dealer began pushing another vehicle—an old yellow Beetle.

Seeing that he couldn't be sold to Sam smoothly, Bumblebee shattered all the surrounding glass to pressure the owner into accepting the four thousand dollar price. Even then, the owner didn't forget to make money. This chubby man was indeed a qualified businessman.

Now, the plot had changed due to Ethan and Tony's arrival. The owner stubbornly held to the five thousand dollar price, and Sam's father still only offered four thousand. At that moment, Tony suddenly spoke.

"Five thousand dollars, I'll take this car."

Everyone turned their attention to Tony. Whether it was Sam, Sam's father, or the chubby owner, their first thought upon seeing Tony was: Damn rich people!

They really couldn't figure out what someone like this was doing at a used car lot.

However, as a businessman, the owner didn't care what a rich man wanted with a used car. As long as he made the sale, it was real money.

So the chubby man instantly became enthusiastic. He left Sam and his father and spread his arms to welcome Tony, but Tony stopped him with a raised hand.

The owner wasn't awkward at all and naturally withdrew his hand. "This friend has great taste. My name is Bobby Bolivia. You can call me Bobby."

"Hello, Bobby!" Tony politely shook hands with the overly enthusiastic Bobby. "I'll take this car. No problem with that, right?"

"No problem at all. As long as you pay five thousand dollars, it's yours."

"Great." Tony casually took out a credit card. "I need to use this car immediately, so I hope the process can be fast... If you satisfy me... you know."

As a wealthy man with plenty of experience, Tony knew exactly how to make a businessman work at full efficiency. As for spending a little extra? That was never an issue. Besides, the money he was using in this world wasn't his own.

In just a short time, he had already created two identities for himself and Ethan using the internet and "generated" accounts, allowing his "universal credit card" to work normally in this world.

These technologies were completely useless in the previous two worlds. They only worked in places with developed internet systems.

In fact, there were even more limitations. If they entered a future world with advanced anti-fraud systems, it would be difficult to pull this off with such outdated tech. Or if the world's tech tree was completely different from Earth's, this trick wouldn't work either.

However, in this relatively "backward Earth," he could easily create two fake identities and accounts that wouldn't be exposed in the short term, ensuring he and Ethan didn't run into trouble due to lack of identification or funds.

While Tony was handling the transaction with Bobby, Ethan took the opportunity to walk over to Bumblebee. He smiled and nodded in greeting at Sam, who still looked reluctant to leave. Once Sam stepped away a bit, Ethan leaned in as if inspecting the car's interior and whispered to Bumblebee, "I know your identity and origin, and I know what you're looking for. I know where it is. You don't have to get involved with that young man."

He didn't know whether Bumblebee would believe him, but it didn't matter. He wouldn't be affected if he didn't. If the other party did believe him...

Ethan hadn't actually thought about what to do next if Bumblebee believed him. Cooperate with the Autobots to take down Megatron?

That wouldn't be difficult. So what could he gain from this?

It wasn't until Tony completed the transaction and came over to drive the car away that Ethan thought of the Allspark—it seemed like a good item.

As for the Matrix of Leadership from the second movie, he wasn't sure if it would be useful to him. Compared to that, the special equipment hidden in the pyramid seemed more valuable.

"This car is ours now. What's the plan?"

Tony saw Ethan, who had already taken the driver's seat and was deep in thought, then sat naturally in the passenger seat. He kept eyeing the car curiously. No matter how he looked at it, it was just an old Chevrolet Camaro. Was it really an alien?

Ethan turned his head and saw Tony's doubtful expression. He also glanced at Sam, who was still browsing for a different car in the distance. With a smile, he gently tapped the steering wheel.

"Alright, Bumblebee. Take us somewhere quiet so we can properly talk about what I just mentioned."

Bumblebee not shattering the surrounding glass earlier proved that he believed Ethan's words. Maybe the trust was limited, but at least he was willing to talk. If the conversation went well, a partnership would naturally follow.

However, how to obtain the Allspark with the Autobots' approval would be a tricky matter.

As long as he and Tony didn't interfere with the plot, they could reasonably grab the Allspark during the final battle. At most, they could help Optimus Prime defeat Megatron as a show of goodwill.

Doing it now was inconvenient, but borrowing the Allspark for research shouldn't be a problem, right? Optimus Prime wasn't the stingy type.

Bumblebee, still in vehicle mode, didn't respond until Ethan mentioned the word "Allspark." Then he voluntarily started his engine, slowly exited the used car lot, picked a direction, and drove off.

(To be continued.)