Chapter 687: Engineers and Engineers (Patreon)

Transformers Begin : Table of Content/Chapter List

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Having obtained what he desired most, Sun Cheng did not linger inside the spaceship any longer. He informed Explorer 203 that he needed to temporarily shut down its backup power source and then take it out.

Afterward, the spaceship autonomously disconnected its backup power source. Sun Cheng utilized Spherical Space to fit it inside.

Without any further attachment, he quickly left the spaceship through the same route. As soon as he emerged from the spaceship, Accel, who had been waiting underwater for quite some time, approached him.

"Master..."

Sun Cheng noticed the confusion on Accel's face and nodded before saying through the communication channel, "Let's go. I've brought out everything valuable from this spaceship."

Accel seemed to realize something and responded with understanding. He followed Sun Cheng as they swam upwards.

Upon reaching the surface of Lake Titicaca, on the lakeshore, rows of recently salvaged cleaning robots, under the command of the Engineers, had already been arranged neatly.

Evidently, due to his haste earlier, the Engineers responsible for controlling these robots hadn't fully grasped Sun Cheng's intentions. After all, they had spent several months searching for the spaceship that had crashed at the bottom of the lake, and they had only just begun clearing a small portion of it. Why would Sun Cheng suddenly announce the end and order them all to leave?

Sun Cheng realized the issue. "Prepare for evacuation. The spaceship is severely damaged and has been submerged in the lake for too long. I've already brought out all the valuable equipment from the ship, so there's no need to continue excavating."

With their leader giving the command, the Engineers present saluted and began controlling the robots to withdraw.

Sun Cheng and his team didn't stay long at Lake Titicaca. Soon, he and Accel returned to the headquarters of Base Two.

Although he had only returned not long ago, he had been preoccupied at the time and didn't have the chance to appreciate it. After more than half a year, Base Two had developed remarkably.

The valley that Sun Cheng had initially chosen for Base Two was now almost unrecognizable, devoid of the desolation of the remote Brazilian western mountains.

Within a valley nearly three kilometers wide and over a thousand meters deep, there were metal structures and facilities on the valley floor and the mountain walls, forged with precision. Thanks to the numerous optical camouflage devices placed nearby, satellites from Earth's nations and human drones flying overhead would only see the same barren landscape as the Brazilian western mountains.

However, within these mountains, highly intelligent self-propelled cannons, advanced anti-air systems capable of intercepting nuclear missiles, combat robots patrolling along the river valley, and aerial combat robots continuously flying in the sky were deployed.

Under Sun Cheng's orders, the military units stationed within a radius of 600 kilometers around the Base Two headquarters were capable of completely destroying Brazil, the self-proclaimed military superpower of South America, within 24 hours.

Furthermore, between these towering peaks, Sun Cheng's Decepticon engineers had made use of almost all available land. They had established factories with small footprints but terrifying production capacities, geothermal, hydraulic, and nuclear power plants.

This was where Sun Cheng's confidence and capital lay.

Ignoring the quick succession of locks and releases in their targeting systems, Sun Cheng and his team landed in the Core area of Base Two.

Even though they hadn't been informed in advance, Atlas, who was in charge of Base Two, and Dust Up came out to welcome them.

"Master, welcome back!"

Atlas humbly bowed to him.

Sun Cheng nodded and glanced at Atlas, who now had four mechanical arms, feeling somewhat uneasy about the change.

In order to promote the rapid development of Base Two, Sun Cheng had only focused on replacing his Decepticon subordinates with new mechanical bodies once in the past. However, whenever a Decepticon under his command performed satisfactorily, including engineers like Atlas, they were given the opportunity for enhancements.

While enhancements were not as direct a power boost as getting a new mechanical body, they were still a good way for the Decepticons to continually increase their strength. Atlas and the other Decepticon engineers often had the chance to undergo these enhancements as long as they completed the important tasks assigned by Sun Cheng. Consequently, whenever he returned after some time, he could always notice their appearances were constantly changing.

For example, in Atlas's case, his head had grown nearly twice as large as when he first got his new mechanical body, and his computational power had increased several-fold.

Of course, what made him look increasingly peculiar were the pair of mechanical arms he had applied for. It was said that these additional arms allowed Atlas to multitask during experiments, greatly saving verification time. In Sun Cheng's eyes, Atlas was starting to resemble a mythical spider demon from Far East legends.

"Teletraan, clear out a lab for me. I've found a new companion for you, a superintellect created by the Cybertron civilization!"

Seeing the ordinary robot following Atlas and the others, Sun Cheng immediately recognized it as the Central Main Control AI of Base Two, controlled by Teletraan, and issued the command.

The robot's voice held a hint of surprise, indicating that Teletraan had made some modifications to this particular duplicate. "A new companion like me? Very well, master. Please proceed to Laboratory C-17!"

"No rush!"

Sun Cheng nodded at him, then turned his attention back to Atlas. "Last time I was here, I was in a hurry. I heard that there are several engineers in the base who meet the promotion criteria. Arrange for them to meet me and have all the data prepared. I'll take a look later!"

"Yes, master. Please wait."

As mentioned earlier, Base Two had been in a rapid expansion phase since its establishment. Most of the research in Base Two had been carried out by the original Decepticon Engineers that Sun Cheng had acquired from Onslaught. These engineers had contributed significantly to his power expansion, and as a result, Sun Cheng had never treated them with contempt or as slaves, unlike the Skytiger Legion.

During the collective upgrade of mechanical bodies for his warriors, including Atlas and other Decepticon Engineers, they all received more powerful mechanical bodies and were freed from the lowest tier of cannon fodder. Sun Cheng bestowed upon them a new status: engineers. They became the backbone of Base Two's research, manufacturing, and logistics.

However, as Base Two grew larger, the workforce provided by these twenty-odd Decepticon engineers became insufficient. So, a long time ago, Sun Cheng had set his sights on the newly trained batch of engineers under his command. He designed a somewhat rudimentary but effective engineer training and promotion process, based on the promotion process for cannon fodders.

All the engineers in Base Two had to do was diligently follow this process, actively participate in various tasks, and undergo technical training by Decepticon engineers regularly. Once they met certain standards, they would earn a spot to transition from cannon fodders to Decepticon engineers.

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Next Chapter >>Chapter 688: Establishment of the Promotion System (Part 1)