After a 'friendly' conversation, Cliffjumper continued to restart Bumblebee's memory database.
This was a difficult task.
At least, it was difficult to do in a cave with nothing.
A powerful external energy source is needed to restart the memory database and central processor of a Cybertronian, to ensure that during the process of restarting, the Cybertronian would not die from lack of energy.
The problem was, with the DoD and two Decepticons on their tail, it was difficult for Merlin to acquire such an energy source.
Eventually, Cliffjumper had to take a risk.
It decided to use itself as that external energy source.
But this means that it won't be able to execute the restarting Bumblebee, and Merlin has his own plans, so this task can only be done by Charlie.
"I restarted your program with lightning back at my house."
Merli holds a thick, long cable, and while connecting it to the energy source in Cliffjumper's chest, he tells Cliffjumper:
"Maybe we should try again. I can summon lightning if given time."
"The energy from lightning is too aggressive."
Cliffjumper shakes its head while saying:
"We were very lucky when you restarted my program in the storm that night. Logically speaking, with my body condition, there was an 89.6% chance of me dying when that lightning bolt had struck down...I was only lucky that time."
It looks at its ignorant companion Bumblebee, who was communicating with Charlie through the radio, and shakes its head.
The mechanical warrior says softly:
"I cannot gamble for that chance with the life of my people."
"Ka, Ka"
Following two light sounds, the black cable is fixed on Cliffjumper's energy port. Merlin looks back at Charlie, who'd also finished connecting the cable.
"Remember the process?"
Merlin moves his fingers and tells Charlie:
"You say you can fix cars? I also like fixing cars in my free time, and now's the time to put your skills to the test, lass."
"Don't call me lass!"
Charlie says in a lowered tone:
"Call me Chalie, you're no older than me! Also, I can fix cars, but this?"
Charlie looks at the complex circuits and chips in Bumblebee's chest and says fearfully:
"It looks very different from your standard car. They're both dead if we make any mistake."
"Hey, hey."
Merlin extends his finger and grabs Charlie's attention, he tells her:
"Relax, don't pressure yourself. The more pressured you are, the more likely it is for you to make mistakes; just think of them as a bit more advanced cars."
He looks at Charlie's eyes and says:
"In fact, if you truly see Bumblebee as your friend, then you should act more confident on this...if you don't want your friend to die by your hands."
"Hey! You're not helping in any way!"
Charlie screams:
"I'm even more anxious now!"
"Alright."
Merlin shrugs, he smiles at Charlie and says:
"But there's no time for you to get used to thi ngs now, rookie, begin!"
"Pa"
As Merlin finishes, he kicks on the Cliffjumper's energy cord, then, heavy yet blue energy begins to be transmitted into Bumblebee's energy chamber.
"At least give me a heads up!"
Charlie waves the wrench in her hand before lying on Bumblebee's chest and begins to work.
Merlin stands on Cliffjumper's chest as he watches the girl work.
Charlie's expression while working was a serious one, her attitude made Merlin nod.
The child had a good attitude, she'll have a bright future if she's lucky.
"DiDiDi"
Merlin's phone abruptly rings at this moment, he glances at the number, disappears into black fog, and reappears outside the entrance of the mine,
"Coulson? Where are you?"
Merlin says:
"Is the 'cargo' safe?"
"I'm already here."
On the other side of the phone, Coulson and Lola drove Lola around the town. The guy in a suit and sunglasses looked at the civilians being evacuated by the military and lowers his tone to Merlin:
"The situation here looks bad, si...I mean, boss."
"When was our business not bad?'
Merlin looks at the sky and says:
"Put the cargo in the 'warehouse', I'll meet up to 'eat' with you later, sorry for the inconvenience."
"It's nothing, boss, that's how businesses are."
Coulson says so and hangs up the call.
He and Merlin conversed with secret messages, because all signals within the area of this small town may be monitored by the hidden Decepticons.
When both sides are hidden, such precautions were necessary.
Merlin did not need to meet up with his subordinates, for it would increase their chances of exposure; for him, it was impossible for him to wait in the tunnel till Bumblebee fully resets its memory database.
Cliffjumper had said that Bumblebee's restarting process may take entire hours.
In such a situation, it was wise to strike first and pull their attention away.
Merlin looks at his watch, he turns and says to the working Charlie:
"Lass, I'll leave this to you, I should go."
"Mmm?"
The girl with a motor oil stain on her face abruptly raises her head and looks at Merlin:
"No way? You're gonna run and leave me here?"
"Run?"
Merlin smiles, takes out his wand, and tells Charlie:
"No! I'm going to check out those Decepticons...don't worry, you'll be truly safe with me gone. I'll seal off the cave, so don't worry."
As he finishes, Merlin steps out of the cave and casts Reducto at the rocks above the cave entrance.
Merlin injected very few mana, thus the spell only caused the rocks to collapse and seal off the cave wihtout blocking the air from passing.
After doing all this, Merlin raises his head, and in his raven spirit Victor's shared vision, he sees the red jet plane soaring the skies on one side and the blue military armed chopper soaring the skies on the other.
You are reading story The Path of Shadow in American Comics at novel35.com
Those were the two Decepticons.
They were arrogant and did not even think of hiding themselves, looks like they have confidence in their power.
Merlin shakes his head, a good hunter loves careless prey like this.
He picks up his phone and casually sends a message to Fury in New York.
"Let's play."
A few minutes later, a military warship in the Atlantic Ocean opens its comms, and the signal belonging to Cliffjumper immediately begins to spread out.
The bait...
Has been set.
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"Mmm?"
In the communications of the military chopper patrolling the seaside town, the Decepticon 'Dropkick' discovers a familiar Rebel signal.
This confused Dropkick.
Didn't they say that B-127 was hidden in these mountains? And that there was only one Rebel here? Why's there another signal at the North-western side?
This brute-ish warrior then says to its more 'smarter' companion:
"Hey, Shatter, do you hear that signal?"
"Of course!"
An odd metal voice resounds in the comms.
The reason for it to be odd was because this metal voice was that of a female's tone, which means that this Decepticon known as Shatter is a rare female Cybertronian.
She says to her follish companion impatiently:
"Do you think that I'm deaf? That signal is so clear, it's clearly the rebel fools who've just landed on Earth calling for their companions...this signal sounds familiar, wait, isn't this Cliffjumper's signal?"
A surprised Shatter says:
"I thought it had died at the edge of the galaxy? It survived?"
"It's dead!"
Dropkick says stubbornly:
"I cut its arm off and penetrated its energy core, those damn Kree blew the planet up, you saw it too; it can't be Cliffjumper, it's dead!"
"Fool!"
Shatter scolds:
"Whether it is or it isn't, we'll find out once you get there, no? It's not that far away..."
"Why don't you go?"
Dropkick shouts angrily:
"It's always me to do the dirty work! You're faster and you have a more advanced radar, right? Huhu, now you can use your advanced radar to go look for Cliffjumper while I search for B-127 here."
"Wait, I feel like this is a trap."
Shatter says in a lowered tone:
"It's abnormal for that signal to suddenly appear at a time like this."
"So what?"
Dropkick says without worry:
"So what if it's a trap? Decepticons are invincible on this primitive planet! Are you scared that those carbon-based lifeforms may ambush you when you arrive?"
"You brainless fool!"
Shatter screams angrily:
"I'm worried that there may be other Rebels hidden on Earth, we've found traces of Lord Megatron, and we cannot afford to cause any more incidents!"
"In the end, you're scared!"
The stubborn Dropkick says:
"If you're not going, I am!"
The painted blue armed chopper turns around and begins to fly to the source of the signal, a few seconds later, the faster jet plane immediately overtakes the somewhat heavy-looking armed chopper, Shatter says in the communications:
"Forget it, I'll go, you're too slow."
"It takes me 30 minutes for a trip to and back from that place! Stay here, contact me if you encounter anything, got it?"
In the forest below, Merlin squats on a tree branch and lets out a smile as he sees the red plane fly away. He takes off his glasses and puts them into his spatial pocket before soaring into the sky in his black fog form.
On the other side, beneath the reef where Bumblebee had hid.
Coulson and Melinda were pulling several boxes out from Lola's trunk, they had found a flat area under the reef to set up the new weapon.
"This thing looks too small."
Coulson squats down and opens the box, in it were a silver-white bracket and two silver pointed missiles the size of his arm.
"Melinda, do yoiu beckon that this thing is as powerful as Professor Hall says it to be?"
"I don't know."
Melinda with her sunglasses quickly types in lines of code into the computer while replying to the curious baby Coulson:
"This is my first time using this. But we've seen it before, agent Barton used its prototype to take down a dragon in New York a few years back."
"So I think that its power hasn't been exaggerated."
Melinda inserts a line of code while Coulson readies a triangular launching platform.
This thing was quite similar to the miniature electromagnetic cannon agent Barton had used a few years back, but in comparison to its large size back then, this one was much smaller and looked more like a delicate model than a killing machine.
But it is the most successful copy of the Kree cruiser missiles which Earth's scientists have managed to create.
"The boss is on the move."
Coulson looks at his watch and tells Melinda:
"Let's begin our attempt to capture the target."
"Capture?"
Melinda takes off her glasses and glares at Coulson, she looks at the blue armed chopper soaring above their heads and says:
"Even the blind can see them now...to be honest, how did these Decepticon fools live this long? They're fighting a war against their kind, how careless can they be?"
"It's not that they're careless, Melinda."
Coulson reaches into his pocket, takes out his sunglasses, and puts them on; he looks to the sky and says softly:
"They're born giants, it's in their nature to look down at ants. Like the Kree, they had power far exceeding ours, thus they did whatever they wanted."
"Huhu, makes sense."
Melinda lets out a cold laugh, she activates the device while saying in a low tone:
"But the problem is, in this world, in those stories..."
"is there a lack of times where the ants have killed the elephant?"