CHAPTER 421: CHAPTER 421: PREEMPTIVE INTERCEPTION (BONUS)

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.)

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