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.)