What Ethan said was harsh, but it was the truth.

The Autobots were also helpless about the current situation, but they at least understood that Ethan had actively sought them out, which could be considered a show of goodwill.

"You're right. If you really wanted the Allspark, you wouldn't need to specifically come find us."

Optimus Prime was very reasonable, and the entire Autobot faction shared that trait. Although they were suspected of being Cybertronian traitors, to put it nicely, they were essentially a group of idealists who treated all lifeforms with kindness, firmly believing that such actions would earn them the same kindness in return.

This was also why Ethan was willing to contact the Autobots. If it were the Decepticons, no matter how persuasive he was, it would be useless. The Allspark was their Cybertronian treasure, and they would fight to the death against anyone who dared to covet it, wiping out all life on the planet in the process and transforming it into a new Cybertron.

"You don't want to take the Allspark?"

"That thing isn't very useful to me."

The idea of using the Allspark to turn his Prinz Eugen into a Transformer was only a fleeting thought and was quickly discarded.

He could not accept his "home" becoming an independent lifeform. That would cause endless trouble. He even resisted AI with too much self-awareness. His ideal AI was like Jarvis, capable of perfectly executing assigned tasks without ever making independent decisions (though Jarvis seemed to develop self-awareness later on).

Although a bit rigid, such a "tool" would be more reassuring to use.

Besides that, bathing, sleeping, and relieving himself inside a living body, not to mention engaging in certain intimate activities with Diana, was simply out of the question.

Since he had no desire to create Transformers, what use was the Allspark?

According to official descriptions, it could give electronic products "souls," allowing them to evolve into silicon-based lifeforms, i.e., Transformers. It also contained vast energy that Transformers could use.

Other than that, it was nothing special.

What attracted Ethan was simply the nature of the energy. Coming to this world, he naturally wanted to see what the local specialties were like. Even if it could not directly help him, it could broaden his horizons: So energy can have this kind of property? Let's see if I can experiment with that.

He did not expect to immediately master the characteristics of this new energy, but it could make his magical universe more inclusive and capable of even more wondrous transformations.

Optimus Prime did not know all of Ethan's thoughts, but it seemed he could only believe Ethan's statement: that he had no real greed for the Allspark and only wanted to see it.

"Then can you tell me where the Allspark is now?"

Although Bumblebee could not speak, there were many ways for Transformers to convey information, and communication did not necessarily require spoken words.

Ethan had previously said he knew where the Allspark was. Without this information, Optimus Prime might not have met Ethan at all, instead focusing entirely on Sam, who could help him find it.

"Of course."

This information held no value in keeping secret for Ethan. Both the Allspark and Megatron were hidden inside the Hoover Dam. The thick reinforced concrete was built to prevent them from being detected and located.

After directly revealing the location of Megatron and the Allspark, the Autobots fell into a dilemma.

If they were Decepticons, there would be no such dilemma. They would attack, blow up the dam, and free Megatron without hesitation. As for the disaster it would cause? That was irrelevant to them. In fact, mass casualties might even make their future conquest of the planet easier.

The Autobots could not do that. They avoided conflict with any civilized race. Under Optimus Prime's leadership, they acted with extreme discretion. Even though their activities spanned much of human history, they had always managed to keep the existence of Transformers hidden, leaving most humans completely unaware of them.

The few who did know sided with the Autobots and used various means to cover up the truth. Apparently, Cybertron was not the only place with "traitors"—Earth had its share of undercover allies too. This plot was practically Mission: Impossible.

Now the situation was at a stalemate.

The Allspark was heavily guarded by humans. To retrieve it would inevitably cause conflict, and might even trigger a war between the two civilizations.

Optimus Prime did not know what to do for the moment. Ethan had originally thought he would not need to worry too much, since the Decepticons were bound to...

"Oh no!"

His sudden exclamation startled everyone present. Tony saw Ethan, who had been acting completely in control, suddenly react like this and immediately realized something had gone wrong.

"What did you think of?"

"I originally thought the Decepticons would find Megatron's location sooner or later. When they launched an attack, if humans could not hold out for long, the Autobots could join the battle as reinforcements, first earning human trust before attempting to retrieve the Allspark."

"Good plan. Where did it go wrong?"

"The Decepticon in charge of gathering intelligence on Megatron's location is the one I just crushed to death."

"Crushed?" Tony froze for a moment before understanding why there had been a small Transformer. So that one was a spy-type Transformer specializing in reconnaissance and intelligence. In other words, the Decepticons' intelligence officer had just been eliminated by him. "You mean, because the Decepticons lost their spy, they won't know their leader Megatron is inside the Hoover Dam, and naturally won't launch an attack?"

"Yes!"

Ethan showed an awkward but not impolite smile. However, everyone noticed only the awkwardness. Who cared about politeness now?

What made him even more uncomfortable was that this was not the first time he had done something like this. He often derailed the original plot by casually doing something, but back then he had not cared much about the consequences.

Now, when he wanted to use the plot to achieve his goal, he found that his own earlier actions had destroyed the very events he had planned to rely on.

"Then what do we do?"

"How about actively contacting the Decepticons and telling them their boss is locked up in the dam?"

It was an option, but a reckless one. Doing so would put the staff and tourists in the dam, and even countless people downstream, in danger.

Unlike in the original plot where the Autobots were not fast enough to stop the Decepticons (a separate issue), now that they knew the risks, the righteous Autobots would absolutely never agree to such an action.

Tony would not agree either. Although he was not from this Earth, he was still a superhero with a strong sense of justice and could not bring himself to endanger civilians.

So Ethan's suggestion received no support, as he had expected. He had only said it half-jokingly anyway.

"How about we just go through official channels?"

"What do you mean?"

All eyes were now on Ethan. At some point, everyone had started to take his words seriously, perhaps because of his strength or because he had revealed such critical information about the Allspark and Megatron.

Sam Witwicky, originally the protagonist of this story, was now completely sidelined.

In truth, Sam was just an ordinary high school student. He had only become involved because of the glasses his grandfather had left him.

Now that the Autobots knew the whereabouts of the Allspark, Sam's most important role had vanished.

Bumblebee had barely interacted with him, and without that bond, there was no deeper connection. The Autobots were polite to Sam but kept their distance.

Even Mikaela, the original heroine who would later go through hardships with Sam and end up with him, felt far less attached to him than in the original plot.

Ethan, who had only just met her, drew more of her attention than Sam did.

She had admitted she preferred handsome and strong men—in simpler terms, she judged by appearances. Sam was not her type, and without shared experiences, there was no chance for feelings to grow.

At this moment, a tall, handsome, and powerful man stood before her, completely overshadowing the ordinary boy at her side. Anyone with a functioning mind would naturally focus on Ethan.

"That little beauty can barely take her eyes off you. Stop showing off."

Tony used a simple little trick to send Ethan a private message. He was also curious about Ethan's so-called "official channels."

"Simple. As far as I know, the U.S. military and Department of Defense are in a state of extreme tension and confusion because of a series of Decepticon attacks. They have no idea who is attacking them."

"So?"

"You are, after all, a leader officially recognized by Cybertron. It is entirely reasonable to contact local authorities in an official capacity to discuss how to deal with 'Cybertronian rebels, the Decepticons'."

Optimus Prime understood Ethan's meaning: treat this as formal contact between two civilizations. In that way, they could openly "discuss" the matters of the Allspark and Megatron.

Considering the Decepticons would inevitably act, negotiating with humans was not impossible.

"I worry that humans are not ready to accept contact from other civilizations."

"They will never be ready. Only when they truly face such events will they start thinking about how to deal with them."

Ethan curled his lip. That was how politicians were.

"This method seems worth considering. So, what should the first step be?"

"The first step..." Ethan thought for a moment. The first step was not easy. If handled poorly, the negotiation could turn into a declaration of war. "It seems this will take more time."

(To be continued.)