CHAPTER 437: CHAPTER 437: WATER (BONUS)

In the end, Ethan still revealed the "truth", though he did not mention Diana’s name.

Upon hearing that Ethan had a girlfriend capable of killing Ares, the God of War, Kevin Smith became even more wary of him and increasingly grateful that the White House had not taken any drastic actions.

If Ethan had truly been attacked by humans, how would his companions have reacted? Could Earth withstand their retaliation?

These were all things they had to consider. He decided to report all of this information to the President and his colleagues. Until they had a complete understanding of the full extent of Ethan’s power, it was best not to casually make an enemy of him.

Ethan’s goal of showing off his strength was largely achieved ahead of schedule by this unexpected turn of events, which meant he had no part in the subsequent battle to use Megatron as bait to ambush the Decepticons.

He understood the principle of diminishing returns. If he kept displaying his strength frequently, it would not make the other party more wary. Instead, it could arouse suspicion about his true intentions.

If he accidentally overstimulated them, and these people, in their panic, decided to go for a mutually destructive outcome, it would be a huge waste. Not that he would be harmed by it, but after spending so much effort and time to finally establish contact and being on the verge of cooperation, only for talks to suddenly break down, anyone would feel annoyed.

Tony did not try to steal the spotlight again either. He and Ethan sat quietly in the command vehicle, watching the spectacular performance of the Autobots and the American soldiers.

With full preparations and a large deployment of equipment, the combat effectiveness of the US military was astonishing. Moreover, the number of Decepticons attracted this time was very small. Even without the help of these soldiers, the Autobots could have fought them to a standstill.

Now, with the large number of soldiers equipped with various advanced weapons joining the fray, it was simply a brutal, one-sided beatdown.

The Decepticons were beaten terribly.

Brawl and Blackout, powerful military weapons, became prime targets. Not only were they destroyed, but the ground they stood on was blasted several meters lower than the surroundings.

Although Bonecrusher was large, he was no match for Optimus Prime and was easily torn apart, just like in the original plot.

Even worse, Megatron, the most powerful fighter among the Decepticons, was completely immobilized, frozen by Ethan’s magic, unable to wake up for a while.

He wondered if Megatron could receive information in this state. If so, what would he think watching his subordinates being killed one by one by the Autobot traitors in league with outsiders?

Unfortunately, no one would ever know. After annihilating the Decepticons, Ethan casually finished off the Decepticon leader, directly crushing the space within Megatron’s head, ice and all, into fragments.

Seeing Ethan merely clench his fist from a distance toward Megatron, causing the massive metal head to be crushed into pieces like a rotten tomato, the Secretary of Defense and the Senator became even more wary of this powerful interstellar friend.

This was why Ethan did not participate in the battle. Showing too much strength would be counterproductive.

Megatron had to be eliminated. Throughout the Transformers movie series, Megatron was like an unkillable cockroach, constantly popping up to cause trouble. Since Ethan wanted to use this world as a logistical base, he could not tolerate such a character constantly causing disruptions.

The bodies of the Decepticons, including Megatron, would be transported away by the US military. As for where they would be sent, Ethan did not care at all.

During the previous discussions, no one had mentioned the Decepticon corpses. This was an unspoken agreement. All these war trophies would be handed over to the humans for research.

Optimus Prime was initially a bit reluctant to accept this, but Ethan persuaded him.

"You want to live on Earth, but you will not pay for lodging? And you expect humans to understand and trust you?"

It sounded unreliable no matter how you looked at it. In the Transformers movie series, some human politicians who suddenly appeared were quite annoying, but putting yourself in their shoes, Optimus Prime and the others’ actions could not help but cause suspicion.

They suddenly arrived on Earth, started frantically gathering comrades without permission, claimed to help humans fight the Decepticons, but kept all the core technology in the Autobots’ hands, sharing nothing with humans. Even if you just brought out some outdated Cybertronian technology for a show of technological assistance, that would be something.

Instead, the great Optimus Prime declared: You humans are a bunch of war maniacs, I will not give you Cybertronian technology.

His domineering attitude was utterly overwhelming.

To put it bluntly, from the beginning, the Autobots did not treat humans as equal allies. Optimus Prime saw humans as an uncivilized, weak civilization, while they were guardians from a higher civilization who had descended upon this world.

But now it was different. From the beginning, Ethan had guided Optimus Prime onto a different path. The Autobots had contacted the Earth government from the outset, engaging in something akin to formal diplomatic negotiations. This meant that from the beginning, humans and Autobots were interacting on a relatively equal footing.

Especially after this major battle, Optimus Prime also realized that the Transformers were not invincible when facing human weapons. Against the endless variety of weapons, the Transformers did not hold the advantage.

"I would like to know how many of you Autobots are still on Earth?"

"All of us are here. If Bumblebee had not sent a signal to contact us, we would not be here."

"What about the Decepticons?"

After the battle, the remaining task was cleaning up the battlefield, but the big shots from the three sides had more issues to discuss. The soldiers cordoned off an area so that Optimus Prime, John Keller, Kevin Smith, Ethan, and the others could talk without being disturbed.

"We used Megatron as bait to lure out the Decepticons. When the Decepticons received the message, they would definitely have come out in full force. Since no new Decepticons appeared, this should be all of them."

Optimus Prime spoke with great confidence. As an old opponent who had fought the Decepticons for who knows how long, he felt he understood them very well.

However, in the eyes of Ethan, who knew the subsequent plot, this was full of things to criticize.

As the Autobot leader in the movie version of Transformers, Optimus Prime’s portrayal was definitely not as perfect as in the animated series. He often made inexplicable judgments, and the Autobots’ tragic fate in later plots was definitely partly due to Optimus Prime’s contribution.

As a spoiler enthusiast, Ethan could not help but almost start spoiling again, but this time he managed to hold back.

He still wanted to recruit Dylan Gould, the human traitor controlled by the Decepticons in the third movie, to his side. Before that, he could not reveal too much.

But this did not mean he and Optimus Prime had no excuse to stay on Earth. After all, if they wanted to find reasons, there were plenty.

"The Decepticons received the message about Megatron’s location and would definitely transmit it. More Decepticons might come to Earth in the future. It is foreseeable that there will be many battles against the Decepticons on Earth in the future."

The Secretary of Defense’s face was as dark as could be. He had originally thought there would be no trouble during his term, but who would have thought such a thing would happen just before the transition? If not handled properly, it could become a lifelong stain on his record.

"As the Autobot leader, I absolutely cannot stand by and watch the Decepticons wreak havoc on Earth. So you do not need to worry, we will help humanity fight the Decepticons from now on."

Ethan frowned. He had originally wanted to say something, but ultimately held back. He was not an Autobot member, nor was he a Transformer, so he could not keep telling Optimus Prime what to do.

Moreover, Optimus Prime might not be willing to listen to his advice. Ultimately, these were Transformer matters.

Compared to what might happen to the Transformers in the future, Ethan was more concerned about his own treatment in this world.

While the Secretary of Defense and Optimus Prime discussed how to form a military alliance against the Decepticons, Ethan and Kevin Smith walked away slightly to discuss other matters.

Compared to the Transformers, who were completely different from humans, Kevin Smith felt closer to extraterrestrial life forms like Ethan who had the same appearance as humans. And in some ways, Ethan’s race had many connections with Earth.

When a politician deliberately tries to get close to someone, most people, unless they are resistant from the start, can have a very pleasant conversation with them. Even though Ethan knew the other party was trying to please him and get close for various reasons, he still felt that Mr. Smith was a very nice person.

At the same time, he repeatedly emphasized that he would not stay on Earth permanently, but could visit frequently and engage in some trade activities with Earth.

"Mr. Ethan, what goods do you plan to sell?"

Ethan thought for a moment. Introducing high-end technology right away was definitely not suitable. This could wait until after multiple transactions had built a certain level of trust between the two parties.

"How about ore?"

"Ore?"

"You know, minerals that are very rare on one planet are actually not worth much in the universe. Perhaps some minerals rarely seen on Earth are floating around in space in unknown quantities."

Kevin Smith’s eyes lit up. He also felt that ore was very suitable for increasing mutual trust, and his advisor immediately whispered another resource into his ear.

"Water?"

After a male advisor with glasses whispered a few words in his ear, Kevin Smith immediately understood what this meant and quickly brought it up with Ethan. "If possible, we hope you can collect more meteorites with rich water resources in space."

Ethan could naturally hear the advisor’s words and understood why the other party wanted meteorites with water resources, and this was not difficult for him.

"Meteorites containing water? That is easy."

The advisor beside him, seeing Ethan’s indifferent attitude, was afraid Ethan would not take it seriously and quickly added, "Preferably water that is harmless to humans and potable."

(To be continued.)