Chapter 472: Cybertron Covenant

Fu Qinghai ignored the beer foam still dripping on the instrument, wiped his mouth and immediately jumped off the seat, ran quickly to the stairs, jumped over several flights of stairs, and finally simply activated the flying backpack and flew directly to the top floor of the data hall.

Fu Qinghai pushed the door open.

Looking at the elderly Cybertronian who was still sitting at the table, writing and drawing with a stylus in his hand.

"So, everything is as you expected, right?" Fu Qinghai stared at Master Tai's back, "I know very well what the 'vested interest group' is. Unless the muzzle of a gun is pointed at their heads, the Supreme Council will never willingly give up the power in their hands. Although Orion Pax is young and naive, he is not a fool. He will not be manipulated by the Supreme Council as a puppet. Once he is in power, he will definitely bring about changes. The Supreme Council is revolutionizing itself!"

Master Titanium is still writing.

Fu Qinghai said word by word:

"So, it was you who told the Supreme Council that Orion was Optimus Prime. It was you who told the Supreme Council that Orion Pax should be the leader. Am I right?"

Master Titanium finally stopped writing.

"You are very perceptive, human warrior."

The old Cybertronian turned around and said:

"As early as the time when you and Orion Pax were discussing Earth politics, I could see that you were more than just a general. You had a deep political awareness, far superior to Orion Pax, a political novice. You are right, Qingshan. It was me who asked the Supreme Council to appoint Orion Pax as the new leader and give him the new name of 'Optimus Prime'."

Fu Qinghai stared at the huge book on the table and asked:

"You let Optimus Prime lead Cybertron. Megatron and the Decepticons will definitely not agree. In my opinion, civil war will break out immediately and is inevitable. This planet will fall into conflict, bloodshed and burning. Did you foresee all of this? Is this what you expect?"

Master Tai followed Fu Qinghai's gaze to the Cybertron Covenant in front of him and the stylus in his hand. He couldn't help but laugh, shook his head and said,

"You misunderstood, Qingshan."

"It's called the Covenant of Cybertron. I created it in the aftermath of the First War. It contains the entire history of Cybertron and its people, dating back to Unicron and Primus. As you might guess, it also contains the future - but some of it is very unstable."

"I can foresee certain things that will happen, because they are so certain in the Testament that they seem to have already happened. But I cannot be completely sure that what I see will come to pass. I bear the burden of knowing the future, and it is a burden that I alone must bear. But my burden is occasionally lightened—for the future I know can change at any time."

At this point, Master Titanium laughed at himself.

"But I saw you writing and drawing on the Testament. What's that?"

Fu Qinghai frowned and continued to ask.

Master Titanium smiled and explained,

"Of course, I have other powers besides this - this iron pen. Young Orion Pax doesn't know how powerful this pen is. It is actually a divine artifact left by the Thirteenth Ancestor, and it is also the most powerful weapon known in the universe. With this iron pen, I can write the future into the Covenant. Theoretically, as long as I write in the chapters of the future, these things will inevitably happen, but this power is very dangerous to use, and the modifications made to the future may not be maintained, and may even lead to a worse outcome, so I almost never use this ability. I am just recording what has happened."

Master Titanium said meaningfully:

"In addition, The Testament itself has an ending. It is a book of pure destiny."

Fu Qinghai understood.

The Warhammer 40K universe has no shortage of powerful prophets.

The Emperor, the most powerful prophet of the Human Empire, Eldrad, the most powerful prophet of the Eldar, Orikan, the most powerful prophet of the Necrons...Except for Tzeentch, a pure god of fun who is afraid that the universe will not be in chaos, all the above-mentioned people who possess the power of prophecy want to use the prophecy to strengthen their own race. As a Cybertronian, Master Titanium is probably no exception.

However, he could not and dared not abuse this prophetic power, because just like the prophecies in the Warhammer 40K universe, through the "Covenant", Master Titanium only saw a vague fragment of the future instead of the whole content. There is an old Chinese saying that can well describe this situation: "A blessing in disguise". For example, if he saw Cybertron falling into civil war and thought that this future was not good, he would rewrite the future. Would that lead to more serious consequences...

For example, the complete extinction of Cybertron?

"I see."

Fu Qinghai nodded and said:

"I have one last question, Master Titanium. Do you support the Autobots or the Decepticons?"

Fu Qinghai had been quite passive in the major events of the entire plot line, just like a bystander who had been standing by and doing nothing. There were two reasons for this: First, he found that he could not gain or lose assimilation points by killing Cybertronians, and he could not understand the division of the camps. Second, he always felt that someone was hiding behind the scenes and controlling everything, so he did not dare to act rashly.

He met Orion and Master Titanium in Iron Castle. For a long time, he always felt that this archivist had a master style. Master Titanium behaved very much like a riddle man, like a sweeping monk in the Iron Castle data hall. Now the civil war is about to start, he wants to participate in the civil war to earn assimilation points, so Master Titanium's attitude will be particularly important.

"Haha, Qingshan."

Master Titanium shook his head and said:

"I have lived from the time of the Thirteenth Ancestor until now. I have seen disasters and wars that are more serious than the present. Do you think it is important for me to be a Decepticon or an Autobot?"

"I see."

Fu Qinghai nodded, thinking that he was really stupid. To a man like Master Titanium, the Decepticons and Autobots were all things that the younger generation came up with. Master Titanium must be one of the thirteen original ancestors, so he would not support either side. What he valued was the entire Cybertron. He only cared about the overall interests of Cybertron, not just one faction.

"Olean Pax is my friend. In this civil war, whether he asks me for help or not, I will do my best to help him win. So you..."

Fu Qinghai looked at Master Tai and asked cautiously.

Master Titanium waved his hand and said:

"As the new leader said, everyone is born free, human or Cybertronian. Do whatever you want, why ask me? I am just an old man, I will not impose any restrictions on you."

"OK."

Fu Qinghai got his answer and was about to say goodbye when Master Tai suddenly called him:

"But, Qingshan..."

"how?"

Fu Qinghai raised his head.

"Not only do you have questions for me, I also have a few questions for you. I have just answered your questions, and I hope you can give me some advice."

As Master Titanium spoke, he flipped through the "Cybertron Covenant" on the table and said casually:

"One of the special things about The Covenant is the reader. The reader exists at a certain point in time and may not understand the language when reading chapters about the future. Even I can only understand a small part of the future chapters. The farther into the future, the more vague the content is, and the more difficult it is to understand the wording. For example, the first page of The Covenant is written in ancient Cybertron, and no one has continued to use this language for thousands of star cycles. The last page of The Covenant is written in a strange language that no one on Cybertron knows yet... Can you tell me, Qingshan, why would my future self write The Covenant in this language?"

Master Titanium casually flipped to the last few pages of the book, and suddenly lifted up the entire giant book to show it to Fu Qinghai.

This is... High Gothic!?

Fu Qinghai was shocked when he saw those fragmentary and obscure text fragments in "Covenant of Cybertron".

"Bang!"

Master Titanium slammed the book shut.

"I saw your pupils shrink. I was right. You do know this kind of writing, Qingshan."

Master Titanium laughed and said,

"I can't let you see any more. If you glimpse a fragment of the future, it will affect your choices, and the future will no longer be the future. Go, Qingshan, do what you want to do. Don't underestimate yourself. You are already part of the future."

…

Fu Qinghai left the Data Hall with a lot on his mind, but he didn't know that on the other side, after the Supreme Council announced that Orion Pax would become the supreme leader, more conflicts broke out one after another, and the whole situation was almost out of control.

…

Iron Fort, Parliament Hall.

The atmosphere in the parliament hall was tense and crackling for a moment, and then suddenly it broke out into a state of chaos and loss of control: the presidents of various unions shouted and slammed the table in indignation, they could not accept that the parliament had given such an important responsibility to an unknown data recorder, while other data recorders were jubilant. The gladiators who came from the Great Wasteland could not help but speak ill of them, they came specially to see their leader Megatron seize power.

Orion Pax was stunned.

He looked around slowly, and for a moment he couldn't figure out how this chaotic scene happened.

Optimus Prime? I am Optimus Prime now?

Why is a data recorder called Optimus Prime and has to go looking for the leadership module?

Once this question came up, another question followed: Who am I to refuse?

The Supreme Council spent a period of time to greet the new leader, and then gradually retreated to the podium. Only Councillor Halo stayed. Halo rang the gavel, signalling everyone to keep order, and then asked Optimus Prime to come forward.

"The situation is tense now." Halo ignored the gradually fading noise, "Cybertron chooses those who are truly shining. Optimus Prime, please guide us through the coming chaos."

Optimus Prime walked slowly to the witness stand. He was suddenly and painfully aware that he was being closely watched. He paused for a moment, then said in the most serious tone possible:

"I am unworthy of this responsibility."

"You're pretending to be very modest."

Megatron said sarcastically.

The voice was snippy and sharp, and only Optimus Prime heard it, and he turned to look at Megatron in shock. He hadn't noticed that Megatron had followed him to the witness stand.

"You're pretending to be so modest!"

Megatron repeated loudly.

He turned to the stands and said:

"When my friend Orion Pax came here, he said he wanted to make peace. He said he didn't want to see all kinds of unorganized violent actions lead to civil war! He asked me to come with him in the name of friendship and trust. He brought me here under the guise of mediation and peace talks - but all he really wanted was power!"

As soon as Megatron finished speaking, a thunderous response rang out again, and his supporters crowded to the front of the stands.

In the audience seats on the ground, Optimus Prime's supporters gathered together to confront Megatron's supporters.

Optimus Prime turned around and waved his hands, signaling for everyone to be quiet, but deep down he didn't think that everyone would listen to him - but surprisingly, everyone really quieted down, and the commotion in the entire venue gradually subsided.

"I never thought it would be like this."

Optimus Prime said seriously:

"I still don't want this to happen. If possible, I want to continue to be a data logger and read the data information in the communication network at my workstation."

"But I believe in Cybertron. I believe in the history of Cybertron that I read when I was a recorder. I believe in those legends - whenever Cybertron is in crisis, there will always be someone who appears to illuminate the darkest times."

"I don't know if I'm that person, but I respect the High Council and our traditions, and if that's what they decide... then I will do my best to fulfill my duties."

He lowered his arms and looked around the council chamber.

Then he turned to look at Megatron:

"Brother," he said, "you believe me, right?"

"Optimus Prime."

Megatron said. He stared at Optimus Prime for a long time, as if he saw Orion Pax again - the ordinary data recorder in the Iron Fortress Data Hall, who was suddenly involved in a major event that he could neither control nor understand.

Then, Megatron looked away:

"It doesn't matter whether I believe you or not, brother. I believed in you once, too. We started this movement together, and we must complete it together. If the High Council deems you the next leader, that is their prerogative."

For a moment, Optimus Prime thought Megatron had calmly accepted this fact, but Megatron's next action surprised him.

He turned to the stands and shouted:

"Optimus Prime! Do you have a leadership module? Where are your heroic deeds? Could it be that in times of crisis, the great Cybertron just found a data recorder to fill in the gaps?"

"brother..."

Optimus said, raising his hand.

"Stop calling each other brothers!"

Megatron roared.

Then he came before the Supreme Council:

"This... farce will be the last straw that breaks the camel's back and will only provoke the neglected classes to rise up in rebellion. You can condemn them if you want, but don't forget to condemn yourselves. Because you know that under the constraints of the class system and the guild system, some people have been hurt, but look at what you did? You sent out the army to suppress them. When those people did not succumb to your army, what did you plan to do? You found a new leader, a new leader, a new dictator!"

Megatron raised his voice again and continued:

"A new dictator, who will ensure that the Supreme Council can hide safely behind the podium and maintain the old order of Cybertron, so that the guild presidents and those high-ranking people can continue to watch us fight each other in the arena with peace of mind!"

Megatron pointed at the stands and shouted:

"Do you still want to stay in the arena?"

"No!"

"This Optimus Prime, this puppet of the Supreme Council wants to lock you up, will you let him do it?"

"No!"

"See? Brother?" Megatron squeezed out the last two words from between his teeth viciously. He turned to Optimus Prime: "They don't want to be controlled by you. They want freedom."

"I don't want to control them either. Like you, I believe freedom is the right of all intelligent creatures."

Optimus Prime said.

"You're lying!"

Megatron's expression was twisted by anger, and his emotions were so intense that he was almost deformed.

"lie!"

There was an echo from the stands.

Optimus guessed that was Soundwave echoing Megatron.

"No!" Optimus Prime said loudly, "I don't want to be a leader, but I won't refuse if necessary. If you want to undermine Cybertron's laws and the traditions left by past leaders, then I should be the leader. Brother, the current situation is not what I want to see. In fact, I would rather work with you to achieve the changes that we believe must be achieved."

"You didn't tell me how to cooperate either." Megatron responded coldly, "When you were still busy monitoring and filtering the information in the communication network, I had already found a way. Those so-called development methods you mentioned were all learned from me. From now on, you will learn more from me. The Supreme Council appointed you as the leader? I object! I lead the Decepticons of Cybertron, and I fight for the freedom of all Cybertronians!"

"Silence! Silence!"

The Halo councillor banged the gavel continuously, trying to suppress the objections that were rising in the meeting hall.

"You must obey the decision of the Supreme Council!"

Councillor Halo said loudly:

"This is not the Kalon City Arena where you can act as arrogantly as you want, Megatron, don't even think about disrupting the order of this meeting."

"This is no longer your Senate Chamber, Councillor Halo," Megatron responded. "Don't you remember? You just appointed Optimus Prime as leader, so now he has the final say here. And I refuse to acknowledge his leadership - I refuse to obey you, and this Supreme Council!"

Megatron turned to Optimus Prime and added:

"And you, brother. You betrayed those first words you said to me. I should have expected it."

"You don't talk to the leader like that—"

Before Halo Senator could finish his words, Megatron completely lost his patience. His arm mechanically transformed, revealing the muzzle of the fusion cannon. With a flash of dazzling blue light, Halo Senator's podium was blown to pieces.

The hall suddenly became silent.

Everyone was shocked by the sudden change.

Then, within a short period of time, a series of overwhelming events occurred. The Parliament Guards were deployed collectively, and twenty-six fully armed and awe-inspiring Transformers were dispersed to various areas of the hall, locking the audience seats and the seats of the parliamentarians from all directions - now the thirteen podiums have become twelve, and the position in the middle is emitting black smoke.

The bat monster climbed onto the shoulders of the flying cloud in fear. The sound of weapons unlocking and the sound of the body rapidly transforming resounded throughout the parliament hall. Megatron's supporters were ready to sweep the entire hall from the stands, and the Autobots on the ground were also ready to fight. In an instant, missiles were erected, shells were loaded, various small weapons devices flashed, and the hissing sound of energy running was everywhere.

"stop!"

Optimus Prime shouted hurriedly.

He knew very well that if someone accidentally fired a fire in the parliament hall, the entire building would be destroyed, and there would be countless casualties, including many important people.

Enough to directly trigger a civil war on Cybertron.

Optimus Prime gradually realized that no matter what his goals and ideals were, he could not stop Megatron from going to extremes, nor could he stop his large number of followers.

Optimus Prime stood between Megatron and the guns of the Senate Guards. "You are not allowed to shoot him," he ordered. "There can be no conflict in the Senate Hall. If you regard me as your leader, then you must obey my orders."

The guards hesitated for a moment and then lowered their weapons.

Great, Optimus thought, I have the power.

"Well done, Leader." Megatron said sarcastically while standing behind Optimus Prime. The sarcastic tone annoyed him very much, but he ignored it.

"But what if I let the gladiators fire at you?" Megatron asked again, "Do you think they will hesitate because you are the leader?"

"I believe that any Cybertronian believes in the ideals of Cybertron."

Optimus Prime replied without even turning his head:

"If I die defending the ideals of Cybertron, it will be worth it."

There was another silence, shorter than the previous one but just as tense. At the edge of the stands, the weapons of the gladiators were densely arranged. A large number of gun barrels and antennas gathered around the Senate podium. The Autobots were mostly dealing with the Decepticons, but some of them aimed their weapons at the Senate Guards, bypassing Optimus Prime.

It's a stalemate. Very stalemate.

Optimus was sure this would happen again.

He didn't look at Megatron, just waited.

"Decepticon."

Megatron finally said:

"Temporarily retreat."

After a series of clattering sounds, the Decepticons put away their weapons and stood quietly, waiting for Megatron's order. Optimus Prime turned to face his friends.

"I'll keep your advice in mind,"

Optimus Prime said with a complicated expression:

"And your friendship."

"I will also remember your advice and your betrayal." Megatron glared at him and said coldly, "Now you have been chosen. You have fallen into the trap they set, and I can see that you like staying in the trap very much."

Megatron took a step back and raised his hand to signal the gladiators. Soon, not only the gladiators, but also several Cybertronians on the first floor responded and immediately took their positions.

"Do you see how many of us there are? This is just in the Council Hall. How many people do you think are waiting for you in the Great Wasteland? How many people are there in Slaughter City and Kalon City?"

Megatron asked coldly,

"Are you ready to die?"

"No matter how many Decepticons you bring from the Arena, I'm ready to do whatever needs to be done."

Optimus Prime had an angry expression.

"No matter how many Autobots you gather from the library and the data hall." Megatron's voice turned cold with anger, "the Decepticons will stop you. You have the support of the Senate, but it is hard to say who will get the leadership module in the end."

He changed his form and prepared to leave, and all the Decepticons in the hall changed their forms as well. The ones with wheels and tracks flew through the wall, leaving behind a broken wall and more than half of the stands being pushed down. The flying Decepticons circled above the arch of the parliamentary podium, waiting for Megatron's instructions, their weapon systems and engine nozzles humming.

Debris continued to fall on the stands. The remaining people dodged one after another. The brave ones only dared to brush away the broken steel bars and concrete blocks that fell on them.

Megatron smashed a big hole in the vault and flew away.

The search team followed closely behind.

Optimus Prime watched them leave with a heavy heart.

Megatron finally took a stand.

The situation is completely irreversible.

…

Iron Fort, top floor of the data recording hall.

In the quiet study, Master Titanium placed his hand on the cover of the iron book and spoke two names gently and loudly:

"Optimus Prime."

"Qingshan Khan."

......

　1. Seeker, in many games and comic animations under the Transformers United Universe, different carriers use different translations, some are translated as "guerrilla army" or "tracker", which are all the same word.

　　2. In G1 Transformers, Batman is a member of Soundwave's Tape Corps, but in the Transformers United Universe, he is a Mini-Con member of the Supreme Council of Cybertron.

(End of this chapter)