Chapter 42: A Decepticon Appears

"Sir, you want to dismantle this Cadillac?"

Old Jack was completely stunned. He thought he'd misheard.

If he wasn't mistaken, this was a discontinued Cadillac V-16—a true collector's gem.

Was this guy out of his mind?

"Yes. Tear it apart."

Alex spoke with an unmistakably commanding tone. "Then reassemble it. You're the best in the business, Jack. This shouldn't be a problem for you, right?"

"Well, sure, I can do it... but sir, why do you want to take it apart? Is something wrong with the car? Let me take a look first. No need to jump straight to dismantling it."

"That's none of your concern. I'm telling you to do it. Just take it apart, and I'll pay in full."

"This isn't about the money."

Jack hesitated. In fact, he was starting to suspect something fishy. Was this Cadillac... stolen?

Was the guy trying to chop it up and quietly move it out of here?

That could mean serious trouble.

"Ryan…" Jack turned to his boss for guidance.

Ryan was clearly unsure too. Alex's request was just too bizarre.

After thinking it over, Ryan decided not to get involved in this potential mess.

"I'm sorry, sir. Maybe you could try another repair shop?" Ryan offered politely.

"So what you're saying is, I came all the way here for nothing?" Alex said, narrowing his eyes.

"N-no, sir! That's not what I meant at all!" Ryan waved his hands in panic. "I just—"

But Alex didn't bother with any more small talk.

He simply turned around, bent down, grabbed the Cadillac—and lifted it clean off the ground.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!

He walked step by step like a steamroller crushing everything in its path, then tossed the Cadillac right in front of Ryan and Jack.

"G-God Almighty!"

"What did I just see?!"

Ryan, Jack, and the rest of the garage crew stared at the scene in sheer horror, like they'd just seen a ghost.

They were nearly scared out of their wits.

Picking up a whole car—was this guy even human?

"I'm in a hurry. Get moving," Alex clapped the dust off his hands and said to Jack.

"Y-Yes, sir! Right away!" Jack was practically wetting himself at this point. No way he dared question him again.

He grabbed his tools and was about to start work when—

CLANK CLANK CLANK!

CLANG CLANG CLANG!

The Cadillac that had been lying perfectly still on the ground suddenly moved!

Its body began splitting and reconfiguring, parts rearranging at high speed.

Amid a harsh, metallic screech, different modules twisted and assembled in rapid succession.

In the blink of an eye, the Cadillac was gone—replaced by a giant robot five or six meters tall.

"You little insect. Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

The towering robot looked down at Alex, its voice filled with disdain.

"Wait—what the hell? A Transformer?!"

Alex was genuinely stunned.

He hadn't expected this—not in this world, not in this era.

So the "special energy source" the system had detected wasn't inside the car—it was the car!

No wonder all his inspections turned up nothing.

"You little worm, I'm going to crush you into paste!"

The Transformer's voice was laced with fury.

Even without human facial expressions, Alex could feel the seething rage radiating from the robot.

"A m-monster!"

"An alien! It's an alien!"

"Jesus Christ!"

Shrieks of panic erupted as Jack, Ryan, and the others widened their eyes to the brink of bursting. They couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"So noisy… annoying little bugs."

The Transformer let out a disgusted growl and swung its massive arm toward the group, casually swatting like it was squashing flies.

This one had a nasty temper.

Judging by the aggression, Alex figured it had to be a Decepticon. No way an Autobot would act like this.

Gasp!

Everyone around sucked in a cold breath. Jack and the others were pale as ghosts, paralyzed by fear.

They were so terrified, they couldn't even run.

Classic trauma response: frozen stiff.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, Jack and the others felt a blur pass before their eyes. Alex's figure darted forward like a phantom and blocked the Decepticon's fist—

CLANG!

A thunderous crash rang out. The Decepticon's massive punch froze in midair, right in front of Alex.

It was as if someone had pressed pause—no matter how hard the robot tried, it couldn't move another inch forward.

The entire garage fell eerily silent.

Jack, Ryan, and the rest were trembling, unable to believe what they were seeing.

This young man had stopped a giant robot's punch?

One stood over five meters tall, the other barely two. The robot's fist was bigger than Alex's entire head.

The visual contrast couldn't be more stark.

And yet—it was Alex who came out on top.

If they hadn't witnessed it themselves, they'd never believe it.

"What are you still standing there for? Waiting for Christmas?" Alex snapped.

That snapped Jack and the others out of their daze. They bolted like their lives depended on it.

"This... this can't be!"

The Decepticon's voice rang out in disbelief. "Humans can't possess that kind of power!"

"Surprised already?" Alex sneered. "Isn't it a bit too early for that?"

With a sudden stomp, Alex launched himself like a human missile—straight for the Decepticon's head.

BOOM!

A thunderous punch landed square on the robot's face.

CRASH!

The Decepticon was sent flying, like it had been struck by a meteorite.

It crashed into the ground, hard enough to shake the earth like a mini earthquake.

Gulp!

Jack and the others, who were still scrambling away, watched the scene unfold and swallowed hard.

They were completely, utterly dumbfounded.

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