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Chapter 294: Let It Cool Down
🕑 Added 2025-04-07 16:03:34 +0000 UTC"How do I know you're telling the truth?" After hearing Josh reveal many secrets about his universe, Starscream felt excited, but being a schemer, he couldn't just take Josh's words at face value.
"Don't rush. We can take it one step at a time. I'll give you Vibranium first, and you give me some common Cybertronian technology, like the faster-than-light engine... Then I'll tell you where the AllSpark and Megatron are. You get the AllSpark, I get Megatron. After that, we can talk about the next step... How does that sound?" Josh said slowly.
"Very reasonable. I’ll have someone prepare the technical data right away." Starscream thought about it and felt this deal made sense—trading in stages meant he wouldn’t lose too much. He immediately called a soldier to prepare some standard Decepticon tech data.
At the moment, he was in the Skull Fortress in Kaon City, which Megatron had built long ago.
Although the biggest and best city on Cybertron was once the capital of the Council of Elders, and later the capital of the Autobots, Iacon, Starscream still preferred the Skull Fortress, which represented power and fear.
Truth be told, he and Megatron shared similar views on the matter.
"By the way, you just mentioned that you recently sent two people to Earth? Who did you send and why?" As Starscream prepared the tech data ready, Josh asked casually.
"Oh, Bounce and Shatter. We recently received word that some defeated Decepticons had escaped to Earth, so we sent two scouts to check it out!" Starscream didn't think much and answered directly.
Wait a minute—Shatter and Bounce?
"Did those two scouts also happen to take out an Autobot named Cliffjumper?" Josh asked, tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"Huh? You even know that?" Starscream was again shocked by Josh's words.
He was a human from another universe, yet knew so much about this one—even the name of a low-ranking Autobot who died. This mysterious feeling was even more intense than when he faced the Fallen.
Of course, this was just about mystery. The Fallen’s powerful presence was something Josh didn’t have—at least, Starscream couldn’t feel it from another universe.
Still, it felt pretty cool to show off from another universe.
But at that moment, Josh wasn't really enjoying the bragging. Instead, he focused on what Starscream had just said.
Well, well... Shatter, Bounce and Cliffjumper.
So this wasn’t the main Transformers movie universe—it was the prequel Bumblebee universe.
Cliffjumper… poor guy.
But wait, in the Bumblebee movie, when the Autobots lost and fled Cybertron, Starscream showed up—in his comic book version. So did Shockwave and Soundwave.
Then Josh figured it out. Transformers can change their appearance depending on which vehicles they scan. In the big movies, even Shockwave later looked more evil. Soundwave was a satellite in the first movie, and later became a Mercedes.
So Starscream's current look... well, it's acceptable... No, actually, it still feels wrong.
"By the way, Starscream, is this your original form?" Josh asked.
"That's right. When I need to fight, I can scan a Cybertronian jet and transform, but when there's no battle, I prefer to use my original form. In fact, most of us Transformers are like that. Why is that? Is there a problem?" Starscream nodded.
"No problem. I just think your original form looks a little less powerful. And I should remind you that vibranium is difficult to transform, so you'd better choose a good alternate form before using it," Josh said with a shake of his head, not wanting to push the issue.
"Of course I will. The stuff is ready, let's make the deal!" Starscream was no longer curious as a soldier brought over a large storage device as he had ordered.
"We were on Earth, so we know some Earth languages. I had all the data translated using one of the most widely spoken languages on Earth in the early 19th century—something called French. Here's the complete list of data. What do you think?" Starscream placed the list and the storage unit on the trading console.
In the Transformers universe, Cybertron had long since made contact with Earth, but the connection wasn't constant.
Because of the war, the Decepticons hadn't paid much attention to Earth lately, so it wasn't surprising that they were over a hundred years behind on Earth updates.
On the contrary, Josh appreciated how careful and prepared Starscream was—he hadn’t even asked him to translate it.
No wonder Starscream was so ambitious, but Megatron never got rid of him. It wasn't just that he was strong—he was good at the details, too. He really was a good second-in-command.
"Of course, no problem. Let's swap!" Josh glanced at the list and was very pleased, so he placed twenty canisters of vibranium on the console—the same kind used in Black Panther and Avengers: Age of Ultron.
"Wait, just this little bit of vibranium? Isn't that too little?" Starscream was clearly unhappy with the amount.
"Oh? How much do you want?" Josh raised an eyebrow.
Twenty canisters of vibranium wasn't much—just enough to make a couple of shields or coat Starscream's body.
"I gave you the best Cybertronian technology. Some of it is super rare in the entire universe! Based on that, I should get at least ten thousand units!" Starscream pointed at the vibranium, his electronic eyes spinning as he made a huge request.
Ten thousand units would not only coat him, but allow him to build additional armor and even raise a powerful army.
"Has anyone ever told you that your eyes spin when you're lying?" Josh couldn't help but laugh.
Sure, if you go by value alone, the Cybertronian technology might be worth what Starscream asked for.
But don’t forget—right now Josh had the upper hand in information and control of the deal.
Was the Cybertronian technology important to Josh? Yes, it was. But it wasn't irreplaceable.
Because in the Marvel Universe, there were civilizations more advanced than Cybertron—like the Kree Empire.
And in the future, Josh's trading system could easily connect to even more advanced worlds than Cybertron.
By comparison, vibranium—nearly impossible to reproduce and with an unknown true source—was even more valuable.
So, of course, Josh didn't want to waste too much vibranium on technology he might be able to get in the future by other means.
And Starscream? If he wanted vibranium, the AllSpark, the Matrix of Leadership, and other things—could he get them without Josh?
He might. But it would be incredibly difficult.
So where did he get the confidence to bargain like that? And charge such an outrageous price?
Josh felt he had to come down hard on that attitude. If he didn't, Starscream would get too cocky.
So Josh called off the deal right then and there.
As the screen faded to black, Starscream froze.
Wait, what? No trading allowed?
I mean, I just threw out a high number—you could have just made a counteroffer!
And what did the human say about his eyes spinning when he lies?
Damn... no wonder his plans were always seen through by Megatron, Soundwave, and Shockwave.
So that's the problem. Looks like he really needed to work on that.
But now wasn't the time for reflection. Getting the vibranium was the top priority. With it, Starscream was sure he could easily defeat Shockwave and Soundwave and take full control of the Decepticons.
And once he had the AllSpark, he could rule Cybertron completely—becoming the true Emperor of Stars.
And the Fallen? Hm. That would depend on whether the leadership module and the Staff of the Prime, as that human mentioned, really existed.
For the sake of his glorious future, Starscream had to swallow his pride and began spamming Josh.
Meanwhile, Josh, having severed the connection, casually stepped out of his study to check on his wife and children.
To him, Starscream was someone who quickly forgot lessons and needed to be taught the hard way. So Josh completely ignored the calls from the other side and decided to leave Starscream hanging for a few days.
If Starscream stayed stubborn, even better. He was destined to fall anyway—though that might take a few decades, since based on the info, the Transformers universe’s Earth was still in the 1980s.
But Josh didn't care. In his own universe, the age of superheroes was still more than seventy years away.
"Daddy, Carol's bullying me!" Just as Josh stepped out of the main castle, he saw Carol pinning her big brother Mike down on the lawn. Seeing Josh, Mike quickly called for help.
Too bad he called to the wrong person.
Josh just glanced over, then looked up at the sky and pretended he hadn't seen anything.
Even though it looked like Carol was picking on Mike, Josh knew better—it was probably Mike who had picked on her first.
As the kids got older, their personalities became clearer.
Both were super smart, but Mike was playful and energetic, while Carol was more calm and quiet.
But that was just the surface. Carol might seem calm and gentle most of the time, but only if you didn't make her angry. Once she was angry—well, Mike's current state said it all.
The problem was, Mike's favorite pastime was teasing his sister. And even after getting "beat up" every time, he never seemed to get tired of it.
So for Josh, this kind of scene was nothing new. He just pretended not to see it.
"Carol! Mike! Are you two fighting again?" But while Josh could pretend to ignore it, Margaret wouldn't. She had just stepped outside after putting Ben down for his nap, and the moment she saw the two little mud monkeys rolling around in the grass, she got upset.
With her was Carter—not because Josh invited her, but because Margaret had.
Although Margaret came from a wealthy background, she never liked the fake smiles and backstabbing of high society. Before meeting Josh, she had been a total homebody with very few close friends.
That's why she appreciated Carter's straightforward personality. After Josh and Margaret's wedding, the two women had gradually become best friends.
Now, when Carter wasn't on a mission, Margaret often invited her over to hang out.
Soon, Margaret was pulling the kids aside and scolding them.
But she wasn't angry about Carol holding Mike down—she was just upset that they were fighting again.
Although nothing had been decided yet, there were already some future plans for the children.
Carol was most likely going to be the top candidate to become the future Queen of the United Kingdom of Austria—even though that so-called union was still just a distant dream due to many complicated reasons.
As for Mike, he was set to be Josh’s heir to the title of Earl of Sulawesi.
Whether the children would actually follow this path in the future was up to them, of course.
Josh was a very open-minded father, especially since he and Margaret no longer had to worry about aging. Whether the children wanted to inherit or not didn't really matter.
Forcing them might even ruin everything one day.
But just because they wouldn't be forced to inherit didn't mean Margaret would go easy on them. She was still strict when it came to discipline.
Especially since Josh, as their father, didn't seem to have any sense of it at all: "They're such adorable kids. They remind me of me and my brother," Carter said, walking over to Josh while Margaret scolded the two troublemakers.
"Now that you mention it... Mike even shares your brother's name," Josh replied with a grin, then teased, "The only difference is Carol's not as wild as you were."
Carter's words reminded Josh of how she and her brother used to be. Mike—Carter’s brother—loved to mess with her when they were young, and always got “beaten up” in return.
"So you're saying I was a savage?" Carter rolled her eyes.
"I Wouldn't dare," Josh chuckled, quickly changing the subject, "By the way, how's your brother doing lately?" Josh
"I was just about to talk to you about that," Carter's expression turned serious. "MI6 wants to recruit him."
