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Chapter 732: Hades
🕑 Added 2023-10-14 08:15:08 +0000 UTCTransformers Begin : Table of Content/Chapter List
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The return journey was shorter than the departure!
The distance between Earth and Mars is not constant, as the speed and distance of the two planets' orbit around the sun change. When Sun Cheng and his team first departed for Mars, it happened to be at a time when Mars was almost at its farthest point from Earth.
However, after spending a month on Mars, the two planets' positions had shifted due to their orbital motion, reducing the distance between Earth and Mars by millions of kilometers, making Sun Cheng's return trip significantly shorter. Even so, when he returned to Earth, nearly two months had passed since his departure for Mars.
A hiss of exhaust accompanied the slow opening of the cabin door of a new Hope-class experimental spaceship, parked on the landing platform in Base Two's control area. As Sun Cheng disembarked, he was greeted by almost all of the Decepticon engineers in the vicinity, welcoming his return.
"Master, welcome back!" one of them said.
Sun Cheng nodded as he stepped off the landing platform, and two Decepticon engineers approached the spaceship. One of them touched the hull, using the unique abilities of Decepticon engineers to intuitively check the current data of the experimental spaceship. The other entered the spaceship to extract the Voyage Log from the Central Main Control AI, detailing the round trip.
Seeing the robots controlled by Teletraan and Explorer 203, Sun Cheng tapped his chest, causing a metal storage disk containing various Mars data, including the coordinates of the Mars base and a month's worth of construction progress, to pop out.
"All the data collected on Mars is here, along with the analysis of Mars and the Mars base that I need in the shortest possible time," he instructed.
Teletraan, driven by a strong desire for knowledge, had once led Sun Cheng to consider destroying it. Sun Cheng admitted that he had been influenced by some of the science fiction novels he had read about humans' fear and complex feelings when confronted with high-intelligence artificial intelligence.
In some of these novels, high-intelligence artificial intelligences with self-awareness and logic, once created, were considered a threat to human safety and survival. The contradictory Three Laws of Robotics, which were very clear in their exposure, revealed human fear and complexity when dealing with artificial intelligence.
Sun Cheng had been no different in the past, but with each periodic full-data check on Teletraan, he had mostly let go of his wariness. Perhaps it was because the Cybertronians who created Teletraan were silicon-based life forms with powerful data processing capabilities, and they had fundamentally set a series of limitations and logical frameworks for these super artificial intelligences.
Upon hearing his instructions, Teletraan's controlled robot immediately stepped forward and received the metal disk from Sun Cheng's outstretched hand.
"Give me a little time!" it replied. "Please allow me to start working now; I'm filled with curiosity about Mars!"
"Go ahead!" Sun Cheng granted permission, and Mirage's controlled robot promptly left.
Explorer 203 also seemed interested in the Mars-related data. After receiving approval from Sun Cheng, its controlled robot followed Teletraan's controlled robot and left together.
As Sun Cheng's gaze swept over all the Decepticon engineers present, he quickly noticed two unfamiliar ones.
After carefully distinguishing the electromagnetic spectrum emanating from their bodies, he recognized them. "Totem and Scaler, both of you have been promoted to Decepticon engineers."
Totem and Scaler were members of the first batch of Constructicons born slightly after Adam, nurtured by Base Two.
At that time, Sun Cheng was also involved in the cultivation of numerous new Decepticons, and he had some recollection of them.
Atlas inclined his head slightly and explained, "Master, Totem and Scaler are part of the most recent batch of Decepticon engineers to be promoted."
Sun Cheng nodded and looked at the two newly promoted engineers, who appeared somewhat anxious yet eager for his orders.
"Have they been assigned any projects?" Sun Cheng inquired.
Atlas shook his head, "They were assisting in Hades' team before their recent promotion, and since they just completed their upgrade two days ago, we haven't decided on specific projects for them yet."
The name alone hinted that this Decepticon engineer called Hades was no saint.
Sun Cheng instinctively glanced at the Decepticon engineer at the forefront of the engineer lineup, a figure that didn't seem to stand out much.
"Hades, is it..." His gaze lingered on this Decepticon engineer for a moment before he spoke, "Totem, Scaler, you will remain with Hades' research team as project assistants. The rest of you are dismissed. Hades, Totem, Scaler, stay behind."
Every one of the Decepticon engineers was highly astute, and they immediately understood that Sun Cheng was keeping these three engineers behind for a significant project. Consequently, their eyes fixed on the trio, filled with envy and jealousy.
Disregarding the two newly promoted engineers who were still excited and overwhelmed in the back, Hades slightly bowed and took a step forward, wearing a sycophantic smile on his face.
"Master, I wonder if the Medical Pod I presented to you earlier met the satisfaction of those human politicians?" This Hades was the same Decepticon engineer who had previously tried to curry favor with Sun Cheng and had created the Medical Pod for him.
The team of Decepticon engineers under Sun Cheng had grown in size over time, but the initial group of twenty-odd Decepticon engineers had played a crucial role in the expansion of his influence.
Almost every Decepticon engineer juggled multiple significant projects and research topics, but Hades was an exception. Each Decepticon was unique, and as a result, despite their shared starting point of powerful computational abilities and learning aptitude, they gradually outshone each other in various different categories due to their distinct personalities and interests.
Hades was one such Decepticon engineer, highly interested in the study of carbon-based life forms, and he was dedicated to this field. Most of the engineers spent the majority of their time conducting research within Base Two and rarely interacted with humans.
However, Hades was an exception; he had a good relationship with Yuri. Initially, it was because Yuri needed some interference in the turmoil in South America, so Sun Cheng had Atlas arrange for a Decepticon engineer to create something for him.
It was during those collaborations that Hades got to know Yuri and seemed to have become a good friend. In the following year, Yuri acquired many new items from Hades. Similarly, under Sun Cheng's half-opened eyes, Yuri enabled Hades to obtain several heinous prisoners from the chaotic prisons of South American countries for his research work.
The Medical Pod he presented to Sun Cheng was a product of his research during that time.
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Next Chapter >>Chapter 733: Deputy Officer Thunder
