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Chapter 222 - Tribute Is a Higher Form of Alliance

Whoosh—

The Eternal Snowfall flew straight toward South America.

Setsuna had already learned the location of the other half of the Transwarp Key.

It was in the care of Optimus Primal, the gorilla-like leader of the Maximals.

Long ago, Primal's homeworld had been invaded by Unicron. The Maximal chief, Ape Prime, entrusted the Key to Optimus Primal.

He commanded Primal to lead the Maximals aboard a ship to flee their homeworld and escape both Scourge and Unicron.

Eventually, their world was completely devoured by Unicron. On Earth, Primal formed a deep bond with the local humans and entrusted them with the other half of the Key.

The Maximals and their heroic warriors were also part of Setsuna's childhood memories.

Along the way, Setsuna picked up two more Autobots—Wheeljack and Stratosphere.

Before long, they were all having fun aboard the Eternal Snowfall.

"Ohohohohooo—!"

Tashkent was driving Bumblebee's body, racing through the starship's hangar.

For a ten-kilometer-long starship, driving inside was no problem at all.

Behind her, Yukikaze pursued closely in Mirage's Lamborghini form.

"Don't run!!"

With a slick drift around a corner, Yukikaze left Tashkent and Bumblebee behind.

Mirage even projected several decoys to interfere with Bumblebee's vision, and with a swoosh, they crossed the finish line.

"Lady Yukikaze wins Nanoda!!!"

The beast-eared shipgirl was in a fantastic mood after her victory.

Thump thump thump—she happily patted Mirage's hood.

"Commander says you're good people. Lady Yukikaze will protect you from now on!"

"Pfft—"

Arcee, watching nearby, was thoroughly amused.

These little ones didn't even reach her thighs in height—just kids, really. She wasn't quite sure what Setsuna's intention was in bringing them along on the expedition.

She stepped forward, crouched down, and gently patted Yukikaze on the head.

"Shouldn't it be us protecting you?"

"Are you the Commander's daughter? Who's your mother, then?"

Arcee tried recalling the girls around Setsuna.

Richelieu? Yat Sen? Taihou? None of their hair colors matched. The only one with beast ears was Nagato.

But she was way too... intense.

"You're the short one! Lady Yukikaze is older than all of you combined!"

"I could beat every single Autobot! And the Decepticons too!"

Yukikaze huffed, puffing out her cheeks.

"Don't believe me? Let's have a match!"

"Hah?!"

Bumblebee and Mirage transformed back into robot form and came over, staring at the little shipgirl.

They had never encountered such a brazen little loli before.

If it were Unicorn or Gudako, that would be one thing—Gundams were tough to beat.

But this beast-eared girl? She looked like nothing more than a cute human child.

"You pilot one of those Gundam things too?"

Bumblebee crouched and asked.

"I don't need a Gundam. I'm stronger than a Gundam."

Yukikaze tilted her head proudly.

"Ha—"

Bumblebee extended a finger.

Just one of his fingers was about the size of her whole head.

"Wanna try your strength against an Autobot? If you can bend my finger, I'll—"

Before he could finish—

"Hey!"

Bumblebee suddenly felt an overwhelming, irresistible force in his arm.

Yukikaze grabbed his hand and hoisted him upside down.

"You're even lighter than an Infected Missile."

"???"

Bumblebee, held aloft by one hand, was lifted and lowered like a barbell a dozen times.

Once Yukikaze set him down, he looked at the little loli full of question marks.

Existential crisis.

What the heck.

How could a human possess such monstrous strength?

This totally defied the laws of physics!

"Wow, that was awesome."

Mirage gave Yukikaze a thumbs-up.

Arcee was completely convinced—especially after learning that these seemingly cutesy little lolis were actually kilometer-long starships, with unknown mass and weapons systems. She was stunned.

Just imagining that the Autobot leader couldn't beat this little loli gave her a strange feeling.

In a way, they were all of the same kind.

Gudako, too, refused to be outdone.

"Don't go thinking I'm just some reckless Gundam pilot, alright?"

"I can do all kinds of stuff—magic! Have you seen magic before?!"

"Oh?!"

The Autobots gathered around Gudako.

She showed off Chaldea's magecraft and various strange dragon-based spells.

For a purely technological civilization, magic was something the Autobots had never encountered before.

"Self-speed enhancement."

"Strength boost."

"Gravity reduction."

Gudako shwoosh shwoosh shwoosh cast a bunch of enchantments on Bumblebee.

"Oooohhhhh—"

Bumblebee suddenly felt supercharged and started zooming around the Eternal Snowfall's hull.

"Come on then, let's have a rematch, little girl."

He reached out to Yukikaze.

And then—

WHAM!

He was thrown over the shoulder and slammed into the ground by the tiny shipgirl.

"..."

Bumblebee lay on the floor, staring at the ceiling, questioning his existence.

...

On the other side—

While the others played around, Setsuna was in talks with Optimus Prime about future cooperation.

He still trusted this righteous Autobot leader.

"You mean, you can not only help us return to Cybertron, but also solve the planet's energy crisis and eliminate the Decepticon threat?"

"All in exchange for the Transwarp Key?"

Optimus looked at Setsuna with surprise.

This man clearly knew a lot about Cybertron and its current situation.

After years of war between Autobots and Decepticons, Cybertron had been devastated.

The greatest challenge facing the Transformers was their homeworld's depleted resources. To search for more, both factions had ventured deep into the galaxy.

Their conflict had only escalated during this process.

"That's right."

Setsuna nodded.

"Once we have the Transwarp Key, we can quickly develop faster-than-light ships and achieve long-distance interstellar travel."

"Our ships are far more advanced than the Ark or the Nemesis. They'll easily find resource-rich planets out in the universe..."

Four million years ago, the Autobots had built the Ark to flee their resource-depleted planet.

From Cybertronian standards, it was one of the most advanced spacecraft.

Capable of housing over 300 Cybertronians and utilizing spatial wormholes for short-distance teleportation.

But to Setsuna, it wasn't impressive. Aside from its jump ability, its size and combat capabilities couldn't compare to a starship.

—And even its spatial jump tech was unstable, far inferior to controlled warp and hyperspace travel.

As for its other systems? Outdated.

Had it not crash-landed on Earth, Setsuna doubted it could have ever found a new habitable planet.

"Then what's your condition?"

Optimus looked at him.

Such generous terms, perfectly targeting his pain points—clearly not charity.

"I have a few minor requests."

Setsuna raised a hand. He always preferred transparency.

"First, the Transwarp Key and the AllSpark come with us for research."

"Second, I will support your exploration efforts in this universe and provide necessary assistance—such as ships or resources."

"But I want a portion of the resources you extract as compensation, and I ask that Cybertron share some of its technologies with us—like space compression and space bridge systems."

In theory, once they developed FTL tech, Setsuna could send a fleet and conquer Cybertron by force.

But Optimus Prime and the Autobots were decent folk. Setsuna felt it would be better to let them govern Cybertron, and having more allies in this universe was no bad thing.

As for the Decepticons—he had a different plan for them.

"..."

Optimus Prime pondered for a while.

The other party's military and technological capabilities clearly surpassed Cybertron's—just the starship tech alone proved that.

The only things they lacked were FTL 1.3 and spatial jump technologies.

Setsuna's proposal was indeed attractive. Not only would they be sent home, but they'd get help rebuilding their homeworld and resolving the Decepticon conflict.

All he asked in return was a share of the gains.

It was a bit like a stakeholder investment.

As for the Transwarp Key and the AllSpark, Optimus figured that even if he disagreed, it wouldn't matter—Setsuna had the power to take them anyway.

As long as he could help save Cybertron and eliminate the Decepticon threat, it was worth it.

"Sounds like a win-win deal. I accept."

After a long pause, Optimus extended his massive hand.

Setsuna materialized part of the Turn A Gundam, and the two shook hands.

The two sides quickly moved on to more detailed discussions of the partnership.

"..."

Belfast and Chen Hai exchanged glances, then whispered to Setsuna:

"Commander, with you skimming resources and asking for tech sharing... are you basically making Cybertron pay tribute...?"

"Mhm."

Setsuna neither confirmed nor denied.

"Tribute is just a higher form of alliance. This is win-win. Win-win."

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