"Wait, is he trying to poach someone right to my face?!"
Emrys immediately eyed fire warily, thinking, 'You old geezer with the bushy eyebrows, you probably haven't tasted the iron fist of the Omnissiah, have you?'
The Omnissiah had finally manifested and bestowed upon him a 'Prime-class' Transformer. How could he let a few words from you trick it into going to Cybertron!
'Nightblade' frowned slightly, his gaze fixed sternly on fire: "My body serves only the Emperor, and my faith is only in the Omnissiah, the God of All Machines. For the sake of Mr. Emrys, I will forgive your heretical words this time. If there is a next time… I will surely bring down judgment upon you!"
"…"
fire was stunned for half a minute.
It was a full half-minute, and for a mechanical life form, that was enough time to process many calculations, but even if it short-circuited, it still couldn't understand what he meant.
The God of All Machines… what in the world is that?
Times had changed too quickly. Had the Transformers on Cybertron renamed Primus to the God of All Machines during its slumber?
But on second thought, it didn't seem impossible!
Primus created the Seven Primes and propagated the Transformers. From a certain perspective, it seemed very fitting for the title 'God of All Machines'!
Besides, in the entire universe, apart from Primus, who else could be honored with the title 'God of All Machines'?!
Having understood this, fire immediately felt that the name was good, and its gaze towards 'Nightblade' became much more fervent. But to be cautious, it asked again: "What do you think… of Unicron?"
"Unicron? What heresy is that?!"
Hearing this, Nightblade's eyes burned with fury: "Another damned heretic! I shall, in the name of the God of All Machines, incinerate all heresy!!!"
That's right!
Now, it was eighty percent certain.
The 'God of All Machines' in this kid's mouth was, in all likelihood, 'Primus,' after all, the two were mortal enemies!
fire was satisfied and nodded: "Exactly, you're absolutely right. Remember… Unicron is our enemy, it is a heretic! Oh, by the way, can you tell me about the God of All Machines you mentioned?"
"Hmm?" Nightblade looked at fire in surprise.
"This old man has been asleep for too long and has become disconnected from the outside world." fire stroked its 'beard,' its eyes burning as it stared at 'Nightblade.'
Such an excellent Prime, born not long ago, already possessing Prime-class energy. Who would believe it wasn't blessed by 'Primus'?
Therefore, he must make this Prime realize that it bears a great mission, the mission of 'Primus,' to be born to save Cybertron!
But the experienced fire could also see that 'Nightblade' seemed very resistant to them. It was necessary and its responsibility to lead the Prime onto the right path!
That's right, start with the 'God of All Machines'!
"The God of All Machines, the Omnissiah, is the great God of Machines, and also the God of Wisdom." Nightblade said devoutly: "It is He who bestowed upon us mechanical knowledge and wisdom, and it is He who created us!"
It matched!
Everything matched!
fire's body trembled, its emotions stirred: "Yes, yes… that's right, it is the great God of All Machines who created us, and it is He who bestowed upon us wisdom and energy!"
Primus, taking its own body as a vessel, transformed into the world Cybertron, inherited the will of the Creator, and created the Transformer race. Doesn't this all align?
That's right, Primus is the God of All Machines!
Jazz, Bumblebee, and Ratchet next to them were all bewildered; their memories seemed to be getting a bit strange.
In their memories, shouldn't it be 'Primus' who created the Transformers and Cybertron? How did it suddenly transform into the 'God of All Machines'?
"Uh… fire, are you mistaken?"
Jazz was very suspicious that the old guy's memory was faulty: "Didn't Primus create us?"
"You Transformers are still too young!" fire glared at Jazz irritably and said righteously: "Primus, the God of All Machines, are just names we bestow upon a great existence. He is an omnipotent God, how could he have a name?"
"You're right."
A scene that even Emrys found absurd unfolded.
Nightblade actually agreed with fire's statement: "The God of All Machines, the Omnissiah, are merely names we use to express our gratitude to Him. He is both all and one, a great existence. Just as the wind has countless forms, He also has thousands of names, but none is His true appellation!"
"Exactly!"
fire angrily tapped its cane, glaring at the completely bewildered Autobots, scolding them like a parent disappointed in their child: "What do you understand? You understand nothing! I've lived for millions of years, don't I know more than you?!"
Is, is it really like that?
The Autobots looked at each other blankly, feeling that something wasn't quite right, but they couldn't pinpoint it.
"I ask you!" fire, looking utterly disappointed, tapped them with its cane and angrily demanded: "Who created us?!"
"It's… Primus."
In front of the elder, Jazz answered obediently.
"Then who created it?!" fire turned its cane and pointed at Nightblade: "Tell me, besides Primus, who can create a Prime-class Transformer?!"
"No… no one…"
Jazz unconsciously followed fire's line of thought, slowly being 'led into' the trap, and answered subconsciously.
"I was created by the God of All Machines!"
Nightblade corrected him, displeased.
"Yes, yes, yes, I know." fire couldn't be bothered with it, turned and glared at Jazz, saying confidently: "Isn't it obvious? Primus is the God of All Machines!"
"I need to correct you. The Primus you speak of can only be an avatar of the God of All Machines." Nightblade frowned, feeling this guy was too old and always said the wrong thing!
It would never admit that the God of All Machines was Primus, but it could acknowledge that Primus was the God of All Machines.
Just like God, or the Emperor.
What if the great God of All Machines had other avatars?
"Yes, yes, yes, you're right."
fire didn't bother to correct Nightblade; in its view, the God of All Machines and Primus were just one and the same, weren't they?
This Prime was just too stubborn, stubbornly refusing to admit that the God of All Machines was Primus, but it didn't matter… who didn't have a few minor issues?
As long as this Prime could revitalize Cybertron, it couldn't care less about who was superior, the God of All Machines or Primus!
Besides, Nightblade was created by the Allspark, which was ironclad proof. The entire universe knew that only Primus' energy could create Transformers; they were all the offspring of Primus!
The God of All Machines is Primus!
The logic is rigorous, no flaws!
"Now, do you understand?"
fire, with confidence, lectured these younglings in the tone of an elder: "We are all the offspring of the God of All Machines; don't concern yourselves with a mere name!" "Exactly!"
Nightblade admired this old guy; his understanding was very high!
"So, are we really… the offspring of the God of All Machines?" Jazz and Bumblebee fell into deep self-doubt.
Is this… right?!
Not only were the Autobots bewildered, but even Emrys was dumbfounded. The plot development was too outlandish!
How did these two Transformers manage to reach a miraculous consensus while talking past each other, completely off-topic?
What kind of cross-channel conversation was this?
Even more miraculously, Nightblade actually agreed!
Honestly.
Purely from legends, the overlap between Primus and the God of All Machines was extremely high, provided they didn't delve too deeply, otherwise, it would be easy to expose the truth.
Of course, this couldn't be entirely blamed on fire.
After all, besides Emrys, who knew the details, who else could know that outside the Transformer universe, there truly was a 'God of All Machines'?
Even Transformers had their limitations.
"Ahem, I think we should talk about something serious."
Emrys coughed twice, forcefully interrupting fire: "Since you have awakened, we can proceed to the next step. Don't forget the threat of the Decepticons is still present!"
He was genuinely afraid that if they continued talking, when fire and Nightblade started discussing the Imperium's mess, the 'truth' would be revealed.
But on second thought, it seemed that by a strange coincidence, Nightblade's existence could actually make it easier for him to control the Autobots, and even the Transformers.
This was… a complete surprise!
What do you call it, searching high and low for something only to find it effortlessly? Praise the great God of All Machines, praise the Omnissiah, praise the Lord of Mankind!
"Mikaela, quickly write down all the symbols in your mind and let fire see them." Emrys forcefully interrupted the still-eager fire and pulled Mikaela over: "The Fallen is looking for the Matrix of Primeship. We must find this thing before it does!"
Sure enough, as soon as it heard about the Fallen, fire forgot what it wanted to say. It was a common problem with old age, whether human or Transformer, only able to process one thing at a time.
"The Fallen? The Fallen!"
fire instantly became enraged, pounding its cane and shouting: "No, we must never let the Fallen find the Matrix of Primeship! A terrible machine is buried there, a machine we created in ancient times to harvest stellar energy!"
"Only a Prime… only the Matrix of Primeship can defeat the Fallen!" It suddenly fixed its gaze on Nightblade: "You have a responsibility to protect the Matrix of Primeship. You must defeat the Fallen. This concerns the survival of our race, and even the humans on this world!"
"Where is this Fallen you speak of?"
Nightblade didn't care about the survival of the Transformers; it simply harbored the utmost hostility towards heretics, purely wanting to kill the opponent.
As for the survival of the race… what did it have to do with it?
Primus wasn't its 'father'; it was the offspring of the Omnissiah, a creation of the God of All Machines!
"No, you are too hasty, Nightblade." fire was very pleased, but also instructing it: "Impulsiveness is not a quality a Prime should possess. You must be calmer. With your current strength, you are no match for the Fallen!"
"Who is the Fallen?"
Bumblebee asked softly.
"The Fallen… it is one of the Seven Primes, originally created by Primus." fire concentrated energy and displayed ancient holographic images: "The Primes created the Transformers, but for energy, they created an ancient and advanced device that could destroy stars and harvest energy."
Here it comes, here it comes!
Classic archaeological excavation, ancient but advanced!
They say Warhammer technology relies on archaeology, but in a sense, Transformers are similar; no one should laugh at anyone else.
Throughout the movies, the closer it got to Cybertron's ancient times, the stronger the Transformers and the technological power they wielded clearly were!
Without mentioning anything else, just the Fallen and fire alone—one could freely control gravity, and the other had space-shifting technology, which was almost unusable by later generations on Cybertron!
Millions of years ago on Cybertron, technologies like space bridges, localized time suspension, stellar energy harvesting, and gravity control, after millions of years, were reduced to primitive brawls with energy cannons and heat blades.
"The Primes had one principle: never destroy worlds with life." fire's tone suddenly deepened as it said this: "But one Prime, for more energy, gradually became reckless, trampling on the fundamental principle established by the Primes. And the name Fallen was branded upon it."
"It despised humanity and intended to destroy this world, but to activate that device, the 'Matrix of Primeship' was necessary. So… to contend for the Matrix of Primeship, war began!"
"But the Fallen was too powerful. Among its brothers, no one was its match. So, the six Primes sacrificed themselves to seal the Matrix of Primeship and that device."
Looking at the panoramic projections around them, the brutality of the war made everyone feel as if they were there, and also made them understand the Fallen's power even more!
"Only a Prime can defeat the Fallen!"
fire's gaze burned as it stared at Nightblade: "Optimus Prime is dead, and you… are our hope!"
It seems, not bad?
Emrys stroked his chin; implanting the Matrix of Primeship into Nightblade seemed to align more with his interests. A Prime-class Nightblade—the thought alone was exciting!
As for Optimus Prime, he could only apologize for now.
Once he got a large chunk of the Allspark, he would find a way to revive him. For now, he would just have to make do with letting Prime stay down. He was already dead anyway; a few more days wouldn't hurt.