Transformers: Survival of Defective Products

Chapter 66 Fate

During this period, the schedule at the arena started to become increasingly unpleasant.

The titles were increasingly impressive: "Special Exhibition Match," "High-Intensity Spectator Show," and "Challenge Mode Tailor-Made for Top Gladiators," as if they wanted the entire Charon to know how much they valued Thunder God.

The first thing to happen is the chaos and fighting.

Given Zhen Tianzun's current position, a one-on-one home game would have been more in line with the arena's usual rules and promotional logic. But lately, mixed battles have been piling up on him one after another—two today, three the day after tomorrow—and the reasons all seem quite plausible.

"The audience is looking forward to more intense competition."

"A single mode can no longer fully reflect the potential of the players."

"To reward the recent popularity, we have specially increased the difficulty and entertainment value of the matches."

Grand and imposing.

When Yin Vector saw the new match schedule notification, he stared at the interface in silence for two seconds, then looked up at Zhen Tianzun on the opposite side.

"Have they finally given up pretending?"

Zhen Tianzun was looking down at another document when he heard this. He glanced at the schedule on her screen and spoke calmly.

"Still pretending."

"Is this what you call pretentious?"

"Scream," said Zhen Tianzun. "They now want to explain every irrationality as 'because I'm strong enough.'"

After listening, Yin Vector let out a cold laugh.

"They really know how to find words to describe themselves."

But what's even more disgusting is time.

The schedule started moving towards late nights and early mornings, and the recovery period became shorter and shorter. Sometimes, the notification for the next match would be sent to the terminal shortly after the previous match ended.

Even after a routine check, the other side, after looking at Zhen Tianzun's recent schedule, remained silent for two seconds before finally giving them a heads-up.

As he adjusted the scanning interface, he said, "They're trying to slowly ruin you without leaving any evidence."

Zhen Tianzun leaned against the wall, his expression remaining completely unchanged.

The vector was standing nearby, and upon hearing this, the optical mirror slumped slightly.

He knocked down the screen, glanced at them, and his tone remained indifferent.

"A chaotic free-for-all, a war of attrition, a compressed recovery period, and deliberately putting time when their condition is most unstable," he said. "If they really want to put on an act, let them continue. But don't treat everyone like useless pieces of junk who can't understand the data."

That was a very impolite remark.

Although Orion wasn't in the arena, the information he compiled from the public match schedules and data was clearer than many of the people inside. By arranging pairs several times, a pattern emerged.

These last five matches are not right.

This was the first sentence he sent to the vector.

Following that was a complete table, which listed the time, mode, recovery interval, and opponent type.

Each match alone can explain this.

But when viewed in context, it's a concentrated consumption.

When the vector passed the document to the Heavenly Venerable, the latter glanced at it and calmly commented, "He organized it better than those slag-binders in the arena themselves."

The vector was standing to the side with its arms crossed.

Are you praising him or criticizing them?

"It doesn't matter."

The information provided by the sound waves was quite concise, consisting of a few lines of authority flow and two sources of approval.

[The format of the three rounds has been temporarily adjusted.]

[Same source.]

[Non-surface execution layer.]

When Red Spider learned of this, he first gave an exaggerated sneer.

"I thought those idiots would at least wait until later before showing this kind of greed." He leaned against the lab bench, his tone as sarcastic as ever. "But now they're in such a hurry, it's really ugly."

Yin Vector sat to one side organizing data, without looking up.

Are you mocking them, or are you also mocking us for being targeted by such unsavory methods?

"Of course I'm mocking them," Red Spider replied matter-of-factly. "As for you, being targeted at this level only shows that they've run out of ideas."

The mouth is still the same mouth.

As he finished speaking, he casually tossed over an updated distribution map of blind spots in the edge channel monitoring system onto his terminal.

The vector looked down and raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean by that?"

Red Spider didn't even lift his eyes.

"I just don't want some experimental samples and temporary tools to be destroyed too quickly," he said casually. "After all, it's quite a hassle to repair them."

Shockwaves are more direct.

[Continued high-frequency consumption schedule.]

[Objective: Reduce combat stability and increase the probability of errors.]

Conclusion: Non-random.

Even the Jazz and the ambulance sent her messages.

Jazz still had that lighthearted style, but as soon as he opened his mouth, you could tell something was off.

"Your arena's been really lively lately."

The ambulance is even more toxic.

At this rate, all I can say is, I hope your arena medics are skilled enough.

The truth was confirmed when even the audience began to realize something was wrong.

One or two matches could be considered a coincidence.

Five or six games in a row followed the same pattern. Even the gamblers in the audience who only knew how to stir up trouble and place bets started whispering among themselves after the games ended, saying that the recent arrangements didn't seem like they were supporting the players, but rather like they were squeezing every last drop of profit from them.

Once, while standing in the outer passageway, the vector overheard two passing spectators whispering:

"Even if it's powerful, you can't use it like this."

"Who knows what the higher-ups are thinking? Anyway, they've been behaving quite rudely lately."

When he got home that evening, Yin Vector threw the newly compiled schedule on the table, clearly not in a good mood.

"They're getting more and more disgusting."

Zhen Tianzun sat there, looking down as he turned to a page, his tone still calm.

"They were just in a hurry."

"Is this how you arrange things when you're in a rush?"

"Yes." Zhen Tianzun looked up at her. "Because they've realized that just staring at you isn't enough, and just pressuring me isn't enough either. Right now, all they can do is disrupt everything around us."

The vector was silent for two seconds, then said coldly, "They're dreaming."

Zhen Tianzun looked at her, his pale blue optical glasses revealing a deep chill, and simply replied, "Let them continue queuing."

"Continue queuing?"

"Hmm." He tossed the schedule back onto the table, his voice lowered. "Let them think they can get away with it a few more times."

Yin Vector stared at him, not responding immediately.

He is waiting.

Wait until they reveal themselves more completely, until everything that was originally hidden under their skin comes out on its own.

She leaned back in her chair and gave a cold laugh.

"Alright. Let them perform a few more shows then."

-

When I came out from the Red Spider's side, the vector brain module was still processing the same set of data.

As she walked out, she casually put the last two records on the terminal into the archive. The outer armor on her shoulder still retained a faint, cold metallic smell, typical of the laboratory. Today's visit was the same as usual; Red Spider was still very picky, but when it came to actually getting to the point, he didn't delay things and, unusually, even refrained from scolding her a couple of times at the end.

Just as the vector was about to twitch its lips, the alarm on the finned antenna went off the next second.

A very brief sense of danger shot straight up my spine.

Her reaction was faster than the brain module's; almost at the same instant she realized something was wrong, the entire machine veered sharply to the side.

The next second, a high-energy beam grazed past where she had been standing, blasting a charred crater into the wall in front of her.

When the vector landed, it brushed the ground with its knees touching the ground. In the instant it looked up, the optical lens had completely cooled down.

They came for her.

She was currently in a semi-enclosed narrow alley, with high walls on both sides, a narrow path behind her, and a bend in the road ahead. It didn't seem like much normally, but when it came to actual combat, this place was incredibly frustrating for someone as mobile as her, who relied heavily on positioning and quick changes of direction.

The other side had clearly anticipated this.

At the other end of the alley, a machine emerged from the shadows. The machine was not particularly heavy, and the shoulder armor and arm structure were relatively balanced. The most eye-catching thing was the long-range cannon it was carrying, whose energy storage light had been relit.

A quick glance at the vector indicated trouble.

The most disgusting type is well-balanced, doesn't rely entirely on positioning, focuses on ranged attacks, and knows how to block her routes in this kind of space.

Without uttering a single word, the opponent raised their cannon and fired another shot.

This time, the magnetic field didn't simply dodge. It suddenly raised its left hand, instantly pulling the magnetic field apart and tearing a section of broken metal railing beside it, sending it flying horizontally and colliding with the bombardment in mid-air.

The roar exploded in the narrow alley, making the walls on both sides tremble.

She didn't dare to relax.

The first shot missed, and the opponent had already used the smoke and sparks to reposition, quick and accurate. Just as the target turned to the side, the third shot wasn't aimed at her original position, but instead aimed directly at the point where she was most likely to drift.

Her pupils contracted, and the entire machine forcibly twisted its angle. The magnetic force pulled her along her arm, pulling her halfway away in the opposite direction.

The shot missed, but it still grazed her right shoulder and back.

The high-energy impact slammed through, instantly blasting the outer armor apart. The heat rushed into the machine, causing her vision to go white for a moment from the pain.

When the vectoring device landed, it lost its balance and was blasted into the side wall, the metal casing making a dull thud.

She gritted her teeth, braced herself with one hand, and forced herself up from the wall. The wiring in her shoulder and back started malfunctioning, and half of her arm was numb from the shock.

The cannons on the opposite side immediately lit up again.

This time, her heart truly sank.

The place was too narrow, and the opponent's positioning was too tight, with tricky angles for long-range suppression, leaving her no room to maneuver.

She has been practicing her magnetic attraction ability recently, and her ability to deflect and pull metal objects instantly is much stronger than before.

But she ultimately did not equip herself with long-range weapons.

She was targeted for her weaknesses.

As the fourth shot charged, the opponent even took half a step forward, clearly indicating that he had no chance of completely dodging her attack.

The magnetic field in the throat fluctuated slightly, and she slammed her left hand into the ground, instantly tearing the magnetic field apart the walls on both sides. Several metal structures that were originally firmly embedded at the edge of the alley were forcibly lifted up and smashed towards the opposite side.

The opponent was quick to react, blasting one of the pieces with a single shot, while he dodged the remaining two pieces by sidestepping.

Taking advantage of this brief opening, the vectoring system finally gained half a second, and the entire machine forcefully lunged to the other side.

She had just gotten a little closer to the wall when she heard a faint, strange noise.

The next second, the sound of a device activating rang out.

The white capture device that the enemy had deployed in advance immediately activated, and a barbed metal arrow pierced her left leg, passing through wires and metal, and penetrating her left thigh.

She endured the excruciating pain and barely managed to regain her balance. Before she could even steady herself, she saw that the dark cannon muzzle had turned back around.

too fast.

This time, she really couldn't avoid it.

The next instant, an even louder roar suddenly erupted above the alley.

Another, even more ferocious and unreasonable missile streak came crashing down from above, striking the opponent's side directly.

The entire machine was blown away on the spot, crashing heavily into the wall on the other side, and even the cannon barrel was deflected.

The vector was swept back half a step by the shock wave. The moment she looked up, a machine shadow that she knew all too well had already descended above the alley.

The Red Spider's weaponry still carried the residual heat of its recent firing. Its wings were slightly spread behind it, and the entire aircraft stood there, its expression unusually cold.

He first glanced at the vector, taking in the blasted-open shoulder and back armor, the charred wounds, and the arrow that pierced her left leg.

Then he turned to look at the attacker who had just awkwardly propped himself up against the wall, his voice chillingly cold.

"Who gave you permission to act on my property?"

The machine clearly hadn't expected Starscream to attack directly; it paused for a moment, then turned to retreat.

Red Spider sneered and launched the second missile without giving him a chance to speak.

"You want to leave now?"

The sound of an explosion echoed once again in the narrow alley.

The attacker couldn't withstand the attack; the entire aircraft was blasted outwards, metal armor plates exploded, and the weapon system on its right arm, along with a part of its shoulder, was blasted away.

Only then did Yin Xiang finally manage to exhale a little of the breath she had been holding back. The pain in her shoulders, back, and legs returned, causing her to unconsciously wince in pain.

Red Spider heard the faintest sound but didn't even turn his head.

"I only let you out of the lab for a few minutes," he said coldly, "and you've already gotten yourself into this state."