Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

"It's been a day, leader of the Cybertronians." Alice bowed slightly to Optimus Prime, her gaze then sweeping over Ironhide, Bumblebee, and Sam Witwicky standing behind him—Sam's presence here was somewhat unexpected, but... since it was Sam's own choice, she had no right to say anything more.

“This is my companion, Patchouli Knowledge. We will both be involved in the following conversation.”

Optimus Prime nodded to the two witches.

"Seeing you evokes mixed feelings, Alice Margotrovid. I didn't expect you to go to such lengths. So many people have died... But this is indeed an internal problem for you Earthlings. So I won't interfere."

As it spoke, it politely greeted Patchouli, who gracefully returned the greeting.

“Heh, time is of the essence, so we have no choice but to do this.” Alice shook her head slightly. “Enough with the small talk, what is that puzzle? I think I can still try to solve it.”

Optimus Prime glanced around. Bumblebee and Ironhide immediately understood and each went to a high point in the park to monitor the surroundings. Alice also casually released an electromagnetic pulse, which made Sam, the only ordinary human in the area, feel a tingling sensation all over his body, while eliminating the possibility of any surveillance cameras nearby.

Sam muttered a complaint under his breath, but it was just a complaint—he was actually somewhat afraid of Alice. Unlike ordinary people who only witnessed Alice's killing methods, he had personally experienced the entire process of being brought back to life. And bringing the inanimate to life was clearly much more difficult than killing the living.

The bumblebee hissed twice in a gesture of comfort. And this boy, indeed worthy of being someone who had almost saved the world, took a few deep breaths, and his emotions gradually stabilized.

“The riddle isn’t long, but we can’t understand the meaning hidden behind it,” Optimus Prime said in a deep voice, stretching out his hand and drawing runes on the ground that Alice couldn’t comprehend: “Like this—”

"When the dawn shines on the tip of the dagger, the three kings will open the entrance to the treasure."

"And then?" Alice tilted her head. "That's all?"

That's all.

She took a deep breath and looked very troubled.

Pretending to know nothing is really difficult... My previous mental preparations are almost useless now. She glanced at Patchouli subconsciously, but Patchouli only made her presence known briefly when she greeted her at the beginning. After that, she turned around and walked to the side with her books, showing no intention of helping her at all.

Alice's face had truly turned terrible this time. So terrible that even Tin Man, who had his back to her, could sense it.

She pressed her chest, her fingers squeezing slightly above her heart—a simple technique to lower blood pressure by compressing arteries and slowing blood flow, thus calming herself down in a short time.

"First, let's establish one thing: this puzzle describes a geographical location, and a location from many years ago, right?"

"Yes."

"Okay, so how many years ago exactly?"

"Before your civilization arose, perhaps three thousand years, perhaps four thousand. Or even more distant times... I'm not entirely sure." Optimus Prime shook his head. Cybertron lost much of its data after the war. Even with its unfathomable role as librarian, it couldn't pinpoint the exact year this mystery originated.

“Then let’s say three thousand years. Patchouli, could you please help me look up all the place names related to ‘dagger tip’ from three thousand years ago? I don’t think there should be many.” She turned her head to look at Patchouli.

[Please help! I don't want to handle this alone. This guy has a sharp eye; I feel like he'll see right through me!]

Patchouli glanced at her and opened the huge book of magic.

"Three thousand years ago, there were a total of 1,345 place names related to daggers. Among them, 17 place names had the meaning of 'the tip of a dagger.' They were mostly distributed in the Northern Hemisphere, with the four major cradles of civilization having the most."

Alice felt like she was suffocating.

"You're too knowledgeable! Shouldn't you be cooperating with me right now?!" Alice's eyes clearly conveyed this message.

However, Patchouli only gave her a helpless look—[Warning from the Supreme God.]

So Alice had no choice but to give up. She thought for a moment, then asked, "Seventeen locations... Hmm, not bad, the range has been narrowed down. So what we need to do next is to further select the most likely locations. For example, three kings... I don't think there will be three living kings guiding us at this time, so they should be inanimate objects, inanimate objects with the meaning of kings."

Her tone changed slightly when she mentioned the words 'alive' and 'inanimate'.

And her expectations were not disappointed.

"The pyramids!" Sam suddenly exclaimed. "The pyramids are the tombs of kings, the tombs of dead kings. And they're all about two or three thousand years old! This place must be Egypt!"

“Egypt? That makes sense. Let’s give it a try.” Alice looked at Patchouli. “Patch, is there a place in Egypt called Daggerpoint?”

This time, she quickly got the answer.

"Yes, at 29.5 degrees north latitude and 34.88 degrees east longitude, there is a pyramid located there. It is close to the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, and also very close to Jordan."

Author's Note:

..............................

WPS is self-destructing as usual... Rewriting it feels like I'm sleepwalking.

By the way, yesterday's settlement was 100 monthly tickets, 2 in tips, and 300 blades. That means three new chapters were added, making a total of 14 chapters.

I'll start paying off my debts tomorrow. I'll see if I can finish the Transformers script before the recommendation period ends.

Section 21: What is its value?

From the moment the meeting began… no, to be precise, on the eve of Sam Witwicky's resurrection, when that email containing a wealth of encrypted technological information was sent, the world underwent a profound transformation. This transformation manifested in every subtle aspect of society, impacting every single individual.

Sam Witwicky understands this all too well.

In fact, many things happened before he left the United States with Optimus Prime and his group. First, the secret of his resurrection was discovered by the US authorities, and then an elite special operations team descended from the sky, airdropping directly into the town where he was located. Also arriving were some unidentified armed forces and foreign agents... If it weren't for Optimus Prime's protection, he would probably have become valuable research material.

Because resurrection... this power is far more terrifying than immortality. The anti-aging serums that Alice sent directly to the capitals of various countries via blank missiles were immediately placed under tight protection upon landing. Anyone who dared to ignore the warnings and approach without permission was shot dead on sight—after all, Alice only prohibited wars between nations, and domestic security issues were not within her jurisdiction.

If extending lifespan is so difficult, then resurrection is even more so. In many people's minds, the combination of these two technologies is the cornerstone for creating an immortal realm and allowing civilization as a whole to ascend to new heights. Therefore, the things Sam encountered before leaving the United States are quite predictable.

Even if the leaders of all nations were under Alice's spell and willing to go all out to promote the creation of the unified entity, the inherent distrust of the weak towards the strong would still exist. They certainly wouldn't be foolish enough to directly challenge the authority Alice had established with the lives of tens of thousands and the capitals of three nations. The unified entity would still be formed, the army would still be mobilized, and the production of those futuristic weapons would be accelerated. But beyond that… they wouldn't do nothing.

Sam didn't want to leave the United States voluntarily; he had to. Partly to help Optimus Prime solve the mystery, and partly because… he was unwilling to leave.

Why, despite making such great sacrifices, did we ultimately achieve nothing?

【Wasn't it you, witch, who resurrected me and told me I still had a purpose? Why then did you abandon me and occupy the stage of this world on your own?!】

He was grateful to Alice for giving him a second chance at life. Yet this gratitude was also a curse, oppressing him, nagging at him, constantly whispering in his ear—'Your life is important; you must make it valuable before you die.'

The value of life, what exactly is the value of my life...?

I want to know my worth and exercise it according to my own will... I don't want my value to become currency in other people's hands.

I... don't live just to solve the mystery of an alien. Even if that mystery concerns the entire world... I want to leave behind a trace that is uniquely mine, completely unrelated to Cybertron or the witches.

His obsession was practically written all over his face. Optimus Prime could easily read his mind, but in this situation, he could only offer a few words of encouragement. And after arriving in the city where the witches were, his thoughts were easily seen through again.

...At least he knew he had been seen through.

....................................

"We've arrived." The group reached Egypt around noon the next day. They found the area known as the Tip of the Dagger and saw the enormous pyramid.

The exploration came to a standstill.

“Very well, now we need to deal with something else, the three kings… So let’s find the three pyramids first.” Alice waved her hand, unfurling a map of Egypt made of solid light in the air. All the pyramids in Egypt that could be named were marked on it, with detailed descriptions written in tiny characters.

“Since it’s ‘three kings,’ I think it refers to a whole. So it could be three interconnected pyramids, whose geographical locations, together with the one we’re standing on, form some kind of special symbol. But I really can’t tell the difference directly from the map, so I’ll have to go and investigate in person.”

Alice made a gesture that said, "Please share your opinions."

"Does anyone else have a better strategy?"

“I have no objection. You’re the expert in this area, so I’ll listen to you,” Optimus Prime said in a deep voice, and Ironhide and Bumblebee behind him naturally wouldn’t object either.

Alice nodded. She was preparing to assign exploration teams, trying to stall until dawn so the aliens could discover the secrets of King Three on their own. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Sam's hesitant expression.

“You seem to have something to say.” Alice turned to look at him. “Please speak freely; every bit of wisdom is necessary now.”

“Uh… well… yes, I do have something to say.” Sam paused for a moment, but quickly realized what he was thinking and said, “Could you use your magic, Miss Alice, to ask the dead people in this pyramid? You see, you can bring me back to life… so asking the souls directly shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

He added somewhat hesitantly, "Shouldn't I be special?"

“You are the first person to be resurrected on the American continent in thousands of years. Unfortunately, you are special.” Alice breathed a sigh of relief. “When a person has been dead for too long, their information waves completely dissipate… well, that is, their soul naturally disintegrates. It is impossible to restore them. Even if you managed to resurrect them… you would only be able to create a mere phantom that reflects their instincts.”

She made a series of complex gestures, and a cold wind immediately swept through the pyramid—a blurry figure, but whose outline of clothing and hat could be vaguely discerned, appeared before her.

Sam instinctively took two steps back, almost shouting out loud. Fortunately, he quickly realized that the shadow in front of him was a harmless creation, so he breathed a sigh of relief and carefully approached the shadow.

He tried to wave at the shadow, and the shadow waved back. However, this single wave seemed to have exhausted all of the shadow's strength, and the next moment it disintegrated into gray wind.

“This guy must have been a tourist who died here in an accident a few years ago. Look, he's gone in just a moment. Not to mention the even older dead.” Alice shook her head. “Perhaps those historically famous people can exist intact, but even if such souls are summoned, they are just phantoms constructed from historical images, presenting an image of ‘people's perception of it from ancient times to the present.’ They cannot tell us accurate information.”

“Is that so…” Sam lowered his head somewhat dejectedly. “Sorry, I was just daydreaming.”

“It’s alright, this is a possibility. It’s just that ‘you’ haven’t found a suitable way to verify it.” Alice pointed her finger at the screen. “Then let’s explore in groups. There are six of us here, so let’s pair up and look out for each other. How about we split up and explore separately, like this: Patches and I, Optimus Prime and Ironhide, Sam and Bumblebee?”

“No problem.” The color in Optimus Prime’s blue sensor subtly deepened. “However, I think the formation should be shuffled a bit, so we can get to know each other better later—how about we pair up?”

Alice raised an eyebrow.

“That works too. So it’ll be you and me, Patchouli and…” Her gaze swept over Tinker and Bumblebee.

However, Patchouli's voice interrupted her thoughts the next moment.

“I’m paired with Sam Witwicky.” Patchouli held the grimoire that the Great Library had transformed into, and her gaze toward Alice was unusually firm.

"Are you sure?" Alice tilted her head slightly.

“I’m sure,” Patchouli replied. “He’s a promising talent.”

"...Then let's leave it at that."

Section 22. You are all cut from the same cloth.

This exploration was destined to be futile, so the result was not important; what mattered was the process. To avoid attracting attention, Optimus Prime transformed into a large truck, and Alice cooperated by sitting in the driver's seat and manipulating optical signals to slightly modify her appearance, so that she wouldn't need to avoid pedestrians if they happened to be on the road—although there were hardly any pedestrians in this place.

“Alice Margot Tloyd,” Optimus Prime’s voice rang out in the carriage. “Do you have time?”

"Is something the matter?" Alice replied absentmindedly, her mind preoccupied with Patchouli and how to get Optimus Prime to uncover the secrets of the Three Kingdoms while bypassing the Supreme God. However, the next moment, her fingers involuntarily twitched.

"You and Megatron really look alike."

"...Can I take this as a joke?" Her fingertips subtly wrapped around the puppet's strings. "Although my name is indeed very similar to itss, almost identical, Margot Lloyd is not Megatron."

“I’m not referring to your names. The similarities between you are in other areas,” Optimus Prime’s voice was somewhat deep. He seemed completely unaware of Alice’s subtle hand movements, or perhaps he was pretending not to notice.

"In fact, Megatron and I don't have any deep-seated hatred. Although many people have died in the war between the two factions, I still consider him my brother. Perhaps one of us will die at the hands of the other in future battles. But both Megatron and I know that the bond between us will always remain."

"Because it, like me, is fighting for Cybertron, only our ideologies and methods differ. Both we carry a banner that cannot be lost. Therefore... we will inevitably face each other in life and death. That day will come sooner or later..."

A long sigh came from the truck it had transformed into.

"Cybertron is destroyed. Both I and Megatron are just survivors clinging to life with a bunch of defeated soldiers. Megatron wants the AllSpark because he hopes to use it to repair our damaged homeland. And for this, he can kill any obstacle or rebel. Including his own subordinates, anyone who hinders the restoration of Cybertron will become his mortal enemy."

“But my views are somewhat different from it.”

“I believe that freedom is a right possessed by all intelligent beings in the universe, and we should not arbitrarily deprive them of it. Cybertron has been destroyed, which only proves that our past way of life was wrong. Even if we use the AllSpark to repair our home planet, it will eventually collapse again. Therefore, I want to explore a new path. And the name of this path is harmony.”

“There is no fundamental conflict between Cybertronians and humans, and this planet is large enough to accommodate two civilizations. My idea is to integrate Cybertronians into Earth's civilization, to develop together with humans as pioneers or mentors, and to move forward hand in hand. Megatron's idea is different from mine. He only values ​​Cybertron and ignores the inherent right to survival of other civilizations.”

"So I must stop it. I cannot tolerate the newly born Cybertron going down the same path of self-destruction again, and I do not want other innocent civilizations to be dragged into it and become victims of war... I must stop it."