69novels Chapter 148-Light
Chapter 148-Light
Optimus Prime stood in the center, the restraint field tightening along his arms and shoulders.
A peculiar judge with five faces sits high on the bench.
Death's face looked down at him, while other faces slowly rotated, hidden in the shadows.
The curator stood below the judge's bench, his voice gentle yet clear:
"Witness confirmed."
Rows of recording ports lit up.
"Confirmed by the person being judged."
The restraint area trembled slightly.
"The indictment documents have been confirmed."
The chip in front of the inspector unfolds, revealing layers of ancient records, Ark footage, clues about the source of the spark, controversies surrounding the leadership module, and a statement on the origin of the Quintessons.
Alita and Arcee then entered the witnessing area, and the curator nodded slightly to them.
The sound wave display screen was almost deathly quiet, with only a tiny line of abnormal data flashing repeatedly before being suppressed by more signal noise.
Above the courtroom, the five-faced judge finally spoke again.
"Today, Aquitron will try Optimus Prime for his crimes."
"Criminal charge number one: Rejecting the Creator."
"Second charge: Preventing the descendants of Cybertron from accessing the truth."
"The third charge is establishing personal authority through leadership modules and refusing to accept scrutiny of more ancient origins."
"Fourth charge: Bringing war to the stars and attempting to lead followers to escape the evidence."
Optimus Prime stood in the center, listening to the pre-prepared accusations.
He was utterly exhausted, from Cybertron to the Starsea, from the departure of the AllSpark to the voyage of the Ark, until now he stood in the center of the courtroom on this strange planet.
He always wanted to lead them to a better place.
But now, his companions stand in the witness seat, doubts still lingering; his enemies are also trapped here, Megatron is nowhere to be found; the Quintessons, in the name of their creators, sit high on the judgment seat, about to write the verdict for all of Cybertron.
Optimus Prime has faced many difficulties on many battlefields and at many moments.
But rarely has there been a moment like now, when all explanations have been taken away beforehand.
Pointing vector.
He clung to the name as if it were a beacon of light.
But he didn't know if his name could still get through this entire courtroom, built on false testimony, manipulation, and divine authority.
The five-faced judge's deathly face slowly lowered.
"Optimus Prime".
Do you acknowledge that the Quintessons possess the authority to examine the origins of Cybertron?
Optimus Prime raised his head.
"I don't admit it."
A commotion immediately broke out in the courtroom.
The skeptical face of the five-faced judge shifted: "You still deny the Creator."
Optimus Prime's voice was steady, yet it carried an undeniable weariness: "I deny unproven power."
"You deny the truth."
"I deny that you have the truth to yourself."
The face of death paused for a moment, then his tone remained unchanged:
"Then, the trial will continue."
The curator raised his hand: "Please have the prosecutor read out the first set of evidence."
The chip in front of the inspector began to spin.
Just then, a heavy thud came from the main entrance of the courtroom, as if something had been slammed against the outside of the door.
All sounds stopped instantly. The shark demons turned their heads in unison, the bailiffs moved immediately, and the outer perimeter cordon lit up.
The curator looked up: "What happened?"
As soon as the words were spoken, the entire courtroom's defense system finally shrieked as if forced to wake up, and belated red warning lights lit up from the edge of the door crack.
[Outer layer guard lost contact.]
The passage blockade has failed.
The main entrance to the courtroom was damaged.
Another loud bang.
The heavy courtroom doors were dented inwards, revealing a massive impact mark on the surface. The wreckage of a shark-like guard was embedded in the door, leaving behind large amounts of coolant and fragments of broken armor.
Hot Rod suddenly opened his optical glasses wide: "What—"
Third tone.
The door split open in the middle, a foot stepped on the edge of the crack, and then kicked it down with a thud.
The main door to the courtroom was kicked open.
Various lights flashed wildly from outside the door, and belated alarms and chaotic communications flooded in.
White cooling mist drifted in from the doorway first, carrying the sharp smell of hot metal after it had cooled.
All the machines were looking in that direction.
The first thing they saw was a pair of blue-green optical lenses in the fog.
Bright, clear-headed, and cold as if it had just been tempered in a raging fire.
She stood at the door.
Her deep purple armor was covered in battle marks, with some areas still clinging to partially solidified coolant. The shoulder and back armor was more complete, with higher, sharper lines than before. She was no longer the young machine that always exuded a sense of danger and instability, as if she might break at any moment.
She stood there, her size almost matching that of a medium-sized or large aircraft.
She has many injuries.
Fresh scratches and gunfire burns were visible on her breastplate, shoulders, legs, and waist. White cooling mist seeped out from several gaps, suggesting she had endured a long battle in high temperatures.
A long, sharp sword was attached to the front of her right arm.
The left arm had been integrated into the right arm, forming a longer cannon barrel and blade spine. The once unstable and dangerous longsword cannon weapon was now fully formed, with energy lines shining along the blade, so sharp that it cut through the surrounding air.
He stepped into the courtroom with a single step.
Behind her, there were many shadows, intermittently illuminated by the siren lights.
Before she could even see who they were, she had already raised the cannon.
It directly targets the eccentric judge on the bench.
The curator's expression finally changed: "Stop her!"
The bailiffs simultaneously raised their hands, and the shark demons charged forward.
The vector didn't even spare them a glance; the muzzle of the cannon lit up with a bluish-green light.
Optimus Prime stood in the center, and the whole world suddenly lit up in her color.
The fog, exhaustion, self-doubt, and untenable justifications within his processor—every chain meticulously woven by the Quintesson was severed at this moment by a sharp and clear blade of light.
She really was there.
The vector stood at the entrance of the courtroom, making it even harder for the machine to look away.
She was like a true judgment reaching in from beyond the brink of despair.
Optimus Prime's optical lens lit up, and a certain faith, on the verge of collapse, was held aloft by the very object it had been waiting for.
He didn't speak, nor could he utter a word.
The artillery fire, guided by vectors, has already been unleashed.
A beam of cyan-blue energy pierced through the sky above the courtroom, breaking through the first layer of protective barriers and tearing through the second layer of recording light curtains, heading straight for the five-faced judge.
The face of death is still lingering at the very front.
It was hit head-on by artillery fire.
The enormous face twisted and shattered in the explosion, sending fragments and sparks flying in all directions. The judge's bench shook violently, and the five-faced judge let out an angry, piercing screech as the other faces swirled wildly.
The entire venue was deathly silent, save for the blaring alarms.
The vectoring force was lowered to the slightly heated muzzle, and white cooling mist mixed with gunpowder smoke drifted out from the muzzle.
She raised her optical glasses, looked at the judge's bench, and her voice drowned out all the chaos.
"Chief Justice of Cybertron's Judicial Center, Vector."
She took a step forward.
"We raise reasonable objections to this trial."