Transformers: Leader's Proof - Fragile, but Hard to Kill

Chapter 19 If you bite them, I'll bite you in return!

The iron-eating beetle stared at Rosa with its big, sparkling eyes. Rosa, holding repair materials, looked at the little creature and suddenly had a strange feeling.

The iron-eating worm also sees Rosa as resembling other "living food," yet somehow different.

It was strange, but the iron-eating beetle instinctively felt that this was not food, because what it saw was "contaminated" metal. Most of the metal was impure, and there was flesh and blood nearby that it could not eat.

Moreover... small animals usually have superhuman senses. This little guy sensed an ominous and eerie aura about Rosa, and it seemed that there was something in her center that would devour her, something far more powerful than her. It was quite certain, absolutely certain, that it would not want to bite Rosa, absolutely not.

A drop of condensate fell from the head of the Iron-Eating Bug, and the bug shrank back towards Raffi.

"Oh, little guy, don't be afraid, Rosa is very friendly." Raffi gently comforted the Iron Eater, thinking that Rosa's size was too big for the Iron Eater and had frightened it.

"It's cute, but... there's something strange about it." Rosa looked at the adorable little creature and wondered to herself, "It's so small, what kind of threat could it possibly pose?"

But soon, Rosa understood what that strange feeling was.

When Laffey brought the little guy to the Autobots, all the Autobots started screaming and nervously huddled in a corner. Bumblebee and Blockboard even raised their guns.

"No, no, no! Rosa! Get out of there!!" the partition shouted. Jack and Miki saw Bumblebee and the partition pointing weapons at Laffey and rushed forward to protect their friend.

"Hey! What's wrong with you guys!" Meiqi and Jack blocked Raffi, and Rosa blocked them as well.

"Iron-eating bugs! Iron-eating bugs!" The partition shouted in panic, eyes wide open. The ambulance also urged Rosa to leave quickly.

"What are Iron-Eating Worms?" Raffi asked, puzzled. The ambulance explained, "The Iron-Eating Worms in your hands are the most dangerous pests on Cybertron."

Jack and Meiqi were incredulous when they heard this, because in their minds, the Iron-Eating Bugs were so small that they couldn't possibly harm such a large Cybertronian. But they were soon proven wrong.

When the iron-eating worms began to dodge bullets and rush to devour the prey, Rosa finally understood what that strange feeling was—a feeling similar to that of a kindred spirit. Although they were absolutely not from the same origin, they inexplicably resonated with each other because they both devoured.

They are "of the same kind".

The iron-eating worm made a crunching sound and first bit off some of the bumblebee's paint. The bumblebee was so frightened that it fell to the ground. It tried to throw away the iron-eating worm in pain, but the worm bit its hand. The bumblebee was in pain again and let go.

It started biting the bumblebee's arm again. The bumblebee was terrified and swatted the iron-eating beetle away. Eventually, the iron-eating beetle fell to the ground and was twisted in the neck by the Rosa Solver. Although it could no longer move its claws, the round ball was still moving its serrated teeth like serrations.

Finally, Laffey smashed him to death with a crowbar and repeatedly whipped his corpse. Jack stopped Laffey and told him to calm down. Once calmed down, Laffey immediately ran to Bumblebee's side to apologize. Fortunately, Bumblebee only suffered superficial injuries.

Then came the devastating news: if an iron-eating worm was found, there could never be only one; the ambulance driver guessed how they got in.

It was something they found in the Arctic; it was a huge iron-eating worm trap.

Using the dim light from its welding tools, the ambulance examined the empty shell they had found. "It was probably originally planned to be launched into space, but unexpectedly, it fell into the frigid Arctic, putting them into a dormant state," the ambulance said.

"Until we thaw it?" Jack replied.

"Now they're awake and ready to feast." Meiqi looked around.

"How many are there?" Raffi looked up at the ambulance with concern.

"Thousands" of ambulances have deformed their welding torches back into their original shape. Now, the land bridge system is malfunctioning, the power is unstable, and all signs indicate that the iron-eating worms have spread.

The Iron-Eating Bugs have even damaged the communication system; now they can't contact Optimus Prime and Arcee, nor can they activate the land bridge. If they aren't driven out, they might even devour the entire base.

"If you ask me, I'd rather just run away," said the person back in the hall, feeling a sense of despair.

“Now is not the time for us to retreat.” The ambulance looked at the electrical system again, emphasizing the seriousness of the situation. “If the land bridge cannot be restored to operation immediately, Optimus Prime and Arcee will freeze to death.”

The three humans also realized they couldn't back down, and Meiqi was dissatisfied with their retreat when they encountered the Iron-Eating Bugs at the partition.

"The partition, you never escape."

"Meiqi, you haven't seen how these bugs ate up all the Autobots, but I have."

The partition reminds me of those terrifying scenes.

"They'll tear you to pieces, inside and out, eating the smallest, most lucrative parts first—the welds, the circuits—until nothing's left! Absolutely nothing!! Even the optical components." Rosa's cleaning fluid slowly dribbled from the corner of her mouth. It sounded delicious—energy and oil... ugh, no. Rosa wiped the drool from her mouth, composed herself, and thought, no, she couldn't think like that.

Hmm, I'm still hungry. After all, killer machines and zombie machines used to do this kind of work, killing worker bees while eating them, enjoying their screams and tasting fresh, sweet oil. Hmm, cough, shut your mind.

Finally, the ambulance repaired the electrical system at the base, with Jack keeping watch, while the other two teams went out to scout other parts of the base.

Just as they were considering what to do about Rosa, Raffi suddenly thought of something.

"Since the Iron-Eating Bugs eat living metal, why don't they eat Rosa?" Raffi immediately thought of the scene when he encountered Rosa while holding the Iron-Eating Bugs, at which time the Iron-Eating Bugs even seemed to shrink back into his arms in fear.

At the time, this incident completely reassured them about the iron-eating worm, because it was even afraid of Rosa. But why...?

"How is this possible?" The partition looked at them in confusion. Suddenly, he seemed to remember when he first saw Raffi holding the Iron-Eating Bug in his arms.

Rosa was also present at the time, and she even stood between them and the Iron-Eating Bug, but the Iron-Eating Bug bypassed Rosa and flew straight towards the Bumblebee.

The others recalled that Rosa had appeared with Laffey at the time, so why didn't the Iron-Eating Beetle bite Rosa, who was closest to them?

The ambulance driver frowned, realizing that things were not so simple. Even if Rosa's metal was brittle, it was still alive. He really needed to determine Rosa's condition.

Everyone looked at Rosa.

Rosa didn't know how to put it. To say that she felt like she was one of them? That was too far-fetched, unbelievable.

Finally, the ambulance driver sighed.

“We’ll talk about this later. First, let’s figure out how to restore the land bridge. As originally planned, Rosa and Jack will stay here, and you two will split into two groups to conduct reconnaissance.”

"Rosa, come and lend a hand."