"Jesus Christ!"
"What the hell is that thing?!"
"Rorschach… is this the mechanical lifeform you mentioned? My God!"
When Howard Stark finally arrived at the repair shop and saw the enormous Decepticon body lying on the ground, his entire worldview felt like it had just been smashed apart.
For a long moment, he simply stood there staring.
In this era, the concept of advanced robots was still extremely futuristic. Even among the most forward-thinking scientists, such technology existed only in theory.
And now a six-meter mechanical giant was lying right in front of him.
The psychological shock was impossible to ignore.
Even someone like Howard Stark couldn't stay calm.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who had arrived with him looked even worse. One by one they stood frozen in place, staring like idiots at the giant machine.
Then another thought crossed Stark's mind.
If Rorschach was telling the truth…
Then that enormous robot had just been destroyed by a single person.
Howard Stark felt his heart pounding violently.
How had Rorschach done it?
That thing looked like it could flatten a tank.
Even an entire military unit might struggle to stop something like that.
Both Stark and Peggy Carter had previously wondered whether Rorschach might be some kind of enhanced soldier created using Captain America's serum.
But now Stark was certain.
That wasn't the case.
Even if Captain America himself came back to life, he wouldn't be this powerful.
But then another detail caught Stark's attention.
Where was the head?
The massive body of the robot lay on the ground with one arm missing and the other partially damaged, but its head seemed to be gone.
Stark looked around the scene carefully.
Then he finally found it.
Rorschach was sitting on it.
The robot's head had been placed upside down like a stool, and Rorschach was casually resting on it.
Stark didn't even know how to react.
This was a technological miracle—an unknown mechanical lifeform—and Rorschach was treating it like furniture.
That level of composure was almost unbelievable.
"Rorschach," Stark said after forcing himself to calm down.
He walked over, his face filled with confusion.
"What exactly is going on here? You told me on the phone that this robot was my car."
He shook his head slightly.
"I'm sorry, but I honestly don't understand what you mean."
Cars and giant robots were two completely unrelated concepts.
Connecting them together was extremely difficult.
"It means exactly what it sounds like," Rorschach replied calmly.
He stood up and brushed the dust off his clothes.
"The mechanical lifeform you're looking at is the Cadillac you gave me."
Stark stared at him.
"Let me confirm something," he said slowly. "Are you saying that the Cadillac you drove away earlier… was actually a robot?"
He felt his brain starting to hurt.
The whole idea sounded completely illogical.
First of all, that car had been sitting in his garage for years. It had always behaved like a perfectly normal car.
Second, even if someone somehow built a robot, why would they disguise it as a car?
"Mr. Stark, come take a look at this."
Rorschach led him to the Decepticon's body.
He pointed toward a metal emblem attached to one of the panels.
"See this?"
Stark leaned closer.
Then his eyes widened slightly.
It was unmistakable.
The Cadillac logo.
After noticing that detail, Stark suddenly realized something else.
The entire robot's exterior was painted red.
Exactly the same shade as his Cadillac.
Could it be…
Had Cadillac secretly built this thing?
That thought immediately sounded ridiculous.
"Sir," one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents said as he approached Stark. "We've already questioned the witnesses at the repair shop."
"The mechanics reported that Mr. Rorschach wanted to dismantle the Cadillac."
He gestured toward the massive robot.
"Then the car suddenly transformed into this machine."
The agent's report matched Rorschach's explanation exactly.
Stark fell silent.
The story sounded completely bizarre.
But everyone was saying the same thing.
And Rorschach had no reason to fabricate such a strange lie.
Besides, Stark understood something most ordinary people didn't.
The world contained far more unknown phenomena than people realized.
After thinking for a moment, he decided to accept Rorschach's explanation—at least for now.
"Rorschach," Stark said thoughtfully, "I'm afraid I'll need to borrow a little more of your time."
He looked at him seriously.
"Could you come back to the bureau with me? I have quite a few questions."
"Of course," Rorschach replied without hesitation.
This was exactly what he wanted.
He intended to use the opportunity to reveal some useful information to Stark.
The sooner S.H.I.E.L.D. started investigating, the sooner they might locate the AllSpark.
Before long, Stark had already arranged transportation for the Decepticon's remains.
The enormous pieces of mechanical wreckage were carefully loaded and transported back to the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility.
Rorschach returned there with Stark once again.
Room 218.
Inside the office, Rorschach recounted the entire incident in detail.
From the moment the car transformed to the fight that followed.
Howard Stark listened carefully while recording everything.
Eventually he stopped writing and looked up.
His eyes locked onto Rorschach.
"So," Stark said slowly, "this explains why you insisted on taking that Cadillac, doesn't it?"
Earlier, Stark had assumed Rorschach simply got carried away after seeing an attractive car.
A young man making an impulsive decision.
But now things looked different.
The Cadillac had been in Stark's garage for nearly ten years without any problems.
Yet the moment it ended up in Rorschach's hands, it revealed its true form.
That coincidence was far too suspicious.
"Yes, Mr. Stark," Rorschach admitted calmly.
He had already expected this question.
After all, it was the most obvious logical inconsistency in the entire story.
But he had prepared an explanation in advance.
"When I saw the car in your garage," Rorschach said seriously, "I immediately sensed something unusual about it."
"Unusual?" Stark frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"
"To me, it felt alive," Rorschach said.
He met Stark's gaze directly.
"I could sense a kind of vitality coming from it."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"Even though it looked like a car, I knew it was actually a living being."
"A living being?" Stark rubbed his temples.
"Wait… you mean something alive like animals or plants?"
"Yes," Rorschach said with a firm nod.
"Even though it's a machine, it's still a living organism."
Then he added one final detail.
"It might even have DNA."
Stark finally understood why Rorschach had repeatedly used the term "mechanical lifeform" earlier.
.....
Read the next chapter on my p@treon for free.
Paid members can get more than 60 chapters.
Link: [email protected]/GalaxyWonder