The irradiated mutants lived in mine tunnels in the mountains, using extremely primitive methods to hide from the outside world.
Their lifespans were very short. Every so often, they would go out and abduct women, partly to satisfy their urges and partly out of instinct, because they wanted to continue their bloodline.
They worked with the old man at the gas station. The irradiated mutants wanted women and bloodshed to satisfy their violent urges, while the old man wanted whatever was left over: cars, credit cards, jewelry, wallets—anything would do!
Each side got what it wanted. They had already committed more than a dozen crimes, and this time they had set their sights on Charlie's family.
One family driving four cars, all of them good cars, with only one man among them—this was an incredibly juicy target! The two sides struck a deal at once: one would provide information, while the other would do the dirty work.
The irradiated mutants could barely contain themselves. When the roadblock failed to work, they decided to use the cover of night and attack directly.
Several irradiated mutants with ulcerated skin and not a single hair on their bodies crept out of the mine tunnels. They had no guns. Their weapons were all rust-covered machetes, axes, and hammers.
The irradiated mutant in the lead stood 1.9 meters tall and moved like a huge bear. His face was covered in deformed tumors. His left eye had been squeezed by one of the growths at birth, leaving only a patch of filthy white visible.
He wore a butcher's leather apron, with an iron hammer in his left hand and a machete in his right, leading the other irradiated mutants as they quietly approached Charlie's campsite from several directions.
Bang! A gunshot rang out in the darkness. Bella's bullet blew off the top of his skull. The vicious irradiated mutant, whose mind held nothing but bloodlust and killing, collapsed into the dirt with disbelief still written across his face.
More gunfire followed. Four members of Charlie's family each had a rifle, and each had a vehicle parked behind them. What kind of formation was this? The irradiated mutants could not understand it. Their companion's death did not frighten them away. Instead, they roared and charged forward, waving machetes and hammers.
One irradiated mutant took a shot from Charlie in the chest. Nuclear radiation had made them somewhat tougher than ordinary people. Unless they were hit directly in the head, they usually still had some strength left. The one Charlie had shot used the last of his strength to hurl the hand axe he was carrying.
He could already imagine Charlie collapsing painfully in a pool of blood. Then, in the very next second, something happened that he could not understand at all.
Jazz reached out and blocked the flying axe for Charlie. It was just an ordinary axe with no magical properties whatsoever, so there was no chance it could cut through an Autobot's armor. The hand axe struck Jazz's arm with nothing more than a light clang.
"What is that?" The irradiated mutants stared as Jazz slowly stood up. Visibility was poor in the darkness, and they had absolutely no idea what they were looking at.
Bang, bang, bang—gunfire continued without pause.
Every irradiated mutant who had attacked Charlie's family died. Even though the Autobots remembered Optimus Prime's order not to harm humans and never joined the fight, the outcome was never in doubt.
The difference in strength was simply too great.
"You dare kill my followers? I'll kill you! Die—!" The howling north wind swept past them, lifting vast amounts of sand and gravel into the air. An angry voice could faintly be heard within the wind.
This obviously belonged to the realm of supernatural power. The four family members and the now-transformed Jazz all looked into the distance and saw a storm made of sand rushing straight toward them.
"Fire!" Jazz opened up first with his energy cannon.
An energy beam as thick as an arm struck the center of the sandstorm. His imaging system showed a faint sign of life there.
But just before the beam connected, the life-form inside the sandstorm somehow shifted to the opposite side of the storm in an unbelievable way.
Jazz found it strange. What the hell was this thing?
"My turn!" Ironhide had the greatest firepower of the Autobots present. He pulled out two oversized, exaggerated-looking guns and unleashed a continuous barrage into the center of the sandstorm.
Ratchet and Bumblebee transformed one after another and opened fire as well.
Charlie's family also fired into the sandstorm.
"Is this a mutant?" Natasha knew Bella had a fairly good relationship with the mutants, so she deliberately asked.
"Probably not. Didn't you hear what he said earlier? This guy is most likely another victim of nuclear radiation."
Bella recognized him at a glance. Wasn't this guy Sandman? One of Spider-Man's archenemies? Had he really debuted this early?
Sandman could move freely through sand. As long as there was still sand around, he could theoretically be called immortal. But that was only a theory, an ideal state. Faced with the Autobots' ferocious firepower, he had no choice but to keep shifting from place to place, terrified that his core might be damaged.
He tried to raise shields of sand for defense, but no matter how strong sand might be, it could not stop gunfire and artillery.
Sandman tried several times before realizing it was useless. The sand shields only left him at a greater disadvantage.
"He's just a small-time nobody. Ironhide, stop hesitating and use the flamethrower!" Bella did not bother showing off her magic because there was simply no need. Sandman's weakness was far too obvious.
The weapon in Ironhide's hands rapidly transformed from an energy cannon into a flamethrower. They already carried fuel inside their bodies, so drawing some out and burning it posed no problem at all.
Ironhide strode forward. Sand had already wrapped around his legs, but he did not budge in the slightest.
Sandman's strength was unquestionably far beyond that of an ordinary human, but trying to overturn a Transformer who weighed several tons with brute force alone? Iron Monger would have something to say about that. It was not easy!
He tried twice and still failed to move Ironhide.
Boom—at close range, the flamethrower began to spray. Ironhide controlled the fuel-to-air mixture, and the flames blasting from the fuel nozzle turned nearly white as the temperature instantly exceeded three thousand degrees.
Sandman tried to flee, but Jazz and Ratchet, who had already analyzed most of his capabilities, stood on either side of him. The weapons in their hands transformed into sonic emitters.
Invisible, intangible sound waves slammed into Sandman's body. He tried to turn into sand and escape, but sound waves seeped through every opening. Against an area-wide attack like this, there was nothing he could do.
Jazz and Ratchet used sonic cannons from both sides to pin Sandman in place, while Ironhide raised the flamethrower and roasted him continuously.
The heat of more than three thousand degrees melted the sand into glass. With his core no longer controlling it, the sand that had been swirling throughout the air fell to the ground, and the mountain valley returned to silence once more.
"You Earthlings sure have a lot of strange people. Does this guy count as an Earthling?" Jazz asked Charlie.
Charlie certainly was not going to leave a powerful enemy alive to threaten his family. He answered solemnly, "He isn't an American citizen. Doesn't look like an Earthling to me either."
Perfect! Jazz was delighted. If Sandman was not an Earthling, then killing him would not violate Optimus Prime's orders. Jazz pulled out his energy cannon again and fired a shot at the now-glass Sandman.