Chapter 728: The Light Band of Dawn's Judgment

At the ninth hour after the warning was issued at the Star Sea Hall, the Alliance produced a full set of temporary measures against high-dimensional energy.

First was the Temporary Response Manual for High-Dimensional Energy.

It clearly states who can touch the contamination and who will die if they touch it.

Those with strong will can withstand brief contact with the contamination, but those with weak will die from even a speck.

What are the symptoms of light contamination? When should one retreat? How to isolate? It's all spelled out clearly—just follow it.

Next is the supporting technology for high-dimensional energy, the willpower detector.

Your willpower strength— the data will give the answer, whether you can go to the front line, whether you can touch the contamination source; if not qualified, touching it means death, so just stay honestly in the rear.

One manual, one set of equipment, thrown into the whole Star Sea, the splashing waves far exceeded imagination.

For a disaster of this level, other civilizations would consider even an emergency study of ten days or half a month to be fast.

But the Alliance, using only nine hours, laid out the full set of plans on the table.

Nine hours, on the cosmic scale, is far too short— not even comparable to a grain of sand, let alone the sand metaphor.

Not even comparable to an atomic nucleus....

And prestige, this thing, has never been mere bluster.

It must be earned with solid, tangible things, accumulated bit by bit.

Thus, more civilizations gained a deeper understanding of the Alliance as a force.

Before, people only saw it as a harbinger of snowstorms, but now it's different—the Alliance's image is gradually shifting to that of a disaster cleanup specialist.

This is a good thing, at least Zhang Jie thinks so.

"Finally...."

Zhang Jie and Yuan let out a sigh of relief, earlier than expected; everything has been sent out now, and they should rest for a while.

Nine hours.

It sounds like just a number, but for those on the Alliance's flagship, these nine hours were literally burning their lives away.

Zhang Jie's dark circles were heavy enough to fall to the ground; on the table sat five energy drinks, the topmost one still emitting a chill.

This time, Zhang Jie pushed his talent to the extreme.

That mess of high-dimensional energy gives others a headache at a glance, but he can lay it out line by line, as easy as eating and drinking.

The core algorithm of the willpower detector was something he thought up by slapping his forehead a few hours earlier; Yuan had been stuck on a key point for several hours, which he casually filled in.

"Genius ProMax"— this innate talent consumes more mental energy than he imagined.

He worked like that, sleepless and relentless, for eight hours, nearly collapsing from exhaustion.

Keeping this ability running almost fried his brain; if not for his broad cerebral capacity, today's CPU would likely have burned out.

Yuan's side was worse— an entire row of light screens lit up, data streams rolling nonstop; a glance at the storage size showed it had reached tens of gigabytes.

Only the worthless catgirl Lan Baoshi loafed about, always lying asleep at Zhang Jie's feet, following him everywhere, yet helping not at all.

He ruffled the cat's head, then Zhang Jie looked at the report in his hand.

Next came the research on contamination— this had to be done by him personally.

High-dimensional retrograde— immune to contamination, able to directly perceive high-dimensional context; what would kill others on contact, he touches as if unharmed.

Testing willpower thresholds, testing contamination resistance— from start to finish, he had to use himself as the test subject.

"You've worked hard."

Yuan handed Zhang Jie a drink. This time, Zhang Jie was still the one holding things up; her role wasn't big.

"I really don't know how your brain grew."

Yuan said jokingly, but Zhang Jie, feeling weak, could only manage a smile worse than a cry; he couldn't help it.

"No way, Professor Yuan—I feel like I'm about to burn up into relics."

"Haha, rest, rest—the situation probably isn't that dire."

Yuan was about to continue speaking when the hatch hissed open.

Xiao Jiu?

Xiao Jiu stood at the door holding a tray, on which lay some delicate food that looked appetizing.

Pilot, Ms. Yuan, you seem not to have eaten in a while.

Just in time—I'm starving to death.

Xiao Jiu put the tray on the table and laid out the items one by one.

In front of Zhang Jie was a large plate of fragrant, roasted worm meat, cut into neat squares, its whole body gleaming with dark‑gold oil, beside it a dish of amber‑colored sauce.

At a glance, it's clearly painstakingly cooked.

This is the leg meat of the golden‑ringed worm, just delivered from the farm.

Xiao Jiu introduced.

The meat is firm; its texture, well, should be like shrimp— springy and sweet, fragrant when roasted, and the worm meat is rich in high‑energy protein, eating it invigorates the spirit.

Zhang Jie picked up a piece and took a big bite; the juices burst in his mouth— indeed like shrimp, incredibly fresh.

Before Yuan lay a cup of azure drink, speckled with fine bubbles, bright and glittering, as if stars swirled within.

This cup is Ms. Yuan's, a nutrient solution extracted from silver algae of an ocean planet.

This cup can substitute for four hours of deep sleep and slightly boost gene‑source activity; it's quite suitable for you.

Yuan lifted that azure liquid and took a big gulp; her spirit visibly improved by a noticeable amount.

Lan Baoshi's portion was a full basin of specially prepared worm‑meat paste, mixed with three star‑region spices; its appearance wasn't great, likely made from scraps.

Lan Baoshi had been sprawled asleep at Zhang Jie's feet, but upon smelling the aroma, her ears twitched, she sprang up, and dove headfirst into the basin of worm‑meat paste.

Eat slowly, no one will snatch it from you.

Mmm‑mmm‑mmm!

Xiao Jiu covered her mouth and laughed hehe, looking quite satisfied with her own masterpiece.

Suddenly, Xiao Jiu seemed to remember something.

Oh, right, the driver.

Earlier, word came from the front line that the Star Sea Hall was preparing to use Dawn Judgment.

"Oh? That fast?"

Zhang Jie raised his eyebrows, what does that mean? It means the speed of that mass of flesh's spread has far exceeded their expectations.

According to the route, that beam of light from Dawn Judgment should pass our way.

At this position, we should be able to see it.

Zhang Jie put down his cup and raised his eyebrows.

"It is said that the radiance of Dawn Judgment is a rare and extraordinary sight."

"Hard to come by, worth seeing."

What are we waiting for?

Yuan smiled; in his era, there was nothing like this.

Although she had also seen things more terrifying, those had nothing to do with wondrous spectacles.

Several people got up and went to the porthole.

Almost at the same moment, in the distant starry sky, a beam of light lit up.

The light beam shot out from the direction of the star, crossed the void, and just skimmed past the front of the Alliance warship.

That was not a meteor.

It was a beam of light purely condensed from energy, its whole body shining with a deep blue glow, like a giant sword descending vertically from the heavens, soundless and traceless, yet carrying enough power to evaporate a star.

Where the light beam passed, it left behind an enduring beautiful sight.

Zhang Jie just stood by the window, quietly watching that beam of light fly past before him.

No clamor, no impurities, it simply spanned the entire starry sky and faded away.

Not bad, not as beautiful as imagined.

Little did they know, this moment was the true prologue of that disaster.