On the covered porch of the Timber Lodge, Austin was stabbing at a menu only he could see.
Through his Shade-14 welding goggles, he glared at the blue screen floating in front of his nose.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
“Unforgivable,” Austin growled. “Amateur slop.”
He rapped the cedar rail with his knuckles.
“Who released this build? They put a sun inside the player, locked bloom at maximum, and left no brightness control. You can’t even turn off the lens flare.”
He pointed toward the valley.
“Look at that ridge. The rock and clouds are one white blob. I need welding glass to read a tape measure on my own porch. Step outside without eye protection and you’ll burn your eyes.”
The lodge door creaked open.
“Grand Senior?”
Li Xiaoyao edged onto the porch with both arms wrapped around the doorframe. Even with his Foundation Establishment Stage 3 cultivation, he could not bear the light. Tears soaked the silk sleeves covering his face.
“Grand Senior, is this the ancient fire of creation? Have nine thousand sun gods descended to burn away our sins?”
Austin lowered the menu and turned toward him.
“It’s bad tone mapping, Xiaoyao. Some programmer cranked the exposure because he thought brighter meant better. Now the whole province has a migraine.”
“Tone mapping?” Xiaoyao peeked between two fingers, then shut his eyes again. “Is that a First Epoch seal?”
“It’s a way to keep bright areas from turning solid white. Basic display math.”
Austin crossed to a bench and pulled an olive-green crate from beneath it. Black letters on the side read SOLAR SAFETY EQUIPMENT — ANSI Z87.1.
He opened the brass latches.
Inside, rows of wraparound safety glasses rested in foam. Their black frames held dark green, polarized Shade-5 lenses.
Austin tossed a pair to the boy.
“Put these on before you cook your corneas.”
Xiaoyao caught them by reflex. To Austin, they were four-dollar shop glasses bought in bulk. To the boy, the flexible frames and flawless green lenses looked like divine treasures.
“The Sacred Emerald Lenses of the Void,” he whispered. “Forged so mortals may gaze upon the sun without losing their souls!”
“They’re polarized safety glasses. Hook them over your ears.”
Xiaoyao handled the plastic arms as carefully as dragon bones and put them on.
He blinked.
The world settled into focus. The painful glare vanished. He could see pine needles on a ridge three leagues away and individual grains in the cedar boards.
He looked up. Through the green lenses, the second sun had become a sphere of rolling fire. Loops of plasma curled around its edge, and the silver containment mesh held everything in place.
Then he looked at Austin’s clipboard. He could read the smallest pencil note from twenty paces away.
“These work,” Xiaoyao said. He stayed on his feet and tightened one loose arm behind his ear. “Can I take a pair to the trench crew? They can’t inspect the new bedding if they’re hiding from the light.”
Austin tapped the boy’s frames with his pencil.
“They filter glare and block harmful light. No jade spring. Just optics and proper protective equipment.”
He pointed at the crate.
“Wear them every daylight shift. Construction work doesn’t grant enlightenment to people with eye damage.”
The freight hoist clanked to a stop at the edge of the plaza.
Tie Kuang and Jiang Taixu stumbled off, covering their faces.
“Master Chu!” Tie Kuang bellowed. “The light has claws! My whiskers are burning!”
Jiang walked into the porch rail, caught himself, and clutched his rolled blueprints to his chest. “My spiritual senses are roasting! The trench crews are diving into mud puddles to escape the glare!”
“Quit flopping around and get over here,” Austin called.
They shuffled toward his voice.
“Do you have a spirit ward to protect us?” Jiang asked.
“Better. OSHA compliance.”
Austin pushed the crate toward them.
“Each bin holds two hundred pairs. There are fifteen more in the storeroom. Take them down on the freight lift. Every laborer, apprentice, foreman, and elder wears Shade-5 glasses within twenty minutes, or nobody works.”
Tie Kuang peered between his fingers at the green lenses.
“The legendary Green Jade Soul Spectacles?”
“They’re required eye protection!” Austin said. “We’re working under an unshielded fusion reaction. If anyone reports arc eye or vision damage, I’m shutting down the whole mountain. Move!”
Tie Kuang and Jiang grabbed the bins.
“We shall enforce the Holy Standard of 1910.133 with our blood!”
“Not with blood. With PPE. Put on your own glasses before you fall down the elevator shaft!”
Click. Click.
Both men put on the glasses and gasped.
“I can see,” Jiang whispered. “The wrath of Heaven, subdued by Standard 1910. Praise the Builder.”
“To the trenches!” Tie Kuang roared. “Distribute the Sacred Emerald Lenses!”
Ten minutes later, three thousand workers marched along the terraces in matching orange vests, yellow hard hats, and green glasses. Two months earlier, many of them had been trying to kill each other over sect rivalries. Now they looked like a disciplined construction corps.
Grand Elder Xuan Xiao stood on a spoil pile with his beard tucked into his vest. He stared into the second sun and laughed.
“Brothers and disciples! Through the Sovereign’s Sacred Lenses, the fury of Heaven has become a mild spring morning! Honor Standard 1910! Take up your spades, check your levels, and dig for the glory of the Master Builder!”
“Hoorah!” three thousand voices answered.
Picks and shovels struck granite in a steady rhythm.
From the porch, Austin watched the crews return to work. His site safety rating climbed from fourteen percent to one hundred.
He sat in his cedar rocking chair and opened his inspection pad.
With the immediate hazards under control, he could finally examine the real prize of his Level 50 breakthrough: the new Tier 5 blueprints.