The hearing lasted nine minutes before the escort captains tried to end it.
Chen had just admitted that Bai Ze ordered him not to throw the trident. A red rune then appeared on every patrol badge in the room.
Xuan Ming’s voice followed.
“Return to the Upper Realm. Destroy the mortal structure if it prevents you.”
Bai Ze removed his badge and set it on the table. “This hearing is not preventing your return. Your weapons are locked because you attacked a work crew.”
The badges flared. Outside, one escort dory broke its grounding cable and rose above the gravel lot. Its crew fired a black beam toward the tower’s occupied deck.
Austin was already moving.
He reached the yard’s main grounding switch and pulled it down. The beam bent in his frame-dragging field, struck the copper conductor, and ran into Sunset Peak instead of the tower. “Rule number one of spark safety,” Austin said. “Always give current an easy path to ground.”
