The dark vacuum of the Outer Spiral Arms was alive with the roaring flames of fifty million plasma torches.
Across twelve designated star systems, colossal golden frames were expanding in perfect geometric harmony.
Master Lu Jian, Elder Mo, and Old Stone-Carver Shi directed the massive fleets like cosmic conductors. Millions of Frost-Star alloy plates were lifted into position by heavy crane-barges, snapping into the interlocking hexagonal frameworks with deep, booming vibrations.
Standing on the central observation deck of the primary flagship, Lin Mo looked down into the core of Sphere One.
The hollow interior of the megastructure was vast beyond human comprehension.
A sphere large enough to swallow an entire solar system hung completely dark, waiting for its stellar heart.
Beside Lin Mo, Chief Fire-Warden Xiao Huo stood in front of the eight-meter-tall Primordial Earth-Fire Cauldron. His hands rested on the glowing copper rim. His young face was illuminated by the dancing scarlet embers inside the belly of the vessel.
“Chairman Lin, the containment magnetic fields are calibrated across all twelve spheres,” Xiao Huo reported, his voice steady and calm. “The geometric conduits are linked. But ordinary stellar plasma will not work here.”
