Chapter 15 High Energy Ahead

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Andrey's recruitment fairs featured an interesting phenomenon where rival academies liked to set up booths together; they all took the opportunity of the recruitment fair to strike the first blow against their adversaries. After one finished its pitch, the next would take the stage, keenly promoting their strengths while avoiding weaknesses, pointing out the other's faults before introducing their own improved solutions.

For example, Bunker Construction Spells 1.0 designed to counter Airdrop Spells bombardment and Piercing Airdrop Spell Bombardment 2.0 aimed at Bunker Reinforcement Spells, as well as Obstructive Airdrop Spells and Interference Spells to disrupt bunker spell casting at 3.0.

Andrey did not halt this healthy competition. As technology and equipment were updated, newcomers expanded their horizons and determined their developmental directions. Rival factions accumulated anger and struck hard in combat encounters, with Andrey flourishing brightly.

Ten meters away, a booth had already gathered a crowd.

There were no fancy decorations, just a hastily constructed wooden platform on which a person stood, acting as the lecturer.

The only thing of visual interest was an image frozen in midair, resembling the world map Lyle had seen, with all locations connected by a white massive net—this was a simplified representation of the world and the magic network.

Advanced Magic Research Society.

The person on the platform was clad in a large black robe, with the only visible part of the face being a white mask so featureless it would be lost among the crowd in Andrey.

Yet, there was something peculiar about him.

On his left chest, he wore a black dragon head badge, with a wide-open maw and clearly visible fangs.

And then there were his hands, which, at a glance, appeared just a bit blacker, but upon closer attention, one would notice a visual blur, as if there was a trailing shadow, like they were covered by a transparent cloth.

The man coughed twice.

"Peace be upon you, welcome to the Advanced Magic Research Society, I am Death Star II, and now, I will show you the high magical research achievements of our Death Star sect."

"First, let me explain to you what a star is."

"In the cosmos, stars are relatively fixed celestial bodies, as opposed to planets, such as the Earth we live on, which is a planet."

"Stars have an immense mass..."

Mr. Death Star II's voice was loud enough for all the onlookers to hear. He was patient and very willing to answer questions from newcomers.

The knowledge he shared did not exceed Lyle's understanding, of course, in a general sense.

"Mr. Death Star, are you saying that stars will die?"

"Yes, stars are like massive balls of fire. Although they have ample fuel, they too will one day burn out."

"And what about the Earth, will it also die?"

"Yes, it will also die, although its death will come much later."

"How much later?"

"So long that you'll realize manually blowing up the Earth is actually much faster than waiting for its natural death."

"..."

Scholars, must their words always be so startling!

Cough cough.

Lyle noticed someone coughing twice below the stage, signaling Mr. Death Star to skip this part. He had a black dragon badge on his chest, similar to Mr. Death Star.

"Gentleman, do you recognize that badge?"

"That's the badge of the Salvation Association. It's an organization not tied to any society, mainly aimed at guarding the world."

An organization similar to the United Nations?

"The main reason is our own. The scholars of Andrey, in truth, are out of sync with the era, most of them being solitary figures with strange temperaments. They're not skilled in interpersonal interactions, fully absorbed in technology research, leading to subpar mental states to some degree. The most common symptom is a certain propensity towards self-destruction. When madmen wield knowledge as a weapon, you can imagine the consequences."

"So, the Salvation Association is there to combat these high-IQ madmen?"

"...All geniuses are mad. The black dragon on that badge, Nidhogg from Norse mythology, is the venomous dragon that brought about the collapse of the World Tree. The Salvation Association is actually a place to supervise madmen."

"Because the knowledge they possess is so dangerous that ordinary people can't begin to comprehend the risk of some of their actions."

"Therefore, the headmaster decided to fight fire with fire."

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"Whenever there is a massive academic research application filing, it goes through the Salvation Association for review. Once it's approved, congratulations, you are recognized as a threat to the world, awarded a badge, and assigned a peer of equal standing for mutual oversight. You can't understand my dangerous operations, and I can't understand yours, fostering mutual concern and restraint, and the world is preserved."

Lyle couldn't help but feel this was unreliable. Are you sure this isn't the Destruction Society? It seems like, with one erratic move, this organization could turn into a hopeless Nidhogg, the most terrifying criminal group.

"Relax, I've told you, the participants are the most dangerous lunatics in the world. Have you ever seen autistic children work together in harmony? Sabotaging each other is the norm, and no one wants their future experimental resources consumed by someone else."

"Once Andrey's overall technological level advances, those research areas that are relatively less dangerous will be officially initiated."

Mr. Death Star clapped his hands, "Now, let's move on to the research achievements of the Death Star faction."

He raised his hands, "First, we forge a simulated star of considerable mass."

His palms faced each other across the air, and a stream of black energy surged between them, converging into a sphere at the center like droplets merging. The shadows dispersed, revealing an apple-sized orb emanating purple light floating in Death Star's hands.

"If we adjust the star's timeline to the moment right before its death, just as I've said, the star will mourn its own demise in a particularly spectacular explosion."

The light on the sphere dimmed, but upon reaching the critical point, a reversal occurred, cracks appeared on the sphere, and blinding light burst forth. The sphere expanded at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye, as if it would engulf everything.

Pop!

Mr. Death Star brought his palms together; before the sphere had expanded beyond the breadth of his hands, it collapsed into oblivion.

"Since this spell is quite destructive, I can only verbally describe what happens next. The star continues to expand, devouring everything around it. The star turns red, releasing a massive amount of heat, along with an invisible wave of energy. Anything living within a ten-meter radius will die, and those within ten to a hundred meters will undergo various mutations, with randomness in the mutation traits. The closer the distance, the more severe the mutation. This spell is known as 「Death Star•Red-Hot Grenade」. Its practical use is to set a timer and use magic to map out a trajectory for it to be thrown. As the star expands, it will maintain its gravitational pull, leaving nothing but dust of your opponents if they are not adept in Teleportation Spells."

Holy shit, it's a supernova explosion!

Supernova explosion. As a star ages and cools, the central temperature decreases, thermal energy falls out of balance with its gravity, leading to the matter of the star collapsing inward. When the star's mass is sufficient, it results in a massive explosion. The absolute magnitude of the explosion can exceed a hundred billion times the luminosity of the sun. If the explosion's energy were distributed to the earth's seven billion people, it would be the equivalent of each person's body cells enduring the bombardment of 159 nuclear bombs.

The newcomers around him had no personal understanding of the concept and were dissatisfied with Mr. Death Star's paused demonstration.

Lyle just thought he was insane.

Though he didn't understand how he managed to create a simulated star, there you are, enacting a supernova explosion within your palms, and if things go out of control, even a miniature scale would be enough to take your life. And in the rare chance you somehow survive as a disabled individual, the radiation emitted would be enough to kill all your cells. Of course, the more likely outcome would be death within 0.001 seconds, with the subsequent process merely dealing with corpse destruction.

Moreover, this madman was enacting a supernova explosion right in front of him, nearly costing Lyle his own life as well.

Watching the excitement on the faces of those around him, Lyle patted the cold sweat on his body. Ignorance truly is bliss.

"Of course, I'm aware that the demonstration was quite poor, so as compensation, I'll conduct a full demonstration of the next spell myself. It is safer, and I have coordinated with the Salvation Association; it's been approved for use here."

The newcomers were all hooked, watching Death Star with rapt attention.

Lyle silently prayed.

"This is also the research achievement of Death Star II, and the foregoing Red-Hot Grenade is merely the achievement of a predecessor, so I have a much better understanding and control over this spell."

Skilled workers, safe and reliable.

"Having inherited the knowledge of my predecessors, I've found that as long as the mass of the star is further increased to a certain degree..."

Wait a minute, increasing it more? Are you sure that's safer? Lyle quietly moved towards the back, hoping that if something went awry, he could live one second longer.

Death Star changed the position of his hands, shaping them like claws, facing up and down with his wrists pressed tightly together.

Lyle couldn't help but smile to himself. With that pose, are you going to launch a Kamehameha wave?

A simulated star appeared in his palm.

Lyle had thought a supernova explosion was the limit of his astonishment.

「Death Star•Destructive Death Ray」

A beam of light shot from Death Star's hand. No, it wasn't exactly shooting out—the speed was so fast you couldn't observe the energy's trajectory. You just saw the beam abruptly appear and then vanish just as abruptly.

A trajectory as wide as a water tank extended at a thirty-degree angle beyond the castle walls, and the enclosed newcomer induction became a semi-open-air venue. At the position corresponding to Death Star's palm, at the far end of the horizon, not even the molecules that obstructed it remained.

The crowd was stunned.

Lyle was dumbfounded.

God damn, it's a gamma-ray burst!