To many people, that brief instant had felt as long as seventy-odd hours.
Within the Unified Bureau's time-accelerated virtual conference room, the number of online participants began to surge wildly.
In less than five minutes of Present Realm time, over a thousand people had connected simultaneously, with ever more waiting in line.
The moment the initial duty staff received the alert, they were granted temporary authority by the Pioneer Society.
Interfaces for all Present Realm data, archives, materials, and computational resources were connected under the operation of the Great Arcanum.
One second later, when the emergency response team came online, the duty staff's preliminary analysis report had already been completed, and all relevant materials and data had been gathered and handed over.
Two seconds later, the list was drafted. Aside from the main members of the Decision Room, the upper ranks of the Current Realm Defense Department, Ecological Management Bureau, Border Defense Front Control Center, and Rainbow Bridge headquarters were all forcibly summoned into the virtual conference room.
Three seconds later, the Creators of every relevant discipline across the realm—abyssal studies, astronomy, depth studies, spatial studies, infernal ecology, and more—were enveloped by Rainbow Light descending from the heavens.
Five seconds later, the Continuance Institute's authority connected in, taking mandatory control. All participants with authority below Grade A were isolated and reviewed.
Ten seconds later, through the combined efforts of more than sixty investigation teams, a complete report covering the vast majority of possibilities and projections was compiled.
Half a minute later, the Decision Room, the Five Great Lineages, and the Five Powers council members formally connected.
In the dead silence, not even a bird chirped.
Everyone remained silent, lowering their heads to stare at the projection before them—the abyssal tide formed by endless darkness, the Fallen Kingdom rising from the