The Attack (Two-in-One)

Explosion and Manya rode the Space Elevator down from Star Ring City.

When the elevator reached roughly 150 kilometers above the surface, a black "canopy" came into view.

That black "canopy" was actually the Solar Absorption Layer, designed to absorb as much energy as possible from the sun's radiation.

That energy helped sustain Earth's ecosystem. Solar power alone was not enough, of course. Natural life-bearing planets under the Human Reform League's management were not left entirely to regulate themselves; they were managed through deliberate intervention.

Controlling the weather posed no difficulty. Given enough energy, the Human Reform League could control not just weather, but stars and the universe itself. It had done so before.

Explosion and Manya had seen plenty, yet the power to command an entire planet still left them awestruck.

In their travels across the universe, they had seen creatures under Kami's control destroy planets and civilizations.

But destruction and construction were challenges on entirely different levels.

Destroying an Earth-like Planet would be easy for Explosion and his companions. Building one was another matter. Explosion could not do it.

That was why the black Solar Absorption Layer enveloping Earth struck him so deeply.

The Space Elevator soon descended into the Solar Absorption Layer.

Before long, it stopped at Port 69 in the Canopy Zone. Passengers getting off there were sent out together with their cabins.

Explosion and Manya were among them. As soon as the elevator stopped, their cabin was moved to a dedicated passenger exit area.

Manya stepped out and felt as though she were in a city on the ground. "Whew! They built an entire city in the sky."

Explosion was taking in everything around him as well.

The Canopy Zone lay between 80 and 100 kilometers above sea level and wrapped around Earth's atmosphere. Above