A Hand

The group instantly exploded.

Xiao Yan: A black hole?! What is that?

Sun Wukong: Old Sun knows! It's something even light can't escape from! I learned about it from King Kai!

Huang Rong: The Trisolarans can actually create black holes... This is no longer a weapon. It's a natural disaster.

Zhang Sanfeng: This old man once read the Daoist canon. It said, "The Great Dao is like an abyss, swallowing all things." A black hole may be the "Dao Abyss" of the physical world.

White Snake Successor: Senior, do you have a way to deal with black holes? @Immortal

Yang Xuan looked at the mission prompt on the screen.

Just as he was getting sleepy, someone handed him a pillow. He had already been planning to enter Luo Ji's world, but had not found a good reason for it.

Now that a ready-made reason had presented itself, he naturally would not stand on ceremony. It was also the perfect chance to test his divine abilities.

Immortal: This Daoist has already accepted the mission. I will come when the time comes.

After accepting the mission, Yang Xuan left the group chat.

Three days flew by amid tension and anxiety.

Outside the United Nations assembly hall, protests, prayers, and cries from across the world intertwined into a single clamor.

Inside the hall, Luo Ji sat alone in the lounge behind the podium, his eyes closed as he regulated his breathing. Spiritual energy slowly circulated through his body.

The peak of Qi Refinement was still not enough.

Luo Ji knew very well that while Qi Refinement cultivation was already extraordinary among mortals, it was still insignificant before the Trisolaran Civilization, before the "Painter."

Fortunately, he did not need to defeat the Trisolarans. He only needed to stand at the negotiating table and tell them—we were not without the power to strike back.

"Luo Ji."

Shi Qiang's voice came from outside the door, rough and carrying a trace of barely perceptible tension. "It's time."

Luo Ji rose to his feet and opened the lounge door.

Shi Qiang stood outside, his expression complicated.

"Let's go," Luo Ji said.

Shi Qiang nodded and followed behind him toward the assembly hall.

The assembly hall was packed to the brim.

Unlike three days ago, there were several special faces present today—the supreme commanders of various nations' militaries, the heads of intelligence agencies, and several astronauts in spacesuits who had just rushed back from the space station.

Everyone's gaze was fixed on the podium.

Luo Ji stepped onto the stage, stood before the microphone, and swept his gaze around the room.

This time, he offered no opening remarks.

"Trisolaran Civilization, the three days are up. What is your answer?"

Screens across the world lit up simultaneously.

Sophon's words appeared.

"The Trisolaran Civilization has voted."

"Result: 52% to 48%. No consensus has been reached."

Luo Ji's brow furrowed slightly.

"52 to 48? Isn't thought transparent within your Trisolaran Civilization? Why does a vote require consensus?"

"Precisely because thought is transparent, disagreements are harder to bridge. Every individual in the Trisolaran Civilization knows what the other is thinking. Agreement is agreement; disagreement is disagreement. There is no compromise, no middle ground. Therefore, the 48% opposed will not change their stance simply because 52% are in support."

Luo Ji fell silent for a moment.

"So you have no answer?"

"No. We have an answer."

"At the insistence of the 48% opposed, we have decided—not to deploy the 'Painter' for the time being. But this is not a final promise. The Trisolaran Civilization needs to see more evidence proving that the 'existence' behind you is real, proving that it possesses sufficient deterrent power. Otherwise, 48% will become 52%, and opposition will become support."

Luo Ji narrowed his eyes slightly.

"You want me to prove it?"

"It is not you who must prove it. It is Him."

Luo Ji lightly tapped his fingers against the podium.

Of course, he knew who "He" was. Everyone in the group knew.

But the question was, would Immortal Senior be willing to appear at this time, in this place, in this manner?

The moment that thought crossed his mind, the notification sound of a group message rang in his head.

Immortal: Yes.

Luo Ji's heart settled.

Meanwhile, far away in the Kuiper Belt.

"The 'All-Seeing' mounted aboard the 'Painter' has been activated. Its detection range covers the entire Solar System."

The "Painter" floated silently amid countless frozen celestial bodies, its mirror-smooth surface reflecting distant starlight.

The "Painter" was not Trisolaran technology. It was a legacy of civilization the Trisolarans had acquired during their interstellar travels, a weapon left behind by a super-advanced civilization that had long since perished. They had studied it for three hundred years, and now only knew how to activate it.

And once activated, according to the calculations of the computational core, what followed would cause the entire universe to collapse, ultimately returning to nothingness.

This was the final card the Trisolaran Civilization had kept in reserve.

Then, He came.

The detection system of "All-Seeing" captured an anomaly.

Space was twisting within the Kuiper Belt.

The sensors of "All-Seeing" frantically recorded data.

Spatial curvature was changing. Dimensions were folding. An energy never before recorded surged forth from the void.

Its complexity was like that of a two-dimensional creature seeing the three-dimensional world for the first time—all laws of physics were shattered.

It was not any known cosmic force, but an entirely new power that the Trisolaran Civilization could not comprehend at all.

Space split apart, like the surface of a lake struck by a massive boulder, ripples spreading in every direction.

Then came a hand.

A hand reached out from the rift.

Its skin was fair, its fingers slender.

Yet it descended like the falling heavens.

The palm alone was larger than the Trisolarans' greatest stellar-class warship.

When its five fingers spread open, they blotted out the light of dozens of stars in the universe.

The lines in its palm were clearly visible, like galaxies winding and flowing through the cosmos, while crisscrossing stars flickered in and out of sight.

As the hand moved, it gently pinched the perfectly smooth sphere between its fingers, as if plucking a flower.

"Unknown existence"!

The Trisolaran World fell completely silent.

Every individual was so shocked that, at the same instant, none could send out any signal. This was the first time in the history of the Trisolaran Civilization.

"'Painter' has been destroyed."

"Confirmation: the 'existence' is real."

"Threat level... impossible to assess."

"The Trisolaran Civilization accepts the negotiation terms. Convey this immediately."

The Kuiper Belt was empty.

As though it had never existed.

On Earth, in the United Nations assembly hall.

Luo Ji stood on the podium, watching the images on the screen.

The real-time footage projected by the Trisolarans through Sophon showed everything recorded from All-Seeing's perspective: space splitting open, a giant hand extending forth, the "Painter" being taken away.

The final frozen image showed a hand gently grasping the "Painter," and then everything ended.

The assembly hall was silent as a grave.

Shi Qiang's mouth hung open, but he could not utter a single word.

Sai's fingers had stopped trembling—she had passed beyond trembling and entered a nearly numb calm.

Screens across the world lit up simultaneously.

Sophon's new words appeared:

"Confirmed."

"Threat level: impossible to assess."

"The Trisolaran Civilization accepts the negotiation terms."

"The 'Painter' has been... taken away. Human civilization need not fear dimensional strikes."

"Negotiations may begin."

Luo Ji slowly exhaled, the spiritual energy within him circulating steadily.

He looked at those words on the screen, and the corners of his mouth rose slightly.

"Good. Negotiations begin."

His voice was calm, as though everything that had just happened had been within his expectations.

But only he knew that his heart was pounding wildly as well.

Not from fear, but from excitement!

He had imagined how the other party might make an entrance, but when reality arrived before him, it was even more shocking than he had imagined!!

Luo Ji uploaded the video immediately.

Then messages began to scroll wildly through the group chat.

Xiao Yan: Immortal boss! Was that your hand just now?!

Sun Wukong: Old Sun's blood is boiling from watching that! It's even more powerful than the King Kai Fist!

Huang Rong: Senior is truly invincible!

Zhang Sanfeng: Immortal Senior's act cannot be encompassed by the words "divine ability." It was almost the Dao itself...

White Snake Successor: Senior, mighty!!!

Luo Ji: Immortal Senior, thank you. The Trisolarans have agreed to negotiate.

Luo Ji: That hand of yours was more useful than any threat.

Immortal: No need for thanks. Since you have entered this place, you and I are both seekers of the Dao.

Luo Ji: Understood. My deepest thanks.