It was a power utterly unlike that of the Shroud, the pure power of spacetime, awakening within the black hole. That invisible power held the world in its grasp.
Everything was ready.
Construction was complete, and the accelerator was online.
Years earlier, when Cybrex Alpha had still been their only colony, Xi Yan had begun planning the capital.
As expansion continued, the Ring World capital would inevitably fill with buildings. Thus, while constructing the research segment, Xi Yan had also reserved a large tract of land for other buildings they would need in the future.
The Golden Throne had later been built here, as had the newly completed Omega Resonance Device.
Energy from more than a dozen cities was transmitted here to awaken the false singularity at the center of the Omega Resonance Device.
Space trembled like cloth in the wind. At that heart-stopping moment, Cybrex Alpha dimmed, then brightened again. A shadow coiled tightly at its center.
The singularity triggered a violent upheaval, then formed a miniature black hole at the edge of the star system. The Time Worm was there. Space unfolded like a piece of origami.
Throughout the star system, sensors shut down one after another in an unbelievable manner-when the Time Worm arrived, the sensors detected vast quantities of incomprehensible data.
Back home, the citizens of the Empire cheered, basking in the energy the Time Worm brought. They felt its attention turning toward the Empire.
It posed an indescribable question-or rather, we had already begun to realize that every time we saw the Time Worm, this question always confronted us.
"Yes, we will return its love unconditionally."
The Most Holy Emperor's decree flowed through the psionics mind network into the heart of every citizen of the Empire.
"The Time Worm loves us deeply. The Time Worm