Zhang Bao'er and I followed the line of prisoners out of the power plant, reaching the surface work area with all the energy panels. The first thing we noticed upon stepping outside was the massive Betelgeuse hanging in the sky, its red surface constantly churning from the nuclear fusion within the star. I could clearly see the solar prominences around the star, which were spurting far away into space.

Betelgeuse's boiling surface was akin to a pot of boiling red porridge, a pot of porridge that had brought the surface temperature of the planet to 400 degrees Celsius. The prisoners around us started groaning in suffering from the heat.

"Bao'er, our energy shield will only last us 45 minutes. Let's split up and install the timed cluster bombs. Reconvene here in 35 minutes," I said.

"Alright. On it," said Zhang Bao'er.

We discarded the batteries we were carrying and split up to install the cluster bombs. The surface was filled with over a thousand light panels. I picked three groups of panels to install my bombs. The explosion of each bomb would cover about 10 panels around it.

I noticed that the pedestal...