Three bodies

In the 3th year of the Crisis Year, Trisolaran Fleet is 4.21 light-years away from the solar system
Why does it look so old...

Facing the huge hull of the "Tang" under construction, the first thought that came to Wu Yue's mind was this idea.In fact, he certainly knows that because the aircraft carrier hull adopts the latest vapor-liquid shielded welding process, a large number of harmless stains will be produced on the manganese steel plate, and the effect of the flickering welding arc light will make the ship that is about to be completed The body looks like this in front of him.He tried to imagine the Don's new, stalwart gray paint, but to no avail.

The fourth offshore formation training for the "Tang" has just been completed. During this two-month voyage, Wu Yue and Zhang Beihai standing beside him became two awkward characters.The formation composed of destroyers, submarines, and supply ships is under the command of the commander of the battle group. The "Tang" they will command is still in the construction dock, and the position that the aircraft carrier should have been occupied is filled by the "Zheng He" training ship. Just leave it empty.During this period, Wu Yue often stared at the empty sea on the command ship in a daze. On that piece of water, only the tracks left by the ships in front were intertwined and restless, just like his mood.Can this gap really be filled in the end?He asked himself more than once.

Looking at the "Tang" under construction now, he saw that it was not only old, but it even had a kind of ancient vicissitudes.The "Tang" in front of me seems to be an abandoned ancient giant fortress. The mottled hull is the tall stone wall of the fortress, and the wisps of welding flowers hanging from the dense scaffolding seem to be the plants covering the stone wall... This is not true. It looks like construction, but it looks like archaeology... Wu Yue was afraid that he would think about it, so he turned his attention to Zhang Beihai next to him.

"How is your father's illness?" Wu Yue asked.

Zhang Beihai shook his head lightly, "Not good, let's just maintain it."

"Please take a leave of absence."

"I had already invited him once when he was first hospitalized. Let's talk about the situation now."

Then the two fell silent again, and it was like this every time they talked about their personal lives, and there would definitely be more conversations about work, but there was always a layer of separation between them.

"Beihai, the future work will not be as important as before. Since we have reached this position together, I think we should communicate more." Wu Yue said.

"We should have communicated well before. Since the superior put the two of us together on the 'Tang', it must have considered our previous successful cooperation on the 'Chang'an'."

Zhang Beihai smiled and said that it was still the kind of smile that Wu Yue couldn't understand, but he could be sure that the smile came from the heart. Since he couldn't understand what came from the heart, there was no hope of understanding him. people.Successful cooperation does not mean successful understanding. Of course, Wu Yue himself must be completely transparent in Zhang Beihai's eyes. From the sailors on the ship to him as the captain, Zhang Beihai can always easily see the depths of their hearts. He must be the most competent commissar.Zhang Beihai is also very candid in his work. For the captain, he explained everything in detail.But his inner world has always been a bottomless gray to Wu Yue, he always gives Wu Yue this feeling: just do this, it is the best or most correct way, but this is not what I think.This feeling was only vague at first, and then became more and more obvious.Of course, what Zhang Beihai did was often the best or the most correct, but what he thought, Wu Yue didn't know.Wu Yue has always insisted on such a creed: in the difficult and dangerous position of commanding a warship, two commanders must have a good understanding of each other's way of thinking, so this has always been a knot in Wu Yue's heart.At first, he thought it was Zhang Beihai's defense against him, and felt aggrieved: In the difficult position of destroyer captain, who is more honest and unscheming than himself?What can I do against it?Zhang Beihai's father had been their superior for a short period of time, and Wu Yue once talked with him about his communication with the political commissar.

"As long as the work is done well, why do you have to know his way of thinking?" The general said lightly, and then added intentionally or unintentionally, "Actually, even I don't know."

"Let's take a closer look." Zhang Beihai pointed to the "Tang" number decorated with welding flowers and said. At this moment, their mobile phones rang at the same time, and there was a text message reminding them to get back to the car. Used in the car, it is usually used in emergencies.Wu Yue opened the car door and picked up the phone. The caller was a staff officer from the battle group headquarters.

"Captain Wu, an urgent order from the Fleet Command to you and Political Commissar Zhang: You two report to the General Staff immediately."

"To the General Staff? What about the fifth formation training? Half of the battle group is already at sea, and the rest of the ships will set sail tomorrow to join."

"I don't know about this. The order is very simple. Just this one. Come back and read the details."

The captain and political commissar of the unlaunched aircraft carrier "Tang" looked at each other. After so many years, they had a rare understanding of each other: it seems that the small piece of sea will always be empty.

Fort Greely, Alaska, several flathorn deer strolling leisurely on the snowy field suddenly became alert. They felt the vibration from the ground under the snow.The white hemisphere in front cracked open. That thing had been there a long time ago, like a big half-buried egg. The flathorn deer always felt that that thing didn't belong to this cold world.Smoke and fire first spewed from the cracked egg, and then hatched with a bang as a rising cylinder.After the cylinder was drilled out of the ground, it dragged the flames and rose rapidly. The scorching air blew up the snow all over the sky, and when it fell, it turned into a shower of rain.When the cylinder rose to high altitude, the flathorn deer found that the violent scene that terrified them just now became peaceful. The cylinder disappeared in the sky with a long white trail, as if the snow field below was a big white line From the ball, an invisible giant hand draws a thread from the ball and pulls it into space.

"Damn it! I'm only a few seconds away from aborting the launch for sure!"

Thousands of miles away in Colorado Springs, 300 meters below Cheyenne Mountain, in the NORAD command center, in the NMD system control room, target discriminator Raedel threw the mouse and said.

"I guessed that wasn't the case when the system alert came on," said track monitor Jones, shaking his head.

"What is the system attacking?" General Fitzroy asked. NMD is only part of his new responsibilities, he is not familiar with it, looking at the display screens covering one wall, the general tried to find the intuitive picture that can be seen in NASA's control center: a red line like a lazy Snakes generally move across the world map, and while that line ends up forming a sine wave that's confusing to the uninitiated due to the map's plane shift, at least it feels like something's shooting into space.But there is no such intuitive image here. The curves on each display screen are abstract and messy, meaningless to him, not to mention those rapidly scrolling digital screens.These things can only be understood by these few NMD duty officers who seem to lack enough respect for him.

"General, do you remember that a piece of reflective film was replaced in the integrated module of the International Space Station last year? They lost the old film that was replaced at that time. It's that thing, which unfolds and clumps up under the solar wind."

"This... should be in the target screening database?"

"Yes, this is it." Raeder moved the mouse to bring up a page, and after pushing a bunch of complicated text, data, and tables onto it, an inconspicuous photo was displayed.It may have been taken by a ground-based telescope. There is a silver-white irregularity on a black background. Due to its strong reflective surface, the details cannot be seen clearly.

"Major, since you have screening data, why don't you abort the launch procedure?"

"The target database was originally retrieved and identified by the system automatically, and there was no time for human response, but this part of the data has not been converted from the old system format, so it is not linked to the system identification module." Raeder's words are full of grievances: I Using your hands instead of NMD's supercomputer to retrieve them so quickly is a sign of professional proficiency, but you are questioned by laymen like you.

"General, after the NMD turned its interception direction to space, the software system has not been adjusted yet, and it is ordered to switch to the actual combat operation state." An officer on duty said.

Fitzroy didn't speak anymore, the tick-tock sound in the control room made him very upset now.What he is facing is the first earth defense system established by human beings—only the interception direction of the existing NMD system is shifted from the continents of the earth to space.

"I think everyone should take a photo to commemorate!" Jones suddenly became excited, "This should be the first attack by human beings against a common enemy!"

"Cameras are not allowed here," Raedel said coldly.

"Captain, what nonsense are you talking about?" Fitzroy suddenly became angry, "What the system detected was not an enemy target at all, how could it be the first attack?"

After an awkward silence, someone said: "The interceptor has a nuclear warhead on it."

"150 million tons equivalent, what's the matter?"

"It's getting dark outside now, according to the position of the target, you should be able to see the explosion flash outside!"

"You can watch it on the monitor."

"It's interesting from the outside!" Raeder said.

Jones also became excited and stood up nervously, "General, I... I have already handed over my shift."

"Me too, General." Raeder said, asking for instructions was actually just a courtesy. Fitzroy was a senior coordinator of the Earth Defense Council and had no command relationship with the North American Air Defense Center or NMD.

Fitzroy waved his hand, "I'm not your commander, whatever you want, but let me remind you: we may work together for a long time in the future."

Raider and Jones ascended from the command center to the ground at the fastest speed, passed through the anti-radiation door weighing tens of tons, and came to the top of Cheyenne Mountain.The evening sky was clear, but they failed to see the flash of a nuclear explosion in space.

"It should be there." Jones said, pointing to the sky.

"Maybe we missed it," Raeder said, without looking up, with a sarcastic smile on his face. "Do they really believe that she will unfold again?"

"It shouldn't be possible, it's intelligent enough not to give us a second chance," Jones said.

"Let NMD's eyes look up, there is really nothing on earth that needs to be defended? Even if a terrorist country has become a Buddha immediately, isn't there still ETO[14]? Hmph... the gang in PDC[15] Fang's people obviously want to get something done as soon as possible. Fitzroy is one of them. Now they can claim that the first part of the Earth's defense system has been built, although almost nothing needs to be done on the hardware. The only purpose of the system is to prevent her. The low-dimensional deployment in low-earth orbit space, and the technology required to achieve this goal is even easier than intercepting human missiles, because if the target really appears, the area will be very large...Captain, I call you up In fact, I just wanted to talk about what happened just now. Why are you acting like an ignorant kid? What about the first attack, taking pictures, etc., you made the general unhappy, you know? You still can’t see that he is narrow-minded people?"

"But... am I not complimenting him by saying that?"

"He's one of the most show-offs in the military, so he won't say at a press conference that it was a misjudgment by the system... He'll join them in saying it was a successful exercise, you wait Let's see, it must be like this." Raeder said, sitting on the ground with his buttocks, propping his hands back on the ground, looking up at the sky where stars have appeared, with a longing expression on his face, "Jones, you said she How great it would be if we really unfolded it again and gave us a chance to destroy her!"

"What's the use? It's been confirmed that the follow-ups are constantly reaching the solar system. Who knows how many there are now...I said, why do you always call 'she' instead of 'it' or 'he'?"

Raeder still raised his head, his expression became dreamy, "Yesterday, a Chinese colonel who just came to the center told me that in their language, her name resembles a Japanese woman."

Zhang Yuanchao finished his retirement procedures yesterday and left the chemical plant where he had worked for more than 40 years. In the words of his neighbor Lao Yang, today he will start his second childhood.Lao Yang told him that 60, like 16, is the best age in life. At this age, the burden of being 50 and 80 has been unloaded, and the slowness and pain of [-] and [-] have not yet come. It is time to enjoy life. when.For Lao Zhang, both his son and daughter-in-law have stable jobs. The son got married late, but now Lao Zhang is about to have a grandson. household, so I bought it, and I have lived in it for more than a year now...Thinking about it, everything is really satisfying.But now, Zhang Yuanchao looks out at the city under the clear sky from his window on the eighth floor, but there is no sunshine in his heart, let alone the feeling of a second childhood.Now he had to admit that Lao Yang was right about the state affairs.

Neighbor Yang Jinwen is a retired middle school teacher. He often advises Zhang Yuanchao that if he wants to be happy in his later years, he must learn new things, such as surfing the Internet, even a child can learn it. Why can’t you learn it?He specifically pointed out that the biggest shortcoming of your old Zhang is that you are not interested in anything outside. Your wife can at least wipe away tears in front of those long and sweet TV dramas. As for you, why not watch TV at all.One should be concerned about national and world events, which is part of a fulfilling life.Zhang Yuanchao is also an old Beijinger, but he is not like a Beijinger in this respect. A taxi driver in this city can analyze the situation of the country and the world with great foresight, and he may know the president of the country. name, but it is not clear who the prime minister is.Zhang Yuanchao is proud of this, saying that I am an ordinary person who just lives in a down-to-earth way, and I don't need to care about those irrelevant things. Anyway, it has nothing to do with me, and I have saved a lot of troubles in my life.Like you, Lao Yang, who cares about national affairs, you insist on watching the news broadcast every day, and you are still arguing with others on the Internet about things like national economic policies and international nuclear proliferation trends, and you have never seen the government increase your pension by half a cent because of it.But Yang Jinwen said that your idea is ridiculous, what is it?What do you mean it has nothing to do with you?Let me tell you, Zhang, all major national and world events, every major decision of the country, and every resolution of the United Nations will have a relationship with your life through various direct or indirect channels. Do you think that the US invasion of Venezuela has something to do with it? are you okay?Let me tell you, the long-term impact of this on your pension is more than half a penny.Zhang Yuanchao laughed at Lao Yang's nerdy attitude.But now, he knew that Yang Jinwen was right.

At this time the doorbell rang, and it was Yang Jinwen who came, as if he had just come back from outside, looking very leisurely.Zhang Yuanchao saw him like a traveler in the desert meeting his companions, so he held him tight.

"Oh, I went to find you just now, where did you go?"

"I went to the morning market and saw that your wife is also shopping for vegetables."

"How empty is this upstairs, like a... cemetery."

"It's not a rest day today, it's not like this. Hehe, on the first day of retirement, you feel normal, and you are not a leader. It is even more uncomfortable for them to retire... You will get used to it soon. Let's go, let's Go to the community room first and see what we can do."

"No, no, it's not because of retirement, it's because... how should I put it, the country, hehe, no, the world situation."

Yang Jinwen pointed at Lao Zhang and laughed loudly: "The world situation? Haha, it came from your mouth..."

"Yes, I didn't care about big things before, but this thing in front of me is too big! I never thought that there would be such a big thing!"

"Old Zhang, it's ridiculous to say that, but now I'm on the same level as you, and don't care about those irrelevant things. Believe it or not, I haven't watched the news for half a month. I used to care about big things, It is because human beings can have an influence on these things and can determine their results, but now this matter, no one has the power to recover, so why worry about it."

"You can't help but care about it, people will be gone in 400 years!"

"Hmph, you and I will be gone in more than 40 years."

"Then shall we all die?"

"My views on this aspect are not as strong as yours. I don't think it's okay for my son to marry in the United States but don't want children. As for your Zhang family, can't it last for more than ten generations? Be content."

Zhang Yuanchao stared at Yang Jinwen for a few seconds, then looked at the wall clock, turned on the TV, and the news channel was broadcasting the whole news:
The Associated Press reported: At 29:18 U.S. Eastern Time on the 30th of this month, the U.S. National Strategic Missile Defense System (NMD) successfully conducted a test exercise to destroy Sophons deployed in low-dimensional low-earth orbit. The third test after the interception turned to space, the target was a reflective film discarded from the International Space Station last October.A spokesman for the Planetary Defense Council (PDC) said the interceptor with the nuclear warhead successfully destroyed the target.The area of ​​the target is about [-] square meters, that is to say, the NMD system is sure to destroy it before the three-dimensionally expanded sophons reach a sufficient area to form a reflective mirror that threatens human targets on the ground...

"If you do something meaningless, Sophon won't start..." Yang Jinwen said while taking the remote control from Lao Zhang, "Changing to the sports station, it may be replaying the semi-finals of the European Cup. I was on the sofa last night. fell asleep..."

"Go back to your house and have a look." Zhang Yuanchao grabbed the remote control tightly and didn't give it to him, then read the next news:
The doctor in charge of the treatment of Academician Jia Weibin at the 301 Hospital confirmed that the cause of Academician Jia’s death was a blood tumor, that is, leukemia, and the direct cause of death was massive hemorrhage and organ failure caused by the advanced stage of the disease, and there were no abnormal factors.Jia Weibin, a well-known superconducting expert who had made significant contributions to the field of room-temperature superconducting materials, passed away on the 10th of this month.The statement that Jia Weibin, who appeared later in the society, died of Sophon's attack is purely a rumor.According to another report, a spokesman for the Ministry of Health has confirmed that several other deaths reported as sophon attacks were also caused by routine diseases and accidents.To this end, our reporter interviewed Ding Yi, a famous physicist.

Reporter: What's your opinion on the panic about Sophon in the society?
Ding Yi: This is all due to the lack of common sense in physics.Relevant people from the government and the scientific community have explained and clarified on many official occasions: the sophon is just a microscopic particle. Although it has high intelligence, its effect on the macroscopic world is very limited due to its microscopic scale. The threat is the result of errors and confusion in high-energy physics experiments and surveillance of the Earth world through quantum sensing networks.It is impossible for a sophon in a microcosmic state to kill people, and it is impossible to carry out other offensive actions. If a sophon wants to have a greater effect on the macroscopic world, it can only be carried out in a low-dimensional unfolded state. Even so, this effect is very limited , because sophons from low-dimensional to macro-scale are very fragile.Today, when human beings have established a defense system, it is impossible for it to have this behavior, otherwise it would only provide an excellent opportunity for human beings to eliminate it.In my opinion, the mainstream media should strengthen the popularization of science in this regard to the public, so as to dispel this kind of panic that has no scientific basis.

……

Zhang Yuanchao heard someone barge in without knocking in the living room, shouting "Old Zhang" and "Master Zhang".In fact, Lao Zhang knew who was coming when he heard the hammer-like footsteps on the stairs just now.The one who came in was Miao Fuquan, another neighbor who lived on this floor.This man is a coal boss in Shanxi, and he runs several mines there.Miao Fuquan is a few years younger than Zhang Yuanchao. He has a bigger house elsewhere in Beijing, and here he only accommodates a Sichuan woman who is about the same age as his daughter under his care.When they first moved in, Zhang and Yang’s family didn’t pay much attention to Miao Fuquan, and there was a quarrel because he left things in the corridor, but later found that although Lao Miao was a bit rough, he was still a good person and treated others very warmly. , and settled two troublesome matters for the two of them by negotiating with the property company, and the relationship between the three families gradually became harmonious.Although Miao Fuquan handed over all the business matters to his son, he was still a busy man and didn't spend much time in this "home". Usually, there was only the Sichuan girl in the three-bedroom apartment.

"Old Miao, I haven't seen you for a month, where did you get rich recently?" Yang Jinwen asked.

Miao Fuquan casually picked up a cup, took half a cup of water from the water dispenser and poured it down, wiped his mouth and said, "There is trouble in the mine, go back and take care of it... and make a shitty fortune. Now it’s a time of war, and the government is really trying to do everything, and the methods I used to do are no longer working, and this mine won’t last long.”

"Bitter days are coming." Lao Yang said, without taking his eyes off the football game on TV.

The man had been lying motionless in bed for hours, and the ray of sunlight that came in through the small window in the basement had now become moonlight, a cold ray that cast bright spots on the ground as the only source of light. , everything in the room seemed to be carved out of clammy gray stone in the dark, and the whole room was like a tomb.

The man's real name was never known, and he was later known as Wall Breaker Two.

During this time, Wallbreaker No. [-] reviewed his life, and after confirming that there was nothing missing, he turned his already numb body, reached out and took out the pistol from under the pillow, and slowly brought the muzzle of the gun to his temple.At this time, Tomoko's subtitles appeared in his eyes.

Caption: Don't do this, we need you.

Wallbreaker No. [-]: "Is it the Lord? I have dreamed of your summoning every night for the past year, but it has disappeared recently. I thought I was already a dreamless person, but it seems that I am not."

Caption: This is not a dream, I am talking to you in real time.

Wallbreaker No. [-] (smiling desolately): "Okay, it's all over, there must be no dream over there."

Caption: Need Confirmation?

Wall Breaker No. [-]: "Prove that there is no dream over there?"

Caption: Prove it's really me.

Wallbreaker No. [-]: "Well, tell me something I don't know."

Caption: Your goldfish are all dead.

Wall Breaker No. [-]: "Oh, it's okay, I will meet them soon in a place where there is no darkness."

Caption: Go and see it.In the morning, when you are upset, you throw out the half-smoked cigarette and it falls into the fish tank. The nicotine in the half-cigarette dissolves in water and is fatal to the fish.

Wall Breaker No. [-] opened his eyes suddenly, put down his gun, turned over and got out of bed, the dullness and trance just now were all gone.He fumbled to turn on the desk lamp, then went to look at the fish tank on the small table, and saw five dragon-eyed goldfish floating on the water with their white bellies turned upside down, with half a cigarette floating among them.

Subtitle: Let's make a second confirmation—Evans once sent you an encrypted letter, but the password changed, and he died before he could inform you of the new password, and you have been unable to open that letter.Now I will tell you the password - CAMEL, which is the brand of cigarettes that poisoned your goldfish.

Wallbreaker No. [-] frantically took out his laptop, and while waiting for the computer to start up, he was already in tears, "Lord, my lord, is it really you? Is it really you?" He choked up and said.After the computer was started, he opened the attachment of the email with the special reading program inside ETO, and the password prompt box appeared. After he entered the password, the text was displayed, and he no longer had the heart to read the content carefully. He just knelt there and covered his face and cried. He said: "Lord, it is really you, my Lord..." After calming down a little, he raised his head and said with tears in his eyes, "We have not got the attack on the party attended by the commander, nor the ambush in the Panama Canal." Notice, why did you abandon us?"

Caption: We fear you.

Wall Breaker No. [-]: "Is it because our thinking is opaque? It's not necessary. You must know that the abilities we have that you don't have: deception, tricks, disguise, misleading, etc., are all used to serve you of."

Caption: We don't know if this is true, assuming it is, the fear remains.Your "Bible" mentions an animal called a snake. If a snake crawls up in front of you and tells you that it serves you, will you not be afraid and loathe it?

Wallbreaker No. [-]: "If what it says is true, I can overcome my disgust and fear and accept it."

Caption: It's hard.

Wallbreaker No. [-]: "Of course, I know, you have been bitten by a snake once - after the realization of real-time communication, you have given such detailed answers to our questions, most of the information, such as received The history of the first signal from man, and the construction of the sophon, need not be told to us at all. What we initially took as trust in the Lord now appears to be sentimental. This has always been the case with us. One thing that's hard to understand: Why can't the communication and communication between us happen through the transparent display of our minds, so that we can't selectively conceal the information to be sent?"

Subtitle: This option is also available, but it is not concealed as much as you think.In fact, there are also exchanges and communications in our world that do not rely on the display of thinking, especially in the technological age, but the transparency of thinking has formed our cultural and social habits, which is really difficult for you to understand, just like us Difficult to understand like you guys.

Wall Breaker No. [-]: "I think in your world, there are no deceit and tricks at all."

Subtitle: Yes, but it is very crude compared to yours.For example, in the wars in our world, the opposing sides will also camouflage their own positions, but if the enemy has doubts about the camouflaged area and asks the other side directly, then they will generally get the truth.

Wall Breaker No. [-]: "This is incredible."

Caption: You are just as incredible to us.There is a book on your bookshelf called "A Tale of Three Kingdoms"[16]...

Wall Breaker No. [-]: "You can't possibly understand it."

Subtitles: I also understand a small part of it. Like ordinary people reading a difficult mathematics work, it takes a lot of thinking and full use of imagination to understand a little bit.

Wall Breaker No. [-]: "This book really fully demonstrates the level of human strategic planning."

Subtitle: But we have sophons that can make everything in the human world transparent.

Wall Breaker No. [-]: "Except for human thinking."

Caption: Yes, Sophon cannot see mind.

Wall Breaker No. [-]: "You must know about the Wall Facing Project."

Caption: More than you know, it's about to come to fruition, which is why I'm looking for you.

Wall Breaker No. [-]: "What do you think of the Wall-facing plan?"

Subtitle: It still feels like you saw a snake.

Wallbreaker No. [-]: "But the snake in the Bible helped humans gain wisdom, and the human wall-facing project will build one or several labyrinths that are extremely weird and dangerous to you. We can help you get out of these labyrinths. "

Subtitle: This difference in thinking transparency makes us more determined to eliminate human beings.Please help us destroy human beings, and finally we will destroy you.

Wallbreaker No. [-]: "My lord, there is something wrong with your way of expression. This way of expression is obviously determined by the way of communication that is transparently displayed by your thinking. In our world, even if you express your true thoughts, you must use An appropriate and tactful way, such as what you just said, is consistent with ETO's ideals, but excessively direct expression may offend some of our comrades, and then produce unpredictable consequences. Of course, that kind of appropriate Expressions you may never learn."

Subtitle: It is precisely because of this expression of thought deformation that the exchange of information in human society, especially human literature, is like a labyrinth of twists and turns... As far as I know, ETO is now on the verge of collapse.

Wallbreaker No. [-]: "This is all because of your abandonment of us. Those two blows were fatal. Now, the Salvation faction in ETO has been torn apart, and only the Adventist faction is maintaining the existence of the organization. Obviously you are all I know, but the most fatal blow is spiritual, because of this abandonment, comrades' loyalty to the Lord is being tested, and in order to maintain this loyalty, ETO urgently needs the support of the Lord."

Caption: It is impossible for us to transfer technology to you.

Wallbreaker No. [-]: "That's not necessary, you just need to restore what you did before and convey to us the information Sophon got."

Subtitle: Of course you can, but the first thing ETO needs to do now is to carry out the important mission you just saw, which we sent to Evans before he died, and he gave you the execution order, but due to the password problem You can't finish it.

Only then did Wallbreaker No. [-] remember the letter on the computer that had just been decrypted, and he read it carefully.

Caption: Easy mission, no?
Wallbreaker No. [-]: "It's not too difficult, but is it really important?"

Subtitle: It was very important in the past, but now, due to the plan of facing the wall of human beings, it is extremely important.

Wall Breaker No. [-]: "Why?"

Caption (long pause): Evans knew why, but he obviously didn't tell anyone, he was right, that's lucky, now, we can't tell you why.

Wall Breaker No. [-] (with joy on his face): "My lord, you have learned to hide! This is an improvement!"

Caption: Evans has taught us a lot, but we are still naive about it, at the level of your five-year-olds, in his words.As far as this order he sent you is concerned, there is one trick we can't learn.

Wallbreaker No. [-]: "You mean the request he made—it can't be shown that it was done by ETO, so as not to attract attention. Well, if the goal is important, this request is very natural."

Caption: From our point of view this is a complex ruse.

Wallbreaker No. [-]: "Okay, I will finish it, as Evans asked. Lord, we will prove our loyalty."

In the vast ocean of information on the Internet, there is a remote corner, in this corner, there is also a remote corner, in this corner of the corner, and the corner of the corner, just in the deepest remote corner, That virtual world came to life.

In the cold and eerie dawn, there were no pyramids, no United Nations buildings, no pendulums, only a vast and hard wasteland stretching out like a large piece of cold metal.

King Wen of Zhou came from the sky. He was wearing a tattered robe, wrapped in a dirty animal skin, and carrying a bronze sword. His face was as dirty and wrinkled as the animal skin, but his eyes were very bright. God, eyes reflect the dawn.

"Is anyone there?" he cried. "Is anyone there? Is there anyone..."

King Wen of Zhou's voice was immediately swallowed up by the boundless desert. He yelled for a while, sat on the ground wearily, and accelerated the time. The sun crossed the sky again and again like a pendulum, watching the chaotic day and night turn the world into an empty stage with out-of-control lights.In the passing of time, there is no evolution of vicissitudes of life, only the eternal desert like metal.Three flying stars danced in the depths of space. King Wen of Zhou froze into an icicle in the severe cold, and soon a flying star turned into the sun. His body ignited into a pillar of fire, and just before being completely reduced to ashes, he withdrew with a long sigh.

Thirty army, navy and air force officers stared solemnly at the badge on the crimson curtain. Its main body was a silver star emitting four rays of light, and the four rays of light were in the shape of four sharp swords. There are two characters "August [-]" on both sides, which is the military emblem of the Chinese Space Force.

General Chang Weisi motioned for everyone to sit down, and after putting the military caps on the conference table in front of him, he said: "The formal establishment ceremony of the Space Force will be held tomorrow morning, and the military uniforms, epaulets, and collar badges will not be issued until then." To all of you, but, comrades, we are now part of the same service."

Everyone looked at each other and found that 15 out of [-] people were wearing navy uniforms, [-] people from the air force, and [-] people from the army.When they refocused their attention on Chang Weisi, they tried not to show their confusion.

Chang Weisi smiled slightly and said: "This ratio is very strange, isn't it? Please don't understand the future space fleet based on the current space scale. In the future, the space warship may be larger than the current sea aircraft carrier, and the crew on board will be the same." More. Future space warfare will be based on such a large-tonnage, long-endurance combat platform. This type of warfare is more like naval warfare than air warfare, except that the battlefield changes from two-dimensional naval warfare to three-dimensional space. Therefore, the space military The establishment of the PLA will be based on the navy. I know that before this, it was generally believed that the foundation of the space force was the air force, so the comrades from the navy may not be mentally prepared, and they must adapt as soon as possible.”

"Chief, we really didn't expect that." Zhang Beihai said, and Wu Yue beside him was sitting upright, motionless. Zhang Beihai keenly noticed that something went out in the captain's eyes looking straight ahead.

Chang Weisi nodded, "Actually, don't think about the distance between the navy and space so far. Why is it a spaceship instead of a space plane? Why is it a space fleet instead of a space fleet? In people's minds, space and the ocean Already in touch."

The atmosphere at the venue relaxed a bit, and Chang Weisi went on to say: "Comrades, so far, this new military branch has only 31 members of us. Regarding the future space fleet, what is currently being carried out is basic research work. The research has been in full swing, and the main force is concentrated on the space elevator and the nuclear fusion engine of the large spacecraft... But these are not the work of the Space Force. Our task is to create a theoretical system for space warfare. For this kind of warfare, we The knowledge is zero, so this is an arduous task, and it is also the most basic work, because the construction of the future space fleet is based on this theoretical system. Therefore, the space force at the initial stage is more like an academy of military science. The first task of the comrades here is to form this Academy of Sciences, and in the next step, a large number of scholars and researchers will enter the Space Force.”

Chang Weisi stood up, walked to the military emblem, turned and faced all the commanders and fighters of the Space Force, and said something that they will never forget: "Comrades, the history of the Space Force is very long. According to preliminary estimates, the foundation of each discipline It will take at least 50 years for research, and it will take another century for the key technologies of large-scale space navigation to mature to the practical stage; it will take an optimistic estimate that the space fleet will take another one and a half centuries from the initial construction to the expected scale. That is to say, It takes three centuries for the Space Force to form into a full combat force. Comrades, I think you already know what this means. None of us here will have the opportunity to go into space, let alone see our space in our lifetime. Fleet, not even a believable model of a space battleship. The first generation of space fleet commanders will be produced in two centuries, and two and a half centuries from this time, the Earth fleet will face alien invasion Those who were on the battleship at that time were our tenth generation descendants."

The soldiers fell into a long silence, and the lead-colored road of time slowly unfolded in front of them, hiding in the vast fog of the future in the long stretch.They couldn't see the end of the long road, but they could see flames and blood shining there.The reality that life is short has never tortured them as it does now, and their hearts have flown through the vault of time to join their dozen generations of descendants in the blood and fire of the cold space where the souls of all soldiers meet. place.

As soon as Miao Fuquan came back, he invited Zhang Yuanchao and Yang Jinwen to drink and chat at his house as usual, and the Sichuan girl cooked a table of sumptuous dishes.At the wine table, Zhang Yuanchao talked about going to CCB to withdraw money in the morning.

"Haven't you heard that several banks have trampled people to death, and there are three layers of people in front of the counter!" Miao Fuquan said.

"What about your money?" Zhang Yuanchao asked.

"Take out part of it, and freeze the rest, what can I do?"

"You have more roots than us," Zhang said.

Yang Jinwen said: "It is said in the news that after the panic in the society eases in the future, the government will gradually unfreeze. It may only unfreeze a certain percentage at the beginning, but the situation will always return to normal."

Lao Zhang said: "I hope so... It is a mistake for the government to call this a time of war early on, and it makes people panic. People now think of themselves first, and some of them think about the earth's war of resistance 400 years later." ?”

"The main problem is not this!" Yang Jinwen said. "I have said long ago that China's high savings rate is a big landmine. What's the matter? Are you right? High savings, low social security, and the money deposited in the bank by ordinary people becomes The root of life, if there is any disturbance, of course there will be mass panic."

Lao Zhang asked Yang Jinwen: "What do you mean by wartime economy?"

"This happened so suddenly, I don't think anyone has a complete idea now, and the new economic policy is still being formulated, but one thing is certain: hard times are coming."

"The hard times are nothing. It's not like we have never experienced them at our age. At worst, let's go back to the [-]s." Miao Fuquan said.

"It's just a pity for the child." Zhang Yuanchao drank a glass of wine by himself.

At this time, a burst of headline music made the three people turn to the TV at the same time. This is the sound that people are familiar with now, and it can make everyone stop what they are doing. This is the headline music of important news. This kind of news can break the normal The program broadcast sequence can be interrupted at any time.The three old people still remember that before the 80s, such news often appeared on radio stations and TV, but in the long period of peace and prosperity, this kind of news disappeared.

Important news begins to air:
According to our station's reporter at the United Nations Secretariat: The United Nations spokesperson announced at the just-concluded press conference that a special United Nations General Assembly will be held in the near future to discuss the issue of fugitiveism.The current session of the special session of the UN General Assembly was jointly promoted by the permanent members of the Planetary Defense Council, aiming to reach a consensus on the attitude of the international community on escapism and to formulate corresponding international laws.

Next, let us briefly review the emergence and development of the problem of Escapism.

When the Trisolaran crisis emerged, Escapism emerged. Its main argument is: on the premise that the cutting-edge science of mankind is locked, it is meaningless to plan the defense of the earth and the solar system after four and a half centuries. The height that can be achieved in the next four centuries or so, a more realistic goal should be to build interstellar spacecraft, so that a small part of human beings can escape to outer space, so as to avoid the complete extinction of human civilization.

For the escape destination, there are three options: one, the new world option, that is, to search for a new world where human beings can live among the stars.This is undoubtedly the most ideal goal, but it requires extremely high sailing speed and long voyage. Judging from the technological heights that human beings can achieve in the crisis stage, it is unlikely to be realized.The second is the choice of starship civilization, that is, the fleeing human beings use the spaceship as a permanent residence, so that human civilization can continue in the eternal voyage.This choice faces the same difficulties as the New World choice, but it is more focused on the technology of building a small self-circulating ecosystem. This kind of fully enclosed ecosystem that runs from generation to generation is far beyond the current technological capabilities of human beings.The third is the choice of temporary avoidance. After the Trisolaran civilization has settled in the solar system, the human beings who have fled to outer space actively communicate with the Trisolaran society, wait for and promote the relaxation of its policy on the remaining human beings in outer space, and finally return to the solar system to Smaller scales co-exist with the Trisolaran civilization.Temporary avoidance is considered the most realistic option, but there are too many variables.

Soon after the emergence of Escapism, many media outlets around the world reported that the United States and Russia, two space technology powers, had secretly started their own outer space escape plan.Although both governments immediately and categorically denied the existence of such a plan, it still caused an uproar in the international community and triggered a "technology publicization" movement.At the third special session of the UN General Assembly, many developing countries requested the United States, Russia, Japan, China and the European Union to disclose their technologies and provide all advanced technologies, including aerospace technology, to the international community free of charge, so that all countries and All nations enjoy equal opportunities in the face of the three-body crisis. Advocates of the "technology privatization" movement also cited a precedent: At the beginning of this century, several major European pharmaceutical companies charged high technology patent fees to African countries that produced the most advanced AIDS drugs, which triggered a Facing the serious situation of the rapid spread of AIDS in Africa, under the pressure of strong public opinion, several major pharmaceutical companies announced to give up their patent rights before the trial.In the face of the ultimate crisis that the world is currently facing, it is the unshirkable responsibility of all advanced countries to all mankind to disclose technology. The "publicization of technology" movement has received unanimous responses from developing countries, and even the support of some EU member states, but related proposals were all rejected at the meeting of the United Nations Planetary Defense Council.Afterwards, China and Russia put forward a proposal of "publicization of limited technology" at the Fifth Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, proposing technology publicization among the permanent members of the Planetary Defense Council, which was immediately rejected by the United States and the United Kingdom.The U.S. government stated that any form of technology publicization is unrealistic and a naive idea. Even under the current circumstances, the national security of the United States is still in an important position "second only to the defense of the earth." The failure of the "Limited Technology Publicization" proposal also caused a split among the technological powers, which led to the bankruptcy of the plan to establish the United Earth Fleet.

The impact of the setback of the "communalization of technology" movement has been profound, and it has made people realize that even in the face of the devastating Trisolaran crisis, the unity of mankind is still a distant dream.

The "publicization of technology" movement was triggered by escapism. Only when the international community reaches a consensus on escapism can the gap between developed and developing countries and between developed countries be partially bridged.It is against this background that the current special session of the UN General Assembly will be held soon.

……

"By the way, speaking of this," Miao Fuquan said, "the thing I told you on the phone a few days ago is quite reliable."

"what's up?"

"It's the escape fund."

"Hey, Lao Miao, why do you believe that? You don't seem like a gullible person." Yang Jinwen said disapprovingly.

"No, no," Lao Miao looked at the two of them and lowered his voice, "That young man's name is Shi Xiaoming. I checked his background through various means. His father works in the Earth Defense and Security Department! That man turned out to be a The captain of the anti-terrorist brigade of the bureau, now he is also a figure in the Ministry of Defense and Security, and is responsible for dealing with ETO! I have a phone number here, which belongs to the department he is in, and you can inquire on your own."

Zhang Yuanchao and Yang Jinwen looked at each other, Lao Yang smiled, picked up the wine bottle and poured wine into his glass, "So what if it's true? So what if there is such a thing as a fugitive fund? Can I afford it?"

"That's right, it's for you rich people." Old Zhang said drunkenly.

Yang Jinwen suddenly became excited, "If this is the case, then the country is a bastard! If you want to flee, you have to let the elite of the descendants go. Whoever has money can leave, what the hell is this? Is this kind of escape meaningful? ?”

Miao Fuquan pointed to Yang Jinwen and laughed, "Okay, Lao Yang, what detour did you make, just say let your descendants go away? Look at your son and daughter-in-law, both are Ph. Elites, then most of your grandchildren and great-grandchildren are also elites." He raised his glass and nodded, "But then again, everyone is equal, right? You elites are not gods, why?"

"What do you mean?"

"Spending money to buy things is justified, and after I spend money to buy one for the Miao family, it's even more justified!"

"Can this be bought with money? The mission of the fugitives is to continue human civilization, and they should naturally be the essence of civilization. Bring a bunch of rich people to the universe, hmph, what is it?"

The forced smile on Miao Fuquan's face disappeared, and he pointed at Yang Jinwen with a thick finger and said, "I knew you looked down on me, no matter how rich I am, I'm just a rich man in your eyes. no?"

"What do you think you are?" Yang Jinwen asked through Jiu Jin.

Miao Fuquan slapped the table and stood up, "Yang Jinwen, I don't like your sourness, I..."

Zhang Yuanchao also slammed on the table, the sound was twice as loud as Miao Fuquan's, and two of the three wine glasses fell over, which made the Sichuan girl who was serving the food scream out in fright.Lao Zhang pointed at the two of them one by one and said, "Okay, okay, you are a human elite, and you are a rich man, so I'm left. What the hell am I? A poor worker, I deserve to have no offspring. Isn't it?!" He had the urge to lift the table, but he restrained himself, turned around and left, and Yang Jinwen followed suit.

Wallbreaker No. [-] carefully puts the new goldfish into the fish tank. Like Evans, he likes to be alone, but needs the company of creatures other than humans. He often talks to the goldfish just like talking to the Trisolaran. Both are beings that he hopes will last a long time on Earth.At this time, Tomoko's subtitles appeared on his retina.

Subtitle: I've been working on that "A Tale of Three Kingdoms" lately, and as you say, deceit and subterfuge is an art, like the tattoo on a snake.

Wallbreaker Two: "My lord, you're talking about snakes again."

Caption: The more beautiful the pattern on the snake, the more terrifying it looks as a whole.We didn't care about the escape of humans before, as long as they don't exist in the solar system, but now we have adjusted our plan and decided to stop the escape of humans. It is very dangerous to let enemies with completely opaque minds escape into the universe.

Wall Breaker No. [-]: "Do you have any specific plans?"

Subtitle: The fleet has adjusted its deployment when it reaches the solar system. It will detour from four directions at the Kuiper belt to form a surrounding situation for the solar system.

Wall Breaker No. [-]: "If human beings really want to escape, it will be too late."

Subtitle: That's it, so we need your help, ETO's next mission is to stop or delay the human escape plan.

Wallbreaker No. [-] (with a slight smile): "My lord, in fact, you don't need to worry about this issue at all. A large-scale escape of human beings will not happen."

Subtitle: But even in the current limited space for technological development, it is possible for human beings to create spaceships of generations.

Wall Breaker No. [-]: "The biggest obstacle to escape is not technology."

Subtitle: Is that a dispute between nations?This special session of the UN General Assembly may be able to solve this problem. If not, developed countries are fully capable of pushing forward this plan regardless of the opposition of developing countries.

Wallbreaker No. [-]: "The biggest obstacle to escape is not the dispute between countries."

Caption: What's that?
Wall Breaker No. [-]: "It's a dispute between people, that is, who goes and who stays."

Subtitles: This is not a problem in our opinion.

Wallbreaker No. [-]: "We thought so at first, but now it seems that this is an impossible obstacle to overcome."

Caption: Can you explain?

Wallbreaker No. [-]: "Although you are already familiar with human history, it may still be difficult to understand: who goes and who stays involves the basic values ​​of human beings, which have promoted the progress of human society in the past era, but in this In the face of the ultimate disaster, it is a trap, until now, even the majority of human beings have not realized how deep this trap is, Lord, please believe me, no one can jump out of this trap in the end.”

"Uncle Zhang, you don't need to rush to make a decision. Ask all you need to ask. After all, this money is not a small sum." Shi Xiaoming said to Zhang Yuanchao sincerely.

"The thing to ask is the authenticity of this matter. It was said on TV..."

"Don't worry about what is said on TV. The State Council spokesperson said half a month ago that it was impossible to freeze deposits... Think about it rationally. You are an ordinary person who is still thinking about the continuation of your family's blood. Then the President and Prime Minister How could it be possible not to consider the continuation of the Chinese nation? The United Nations, how could it not be considered for the continuation of mankind? This special session of the UN General Assembly is to determine an international cooperation plan and officially launch the human escape plan. This is an urgent matter ah."

Lao Zhang nodded slowly, "It's the same thing when I think about it, but I always feel that this is a long way away, should I worry about it?"

"Uncle Zhang, this is a misunderstanding, an absolute misunderstanding. Is it very far away? It can't be very far away. Do you think that the escape spacecraft will take three or four hundred years to set off? If so, the Trisolaran fleet will be able to catch up with them very quickly. .”

"Then when will the spaceship be able to go on the road?"

"You're going to have a grandson, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Your grandson will be able to watch the spaceship take off."

"Can he get on the spaceship?!"

"No no, that's impossible, but his grandson can get on the spaceship."

Zhang Yuanchao calculated in his mind, "This is... seven or eighty years."

"It's longer than that. During the war, the government will step up population control. In addition to limiting the number of births, the interval between births will also be lengthened. One generation is calculated as 40 years. In about 120 years, the spacecraft can set off."

"It's fast enough, can the spaceship be built by then?"

"Uncle Zhang, think about what it was like 120 years ago? It was still in the Qing Dynasty. At that time, it took a month to walk from Hangzhou to Beijing, and the emperor had to ride in a sedan chair for several days to get to the Summer Resort! Now, from It takes less than three days to get from the earth to the moon. Technology is developing at an accelerated rate, which means that it will develop faster and faster, and the whole world is devoting all its efforts to research aerospace technology. Spaceships can be built in about 120 years.”

"Space navigation is a very difficult and dangerous thing, right?"

"That's true, but wouldn't the earth be difficult and dangerous at that time? Look at the changes in the current situation. The country uses its main economic power to build a space fleet. The space fleet is not a commodity, and there is no profit for it. People Life can only go from bad to worse, and our population base is so large that it is a problem to have enough to eat. Also, look at the current international situation, developing countries are unable to engage in escape plans, developed countries refuse to share technology, poor countries and Small countries will never give up. Now they are threatening to withdraw from the "Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty", and they may take more extreme actions in the future. Maybe 120 years later, before the arrival of the alien fleet, the earth will already be full of wars In the era of your great-grandson, you still don’t know what kind of life you are living! Besides, the escape spaceship is not what you imagined. It’s a joke if you compare the current Shenzhou spacecraft and the International Space Station with them. Those spaceships are huge , each ship is like a small city, and it is a complete ecological circle, that is to say, it is like a small earth, on which human beings can live without external supply. And the most important thing is hibernation, which can be done now It’s done, the passengers of the spacecraft spend most of their time in hibernation, 100 years feels like a day, and they won’t wake up for a long time until they find a new world, or reach an agreement with the Trisolarans to return to the solar system, which is no better than Is it better to live a hard life on earth?"

Zhang Yuanchao was deep in thought, but didn't speak.

Shi Xiaoming continued: "Of course, let me tell you the truth. As you said, space travel is indeed a difficult and dangerous thing. No one knows what kind of dangers you will encounter in space. In this, to a large extent It is to continue the blood of your Zhang family, if you don't care too much about it..."

Zhang Yuanchao stared at Shi Xiaoming as if he had been stabbed, "Why do you young man talk, how can I not care?"

"No no, Uncle Zhang, listen to me. I didn't mean that. I mean, even if you don't plan to let your descendants escape to outer space on a spaceship, this fund is still worth buying. Once things are sold to the public, the price will skyrocket. There are many rich people, and now there are no other investment channels. It is against the law to store grain. Besides, the richer you are, the more you have to consider the continuation of the family. What do you say? no?"

"Yes, I know that."

"Uncle Zhang, I am really sincere. Right now, the Escape Fund is still in its infancy, and only a small part of it is sold to internal special personnel. It is not easy for me to get the indicators...Anyway, if you think about it, you can do it after you think about it." Give me a call and I'll go through the formalities with you."

After Shi Xiaoming left, Lao Zhang came to the balcony, looked up at the somewhat blurred starry sky in the halo of the city, and said in his heart: My grandchildren, does grandpa really want you to go to that place where it is always night?

King Wen of Zhou trekked on the desert of the Three-Body World again. At this time, a small sun rose to the middle of the sky. The sun didn't have much heat, but it illuminated the desert clearly, and there was still nothing on the desert.

"Is there anyone? Is there anyone? Is there anyone..."

King Zhou Wen's eyes suddenly lit up. He saw a man galloping from the sky on a horse, and recognized the man from a distance as Newton, so he waved desperately at him.Newton quickly came to Zhou Wenwang, reined in the horse, jumped off and quickly straightened the wig.

"What are you yelling about? Who built this ghost place again?" Newton asked, waving his finger between the sky and the earth.

King Wen of Zhou did not answer his words, but took his hand and said eagerly: "Comrade, my comrade, let me tell you, the Lord has not abandoned us, or there is a reason for him to abandon us. He will need us in the future. it……"

"I know, Sophon also sent me a message." Newton said impatiently, shaking off King Zhou Wen's hand.

"So, the Lord sent messages to many comrades at the same time. This is very good, and the connection between the organization and the Lord will no longer be monopolized."

"Does the organization still exist?" Newton asked, wiping his sweat with a white handkerchief.

"Of course it exists. After this global strike, the Salvation faction completely disintegrated, and the Survivor faction split off and developed into an independent force. Now, there are only Advent faction in the organization."

"This strike cleanses the organization, which is a good thing."

"Since you can come here, you must be an Adventist, but you seem to know nothing, are you a retail investor?"

"I have only one line of contact with a comrade who told me nothing but this URL. I managed to escape with great difficulty during the last terrible global strike."

"Your ability to escape for your life was demonstrated in the era of Qin Shihuang."

Newton looked around, "Is it safe here?"

"Of course, being at the bottom of a multi-level maze, it's almost impossible to detect, and even if they do break in, it's impossible to trace the location of users. After that crackdown, the various branches of the organization were isolated for safety , there is little contact with each other, we need a place to meet, and a buffer zone for new members of the organization, this place is safer than the real world."

"Have you noticed that the outside attack on the organization seems to have relaxed a lot?"

"They are smart enough to know that the organization is the only source of master intelligence information and the only chance, albeit a small one, of technology that the master may transfer to the organization. For this reason, they keep the organization in existence at a certain scale Go down, but I think they'll regret it."

"The Lord is not so shrewd. It doesn't even understand the ability to be shrewd."

"So it needs us, the organization has the value of existence, and all comrades should know this as soon as possible."

Newton got on his horse, "Okay, I'm leaving, I have to make sure that this place is really safe before I can stay for a long time."

"I assure you it's absolutely safe here."

"If this is the case, more comrades will come to the party next time. Goodbye." Newton said, and rode away. When the sound of horseshoes gradually disappeared, the little sun in the sky suddenly turned into a flying star. The world is shrouded in darkness.

Luo Ji lay softly on the bed, watching her who had just showered and was getting dressed with sleepy eyes.The sun had risen by this time, lighting up the curtains so brightly that she looked like a graceful silhouette reflected in the curtains.It's really like a scene in an old black and white movie, which one he forgot, and what he needs to remember most now is her name.Really, what's her name?Don't worry, think about the surname first: if her surname is Zhang, it will be Shan; surname Chen?That should be Jingjing... No, these are from the past. He wanted to see the cell phone still in his pocket, but the clothes were thrown on the carpet. Besides, her name was not on the cell phone. They knew each other too shortly. The number has not been entered yet.The most important thing now is not to accidentally ask out like I did once, the consequences will be absolutely disastrous.So he turned his eyes to the TV. She had already turned it on, but there was no sound. The image was of the United Nations Security Council, with a big round table... Oh, it’s not called the Security Council anymore, and he couldn’t remember the new name. It was so decadent.

"Turn up your voice," he said, not being affectionate by nicknames, but that's all right now.

"You seem to really care." She didn't do as he said, and sat down to comb her hair.

Luo Ji reached out to get a lighter and a cigarette from the bedside table, lit them up and smoked, and at the same time stretched out his bare feet from under the towel, moving his thumbs comfortably.

"Look at your virtue, you're considered a scholar?" She looked at his feet that kept moving their toes in the mirror and said.

"Young scholar." He added, "I haven't made any achievements until now. That's because I don't bother to work hard. In fact, I am full of inspiration. Sometimes I just turn my head around and it's better than some people who spend their entire lives in poverty...you Believe it or not, I was almost famous for a while."

"Because of your subculture?"

"No no, that's another project I'm working on at the same time, because I created the sociology of the universe."

"what?"

"It's the sociology of aliens."

"Tch..." She threw down the comb and began to apply makeup.

"Don't you know that scholars are becoming stars? I almost became a star scholar."

"The study of aliens is now a rotten street."

"That was after all this shit happened," Luo Ji said, pointing to the silent TV, which still had the big round table with a circle of people sitting on it. The news had been going on for a long time, maybe it was a live broadcast? "Before that, scholars didn't study aliens. They turned over old papers and became stars one by one. But then, the public got tired of this gang of subcultural necrophilia, and here I am!" He stretched his naked body toward the ceiling. Arms, "cosmic sociology, aliens, and many kinds of aliens, their types are more than the number of people on earth, tens of billions! The producers of Baijia Forum have talked with me about making programs and then this happened, and then..." He raised one hand in a gesture of all that, and sighed.

She didn't listen to him carefully, but watched the subtitles scrolling on the TV: "'What do you mean by 'For Escapism, we will reserve all possible options...'?"

"Who said that?"

"It seems to be Garnov."

"He said that those who want to escape should be dealt with as ruthlessly as ETO. Whoever built Noah's Ark will be shot down with missiles."

"It's a bit of a loss."

"NO, this is a really wise decision. I thought about it a long time ago. Anyway, even if it is not like this, no one will be able to fly away in the end...Have you read a novel called "Floating City"?"

"No, very old?"

"Yes, I watched it when I was a child. I always remember a scene: when the whole city was about to sink into the sea, a group of people searched and seized life buoys from house to house, and destroyed them together. What impressed me the most was a little girl who led those people to the door of a house and said excitedly that they still have it!"

"You're the kind of trash that's used to seeing society as trash."

"Nonsense, you see that the basic axiom of economics is the mercenary of human beings. Without this premise, the entire economics will collapse; the basic setting of sociology has not yet been determined, but it may be darker than economics. The truth is always dusty …It’s okay for a few people to fly away, but if we knew this earlier, why did we do it in the first place?”

"What in the first place?"

"Why was it the Renaissance? Why was it the Magna Carta? And why was it the French Revolution? If people were always divided into different classes and fixed with iron laws, then no one would have a second choice if they should go or stay. For example If this happened in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, I would definitely go and you stay, but it can't be done now."

"I'm glad you're flying now!"

This is the truth, they have really reached the stage of getting rid of each other, and every time before, Luo Ji can let those former women enter this stage at the same time as him, neither sooner nor later.He was very proud of his ability to grasp the rhythm, especially this time, after only knowing her for a week, the separation operation went so smoothly, as beautifully as a rocket throwing off its booster.

"Hey, it's not my idea to create cosmic sociology. Do you want to know who suggested it? I'm only telling you one person. Don't be intimidated." Luo Ji wanted to return to the topic just now.

"Forget it, there are not many words I can believe in your words, except for one."

"Then...forget it...which sentence?"

"Get up quickly, I'm hungry." She threw his clothes on the carpet on the bed.

They had breakfast in the big dining room of the hotel. Most of the people on the surrounding tables looked serious, and they could hear a few words from time to time. Luo Ji didn't want to hear them, but he was like a candle lit in a summer night. Little bug, keep drilling into his mind: Escapism, publicization of technology, ETO, wartime economic transformation, equatorial point[17] charter amendment[18], PDC[19], primary security and defense circle near the ground [20], independent integration method [21]...

"How did this era become so boring?" Luo Ji said dejectedly, throwing down the knife and fork that was cutting the fried egg.

She nodded, "Agreed. Yesterday I saw a question on the Happy Dictionary program, Jusha: Pay attention to answer quickly—" She pointed at Luo Ji with a fork, imitating the hostess, "120 years before the end , is your No.13 generation, right or wrong?!"

Luo Ji picked up the knife and fork again, and shook his head, "None of my generations." He prayed, "Our great family will be extinct here."

She snorted silently through her nose, "Didn't you ask me which sentence I only believe in you? Just this sentence, you said it before, you really are this kind of person."

Is that why you're leaving me?Luo Ji didn't ask this question out of his mouth, for fear that it might spoil the matter.But she seemed to see more or less what he was thinking, and said:
"Me too. It's always annoying to see something of yourself in other people."

"Especially with the opposite sex." Luo Ji nodded.

"But if you don't have to find a reason, it's still a responsible thing to do."

"What method? No children? Of course!" Luo Ji pointed with a fork at the people at the next table who were talking about the great transformation of the economy, "Do you know what life their descendants will live? In the shipyard—the factory where spaceships are made— — working hard all day, then queuing at the communal cafeteria, holding the lunch box amidst the growling of the stomach, waiting for the rationed spoonful of porridge... grow up, Uncle Sam, oh no, the earth needs you , enlist with honor."

"The doomsday generation will always be better."

"That's the doomsday for the elderly, but think about it, it's miserable... Besides, the last generation of grandparents may not have enough to eat. But this vision can't be realized. Looking at the current vigor of the people of the earth, it may take If you resist to the end, then you really don’t know how to die.”

After the meal, they walked out of the hotel and came to the embrace of the morning sun. The fresh air with a faint sweet smell was very intoxicating.

"I have to learn how to live quickly. If I can't learn it now, it will be too unfortunate." Luo Ji said, looking at the passing traffic.

"Haven't we all learned that?" she said, looking for a taxi.

"Then..." Luo Ji looked at her questioningly. It seemed that there was no need to retrieve her name.

"Goodbye." She nodded to him, and they shook hands and kissed briefly.

"Maybe we'll meet again." Luo Ji said, regretting it soon after. So far everything is fine, don't let anything happen again, but his worries are unnecessary.

"I don't think there will be." She said, turning quickly, and the small bag on her shoulder flew up.Afterwards, Luo Ji recalled this detail many times and determined that she did not do it on purpose.The way she carried that LV bag was very special, and she had seen her swinging the small bag many times before when she turned around, but this time, the bag was coming straight at his face, and he wanted to take a small step back to avoid it, but tripped over the tight Clinging to a fire hydrant behind his calf, he fell on his back.

The fall saved his life.

At the same time, there was such a scene on the street in front of us: two cars collided head-on, and the loud noise did not fall. In order to avoid the colliding car, a POLO behind made an emergency turn and rushed towards the place where the two were standing at high speed. !At this moment, Luo Ji's trip turned into a quick and successful dodge, only to be caught by a flying foot by the bumper of the POLO, and his whole body was turned ninety degrees on the ground, facing At the rear of the car, he didn't hear the muffled sound of another collision, but saw her body flying over the roof of the car and falling behind the car, like a rag doll without bones.There was a trail of blood on the ground where she rolled, shaped like a meaningful symbol. Looking at this blood symbol, Luo Ji remembered her name in an instant.

Zhang Yuanchao's daughter-in-law is about to give birth and has already entered the delivery room. The whole family is nervously waiting in the delivery room. There is a TV playing a video about maternal and child health care.Zhang Yuanchao feels that all this has a warm and human touch that he did not feel before. This kind of warmth left over from the golden age that has just passed is being eroded by the increasingly severe crisis era.

Yang Jinwen walked in. When Zhang Yuanchao saw him for the first time, he thought that this person was taking this opportunity to repair his relationship with him, but he soon knew from his expression that it was not the case.Yang Jinwen walked out of the waiting room without saying hello to Zhang Yuanchao and came to the corridor of the hospital.

"Did you really buy the escape fund?" Yang Jinwen asked.

Zhang Yuanchao turned his head and ignored him, the meaning was very clear: what does this have to do with you?

"Let's take a look, today's." Yang Jinwen said, handing a newspaper in his hand to Zhang Yuanchao, who just saw the headline on the front page, and his eyes went dark——

"Special UN General Assembly Adopts Resolution 117 Declaring Escapism Illegal"

Zhang Yuanchao then took a closer look at the following content:
This special session of the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution with an overwhelming majority, declaring that fugitiveism violates international law. The resolution condemned in harsh terms the division and turmoil caused by fugitiveism in human society, and considered fugitiveism to be equivalent to crimes against humanity in international law.The resolution calls on member states to legislate as soon as possible to resolutely curb escapeism.

In his speech, the Chinese representative reaffirmed the Chinese government's position on escapism and expressed the Chinese government's firm support for UN Resolution 117.He conveyed the promise of the Chinese government: to establish and improve relevant laws as soon as possible, and to take effective measures to curb the spread of escapeism.He finally said: We must cherish the unity and solidarity of the international community in times of crisis, and adhere to the norms recognized by the international community that all human beings have an equal right to survival. The earth is the common home of mankind, and we must not abandon her.

……

"This...why?" Lao Zhang looked at Yang Jinwen and said blankly.

"Isn't this clear? You only need to think about it carefully. Escape from the universe is impossible. The key is who goes and who stays? This is not a general inequality. This is a question of the right to life. No matter who goes, Whether the elite, the rich, or ordinary people, as long as some leave and some stay, it means the collapse of the most basic human values ​​and moral bottom line! The concept of human rights and equality has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the unfairness of the right to life is The biggest injustice is that the people and countries left behind will never be able to watch others go to the road of life and wait for their own death. The confrontation between the two parties will become more and more extreme. In the end, the world will only be in chaos, and no one will be able to leave! The United Nations This decision is very wise... I said, Lao Zhang, how much did you spend?"

Zhang Yuanchao quickly took out his mobile phone and called Shi Xiaoming, but the phone was turned off.Lao Zhang's legs softened and he slid against the wall and sat on the ground. He spent 40 yuan.

"Hurry up and call the police! Fortunately, the kid surnamed Shi doesn't know that Lao Miao has already found out his father's work unit, so this liar will definitely not be able to escape."

Zhang Yuanchao just sat there sighing and shaking his head, "You can find people, but you may not be able to get the money back. How can I explain this to my family?"

There was a cry, and the nurse shouted: "Number 19, boy!" Zhang Yuanchao jumped up and ran to the waiting room. At this moment, everything else was insignificant.

Also during the 30 minutes that Lao Zhang was waiting, about 10000 babies were born on the earth. If their cries come together, it must be a magnificent chorus.Behind them, the golden age has just ended; ahead of them, the difficult years of mankind are slowly unfolding.

Luo Ji only knew that the small room he was locked in was a basement, a very deep basement, and in the elevator leading here (it was an old-fashioned elevator that is very rare nowadays, operated by a human being by pulling a handle), he felt It kept going down, and the outdated mechanical floor number display also confirmed his judgment. The elevator stopped at the -10 floor, the tenth floor underground? !He looked at the room again. There was a single bed, some simple daily necessities, and a very old small wooden desk. It looked like a duty room or something, not like a prisoner.Obviously no one has been here for a long time. Although the bedding on the bed is new, everything else is covered with dust, and there is a damp musty smell.

The door of the small room opened, and a stout middle-aged man walked in. He nodded at Luo Ji, his face showing obvious fatigue. "Professor Luo, I'm here to accompany you, but you just came in, so you won't be bored."

The word "come in" sounded so harsh to Luo Ji, why didn't he come down?Luo Ji's heart sank. His guess was confirmed. Although the people who brought him here were very polite, he was still arrested.

"Are you a policeman?"

"I used to be, right? My name is Shi Qiang." The visitor nodded again, sat on the edge of the bed and took out a pack of cigarettes.Luo Ji felt that the smoke would not disperse in this confined place, but he dared not say so.Shi Qiang seemed to see what he was thinking, and looked around, "There should be an exhaust fan." As he spoke, he pulled a wire by the door, and a fan buzzed somewhere.This kind of pull switch is rare now, and Luo Ji also noticed that there was a red telephone that was obviously out of use for a long time in the corner. It was covered with dust and was of the rotary dial type.Shi Qiang handed Luo Ji a cigarette, but Luo Ji hesitated and took it.

After they lit up their cigarettes, Shi Qiang said, "It's still early, let's chat?"

"Ask." Luo Ji bowed his head and exhaled a puff of smoke.

"Ask what?" Shi Qiang asked Luo Ji with a strange look.

Luo Ji jumped up from the bed, and threw away the cigarette he had only smoked. "How can you doubt me? It was clearly a traffic accident! First, two cars collided, and the car behind drove away to avoid it." She bumped into it! It's a very obvious thing." Luo Ji spread his hands, looking helpless.

Shi Qiang looked up at him, his sleepy eyes suddenly sparkled, and there was an invisible murderous look hidden in those always smiling eyes, sophisticated and sharp, which made Luo Ji panic. "I didn't mention this. You mentioned it first. That's fine. The higher-ups don't want me to say more about the situation. I don't know more. I was worried that we had nothing to talk about. Come on, sit down." sit."

Luo Ji didn't sit down, but stood in front of Shi Qiang and continued, "I've only known her for a week, in the bar next to the school. Before the accident, I couldn't even remember her name. You said there is a relationship between us?" What made you think in that direction?"

"I can't even remember her name? No wonder you don't care about her death at all. It's similar to another genius I've seen. Hehe, Professor Luo's life is really colorful. He knows a girl every once in a while, and her grades are not bad. Not low."

"Is this illegal?"

"Of course not, I'm just envious. I have a principle in my work: never make moral judgments. The masters I have to deal with are all the purest in color. If I tell their mother-in-law: Look, you have done it What is it? Are you worthy of the society and your parents... why don't you give him a slap."

"Look, you took the initiative to mention this matter just now, and now you said that you might kill her. We're just chatting casually. Why are you rushing to shake things off? It looks like a young master."

Luo Ji stared at Shi Qiang for a while, and for a moment he heard only the whimpering of the exhaust fan. He suddenly smiled strangely, and then took out a cigarette.

Shi Qiang said: "Brother Luo, oh, it should be Brother Luo, we are actually destined: in the case I handled, there were sixteen death row inmates, and nine of them were sent by me."

Luo Ji handed Shi Qiang a cigarette, "I won't let you deliver it. Well, please inform my lawyer."

"Okay! Brother Luo!" Shi Qiang patted Luo Ji's shoulder excitedly, "It's easy to hold and put down, it's the one I like!" Then he supported Luo Ji's shoulder and moved closer to him, blowing a cigarette Say, "Hey man, anything can happen to you, but what you met is too... I actually want to help you, know the joke: On the way to the execution ground, the condemned prisoner complained that it was raining, The executioner said that you have nothing to complain about, we have to come back! This is the mentality you and I should have in the following process. Well, it’s still early before the road, so let’s make do with it and sleep for a while.”

"On the road?" Luo Ji looked at Shi Qiang again.

At this time, there was a knock on the door, and a young man with sharp eyes came in, put a large bag in his hand on the ground and said, "Captain Shi, it's ahead of schedule, let's go now."

Zhang Beihai gently pushed open the door of his father's ward. His father on the bed looked better than he had imagined. He was half lying and half sitting on the pillow. A person who has reached the end of his life.Zhang Beihai hung his military cap on the coat rack by the door, walked to his father's bed and sat down. He didn't ask about his condition, because his father would answer him honestly as a soldier, and he didn't want to hear the real answer.

"Dad, I joined the Space Force."

Father nodded but did not speak.The silence between father and son conveys more information than words. From childhood, his father educated him with silence instead of words. Words are just punctuation marks for silence. It is this kind of father's silence that has created Zhang Beihai today. .

"As you would imagine, they're building a space fleet based on the Navy, which they believe is the closest thing to a space war with the Navy's operational model and doctrine."

"That's right." Father nodded again.

"so what should I do?"

Dad, I finally asked this sentence. I finally made up my mind to ask this sentence after I stayed up all night. I hesitated when I saw you just now. I know this is the sentence that disappointed you the most.I remember that when I entered the fleet as a captain midshipman after graduating from graduate school, you said: "Beihai, you are still far behind. You say that because I can easily understand you now. Let me understand and explain your Your thoughts are still simple and not deep enough, wait until the day when I can’t understand you, but you can easily understand me, then you will be considered a grown-up.” Later, I grew up according to what you said, and you It’s also impossible to understand your son so easily. I don’t believe that you don’t feel sad about it at all, but your son is indeed becoming the kind of person you can hope for. People who are likely to succeed in the field.Now, my son asked this sentence, which undoubtedly marks that your cultivation of me for more than 30 years has failed at the most critical time.But Dad, you should tell me, my son is not as strong as you think, anyway, it's just this time, please tell me.

"Think about it," said the father.

Okay, Dad, you have already answered me, you have said many, many things, really many, the content of these three words cannot be finished in [-] words, please believe me son, I heard these words with my heart, But please clarify more, because this is too important.

"What about after thinking about it?" Zhang Beihai asked, his hands clutching the sheet tightly, his palms and forehead were wet.

Forgive me, Dad, if I let you down by asking this question last time, but this time I'm a kid again.

"Bei Hai, I can only tell you to think more before then." Father replied.

Dad, thank you, you made it very clear, and I understand it in my heart.

Zhang Beihai let go of the hand holding the bed sheet, took his father's thin hand and said, "Dad, I won't be going out to sea anymore, I will visit you often."

Father smiled and shook his head, "I don't have anything to do here, let's go to work."

They chatted for a while, first they talked about family affairs, and later they talked about the construction of the Space Force. My father talked about his many thoughts and suggestions for Zhang Beihai's future work.Together, they imagined the shape and size of future space warships, discussed with great interest the weapons of space warfare, and even talked about whether Mahan's theory of sea dominance is applicable to space battlefields...

But these words between them don't have much meaning anymore, it's just Zhang Beihai walking with his father in language, what is really meaningful is the three lines of heart-to-heart communication between father and son:
"Think about it."

"After thinking about it?"

"Bei Hai, I can only tell you to think more before that."

After bidding farewell to his father, Zhang Beihai walked out of the ward, and stared at his father for a while through the small window on the door.At this time, the rays of the setting sun had left his father, leaving him in a haze, but his eyes penetrated the haze, looking at the last sliver of afterglow cast on the opposite wall.Although it is about to disappear, the sunset at this time is the most beautiful.The last brilliance of the setting sun once shone on the vast expanse of waves of the raging sea. Those beams of light pierced through the chaotic clouds in the west, and cast a few huge golden spots on the sea under the black clouds, like petals falling from heaven. Beyond the petals is a night-like world under black clouds. The heavy rain hangs between the sky and the sea like the veil of the gods, and only lightning illuminates the thousand piles of snow spit out by the huge waves from time to time.The destroyer in a golden spot struggled to lift its bow from the deep wave valley. With a bang, the bow smashed through a wave wall, and the rising foam greedily absorbed the golden light of the setting sun. , like a roc spreading its golden wings...

Zhang Beihai put on a military cap with the military emblem of the Chinese Space Force on the brim.He said in his heart: Dad, we think the same, this is my luck, I will not bring you glory, but I will let you rest in peace.

"Mr. Luo, please change your clothes." The young man who had just entered said, squatting down and unzipping the bag he had brought in. Although he appeared to be polite, Luo Ji still felt as if he had eaten a fly.But when the young man took out the clothes from the bag, Luo Ji realized that it was not for the suspect, but a very ordinary-looking brown jacket. He took the clothes and looked through them. The material of the jacket It was very thick, and then he found that Shi Qiang and the young man were also wearing this kind of jacket, but the color was different.

"Put it on. It's quite breathable and comfortable. If you wear the kind of crap we used to, you won't be suffocated." Shi Qiang said.

"Bullet armor," the young man explained.

Who will kill me?Luo Ji thought while changing his clothes.

The three of them walked out of the room and walked towards the elevator along the corridor they had come from.There was a square metal ventilation pipe above the corridor, and the doors they passed were all thick and airtight. Luo Ji also noticed a faintly visible line of slogans on one side of the mottled wall, and he could only see part of it clearly. Know everything: Digging deep, accumulating food widely, not dominating.

"Is this a personal fortification?" Luo Ji asked Shi Qiang.

"It's not ordinary. It's anti-atom bomb. It's abolished now. Back then, ordinary people couldn't get in."

"Then we are in... Xishan?" Luo Ji had heard such legends, but neither Shi Qiang nor the young man answered.They walked into the old-fashioned elevator, and the elevator immediately moved upwards with a loud friction noise. The operator of the elevator was an armed police soldier with a submachine gun on his back. It was obviously his first time doing this, and he adjusted it very unskillfully. It took two or three times before the elevator stopped on the negative 1st floor.

After getting out of the elevator, Luo Ji found that they came to a wide but low hall, like an underground parking lot.There are all kinds of vehicles parked here, some of which have been started, filling the air with a pungent smell.There are many people standing or walking between the rows of cars. The light here is dim, and there is only a light on in the far corner.These people were all dark shadows, and only when a few of them passed through the beams of the headlights in the distance did Luo Ji see that they were soldiers in full armor, and he also saw a few officers shouting something into the walkie-talkie, Trying to drown out the roar of the engines, their voices sounded tense.

Shi Qiang led Luo Ji through the two rows of cars, and the young man followed behind. Luo Ji watched the red light of the taillights and the light coming in through the gap in the workshop shine on Shi Qiang, making his figure look different. The colors faded in and out, and for a moment Luo Ji thought of that dark bar, where he met her.

Shi Qiang led Luo Ji to a car, opened the door and let him in.After sitting down, Luo Ji found that although the interior of the car was spacious, the windows were abnormally small, and the thick car shell could be seen from the edge of the windows.It was a reinforced car with narrow windows that were poorly transparent and probably also bulletproof.The car door was ajar, and Luo Ji could hear the conversation between Shi Qiang and the young man.

"Team Shi, they called just now and said that they had checked along the road again, and all the security positions have been set up."

"The situation along the road is too complicated. I can only go through this matter a few times. It's hard to let people feel at ease. The layout of the security position, as I said, you have to think differently. If you are there, plan to Where is the cat? Experts from the armed police should consult more... Oh, how to arrange the handover?"

"They didn't say it."

Shi Qiang's voice rose, "You're a fucking mess, you didn't implement such an important matter!"

"Shi team, according to the superior's intention, it seems that we have to follow."

"It's fine for a lifetime, but there must be a handover over there, and the responsibilities must be clearly defined! There has to be a line, click! We were responsible for the accident before, and then they will be responsible."

"They didn't say..." The young man seemed perplexed.

"Zheng, I know you have a fucking sense of inferiority. Chang Weisi has been promoted, and his former subordinates have eyes on us, but we should think highly of ourselves. What are they? ? Who fired at them, and who did they shoot at? The last big operation, look at those people, they used all kinds of high-end gadgets, like acrobatics, even the early warning aircraft came out , but the final positioning of the meeting place is not up to us? This has won us a position...Zheng, it was a waste of time for me to transfer you here, and I don't know if it hurt you. "

"Team Shi, don't say that."

"This is a troubled world, do you understand the troubled times? People's hearts are really outdated. Everyone pushes bad things on others, so it is necessary to guard against others... I don't feel at ease talking about these things with you, I can still wait." How long? In the future, I’m afraid that this whole thing will be put in your place.”

"Team Shi, you need to think about your illness quickly. Didn't your superiors arrange for you to hibernate?"

"You have to arrange everything, at home and at work, can I rest assured that you are like this?"

"Don't worry about us, your illness really can't be delayed, and your gums can't stop bleeding this morning."

"It's okay, I'm lucky, you know that, you shot me three times, and the stinky ones fired three times."

At this time, the vehicles on one side of the hall had already started to file out. Shi Qiang got into the car and closed the door. When the adjacent car drove away, this car also started.Shi Qiang drew the curtains on both sides, and there was an opaque baffle inside the car, which separated the rear half from the driver's cab, so that Luo Ji could not see what was going on outside the car at all.Along the way, Shi Qiang's walkie-talkie kept ringing, but Luo Ji couldn't hear what was being said, so Shi Qiang simply responded from time to time.

Not long after the car drove, Luo Ji said to Shi Qiang, "The matter is more complicated than what you said."

"That's right. Everything has become complicated now." Shi Qiang said perfunctorily, keeping his attention on the walkie-talkie, and the two of them didn't speak any more along the way.

The road seemed to be smooth, the car didn't even slow down once, and stopped after driving for about an hour.

After Shi Qiang got out of the car, he motioned for Luo Ji to stay in the car, and then closed the door.At this moment, Luo Ji heard a roar, which seemed to come from above the roof of the car.A few minutes later, Shi Qiang opened the door to let Luo Ji get out of the car. As soon as he got out, Luo Ji immediately knew that they were at an airport. The two helicopters above, with their noses facing in different directions, seemed to be monitoring the empty area.In front of Luo Ji was a large plane, like a passenger plane, but in the part he could see, Luo Ji couldn't find the airline's logo.In front of the car door was an airstair, and Shi Qiang and Luo Ji boarded the plane along it. Before entering the cabin door, Luo Ji glanced back, and the first thing he saw was a neat row of fighter jets on the tarmac in the distance. From this, he knew that this was not a civilian airport.Moving his eyes closer, he found that the dozen or so vehicles that came with him and the soldiers who got off from the vehicles had formed a large circle around the plane.As the sun set, the plane cast a long shadow on the runway ahead, like a big exclamation point.

Luo Ji and Shi Qiang entered the cabin. Three men in black suits greeted them and led them through the front cabin. There was no one there. It looked like a passenger plane with four rows of empty seats.But after entering the middle cabin, Luo Ji saw that there was a fairly spacious office and a suite, and through the half-open door, Luo Ji saw that it was a bedroom.The furnishings here are ordinary, clean and tidy. If you don't see the green seat belts on the sofa and chairs, you don't feel like you are on a plane.Luo Ji knew that there might not be many special planes like this in China.

Among the three people who brought them in, two went directly to the tail cabin through another door, and the youngest one who stayed behind said: "Please sit whatever you want, but you must fasten your seat belts, and be careful , not only when taking off and landing, you must wear a seat belt throughout the process, but also fasten the safety sleeping bag on the bed when you sleep; Be sure to inform the captain first. This button is the microphone switch, which is available on the seat and beside the bed, and you can talk after pressing it. If you need anything else, you can also call us through it.”

Luo Ji looked at Shi Qiang suspiciously, and the latter explained, "This plane might be able to do aerobatics."

The man nodded, "Yes, please call me if you need anything, just call Xiao Zhang, I will deliver dinner to you after takeoff."

After Xiao Zhang left, Luo Ji and Shi Qiang sat on the sofa and fastened their seat belts.Luo Ji looked around, except that the window was round and the wall with the window was slightly curved, everything was so ordinary and familiar that it felt weird for the two of them to sit in this ordinary office with their seat belts on. .But soon the roar of the engine and slight vibration reminded them that they were on a plane, and the plane was taxiing to the takeoff runway. A few minutes later, as the sound of the engine changed, the overweight caused the two of them to sink into the sofa.After the shaking from the ground died down, the floor of the office tilted in front of them.As the plane ascended, the setting sun that had already set on the ground cast another ray of light through the porthole. Just 10 minutes ago, the same sun also cast today's last ray of sunset into Zhang Beihai's father's ward.

When Luo Ji's plane flew over the coast, ten thousand meters below him, Wu Yue and Zhang Beihai watched the "Tang" under construction again.In all the time before and after, this was the closest Luo Ji was to these two soldiers.

Like last time, the huge hull of the "Tang" was shrouded in the twilight that had just fallen. The welds on the hull seemed not as dense as last time, and the lights shining on it were also much dimmer.At this time, Wu Yue and Zhang Beihai no longer belonged to the navy.

"I heard that the General Armament Department has decided to stop the 'Tang' project." Zhang Beihai said.

"Does this have anything to do with us?" Wu Yue replied indifferently, looking away from the "Tang" ship, looking at the lingering sunset glow in the western sky.

"You've been depressed since entering the Space Force."

"You should know the reason. You can always see my thoughts easily, sometimes more clearly than me. Only after you remind me do I know what I really think."

Zhang Beihai turned around and looked directly at Wu Yue, "You feel sad about committing yourself to a war that is doomed to failure. You envy the last generation of space forces, who were able to fight to the end when they were young, and were buried in space with the fleet .But it's hard for you to spend your whole life on such a hopeless cause."

"Is there anything you can advise me?"

"No, technology worship and technology supremacy theory are deeply ingrained in your thinking. I have known for a long time that I can't change you. I can only try my best to reduce the damage caused by this kind of thinking to work. In addition, I don't think Human victory is impossible."

At this time, Wu Yue put down his mask of indifference, and met Zhang Beihai's gaze, "Beihai, you used to be a very realistic person. You opposed the construction of the 'Tang' and opposed the idea of ​​establishing an ocean-going navy on many occasions. You have questioned it, thinking it is inconsistent with national power. You think that our sea power should be supported and protected by shore-based firepower in the offshore at any time. This idea is called a turtle strategy by the young men, but you have always insisted... So now, where does your belief in the victory of this interstellar war come from? Do you really think that a small wooden boat can sink an aircraft carrier?"

"In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the newly established navy used wooden boats to sink a destroyer of the Kuomintang; earlier, our army also had a case of cavalry defeating a tank group."

"You can't elevate those legends into normal and universal military theories."

"In this war, earth civilization does not need normal and universal military theories, just one exception is enough." Zhang Beihai raised a finger at Wu Yue.

Wu Yue showed a mocking smile: "I want to hear how you achieved this exception?"

"Of course I don't understand space warfare, but if you compare it to a small wooden boat versus an aircraft carrier, then I think that as long as you have the courage to act and the confidence to win, the former is really likely to sink the latter. The diver team ambushed on the channel where the aircraft carrier passed. When the enemy ship traveled to a certain distance, the diving team launched and the wooden boat sailed away. When the aircraft carrier passed above the diving team, they placed bombs on the bottom of the ship...Of course this is done Extremely difficult, but not impossible."

Wu Yue nodded, "Yes, someone tried it. In World War II, the British did this to sink the German battleship Tirpitz, but they used a miniature submarine; in the 80s, in the Falklands War, During the period, several Argentine special forces sneaked into Italy with magnetic mines, trying to sink a British warship anchored in the port from underwater. But you also know the result."

"But we have more than just small wooden boats. A [-] to [-]-ton nuclear bomb can be made into a size that one or two divers can carry underwater. If it is attached to the bottom of an aircraft carrier, it will be more than just a small wooden boat." Sink it and the largest carrier will be blown to pieces."

"Sometimes you are very imaginative." Wu Yue said with a smile.

"What I have is the confidence to win." Zhang Beihai shifted his gaze to the "Tang", and the welding flowers in the distance reflected two small flames in his eyes.

Wu Yue also looked at the "Tang", and this time he had a new vision of her: she was no longer an abandoned ancient fortress, but an even more ancient cliff with many deep caves. The sparse welds are the flickering firelight in the cave.

After the plane took off, until after dinner, Luo Ji didn't ask Shi Qiang questions such as where he was going and what happened. If he knew and could tell himself, he would have said it long ago.Luo Ji once unbuckled his seat belt and walked to the porthole, wanting to look outside. Although he knew he couldn't see much after dark, Shi Qiang followed him, closed the partition of the porthole, and said there was nothing to see.

"Let's chat for a while, and then go to bed, okay?" Shi Qiang said, taking out a cigarette at the same time, but soon realized that he was on the plane, and put it back.

"Sleep? Looks like it's going to be flying for a long time?"

"Whatever, let's enjoy this plane with a bed."

"You're just responsible for sending me to my destination, aren't you?"

"What are you complaining about? We have to go back!" Shi Qiang grinned, proud of his words. It seemed that torturing people with cruel humor was his pleasure, but he then became a little more serious, "You go This trip, I don’t know much more than you, and it’s not my turn to tell you anything, don’t worry, someone will explain everything to you.”

"I guessed for a long time and only came up with one possible answer."

"Tell me and see if it's the same as I guessed."

"She should be an ordinary person, it can only be that her social or family relationship is not ordinary." Luo Ji didn't know her family, just like his previous lovers, even if they told him he wouldn't be interested and couldn't remember it.

"Who, oh, your lover of the week? You better stop thinking about her, anyway, you don't care. But it's okay to think about it, as you said, you match her name and face with the big shots one by one?"

Luo Ji matched in his mind for a while, but he didn't meet anyone.

"Brother Luo, are you good at deceiving people?" Shi Qiang asked. Before this, Luo Ji discovered a pattern: he called himself brother when he was joking, and brother when he was a little serious.

"Who do I need to lie to?"

"Of course it is necessary... Then I will teach you how to deceive people. Of course, I am not good at it. My work is more focused on preventing and exposing deceptions. In this way, I will tell you a few basic techniques of interrogation, You may need it in the future, and it will be easier to deal with when you know yourself and the enemy. Of course, it is only the most basic and most commonly used, and it is difficult to explain the complicated ones for a while. Let me talk about the most literal one, which is also the simplest one: pull list, It is to make a list of questions related to the case. The more questions on the list, the better. Put all the questions on the list, mix the key questions, and then ask them one by one, and record the answers of the interrogators. , and then ask again from the beginning, and write down the answers. If necessary, you can ask many times. Finally, compare the records of these times. If the subject tells a lie, the answer to the corresponding question will be different each time. Don’t look at this The method is simple, people who have not received anti-reconnaissance training are basically unable to pass the test, and the most reliable way to deal with pull orders is to keep silent." Shi Qiang couldn't help but took out his cigarette again, but after remembering that smoking was not allowed on the plane, he Put it back.

"Just ask, this is a private plane, so you should be able to smoke," Luo Ji said to Shi Qiang.

Shi Qiang was talking excitedly, and was a little annoyed at Luo Ji's interruption of his words. Luo Ji was surprised to see that he seemed to be serious, or this man's sense of humor was too strong.Shi Qiang pressed the red microphone button next to the sofa to ask a question, and Xiao Zhang really replied that he was welcome.So the two took out their cigarettes and started smoking.

"Next one, half-literary and half-military. You can hold the ashtray, it's fixed, you have to pull it out, okay. This trick is called black and white face. This kind of interrogation requires the cooperation of multiple people, which is a little more complicated. First, black face When you come out, there are usually more than two people. They are very fierce to you, they may use words or force, anyway, they are very fierce. This is also a strategy, not only to make you fear, but more importantly, to stimulate your sense of loneliness , making you feel that there is nothing else in the world except wolves who want to eat you. At this time, the white face came out, and there must be only one person, and he must have a kind face. He stopped the black faces and said that you are also alone, Someone's right, how can you treat him like this? The black faces say you go away, don't affect your work. The white faces insist, saying you really can't do this! The black faces say they already know you can't do this, you can't go away People! The white face protects you with his body and says: I want to protect his rights and the justice of the law! The black faces say you wait, and you will get out tomorrow! Then they left angrily. Only you are left At two o'clock, the white face will wipe your sweat and blood for you, and say don't be afraid, with me here, they dare not do anything to you, no matter what happens to me, I will definitely protect your rights! You don't want to say it Stop talking, you have the right to be silent! You can imagine what happened next, he has now become your only dearest person in this world, under his further lure, you will not Silent... This trick is the most effective against intellectuals, but it is different from the previous list, once you know it, it will be invalid. Of course, the above-mentioned ones are generally not used alone. The real interrogation is a big project. A combination of technologies…”

Shi Qiang said happily, almost wanting to break free from his seat belt and stand up, but Luo Ji sounded like he had fallen into an ice hole. Despair and fear seized him again. Shi Qiang noticed this and stopped talking.

"Okay, okay, let's not talk about interrogation. Although you may need this knowledge in the future, you can't accept it for a while. Besides, I was teaching you how to deceive people. Be careful: if your city is really deep enough, then It can't show any city, and it's different from what you see in the movies. The real wily people don't pretend to be birds with dark faces every day, they don't show their brains at all, they all look pretty Easy-going and simple, some people seem vulgar and vulgar mother-in-law, while others are careless and not serious... The key is to let others not take you seriously, let them look down on you and despise you, and feel that you can't get in the way, like a broom in the corner The same is dispensable, the highest state is to let them not notice you at all, just treat you as if you don't exist, until the moment before they die in your hands, they will not come back to it."

"Is it necessary for me, or is there still a chance to become such a person?" Luo Ji finally interjected.

"It's still the same sentence: I don't know more about this than you, but I have a hunch. You must become such a person, Brother Luo, you must!" Shi Qiang suddenly became agitated, and he grabbed Luo Ji's shoulder with one hand. The forceful grip made Luo Ji feel very painful.

They were silent as they watched wisps of smoke curl up and be sucked through a grate hole in the ceiling.

"Forget it, go to sleep." Shi Qiang stubbed out the cigarette butt in the ashtray and shook his head with a smile, "I'm actually talking about this with you, don't laugh at me when you think about it later."

After entering the bedroom, Luo Ji took off his bulletproof jacket and got into the safety sleeping bag on the bed. Shi Qiang helped him fasten the sleeping bag and the safety buckle on the bed, and put a small bottle on the bedside table.

"Sleeping pills, take some if you can't sleep. I wanted wine, but they said they didn't have any."

Shi Qiang then instructed Luo Ji to notify the captain before getting out of bed for prolonged activities, and then walked outside.

"Officer Shi," Luo Ji called out.

Shi Qiang turned around at the door, "I am no longer a policeman, and the police were not involved in this matter. They all call me Dashi."

"That's right, Da Shi, when we were chatting just now, I noticed what you said, or it was the reaction to what I said: I said 'she', and you didn't remember who I was referring to, This shows that she is not important in this matter."

"You're one of the calmest people I've ever met."

"This calmness comes from my cynicism. It is difficult for me to care about anything in this world."

"Anyway, I've never met someone who can be so calm at such a time. Don't pay attention to what I said earlier, as a person, I only make fun of people in these aspects."

"You are trying to find something to hold my attention firmly so that you can successfully complete your mission."

"I'm sorry if I made you think otherwise."

"Then what do you think I should think about now?"

"Based on my experience, I will think in any direction, and now I should just sleep."

Shi Qiang left, and after the door was closed, only a small red light by the bed was on, and the room was dark.The background sound made up of the humming of the engine appeared at this time, omnipresent, as if the boundless night sky just separated from here was whispering.

Later, Luo Ji felt that this was not a hallucination, and that part of the sound really seemed to come from a very distant place outside.He unbuttoned his sleeping bag and crawled out, pushing open the partition on the porthole at the head of the bed.Outside, the sea of ​​clouds was filled with moonlight, shining silver.Luo Ji soon discovered that above the sea of ​​clouds, there was something else shining with silver light. They were four straight lines, which were particularly eye-catching against the background of the night sky.They extend at the same speed as the plane, and their tails gradually fade into the night sky, like four silver swords flying in the sea of ​​clouds.Luo Ji looked at the head of the silver thread again, and found four objects with a metallic luster, from which the silver thread was drawn—they were four fighter planes.Conceivably, there were four more on the other side of the plane.

Luo Ji closed the partition and got back into his sleeping bag. He closed his eyes and tried to relax his consciousness, not trying to sleep, but trying to wake up from a dream.

In the middle of the night, the work meeting of the Space Force is still going on.Zhang Beihai pushed away the workbooks and documents on the desktop in front of him, stood up, glanced at the tired-looking officers at the venue, and turned to Chang Weisi.

"Chief, before I report on my work, I would like to talk about my own opinion. I think the army leadership does not pay enough attention to the political and ideological work of the army. For example, in this meeting, among the six departments that have been established, the Political Department is the last one. report to work."

"I accept this opinion." Chang Weisi nodded, "The military political commissar has not arrived yet, and I will also be in charge of the political and engineering work. Now, all the work has just started, and it is really difficult to take too much into account in this regard. The main The work has to be done by your responsible comrades.”

"Chief, I think the current situation is very dangerous." These words made the officers focus a little, and Zhang Beihai continued, "My words were a bit harsh, please forgive me, it's because of a one-day meeting. Now everyone is tired, and no one will listen to you if you are not sharp.” A few people smiled, while other participants were still immersed in sleepiness, “It’s because I am really anxious. In this war we are facing, there is a huge disparity between the enemy and us. It is unprecedented in the history of human warfare, so I think that for a long period of time, the biggest danger facing the space force is defeatism. This danger cannot be overestimated, and the consequences of the spread of defeatism are absolutely inevitable. It's not just morale instability, it could lead to a total collapse of the space armed forces."

"Agreed." Chang Weisi nodded again, "Defeatism is the biggest enemy at present, and the Military Commission also has a deep understanding of this, which makes the military's political and ideological work shoulder a major mission, and once the grassroots units of the Space Force are formed, The work will be more complex and more difficult."

Zhang Beihai opened the workbook, "Let's start the work report. At the beginning of the establishment of the Space Force, in terms of political and ideological work in the army, the main work we did was to investigate and understand the general ideological status of the commanders and fighters. Due to the current lack of personnel in the new military branch , the administrative level is small, the organization is simple, the investigation is mainly through discussion meetings and personal exchanges, and a corresponding forum has been established on the internal network. The results of the investigation are worrying. Defeatist thinking is common in the army, and it is spreading rapidly. Trends, fear of the enemy like a tiger, and lack of confidence in the future of war are the mentality of quite a few comrades."

"The ideological root of defeatism is mainly the blind worship of technology, which underestimates or ignores the role of human spirit and subjective initiative in war. The continuation and development of this ideological trend is particularly prominent among highly educated officers." Defeatism in the army mainly takes the following forms:

"First, I regard my mission in the Space Force as an ordinary occupation. Although I am dedicated and responsible in my work, I lack enthusiasm and a sense of mission, and I have doubts about the ultimate meaning of my work."

"Second, wait passively, thinking that the victory or defeat of this war depends on scientists and engineers. Before major breakthroughs are made in basic research and key technology research, the space force is just a castle in the air, so the focus of the current work is not clear, and it is only satisfied with the military. Formation of transactional work, lack of innovation."

"Three, have an unrealistic fantasy, requesting to use hibernation technology to make oneself span four centuries and directly participate in the final battle. At present, several young comrades have expressed this wish, and some have even submitted a formal application. On the surface See, this is a positive attitude that desires to be at the forefront of the war, but it is essentially another form of defeatism, a lack of confidence in the victory of the war, and doubts about the meaning of the current job, so the dignity of the soldier becomes The only pillar of work and life."

"Fourth, contrary to the previous expression, doubts have also arisen about the dignity of soldiers, and they believe that the traditional moral code of the army is no longer suitable for this war, and it is meaningless to fight to the end. It is believed that the premise of the dignity of soldiers is that someone sees This kind of dignity, and once this war is defeated, no one will exist in the universe, then this kind of dignity itself will lose its meaning. Although only a few people hold this kind of thinking, this kind of thinking that eliminates the ultimate value of space armed forces is Very harmful."

Speaking of this, Zhang Beihai looked at the venue and found that although his words had attracted some attention, they still did not sweep away the drowsiness shrouded in the venue, but he was confident that he would change this situation in his next speech.

"Next, I want to give a specific example. This comrade has a very typical manifestation of defeatism. I'm talking about Colonel Wu Yue." Zhang Beihai stretched his hand in the direction of Wu Yue on the opposite side of the conference table.

The sleepiness in the venue was swept away immediately, and all the participants became interested. They nervously looked at Zhang Beihai, and then at Wu Yue. The latter looked calm and looked at Zhang Beihai with calm eyes.

"Comrade Wu Yue and I have worked together in the Navy for a long time, and we know each other very well. He has a deep technical complex and is a technical, or engineer-type captain. This is not a bad thing, but it is a pity. Yes, he relied too much on technology in his military thinking. Although he didn’t say it explicitly, he always subconsciously believed that the advancement of technology was the main or even the only determinant of the combat effectiveness of troops, and ignored the role played by people in war. It was due to a lack of sufficient understanding of the unique advantages of our military under difficult historical conditions. When he learned of the Trisolaran crisis, he had already lost confidence in the future. After entering the Space Force, this despair was revealed even more. Comrade Wu Yue's defeatist sentiment is so heavy and so deep-rooted that we have lost hope of reviving him. Strong measures should be taken as early as possible to curb defeatism in the army, so, I think Wu Yue Comrade is no longer fit to continue serving in the Space Force."

Everyone focused their attention on Wu Yue. At this moment, he looked at the military emblem of the space army on the military cap on the conference table, still looking very calm.

During the speech, Zhang Beihai never looked in the direction of Wu Yue, and he continued: "Please understand, Commander, Comrade Wu Yue and everyone, what I said was only out of concern about the current ideological situation of the troops. , I also want to have a face-to-face, open and candid exchange with Comrade Wu Yue."

Wu Yue raised one hand to ask for the floor, and after Chang Weisi nodded, he said: "What Comrade Zhang Beihai said about my state of mind is true, and I admit his conclusion: I am not suitable to continue serving in the Space Force. s arrangement."

The atmosphere in the venue became tense. Several military officers looked at the workbook in front of Zhang Beihai and couldn't help guessing who else was in it.

An air force colonel stood up and said, "Comrade Zhang Beihai, this is an ordinary work meeting. You should report personal issues like this to the organization through normal channels. Is it appropriate to speak publicly here?"

His words immediately aroused the echo of many officers.

Zhang Beihai said: "I know that my speech violates the principles of the organization, and I am willing to take all responsibility for it, but I think that no matter what method is used, we must be made aware of the seriousness of the current situation."

Chang Weisi raised his hand to stop more people from speaking, "First of all, we should affirm Comrade Zhang Beihai's sense of responsibility and sense of urgency in his work. The existence of defeatism in the army is a fact, and we should face it rationally. , as long as there is a huge technological gap between the enemy and the enemy, defeatism will not disappear, and the problem cannot be solved by simple working methods. This is a long-term and meticulous work, and there should be more communication and exchanges. In addition, I also I agree with what some comrades just said: Issues involving personal thoughts should be based on communication and exchange, and if it is necessary to reflect, it must be reported through organizational channels.”

Many officers present were relieved, at least in this meeting, Zhang Beihai would not mention them.

Luo Ji imagined the boundless dark night above the clouds outside, and struggled to organize his thoughts.Unknowingly, his thoughts focused on her, her voice and smile appeared in the dimness, a kind of unprecedented sadness hit his heart, followed by contempt for himself, this kind of contempt many times before It's happened before, but never as strongly as it is now.Why are you only thinking of her now?Before that, you just excused yourself for her death except for shock and fear, but now you realize that the whole thing has nothing to do with her, so you gave her a little bit of your sorrow, which is more precious than gold, what are you?
But there is no way, I am such a person.

The plane undulated slightly in the airflow, and Luo Ji felt like he was in a cradle lying on the bed.He knew he had slept in a cradle as a baby when, in the basement of his parents' house, he saw a dusty crib with a cradle sled underneath.Now, closing his eyes and imagining those two people nudging the cradle for him, he asked himself: Since you walked out of that cradle until now, have you really cared about anyone but those two people?Have you really left a small but permanent place in your heart for someone?

Yes, stayed.Once, Luo Ji's heart was completely occupied by golden love, but that was an incredible experience.

All of that was caused by Bai Rong, she is a writer of youth novels, although she is an amateur, she is already well-known, at least she gets more royalties than her salary.Among all the opposite sexes he knew, Luo Ji and Bai Rong had been dating for the longest time, and they even reached the stage of considering marriage in the end.The relationship between them belongs to the common type, not to mention how devoted and deep-rooted, but they think that the other party is suitable for them, and they are relaxed and happy together. Although both of them have a sense of fear about marriage, they both feel responsible. The best way to do it is to try it out.

At Bai Rong's request, Luo Ji read all of her works. Although it was not a kind of enjoyment, it was not as tortured as other novels of this type that he glanced at.Bai Rong's writing style is very good, and there is a kind of simplicity and maturity that a female writer like her doesn't have in her beauty.But the content of those novels was not commensurate with this writing. Reading them, Luo Ji seemed to see dewdrops in a pile of grass. Rolling around, merging in the embrace of meeting, separated in the falling of frustration, and disappearing in a short time as soon as the sun rises.After reading a book by Bai Rong, apart from his impression of her beautiful writing, Luo Ji only had one question: What do these people who fall in love 24 hours a day live on?
"Do you really believe that the love you wrote about exists in reality?" Luo Ji asked one day.

"some."

"Have you seen it or have you encountered it yourself?"

Putting her arms around Luo Ji's neck, Bai Rong said mysteriously into his ear, "Anyway, there are, let me tell you, there are!"

Sometimes, Luo Ji gave comments on the novels Bai Rong was writing, and even helped her revise them himself.

"You seem to have more literary talent than me. What you helped me change was not the plot, but the characters. Changing the characters is the most difficult thing. Every modification you make is the finishing touch to those images. Your ability to create literary images is first-rate. of."

"Are you kidding me? I'm a student of astronomy."

"Wang Xiaobo studies mathematics."

It was Bai Rong's birthday that year, and she asked Luo Ji for a birthday present.

"Can you write me a novel?"

"One?"

"Hmm...not less than [-] words."

"Are you the main character?"

"No, I've seen a very interesting art exhibition, all of which were male painters' works, and they painted the most beautiful women in their imagination. The protagonist of your novel is the most beautiful girl in your mind, you have to completely leave reality Create such an angel based only on your most perfect image of a woman."

Until now, Luo Ji didn't know exactly what Bai Rong's intention was behind this request, maybe even she herself didn't know. Looking back now, her expression at that time seemed a little sly and a little melancholy.

So Luo Ji began to conceive of this character.He first imagined her appearance, then designed her clothes, then imagined her environment and the people around her, and finally put her in this environment, let her move and talk, let her live.Soon, the matter became dull, and he told Bai Rong about the predicament he encountered.

"She seems to be a marionette, every movement and every word comes from my imagination, lacking a sense of life."

Bai Rong said: "Your method is wrong. You are writing a composition, not creating a literary image. You must know that a literary character's behavior for 10 minutes may be a reflection of her ten-year experience. You should not be limited to the plot of the novel, To imagine her whole life, and what is actually written is just the tip of the iceberg."

So Luo Ji did as Bai Rong said, completely abandoning what he wanted to write, and imagined her whole life, every detail of her life.He imagined her breastfeeding in her mother's arms, sucking hard with her small mouth, making a satisfied murmur; imagining that she was walking in the rain and suddenly put away her umbrella, enjoying the feeling of being in contact with the rain; She fell down after only one step of chasing the red balloon, watching the balloon go away and crying, completely unaware that what she just took was the first step in life; imagine her first day in elementary school, alone Sitting in the third row of an unfamiliar classroom, she couldn't see her parents from the door or window. Just when she was about to cry, she found that the next table was a kindergarten classmate, and she screamed with joy; imagine the first night of college , she was lying on the upper bunk of the dormitory, looking at the tree shadows cast by the street lamps on the ceiling... Luo Ji imagined everything she liked to eat, the color and style of every piece of clothing in her closet, imagined her Trinkets on her mobile phone, imagining the books she reads, the music in her MP4, the websites she visits, the movies she likes, but never imagines what cosmetics she uses, she doesn’t need cosmetics... Luo Ji is like a person above time The creator, while weaving her life in different time and space in her life, he gradually became interested in this kind of creation and never tired of it.

One day in the library, Luo Ji imagined her standing in front of a row of bookshelves reading in the distance. He chose his favorite outfit for her, just to make her petite figure clearer in his impression.Suddenly, she raised her head from the book, glanced at him from a distance, and smiled at him.

Luo Ji was very surprised, I didn't make her laugh?But that smile has been left in the memory, like water stains on ice, which can never be wiped off.

The real turning point came on the second night.It was a night of wind and snow, and the temperature plummeted. In the warm dormitory, Luo Ji listened to the howling wind outside, drowning out other sounds in the city. Looking outside, there is only a piece of snow dust.At this time, the city seemed to have ceased to exist, and the faculty dormitory building seemed to be isolated on the boundless snowfield.Luo Ji lay back on the bed, and before he fell asleep, he suddenly had a thought: In this damn weather, it would be so cold if she walked outside.He then comforted himself: It's okay, if you don't let her outside, she won't be outside.But this time his imagination failed, she was still walking in the wind and snow outside, like a grass that would be blown away by the cold wind at any time, she was wearing that white coat and that red scarf, In the flying snow and dust, only the red scarf can be vaguely seen, like a small flame struggling in the wind and snow.

It was impossible for Luo Ji to fall asleep again. He got up and sat on the bed, and then sat on the sofa with his clothes on. He wanted to smoke at first, but remembering that she hated the smell of cigarettes, he made a cup of coffee and drank it slowly.He had to wait for her. The cold night and snowstorm outside were tugging at his heart. It was the first time that he loved and missed someone so much.

Just when his thoughts were burning like fire, she came gently, her petite body was wrapped in a layer of cold outside, but there was a breath of spring in the coolness; the snowflakes on her bangs quickly melted into crystal Drops of water, she untied the red scarf, put her hands to her mouth and breathed.He held her slender hands, warming the cold softness, she looked at him excitedly, and said what he wanted to greet her:

"Are you ok?"

He just nodded clumsily and helped her take off her coat, "Come and get warm." He held her soft shoulders and led her to the fireplace.

"It's so warm, so nice..." She sat on the blanket in front of the fireplace, looked at the firelight and smiled happily.

……

What the hell is wrong with me?Luo Ji stood in the middle of the empty dormitory and said to himself.In fact, just write [-] characters casually, print it out with high-grade coated paper, PS an extremely gorgeous cover and title page, bind it with a special binding machine, then take it to the gift department of the shopping mall for packaging, and give it to Bai Rong on her birthday. , Why is it so deep?At this time, he was surprised to find that his eyes were moist.Immediately afterwards, he had another surprise: a fireplace?Where the hell did I get the fireplace?How could I have thought of a fireplace?But he soon understood: what he wanted was not the fireplace, but the firelight of the fireplace, and women in that kind of firelight were the most beautiful.He recalled her in the firelight in front of the fireplace just now...

Oh no!Stop thinking about her, it's going to be a disaster!sleep!

Contrary to Luo Ji's expectations, he didn't dream of her that night, and he slept soundly, feeling that the single bed was like a boat floating on a rose-colored ocean.When he woke up the next morning, he had a feeling of being reborn. He felt like a candle that had been dusty for many years, lit by the small flame in the snowstorm last night.He walked excitedly on the road leading to the teaching building. The sky after the snow was gray, but he thought it was clearer than the clear sky. They seemed to him more alive than in spring.

Luo Ji walked up to the podium, and just as he expected, she reappeared, sitting in the last row of the lecture theater. She was the only one in that empty seat, and she was separated from the other students in front by a long distance.Her white coat and red scarf were on the seat next to her, and she was only wearing a beige turtleneck sweater.She didn't bow her head to flip through the textbooks like other students, but showed him that smile like the sun rising after the snow again.

Luo Ji became tense, his heart beat faster, and he had to go out through the side door of the classroom, and stood in the cold air on the balcony to calm down for a while. He had only appeared in this state twice when he was defending his doctoral thesis.Then Luo Ji showed himself in the lecture to his heart's content, quoting from many sources and provoking his words, which caused rare applause in the class.She didn't applaud, just nodded to him with a smile.

After class, he walked side by side with her on the tree-lined avenue without trees, and he could hear the crunch of her blue boots on the snow.Two rows of poplars in winter quietly listened to the conversation in their hearts.

"You speak very well, but I don't understand you very well."

"You're not a professional, are you?"

"Well, no."

"Do you often go to other professional courses like this?"

"It's just that in the past few days, I often walk into a lecture theater to sit for a while. I just graduated and I'm about to leave here. I suddenly feel that this place is really good. I'm afraid to go outside..."

For the next three or four days, Luo Ji spent most of every day with her.In the eyes of others, he spends more time alone and likes to go for a walk alone, which is also easy to explain to Bai Rong: he was planning a birthday present for her, and he did not lie to her.

On New Year's Eve, Luo Ji bought a bottle of red wine that he never drank before. After returning to the dormitory, he turned off the lights and lit candles on the coffee table in front of the sofa. Sit with him.

"Ah, look—" She pointed to the wine bottle, cheering up like a child.

"how?"

"Why don't you look over here, the candle is shining from the opposite side, this wine is so beautiful."

The wine soaked in candlelight does present a crystal deep red that only belongs to dreams.

"Like a dead sun," Luo Ji said.

"Don't think like that," she showed the sincerity that moved Luo Ji's heart again, "I think it's like... the eyes of sunset."

"Why don't you say it's Zhaoxia's eyes?"

"I prefer sunsets."

"why?"

"After the evening glow disappears, you can look at the stars. After the morning glow disappears, only..."

"It's just reality in broad daylight."

"Yes, yes."

……

They talked a lot, about everything, and they had a common language on the most trivial topics, until Luo Ji drank the bottle of "Eye of the Sunset" down his stomach.

Luo Ji was lying on the bed in a daze, looking at the burning candle on the coffee table, she had disappeared in the candlelight, but Luo Ji was not worried, as long as he wanted, she would appear anytime.

At this time, there was a knock on the door, and Luo Ji knew that it was a knock on the door in reality and had nothing to do with her, so he ignored it.The door was pushed open, and it was Bai Rong who came in. She turned on the light, as if turning on the gray reality.Looking at the coffee table with the candles on, she sat down on Luo Ji's bed, sighed softly and said, "It's okay."

"What's good?" Luo Ji blocked the harsh electric lights with his hands.

"You haven't invested enough to prepare a wine glass for her."

Luo Ji covered his eyes and said nothing. Bai Rong took his hand away, stared at him and asked:

"She lived, didn't she?"

Luo Ji nodded, turned over and sat up, "Rong, I used to think that the characters in novels were controlled by the author, that she would be what the author told her to be, and she would do whatever the author asked her to do, just like her. Like God is to us."

"Wrong!" Bai Rong also stood up and walked back and forth in the room, "Now you know that you are wrong, this is the difference between an ordinary writer and a writer. There is a highest state in the process of shaping a literary image. In that state, the characters in the novel have a life in the mind of the writer. The writer cannot control these characters, or even predict their next behavior, but follows them curiously, observing the most important moments in their lives like a voyeur. Subtle parts, recorded, become classics."

"It turns out that literary creation is a perverted thing."

"At least from Shakespeare to Balzac to Tolstoy, the classic images they created were all born from the womb of their thoughts. But these literary people have lost this creativity , all that is produced in their minds are disjointed fragments and freaks whose fleeting lives appear as obscure convulsions of irrationality, which they sweep up in bags and label them with postmodern, deconstructive, or symbolic Labels such as doctrine, irrationality, etc. are sold."

"You mean I've become a classic writer?"

"That's not true, your thoughts only conceived one image, and it is the easiest one; while those classic writers, they can generate hundreds of such images in their minds, forming a picture scroll of the times, This is something a superman can do. But it's not easy for you to do it, I thought you couldn't do it."

"Have you ever done it?"

"Only once." Bai Rong answered simply, then quickly changed the subject, put her arms around Luo Ji's neck and said, "Forget it, I don't want that birthday present, and you can go back to your normal life, okay?"

"What if this continues?"

Bai Rong stared at Luo Ji for a few seconds, then let go of him, smiled and shook her head, "I know it's late." After speaking, she picked up her bag on the bed and left.

At this time, he heard someone outside counting down to "four, three, two, one". Then, there was a burst of laughter from the teaching building where the music was always playing. Someone was setting off fireworks on the playground. Look at the watch, Luo Ji Know that the last second of the year has just passed.

"Tomorrow is a holiday, shall we go out and play?" Luo Ji asked lying on his back on the bed, knowing that she had already appeared by the non-existent fireplace.

"Aren't you going to take her there?" She pointed to the door that was still ajar and asked innocently.

"No, just the two of us. Where do you want to go?"

She gazed at the dancing flames in the fireplace and said, "It doesn't matter where you go. I think people feel beautiful when they are traveling."

"Then let's go casually, wherever we go?"

"That's fine."

Early the next morning, Luo Ji drove his Accord sedan out of the campus and headed west. He chose this direction simply because he would save the trouble of crossing the entire city. For the first time, he realized that there was no purpose. The wonderful freedom that comes with traveling around the world.When the buildings outside the car gradually thinned out and the fields began to appear, Luo Ji opened the car window a little to let the cold winter wind blow in. He felt her long hair being blown by the wind, and strands of her hair brushed against his right cheek. Up, it's itchy.

"Look, there are mountains over there—" she said, pointing to the distance.

"The visibility is good today. That's the Taihang Mountain. The mountain will always be parallel to the road, and then it will bend to this side and block the west. At that time, the road will enter the mountain. I think we are now..."

"No, no, don't say where it is! Once you know where it is, the world becomes as small as a map; if you don't know where it is, the world feels vast."

"Okay, let's try to get lost." Luo Ji said, turning on a side road with fewer cars, and turning on another road at random after not driving far.At this time, there are only continuous vast fields on both sides of the road, covered with large pieces of residual snow, the area with snow and without snow is about the same size, there is no green in sight, but the sun is shining brightly.

"The authentic northern scenery." Luo Ji said.

"For the first time, I felt that the earth can look good without green."

"The green is buried in this field. In early spring, when it is still very cold, the winter wheat will sprout. At that time, this place will be green. Think about it, such a vast area..."

"You don't need green. It's really beautiful now. Look, doesn't the earth look like a big cow sleeping in the sun?"

"What?" Luo Ji glanced at her in surprise, and then at the patches of snow-dotted land outside the car windows on both sides, "Ah, it really looks like... Let me tell you, which season do you like best?"

"autumn."

"Why not spring?"

"Spring... I feel so crowded together, it's tiring. Autumn is so good."

Luo Ji stopped the car, and got out of the car with her to the edge of the field, watching a few magpies foraging for food in the field, and they didn't fly to the distant trees until they got very close.Then they went down to a river bed that was almost dry. There was only a narrow stream in the middle of the river bed, but it was a northern river after all. They picked up cold pebbles in the river bed and threw them into the river. Water gushes from holes smashed in the thin ice.They passed a small town and spent a lot of time shopping in the market. She squatted in front of a goldfish stall and did not leave. The goldfish in those glass round fish tanks looked like a flowing flame in the sun. Luo Ji gave her I bought two and put them in a plastic bag with water on the back seat of the car.They entered a village, but did not find the feeling of the country. The yards of the houses were very new. There were cars parked at the gates of several houses. The roads on the concrete surface were also very wide. It's still very fashionable, and even the dogs on the street are the same long-haired and short-legged parasites as in the city.But the big stage at the head of the village was very interesting. They were amazed that such a tall stage was set up in such a small village.The stage was empty, so Luo Ji struggled to climb up, and sang "The Hawthorn Tree" facing the audience below her.At noon, they ate in another small town. The taste of the food here was similar to that in the city, except that the portions were almost doubled.After the meal, they sat drowsily in the warm sunshine on a bench in front of the town government for a while, and then drove away in a leisurely manner.

Before they knew it, they found that the road had entered the mountain. The shape of the mountain here was plain, without deep valleys and cliffs, and the vegetation was barren, only withered grass and bramble bushes in the gray rock crevices.For hundreds of millions of years, these tired mountains lay down, sinking into peace in the sunshine and time, which also made people walking on them feel as lazy as the mountains. "The mountains here are like an old man sitting at the head of a village basking in the sun." She said, but they didn't see such an old man in the villages they passed by, and no one was more leisurely than the mountains here.More than once, the car was blocked by a flock of sheep crossing the road, and the village they imagined appeared on the side of the road—with cave dwellings, persimmon trees and walnut trees, and stone bungalows stacked high on top of threshed grain. the corncobs, and the dogs got big and fierce.

They stopped and went in the mountains, and passed the afternoon unconsciously. The sun was setting and the road was already hidden in the shadows.Luo Ji drove along a dirt road with potholes and climbed up a high ridge that was still illuminated by the setting sun. They decided to use this place as the end point of their trip and return after watching the sun go down.Her long hair fluttered in the evening wind, as if trying to catch the last ray of golden light from the setting sun.

The car broke down as soon as it was back on the road, and the rear axle was broken, so I had to call for maintenance and rescue.Luo Ji waited for quite a while before he found out what this place was from a passing pickup truck driver. He was relieved that there was mobile phone coverage here. It takes at least four or five hours to get here.

After sunset, the temperature in the mountains dropped quickly, and when everything around him began to blur in the twilight, Luo Ji collected a large pile of corn stalks from a nearby terraced field and lit a fire.

"It's so warm, so nice!" She looked at the fire and became as happy as she was in front of the fireplace that night. Luo Ji was once again fascinated by her in the firelight, and he was overwhelmed by a tenderness he had never felt before. Like this bonfire, the sole purpose of living is to bring her warmth.

"Are there wolves here?" she asked, looking at the growing darkness around her.

"No, this is North China, the mainland. It looks desolate, but it's actually one of the most densely populated areas. Look at this road. On average, one car passes by every 2 minutes."

"I hope you say there are wolves." She smiled sweetly, watching a large group of sparks flying towards the stars in the night sky.

"Well, there are wolves, but there is me."

Then they did not speak any more, but sat silently by the fire, and from time to time put a handful of straw into the fire to keep it burning.

After an unknown amount of time, Luo Ji's cell phone rang, and it was Bai Rong calling.

"With her?" Bai Rong asked softly.

"No, I'm alone." Luo Ji said as he looked up. He wasn't lying to anyone. He was really alone. He was standing next to a bonfire beside a road in the Taihang Mountains, surrounded only by rocks that were faintly visible in the light of the fire. There are only stars in the sky.

"I know you're alone, but you're with her."

"...Yes." Luo Ji whispered, and then looked to the side, she was putting the straw into the fire, her smile and the blazing flames lit up the surroundings.

"Now you should believe that the kind of love I wrote about in the novel exists, right?"

"Yes, I believe it."

After Luo Ji said these four words, he immediately realized that the distance between himself and Bai Rong was really far away. They were silent for a long time. With their last contact.

"You also have such a him, don't you?" Luo Ji asked.

"Yes, very early."

"Where is he now?"

Luo Ji heard Bai Rong chuckle, "Where else can I be?"

Luo Ji also smiled, "Yeah, where else..."

"Okay, go to bed early, goodbye." Bai Rong hung up the phone after finishing speaking, the thread that spanned the long night was broken, and the people at both ends of the thread were a little sad, but that was all.

"It's too cold outside, can you sleep in the car?" Luo Ji said to her.

She shook her head slightly. "I want to be here with you. You like me by the fire, don't you?"

The maintenance truck from Shijiazhuang arrived in the middle of the night, and the two masters were very surprised to see Luo Ji sitting by the campfire: "Sir, you are really cold, and the engine is not broken, so go inside the car and turn on the air conditioner." Isn't it warmer than this?"

After the car was repaired, Luo Ji immediately drove back at full speed, rushed out of the mountains in the night and returned to the great plain.He arrived in Shijiazhuang early in the morning, and it was already ten o'clock in the morning when he returned to Beijing.

Luo Ji didn't go back to school, and drove straight to see a psychiatrist.

"You may need some adjustments, but it's nothing serious." After listening to Luo Ji's long narrative, the doctor told him.

"No big deal?" Luo Ji's bloodshot eyes widened, "I fell madly in love with a fictional character in a novel I conceived, lived with her, went out with her, and even wanted to be real because of her and myself. Your girlfriend broke up, and you still say it's nothing serious?"

The doctor smiled indulgently.

"Did you know? I gave my deepest love to a phantom!"

"Do you think that the objects of love of others are real?"

"Is there any doubt about it?"

"No, most people's love objects only exist in their own imagination. What they love is not her (him) in reality, but only her (him) in their imagination, and her (him) in reality ) is just a template for them to create their dream lover, sooner or later they will find the difference between the dream lover and the template, if they adapt to this difference they will come together, if they can't adapt, they will separate, it's that simple. You and most The human difference is this: you don't need templates."

"Isn't this a sickness?"

"It's just that, as your girlfriend pointed out, you have a high literary talent, and it's okay to call that talent pathological."

"Isn't it too much for imagination to reach this level?"

"Imagination is nothing too much, especially the imagination of love."

"Then what should I do in the future? How can I forget her?"

"Impossible, you can't forget her, don't make that kind of effort, it will have a lot of side effects, and even cause mental disorders, just let it be. I repeat: don't make the effort to forget her, no Useful, but as time goes by, her influence on your life will become less and less. In fact, you are very lucky, whether she really exists or not, you are very lucky to be able to love."

This was Luo Ji's most devoted love experience, and this kind of love is only once in a man's life.Afterwards, Luo Ji started his careless life again, just like the Accord car they drove when they traveled together, and they didn't care where they went.As the psychiatrist said, she was less and less of an influence in his life, when he was with a real woman, she wasn't there, and later, when he was alone, she was rarely there .But Luo Ji knew that the most secluded territory in his heart already belonged to her, and she would be there with him for the rest of his life.He can even clearly see the world she lives in, which is a peaceful snowfield, where the sky is always filled with silver stars and a crescent moon, but the snow keeps falling, the snowfield is as white and smooth as white sugar, quiet It's as if you can hear the sound of snowflakes falling on it.She was in an exquisite log cabin on the snowy field, this Eve that Luo Ji created out of the ribs of his own thoughts, sitting in front of the ancient fireplace, quietly watching the dancing flames.

Now, during this treacherous and unpredictable voyage, the lonely Luo Ji wanted her to accompany him, and wanted to guess with her what would be at the end of the voyage, but she did not show up.In the distance of his heart, Luo Ji saw her still sitting quietly in front of the fireplace, she would not feel lonely, because she knew where her world was located.

Luo Ji reached for the medicine bottle beside the bed, wanting to take a sleeping pill to force himself to fall asleep, but the moment before his fingers touched the medicine bottle, the medicine bottle flew up from the bedside table, and at the same time Luo Ji threw it on the bedside table. The clothes on the chairs, they went up to the ceiling, stayed there for two seconds and then fell down.Luo Ji felt his body also leave the bed, but because the sleeping bag was fixed, he didn't fly up. After the medicine bottle and clothes fell, Luo Ji also felt himself fall heavily back on the bed. For a few seconds, his body Feeling of being weighed down by something heavy and unable to move.The sudden weightlessness and overweight made him dizzy, but it lasted less than ten seconds, and soon everything returned to normal.

Luo Ji heard the rustling of footsteps on the carpet outside the door, several people were walking around, the door opened, and Shi Qiang poked his head in:

"Luo Ji, are you okay?" He didn't come in after hearing Luo Ji's answer, and closed the door. Luo Ji heard a low voice talking outside the door:

"It seems to be a little misunderstanding when the escort was handed over, it's fine."

"What did the superior say when he called just now?" This was Shi Qiang's voice.

"It is said that the escort formation will refuel in the air in one and a half hours, so let us not panic."

"Isn't this mentioned in the plan?"

"Hey, don't mention it. In the chaos just now, seven escort planes threw the auxiliary fuel tank [22]."

"Why are you so surprised? Forget it, go to sleep for a while, don't make it too nervous."

"How can I sleep in this state!"

"Leave someone to guard it. What can you do with such a waste of time? No matter how important the above emphasizes, I have my own views on security work: as long as what should be thought of and what should be done is done, the whole process must be done. If something happens, let it go, no one can do anything about it, right? Don’t just make things difficult for yourself.”

Hearing the word "escort handover", Luo Ji stood up and opened the partition of the porthole to look out. There was still a vast sea of ​​clouds, and the moon was already slanting towards the horizon in the night sky.He saw the trail of the fighter jet formation, which had now increased to six, and he took a closer look at the six small planes at the top of the trail, and found that their shape was different from the four he had seen before.

The bedroom door opened again, and Shi Qiang leaned in halfway and said to Luo Ji, "Brother Luo, don't worry about a little problem, there's nothing else to do in the future, just go on sleeping."

"Do you still have time to sleep? It's been flying for hours."

"You still have to fly for a few hours, so you can go to sleep." Shi Qiang said, closing the door and leaving.

Luo Ji got out of bed, picked up the medicine bottle, and found that Da Shi was so careful that there was only one medicine in it.He took the medicine, looked at the little red light under the porthole, imagined it to be the light of a fireplace, and gradually fell asleep.

When Shi Qiang woke Luo Ji up, he had slept without dreams for more than six hours, feeling very good.

"It's almost there, get up and get ready."

Luo Ji went to the bathroom to wash up, then returned to the office and ate a simple breakfast, when he felt the plane begin to descend.More than ten minutes later, the special plane that had been flying for fifteen hours landed smoothly.

Shi Qiang asked Luo Ji to wait in the office and went out by himself.Soon, he brought in a man with a European face, tall and neatly dressed, like a high-ranking official.

"Is it Dr. Luo Ji?" The official looked at Luo Ji and asked cautiously. After realizing that Shi Qiang's English was impeded, he asked again in very blunt Chinese.

"He is Luo Ji." Da Shi replied, and then briefly introduced to Luo Ji, "This is Mr. Kanter, who is here to greet you."

"It's an honor." Kanter said with a slight bow.

When shaking hands, Luo Ji felt that this man was very old-fashioned, hiding everything in politeness, but his eyes still revealed what was hidden.Luo Ji was very confused by that gaze. It seemed to be seeing a devil, but also an angel, a nuclear bomb, or a jewel of the same size... Luo Ji could distinguish the complex information conveyed by that gaze. There is only one thing: this moment is very important to this person's life.

Kanter said to Shi Qiang: "You have done a good job. Your link is the most concise. Others have some troubles in the process of coming."

"We followed the instructions of our superiors and followed the principle of minimizing links," Shi Qiang said.

"This is absolutely correct. Under the current conditions, reducing links is the greatest safety. We will follow this principle in the future, and we will go directly to the venue."

"When does the meeting start?"

"after an hour."

"The time card is so tight?"

"The meeting time is ad hoc based on the arrival time of the last candidate."

"This is better. So, can we hand over?"

"No, you are still responsible for the safety of this one. As I said, you are the best."

Shi Qiang was silent for two seconds, looked at Luo Ji, nodded and said, "When we came to familiarize ourselves with the situation two days ago, our personnel encountered a lot of trouble in their operations."

"I guarantee that this will not happen again in the future, and the local police and military will fully cooperate with you."

"Then," Kanter said, looking at the two, "we can go."

When Luo Ji walked out of the hatch, he saw that it was still dark outside, and thinking about the time of take-off, he could roughly know where he was on the earth.The fog was very heavy, and the lights cast a dim yellow in the fog. Everything in front of me seemed to be a reenactment of the scene when it took off: there was a patrol helicopter in the sky, and only the shadow of the lights could be vaguely seen in the fog; There was a circle of military vehicles and soldiers. They were all facing the outside. Several officers holding walkie-talkies gathered together to discuss something, and looked up at the gangway from time to time.Luo Ji heard a scalp-bombing roar from above, and even the steady Kanter covered his ears. When he looked up, he saw a row of blurry bright spots passing by at low altitude. They were escorting fighter formations. They still hovered above, their wakes marking a great circle in the sky that was barely visible through the mist, as if a cosmic giant had marked this part of the world with chalk.

The four of Luo Ji and his party boarded a car waiting at the end of the gangway, which was obviously bulletproof and reinforced, and the car drove away quickly.The curtains of the car windows were drawn, but judging from the light outside, Luo Ji knew that they were also caught in the middle of a convoy.Everyone was silent along the way, and Luo Ji knew that he was walking towards the final unknown.It feels like this section of the road is very long, but in fact it only took more than 40 minutes.

When Kanter said that he had arrived, Luo Ji noticed a shape seen through the curtain of the car window. Its silhouette could only be seen through the curtain due to the uniform light of the building behind the thing.Luo Ji would not have mistaken it, because its shape was too distinct and special: it was a huge revolver, but the barrel was tied in a knot.Unless there is a second sculpture like this in the world, Luo Ji already knows where he is now.

As soon as he got out of the car, Luo Ji was surrounded by a group of people who looked like security guards. They were tall and tall, and quite a few of them wore sunglasses at night.Luo Ji couldn't see the surrounding environment clearly, so he was surrounded by these people and walked forward. His feet almost lifted off the ground under their powerful siege. There was silence around him, only the rustling of everyone's footsteps.Just when this weird tense atmosphere almost caused Luo Ji's nerves to collapse, the few big men in front of him stepped aside, their eyes suddenly lit up, and then the rest of the people also stopped in their tracks, leaving only him, Shi Qiang, The three of Kanter continued on their way.They walked in a quiet hall, which was very empty. The only people there were a few black-clothed guards with walkie-talkies. Every time they passed by a person, that person whispered something on the walkie-talkie.The three of them passed a suspended balcony and saw a colorful glass plate, which was full of complicated lines, with deformed human and animal images mixed in the lines.Turning to the right, they entered a small room.After closing the door, Kanter and Shi Qiang looked at each other and smiled, and the two looked relieved.

Luo Ji looked around and found that it was a somewhat weird room. One wall at the end was filled with an abstract painting composed of yellow, white, blue, and black geometric shapes, which randomly intersected with each other. stacked, and suspended together on a piece of pure blue similar to the ocean; the strangest thing is that a large cuboid stone in the center of the room is illuminated by a few dim spotlights. If you look closely, the stone has a rust color texture.Abstract paintings and ashlars are the only two furnishings here, other than that, there is nothing in the small room.

"Dr. Luo Ji, do you need a change of clothes?" Kanter asked Luo Ji in English.

"What did he say?" Shi Qiang asked. After Luo Ji translated Kanter's words, Shi Qiang shook his head resolutely, "No, just wear this!"

"This, after all, is a formal occasion." Kanter said with difficulty in Chinese.

"No." Shi Qiang shook his head again.

"The venue is not open to the media, only representatives from various countries, it should be relatively safe."

"I said no. If I understand correctly, I am responsible for his safety now."

"Okay, these are small problems." Kanter compromised.

"You have to explain to him roughly." Shi Qiang said, tilting his head to Luo Ji.

"I'm not authorized to say anything."

"Just say whatever you want." Shi Qiang said with a smile.

Kanter turned to Luo Ji, his expression suddenly tense and serious, and he even adjusted his tie subconsciously. Only then did Luo Ji realize that he had been avoiding looking at him before.He also found that Shi Qiang seemed to be a different person at this time. His ever-present teasing smirk disappeared, replaced by a solemn face, and he stood at attention in a rare posture, looking at Kanter.At this time, Luo Ji knew that what Da Shi had said before was true: he really didn't know why he sent Luo Ji here.

Kantor said, "Dr. Luo Ji, all I can say is: you are about to attend an important meeting, and a very important matter will be announced at the meeting. Besides, you don't need to do anything at the meeting."

Then the three of them fell silent, and the room was completely silent, and Luo Ji could clearly hear his own heartbeat.Only later did he know that this room was called the Meditation Room, and that six-ton ​​stone was high-purity pig iron ore, which was a gift from Sweden to symbolize eternity and strength.But now, Luo Ji didn't want to meditate, but tried his best not to think about anything, because now he could really believe what Da Shi said: No matter how you think, you will think wrongly.To do this, he started counting the number of geometric shapes on that abstract painting.

The door opened, and a person poked his head in and motioned to Kanter, who then turned to Luo Ji and Shi Qiang: "It's time to go in. Dr. Luo Ji doesn't know anyone, so I can go in with him, so that there won't be any trouble. What commotion."

Shi Qiang nodded, waved to Luo Ji with a smile and said, "I'll wait for you outside." Luo Ji's heart warmed up. At this moment, Da Shi was his only spiritual support.

Then, Luo Ji followed Kanter out of the meditation room and into the United Nations General Assembly Hall.

The conference hall was already full of people, and there was a buzzing voice. Kanter led Luo Ji along the aisle between the seats. At first, no one noticed, until they walked too far, That made a few people turn their heads to look.Kantor arranged for Luo Ji to sit on the aisle seat in the fifth row, while he continued to walk forward and sat down on the edge of the second row.

Luo Ji looked up at this place that he had seen countless times on TV, and felt that he could not understand the image that the architect wanted to express.The tall yellow wall inlaid with the United Nations emblem directly in front, as the background of the rostrum, leans forward at an angle of less than [-] degrees, like a cliff that may fall at any time; However, the structure is separated from the big yellow wall below, which does not increase the sense of stability of the latter at all. Instead, a huge pressure is generated from the height, which aggravates the instability of the big wall. A sense of oppression that could overturn.Now it seems that all this is simply the brilliant prediction of the human condition today by the eleven architects who designed this place in the middle of the last century.

Luo Ji looked away from a distance, and heard the conversation between the two people sitting next to him. Their English was very idiosyncratic, and their nationality was unclear.

"...do you really believe in the role of the individual in history?"

"Well, I think it is a question that cannot be proven or falsified, unless time starts again, let us kill a few great people, and then see how history will go. Of course, one possibility cannot be ruled out: the dams built by those big people And the channels dug out really set the course of history."

"But there's another possibility: the big men you're talking about are just athletes who swim in the river of history, setting world records, winning plaudits and fame, and going down in history because of it, but it has nothing to do with the direction of the river... Alas, things I’ve come this far, is it still interesting to think about it?”

"The problem is that in the entire decision-making process, no one has ever thought about the problem from this level. All countries are entangled in things such as choosing people to balance resources and use power..."

……

The venue was quiet, and UN Secretary-General Saye was walking on the rostrum. She was the third beautiful politician from the Philippines to the world after Mrs. Aquino and Arroyo. She also spanned two eras before and after the crisis in this position. one of.It's just that if she votes later, she will definitely not be elected. When human beings are facing the three-body crisis, her image of an Asian lady obviously does not have the sense of power expected by the world.Now, her petite body is under the cliff that will fall behind her, making her look extremely weak and helpless.In the middle of Sai walking up to the rostrum, Kanter stood up and stopped her, and whispered something in her ear. The secretary-general glanced down, nodded, and continued to walk up to the rostrum.

Luo Ji was certain that she was looking at where he was sitting.

On the rostrum, the Secretary-General looked around the venue and said: "Planetary Defense Council No. 19 meeting is now entering the final agenda: Announce the list of the final selected Wallfacers and announce the start of the Wallfacer project."

"Before entering the formal agenda, I think it is necessary to conduct a brief review of the wall-facing plan."

"When the Three-Body Crisis emerged, the former permanent members of the Security Council conducted emergency consultations and put forward the original idea of ​​the Wallface plan."

"Every country has noticed the following fact: After the first two sophons appeared, more and more evidences have shown that more sophons are constantly reaching the solar system and entering the earth, and this process is still going on. Therefore, For the enemy, the earth is now a completely transparent world, for them, everything in this world is ready to be read at any time like an open book, and human beings have no secrets to speak of."

"Currently, the mainstream defense plan that the international community has launched, whether it is its overall strategic thinking or the tiniest technical and military details, is completely exposed to the enemy's vision, in all conference rooms, in all filing cabinets, In all computer hard drives and memories, sophon eyes are everywhere. A plan, a plan, a deployment, no matter how big or small, when they appear on Earth, they will be at the enemy headquarters four light-years away at the same time. Shows that any form of communication within humans leads to leaks."

"We should pay attention to the fact that the level of strategy and tactics is not directly proportional to technological progress. It has been proved by definite information that the Trisolarans communicate directly with transparent thinking, which makes them use tricks, camouflage The incompetence in deception and deception also gives human civilization a huge advantage over the enemy, and we must not lose this advantage. Therefore, the founders of the Wallface project believe that in addition to the mainstream defense plan, there should be several other parallel developments. These plans are opaque and secret to the enemy. Various options were conceived at first, but in the end only the Wallfacer plan was determined to be feasible."

"Should correct the point I said before: So far, human beings still have secrets, and our secrets are the inner world of each of us. Sophons can understand human language, and can read printed text and various computer media storage at super high speed. information, but they cannot read people's thinking, so as long as they do not communicate with the outside world, everyone is an eternal secret to Sophon, which is the basis of the wall-facing project."

"The core of the Wall Facing Plan is to select a group of strategic planners and leaders who formulate strategic plans entirely on their own thinking without any form of communication with the outside world. The real strategic thinking of the plan, the completed steps and the final The purpose is only hidden in their brains. We call them Wallfacers. The name of this ancient oriental meditator well reflects their work characteristics. The thoughts and behaviors shown should be complete illusions, carefully planned camouflage, misleading and deceiving. What the Wallfacers want to mislead and deceive is the entire world, including the enemy and their own, and finally establish a huge and confusing world. The maze of false illusions makes the enemy lose correct judgment in this maze, and delays as much as possible the time for him to ascertain our real strategic intentions."

"The Wallfacers will be granted very high powers, enabling them to mobilize and use part of the war resources already on Earth. During the execution of the strategic plan, the Wallfacers do not have to give any explanations for their actions and orders, regardless of How incomprehensible is this kind of behavior. The behavior of the Wallfacers will be supervised and controlled by the United Nations Planetary Defense Council, which is the only institution that has the power to finally veto the Wallfacers' orders in accordance with the United Nations Wallface Act."

"In order to ensure the continuity of the Wallfacer plan, all Wallfacers will use hibernation technology to span time until they reach the era of the final decisive battle. The Wallfacers decide on their own. In the next four centuries, the United Nations Wallfacer Act will exist as an international law with the same status as the UN Charter. It will work with the corresponding laws formulated by various countries to ensure the implementation of the Wallfacer's strategic plan. "

"The task undertaken by the Wallfacers will be the most difficult mission in human history. They are true loners who will completely close their hearts to the entire world and even the entire universe. What they can confide and communicate with is their spiritual The only ones to rely on are themselves. They will shoulder this great mission and walk through the long years alone. Here, let me express my deep respect to them on behalf of the human society."

"Next, in the name of the United Nations, I will announce the four Wallfacers finally selected by the United Nations Planetary Defense Council..."

Luo Ji was deeply attracted by the Secretary-General's speech. Like all the participants, he held his breath and waited for the announcement of the list, wondering who would take on this incredible mission. In the back of my mind, because whatever happens to me is insignificant compared to this historic moment.

"The first Wallfacer: Frederick Taylor."

As soon as the Secretary-General's voice fell, Taylor stood up from the first row of seats, walked up to the rostrum calmly, and faced the venue expressionlessly. There was no applause, and everyone just focused their eyes on the first row in the silence. On a Wallfacer.Tall and lanky, wearing wide-rimmed glasses, Taylor has long been familiar to the world.He is the US Secretary of Defense who has just stepped down, and he is a person who has had a profound impact on US national strategy.His thoughts are concentrated in a book called "The Truth of Technology". Taylor believes that the ultimate beneficiaries of technology will be small countries, and big countries spare no effort to develop technology, which is actually laying the foundation for small countries to lead to world hegemony.Because with the development of technology, the population and resource advantages of big countries will no longer be important, and technology is a lever that may move the earth for small countries.One of the consequences of nuclear technology is that it is possible for a small country with a population of only a few million to pose a substantial threat to a large country with a population of over [-] million. Before the advent of nuclear technology, this was almost impossible.One of Taylor's important arguments is: the advantages of big countries are actually only real advantages in the low-tech era. The rapid development of technology will eventually weaken the advantages of big countries, and at the same time increase the strategic weight of small countries. Achieve world hegemony like Spain and Portugal did back then.Taylor's thoughts undoubtedly provided a theoretical basis for the United States' global counter-terrorism strategy.Taylor is not only a strategic theorist, but also a giant of action. He has won wide acclaim for his courage and foresight in dealing with many major crises.Therefore, no matter in terms of depth of thought or leadership ability, Taylor is well-deserved as a Wallfacer.

"The second Wallfacer: Manuel Reydíaz."

When this brown-skinned, stout, and stubborn-eyed South American stepped onto the rostrum, Luo Ji was very surprised. It was already very unusual for this person to appear in the United Nations.But thinking about it again, Luo Ji felt that this was reasonable, and even wondered why he hadn't thought of him just now.Rey Diaz is the current president of Venezuela, and he leads his country, a perfect practice of Taylor's theory of the rise of small countries.As the successor of Hugo Chavez, Rey Diaz continued the "Bolivarian Revolution" started by the former in 1999. In today's world where capitalism and market economy have become king, Rey Diaz carried out what Chavez proposed in Venezuela. The so-called "socialism in the 21st century", on the basis of drawing lessons from the experience and lessons of the international socialist movement in the last century, has unexpectedly achieved great success, and has rapidly improved the strength of the country in various fields.For a time, Venezuela became the world's attention as a city on a hill that symbolized equality, justice and prosperity, and various countries in South America followed suit. For a while, socialism had spread across South America.Rey Diaz not only inherited Chavez's socialist ideology, but also inherited the latter's strong anti-American tendency, which made the United States realize that if it continues to develop, its Latin American backyard may become the second Soviet Union .When a once-in-a-lifetime excuse caused by accident and misunderstanding appeared, the United States immediately launched a full-scale invasion of Venezuela, trying to completely overthrow the Rey Diaz government in accordance with the Iraqi model. The invincible momentum of a small Third World country.When the U.S. military entered Venezuela, they found that the country’s uniformed army had disappeared, and the entire army was split into guerrilla groups with squads as units, all lurking in the civilian population, with the sole combat goal of killing the enemy’s vital forces.Rey Diaz's basic operational thinking is based on such a clear concept: modern high-tech weapons are mainly used to deal with concentrated point targets. For area targets, their effectiveness is not higher than traditional weapons, plus Cost and quantity constraints are basically difficult to play a role.Rey Diaz is also a genius for using high technology with less money.At the beginning of this century, an Australian engineer built a cruise missile for only five thousand dollars for the purpose of arousing the public's vigilance against terrorists.When it came to Ray Diaz, mass production reduced the cost to three thousand dollars, and a total of 20 such cruise missiles were produced to equip the thousands of guerrilla groups.Although the components used in these missiles are all cheap and popular products on the market, they are fully equipped with altimetry radar and global positioning functions, and the hit accuracy within a range of five kilometers does not exceed five meters.Although less than one-tenth of the missiles hit the target throughout the war, they also caused huge damage to the enemy.Rey Diaz also used a large number of other high-tech gadgets that can be mass-produced in the war, such as sniper rifle bullets equipped with proximity fuzes, etc., and also achieved brilliant results.The casualties of the U.S. military in the Venezuelan War reached the level of the Vietnam War in a short period of time, and they had to withdraw in a disastrous defeat.Rey Diaz thus became a hero of the 21st century who defeated the strong with the weak.

"The third Wallfacer: Bill Hines."

A mild-mannered Englishman walked up to the rostrum. Compared with Taylor's indifference and Rey Diaz's stubbornness, he seemed polite and greeted the venue with style.This is also a person who is familiar to the world, but without the aura of the previous two.Hines' life was divided into two distinct phases.As a scientist, he was the only scientist in history who was nominated for two Nobel Prizes in different disciplines at the same time for the same discovery.In his research with brain scientist Keiko Yamasugi, he found that the brain's thinking and memory activities are carried out at the quantum level, rather than at a molecular level as previously thought.This discovery pushed the brain mechanism down to the microscopic level of matter, and also made all the previous research on brain science a superficial article.This discovery also proves that the information processing ability of the animal brain is several orders of magnitude higher than previously imagined, thus making possible the holographic structure of the brain that has been speculated [23].As a result, Hines was nominated for two Nobel Prizes in physics and physiology, but because this discovery was too revolutionary, he did not receive these two awards. Instead, Keiko Yamasugi, who had become his wife at this time, should have He won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine that year for the specific application of this theory in the treatment of amnesia and mental illness.The second phase of Hines' life was as a politician, serving as the EU President for two and a half years.Hines is recognized as a steady and experienced politician, but he did not encounter many challenges to demonstrate his political talents when he was in office. At the same time, from the nature of the work of the EU, he is more engaged in transactional coordination For work, he is far behind the first two in terms of qualifications to face a super crisis.But the selection of Hines obviously took into account his comprehensive qualities in science and politics, and it is true that there are not many people who have such a perfect combination of the two.

At this time, in the last row of seats in the venue, Keiko Yamasugi, the world's authority on brain science, was looking at her husband on the rostrum affectionately.

The venue was silent, and everyone was waiting for the announcement of the last Wallfacer.The first three Wallfacers: Taylor, Rey Diaz, and Hines are the result of the political balance and compromise among the United States, the third world, and Europe, and the last one is particularly eye-catching.Watching Say shift his gaze to the piece of paper in the folder again, Luo Ji's mind quickly flashed one by one world-renowned names, and the last Wallfacer should be born among these people.His eyes flicked across the four rows of seats, scanning the backs of those in the first row, from where the first three Wallfacers walked up to the rostrum, from the backs he couldn't tell whether any of the people he thought of were present, but The fourth Wallfacer must be sitting there.

Say slowly raised her right hand, and Luo Ji followed that hand with his eyes, noticing that it was not pointing to the first row.

Say's finger pointed at him—

"The fourth Wallfacer: Luo Ji."

"Ah, my Hubble!"

Albert Ringer clasped his hands together and shouted, the tears in his eyes reflected the dazzling flame that burst out in the distance, and the roar came several seconds later.Originally, he and his cheering astronomy and physics colleagues behind him were supposed to watch the launch from the closer VIP stands, but that son of a bitch NASA official said they weren't eligible to be there because it was about to go up no longer belong to them.Then the man turned to the group of well-dressed generals, and with dog-like obsequiousness, led them past the sentry post to the stands.Ringer and his colleagues had to come to this much farther place, across a lake from the launch point, where there is a large countdown board erected in the last century, open to the public, but it is late at night, except for scientists Besides, there are not many people watching.

From this distance, the scene of the launch is very similar to the fast shot of the sunrise. After the rocket ascended, the spotlight searchlight did not keep up with it, so the huge rocket body could not be seen clearly, only the flames were seen, hidden in the night The world suddenly appeared in its majestic light, and a brilliant golden wave was rippling on the lake, which was originally as black as ink, as if the lake was ignited by the flame.They watched the rocket rise, turning half the sky a dreamlike red as it pierced through the thin clouds, before disappearing into the Florida night sky, the brief dawn it brought was overshadowed by the long swallowed by the darkness of night.

The Hubble II Space Telescope is the second generation of the Hubble Space Telescope. Its diameter has been expanded from the latter's 4.27 meters to 21 meters, and its observation capability has been increased by fifty times.It adopts the lens combination technology to assemble the lens components manufactured on the ground into a complete mirror on the space track.It will take eleven launches to send the entire set of lenses into space, and this is the last.Meanwhile, the assembly of Hubble II near the International Space Station is nearing completion.After two months, it can direct its vision to the depths of the universe.

"You gang of robbers have taken away another beautiful thing!" Linge said to the tall man next to him. He was the only one present who was not moved by this sight. He had seen this kind of launch a lot. , the whole time he just leaned on the countdown card and smoked.George Fitzroy was the military representative after the Hubble II Space Telescope was requisitioned. Since he wore civilian clothes most of the time, Ringer did not know his military rank and never called him Mr. He called the robbers by their first names. That's it.

"Doctor, the military has the right to expropriate all civilian facilities during wartime. Besides, you guys didn't grind a lens assembly or design a screw for Hubble II. You are all people who enjoy what you get, and it's not your turn to complain. You guys." Fitzroy yawned and said, dealing with these nerds is really hard work.

"But without us, it loses its meaning of existence! Civilian facilities? It can see the edge of the universe, and you short-sighted people only plan to use it to stare at the nearest star!"

"As I said, this is a wartime, a war to defend all mankind. Even if you forget that you are an American, at least remember that you are a human being."

Ringer hummed and nodded, then sighed and shook his head, "But what do you expect to see with Hubble [-]? You must know that it is impossible to observe the three-body planet."

"It's even worse now that the public even thinks Hubble II can see Trisolaran," Fitzroy said with a sigh.

"Oh? Very good." Ringer said, his face was blurred in the night, but Fitzroy could feel his gloating expression, which made him uncomfortable like a certain pungent smell that was filling the air , this smell is blown by the wind from the launch pad.

"Doctor, you should know the consequences of this matter."

"If the public has such expectations for Hubble II, they may not really believe the existence of the enemy until they see the photos of Trisolaran Fleet with their own eyes!"

"You think it's good?"

"Haven't you explained it to the public?"

"Of course I explained it! Four press conferences were held for this purpose, and I repeatedly stated: Although the Hubble [-] Space Telescope's observation capability is dozens of times that of the largest existing telescope, it is absolutely impossible for it to see the Trisolaran fleet They are so small! Observing the satellite of another star in the universe from the solar system is like observing a mosquito next to a desk lamp on the east coast of the United States from the west coast of the United States, and the Trisolaran fleet is only as big as the bacteria on the mosquito's leg. I put Is that clear enough?"

"Clear enough."

"But the public is willing to think that way, what can we do? I've been in this position for a long time, and I haven't seen a major space program that hasn't been twisted by them."

"I said earlier that the military has lost fundamental credibility when it comes to the space program."

"But they are willing to believe you. Don't they call you the second Carl Sagan? You have made a lot of money with your popular books on cosmology. Please come out and help. This is what the military means. I Officially conveyed."

"Shall we discuss terms in private?"

"No conditions! You are fulfilling the responsibilities of an American citizen, no, a citizen of the earth."

"How about increasing the observation time allocated to me, the requirements are not high, and the ratio is raised to one-fifth?"

"The current one-eighth ratio is pretty good, and no one knows if this ratio can be guaranteed in the future." Fitzroy waved his finger and pointed to the distance in the direction of the launch pad. The smoke left by the rocket was spreading, painting a picture in the night sky The dirty piece was illuminated by the light on the ground launcher, like milk stains on jeans, and the unpleasant smell became even stronger.The first stage of the rocket uses liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen fuel, and there should be no smell. It may be that the flames burned something near the diversion slot under the launch pad. Fitzroy continued, "I tell you, all of this will definitely It's getting worse."

Luo Ji felt the sloping cliff on the rostrum pressing down on him, and he froze there for a moment. There was no sound in the hall, until a low voice came from behind him: "Dr. Luo Ji, please." The steps walked to the rostrum.During this short journey, Luo Ji seemed to have returned to his childhood, full of the helplessness of a child, eager to hold someone's hand and move forward, but no one extended his hand to him.He walked up to the rostrum, stood next to Hines, turned to face the venue, and faced hundreds of eyes gathered on him. Those eyes cast on him represented 200 billion people in more than 60 countries on the earth. .

Luo Ji had no idea what the upcoming meetings would be. He only knew that after standing for a while, he was led off the rostrum and sat in the center of the first row with the other three Wallfacers. In the confusion, he missed the historic moment of announcing the launch of the Wall Facing Project.

After an unknown amount of time, the meeting seemed to be over, and people began to get up and leave. The three Wallfacers sitting on Luo Ji's left also left. A person, who seemed to be Kanter, whispered something in his ear, Then he left too.The venue was empty, only the Secretary-General was still standing on the rostrum, her petite figure facing him far away under the falling cliff.

"Dr. Luo Ji, I think you have a question to ask." Sai's soft female voice echoed in the empty venue, as ethereal as if it came from the sky.

"Did I make a mistake?" Luo Ji said, his voice was equally ethereal, and it didn't feel like he was making it himself.

Say smiled from a distance on the rostrum, and the meaning was very clear: Do you think this is possible?

"Why me?" Luo Ji asked again.

"It's up to you to find out for yourself," Say replied.

"I'm just an ordinary person."

"In the face of this crisis, we are all ordinary people, but we all have our own responsibilities."

"I was not consulted beforehand and I knew nothing about it."

Sai smiled again, "Your name is LOGIC?"

"Yes."

"Then you should be able to imagine that it is impossible to ask the opinion of the person who will undertake it before this kind of mission is delivered."

"I refuse." Luo Ji said decisively, without thinking about what Say said above.

"can."

The answer came so quickly, almost seamlessly connecting with Luo Ji's words, it made him feel at a loss for a while.He was in a daze for a few seconds and then said: "I renounce my identity as a Wallfacer, I renounce all the powers I have been granted, and I will not assume any responsibilities you have imposed on me."

"can."

The succinct answer was still followed by Luo Ji's words, as light and quick as a touch of water, causing Luo Ji's brain, which had just been able to think, to go blank again.

"Then can I go?" Luo Ji could only ask these few words.

"Yes, Dr. Luo Ji, you can do anything."

Luo Ji turned and walked, passing through rows of empty chairs.Just now, it was extremely easy to push away the identity and responsibility of the Wallfacer, which did not make him feel the slightest relief or comfort. Now, what fills his consciousness is only an absurd sense of unreality. All of this seems to have no logic at all. postmodern drama.

When he got to the exit of the venue, Luo Ji looked back. Sai was still standing on the rostrum looking at him. Her figure looked small and helpless under the big cliff. Seeing him turn his head, she nodded and smiled at him. .

Luo Ji turned and continued walking. Beside the Fourier pendulum hanging at the exit of the venue, which could show the rotation of the earth, he met Shi Qiang, Kanter, and a group of security guards in black suits.They looked at him with questioning eyes, but in those eyes there was more awe and reverence that Luo Ji had never felt before. Even Shi Qiang and Kanter, who had maintained a relatively natural attitude towards him before, did not show any emotion at this time. This expression was concealed.Luo Ji passed between them without saying a word.He walked through the empty vestibule, which was the same as when he came here, only the black-clad guards, and every time he passed one of them, the man whispered something on the walkie-talkie.When Luo Ji came to the gate of the conference center, Shi Qiang and Kanter stopped him.

"There may be danger outside, do you need security guards?" Shi Qiang asked.

"No need, go away." Luo Ji replied, looking ahead.

"Okay, we can only do as you say." Shi Qiang said, and Kanter moved out of the way, and Luo Ji went out.

The cool air was blowing in, and it was still dark, but the lights were bright, illuminating everything outside clearly.The representatives of the Special UN General Assembly had already left by car. At this time, most of the sparse people in the square were tourists and ordinary citizens. The news of this historic meeting had not yet been released, so they did not know Luo Ji. Did he appear? draw any attention.

The Wallfacer Luo Ji just sleepwalked in the absurd reality, lost all rational thinking ability in a trance, didn't know where he came from, let alone where he was going.Unknowingly, he walked to the lawn, came to a sculpture, glanced inadvertently, and saw that it was a man smashing a sword with a hammer, which was a gift from the former Soviet government to the United Nations. It's called "casting swords into plows".But in Luo Ji's current impression, the hammer, the strong man, and the bent sword beneath him form an extremely powerful composition, making this work full of hints of violence.

Sure enough, Luo Ji felt as if he had been slammed into the chest by that man. The huge impact made him fall on his back, and he lost consciousness even before his body touched the grass.But the shock didn't last long, and his consciousness soon partially recovered from the severe pain and dizziness. His eyes were full of glare from the flashlight, so he had to close his eyes.Later, the aperture moved away from his eyes, and he vaguely saw a circle of human faces above him. In the black fog caused by dizziness and severe pain, he recognized one of Shi Qiang's faces, and at the same time he heard his voice. the sound of:
"Do you need security protection? We can only do as you say!"

Luo Ji nodded feebly.Then everything was lightning fast, and he felt himself being lifted, as if on a stretcher, and the stretcher was lifted.There was always a tight circle of people around him, and he felt that he was in a narrow pit whose walls were made of human bodies. Since all he could see above the mouth of the "pit" was the black night sky, he could only see from the top of the "pit". Judging from the movements of the legs of the people around him, he was being carried away.Soon, the "pit" disappeared, and so did the night sky above, replaced by the illuminated roof of the ambulance.Luo Ji felt the smell of blood in his mouth. He felt sick and turned over and vomited it out. The person next to him professionally caught his vomit with a plastic bag. Apart from the blood, what he vomited out also included food eaten on the plane. thing.After throwing up, someone put an oxygen mask on his face, and he felt better after breathing freely, but the pain in his chest was still there. He felt the clothes on his chest being torn open, and imagined in horror the wounds gushing out there. There was blood, but that didn't seem to be the case, they didn't bandage or anything, they just put a blanket on him.Not long after, the car stopped, Luo Ji was lifted out of the car, and he saw the night sky and the top of the hospital corridor moving up one by one, and then he saw the ceiling of the emergency room, and the red light from the CT scanner. The long slit moved slowly across his top, with the faces of doctors and nurses appearing above him at times, causing him pain as they examined and manipulated his chest.Finally, when the ceiling above him was the ceiling of the ward, everything finally settled down.

"A rib is broken, and there is slight internal bleeding, but it's not serious. Anyway, you're not seriously injured, but because of the internal bleeding, you need to rest now." A doctor wearing glasses looked down at him and said.

This time, Luo Ji did not refuse the sleeping pills. After taking the pills with the help of the nurses, he quickly fell asleep.In the dream, the forward-leaning cliff on the rostrum of the United Nations venue fell down on him again and again, and the man who "forged a sword into a plow" smashed at him again and again with a hammer. These two scenes appeared alternately.Later, he came to the quiet snow field in the deepest part of his heart, and walked into the simple and exquisite log cabin. The Eve he created stood up from the fireplace, looking at him with tears in those beautiful eyes... Luo Ji woke up once at this time, feeling that his tears were also flowing, soaking a small piece of the pillow, the light in the ward had been dimmed for him, she did not appear when he was awake, so he I fell asleep again and wanted to go back to the cabin, but the rest of my sleep was dreamless.

When he woke up again, Luo Ji knew that he had slept for a long time, and felt that his energy had recovered a little. Although the pain in his chest came and went, he felt convinced that his injury was not serious.He tried to sit up, but the blond nurse didn't stop him, but raised the pillow to help him lie on it.After a while, Shi Qiang walked into the ward and sat down by his bed.

"How do you feel? I've been shot three times while wearing body armor. It shouldn't be a big deal," Shi Qiang said.

"Da Shi, you saved my life," Luo Ji said feebly.

Shi Qiang waved his hands, "It should be regarded as our negligence of duty when this happened. At that time, we didn't take the most effective defense measures. We can only listen to you. It's all right now."

"Where are the three of them?" Luo Ji asked.

Da Shi immediately understood who he was referring to, "It's all good, they are not as rash as you, and walked outside alone."

"Is ETO trying to kill us?"

"It should be. The murderer has been arrested. Fortunately, we have set up snake eyes behind you."

"what?"

"A very sophisticated radar system can quickly determine the location of the shooter based on the trajectory of the bullet. The identity of the murderer has been determined. He is an expert in guerrilla warfare from the ETO military organization. We didn't expect him to dare to attack in such a central area, so he The operation was almost suicidal."

"I want to see him."

"Who, the murderer?"

Luo Ji nodded.

"Okay, but it's not within my authority. I'm only responsible for security. I'll ask for instructions." After Shi Qiang finished speaking, he got up and went out. He looked cautious and serious now, which was very different from the carefree person before. , making Luo Ji a little uncomfortable for a while.

Shi Qiang came back soon and said to Luo Ji, "Okay, let's meet here, or another place? The doctor said you'll be fine when you get up and walk."

Luo Ji wanted to say change places and get up and get out of bed, but after thinking about it, this sickly look was more to his liking, so he lay down on the bed again, "Let's just stay here."

"They are coming, and we have to wait for a while. You should eat something first. It's been a whole day before eating on the plane. I'll go and make arrangements first." After Shi Qiang finished speaking, he got up and went out again.

Luo Ji had just finished eating when the murderer was brought in. He was a young man with a handsome European face, but his most distinctive feature was his faint smile, which seemed to grow on his face , never subsides.He didn't wear handcuffs or anything, but as soon as he came in, he was held down by two professional-looking escorts and sat on a chair. At the same time, there were two people standing at the door of the ward. Luo Ji saw that there were three letters on the badges they were wearing. Departmental shorthand, but neither the FBI nor the CIA.

Luo Ji tried his best to look as if he was dying, but the murderer immediately exposed him: "Doctor, it doesn't seem so serious." The murderer smiled when he said this. This is another kind of smile, superimposed on his On the ever-present smile, like oil stains floating on water, fleeting, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for killing me?" Luo Ji turned from the pillow to look at the murderer and said.

"I'm sorry I didn't kill you. I thought you wouldn't wear body armor in such a meeting. I didn't expect you to be a person who doesn't care about small things in order to save your life. Otherwise, I would use armor-piercing bullets, or simply shoot at your head. Shoot, and then I've done my job, and you're freed from what this perverted, abnormal human being can undertake."

"I'm already free. I rejected the Wallfacer mission to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and gave up all my rights and responsibilities. She also agreed on behalf of the United Nations. Of course, you must not have known this when you killed me. ETO was wasted A good killer."

The smile on the murderer's face brightens, like turning up the brightness of a monitor, "You have a good sense of humor."

"What do you mean? What I said is absolutely true, don't believe it..."

"I believe, but you are really humorous." The murderer said, still maintaining that bright smile, this smile Luo Ji has just inadvertently remembered, but soon it will be like hot molten iron on him. It left a mark on his consciousness, causing him pain for the rest of his life.

Luo Ji shook his head, heaved a sigh of relief and lay on his back, not speaking anymore.

The murderer said: "Doctor, we don't seem to have much time. I think you didn't ask me here just to make such a childish joke."

"I still don't understand what you mean."

"If this is the case, for a Wallfacer, your intelligence is not qualified. Dr. Luo Ji, you are too LOGIC. It seems that my life is really wasted." The two guarded people behind him said, "Gentlemen, I think we can go."

Those two looked at Luo Ji with questioning eyes, Luo Ji waved his hands at them, and the murderer was taken out.

Luo Ji sat up from the bed, pondering over the murderer's words, with a strange feeling that there must be something wrong, but he didn't know what was wrong.He got out of bed and took two steps, nothing serious except for a dull pain in his chest.He walked to the door of the ward, opened the door and looked out. The two people sitting at the door stood up immediately. They were both guards with submachine guns. One of them said something to the walkie-talkie on his shoulder. .Luo Ji saw that the clear corridor was empty, but there were also two guards with loaded guns at the end.He closed the door, went back to the window and opened the curtains. Looking down from here, he found that the hospital gate was also full of heavily armed guards, and there were two green military vehicles parked there, except for one or two in white clothes occasionally. The hospital staff hurried past without seeing anyone else.Taking a closer look, he also found that there were two people on the opposite building looking around with binoculars, with a sniper rifle next to them. Intuitively, he was sure that there were also such guard snipers on the roof where he was.These guards are not from the police, they are all soldiers in their attire.Luo Ji called Shi Qiang.

"This hospital is still under strict security, isn't it?" Luo Ji asked.

"Yes."

"What will happen if I ask you to remove these warnings?"

"We will do it, but I advise you not to do it, it's dangerous now."

"What department are you in? What are you in charge of?"

"I belong to the National Earth Defense and Security Department and am responsible for your safety."

"But I'm not a Wallfacer anymore, I'm just an ordinary citizen. Even if my life is in danger, it should be an ordinary matter for the police. How can I enjoy such a level of protection from the Earth's defense and security department? And I will withdraw as soon as I ask, and I will let the Come on, who gave me this power?"

There was no expression on Shi Qiang's face, like a rubber mask, "This is the order given to us."

"What about... Kanter?"

"outside."

"Call him!"

After Da Shi went out, Kanter came in quickly, and he regained the polite expression of a UN official.

"Dr. Luo Ji, I wanted to see you after your recovery."

"What are you doing here now?"

"I'm in charge of your day-to-day liaison with the Planetary Defense Council."

"But I'm no longer a Wallfacer!" Luo Ji said loudly, and then asked, "Has the news about the Wallfacer Project been released?"

"Published to the world."

"Then what if I refuse to do the things of the Wallfacer?"

"Of course it's in the news."

"What did you say?"

"It's very simple: after the end of this special session of the UN General Assembly, Luo Ji declared that he rejected the identity and mission of the Wallfacers."

"Then what are you doing here?"

"I'm in charge of your daily contact."

Luo Ji looked blankly at Kanter, who seemed to be wearing the same rubber mask as Da Shi, and couldn't see anything.

"If there's nothing else, I'm leaving. You can take a good rest, and you can call me anytime." Kanter said, then turned and walked away. As soon as he reached the door, Luo Ji stopped him.

"I want to see the Secretary-General of the United Nations."

"The specific command and execution organization of the Wallface project is the Planetary Defense Council, and the highest leader is the rotating chairman of the PDC. The Secretary-General of the United Nations has no direct leadership relationship with the PDC."

Luo Ji thought for a while and said, "I'd better see the secretary-general. I should have the right."

"Okay, please wait a moment." Kanter turned and walked out of the ward, and came back soon. He said, "The Secretary-General is waiting for you in the office. Shall we leave now?"

The office of the Secretary-General of the United Nations is on the 34th floor of the Secretariat Building. Luo Ji was still under strict protection along the way, as if he was contained in a movable safe.The office was smaller than he had imagined, and it was very simple. The United Nations flag erected behind the desk took up a lot of space. Say came out from behind the desk to greet Luo Ji.

"Dr. Luo Ji, I was going to visit you in the hospital yesterday, but look..." She pointed to the desk full of documents, where the only thing that could show the personality of the hostess was a delicate dog Bamboo pen holder.

"Ms. Say, I'm here to reiterate the statement I made to you after the meeting," Luo Ji said.

Say nodded, but said nothing.

"I want to go back to my country. If I am in danger now, please report to the New York Police Department on my behalf. They will be responsible for my safety. I am just an ordinary citizen and do not need PDC to protect me."

Say nodded again, "Of course it can be done, but I still recommend that you accept the current protection, because this kind of protection is more professional and reliable than the New York police."

"Please answer me honestly: Am I still a Wallfacer?"

Say returned to the desk, stood under the UN flag, and smiled at Luo Ji: "What do you think?" At the same time, she gestured to the sofa for Luo Ji to sit down.

Luo Ji found that the smile on Say's face was very familiar. He had seen this smile on the young murderer's face, and he would see it in the faces and eyes of everyone who faced him in the future. .This smile, which would become known as the "Face-to-Wall Laugh," would become as famous as the Mona Lisa's smile and the Cheshire Cat's toothy grin.Say's smile finally made Luo Ji calm down. This was the first time he had truly calmed down since she announced to the world that he had become a Wallfacer on the rostrum of the special UN General Assembly.He sat down slowly on the sofa, and just as he sat firmly, he understood everything.

God!

In just a split second, Luo Ji realized the essence of the identity of the Wallfacer.As Say once said, before such a mission is delivered, it is impossible to seek opinions from those who want to undertake it; and once the mission and identity of the Wallfacer are given, it is impossible to refuse or give up.This impossibility does not come from anyone's coercion, but a cold logic determined by the nature of the Wallfacer project, because when a person becomes a Wallfacer, an invisible and impenetrable barrier immediately separates him from ordinary people. If the relationship is established, all his actions have the meaning of the wall-facer plan, just like the meaning expressed by the smile of the wall-facer:
How do we know if you are already working?

Luo Ji now finally understands that the Wallfacer is the weirdest mission ever seen in history. Its logic is cold and perverted, but it is as strong as the iron ring that locks Prometheus. This is an irrevocable mission. It is impossible for the Wallfacer to break the curse with their own strength.No matter how he struggled, everything was endowed with the meaning of the wall-facer plan in the smile of the wall-facer:

How do we know if you are working?
An unprecedented rage surged into Luo Ji's heart, and he wanted to shout at the top of his lungs, to greet Say and the mother of the United Nations, and then to all the representatives of the Special UN General Assembly and the mother of the Planetary Defense Council, and to all mankind The mother of the Trisolaran, and finally greets the non-existent mother of the Trisolaran.He wanted to jump up and smash things, throw away the documents, the globe and the bamboo pen holder on Say's desk first, and then tear the blue flag to pieces... But Luo Ji finally understood what this place was. Whoever it was, finally got control of himself, stood up and slammed himself back onto the couch.

"Why did you choose me? Compared with the three of them, I have no qualifications. I have no talent, no experience, never seen a war, and never led a country; I am not an accomplished scientist. A university professor who earns his living with a dissertation in Xikou; I’m a drunken person, I don’t even want to have children, so why the fuck do I care about the continuation of human civilization...Why did you choose me?” Luo Ji began to speak with words. Covering his head with his hands, he jumped up from the sofa at the end.

The smile on Say's face disappeared, "Dr. Luo Ji, to be honest, we are also puzzled by this. Because of this, among all the Wallfacers, you can mobilize the least resources. Choose your Truly the greatest adventure in history."

"But there is always a reason to choose me!"

"Yes, it's only an indirect reason. No one knows the real reason. As I said, you have to find out by yourself."

"What is the indirect reason?!"

"Sorry, I am not authorized to tell you, but I believe that you will know in due time."

Luo Ji felt that they had exhausted what they could say between them, so he turned and walked outside.It was only when he got to the office door that he realized that he hadn't said goodbye. He stopped and turned around. Like that time at the conference, Say nodded and smiled at him, the difference was that he understood the meaning of the smile this time.

Say said: "It's great that we can meet again, but in the future, your work will be carried out within the framework of the Planetary Defense Council and will be directly responsible to the rotating chairman of the PDC."

"You don't have confidence in me, do you?" Luo Ji asked.

"As I said, choosing you was a big risk."

"Then you are right."

"Is it right to take risks?"

"No, you're right to have no confidence in me."

Luo Ji still didn't say goodbye, and walked straight out of the office.He was back to the state he was in when he was just announced as a Wallfacer, walking aimlessly.He walked to the end of the corridor, entered the elevator, went down to the lobby on the first floor, then walked out of the Secretariat building and came to the United Nations Plaza again.Along the way, several security guards surrounded him. He pushed them away impatiently several times, but he was like a magnet, attracting them wherever he went.This time it was daytime, and the square was sunny. Shi Qiang and Kanter came over and asked him to get back indoors or in the car as soon as possible.

"I won't see the sun all my life, will I?" Luo Ji said to Shi Qiang.

"No, they cleaned up the surrounding area, it's safer now, but there are a lot of tourists, and they all know you, it's hard to handle a large group of people around, and you don't want that either."

Luo Ji looked around, at least for now, no one had noticed their small group.He started to walk towards the conference center connected to the Secretariat building, and quickly entered. This was his second time entering here.He had a clear goal and knew where he was going. After passing the hanging balcony, he saw the colorful stained glass panel. From the front of the glass panel to the right, he entered the meditation room, closed the door, and took the following Shi Qiang, Kanter and the guards all stood outside.

When Luo Ji saw the regular cuboid iron ore again, his first thought was to slam it headfirst and it would be over, but what he did next was to lie on the flat and smooth surface of the stone. The stone was so cool that it sucked him away. A part of his heart was frenzied, his body felt the hardness of the ore, and it was very strange that at this moment, he actually remembered a question asked by his middle school physics teacher: how to make a bed out of marble so that people feel like lying on it. As soft as Simmons?The answer is to dig out a pit on the surface of the marble that is exactly the same shape as the back of the human body, lie in the pit, the pressure is evenly distributed, and the feeling is very soft.Luo Ji closed his eyes, imagining that his body temperature melted the iron ore beneath him, forming a pit like that... In this way, he gradually calmed himself down.After a while, he opened his eyes again and looked at the plain ceiling.

The meditation room was proposed by the second Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Swedish Dag Hammarskjöld. He believed that there should be a place for people to contemplate outside the United Nations General Assembly Hall, which determines history.Luo Ji didn’t know if any heads of state or representatives of the United Nations had actually meditated here, but Hammarskjöld, who died in an air crash in 1961, would never have imagined that there would be a Wallfacer like him in a daze in the meditation room.

Luo Ji once again thought about the logical trap he fell into, and once again determined that he would never be able to extricate himself from this trap.

Therefore, he turned his attention to the power he thus possessed. Although, as Say said, he is the least powerful of the four Wallfacers, the resources he can use must still be quite astonishing. The key is that he is Using these resources requires no explanation to anyone, and indeed an important part of his job is to make his behavior incomprehensible and, furthermore, to try to create as many misunderstandings as possible.This is something that has never happened in human history. The ancient autocratic emperors may do whatever they want, but they still have to explain their actions in the end.

Since now all I have left is this strange power, why use it?
Luo Ji sat up after saying this to himself, thought for a short time, and then decided on what to do next.

He got down from the hard stone bed, opened the door, and asked to see the President of the Planetary Defense Council.

The current rotating chairman of the PDC is a Russian named Garning, a burly old man with a white beard. The PDC chairman's office was one floor below the secretary general's. When Luo Ji entered, he was dismissing a few people who had just arrived. Half of these people were wearing military uniforms.

"Ah, hello, Dr. Luo Ji, I heard that you have some troubles, so I didn't rush to contact you."

"What are the other three Wallfacers doing?"

"They are all busy forming their own staff. I advise you to start this work as soon as possible. In the initial stage, I will send a group of consultants to assist you."

"I don't need any staff."

"Ah, if you think it's better... you can always form it if you want."

"Can I use a pen and paper?"

"of course."

Luo Ji looked at the white paper in front of him and asked, "Mr. Chairman, have you ever had a dream?"

"Which aspect?"

"For example, have you ever fantasized about living somewhere beautiful?"

Garning smiled wryly and shook his head, "I just flew from London yesterday. I was working all the time on the plane. After I got here, I fell asleep for less than two hours, and I was in a hurry to go to work again. After today's PDC regular meeting, I I'm going to fly to Tokyo overnight... I've been on the go all my life, and I spend no more than three months at home every year, so what does this dream mean to me?"

"But I have my own dream land, there are many, I chose the most beautiful one." Luo Ji picked up the pencil and began to draw on the paper, "There are no colors here, you need to imagine: look, how many are these?" The snow-capped mountains are very steep, like the sword of the gods, like the fangs of the earth, on the background of the blue sky, silvery and silvery, very dazzling..."

"Hmm..." Garning looked at it seriously, "This is a very cold place."

"Wrong! The area under the snow mountain can't be cold, it's a subtropical climate, that's the key! In front of the snow mountain, there is a vast lake, the water is the kind of blue deeper than the sky, like your lover's eyes..."

"My lover's eyes are black."

"Ah, the water of the lake is so blue that it turns black. That's even better. Around the lake, there should be large forests and grasslands. Be careful, there must be forests and grasslands, not just the same. This is this place: snow mountains, lakes, Forests and grasslands, all of this must be in a pure original ecology. When you see this place, you will imagine that humans have never appeared on the earth. Here, on the grassland by the lake, you can build a manor. It does not need to be very large. But modern living facilities should be complete. The style of the house can be classical or modern, but it must be in harmony with the surrounding natural environment. There must also be necessary supporting facilities, such as fountains, swimming pools, etc. His master lived a comfortable aristocratic life."

"Who will be the master here?"

"its me."

"What are you doing there?"

"Spend the rest of your life in peace."

Luo Ji waited for Garning to speak harshly, but the latter nodded solemnly, "We will deal with it immediately after the committee reviews it."

"Won't you and your committee question my motives?"

Garning shrugged, "The committee's possible doubts about the Wallfacers are mainly in the following two aspects: the amount of resources used exceeds the set range, or it causes harm to human life. Other than that, any doubts are against the Wallfacers. The basic spirit of the plan. In fact, Taylor, Ray Diaz and Hines disappointed me very much. Looking at their strategizing in the past two days, those grand strategic plans make people see what they are doing at a glance. But You are different from them, your behavior is confusing, that's what makes you look like a Wallfacer."

"Do you really believe there is such a place in the world as I'm talking about?"

Garning blinked one eye and smiled as before, and at the same time made an "OK" gesture, "The earth is huge, there should be such a place, and, to be honest, I've seen it before."

"That's really great. Please believe that ensuring my comfortable noble life there is part of the Wallfacer plan."

Garning nodded solemnly.

"Oh, and, if you find a suitable place, never tell me where it is."

No no, don't say where!Once you know where you are, the world becomes as small as a map; if you don't know where you are, the world feels vast.

Garning nodded again, this time looking very happy, "Dr. Luo Ji, apart from being like the Wallfacer in my mind, there is one more satisfying aspect about you: this operation is the one with the least investment among the four Wallfacers." Yes, at least for now."

"If that's the case, then I'm never going to invest much."

"Then you will be the benefactor of all my successors. The money matter is really a headache... In the future, the specific executive department may ask you for some details. I think it is mainly about the house."

"By the way, about the house, I really forgot one detail, which is very important."

"Go ahead."

Luo Ji also imitated Garning and smiled with one eye blink, "There must be a fireplace."

After his father's funeral, Zhang Beihai and Wu Yue came to the new aircraft carrier's construction dock. At this time, the "Tang" project had completely stopped, and the welding marks on the hull had disappeared. Under the noon sun, the huge hull was gone. My son was angry, and it gave them the feeling that besides vicissitudes, it was vicissitudes.

"It's also dead," Zhang Beihai said.

"Your father is the wisest general in the high command of the navy. If he was still there, I might not be in such a deep situation." Wu Yue said.

Zhang Beihai said: "Your defeatism is based on rationality, at least your own rationality. I don't think anyone can really cheer you up. Wu Yue, I'm not here to apologize to you this time, I'm You know, you don't hate me for that."

"I want to thank you, Beihai, you set me free."

"You could go back to the Navy and the job there should be a good fit for you."

Wu Yue shook his head slowly, "I have already submitted an application for decommissioning. What are you going to do when you go back? The existing destroyer and frigate construction projects have all been discontinued, and there is no place for me on the ship. Should I go to the fleet headquarters to sit in the office? Forget it .Besides, I am really not a qualified soldier. I am a soldier who is only willing to devote himself to a war with hope of victory. I am not a qualified soldier.”

"Whether it's a defeat or a victory, we can't see it."

"But you have the belief in victory, Beihai. I really envy you. I envy you so much. It is the greatest happiness for a soldier to have this kind of belief at this time. After all, you are the son of General Zhang."

"Then what are your plans for the future?"

"No, I feel like my life is over," Wu Yue pointed to the "Tang" in the distance, "like it, it's over before it sets sail."

A low rumbling sound came from the direction of the dock, and the "Tang" moved slowly. In order to vacate the dock, it had to be launched in advance, and then towed by a tugboat to another dock for demolition.When the sharp bow of the "Tang" broke through the water, Zhang Beihai and Wu Yue felt that its huge hull had a tinge of vitality again.It quickly entered the sea, and the waves it caused caused other ships in the port to shake up and down, as if paying tribute to it. The "Tang" was floating in the sea, moving forward slowly, quietly enjoying the embrace of the sea. In its short and incomplete career, this huge ship had contact with the sea at least once.

The virtual Trisolaran world is in a deep dark night. Except for the sparse starlight, everything is immersed in ink-like darkness, and even the horizon cannot be seen. The wasteland and the sky merge into one in pitch blackness.

"Administrator, call up the Heng Ji Yuan, don't you see that there is a meeting?" a voice shouted.

The administrator's voice seemed to come from the entire sky: "I can't do this. The era is run randomly according to the core model, and there is no external setting interface."

Another voice in the darkness said: "You speed up the progress of time and find a stable day, it won't take too long."

The world flickered quickly, and the sun shuttled through the sky from time to time. Soon, the time progress returned to normal, and a steady sun shone on the world.

"Well, I don't know how long it will last," said the administrator.

The sun shines on a group of people in the desert. Among them are some familiar faces: King Wen of Zhou, Newton, Von Neumann, Aristotle, Mozi, Confucius, Einstein, etc. They stand very sparsely, All face Qin Shihuang, who is standing on a rock with a long sword slung over his shoulder.

"I am not alone," Qin Shihuang said, "this is the seven people in the core leadership who are speaking."

"You're not supposed to be talking about new leadership here, that's something that hasn't been finalized yet," someone said, and others rioted.

"Okay," Qin Shihuang raised his long sword with difficulty and said, "Let's put aside the dispute over the leadership, we should do something more urgent! Everyone knows that the wall-facing project has been launched, and human beings are trying to use their personal power Closed strategic thinking is against the surveillance of sophons, and the Lord with transparent thinking is absolutely impossible to break through this maze. With this plan, human beings regained the initiative, and the four Wallfacers all pose a threat to the Lord. According to the resolution of the last off-line meeting, We should start the wall-breaking plan immediately."

After hearing the last word, everyone fell silent, and no one raised any objections.

Qin Shihuang went on to say: "For each wall-facer, we will appoint a wall-breaker. Like the wall-facer, the wall-breaker will have the right to use all resources in the organization, but your greatest resource is the Sophon, they will Every move is completely exposed to you, and the only thing that becomes a secret is their thoughts. The task of the Wallfacers is to, with the assistance of Sophon, analyze the public and secret behavior of each Wallfacer to decipher their true strategic intentions as soon as possible. Next, the leadership will designate the wallbreaker."

Qin Shihuang stretched out his long sword and put it on von Neumann's shoulder in the way of a canonized knight, "You, Wall Breaker No. [-], Frederick Taylor's Wall Breaker."

Von Neumann knelt down on one leg, put his left hand on his right shoulder and saluted, "Yes, accept the mission."

Qin Shihuang put the long sword on Mozi's shoulder, "You, Wall Breaker No. [-], Manuel Reydíaz's Wall Breaker."

Instead of kneeling down, Mozi stood up straighter and nodded proudly, "I will be the first to break through the wall."

The long sword rested on Aristotle's shoulder again, "You, Wall Breaker No. [-], Bill Hines' Wall Breaker."

Aristotle didn't kneel down either. He shook his robe and said thoughtfully, "Yes, he can only break the wall with me."

Qin Shihuang put the long sword back on his shoulder, looked around the crowd and said, "Okay, the wall-breakers have been born, just like the wall-facers, you are the elite among the elites, the Lord is with you! You will use hibernation to fight with the wall-facers Let's start the long journey to the end together."

"I don't think hibernation is necessary," Aristotle said, "to complete the wall-breaking mission before we live a normal life."

Mozi nodded in agreement, "When the wall is broken, I will meet my Wallfacer in person, and I will appreciate how his spirit collapsed in pain and despair. For this, it is worth spending the rest of my life."

The other two wall-breakers also expressed that they would meet their wall-facers in person at the last moment of breaking the wall. Von Neumann said: "We will reveal the last line of secrets that human beings can keep in front of Sophon. The last thing we can do for the Lord, after that, there is no need for us to exist.”

"Where's Luo Ji's Wall Breaker?" someone asked.

These words seemed to have touched something in Qin Shihuang's heart. He leaned his long sword on the ground and meditated.At this time, the sun in the sky suddenly accelerated its falling speed, and everyone's shadows were elongated, and finally stretched all the way to the horizon.After the sun set halfway down, it suddenly changed its running direction, rising and falling along the horizon several times, like the back of a golden whale emerging from the black sea from time to time, making the simple world composed of the empty desert and this small group of people in the light and darkness In and out.

"Luo Ji's wallbreaker is himself, and he needs to find out where his threat to the Lord is." Qin Shihuang said.

"Do we know what his threat to the Lord was?" someone asked.

"I don't know, but the Lord knows, and Evans also knows. Evans taught the Lord to hide this secret, and he died, so we can't know."

"Among all the Wallfacers, is Luo Ji the biggest threat?" Someone asked cautiously.

"We don't know about this, but one thing is clear," Qin Shihuang said, looking up at the changing blue and black sky, "among the four Wallfacers, he is the only one who confronts the Lord directly."

Work meeting of the Political Department of the Space Force.

After announcing the opening of the meeting, Chang Weisi remained silent for a long time, which had never happened before. His eyes passed through the two rows of officers of the Political Department beside the conference table, looking into the infinite distance, and the pencil in his hand lightly touched the table. , the light clicking sound seemed to be the footsteps of his thinking.Finally, he pulled himself back from deep thought.

"Comrades, the order of the Military Commission was announced yesterday, and I will concurrently serve as the director of the political department of the military. I received the appointment a week ago, but until now we sit together, I have a complicated feeling. I suddenly found that, What I am facing is the most difficult group of people in the Space Force, and I am now one of you. I did not realize this before, and I apologize to everyone." Speaking of this, Chang Weisi pushed Opened the document in front of him, "This part of the meeting will not be recorded. Comrades, let's have a heart-to-heart exchange. Now, we will all be Trisolarans once, so that everyone can see their own thoughts. This is very important for our future work. "

Chang Weisi's eyes lingered on each officer's face for a second or two. They were silent and no one spoke.Chang Weisi stood up, walked around the conference table, and paced behind a row of officers sitting upright.

"Our duty is to make the troops have the belief that they will win the war in the future. So, do we have this belief? Some please raise your hands. Remember, we are talking from the heart."

No hands were raised, and almost all eyes were on the table.But Chang Weisi noticed that there was a person who was looking straight ahead firmly. He was Zhang Beihai.

Chang Weisi went on to say: "Then, do you think there is a possibility of victory? Note, the possibility I'm talking about is not a chance of a few tenths of a percent, but a truly meaningful possibility."

Zhang Beihai raised a hand, and he was the only one who raised his hand.

"First of all, thank you comrades for your candor." Chang Weisi said, and then turned to Zhang Beihai, "Very well, Comrade Zhang Beihai, tell me how you built this confidence."

Zhang Beihai stood up, and Chang Weisi signaled him to sit down, "This is not a formal meeting, we just have a heart-to-heart talk."

Zhang Beihai still stood at attention, "Chief, I can't explain your question in one or two sentences. After all, the establishment of beliefs is a long and complicated process. The first thing I want to point out here is the current wrong trend of thought in the army. Everyone You know, before the Three-Body Crisis, we always advocated examining future wars with a scientific and rational perspective. This way of thinking has continued to this day with its strong inertia, especially in the current Space Force, where a large number of scholars and scientists have joined, making it even more intensified. If we use this way of thinking to think about the interstellar war four centuries later, we will never be able to establish the belief of victory."

"Comrade Zhang Beihai's words are very strange," said a colonel. "Isn't a firm belief based on science and reason? A belief that is not based on objective facts cannot be firm."

"Then we must first re-examine science and rationality. We must understand that this is only our science and rationality. The height of the development of Trisolaran civilization tells us that our science is just a child picking up shells by the sea, and we may not have seen the sea of ​​truth. Therefore, the facts we see under the guidance of our own science and rationality may not necessarily be real objective facts. In this case, we should learn to ignore it selectively. We should see that things are developing and changing, and we cannot use technological determinism. And mechanical materialism sees the future as dead."

"Very good." Chang Weisi nodded, encouraging him to continue.

"The belief in victory must be established. This belief is the foundation of the army's responsibility and dignity! Our army once faced a strong enemy under extremely difficult conditions, and established a firm belief in victory with a sense of responsibility to the motherland and the people. ; I believe that today, a sense of responsibility to all human beings and planetary civilization can also support such a belief."

"But when it comes to the ideological work of the troops, how do we do it?" said an officer. "The composition of the Space Force is very complicated, which also determines the complexity of the troops' thinking. Our work will be very difficult in the future."

"I think we should at least start with the mental state of the troops." Zhang Beihai said, "Speaking from the big picture, last week I went to the Air Force and Naval Air Force units that had just belonged to the military branch, and found that the daily training of these troops has been very serious. Slack; from a small point, there are more and more problems with the military appearance and discipline of the troops. Yesterday was the day when the summer uniforms were uniformly changed, but there are actually many people in the headquarters still wearing winter uniforms. This mental state must be changed as soon as possible. See Look now, the Space Force is turning into a science academy. Of course, it is undeniable that it is currently undertaking the mission of a military science academy, but we should first realize that we are an army, and an army at war!"

The conversation went on for some time, and Chang Weisi sat back in his seat, "Thank you, everyone. I hope we can continue to communicate so frankly in the future. Next, let's enter the formal meeting content." Chang Weisi looked up, and then When he met Zhang Beihai's gaze, which was calm but resolute, he felt a little relieved.

Zhang Beihai, I know you have faith. You have such a father, it is impossible not to have faith.But things are definitely not as simple as you said, I don't know how your belief was established, or even what more content is contained in this belief, just like your father, I admire him, but I have to admit, Didn't see him through until the end.

Chang Weisi opened the document in front of him, "At present, the research on space warfare theory is in full swing, but soon encountered a problem: the study of interstellar warfare is undoubtedly based on the level of technological development, but now, all basic research At the beginning, technological breakthroughs are still far away, which makes our research lose support. In order to adapt to this situation, the headquarters revised the research plan and divided the original single space war theory research into three independent parts, so as to adapt to the possible development of the future human world. The various technological levels reached, they are: low-tech strategy, medium-tech strategy and high-tech strategy.

"At present, the definition of the three technical levels is in progress, and a large number of index parameters will be determined in each major discipline, but the core parameters are the speed and navigation range of the [-]-ton spacecraft."

"Low technology level: The speed of the spacecraft reaches about 50 times the speed of the third universe, that is, about 800 km/s, and the spacecraft does not have the ability of ecological cycle. In this case, the combat radius of the spacecraft will be limited to the inner solar system, that is, Neptune Within the orbit, within the space range of 30 astronomical units from the sun."

"Medium technology level: The speed of the spacecraft reaches about 300 times the speed of the third universe, that is, 4800 km/s, and the spacecraft has partial ecological cycle capabilities. In this case, the combat radius of the spacecraft will be extended beyond the Kuiper belt [24] , the space within 1000 astronomical units from the sun."

"High-tech level: The speed of the spacecraft reaches about 1000 times the speed of the third universe, that is, 16000 km/s, which is 5.00% of the speed of light; the spacecraft has a complete ecological cycle capability. In this case, the combat navigation range of the spacecraft will Expanding to the Oort Nebula [25], it initially has the capability of interstellar navigation."

"Defeatism is the biggest threat to the armed forces in space, so the political and ideological workers of the space army shoulder an extremely important mission. The military political department must fully participate in the research of space military theory, clean up the pollution of defeatism in the field of basic theory, and ensure that the right direction of research."

"The comrades present at the meeting today will all become members of the Space Warfare Theory Research Group. Although the research of the three theoretical branches overlaps, the research institutions are independent of each other. The names of these three institutions are tentatively designated as low-tech strategic research. In today's meeting, I want to hear about your own choice intentions, as a reference for the next job arrangement of the political department of the military. Let's talk about your choices. "

Among the 32 officers of the Political Department who attended the meeting, 24 chose the low-tech strategic research office, seven chose the medium-tech strategic research office, and Zhang Beihai was the only one who chose the high-tech strategic research office.

"It seems that Comrade Beihai is determined to become a science fiction fan." Someone said, eliciting some laughter.

"I chose the only hope of victory. Only when this level of technology is reached can mankind build an effective defense system for the Earth and the solar system," Zhang Beihai said.

"Now that we don't even have controllable nuclear fusion, we can propel a 5.00-ton battleship to [-]% of the speed of light? Make these behemoths a thousand times faster than the truck-sized spaceships of humans today? This isn't even science fiction, it's fantasy, right? .”

"Isn't there still four centuries left? Look at the problem from the perspective of development."

"But the basic theory of physics is no longer possible to develop."

"The application potential of existing theories may not even be tapped out." Zhang Beihai said, "I feel that the biggest problem now is the research strategy of the scientific and technological community. They spend a lot of resources and time on low-end technologies. Take the cosmic engine as an example, there is no need to develop a fission engine, but now, not only has a huge development force been invested, but the same force is even invested in the research of a new generation of chemical engines! Resources should be directly concentrated on the research of fusion engines, and should Go beyond the working fluid type and directly develop the fusion engine without working fluid [26]. In other research fields, the same problem also exists, such as a fully enclosed ecosystem, which is a necessary technology for interstellar voyage spacecraft, and it has a great impact on the foundation of physics. There is less theoretical reliance, but the current research scale is also very limited."

Chang Weisi said: "Comrade Zhang Beihai raised at least one issue worthy of attention: the military and the scientific and technological circles are currently busy in fully launching their own work, and there is insufficient communication between them. Fortunately, both sides are aware of this situation and are working on it. Organize a joint meeting between the military and the scientific and technological circles. At the same time, the military and the Academy of Sciences have established special agencies to strengthen exchanges between the two sides, so that space strategic research and scientific and technological research can form a full interactive relationship. In the next step, we will send a large number of At the same time, there will be a large number of scientists involved in the theoretical research of space warfare. It is still the same sentence: we should not passively wait for technological breakthroughs, but should form our own strategic thinking system as soon as possible to promote research in various fields. Here, we must Talk about another relationship: the relationship between the Space Force and the Wallfacers."

"The Wallfacers?" Someone asked in surprise, "Are they going to interfere with the work of the Space Force?"

"There is no such sign yet. Only Taylor proposed to visit our army for inspection. But we should also be clear that they have certain powers in this regard. If interference does occur, it may have an unexpected impact on our work. There should be mental preparations for this, and when this situation does arise, there should be some balance between the wallface program and the mainstream defense."

……

After the meeting was over, Chang Weisi sat alone in the empty meeting room. He lit a cigarette, and the smoke drifted into a beam of sunlight coming in through the window, as if it was burning.

Anyway, it all started.he said to himself.

For the first time, Luo Ji experienced the feeling of a dream come true.He originally thought that Garning's promise was bragging. Of course, he could find a beautiful place with original ecology, but it must be very different from the place he imagined.But when he stepped off the helicopter, he felt as if he had stepped into his dream: the snow-capped mountains in the distance, the lake in front of him, the grassland and forest by the lake, and even the location was the same as what he had drawn for Garning.In particular, the purity here is beyond his imagination. Everything seems to have just been moved out of a fairy tale. There is a faint sweetness in the fresh air. Even the sun seems to be careful to make its light the softest and most beautiful. Part of it is sprinkled here.The most incredible thing is that there is really a small manor centered on a villa by the lake. According to Kanter, who was traveling with him, this building was built in the middle of the nineteenth century, but it looks older, with the vicissitudes of time It has been made to blend in with the surrounding environment.

"Don't be surprised, people sometimes dream about real places," Kantor said.

"Are there any residents here?" Luo Ji asked.

"There are none within a radius of five kilometers, and there are some small villages outside."

Luo Ji guessed that this place might be in northern Europe, but he didn't ask.

Kanter led Luo Ji into the villa. In the spacious European-style living room, Luo Ji saw the fireplace at a glance. The fruit trees for lighting the fire were neatly placed beside it, emitting a fragrance.

"The original owner of the villa sends his greetings to you. He is very honored to have a Wallfacer living here." Kantor said, and then he told Luo Ji that in addition to the facilities he requested, there are more things in the manor: a There are stables for ten horses, horses are the best for walking in the direction of the snow-capped mountains; there is also a tennis court and a golf course, a wine cellar, a motor yacht and several small sailboats on the lake.The exterior of the ancient villa is very modern inside, each room is equipped with computers, broadband Internet and satellite TV, and there is also a digital movie projection room.In addition, when Luo Ji came, he also noticed that the helipad was obviously not built temporarily.

"This man is rich."

"It's not just rich, he doesn't want to reveal his identity, otherwise you may know his name...he has donated this piece of land to the United Nations, which is much bigger than the one given by Rockefeller. So now let's be clear, this piece of land and the real estate on it belong to the United Nations, and you only have the right of residence. But you also get a lot: the owner said before leaving that his own belongings have been taken away, and the rest of the villa is given to you. Not to mention, these paintings are probably worth a lot.”

Kanter took Luo Ji to inspect the various rooms of the villa. Luo Ji saw that the original owner here had good taste, and the layout of each room gave people a sense of elegance and tranquility. Most of the books in the study were in Latin. the old version of .Most of the paintings in the room are in modernist style, but there is no sense of incongruity with this room with a strong classical atmosphere.Luo Ji noticed that there is not a single landscape painting here, which is a very mature aesthetic sentiment: this house is located in the beautiful Garden of Eden, and hanging landscape paintings here is like adding a bucket of water to the sea.

After returning to the living room, Luo Ji sat on the very comfortable rocking chair in front of the fireplace. He reached out and touched something from the small table next to him. When he picked it up, he saw that it was a pipe. It has a thin handle and is an indoor type for the leisure class.He looked at the white squares on the wall one by one, imagining what those just picked were.

At this time, Kanter brought in a few people and introduced Luo Ji. They were housekeepers, cooks, drivers, grooms, yacht pilots, etc., and they all had served their previous owners.After these people left, Kantor introduced a lieutenant colonel in civilian clothes who was in charge of security here. After he left, Luo Ji asked Kantor where Shi Qiang was now.

"He has handed over your security work, and he may return to China now."

"Let him replace the lieutenant colonel just now, I think he is more competent."

"I feel the same way, but he doesn't understand English, so it's inconvenient for him to work."

"Then replace all the guards here with Chinese."

Kanter promised to make a call, turned and walked out.

Luo Ji also walked out of the room immediately, walked across the beautifully manicured lawn, and walked onto a trestle bridge leading to the lake. Sweet air and bright sunshine.Luo Ji said to himself: Compared with our current life, what will the world be in more than 400 years?
Fuck the wall plan.

"How could this bastard get in here?" a researcher at the terminal whispered.

"Of course the Wallfacers can come in." Another person beside him answered in a low voice.

"Isn't it bland, maybe it disappoints you, Mr. President?" Dr. Allen, director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, said as he led Rey Diaz through rows of computer terminals.

"I'm not the president anymore." Rey Diaz said seriously, looking around at the same time.

"Here is one of the nuclear weapons simulation centers. There are four in Los Alamos and three in Lawrence Livermore."

Rey Diaz saw two things that were not so ordinary. They looked very new, with a large display screen and many delicate handles on the console. He leaned over to take a closer look, Ai Lun gently pulled him back: "That's a game console. Neither the terminal nor the computer here can play games, so I put two for everyone to relax during the break."

Rey Diaz saw two other things that were not so ordinary. The structure was transparent and complex, and there was liquid turbulence inside. He went to look again, and this time Allen smiled and shook his head without stopping him, "That It's a humidifier, it's dry in New Mexico; well, it's just an automatic coffee machine... Mike, pour Mr. Rey Diaz a cup of coffee, no, don't pour it from here, go to my office and pour it from the best coffee beans .”

Rey Diaz had to look at the large black-and-white photos on the wall. He recognized Oppenheimer, a thin man in a top hat and smoking a pipe, but Allen pointed him to the bland terminals. .

"These monitors are so old," Rey Diaz said.

"But behind them are the most powerful computers in the world, capable of 500 trillion floating-point operations per second."

At this time, an engineer came to Allen, "Doctor, the AD4453OG model has gone through this time."

"very good."

The engineer lowered his voice, "We have suspended the output module." He glanced at Rey Diaz.

"Run." Allen said, turning to Rey Diaz, "Look, we have nothing to hide from the Wallfacers."

At this time, Rey Diaz heard a hissing sound. He saw that the people in front of the terminal were tearing paper in their hands, thinking that these people were destroying documents, and muttered: "Don't you have a paper shredder?" But then he saw that someone had torn blank printer paper.Someone yelled: "Over!" Everyone threw the torn pieces of paper into the air in a burst of cheers, making the already messy floor even more like a garbage dump.

"This is a tradition in the simulation center. When the first nuclear bomb exploded, Dr. Fermi threw a handful of pieces of paper into the air and accurately calculated the nuclear bomb's yield based on the distance they traveled in the shock wave. Now We do this once for each model computation pass."

Rey Diaz flicked the scraps of paper over his head and shoulders and said, "You're doing nuclear testing every day, it's as convenient for you as playing a video game, but not for us, we don't have supercomputers , can only try to really... do the same thing, and it is always the poor who are annoying."

"Mr. Rey Diaz, nobody here is interested in politics."

Rey Diaz leaned closer to several terminals one by one to take a closer look. There were only scrolling data and changing curves on them. Finally, he could see the graphics and images, which were also abstract lumps, and he couldn't see what they were.When Rey Diaz approached another terminal, the physicist sitting in front looked up and said, "Mr. President, do you want to see a mushroom cloud? No."

"I'm not the president," Rey Diaz reiterated as he took the coffee offered by Mike.

Allen said, "Well, let's talk about what we can do for you."

"Design a nuclear bomb."

"Of course, although the Los Alamos Laboratory is a multidisciplinary research institution, I guess you have no other purpose here. Can you be more specific? What type, how much equivalent?"

"PDC will submit the complete technical requirements to you soon, and I will only talk about the most critical ones: large equivalent, the largest equivalent, as big as it can be, and the minimum limit we give is [-] million tons. "

Allen stared at Rey Diaz for a while, lowered his head and thought for a while, "It will take time."

"Don't you have a mathematical model?"

"Of course, there are mathematical models here ranging from 2000-ton nuclear shells to [-]-megaton nuclear bombs, from neutron bombs to electromagnetic pulse bombs, but the explosive yield you requested is too large, and it is currently the world's largest thermal equivalent. It is more than ten times that of a nuclear bomb, and the triggering and progress of the fusion reaction of this thing is completely different from that of ordinary nuclear bombs, which may require a brand new structure, and we do not have a corresponding model."

They talked a little more about the general plan for the study, and parting, Allen said, "Mr. Rey Diaz, I know you have the best physicists on the staff at the PDC. role, they should have told you something."

"You can repeat."

"Okay, nuclear bombs are probably a less effective weapon in space warfare, as a nuclear explosion in a vacuum produces no shock waves and produces negligible light pressure to cause the mechanical blow that would occur in an atmospheric explosion; it The entire energy of the spacecraft is released in the form of radiation and electromagnetic pulses, and even for human beings, spacecraft radiation protection and electromagnetic shielding technology is very mature."

"What if it hits the target directly?"

"That's another matter. At this time, heat will play a decisive role, and it is very likely that the target will be melted or even vaporized. But a nuclear bomb of several hundred million tons is likely to be as big as a building, and it may not be possible to directly hit it. Easy... In fact, in terms of mechanical strikes, nuclear bombs are inferior to kinetic energy weapons; in terms of radiation intensity, they are inferior to particle beam weapons, and in terms of thermal energy damage, they are even inferior to gamma-ray lasers."

"But none of the weapons you mentioned can be put into actual combat. After all, nuclear bombs are currently the most powerful and mature weapons for human beings. As for the combat effectiveness you mentioned in space, we can think of ways to improve them. For example, adding some medium to form a shock wave is like putting steel balls in a grenade."

"This is a very interesting idea. You are worthy of being a leader with a background in science and engineering."

"Also, I majored in nuclear energy, so I like nuclear bombs and have the best feeling about them."

"Hehe, but I forgot, it's ridiculous to discuss issues like this with a Wallfacer."

The two laughed, but Rey Diaz stopped laughing quickly, and said seriously: "Dr. Allen, like everyone else, you have mystified the strategy of the Wallfacers. Of the weapons, the most powerful are hydrogen bombs and macronuclear fusion, isn’t it natural that I focus on one of the two? I think I’m thinking in the right way.”

"Then why don't you consider macronuclear fusion?"

"Don't you know? Your former Secretary of State is doing it first. He has already gone to China."

At this time the two stopped, they were walking on a secluded forest path, Allen said: "Fermi and Oppenheimer have walked this road countless times. After Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the first generation Most of the developers of nuclear weapons spent the rest of their lives in depression, if their souls in heaven knew the current mission of human nuclear weapons, they would be very relieved."

"Weapons, no matter how terrible they are, are always good things... What I want to say now is that next time I don't want to see you throwing waste paper, we have to give Tomoko a tidy impression."

Because of the weather, the "Mayflower" space shuttle had to be diverted to an alternate airport, and Frederick Taylor was rushed by helicopter from the Kennedy Space Center to Edwards Air Force Base.Standing at the end of the runway, he watched the "Mayflower" slowly come to a stop after dropping its drogue.Taylor felt a wave of heat coming from there. In his eyes, the body of the space shuttle covered with heat-resistant tiles had a primitive clumsiness, like a product of the industrial revolution era.Thinking that for a long time to come, such low-efficiency and high-consumption things will still be the main vehicle for humans to enter space, he couldn't help sighing and shaking his head.

After the cabin door was opened, five crew members and two scholars who were brought back from the International Space Station came out first, and then two people with stretchers entered the cabin, and a person was lifted from the inside, perhaps for the purpose of being on the stretcher. For convenience, this person took off his space suit in the cabin.

After the stretcher got off the gangway, the flight commander walked over and said to the people on the stretcher: "Dr. Ding Yi, walking off the space shuttle standing up is the minimum dignity for a space traveler."

Ding Yi said on the stretcher: "All human beings have no dignity. You should know what we discovered this time, Colonel. Sophon will watch and record your sex scene tonight."

"Doctor, I really don't want to fly with you anymore." The commander threw two small things onto the stretcher. Ding Yi picked it up and found that it was his pipe, but it had been broken into two pieces.

"You have to compensate me! This is the Dunhill commemorative edition, do you know how much it is worth?" Ding Yi got up from the stretcher and shouted angrily, but dizziness and nausea made him lie down again.

"It's good that NASA doesn't fine you." The commander said without looking back, and hurried to catch up with the colleagues in front.

Taylor quickly ran to the stretcher and greeted Ding Yi.

"Ah, hello, Wallfacer!" Ding Yi stretched out a slender arm to shake Taylor's hand, but he withdrew that hand immediately, holding onto the stretcher tightly with the other hand, "I say you, carry Steady!" he called to the stretcher bearers.

"Sir, we've been lifting steadily."

"Why do I feel like I'm leaning back?"

"Your cochlear nervous system has adapted to zero gravity and is now readjusting to normal gravity," the stretcher bearer explained.

Taylor said with a smile, "You look good, though."

"You're lying!" Ding Yi said.

"Oh, of course, your face is a little pale, but I think it's normal, we are animals on the earth after all... I want to talk to you."

"They said they needed a physical examination or something."

"I'm sorry, just one minute, it's very urgent."

"Oh, my God, I rolled back again... I think it's better to walk by myself." Ding Yi said, waving his hand to stop the stretcher, he rolled over, and fell down on the ground as soon as he hit the ground.

Taylor pulled Ding Yi up from the ground, put one of his hands on his shoulder, and walked towards the space service vehicle not far away like helping a drunk man. He said, "I hope you can join my Plan...what does it smell like on you?"

"The air above is like a dungeon, and there's even something from the toilet on the end net of the recirculation filter... What's your plan?"

"I want to create an independent space force armed with macronuclear fusion."

Ding Yi looked over Taylor's shoulder. When Rey Diaz said that he would build a nuclear bomb of more than [-] million tons, the director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory showed such a look. "I said, you better not waste taxpayers' money."

"When it comes to wasting resources, no one has done a better job than you physicists so far: You have encouraged the construction of four superaccelerators, stopped halfway through and abandoned them, but have invested tens of billions of dollars." Taylor said.

"Building new accelerators is not my proposal. I always think that it is foolish to build more accelerators to race against sophons, so I went to space."

"I'm also planning to go to space, where it's easier to collect macronuclei."

At this time they had already reached the car door, and Ding Yi leaned weakly against the car door and said to Taylor: "You should have a physicist in your staff."

"Yes, there are three Nobel Prize winners. They said to me: If we collect the low-dimensional unfolded atomic nuclei in the natural state-that is, the macro-nucleus-if primitive man made bows and arrows, then the Trisolarans The low-dimensional expansion of microscopic particles is mastery of missiles. The Trisolaran civilization’s understanding of macroatoms is much higher than that of humans. Using this weapon in front of them—those scholars used a Chinese idiom that I don’t understand— —Tell the class to make an ax."

"You don't believe what they say?"

"Of course, they're right in a general sense, but isn't it normal for me to think about it strategically, since macronuclear fusion is the most powerful weapon currently at the disposal of mankind?"

"The Venezuelan president said the same thing on TV. He seems to be doing micronuclear fusion."

At this time, someone urged Ding Yi to get into the car, Taylor stopped the man roughly, pulled Ding Yi and said: "A bow and arrow can never defeat a missile—if the former is combined with human tricks, Trisolarans are more powerful in terms of tricks." As different from humans as we are from them in science and technology, humans can trick missile operators away from missiles and kill them with bows and arrows."

"Then I wish you success, I am not interested in participating."

"The collection of macronuclei is already a mature technology, and we can do it without you, but at this critical moment of human civilization, a scientist like you actually stands by."

"I am doing more meaningful things. The project we are carrying out on the space station this time is to conduct research on high-energy particles in cosmic rays. In other words, replace high-energy accelerators with the universe. This kind of thing has been done before, but due to The uncertainty of the distribution of high-energy particles in the universe, especially the ultra-high-energy particles required by the frontiers of physics is difficult to capture, so it cannot replace accelerator research. The detection method of high-energy particles in the universe is very similar to that at the end of the accelerator, but each The cost of detection points is very low, and a large number of detection points can be established in space. This time, the funds originally planned to be used to build a ground accelerator have been invested, and hundreds of detection points have been set up. Not hoping to get anything of value, just trying to find out if there are more sophons arriving in the solar system."

"What happened?" Taylor asked nervously.

"All the high-energy impact events detected, including those impact types that have had definitive results in the last century, turned out to be complete confusion."

"In other words, sophons are now able to interfere with hundreds of accelerators at the same time."

"Maybe if we build tens of thousands more detection points, they will all be able to interfere, so the number of sophons in the solar system is far more than two."

"Oh—" Taylor looked up at the sky, speechless for a moment.What do you say?No matter what they say, they are all listening, they are coming continuously, microcosmic eyes are everywhere, and they must be floating around now, when he said to Ding Yi, he was also saying to the Trisolarans four light years away, For a moment, he really wanted to speak directly to the Trisolaran.

"However, this just proves the necessity of the Wallfacer Project." Ding Yi said.

After the service vehicle drove away, Taylor stood alone on the edge of the runway for a long time, watching the "Mayflower" being towed to the hangar.He saw nothing, but thought of another danger that he had overlooked before: that he was not looking for a physicist now, but a doctor or a psychologist, and those who studied sleep.

In short, find those who can make yourself not talk in your sleep.

Keiko Yamasugi woke up in the middle of the night and found that she was empty beside her, and the sheets there were already cold.She got up and put on her clothes and walked out of the door. As usual, she saw her husband in the bamboo forest in the yard at a glance.They each have a house in the UK and Japan, but Hines still likes his home in Japan. He said that the moonlight in the east can calm his heart.There was no moonlight tonight, and the figures of the bamboo forest and Hines lost their three-dimensionality, like a black paper-cut painting hanging under the starlight.

Hines heard Keiko Yamasugi's footsteps, but didn't look back.It was strange that Keiko wore the same shoes in England and Japan, and she never wore clogs in her hometown, but only here could he hear her footsteps, not in England.

"Honey, you have been insomnia for several days." Keiko Yamasugi said, although her voice was very soft, the summer insects in the bamboo forest stopped chirping, and the tranquility like water enveloped everything, and she heard her husband's sigh.

"Keiko, I can't do it, I can't think of it, I really can't think of anything."

"No one can come up with it. I don't think there is any plan to win in the end." Keiko Yamasugi said, she took two steps forward, but still separated from Hines by a few green bamboos. It is a place for them to think, and most of the inspirations in previous studies appeared here. Generally, they would not bring their intimacy to this holy place. In this place that seems to be permeated with oriental philosophy, they always respect each other as guests. , "Bill, you should just relax and do the best you can."

Hines turned around, but in the darkness of the bamboo forest, his face was still unclear, "How is it possible? Every small step I take consumes huge resources."

"Then why not?" Keiko replied quickly, obviously she had thought about this question a long time ago, "If you choose such a direction, even if it doesn't work out in the end, it will still be a useful thing in the process of implementation."

"Keiko, that's exactly what I was thinking just now. What I decided to do is: since I can't think of the plan myself, I will help others to think of it."

"Who are you talking about? Other Wallfacers?"

"No, they are no better than me. I mean the descendants. Keiko, have you ever thought about the fact that it takes at least 2 years for the natural evolution of creatures to produce obvious effects, while human civilization It is only 5000 years old, and modern technological civilization is only 200 years old, so it is only the brains of primitive people who are studying modern science."

"You want to use technology to speed up the evolution of the human brain?"

"You know, we have been doing brain science research, and now we should put more effort into it, expand this research to the scale of building the earth's defense system, and work hard for one to two centuries, maybe we can finally improve human intelligence, It enables the human science of later generations to break through the sophon's confinement."

"For our profession, the term intelligence is a bit vague, you specifically mean..."

"I mean intelligence in a broad sense. In addition to the logical reasoning ability in the traditional sense, it also includes the ability to learn, imagination and innovation, including the ability to maintain the vitality of thinking while accumulating knowledge and experience throughout a person's life. It also includes strengthening the physical strength of the mind, that is, making the brain work tirelessly for long periods of continuous thinking—here even the possibility of canceling sleep can be considered..."

"How to do it, do you have a rough idea?"

"No, not yet. It may be possible to directly connect the brain to a computer, so that the latter's computing power can become a human intelligence amplifier; it may be possible to realize the direct interconnection between human brains, integrating the thinking of multiple people; and memory Genetics and so on. But no matter what the ultimate way to improve intelligence is, the first thing we need to do now is to fundamentally understand the mechanism of human brain thinking.”

"That's our business."

"We're going to continue this work, the same as before, but now we're able to mobilize enormous resources to do it!"

"Honey, I'm really happy, I'm so happy! It's just that, as a Wallfacer, your plan is too..."

"Too indirect, isn't it? But Keiko, think about it, everything in human civilization ultimately boils down to people themselves, and we start by improving people themselves. Isn't this a truly far-sighted plan? Besides, besides this , what else can I do?"

"Bill, this is really great!"

"Let's imagine that brain science and thinking research are done as a world project. With huge investment that we could not imagine before, how long will it take to achieve success?"

"It should be about a century."

"Let's be more pessimistic and count two centuries. In this case, there are still two centuries for highly intelligent humans. If one century is used to develop basic science, another century is used to realize the transformation of theory into technology..."

"Even if we failed, we did what we had to do sooner or later."

"Keiko, come with me to the doomsday." Hines murmured.

"Okay, Bill, we've got plenty of time."

The summer insects in the forest seem to have adapted to their presence and resumed their melodious singing.At this time, a light wind blows through the bamboo forest, making the stars in the night sky flash among the bamboo leaves, making people feel that the chorus of summer insects seems to be issued by those stars.

The first Wallfacer hearing of the Planetary Defense Council has been going on for three days. The three Wallfacers Taylor, Rey Diaz and Hines presented their plans for the first phase respectively at the meeting. Plans were initially discussed.

Representatives of the permanent members sat at the big round table in the former Security Council chamber, while three wall-facers sat at the middle rectangular table. They were Taylor, Rey Diaz and Hines.

"Hasn't Luo Ji come today?" the American representative asked very dissatisfied.

"He won't come," said Garning, the rotating chairman of the PDC. "He stated that seclusion and not participating in the PDC hearings are part of his plan."

Hearing this, the participants whispered among themselves, some showed sullen expressions, and some smiled with unknown meanings.

"This guy is a lazy piece of shit!" Rey Diaz said.

"Then what are you?" Taylor asked, looking up.

Hines said: "I would like to express my respect to Dr. Luo Ji here. He is self-aware and aware of his abilities, so he doesn't want to waste resources needlessly." He said, turning to Ray Diaz in a gentle manner, "I Think Mr Rey Diaz should learn something from him."

Anyone could see that Taylor and Hines were not defending Luo Ji, but that they had a deeper hostility towards Rey Diaz than the latter.

Garning tapped the table with a mallet, "First of all, the words of Wallfacer Ray Diaz are inappropriate, please pay attention to respect for other Wallfacers; at the same time, please pay attention to Wallfacers Hines and Taylor, you guys His remarks were also inappropriate at the meeting."

Hines said: "Mr. Chairman, the only thing Wallfacer Rey Diaz has shown in his plan is the rudeness of a warrior. After Iran and North Korea, his country is also sanctioned by the United Nations for developing nuclear weapons. It made him have a perverted emotion for nuclear bombs; Mr. Taylor's macro fusion plan is not fundamentally different from Ray Diaz's giant hydrogen bomb plan, which is equally disappointing. These two straightforward plans have a clear strategy from the beginning. Being exposed does not reflect the advantages of the Wallfacer's strategy at all."

Taylor shot back: "Mr. Hines, your plan is more like a naive dream."

……

After the hearing, the Wallfacers came to the meditation room, which was their favorite place in the United Nations headquarters. Thinking about it now, this small room for quiet meditation really seems to be reserved for the Wallfacers.Gathering here, they all stayed quietly, feeling each other's thoughts that could never be communicated with each other before the doomsday battle.The piece of iron ore also lay quietly among them, as if absorbing and gathering their thoughts, and also seemed to be silently witnessing something.

Hines asked in a low voice: "Have you heard about the Wall Breaker?"

Taylor nodded, "It was just announced on their public website, and the CIA confirmed it."

The Wallfacers fell into silence again, imagining the image of their own Wallbreaker. In the future, this image will appear in their nightmares countless times, and the day when a certain Wallbreaker really appears, it is likely to be that The end of the Wallfacers.

When Shi Xiaoming saw his father coming in, he timidly moved to the corner, but Shi Qiang just sat beside him silently.

"Don't be afraid, I won't beat you or scold you this time, I don't have the strength anymore." He said, took out a pack of cigarettes, took out two, and handed one of them to his son. Shi Xiaoming hesitated Just picked it up.The father and son lit cigarettes and smoked in silence for a long time before Shi Qiang said, "I have a mission, and I'm going abroad again soon."

"What about your illness?" Shi Xiaoming raised his head from the smoke and looked at his father worriedly.

"Let's talk about your business first."

Shi Xiaoming showed pleading eyes: "Dad, this matter will be severely punished..."

"If you committed other things, I can run for you, but not this one. Mingzi, you and I are both adults, we should all be responsible for our actions."

Shi Xiaoming lowered his head in despair and just smoked.

Shi Qiang said: "Your crimes are half of mine. Since I was a child, I have never worried about you. I come home very late every day. I am too tired to drink and go to sleep. I have never been to your parent meeting. I haven't had a good talk with you... It's still the same sentence: we should do it ourselves."

With tears in his eyes, Shi Xiaoming repeatedly rolled the cigarette butt on the edge of the bed, as if he was killing the rest of his life.

"It's a criminal training class inside. Don't talk about reform after you go in. Just don't get along with others. You have to learn to protect yourself." Shi Qiang put a plastic bag on the bed with two clouds in it, "What else do you need? Mom will bring it."

Shi Qiang walked to the door, turned around and said to his son: "Mingzi, we may meet again, and you may be older than me at that time, and you will understand my current heart at that time."

Shi Xiaoming watched his father walk out of the detention center through the small window on the door. His back looked very old.

Now, in this era when everything is tense, Luo Ji has become the most relaxed person in the world.He walked along the lake, went boating in the lake, let the chef make delicious mushrooms and fish he caught; he casually browsed the rich collection of books in the study, and went out to play golf with the guards when he was tired; The grassland and forest trails lead towards the snow mountain, but never reach its foot.Often, he would sit on a bench by the lake, looking at the reflection of the snow-capped mountains in the lake, thinking about nothing or everything, and a day passed without knowing it.

In the past few days, Luo Ji was always alone, without any contact with the outside world.Kanter also has a small office of his own on the estate, but he is rarely bothered.Luo Ji only had one conversation with the officer in charge of security, asking the guards not to follow him from a distance when he was walking, and if he had to follow, try not to let him see him.

Luo Ji felt like a small boat with its sails down in the lake, floating quietly, not knowing where it was moored, and not caring where it was going.Sometimes thinking about his previous life, he was surprised to find that these few days made the first half of his life seem like a world away, and he was very satisfied with this state.

Luo Ji was very interested in the wine cellar in the manor. He knew that the dusty bottles neatly placed on the grid in the cellar were filled with top grade wine.He drank in the living room, in the study, and sometimes in the boat, but never to excess, just to keep himself in the best state of half-drunk and half-awake, while he held the long handle left by the former owner. The pipe smoked.

Even though it had rained a lot and the living room was a bit gloomy, Luo Ji never asked anyone to light the fireplace. He said it was not yet time.

He never surfs the Internet here, but sometimes he watches TV, skips all the news about current events, and only watches programs that are not related to the current situation or even the era. Aftermath, you can still find it.

Late one night, a bottle of cognac that looked 35 years ago on the label made him ecstatic again. He skipped a few news on the HDTV with the remote control in his hand, but was soon attracted by an English news up.It was about salvaging a mid-seventeenth-century shipwreck, a barque sailing from Rotterdam to Faridabad, India, which sank at Cape Horn.Among the items recovered by the divers from the wreck is a small barrel of well-sealed wine. Experts speculate that the wine is still drinkable, and after more than 300 years of seabed storage, the taste may be unparalleled.Luo Ji recorded most of the show, and then called Kantor.

"I want this cask, go take a picture of it," he told Kanter.

Kantor immediately contacted him, and two hours later he came to tell Luo Ji that the expected price of the barrel of wine was astonishingly high, and the starting price might be around 30 euros.

"This amount of money is nothing to the Wall Facing Project, go buy it, it's part of the plan."

In this way, following the "laugh at the person facing the wall", the Wall Facing Project has created another idiom. Anything that is known to be absurd and has to be done is called "a part of the Wall Facing Project", or "a part of the plan" for short.

Two days later, the barrel of wine was placed in the living room of the villa, and there were many shells embedded on the surface of the old barrel.Luo Ji took out a metal faucet with an auger that was specially used for wooden wine barrels from the wine cellar, carefully drilled it into the wall of the barrel, and poured out the first glass of wine. The liquid was an attractive emerald green.After sniffing, he brought the glass to his lips.

"Doctor, is this also part of the plan?" Kanter asked calmly.

"That's right, it's part of the plan." After Luo Ji finished speaking, he went on to drink, but looked at the people present, "You all go out."

Kanter and the others stood still.

"Letting you guys out is also part of the plan, please!" Luo Ji glared at them and said, Kanter shook his head slightly, and led the others away.

Luo Ji took the first sip and tried his best to convince himself that he had tasted the sound of nature, but finally he didn't have the courage to take a second sip.

But even this small sip of wine didn't let him go, and that night he vomited and diarrhea until he vomited out bile the same color as the wine, and finally his body was so soft that he couldn't get out of bed.Later, doctors and experts opened the top cover of the wine barrel and found out that there was a large brass label on the inner wall of the barrel. At that time, it was indeed customary to make the label inside the barrel. During the long years, the copper and wine that should have lived in peace But there was a reaction, something had dissolved into the wine... When the barrel was removed, Luo Ji saw the gloating expression on Kanter's face.

Luo Ji lay powerless on the bed, watching the medicine in the bottle drip down, and he was seized by an extremely strong sense of loneliness. He knew that these few days of leisure were nothing but weightlessness in a fall into the abyss of loneliness. Now he's down.

But Luo Ji had anticipated this moment, and he was prepared for all of this. He only waited for one person to come, and the next step of the plan could begin.He is waiting for Dashi.

Taylor stood under an umbrella in the drizzle of Kagoshima, with Defense Agency Chief Koichi Inoue behind him.Inoue was carrying an umbrella but didn't open it, standing two meters away from Taylor. During these two days, he always kept a certain distance from the Wallfacer, both physically and mentally.This is the Kamikaze Special Attack Memorial Hall. In front of them is a statue of a special attack team, and next to it is a white special attack team combat aircraft with the number 502.The rain coated the surfaces of the statues and planes with a sheen, giving them a false life.

"Aren't my suggestions open to discussion?" Taylor asked.

"I still advise you not to talk about this in front of the media, you will be in trouble." Inoue Koichi's words were as cold as rain.

"Are these still sensitive at this point?"

"What is sensitive is not history, but your suggestion, why not restore the kamikaze in the United States or somewhere else? Is it true that only the Japanese have the responsibility to die in this world?"

Tyler put away the umbrella, and Hiroichi Inoue moved closer to him.Although the former did not avoid it, there seemed to be a force field around him that prevented Inoue Koichi from continuing to approach, "I never said that the future kamikaze team will only be composed of Japanese. This is an international force, but your country is it. Isn't it natural to start the recovery from here?"

"In the interstellar war, is this attack method really meaningful? You must know that the results of the special attack operations back then were limited and did not turn the tide of the battle."

"Your Excellency, the space force I have formed uses ball lightning as a weapon. The ball lightning, including the macro-nucleus, is launched by electromagnetic drive. After launch, the speed is very slow. To reach the speed of a space missile, The length of the launch rail needs to be dozens or even hundreds of kilometers, which is unrealistic; at the same time, the ball lightning does not have the intelligence of a missile after launch, and cannot effectively break through the enemy's interception and shielding, which requires close-in attack. This is the meaning of the new special attack operation. It is not to let the human spaceship hit the enemy target, of course, the casualty rate in this case is not less than the latter.”

"Why do you have to use humans? Can't computers control the spaceship to approach and attack?"

This problem seemed to make Taylor find an opportunity, and he was excited, "Here is the problem! At present, computers cannot replace human brains on fighter jets, and the generation of a new generation of computers, including quantum computers, depends on fundamental physics. progress, and the latter has been locked up by sophons. So four centuries later, the intelligence of computers is also limited, and human manipulation of weapons is essential... In fact, the restored kamikaze team now only has spiritual beliefs Meaning, within ten generations, no one will die because of this, but the establishment of this spirit and belief must start now!"

Hiroichi Inoue turned and faced Taylor for the first time, his wet hair pressed against his forehead, the rain on his face like tears, "This practice violates the basic moral principles of modern society: human Life is above all else, and the country and the government cannot require anyone to engage in such a mission of death. I still probably remember Yang Weili's words in "Legend of the Galactic Heroes": The rise and fall of the country is a battle here, but compared with individual rights and Come freely, these are nothing, just do your best.”

Taylor sighed and said, "You know? You have thrown away your most precious thing." After speaking, he opened the umbrella with a bang, turned around and left angrily.He didn't look back until he reached the gate of the memorial hall. Koichi Inoue was still standing in front of the statue in the rain.

Taylor walked in the sea breeze with rain, and there was a sentence echoing in his mind from time to time, which he just read from the suicide note written by a Kamikaze member who was about to attack in the showroom to his mother:
"Mom, I'm going to be a firefly."

"It's harder than I thought," Allen said to Rey Diaz as they stood next to a black volcanic rock pinnacle that marked the projection point of man's first atomic bomb.

"Is its structure really that much different?" Rey Diaz asked.

"It is completely different from the current nuclear bomb. The complexity of building its mathematical model may be hundreds of times that of the current one. This is a huge project."

"What do you need me to do?"

"Cosmo's on your staff, isn't he? Get him into my lab."

"William Cosmo?"

"It's him."

"But he's a, a..."

"Astrophysicist, authority on the study of stars."

"Then what do you want him to do?"

"That's exactly what I want to tell you today. In your impression, a nuclear bomb triggers an explosion, but in fact that process is more like a kind of combustion. The greater the yield, the longer the combustion process. For example, a 2000 million-ton When a nuclear bomb of the 20-ton level explodes, the fireball can last for more than [-] seconds; and the super-nuclear bomb we are designing, let’s take the [-]-million-ton level as an example, its fireball may burn for a few minutes. Think about it, what does this thing look like? "

"A little sun."

"That's right! Its fusion structure is very similar to that of stars, and it reproduces the evolution process of stars in a very short period of time. So the mathematical model we want to build is essentially a model of a star."

In front of them, the desert of the Baisha Shooting Range stretched out. It was the dawn before sunrise, and the desert was so dark that the details could not be seen clearly.When the two saw this scene, they couldn't help but think of the basic scene in the game "Three-Body Problem".

"I'm very excited, Mr. Rey Diaz, please forgive our lack of enthusiasm at the beginning. Now it seems that the significance of this project is far beyond building a super nuclear bomb itself. Know what we are doing? We are creating a virtual star !"

Rey Diaz shook his head disapprovingly, "What does this have to do with Earth's defense?"

"Don't always limit yourself to the defense of the earth. My colleagues and I in the laboratory are scientists after all. Besides, this matter is not entirely meaningless. As long as the appropriate parameters are input, this star will become a sun! Think about it , it is always useful to have a sun in computer memory. We are so underutilized of such a huge being closest to us in the universe, this model may lead to more discoveries."

Rey Diaz said: "The last application of the sun has driven human beings to a desperate situation, and it also made you and me stand here."

"But new discoveries may bring mankind out of desperation, so I invite you to come here today to watch the sunrise."

At this time, the rising sun revealed the bright top from the horizon, and the desert became clear like a shadow. Rey Diaz saw that the place where the fire of hell used to ignite had been covered by sparse weeds.

"I am becoming death, the destroyer of the world." Allen blurted out.

"What?!" Rey Diaz looked back at Allen suddenly, as if someone had shot him in the back.

"This is a line Oppenheimer said when he saw the first nuclear bomb go off, and it seems to be quoting from the Indian epic Bhagavad Gita."

The light wheel in the east expanded rapidly, spreading light to the world like a golden net.It was the same sun that Ye Wenjie aimed at with the Red Bank antenna that morning; earlier, here, it was also the sun that shone on the aftermath of the first atomic bomb explosion; the ancient ape millions of years ago It is the same sun that the dinosaurs saw with their dull eyes [-] million years ago; earlier, the hazy light penetrating from the sea surface felt by the first living cells in the primitive ocean is also the same sun. issued by the sun.

Allen went on to say: "A man named Bainbridge then said a non-poetic remark to Oppenheimer: Now we are all sons of bitches."

"What are you talking about?" Rey Diaz said, breathing heavily as he watched the sun rise.

"I'm thanking you, Mr. Rey Diaz, because we're not sons of bitches from now on."

In the east, the sun rises with a majesty that transcends everything, as if announcing to the world that everything is a passing white horse except me.

"What's wrong with you, Mr. Rey Diaz?" Allen saw Rey Diaz squatted down and vomited on his hands, but nothing came out.Allen saw his pale face covered with cold sweat, his hand pressed against a bush of thorns, but he had no strength to move it away.

"Go, get in the car," Rey Diaz said weakly, his head turned away from the sunrise, his free hand stretched forward, trying to block the sun.He was unable to get up at this time, and Allen wanted to help him up, but he couldn't help his burly body, "Drive the car over..." Rey Diaz panted, and at the same time retracted the hand that blocked the sun to cover his eyes .When Allen pulled the car aside to find Rey Diaz slumped to the ground, Allen struggled to lift him into the back seat of the car. "Sunglasses, I want sunglasses..." Rey Diaz half-lyed on the back seat, scratching his hands in the air. Allen found the sunglasses on the bridge and handed them to him. After he put them on, his breathing seemed to be easier, " I'm fine, let's go back, hurry up." Rey Diaz said weakly.

"What's the matter with you? What's wrong?"

"It seems to be because of the sun."

"This... since when did you start to have this symptom?"

"Just now."

Since then, Rey Diaz has suffered from a strange heliophobia, and when he sees the sun, his body and mind are close to collapse.

"Have you been on the plane for too long? You look listless." Luo Ji said when he saw Shi Qiang who had just arrived.

"Yeah, it's not as comfortable as the one we sat in." Shi Qiang said, looking at the surrounding environment at the same time.

"Is this place nice?"

"Not good." Shi Qiang shook his head and said, "There are forests on three sides, so it is easy for a hidden person to approach the villa; and the lakeshore is so close to the house, it is difficult to guard against frogmen who enter the water from the forest on the other side; but the surrounding grassland Nice to provide some open space.”

"Can't you be a little more romantic?"

"Brother, I'm here to work."

"I just plan to give you a romantic job." Luo Ji brought Da Shi to the living room, and the latter took a brief look at it. He didn't seem to be impressed by the luxury and elegance here.Luo Ji poured a glass of wine from a crystal goblet and handed it to Shi Qiang, who waved his hand and declined.

"It's a 30-year-old brandy."

"I can't drink now... tell me about your romantic work."

Luo Ji took a sip of his wine and sat down beside Shi Qiang, "Da Shi, I beg you to do me a favor. In your previous work, did you often look for someone all over the country or even the world?"

"Yes."

"Are you good at this?"

"Looking for someone? Of course."

"Well, help me find someone, a girl in her twenties, that's part of the plan."

"Nationality, name, address?"

"No, the possibility of her even existing in this world is very small."

Da Shi looked at Luo Ji, paused for a few seconds and said, "Did you dream?"

Luo Ji nodded, "Including daydreams."

Da Shi also nodded, and said two words beyond Luo Ji's expectations: "It's okay."

"what?"

"I said it's okay, so at least you know what she looks like."

"She's a, um, an oriental girl, so let's set it as Chinese." Luo Ji said, taking out a paper and a pen and began to draw, "Her face shape is like this; nose, like this, mouth, like this , oh, I can't draw, eyes...hell, how could I draw her eyes? Do you have that kind of thing, a kind of software, you can call out a face, adjust the eyes and nose according to the witnesses' description What, finally draw the exact person the witnesses saw?"

"Yes, it's in the notebook I brought."

"Then go get it, we'll draw it now!"

Da Shi stretched his body on the sofa to make himself more comfortable, "It's not necessary, you don't need to draw any more, let's continue talking, put aside her appearance, let's talk about what kind of person she is first."

Something in Luo Ji's body seemed to be ignited. He stood up and walked restlessly back and forth in front of the fireplace, "She... how should I put it? She came into this world like a flower growing out of a garbage dump." Lily, so... so pure and delicate, everything around her can't pollute her, but it's all hurting her, yes, everything around her can hurt her! The first reaction you see her is to go Protect her... ah no, protect her from this savage reality, you'd give anything for it! She... she's so... oh, look how stupid I am, what Didn't make it clear."

"It's all the same." Da Shi nodded with a smile, his silly smile at first seemed full of wisdom in Luo Ji's eyes, and made him feel very comfortable, "But you made it clear enough."

"Okay, let me continue. She...but, how can I say it? No matter how I describe her, I can't describe her." Luo Ji became irritable, as if he wanted to tear his heart open and let Da Shi Seemingly.

Da Shi waved his hand to calm Luo Ji down, "Forget it, let's talk about you and her together, the more detailed the better."

Luo Ji's eyes widened in surprise, "With her...? How do you know?"

Da Shi laughed again, and looked around at the same time, "Isn't there no better cigars in this kind of place?"

"Yes, yes!" Luo Ji hurriedly took down an exquisite wooden box from above the fireplace, took out a thick "Davidoff" from it, cut off the head with a more exquisite guillotine-shaped cigar, handed it to Da Shi, and The pine bar used for lighting cigars was lit for him.

Da Shi took a sip and nodded comfortably, "Let's talk."

Luo Ji overcame the language barrier just now, and began to chatter.He told of her first coming to life in the library, of meeting her in front of an imaginary fireplace in his dormitory, of her presence in his classroom, of the night when the fire from the fireplace shone through the bottle. The beauty of wine reflected in her face like the eyes of sunset.He happily recalled their trip, describing every tiniest detail in detail: the fields after the snow, the small towns and villages under the blue sky, the mountain like an old man basking in the sun, and the dusk and bonfire on the mountain... …

After listening, Da Shi stubbed out his cigarette and said, "Well, that's basically enough. I'll make some speculations about this girl, and you can see if it's right."

"Good good!"

"Her education level should be above a university and below a doctorate."

Luo Ji nodded, "Yes, yes, she has knowledge, but that knowledge has not reached the level of learning to rigidify her, it just makes her more sensitive to the world and life."

"She should have been born in a family of high-level intellectuals. She didn't live the life of a rich man, but she was much richer than ordinary people. She enjoyed full fatherly and motherly love since she was a child, but she had little contact with society, especially the grassroots society. .”

"That's right, that's right! She never told me about the family situation, and in fact never said anything about herself, but I suppose that's how it should be!"

"The following speculation is guesswork. If you're wrong, tell me—she likes to wear that kind of, how should I put it, plain and elegant clothes. For a girl of her age, they seem a little plain." Luo Ji was dumbfounded. Nodding repeatedly, "But there are always very white parts, such as shirts, collars, etc., which form a sharp contrast with the rest of the dark parts."

"Da Shi, you..." Luo Ji looked at Da Shi with almost reverent eyes and said.

Shi Qiang waved his hand to stop him from continuing, "The last point: she is not tall, about 1.6 meters tall, and her figure is very...how can I describe it, slender, the kind that can be blown away by a gust of wind, so this one does not look low... …Of course I can think of many more, and they should all be similar.”

Luo Ji seemed about to kneel down to Shi Qiang, "Da Shi, I'm on my knees! You, Sherlock Holmes, are alive again!"

Da Shi stood up, "Then I will draw on the computer."

That night, Da Shi came to Luo Ji with his laptop.When the portrait of the young girl appeared on the screen, Luo Ji stared at it motionless as if under a spell.Shi Qiang seemed to have expected this a long time ago. He went to the fireplace to get another cigar, cut it on the small guillotine, lit it and smoked it. After several puffs, he came back and found that Luo Ji was still staring at the screen.

"What's different, you tell me to adjust."

With difficulty, Luo Ji withdrew his gaze from the screen, stood up and walked to the window, looked at the snowy peaks in the distance under the moonlight, and said dreamily, "No need."

"I think so too." Shi Qiang said, turning off the computer.

Still looking into the distance, Luo Ji said something that others had used to comment on Shi Qiang: "Da Shi, you are such a devil."

Da Shi sat down on the sofa very tiredly, "It's not that mysterious, they are all men."

Luo Ji turned around and said, "But every man's dream girl is very different!"

"But the dream girl is largely the same for every type of man."

"It's impossible to make it look like this!"

"Didn't you still tell me so much?"

Luo Ji went to the computer and turned it on again, "Make a copy for me." He asked while busy, "Can you find her?"

"I can only say that there is a great possibility, but it is not ruled out that it will not be found at all."

"What?" Luo Ji stopped what he was doing, turned around and looked at Da Shi in surprise.

"How can this kind of thing be guaranteed to be [-]% successful?"

"No, that's not what I meant. On the contrary, I thought you would say that it's almost impossible, but it's not ruled out that you found it by chance. In fact, if you say that, I'm satisfied!" He turned his head and looked at it again. The displayed portrait said dreamily, "How could there be such a person in the world."

Shi Qiang smiled contemptuously, "Professor Luo, how many people have you met?"

"Of course I can't compare with you, but I know that there is no perfect person in the world, let alone a perfect woman."

"As you said, I often look for someone out of thousands of people, and I can tell you from the experience of most of my life: there are all kinds of people. Tell you, brother, there are all kinds of people. There are, including perfect people and perfect women, but you have no chance to meet them."

"It's the first time I've heard anyone say that."

"Because, the perfect person in your heart may not be perfect in others' hearts. Let's just say that the girl in your dream, in my opinion, has obvious... how should I put it, imperfections, so the possibility of finding Very sexual."

"Some directors search for an ideal actor among tens of thousands of people, but they can't find it in the end."

"Our professional search capabilities are incomparable to those directors. We don't just search among tens of thousands of people, or even hundreds of thousands or millions of people. The methods and tools we use are better than any director. It is much more advanced. For example, the big computers in the analysis center of the Ministry of Public Security only take half a day to match a face in hundreds of millions of photos... But, this matter is beyond the scope of my duties. The superior reports, if it is approved and the task is given to me, of course I will try my best to do it.”

"Tell them that this is an important part of the wallface plan and must be taken seriously."

Shi Qiang smiled ambiguously, got up and said goodbye.

"What? Ask the PDC to find it for him..." Kanter struggled to find the Chinese word, "Dream lover? This guy has been spoiled! I'm sorry, I can't convey your request upwards."

"Then you have violated the principle of the Wallfacer Project: No matter how unreasonable the Wallfacer's order is, it must be reported for execution, and the final rejection is a matter for the PDC."

"Then you can't use the resources of human society to serve this kind of person to live an imperial life! Mr. Shi, we haven't worked together for long, but I admire you very much. You are a very experienced and insightful person. Then tell me the truth: Do you really think that Luo Ji is carrying out the wall-facing plan?"

Shi Qiang shook his head, "I don't know." He raised his hand to stop Kanter from arguing, "But, sir, it's just that I don't know personally, not the opinion of the superiors. This is the biggest difference between you and me: I just A faithful executor of an order, and you, you have to ask why.”

"Isn't that right?"

"There's nothing wrong with it. If everyone has to figure out why before carrying out orders, the world would be in chaos. Mr. Kanter, your rank is higher than mine, but in the end, we are all people who carry out orders , we should first understand that some things are not considered by people like us, we just have to fulfill our responsibilities, if we fail to do this, your life may be very difficult.”

"My life is already hard! The last time I spent a huge sum of money to buy the wine in the sunken ship, I thought... Tell me, does this person look a bit like a Wallfacer?"

"What should a Wallfacer look like?"

Kanter was at a loss for words.

"Even if the Wallfacer should really look like one, then Professor Luo doesn't look like one at all."

"What?" Kanter was a little surprised, "You don't mean that you can see certain qualities from him?"

"I do see some."

"Then hell, tell me."

Shi Qiang put his hands on Kanter's shoulders, "For example, if you are assigned the identity of Wallfacer, would you take the opportunity to enjoy yourself like him?"

"I've already collapsed."

"That's right, but Luo Ji is carefree, as if nothing happened. Mr. Lao Kan, do you think it's simple? This is called grandeur, and it's the grandeur that is necessary for people who do great things! Like you and me Such a person cannot do great things.”

"But he's so... how to say... let's go on free and easy, what about the wall-facing plan?"

"After talking for a long time, why can't I tell you clearly? I said that I don't know anything. How do you know that what people are doing now is not part of the plan? Again, this should not be judged by us. Take ten thousand steps back , even if what we think is right," Shi Qiang approached Kanter and lowered his voice, "some things, we still have to take our time."

Kanter looked at Shi Qiang for a long time, and finally shook his head, not sure that he understood his last words, "Okay, I will report to the higher authorities, but can you let me see the girl of my dreams first?"

Seeing the portrait of the girl on the screen, the lines of Kanter's old face suddenly softened. He touched his chin and said, "Oh...God, although I don't believe that she is a girl in the world, I still hope you find her as soon as possible."

"Colonel, don't you find it a bit abrupt to inspect your army's political and ideological work in my capacity?" Taylor asked when he saw Zhang Beihai.

"No, Mr. Taylor, there is a precedent for this. Rumsfeld once visited the Party School of the Military Commission, and I was studying there." Zhang Beihai said that he did not have the curiosity and caution of other Chinese military officers that Taylor met. And distant, appear very sincere, which makes the conversation easier.

"Your English is so good, are you from the Navy?"

"Yes, the U.S. Space Force has a higher percentage from the Navy than we do."

"This ancient military branch would not have thought that their warships would sail in space...Frankly speaking, when General Chang Weisi introduced you to me as the most outstanding political cadre in your army, I thought you were from the army, because the army is your souls."

Zhang Beihai obviously disagreed with his point of view, but he just laughed it off tolerantly, "For the different branches of an army, the souls should be connected. Even the new space forces of various countries have their own military culture imprinted on them. .”

"I am very interested in the political and ideological work of your army, and hope to conduct some in-depth investigations."

"No problem, according to the superior's instructions, within the scope of my work, I have no reservations for you."

"Thank you!" Taylor said after a moment of hesitation, "The purpose of my trip is to get an answer, and I would like to ask you for advice on this first."

"You're welcome, just tell me."

"Colonel, do you think it is possible for us to restore an army with the spirit of the past?"

"What do you mean by the past?"

"The time range is huge, maybe from ancient Greece to World War II, the key is that there is a commonality in what I call spirituality: duty and honor above all else, and when the need arises, there is no hesitation in sacrificing life. You must pay attention I realized that after World War II, that spirit was disappearing from the military, both in democracies and autocracies."

"Army comes from society, and it takes society as a whole to restore that spirit of the past that you speak of."

"We agree on that."

"But, Mr. Taylor, it's impossible."

"Why? We have more than 400 years. In the past, human society took such a long time to evolve from the age of collective heroism to the age of individualism. Why can't we change back in the same amount of time?"

Hearing this, Zhang Beihai thought for a while and said, "This is a very profound question, but I don't think it is possible for adult human society to return to childhood. Now it seems that in the past 400 years that formed modern society, there was no No mental and cultural preparations have been made for such a crisis and disaster."

"Then where does your confidence in victory come from? As far as I know, you are a firm victoryist, but how can a space fleet full of defeatism like this face a powerful enemy?"

"Didn't you say that there are still more than 400 years left? If we can't go backwards, we must go forward firmly."

Zhang Beihai's answer was very vague, but further talking, Taylor didn't get anything more from him, but felt that this person's thoughts were so deep that he couldn't see through them at a glance.

When he came out of the Space Army headquarters, Taylor passed by a sentry. When he met the soldier's eyes, the soldier smiled shyly at him, which is not seen in other countries' armies. Those sentries all stared straight ahead.Looking at that young face, Taylor recited that sentence silently in his heart again:

"Mom, I'm going to be a firefly."

It started to rain that evening, the first time Luo Ji had rained since he arrived here, and the living room was very gloomy and cold.Sitting in front of the unfired fireplace, Luo Ji listened to the sound of rain outside, and felt that the house seemed to be located on an isolated island in the dark ocean.He let himself be shrouded in boundless loneliness. After Shi Qiang left, he had been waiting restlessly. He felt that this loneliness and waiting were a kind of happiness in themselves.At this moment, he heard the sound of a car parked on the porch, and vaguely heard a few words, including a soft and immature female voice, saying thank you, goodbye, etc. This voice made him tremble like an electric shock.

Two years ago, he heard this voice in his day and night dreams. It was very ethereal, like a ray of pure white veil floating in the blue sky, as if a fleeting ray of sunshine appeared in this gloomy dusk.

Then there was a light knock on the door, and Luo Ji sat there stiffly, and it took him a long time to say please come in.The door opened, and a slender figure floated in with the breath of rain.There was only one floor lamp on in the living room, with a large old-fashioned lampshade on it, so that the light could only reach the circle in front of the fireplace, and the rest of the living room was very dark.Luo Ji couldn't see her face clearly. He only saw that she was wearing white trousers and a dark coat. The white collar contrasted sharply with the dark coat, reminding him of lilies again.

"Hello, Teacher Luo!" she said.

"Hello!" Luo Ji said and stood up. "Is it cold outside?"

"It's not cold in the car." Although she couldn't see clearly, Luo Ji was sure she smiled, "But here," she looked around, "it's really cold... Oh, Teacher Luo, my name is solemn."

"Hello solemnly, let's light the fireplace."

Luo Ji knelt down and put the neatly stacked fruit logs into the fireplace, and asked at the same time, "Have you seen a fireplace before? Oh, come and sit down."

She came over and sat on the sofa, still in the shadows: "Well... only seen in movies."

Luo Ji struck a match and lit the kindling under the pyre. When the flame spread out like a living creature, she gradually appeared in the soft golden light.Luo Ji's two fingers were firmly holding the burnt match. He needed this pain to remind himself that he was not in a dream. He felt like he had lit a sun, illuminating the dream world that had become reality.The sun outside will always be hidden in the rain and night, as long as there are fire and her in this world, it is enough.

Da Shi, you are such a devil, where did you find her?How the hell are you going to find her? !

Luo Ji withdrew his gaze and looked at the flames. Unknowingly, tears filled his eyes. At first he was afraid that she would see it, but soon he realized that there was no need to hide it, because she might think it was the smoke that made him cry, so he raised his hand and wiped it away. .

"It's so warm, so nice..." She looked at the firelight and said with a smile.

These words and her smile made Luo Ji's heart tremble again.

"Why is it like this?" She raised her head and looked at the living room in the shadows again.

"This place is different from what you imagined?"

"Different."

"It's not enough here..." Luo Ji remembered her name, "Isn't it dignified enough?"

She smiled at him, "I am the color of color."

"Oh, I see... Do you think this should be like this: there are many maps and big screens, there are a group of generals in uniform, and I point with a long stick?"

"That's true, Teacher Luo." Her smile turned into a happy smile, blooming like a rose.

Luo Ji stood up, "You must be tired from the journey, why don't you drink some tea," he hesitated, "How about a glass of wine? It can keep the cold away."

"Okay." She nodded, said thank you softly when she took the goblet, and then took a sip.

Seeing her genuine appearance holding the wine glass that day, the softest part of Luo Ji's heart was touched.Let her drink and she will drink, she believes in this world, she has no wariness against it, yes, the whole world is full of harm lurking for her, only here is not, she needs the care here, this is her castle.

Luo Ji sat down, looked at Zhuang Yan, and said calmly, "What did they tell you before you came here?"

"Of course I was asked to work." She once again showed the kind of innocence that broke his heart, "Mr. Luo, what is my job?"

"What did you learn?"

"Chinese painting, at the Central Academy of Fine Arts."

"Oh, did you graduate?"

"Well, I just graduated, and I'm looking for a job while taking the postgraduate entrance examination."

Luo Ji thought about it for a long time, but he really couldn't think of what she could do here. "Well... Let's talk about work tomorrow. You must be tired. Let's have a good rest... Do you like this place?"

"I don't know. It was very foggy when I came from the airport, and then it was dark again, so I couldn't see anything... Teacher Luo, where is this?"

"I do not know either."

She nodded and smiled to herself, obviously not believing Luo Ji's words.

"I really don't know where this is. It looks like northern Europe. I can call and ask right away." Luo Ji said, reaching for the phone next to the sofa.

"No, Mr. Luo, it's good not to know."

"why?"

"Once you know where you are, the world seems smaller."

God, Luo Ji said in his heart.

She suddenly had a surprise discovery, and said childishly: "Mr. Luo, that wine looks so good in the firelight."

The wine soaked in firelight showed a crystal clear crimson that only belonged to dreams.

"What do you think it looks like?" Luo Ji asked nervously.

"Hmm... I remembered the eyes."

"Sunset's eyes?"

"Wanxia's eyes? Teacher Luo, you're so good!"

"Zhaoxia and Wanxia, ​​do you also like the latter?"

"Yeah, how do you know? I like painting sunsets the most." Zhuang Yan said, her eyes were very clear in the firelight, as if to say: What's wrong with this?

The next morning, it was sunny after the rain, and Luo Ji felt as if God had cleaned up the Garden of Eden for Zhuang Yan's arrival.When Zhuang Yan saw the real scene here for the first time, Luo Ji didn't hear the general girls' exclamation and praise. Faced with this magnificent scenery, she was in a state of awe and suffocation, and she couldn't say anything. Say a word of praise.Luo Ji could see that she was obviously much more sensitive to natural beauty than other girls.

"Did you always like drawing?" Luo Ji asked.

Zhuang Yan stared blankly at the snow-capped mountains in the distance, and it took her a long time to come to her senses, "Ah, yes, but if I grew up here, I might not like it."

"why?"

"I have imagined so many beautiful places, and when I draw them, it is as if I have been there, but here, I have already imagined and dreamed, so what else should I draw?"

"Yeah, once the beauty in imagination is found in reality, it's really..." Luo Ji said, he glanced at Zhuang Yan in the morning sun, this angel who came from his dream, the happiness in his heart was like the water on the lake. The vast expanse of sparkling waves rippled.The United Nations, PDC, you can't imagine the result of the wall facing project, it doesn't matter if I die now.

"Mr. Luo, it rained so much yesterday, why hasn't the snow on the snow mountain been washed away?" Zhuang Yan asked.

"The rain falls below the snow line, and the mountain is covered with snow all the year round. The climate here is very different from ours."

"Have you ever been to the Snow Mountain?"

"No, I haven't been here for long." Luo Ji noticed that the girl's eyes never left the snow-capped mountains. "Do you like snow-capped mountains?"

"Yeah." She nodded emphatically.

"Then let's go."

"Really? When?" she exclaimed in surprise.

"You can leave now. There is a simple road leading to the foot of the mountain. Go now and come back at night."

"What about work?" Zhuang Yan looked away from the snow-capped mountain and looked at Luo Ji.

"Don't be busy with work, you just arrived." Luo Ji said perfunctorily.

"Then..." Zhuang Yan tilted her head, and Luo Ji's heart moved accordingly. He had seen this kind of childish expression and eyes on her countless times before, "Mr. Luo, I have to know My job?"

Luo Ji looked into the distance, thought for a few seconds, and said in a very firm tone, "I'll tell you when I get to the snow mountain!"

"Okay! Then let's go quickly, shall we?"

"Okay, take a boat from here to the other side of the lake, and it's more convenient to drive."

When they reached the end of the trestle bridge, Luo Ji said that the wind was very smooth, and they could take a sailboat. The wind direction would change at night, so they could just come back.He took Zhuang Yan's hand and helped her into a small sailboat. This was the first time he touched her. Her hands were the same as the ones he held for the first time on that winter night in his imagination. Cool and soft.She watched in surprise as Luo Ji hoisted the white spherical sports sail, and when the boat left the pier, he put his hand into the water.

"The water in this lake is very cold," Luo Ji said.

"But the water is so clear!"

Like your eyes, Luo Ji thought to himself, "Why do you like snow mountains?"

"I like Chinese paintings."

"Is there any relationship between Chinese painting and snow mountains?"

"Mr. Luo, do you know the difference between traditional Chinese painting and oil painting? Oil painting fills it with thick colors. A master said that in oil painting, white should be cherished like gold; but Chinese painting is different. There are There are so many blanks, those blanks are the eyes of Chinese paintings, and the scenery in the paintings are just those blank borders. Look at the snow-capped mountains, do they look like the blanks in Chinese paintings..."

This was the longest sentence she had ever said after meeting Luo Ji. She just went on and on giving lessons to Wallfacer, treating him as an ignorant student, and she didn't feel disrespectful in the slightest.

You are like a blank in a painting, pure but beautiful to a mature appreciator.Luo Ji looked at Zhuang Yan and thought.

The boat was moored on the trestle on the other side of the lake, and an open-top jeep was parked by the forest on the shore of the lake, and the person who drove the car had already left.

"Is this car used by the military? When I came here, I saw troops around. I passed three guard posts." Zhuang Yan said when getting into the car.

"It's okay, they won't bother us." Luo Ji said as he started the car.

This is a very narrow and simple road through the forest, but the car is very stable on it. The morning fog in the forest reflects the sunlight penetrating through the tall pine forest. Even in the sound of the engine, you can clearly hear it. To the birdsong in the woods.The sweet wind blew up Zhuang Yan's long hair, and strands of it fell onto his face, tickled, and he remembered that winter trip two years ago.

Everything around now is a world away from the North China Plain and Taihang Mountains after the winter snow at that time, but the dream at that time is seamlessly connected with the reality now. Luo Ji can never believe that this kind of thing happened to him.

Luo Ji turned his head to look at Zhuang Yan, and found that she was also looking at him, and it seemed that she had been looking at him for a long time. There was a little curiosity in her eyes, but more of pure kindness.The beams of light in the forest passed her face and side one by one, seeing Luo Ji looking at her, she did not avoid her eyes.

"Mr. Luo, do you really have the ability to defeat aliens?" Zhuang Yan asked.

Luo Ji was completely overwhelmed by her childishness, a question that no one but her would have asked the Wallfacer, and they had only known each other for a short time.

"Zhuang Yan, the core significance of the Wall Facing Project is to completely encapsulate the true strategic intentions of human beings in a person's thinking. This is the only place in the human world where sophons cannot peek. So these few people have to be selected, but this does not mean that It doesn't mean they're superhumans, there are no superhumans in the world."

"But why were you chosen?"

This question is more abrupt and excessive than the previous one, but it seems very natural when Zhuang Yan said it. In her transparent heart, every ray of sunlight can be penetrated and refracted crystal clear.

Luo Ji stopped the car slowly, and Zhuang Yan looked at him in surprise, while he looked at the sun-dappled road ahead.

"The Wallfacer is the least believable person ever, the biggest liar."

"This is your responsibility."

Luo Ji nodded, "But, Zhuang Yan, what I'm going to tell you is the truth, please believe me."

Zhuang Yan nodded, "Teacher Luo, tell me, I believe it."

Luo Ji was silent for a long time, in order to increase the weight of his words, "I don't know why I was chosen," he turned to Zhuang Yan, "I'm an ordinary person."

Zhuang Yan nodded again, "It must be difficult, right?"

These words and Zhuang Yan's innocence that day made Luo Ji's eyes moist again.After becoming a Wallfacer, it was the first time he received such a greeting. The girl's eyes were his paradise, and in those clear eyes, there was nothing like the eyes of other people looking at the Wallfacer; her smile was also his paradise, That was not the smile of the person facing the wall, that innocent smile was like dew soaked in the sun, gently dripping to the driest part of his heart.

"It should be difficult, but I want to make it easier... That's it, the truth is over here, and I'm back facing the wall." Luo Ji said, and started the car again.

After that, they were silent all the way until the trees gradually thinned out and the blue sky appeared.

"Teacher Luo, look at that eagle in the sky!" Zhuang Yan shouted.

"There seems to be a deer on that side!" Luo Ji pointed to the front side. The reason why he quickly diverted Zhuang Yan's attention was because he knew that what appeared in the sky was not an eagle, but a hovering guard drone.This reminded Luo Ji of Shi Qiang. He took out his cell phone and dialed his number.

Shi Qiang's voice came from the phone: "Wow, Brother Luo, did you just think of me now? Let me tell you first, how is Yan Yan?"

"Okay, good, great, thank you!"

"That's good, I finally completed the last task."

"Finally? Where are you?"

"In China, I'm going to sleep for a long time."

"what?"

"I have leukemia, and I will be treated in the future."

Luo Ji stopped the car, and this time it came to a sudden stop. Zhuang Yan let out a soft cry of surprise. Luo Ji looked at her worriedly, and continued talking to Shi Qiang only after he realized that nothing happened.

"When... when did this happen?"

"I was exposed to nuclear radiation during the previous mission, and I only got sick last year."

"My God! I didn't delay you, did I?"

"Well, what's the delay? Who knows what's going on in the future of medicine?"

"I'm really sorry, Da Shi."

"It's nothing, it's all work. I didn't bother you anymore, I thought we might meet again in the future, but if we don't, then just listen to me."

"You say it."

Shi Qiang was silent for a long time, and said: "There are three kinds of unfilial piety, and the greatest is having no descendants. Brother Luo, I entrust you with the continuation of my historian after more than 400 years."

After the phone was hung up, Luo Ji looked at the sky, the drone had disappeared, and the pristine blue sky was swaying, just like his heart at this moment.

"Are you calling Uncle Shi?" Zhuang Yan asked.

"Yes, have you seen him?"

"Yes, he is a good man. On the day I left, he accidentally cut his hand, and the bleeding couldn't stop. It was scary."

"Oh... did he say anything to you?"

"He said you are doing the most important thing in the world, let me help you."

At this time, the forest had completely disappeared, and only the grassland remained in front of the snow-capped mountains. In the two colors of silvery white and tender green, the composition of the world appeared more concise and pure. In Luo Ji's feeling, the nature in front of him was becoming more and more beautiful. More and more like the girl beside me.He noticed that there was a hint of melancholy in Zhuang Yan's eyes at this moment, and he even noticed her soft sigh.

"Yanyan, what's the matter?" Luo Ji asked, this was the first time he called her that, thinking that since Da Shi could call her that, so could I.

"Think about it, such a beautiful world may not be seen by anyone after many years. It's very sad."

"Aren't aliens human?"

"I don't think they feel beauty."

"why?"

"My father said that people who are sensitive to the beauty of nature are kind in nature. They are not kind, so they can't feel the beauty."

"Yan Yan, their policy towards human beings is a rational choice, a responsible approach to the survival of their own race, and has nothing to do with good or evil."

"This is the first time I've heard someone say that... Teacher Luo, you will see them in the future, won't you?"

"Maybe."

"If they are really what you said, and you defeated them in the Battle of Doomsday, well, can you..." Zhuang Yan tilted her head and looked at Luo Ji, hesitating.

Luo Ji wanted to say that the latter possibility was almost zero, but he couldn't bear to say it, "What can I do?"

"Can we not drive them into the universe, then they will all die, give them a place, let them live with us, it would be great."

Luo Ji was silent for a while, feeling emotional, before pointing to the sky and saying, "Yan Yan, I'm not the only one listening to what you said just now."

Zhuang Yan also looked at the sky nervously, "Ah... yes, there must be a lot of sophons flying around us!"

"It's also possible that the person listening to you at this time is the highest consul of the Trisolaran civilization."

"You're going to laugh at me, aren't you?"

"No, Yanyan, do you know what I'm thinking right now?" Luo Ji had a strong desire to hold her hand, her slender left hand was right next to the steering wheel, but he still restrained himself, " I was thinking, in fact, it is you who can really save the world."

"Me?" Zhuang Yan laughed.

"It's you, it's just that you are too few, oh, I mean there are too few people like you, if one-third of human beings are like you, it is really possible for Trisolaran civilization to negotiate with us and talk about living together in a world possibility, but now..." He also let out a long sigh.

Zhuang Yan smiled helplessly, "Ms. Luo, I am quite difficult. They say that going to society after graduation is like a fish swimming into the sea, but the sea is very muddy, and I can't see anything clearly. I always want to swim to one place." The clear sea, I was so tired after swimming..."

I hope I can help you swim to that sea... Luo Ji said in his heart.

The road began to go up the mountain. As the height increased, the vegetation gradually became sparse, and bare black rocks appeared. For a certain distance, they seemed to be driving on the surface of the moon.But soon, the car drove up to the snow line, the surroundings were completely white, and the air was filled with crisp cold.Luo Ji found a down jacket from a travel bag on the back seat of the car. The two of them put on the down jacket and continued on their way. They didn't go far before they encountered a roadblock. There was a warning sign in the middle of the road: This There is an avalanche hazard during the season and the road ahead is closed.So they got out of the car and walked into the snow beside the road.

At this time, the sun had already slanted westward, and the surrounding snow slopes were in shadow. The pure snow showed a light blue color, which seemed to be emitting weak fluorescence, while the steep snow peaks like blades in the distance were still in the sunlight, bringing the brilliant The silver light scattered in all directions, this light was completely like the snow itself, as if it was never the sun that illuminated the world, but only this snow peak.

"Okay, now the painting is blank." Luo Ji stretched out his hands and twirled around.

Zhuang Yan looked at the white world happily, "Mr. Luo, I really painted a picture like this! From a distance, it looks like a piece of white paper, and the frame is almost completely blank. If you look closely, you will find a few branches in the lower left corner. Small reeds, a flying bird that is almost disappearing in the upper right corner, and two extremely small people in the blank center... This is my most proud work."

"As far as I can imagine, that painting must be very beautiful... Then, Zhuang Yan, in this blank world, are you interested in knowing what you do?"

Zhuang Yan nodded, looking very nervous.

"You know what the Wallfacer Project is. Its success depends on its incomprehension. The highest level of the Wallfacer Project is that no one on Earth or the Trisolaran world can understand it except the Wallfacer himself. So, Zhuang Yan, no matter your What an incredible work, it must have meaning, don't try to understand it, just work on it."

Zhuang Yan nodded nervously, "Well, I understand," she smiled and shook her head again, "Oh, no no, I mean I know."

Luo Ji looked at Zhuang Yan in the snow. In this pure and white space that almost lost its sense of three-dimensionality, the world disappeared for her, and she was the only existence.Two years ago, when the literary image he had created came alive in his imagination, Luo Ji experienced love; now, in the blank space of this natural picture scroll, he understood the ultimate mystery of love.

"Zhuang Yan, your job is to make yourself happy."

Zhuang Yan opened his eyes wide.

"You become the happiest and happiest girl in the world as part of the Wallface Project."

Zhuang Yan's eyes reflected the light of the Xuefeng that illuminates the world, in her pure eyes, all kinds of complex emotions flitted like clouds in the sky.Snow Mountain absorbed all the sounds from the outside world, and Luo Ji waited patiently in the silence. Finally, Zhuang Yan asked in a voice that seemed to come from far away:

"Then... what should I do?"

Luo Ji looked excited, "You can do whatever you want! Tomorrow, or tonight after we go back, you can go where you want, do what you want, and live the life you want. Or, I will help you achieve everything as much as possible."

"But I..." The girl looked at Luo Ji, looking helpless, "Mr. Luo, I... don't need anything."

"How come? Everyone needs something! Aren't the boys and girls chasing like hell?"

"Have I...chased it?" Zhuang Yan slowly shook her head, "It seems not."

"Yes, you are a light-hearted girl, but you always have dreams. For example, you like painting. Don't you want to hold a personal art exhibition in the world's largest gallery or art museum?"

Zhuang Yan laughed, as if Luo Ji had become an ignorant child, "Mr. Luo, I draw for myself. I never thought about what you said."

"Well, you've always dreamed of love, right?" Luo Ji said without hesitation, "Now that you have the conditions, you can look for it."

The setting sun was withdrawing its light from the snow peak, Zhuang Yan's eyes darkened a little, and her eyes became softer, she said softly: "Mr. Luo, can you find that?"

"That's true." Luo Ji calmed down and nodded, "Then, let's do this: don't think about the long-term, only think about tomorrow, tomorrow, understand? Where do you want to go and what do you want to do tomorrow? How can you be happy tomorrow? Figure it out."

Zhuang Yan thought about it seriously for a long time, and finally asked hesitantly, "I'm going to tell you, is it really possible?"

"Sure, tell me."

"Then, Mr. Luo, can you take me to the Louvre?"

When the cloth on Taylor's eyes was removed, he didn't squint because he was not used to the light. It was very dark here. In fact, even with very bright lights, it was still dark here because the light was absorbed by the rock wall. is a cave.Taylor smelled the smell of medicine, and saw that the cave was arranged like a field hospital, with many open aluminum alloy boxes neatly filled with medicines; oxygen bottles, a small ultraviolet disinfection cabinet, a portable shadowless lamp, and several Medical equipment such as portable X-ray machines and pacemakers.All of these items look like they've just been unpacked and ready to be boxed away.Taylor also saw two automatic rifles hanging on the rock wall, but they were not easy to see because they were similar in color to the rocks behind.A man and a woman walked past him expressionlessly. They were not wearing white clothes, but they must be doctors and nurses.

The hospital bed is at the end of the cave, and there is a piece of white: the curtain behind, the sheet covered by the old man on the bed, the old man's long beard, the scarf on his head, and even his face are all white, and the light there is like candlelight , hiding part of the white, and plating the other part with a touch of gold, which makes the scene look like a classical oil painting depicting a saint.

Taylor spat secretly, damn it, how could you think like that!

He walked toward the hospital bed, trying to keep his steps steady over the pain in his hipbones and inner thighs.He stopped in front of the hospital bed, standing in front of the person he and his government had been trying to find all these years, a little in disbelief.He looked at the old man's pale face, which was indeed the kindest face in the world, as the media said.

Man is a strange thing.

"It's an honor to meet you." Taylor said with a slight bow.

"I'm honored too." The old man said politely without moving. His voice was as thin as a gossamer, but it was as flexible as a spider's thread, and it was hard to break.The old man pointed to the edge of the bed at his feet, and Taylor sat down there carefully. He didn’t know if it was a sign of intimacy, because there were indeed no chairs beside the bed. ?”

"Oh, no, I rode once before when I visited the Grand Canyon," Taylor said, but that time his legs didn't hurt as much. "How are you?"

The old man shook his head slowly, "You must be able to see that I won't live long." A mischievous gleam suddenly appeared in his deep eyes, "I know you are the last thing in the world I want to see One of those who died of illness, really sorry."

The sarcasm in the latter sentence stung Taylor, but it was also true.Taylor's greatest fear before was that this person would die of illness or old age.The Secretary of Defense has prayed more than once that before this person died of natural causes, the bullets of American cruise missiles or special forces would fall on his head, even if it was 1 minute earlier!Natural death would be the ultimate victory for the old man and a disastrous defeat in the war on terror, and now the man is approaching that glory.In fact, there were opportunities before. Once, a "predator" drone captured his image in a remote mosque compound in the mountains of northern Afghanistan, and manipulating the plane to directly hit it would make history. There was also a "Hellfire" missile on the man-machine, but after the young officer on duty confirmed the target's identity, he didn't dare to make a decision without authorization, so he had to ask for instructions, and when he looked back, the target had disappeared.Taylor, who was woken up from the bed at that time, was furious and roared and smashed the precious Chinese porcelain at home...

Taylor wanted to divert the awkward topic, so he put the suitcase he was carrying on the edge of the bed: "I brought you a small gift," he opened the suitcase and took out a set of hardcover books, "This is the latest Arabic version."

The old man struggled to pull out the bottom one with his skinny hands, "Oh, I only read the first three, and I asked someone to buy the latter one, but I didn't have time to read it, and then I lost it... Really good, oh thanks, I love it."

"There is such a legend that you named your organization after this set of novels?"

The old man put down the book lightly, and smiled slightly, "Let the legend be a legend forever. You have wealth and technology, but we only have legends."

Tyler picked up the book that the old man had just put down, and faced him like a priest holding a Bible: "I'm here this time to make you a Seldon[27]."

The mischievous light appeared in the old man's eyes again, "Oh? What should I do?"

"Keep your organization alive."

"When will it be saved?"

"Preserved for four centuries, preserved until the end of the war."

"Do you think it is possible?"

"If it keeps developing itself, it's possible to let its spirit and soul permeate the Space Force, and eventually your organization will also be part of the Space Force."

"What made you value it so much?" The irony in the old man's words became more and more serious.

"Because it is a rare human armed force that can use life as a weapon to attack the enemy. You know, the basic science of human beings has been locked by sophons. Correspondingly, the progress of computers and artificial intelligence is also limited. In the battle of doomsday, Space fighters have to be operated by humans, and ball lightning weapons need to be attacked at close range, which can only be done by an army with that kind of daredevil spirit!"

"Then what did you bring us this time besides these few books?"

Taylor stood up excitedly from the bed, "It depends on what you need, as long as your organization can survive, I can provide everything you need."

The old man waved for Taylor to sit down, "I sympathize with you. After so many years, you don't even know what we really need."

"You can talk about it."

"Weapons? Money? No, no, those things are more precious than these. The reason why the organization exists is not because of a goal as grand as Seldon. You can't make a sane person believe in that and dedicate himself to it. The existence of the organization is Because with that stuff, it's the air and blood of the tissue, without which the tissue dies in no time."

"what is that?"

"Hate."

Taylor fell silent.

"On the one hand, because we have a common enemy, our hatred for the West has subsided; on the other hand, the entire human race that the Trisolarans want to destroy also includes the West that we once hated. For us, it is a kind of pleasure to die together. , so we don’t hate Trisolarans either.” The old man spread his hands, “Look, hatred is a treasure that is more precious than gold and diamonds, and the sharpest weapon in the world is gone now, and you can’t give it to us either. Therefore, the organization, like me, will not survive for long."

Taylor was still speechless.

"As for Seldon, his plan should also be impossible to succeed."

Taylor let out a long sigh, and sat back on the edge of the bed, "So, have you seen the back part?"

The old man raised his eyebrows in surprise, "No, I really haven't read it, I just thought so. Why, did the Seldon plan in the book also fail? If so, the author is a great person, I thought he would write a A happy ending, may Allah bless him."

"Asimov has been dead for years."

"May he go to heaven, whichever it is... Well, the wise die early."

……

On the return journey, Taylor was left uncovered for most of the time, giving him the opportunity to admire the barren and steep mountains of Afghanistan. The young man who led his mule even trusted his automatic rifle to the saddle, leaning against the Taylor's hand.

"Have you ever killed anyone with this gun?" Taylor asked.

The young man couldn't understand, and an older man beside him who also rode a mule but didn't carry a weapon answered for him: "No, there hasn't been a war for a long time."

The young man still looked up at Taylor suspiciously. He had no beard, a childish face, and his eyes were as clear as the blue sky of West Asia.

"Mom, I'm going to be a firefly."

Luo Ji and Zhuang Yan entered the gate of the Louvre at ten o'clock at night, and Kantor suggested that they visit at night, so that it would be easier to arrange security.

The first thing they saw was the glass pyramid. The U-shaped palace shielded the hustle and bustle of Paris at night. The pyramid stood quietly under the moonlight like water, like it was made of silver.

"Mr. Luo, do you think it flew from the sky?" Zhuang Yan asked, pointing to the pyramid.

"Everyone has this feeling, and you see, it has only three sides." Luo Ji regretted the last sentence, and he didn't want to talk about that topic now.

"Putting it here, it looked awkward at first, but after seeing it a lot, it has become an indispensable part of this place."

This is the amalgamation of two vastly different worlds, Luo Ji thought, but didn't say it out loud.

At this moment, all the lights in the pyramid were turned on, and it changed from silver under the moonlight to golden and green. At the same time, the fountains in the surrounding pools also started up, and tall water columns rose in the lights and moonlight. Zhuang Yan was terrified. Glancing at Luo Ji, he felt uneasy that the Louvre had been awakened by their arrival.In the sound of water, they walked into the hall under the pyramid, and then entered the palace.

The first thing they entered was the largest exhibition hall of the Louvre, 200 meters long, where the light was soft and the sound of footsteps echoed in the open space.Luo Ji soon realized that there were only the sound of his footsteps. Zhuang Yan walked very lightly, as silent as a cat, like a child entering a magical palace in a fairy tale for the first time, afraid of waking up something sleeping here.Luo Ji slowed down and distanced himself from Zhuang Yan. He was not interested in the artwork here, but just admired her in the art world.The plump Greek gods, angels and Madonnas in those classical oil paintings looked at this beautiful oriental girl with him from all directions. She was like the crystal pyramid in the courtyard, and soon became a part of this artistic sanctuary. Part, without her, something must be missing here.Luo Ji was intoxicated in this dreamlike artistic conception, and let the time pass quietly.

I don't know how long it took before Zhuang Yan remembered Luo Ji's existence. She turned her head and smiled at him, and Luo Ji's heart skipped a beat. He felt that this smile was like a ray of light cast from Mount Olympus in the painting to the world. .

"I heard that if you appreciate it professionally, it will take a year to see everything here," Luo Ji said.

"I know." Zhuang Yan replied simply, his eyes seemed to say: Then what should I do?Then she turned around and looked at the painting again. After such a long time, she only saw the fifth one.

"It's okay, Yanyan, I can watch it with you for a year, every night." Luo Ji couldn't help saying.

Hearing this, Zhuang Yan turned to look at Luo Ji again, looking very excited: "Really?"

"real."

"Then... Teacher Luo, have you been here before?"

"No, but I went to the Pompidou Center when I came to Paris three years ago. I thought you were more interested in it."

Zhuang Yan shook her head, "I don't like modern art."

"Then these," Luo Ji looked at the many gods, angels, and virgins around him, "don't you think it's too old?"

"I don't like the ones that are too old, I only like Renaissance paintings."

"That's old too."

"But I don't feel old. The painters at that time discovered the beauty of human beings for the first time. They painted gods as beautiful people. You can feel the happiness when they painted, that It felt like I was seeing the lake and the snowy mountains for the first time that morning."

"Very well, but the humanistic spirit created by the masters of the Renaissance has now become an obstacle."

"You mean during the three-body crisis?"

"Yes, you must have seen what happened recently. After four centuries, the human world after the disaster may return to the state of the Middle Ages, and human nature will once again be under extreme depression."

"Then art goes into winter and night, doesn't it?"

Seeing Zhuang Yan's innocent eyes that day, Luo Ji smiled wryly to himself—silly boy, why are you talking about art? If he can really survive, it would be a small price for human beings to return to primitive society.But he still said: "At that time, there may be a second renaissance, and you can rediscover the beauty that has been forgotten and paint her."

Zhuang Yan smiled, and that smile was a little miserable. She obviously understood Luo Ji's kind comfort, "I was just thinking, what will happen to these paintings and artworks after the end?"

"Are you worried about this?" Luo Ji asked, and the girl softly said the word "doomsday". Zhuang Yan's hand said, "Come on, let's go to the Oriental Art Museum."

Before the pyramid entrance was built, the Louvre was a big labyrinth, and it might take a long detour to get to a certain hall, but now you can go directly to various locations from the pyramid hall.After Luo Ji and Zhuang Yan returned to the entrance hall, they followed the sign and entered the Oriental Art Museum. Compared with the European classical painting exhibition area, this place is a completely different world.

Luo Ji pointed to the sculptures, paintings, and ancient scrolls from Asia and Africa and said, "This is what an advanced civilization obtained from a backward civilization. Some were snatched, some were stolen or cheated, but look , and now they are all well preserved. Even during World War II, these things were moved to a safe place.” They stopped in front of the Dunhuang murals hanging in a sealed glass cabinet, “Think about when Taoist priests put these things After giving it to the French, how many turbulences and wars have there been in our land, if the murals stay where they are, are you sure they can be preserved so well?"

"But will the Trisolarans preserve the cultural heritage of mankind? They don't value our civilization at all." Zhuang Yan said.

"Just because they say we are bugs? That's not the case, Yanyan, do you know what is the highest form of valuing a race or civilization?"

"what?"

"To kill everything is the highest value for a civilization."

Next, the two walked silently through the 24 exhibition halls of the Oriental Art Museum, walking in the distant past and imagining the gloomy future.Before they knew it, they came to the Egyptian Art Museum.

"You know who I'm thinking of here?" Luo Ji stood beside the golden mask of the pharaoh mummy in the glass case, trying to find a lighter topic, "Sophie Marceau."

"You mean the "Phantom of the Louvre", right? Marceau is really beautiful, and she looks very oriental."

Not knowing if it was an illusion, Luo Ji sensed a trace of jealousy and grievance in her words.

"Yanyan, she's not as beautiful as you, really." Luo Ji also wanted to say that her beauty might be found in these works of art, but your beauty overshadowed them all, but in the end he still didn't want to make himself too sour. up.He saw a shy smile passing over the girl's face like a cloud, and this was the first time he saw it.

"Let's go back and continue looking at oil paintings." Zhuang Yan whispered.

They returned to the pyramid hall again, forgetting the first entrance.Luo Ji saw that the most eye-catching signs here were the three treasures of the Louvre: Mona Lisa, Venus and the Goddess of Victory.

"Let's go see the Mona Lisa," Luo Ji suggested.

On the way they were walking in that direction, Zhuang Yan said: "Our teacher said that after he visited the Louvre, he became a little disgusted with Mona Lisa and Venus."

"why?"

"Those tourists come for these two things, and they are not interested in the less famous but equally great artworks here."

"I am one of these laity."

When he came to that mysterious smile, Luo Ji felt that the painting was much smaller than he had imagined, and that it was behind thick bulletproof glass. Zhuang Yan didn't show any particular excitement about it either.

"When I saw her, I thought of you." Zhuang Yan pointed at the person in the painting and said.

"us?"

"Wallfacer."

"What does she have to do with the Wallfacer?"

"Well, here's what I think - just think, don't laugh at me - can we find a way of communication that only humans can understand each other, sophons will never understand, so that human beings can get rid of the surveillance of sophons. "

Luo Ji looked at Zhuang Yan and thought for a few seconds, then stared at Mona Lisa, "I see what you mean, her smile is something Sophon and Trisolarans will never understand."

"Yes, human expressions, especially human eyes, are the most subtle and complex. A gaze, a smile, can convey a lot of information! Only humans can understand this information, and only humans have this sensitivity."

"Yes, one of the biggest problems of artificial intelligence is to recognize human expressions and eyes. Some experts even say that computers may never be able to recognize eyes."

"Can we create an expression language, using expressions and eyes to speak?"

Luo Ji thought about it seriously, shook his head with a smile, pointed at Mona Lisa and said, "We can't understand her expression... When I stare at her, the meaning of that smile changes every second." once, and never again."

Zhuang Yan was so happy that she jumped like a child, "Doesn't this mean that expressions can convey very complicated information?"

"Then this message: 'The spaceship departs from the earth, the destination is Jupiter', how to express it with expressions?"

"When primitive people started to speak, they must have been able to express very simple meanings. Maybe it was not as complicated as birdsong. Language gradually became more complicated later on!"

"Then... let's try to express a simple meaning with expressions first?"

"Yeah!" Zhuang Yan nodded excitedly, "Then, let's each think of a message first, and then express it to each other?"

Luo Ji paused and said, "I've made up my mind."

Zhuang Yan thought for a longer time, then nodded, "Then let's start."

They stared at each other for less than half a minute before laughing almost simultaneously.

"My message is: I want to invite you to the Champs Elysees for supper tonight," Luo Ji said.

Zhuang Yan also laughed so hard that she couldn't straighten up, "My message: You...you should shave!"

"We must be serious about matters that concern the fate of mankind," Luo Ji said, holding back a laugh.

"No one is allowed to laugh first this time!" Zhuang Yan said, solemnly like a child who has redefined the rules of the game.

They stood back to back, each thinking of another message, and then turned to stare at each other again.Luo Ji had the urge to laugh again at the beginning, and he tried hard to restrain it, but soon, this restraint became easier, because Zhuang Yan's clear gaze once again tugged at his heartstrings.

The Wallfacer and the girl just stared at each other, in the Louvre late at night, in front of the Mona Lisa's smile.

A trickle of water seeped out of the dam of Luo Ji's mind, and as the rivulet washed away the dam, the tiny cracks gradually widened, and the trickle became turbulent. Luo Ji felt fear, and he tried his best to close the crack on the dam, but failed. No, a crash is inevitable.

At this moment, Luo Ji felt that he was standing on the top of the cliff, and the girl's eyes were the vast abyss below the cliff. The abyss was covered with a sea of ​​white clouds, but the sun was shining from all directions, and the sea of ​​clouds turned into brilliant colors. Surging without bounds.Luo Ji felt himself sliding down, very slowly, but he couldn't stop it with his own strength.He frantically moved his limbs, trying to find a place to grab and step on, but there was only smooth ice beneath him.The descent was accelerating, and finally, in a frantic dizziness, he began to fall into the abyss, and the happiness of falling reached the limit of pain in an instant.

The Mona Lisa is deforming, and the walls are deforming, like melting ice.The Louvre collapsed, and the bricks and stones turned into bright red magma on the way of falling. This magma passed through their bodies, and it was as cool as a clear spring.They also fell with the Louvre, passing through the molten European continent, and falling towards the center of the earth. When passing through the center of the earth, the earth exploded around and turned into gorgeous fireworks in the universe; Crystal clear, the stars weave a giant silver blanket with crystal light, the stars vibrate and play gorgeous music; the sea of ​​stars is becoming denser, like a surging tide, the universe gathers and collapses towards them... Finally, everything is lost in the In the light of creation of love.

"We need to look at Trisolaris immediately!" General Fitzroy told Dr. Ringer in the control room of the Hubble II Space Telescope, which had been last assembled a week earlier.

"General, maybe not."

"I suspect that the current observations are your astronomers' private work."

"If I could do private work, I would have done it long ago. Hubble II is still in testing."

"You're working for the military and just following orders."

"There are no soldiers here except you, we only follow NASA's test plan."

"Doctor, can't you just use that target for testing?" The general softened his tone.

"The test targets are strictly selected, and there are various distances and brightness types. The test plan is formulated in the most economical way, so that all the tests can be completed by only rotating the telescope's pointing. Now, to observe the Trisolaran world, it is just Need to turn the pointing nearly 30 degrees and back again, General, turning that big thing costs propellant, and we're saving the military money."

"Then let's see how you save it. I just discovered it from your computer." Fitzroy said, bringing his hands behind his back to the front, holding a printed sheet in his hand. The paper of the image, the image is a photo, it was taken from above, a group of people are looking up excitedly, it is easy to recognize that they are the group of people in the control room now, Ringer is standing in the middle, and There are three foreign ladies who are flirting with each other. They may be the girlfriends of three of them.In the photo, people are standing on the roof of the control room. The image is very clear, as if it was taken at a height of more than ten meters. Unlike ordinary photos, this photo has a lot of complicated parameter labels superimposed. "Doctor, you are standing on the highest point of the roof. There won't be a crane arm for filming movies, right? If it costs money to turn Hubble 30 360 degrees, how much does it cost you to turn it 100 degrees?" Besides, the investment of more than [-] billion yuan seems not to be used to take pictures of you and your girlfriend from space, do you want me to add this money to your bills?"

"General, of course your order must be carried out." Linge said quickly, and the engineers immediately got busy.

The coordinate data in the target database was quickly recalled. In space, the cylinder with a diameter of more than 20 meters and a length of hundreds of meters began to slowly rotate, and on the large screen in the control room, the image of the starry sky began to translate.

"Is this what the telescope sees?" asked the general.

"No, this is just an image sent back by the positioning system. The telescope sends back a still photo that needs to be processed before we can see it."

After 5 minutes, the translation of the starry sky stopped, and the control system reported that the positioning had been completed.After another 5 minutes, Ringer said: "Okay, let's go back to the original testing position."

Fitzroy asked in surprise, "What, it's already finished?"

"Yes, the observation image is currently being transmitted and processed."

"Can't you take a few more pictures?"

"General, 210 shots have been taken at different focal lengths." At this time, the processing of the first observation image was completed, and Ringer pointed to the monitor and said, "General, look, this is the enemy's world you are eager to see. "

Fitzroy only saw three halos of light on a pitch-black background, very vague, like street lamps in a foggy night. These were the three stars that determined the fate of two civilizations.

"It seems that we really can't see the planets anymore." Fitzroy couldn't hide his disappointment.

"Of course I can't see it. Even if Hubble III with a diameter of [-] meters is built in the future, it can only be observed when the three-body planet moves to a few specific positions, and what can be resolved is only a point without any details."

"But there is something else, doctor, what do you think it is?" an engineer said, pointing to the vicinity of the three halos on the image.

Fitzroy leaned over, but saw nothing, the mass was too dark, only a professional could perceive it.

"Its diameter is larger than that of a star," said the engineer.

"The diameter is not exact, it seems to be irregular in shape," Ringer said.

That area is continuously enlarged until the thing fills the entire screen.

"Brush!" exclaimed the general.

Laymen are often more suitable for naming professional objects. In fact, experts always carry out this kind of naming from the perspective of laymen. The name "brush" has been fixed in this way. The general's description is very accurate. It is a brush in the universe. A brush, more precisely, has only bristles and no handle.Of course, it can also be seen as a row of standing hair.

"It's a scratch on the veneer! During the feasibility study stage, I suggested that there must be a problem with the way the lens is pasted and assembled." Ringer shook his head and said.

"All veneers have been strictly inspected. There is no possibility of such scratches, nor can it be caused by other defects of the lens. Among the tens of thousands of test images that have been sent back, this has never appeared." The lens manufacturer Zeiss experts said.

The control room fell into silence, and people gathered to stare at the image. Because it was too crowded, some people simply went to another terminal to call up the image for a closer look.Fitzroy clearly sensed the change in the atmosphere. The people who seemed lazy due to the fatigue of the long test tensed up at the same time, and froze there as if under a spell, only their eyes became brighter and brighter.

"Oh my god—" Several people sighed almost simultaneously.

The people who were frozen there suddenly became active with excitement, and their conversation below was a bit too professional for Fitzroy:

"Is it the location of the dust belt around the target? Check it..."

"No, I've done that project, observed its absorption of the background of the spiral arm motion, and found that there is an absorption peak of [-] millimeters, it may be carbon particles, and the density is at the F level."

"What do you think of the high-speed impact effect that appears?"

"It is certain that the wake spreads along the impact axis, but the scope of the spread...is there a mathematical model?"

"Yes, wait a minute... that's it, impact speed?"

"A hundred third speeds."

"Has it reached that high now?"

"This is already a little conservative... the impact cross section is based on... yes, this is about the same, just a rough estimate."

……

When the scholars were busy, Linge said to Fitzroy who was standing aside: "General, can you do something within your power and count how many hairs are on the brush?"

Fitzroy nodded, leaned over to a terminal screen and started counting.

Each calculation takes four to five minutes, during which several mistakes were made, and the result came out half an hour later.

"The diameter of the final spread of the wake is about 24 kilometers, which is the diameter of two Jupiters." The astronomer who manipulated the mathematical model said.

"That's right." Ringer folded his arms and looked up at the ceiling, as if he was looking at the starry sky through it. "Everything is confirmed!" He said this with a trembling voice, and then, as if he murmured to himself He muttered, "It's fine if it's confirmed, what's wrong with that?"

The control room fell silent again, this time with a heavy strain.Fitzroy wanted to ask, but seeing the solemn expressions of the people, he couldn't open his mouth.After a while he heard a soft whimper and saw a young man covering his face and weeping.

"Come on, Harris, you're not the only skeptic here, everyone feels bad," someone said.

The young man named Harris raised his tears and said: "I know that doubt is just a comfort, but I want to spend my life in this comfort...God, we don't even have this luck."

Then there was silence again.

Linge finally noticed Fitzroy, "General, let me explain roughly: There is a piece of interstellar dust around the three stars. Before that, a group of high-speed moving objects passed through this piece of dust, and their high-speed impact hit the dust. A wake is left in the sky, and the wake continues to spread, and now its cross-sectional diameter has spread to the size of two Jupiters. There is only a slight difference between the wake and the surrounding dust, so it is invisible at close range, only four light years away from us. It can only be observed from a distant position."

"I counted them, about a thousand." General Fitzroy said.

"Of course, it must be this number, General, we have seen the Trisolaran Fleet."

The discovery of the Hubble II Space Telescope finally confirmed the reality of the three-body invasion, and also extinguished the last fantasy of mankind.

After a new round of desperation, panic and confusion, human beings have really entered the life of facing the three-body crisis.Difficult times have begun, and the wheels of history have experienced turning bumps and began to advance along new tracks.

In a world of great changes, the only thing that remains constant is the speed of time passing. In a trance, five years have passed.