Three bodies

In the 8th year of the Crisis Year, Trisolaran Fleet is 4.20 light-years away from the solar system
Taylor has been in a state of anxiety recently. He often goes down to the underground storage warehouse as deep as 200 meters, watching the collected macronuclei dancing an eternal dance in the confined magnetic field.The dance of these linear objects had a strong hypnotic effect, and he often stared at them for hours, only then felt the peace of mind.

The space electromagnetic launch rail is also being built, and the progress is very fast, but Taylor does not pay much attention to these, because the large-scale experiments of ball lightning and macroatom fusion can only be carried out in space, and the way to space is still only conventional launch This single-plank bridge.The space elevator is still in the technical research phase, the international cooperation required for the huge investment is slow, and the conventional launch capabilities needed to build a space elevator are not yet available.So in the meantime, humans have to continue to improve on the stone ax and club of the Aerospace Stone Age: chemically propelled rockets.

Tyler could only wait, so he returned home and lived a normal life for the first time in his five years as a Wallfacer.

At the same time, the Wallfacers are attracting more and more social attention. Whether they want to or not, their savior image in the public mind has been established, and the worship of the Wallfacers has naturally emerged.Despite repeated explanations from the United Nations and the PDC, the myth of their superpowers has spread like wildfire, and it has become more and more mythical.They are represented as superheroes in sci-fi movies, and in the minds of many, they are the only hope for the future of mankind.As a result, the Wallfacers also have huge appeal and political energy, which ensures that their use of huge resources can be carried out more smoothly.

Luo Ji was an exception. He had been living in seclusion and never showed his face. No one knew where he was or what he was doing.

On this day, Taylor has a visitor.Like other Wallfacers, his home is heavily guarded, and visitors must go through strict security checks.But when he saw the person coming in the living room, Taylor knew that he would be able to enter smoothly, because this person looked like a person who would not pose a threat to anyone.He wore a crumpled suit on a hot day, an equally crumpled tie, and, more unbearably, a now-rare top hat, apparently trying to make his visit appear formal Some, and he probably hadn't been to any formal occasions before that.His face was sallow and thin, like he was malnourished, his glasses looked big and heavy on his thin and pale face, his thin neck seemed to be struggling to support the weight of his head and top hat, and the wrinkled suit seemed to be hanging empty on a hanger.As a politician, Taylor can tell at a glance that this person belongs to the most pitiful type of people in society. Their pity is not only material, but also spiritually humble, just like the little boys described by Gogol. Employees, although their social status is already very low, are still worried about keeping this status. They spend their whole lives exhausted in uncreative and trivial matters, and they are cautious all day long. I am happy, but I dare not look at the higher social class through the glass ceiling.This is the kind of little people Tyler despises the most. They are the real dispensables, and he always feels uninterested in thinking that most of the world he is trying to save is composed of such people.

The man stepped into the living room door cautiously, not daring to go any further, obviously afraid that the soles of his shoes would stain the living room carpet.He took off his top hat, looked at his master with humble eyes through thick glasses, and bowed repeatedly.Tyler made up his mind to drive this man away after the first sentence he said, maybe what he had to say was important to him, but it meant nothing to Tyler.

This humble poor man uttered the first sentence in a weak voice. Taylor seemed to be struck by a bolt of lightning and almost fell to the ground due to dizziness. For him, every word of this sentence was thunderous:
"Wallfacer Frederick Taylor, I am your wallbreaker."

"Who would have thought that we would face such a combat map one day." Chang Weisi sighed as he faced the 1000 billion space map of the solar system.The super-large screen that displays the space map is equivalent to a wide-screen movie, but the screen is almost completely black, with only a small bright yellow spot in the center, which is the sun.The range of the spatial map is bounded by the center line of the Kuiper belt. When displayed in full size, it is equivalent to viewing the solar system from a distance of fifty astronomical units perpendicular to the ecliptic plane.The space map accurately marks the orbits of the planets and satellites of the planets, as well as the situation of the asteroid belts that have been discovered so far, and can accurately display the orbital positions of the solar system celestial bodies in each time section in the next 1000 years.Now the space map has turned off the indication of the position of the celestial body, and shows the real brightness. If you look carefully, you may be able to find Jupiter, but it is just a tiny bright spot that seems to be there. At this distance, the other seven planets are not visible.

"Yes, the changes we are facing are too great." Zhang Beihai said that the military's appraisal meeting for the first version of the space map had just ended, and now, only he and Chang Weisi were left in the spacious war room.

"Chief, did you notice the look in the eyes of the comrades when they faced this picture?" Zhang Beihai asked.

"Of course I noticed. It's understandable. Before the meeting, they must have imagined the space map as a popular science painting. Several colorful planets the size of billiard balls revolve around the big fireball of the sun... Only when you see the space map drawn in true scale can you feel it. To the vastness of the solar system. Whether it is the Air Force or the Navy, the furthest distance they can sail or fly is not even the size of a single pixel on this screen."

"I feel that facing the future battlefield, they did not show any confidence and passion for fighting."

"We're talking defeatism again."

"Chief, I don't want to talk about defeatism in reality. This should be an issue to be discussed in formal work meetings. What I want to talk about...how should I put it?" Zhang Beihai smiled hesitantly. He is rare.

Chang Weisi looked away from the space map, and smiled at Zhang Beihai, "It seems that what you are going to say is quite unusual."

"Yes, at least there is no precedent. That's one of my suggestions."

"Let's talk, it's best to get straight to the point. For you, you don't need such encouragement."

"Yes, Chief. In the past five years, there has been little progress in the basic research of planetary defense and space navigation. Two start-up technologies - controllable nuclear fusion and space elevators - are still standing still, making people see no hope. High-thrust traditional chemical rockets are full of difficulties, and if this continues, even a space fleet at a low-tech strategic level may only remain a science fiction forever.”

"As for the laws of scientific research, Comrade Beihai, you should already have a clear understanding when you choose to enter the High-Tech Strategy Research Office."

"Of course I understand that scientific research is a process of jumping forward. Only long-term accumulation of quantitative changes can produce qualitative changes. Most of the theoretical and technological breakthroughs are concentrated outbreaks... But, Chief, how many people understand the problem like us? It is very likely that in ten, twenty, fifty, or even a century, there will be no major breakthroughs in various disciplines and technical fields. How far will the defeatist trend of thought develop at that time? What kind of state of mind will the Space Force fall into? And mental state? Chief, do you think I'm thinking too far?"

"Beihai, what I value most about you is that you have a long-term thinking about your work. This is very rare among military political cadres. Let's go on."

"Actually, I just think about it from the scope of my work: Under the above assumptions, what kind of difficulties and pressures will the comrades engaged in political and ideological work in the Space Force face in the future?"

"What's more serious is, how many ideologically qualified political cadres will there be in the army at that time?" Chang Weisi took up the conversation, "To curb defeatism, you must first have a firm belief in victory. This is what you assume The future will definitely be more difficult than the present."

"That's exactly what I'm concerned about, Chief, when the Space Force may be severely underpowered in terms of political power."

"your advice?"

"Reinforce the future!"

Chang Weisi silently looked at Zhang Beihai for a few seconds, then moved his gaze to the big screen, moved the cursor at the same time, and pulled the sun forward until their epaulets reflected the sunlight.

"Sir, I mean..."

"I understand what you mean." Chang Weisi raised a hand and said, and at the same time pushed the sun away until the full-frame display of the space map, so that the war room was shrouded in darkness again, and then pulled the sun closer... …The general did this repeatedly in his thinking, and finally said: "Have you considered it? The political and ideological work of the current space force is already full of tasks and difficulties. If hibernation technology is used to send outstanding political and military officers in active service to the future, it will be of great help to the current military. Jobs would be a big dent..."

"I know, Chief, I'm just putting forward my own suggestions. Of course, the overall and overall consideration must be done by the superior."

Chang Weisi stood up and turned on the lights, making the war room suddenly bright. "No, Comrade Beihai, you have to do this work now. From tomorrow on, you should put aside what you are doing and focus on the Political Department of the Space Force. You can also do some investigations in other military branches, and draft a preliminary plan to report to the Military Commission as soon as possible. "

When Taylor arrived, the sun was already setting. As soon as he got out of the car, he saw a heavenly scene: the softest sunshine of the day was shining on the snow-capped mountains, lakes and forests. On the lawn by the lake, Luo Ji’s family Enjoying the dusk outside this world.The first thing Tyler noticed was the beautiful mother, who was still a teenager, more like a sister to the one-year-old.It is difficult to see clearly at a distance, but as he approaches, the attention shifts to the child.If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed that such a cute little life existed in the world.The child is like a beautiful stem cell, the germ of all beauty.The mother and child were drawing on a large piece of white paper, while Luo Ji stood far away and watched intently, just like in the Louvre, watching from a distance the girl he loves who has now become a mother.Getting closer, Taylor saw boundless happiness in his eyes, and that happiness was like the light of the setting sun pervading between the snow-capped mountains and lakes in the Garden of Eden...

Having just come from the harsh outside world, everything in front of Taylor feels unreal.In the past, he was still single after being married twice. He didn't care about this kind of family happiness. He only pursued the glory of a man, but now, for the first time, Taylor felt that he had wasted his life.

It wasn't until Taylor got very close that Luo Ji, who had been looking at his wife and children intoxicated, noticed him.Due to the psychological barrier created by their shared identity, so far there has been no personal connection between the four Wallfacers.But because he had already spoken on the phone beforehand, Luo Ji was not surprised by Taylor's arrival, and showed polite enthusiasm towards him.

"Madam, please forgive me for disturbing me." Taylor bowed slightly to Zhuang Yan who was walking over with the child.

"Welcome Mr. Taylor, there are very few guests here, we are very glad to have you here." Zhuang Yan said, she was struggling to speak English, but she still had a childish soft voice and a spring-like smile, like a pair of angel's hands Caressing Taylor's tired heart.He wanted to hug the child, but he was afraid that he would lose control of his emotions, so he just said: "It's worthwhile for me to see you two angels."

"Let's talk, I'll go prepare dinner." Zhuang Yan smiled and looked at the two men and said.

"No, no, no, I just want to talk to Dr. Luo Ji for a while, we won't stay for a long time."

Zhuang Yan enthusiastically insisted on staying with Taylor for dinner, and then left with the child.

Luo Ji motioned Taylor to sit down on a white chair on the lawn. As soon as Taylor sat down, his whole body slumped as if he had cramped his muscles, as if a long-distance traveler had finally reached his goal.

"Doctor, you seem to know nothing about the outside world these past few years." Taylor said.

"Yes." Luo Ji was still standing, and waved his fingers around, "This is all I have."

"You are such a smart person, and even from a certain point of view, you are more responsible than us."

"What about the last sentence?" Luo Ji asked with a puzzled smile.

"At least you didn't waste resources... Then doesn't she watch TV? I mean your angel."

"Her? I don't know. I've been with the child recently, so I don't seem to think much of it."

"Then you really don't know what's going on outside these days."

"What's the matter? You look bad, are you tired? Oh, what do you want to drink?"

"Whatever..." Taylor looked at the last Jinbo reflected in the setting sun on the lake in confusion, "Four days ago, my Wall Breaker appeared."

Luo Ji was pouring wine into the glass, but he stopped immediately when he heard this, and said in silence for a moment, "So soon?"

Tyler nodded heavily, "That's the first thing I said when I saw him."

"So fast?" Tyler said to the Wallbreaker, his efforts to keep his voice composed only to sound weak.

"It could have been faster, but I want to collect more evidence, so I'm late, sorry." The wallbreaker said, standing behind Taylor like a servant, speaking slowly, with the humility of a servant, and finally The three words even carry a kind of meticulous consideration - the kind of consideration an old executioner has for his execution target.

Then fell into a suffocating silence, until Taylor mustered up the courage to look up at the Wallbreaker, who respectfully asked, "Sir, may I continue?"

Taylor nodded, looked away, sat down on the sofa, and tried to calm himself down as much as possible.

"Yes, sir." The Wallbreaker bowed again, with his top hat still in his hand, "Let me first briefly describe the strategy you have shown to the outside world: to establish a space force independent of the main fleet of the earth, using ball lightning and macro-nuclear fusion as main weaponry."

"There's no point in discussing this with you," Taylor said.He has been hesitating whether to stop this conversation completely. As early as when the Wall Breaker revealed his identity, the politicians and strategists intuitively told him that this person was the winner, but until now, he is still lucky and hopes In the end, it proved that his thoughts had not been seen through.

"In that case, sir, I can stop talking, and you can then arrest me, but you must have thought of one thing: in any case, your real strategy, and all the evidence from which it was speculated, will be revealed tomorrow. It even appeared on the news all over the world tonight. I came to meet you at the cost of the rest of my life, and I hope you will cherish my sacrifice."

"Go on," Taylor said, waving his hands to his wall-breaker.

"Thank you, sir, I'm really honored, it won't take too long." The wall-breaker bowed again, his kind of humility and respect that is rarely seen among modern people seems to have penetrated into his blood, and he is always ready Acting, like a limp noose slowly tightening around Tyler's neck, "So, sir, was my statement of your strategy correct?"

"Correct," Taylor said.

"Incorrect." The Wall Breaker said, "Sir, please allow me to say, incorrect."

"why?"

"I first noticed that you spent a lot of energy and time traveling around the world, inspecting the armies and other armed forces of various countries, trying to find the remaining spirit of self-sacrifice in human society, and forming a space army with this spirit. This focus on sacrifice seems excessive and abnormal. Of course, you have your own interpretation: ball lightning and macro-atom weapons need to be close to the target, have a higher casualty rate than other space weapons, and thus require Combatants are self-sacrificing."

"What's wrong with that?" Tyler asked, lifting his head from the couch.

"There's nothing wrong, it's reasonable, but this kind of reasonableness is only for the strategy you show to the outside world." The wallbreaker bent down, put his mouth close to Taylor's ear, and continued in a lower voice, "But in your In real strategy, the situation is slightly different: if this space kamikaze or space al-Qaeda is actually established, they will not be deployed in your ball lightning fleet, but will become part of the main fleet of the earth, of course , you want to be everything."

Taylor's last hope was shattered. He already knew what was going to happen and chose to remain silent. After that, he really didn't need to say anything.

But the Wallbreaker kept on talking, the wind blowing from his mouth to Taylor's ears was not a little hot, as if it was blowing from a ghost, with a smell of a grave, "Your ball lightning fleet doesn't need that Soldiers, because what this fleet is going to attack in the end is not the Trisolaran fleet at all, its attack target is the main fleet of the earth."

Tyler remained silent, his face hard as stone, waiting for the executioner's knife.

"At some point near the end of the war, when the Earth fleet stands ready to strike, there will be a Super Space Pearl Harbor, a devastating attack from a direction they never dreamed, from a place they never dreamed People. The light of macro-atom fusion will light up in the space military port. Its fusion energy is so high that it looks like countless suns. In these blue suns, the main fleet of the earth will be wiped out, and it will disappear into space as countless quantum phantoms. Middle. At this time, you will get what you want: an earth fleet in a macroscopic quantum state. In words that are easier for the public to understand: you want to destroy the Earth Space Force and let their quantum ghosts resist the Trisolaran fleet .You think they are invincible, because a destroyed fleet cannot be destroyed again, and a dead man cannot die again."

When the butcher knife fell, Taylor remained silent, but he was mentally decapitated.

"So, the spirit of self-sacrifice you are looking for is not to be carried forward in the war with the Lord, but to ensure that after those space soldiers are killed by their fellow human beings, their quantum ghosts can still endure the humiliation and still take saving the civilization of the earth as their mission , to continue the missions that should have been done by them alive. You didn't initially plan a final surprise attack on the capital fleet, you wanted the space warriors to voluntarily go into a quantum state with their battleships by means of macro atoms. But after traveling around the world, you are completely disappointed in the dedication of modern humans, so this extreme strategic plan came into being. Imagine that after the attack, as long as part of the quantum fleet can fight, and the rest is not against humans, victory is also possible I hope. But I think that this is not very hopeful, and you are taking a big risk. However, according to the principle of the Wallface Project, in this war, taking risks is the safest."

The Wall Breaker straightened up, left Taylor, walked to the French windows, looked at the garden outside, the hell wind that he blew to Taylor's ears disappeared, but the chill had already soaked through Taylor's whole body.

"Frankly speaking, Mr. Taylor, you are not qualified as a Wallfacer. In the field of strategic deception, the Normandy landing was your last glory. After that, the great power of the United States made its leaders lose many things, including war strategy The subterfuge and treachery needed, for you no longer need them. Nor can this ability be restored when faced with an enemy greater than yourself, and your strategy lacks twists and misdirections, and deceitful traps, too straightforward, So, you became the first Wallfacer to be broken."

Tyler wanted to say something, but his Adam's apple twitched and he didn't say it.

"However, Mr. Taylor, you are not without merit, and one thing about you astonishes me: your resolute abandonment of the moral bedrock of modern society, and your steadfastness throughout the course of your actions. It is not easy, and I admire it, but at the same time Warning: you are committing murder."

The wall-breaker turned around from the window, his face that was still pale and morbid just now was blushing, and he opened his arms to Taylor, "Okay, I'm done, Mr. Taylor, call someone. "

Taylor finally said a word: "You go." His mouth didn't seem to move when he said this, his face was still like a stone statue.

The wall-breaker bent down, waved his top hat and gave an old-fashioned salute, "Thank you, sir, thank you for giving me the rest of my life. In the rest of my life, I will keep recalling today's happiness. Goodbye."

When the wallbreaker opened the door, Taylor asked again in a stiff voice: "What if what you said is true?"

The wall-breaker turned around and once again showed the gentleness and consideration of an executioner, "It's nothing, Mr. Taylor, no matter whether the earth fleet is in a collapsed state or a quantum state, whether the human space fighters are living people or quantum ghosts, the Lord will not give a damn about."

After listening to Taylor's narration, Luo Ji was speechless for a long time.

When an ordinary person communicates with them, he always thinks: he is a Wallfacer, and any of his words are unbelievable. This kind of implication creates a kind of communication barrier.And when two Wallfacers communicate, this suggestion exists in the consciousness of both sides at the same time, making the communication barrier equal to the square of the former.In fact, in this kind of communication, any sentence from both sides is meaningless, thus making the whole communication meaningless.

"What do you think of the Wall Breaker's analysis?" Luo Ji asked. In fact, the question was just to break the silence. He immediately realized that this kind of question was meaningless.

"He guessed right," Taylor said.

Luo Ji hesitated to speak, what to say?What can I say?They are all Wallfacers.

"This is really my strategy." Taylor went on to say that he obviously had a strong need to confide, and he didn't care whether the other party believed it. How human beings interact with reality, and how they achieve fixed-point collapse in real time and space through self-observation, are unknown. These require experimental research, but any such experiments with humans are murder, so it is impossible to carry out.”

Luo Ji said: "In the early days of ball lightning research, some people were transformed into a quantum state. Can you manage to get in touch with them?"

"Of course I tried, without success. There has been no news of those people for many years. Of course there are many legends about them, but each of them turned out to be untrue in the end. They seem to have disappeared forever. It may be the same as physicists say. related to the probability of cloud divergence."

"what is that?"

"The probability cloud of the macroscopic quantum state will spread in space with time and become thinner, making the quantum probability at any point in reality smaller and smaller, and finally the probability cloud is evenly distributed throughout the universe, so that people in the quantum state are in the real space. The chances of any of these coming up are close to zero... Of course, there are many other theoretical and technical issues that I expect to gradually resolve over the course of these four centuries, but judging by the attitude of the enemy to the project right now, all this It may be meaningless, and ignoring it is the greatest contempt. But the biggest blow to me is not this."

"What's that?" Luo Ji felt like a meaningless dialogue machine.

"On the second day after the Wall Breaker appeared, a comprehensive analysis of my strategy appeared on the Internet. There were millions of words of information, a large part of which came from Sophon's monitoring information, which caused a great sensation. The day before yesterday , PDC held a hearing for this, and the resolution made at the meeting is as follows: The wall-facing project must not contain any content that harms human life. If my plan really exists, then the executors of the plan have committed crimes against humanity , must be stopped, and the corresponding Wallfacers will also be punished by law. Listen, they used the word anti-humanity, which has been used more and more in recent years. The resolution finally said that according to the Wallfacer project The basic principle is that the current external evidence may be part of the strategic deception of the Wallfacer, and it cannot prove that the Wallfacer has indeed formulated and implemented such a plan, so I am not accused."

"I think so too," Luo Ji said.

"But I stated at the meeting that the analysis of the Wall Breakers is accurate, and that it is indeed my strategy to quantize the Earth Fleet. I request to be tried in accordance with international law and the laws of my country."

"I can imagine their reaction."

"The rotating chairman of the PDC and the representatives of all the permanent council members looked at me, smiling at the Wallfacers, and the chairman announced the end of the meeting. These bastards!"

"I know that feeling."

"I completely broke down, rushed out of the venue, rushed to the square outside and shouted: I am Wallfacer Frederick Taylor! My Wallfacer has successfully debunked my strategy! He was right! I want to use ball lightning to destroy the earth fleet! I want them to turn into quantum ghosts to fight! I want to kill people! I am against humanity! I am a devil! Punish me, kill me!"

"Mr. Taylor, there's no point in doing this."

"A large group of people looked at me in the square. In their eyes, children showed fantasy, middle-aged people showed reverence, and old people showed love. Their eyes all said: Look, he is a Wallfacer. He is working. He is the only one in the world who knows what he's doing, look how well he's doing it, how much he's pretending, how can the enemy find out his real strategy? And the strategy that only he knows and will save the world is How great... Ahh! These idiots!"

Luo Ji finally decided to keep silent, and he smiled wordlessly at Taylor.

Taylor stared at Luo Ji, a trace of a smile rippled on his pale face, and finally developed into a hysterical laugh, "Hahahaha, you laughed, laughing at the wall-facer, one wall-facer to another wall-facer." LOL! You think I'm working too, you think I'm faking it, and I'm going on to save the world! Hahahaha, how did we get put in such a ridiculous situation?"

"Mr. Taylor, this is a vicious circle from which we will never be able to escape." Luo Ji sighed softly.

Taylor stopped laughing suddenly, "Never can get out? No, Dr. Luo Ji, there is a way to get out, there really is a way, and I'm here to tell you the way."

"You need to rest, take a good rest here for a few days," Luo Ji said.

Taylor nodded slowly, "Yes, I need to rest, doctor, only we can understand each other's pain, this is why I came to you." He looked up, the sun had set for a while, Eden Gradually blurred in the twilight, "This is really heaven, can I walk by the lake alone?"

"You can do whatever you want here, just relax and I'll ask you to eat later."

After Taylor walked towards the lake, Luo Ji sat down and fell into heavy thoughts.

In the past five years, he has been immersed in the ocean of happiness, especially the birth of his child, which made him forget everything in the outside world. The fusion of love for his lover and child made his soul deeply intoxicated.In this isolated and gentle town, he fell deeper and deeper into an illusion: the outside world might really be something similar to a quantum state, and it wouldn't exist if he didn't observe it.

But now, terrified and bewildered by the loathsome outside world suddenly appearing in his Eden, he couldn't think about it anymore, and turned his thoughts to Tyler.Taylor's last few words echoed in his ears. Is it really possible for the Wallfacer to escape from the vicious circle?How to break this iron-like logic shackles... Luo Ji suddenly woke up, looked up, the lakeside was dusk, and Taylor was nowhere to be seen.

Luo Ji jumped up and ran towards the lake. He wanted to shout loudly, but he was afraid of disturbing Zhuang Yan and the children, so he could only run as fast as he could. In the quiet twilight, the only sound of his footsteps on the lawn could be heard. Puff puff sound, but in this rhythm, a soft "click" sound was suddenly inserted.

It was a gunshot from the lake.

Luo Ji came home late at night, and the child was already asleep. Zhuang Yan asked softly, "Is Mr. Taylor gone?"

"Yes, he's gone." Luo Ji said wearily.

"He seems to be more difficult than you."

"Yeah, that's because he didn't take the easy way... Yan, haven't you watched TV lately?"

"Don't look, I..." Zhuang Yan hesitated to speak, Luo Ji knew what she was thinking: the outside world was becoming more and more serious day by day, and the gap between the life outside and here was getting bigger and bigger. This difference made her uneasy, " Is our living like this really part of the Wallfacer plan?" She looked at Luo Ji and asked, still in that naive manner.

"Of course, is there any doubt about that?"

"But if all human beings are unhappy, can we be happy?"

"Honey, your responsibility is to make yourself and your children happy when all human beings are unhappy. The more happy you are, the more hope the Wallfacer Project will succeed."

Zhuang Yan looked at Luo Ji speechlessly. Now, the expression language she conceived in front of the Mona Lisa five years ago seemed to be partially realized between her and Luo Ji. He read the words in his heart, and now he read:
How can I believe this?
Luo Ji pondered for a long time and said, "Yan, everything will end one day, the sun and the universe will die one day, why do only human beings think they should live forever? Let me tell you, the world is currently in paranoia. , fighting a hopeless battle foolishly. Regarding the three-body crisis, it is completely possible to change the way of thinking. Abandon all worries, not only related to the crisis, but also all the worries before the crisis, and spend the rest of the time to enjoy Enjoy life. More than 400 years, oh, if you give up the doomsday war, it will be nearly 500 years. This is not a short time. It took such a long time for human beings to develop from the Renaissance to the information age, and it can also take the same long time to create unprecedented The carefree and comfortable life I have lived, five idyllic centuries without worrying about the long-term future, the only responsibility is to enjoy life, how wonderful..."

Speaking of this, Luo Ji consciously made a slip of the tongue.Claiming that her and her child's happiness is part of the plan, it is a protective cover for Zhuang Yan's life, making her see her own happiness as a responsibility, and this is the only way to maintain her psychological balance in the face of the harsh external world, But now he actually told the truth.He couldn't resist Zhuang Yan's eternally pure eyes. Every time she asked this question, he didn't dare to look at her. Now, with Taylor's factor added, he couldn't help but say these things.

"Then... when you say that, are you a Wallfacer?" Zhuang Yan asked.

"Yes, of course." Luo Ji wanted to make some remedies.

But Zhuang Yan's eyes said: You seem to really think so.

United Nations Planetary Defense Council No.80 Nine Wallfacer Program Hearings.

After the meeting started, the rotating chairman gave a speech, urging Luo Ji, the Wallfacer, to attend the next hearing, and refusing to attend the hearing should not be part of the Wallfacer project, because the Planetary Defense Council’s supervision over the Wallfacer project is beyond the Wallfacer strategic plan. Up.This proposal was unanimously approved by representatives of all the permanent members of the Security Council. In connection with the appearance of the first Wallbreaker and the suicide of Wallfacer Taylor, the two Wallfacers at the meeting also heard the overtones of the chairman's speech.

Hines spoke first.He says his strategic plan, based on brain science research, is still in its infancy, and he describes an envisioned device, which he calls an analytic camera, as a basis for further research.This kind of equipment is based on CT tomography technology and nuclear magnetic resonance technology, but it scans all sections of the detection object at the same time during operation, and the interval accuracy between each section needs to reach the scale of the internal structure of brain cells and neurons. In this way, The number of slices scanned simultaneously for a human brain will reach several million, and a digital model of the brain can be synthesized in a computer.The higher technical requirement lies in that this scanning must be performed dynamically at a speed of 24 frames per second, so the synthesized model is also dynamic, which is equivalent to taking the whole active brain into the computer at the resolution of neurons, so that The thinking activities of the brain can be accurately observed, and even the activities of all neurons in the thinking process can be replayed as a whole in the computer.

Then Rey Diaz introduced the progress of his strategic plan: After five years of research, the stellar mathematical model of the super-large-yield nuclear bomb is close to completion and is undergoing overall debugging.

Then, the PDC Scientific Advisory Group reported on the feasibility study of the further implementation of the two Wallfacers' plans.

Regarding Hines' analytical camera, the advisory group believes that there is no obstacle in theory, but its technical difficulty is far beyond the contemporary level.The technical gap between modern tomographic scanning and analytical cameras is equivalent to the gap between manual black-and-white film cameras and modern high-resolution digital cameras. The biggest technical obstacle for analytical cameras is data processing, which scans and models objects the size of a human brain with neuron precision. , the computing power required is not available in current computer technology.

With respect to Rey Diaz's model of a stellar nuclear bomb, the obstacle encountered is the same as Hines' plan: current computing power is not enough.The corresponding professional group of the advisory group, after inspecting the completed part of the model, believes that according to the calculation amount of the model, it will take about 20 years to simulate the fusion process of one hundredth of a second with the highest computing power available, and the research process The simulations in are iterative, which makes practical application of the model impossible.

The Chief Scientist of Computer Technology of the Scientific Advisory Group said: "With the development of computer technology today, the traditional integrated circuit and von Neumann system computers are close to the limit of development, and Moore's Law [28] is about to expire. Of course, we can also start from the traditional Squeezing the last few drops of lemons out of the two lemons of electronics and computer technology, we believe that even with the current deceleration in the performance of supercomputers, the computing power required for these two programs is possible, but it will take time, Optimistically, it will take 30 to [-] years. If the expected goal is achieved, it will be the peak of human computer technology, and it will be difficult to move forward. In the case that frontier physics has been locked by sophons, the most promising new generation Computers—quantum computers are out of the question.”

"We have reached the wall erected by sophons on the road of human science," said the chairman.

"Then we'd have nothing to do for 20 years," Hines said.

"Twenty years is just an optimistic estimate. As a scientist, you certainly know what this kind of cutting-edge research is all about."

"We just hibernate and wait for a computer that does the job," Rey Diaz said.

"I decided to hibernate too," Hines said.

"If this is the case, please pay tribute to my successor in 20 years." The chairman said with a smile.

The atmosphere in the venue relaxed, and the two Wallfacers decided to enter hibernation, which made the participants heave a sigh of relief.The appearance of the first wall-breaker and the suicide of the corresponding wall-facer were a heavy blow to the wall-facer plan.Especially Taylor's suicide is even more stupid. As long as he is alive, the authenticity of the quantum fleet plan will always be a mystery. His death is the final confirmation of the existence of this terrible plan.At the cost of his life, he did break out of the vicious circle of the Wallfacers, but the international community's doubts about the Wallfacer plan also increased, and public opinion demanded further restrictions on the power of the Wallfacers.But in terms of the essence of the Wallfacer plan, excessive power restrictions will inevitably make it difficult for the Wallfacer to carry out strategic deception, and the entire plan will lose its meaning.The Wallfacer Project is a brand-new leadership system that human society has never experienced before. It can only be adjusted and adapted to it gradually. The hibernation of the two Wallfacers undoubtedly provides a buffer period for this adjustment and adaptation.

Days later, in a top-secret underground building, Rey Diaz and Hines go into hibernation.

Luo Ji entered an ominous dream. In his dream, he walked through the endless halls of the Louvre. He had never dreamed of this place, because he had been in happiness for the past five years, and there was no need to go back to the past. Happiness.And in this dream, he was alone, feeling the loneliness that had disappeared for five years. Every sound of his footsteps echoed in the palace many times, and every echo seemed to be something far away, so that he Finally, I dare not take another step.Ahead was the Mona Lisa, no longer smiling, her eyes looking at him with pity.As soon as the footsteps stopped, the sound of the fountain outside seeped in. The sound gradually intensified, and Luo Ji woke up. The sound of water followed him into reality, and it began to rain outside.He turned over to grab his lover's hand, but found that the dream had become reality again.

Zhuang Yan is gone.

Luo Ji rolled over and got out of bed, and walked into the nursery, where there was soft light, but the child was gone, and there was a picture on the neatly made little bed.It was Zhuang Yan's favorite painting of both of them. The frame was almost completely blank. From a distance, it looked like a piece of white paper. If you looked closely, you would find a few tiny reeds in the lower left corner, and a nearly The flying geese that was about to disappear, in the middle of the blank space, there were two extremely small people, but now, there is a line of beautiful words in the blank space:

Dear, we are waiting for you in the last days.

Sooner or later, this day will come. How can this kind of dreamlike life last forever? Sooner or later, there will be this day. Don’t be afraid, you are already mentally prepared... Luo Ji said this to himself, but still felt dizzy. He started painting and walked towards the living room, his legs were weak, as if he was floating.

The living room was empty, and the embers in the fireplace glowed vaguely red, making everything in the hall look like melting ice.The sound of the rain outside was still the same. On that evening five years ago, she also walked in the same sound of rain. She came from the dream, and now, she returned to the dream, and took their child away.

Luo Ji picked up the phone and wanted to dial Kanter's number, but he heard soft footsteps outside the door. Although it sounded like a woman's footsteps, he was definitely not Zhuang Yan's. Even so, he dropped the phone and rushed out the door. .

A slender figure stood on the porch, although it was only a silhouette against the rainy night background, Luo Ji immediately recognized who she was.

"Dr. Luo Ji, hello," Sai said.

"Hi...how about my wife and children?"

"They are waiting for you at the end." Say said the words in the painting.

"why?"

"This is the resolution of the Planetary Defense Committee, in order for you to work and fulfill your responsibilities as a Wallfacer. In addition, I need to tell you that children are more suitable for hibernation than adults, and this will not do her any harm."

"You guys, how dare you kidnap them?! This is a crime!"

"We didn't kidnap anyone."

The meaning of Say's last words made Luo Ji's heart tremble. In order to delay facing this reality, he tried his best to turn his thoughts away, "I said this is part of the plan!"

"But the PDC has looked at it thoroughly and decided it wasn't part of the plan, so take action to get you to work."

"Even if it wasn't kidnapping, it's illegal for you to take my child without my consent!" Luo Ji realized the person included in the "you" he said, and his heart trembled again, which made him weakly Leaning against the pillar behind him.

"Yes, but to the extent that it can be tolerated, Dr. Luo Ji, don't forget that all the resources you have used are not within the existing legal framework. Therefore, what the United Nations has done in the current crisis era, it can also be explained legally."

"Are you still representing the United Nations?"

"Yes."

"Are you re-elected?"

"Yes."

Luo Ji still tried to change the subject and avoid facing the cruel truth, but he failed.How can I live without them?How could I live without them... He asked himself over and over again, and finally said it, he slid down the pillar and felt everything around him collapse again, turning into magma and falling from the top, but this time the magma was hot , all gathered in his heart.

"They are still here, Dr. Luo Ji, they are still here, safe and sound, waiting for you in the future. You have always been a calm person, and you must be even calmer at this time, if not for all human beings, then for them." Said Looking down at Luo Ji, who was leaning against a pillar and was on the verge of collapse, said.

At this time, a gust of wind blew the rain into the porch. This coolness and Say's words somewhat cooled the burning in Luo Ji's heart.

"This was your plan from the beginning, wasn't it?" Luo Ji asked.

"Yes, but taking this step is also a choice without a choice."

"Then she...was really a girl who painted Chinese paintings when she came here?"

"Yes."

"Graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts?"

"Yes."

"Then she..."

"You see a real her, everything you know about her is real, everything that makes her who she is: her previous life, her family, her character, her thoughts and so on."

"You mean she's really that kind of girl?"

"Yes, do you think she can pretend to be herself for five years? She is just like that, pure and quiet, like an angel. She didn't pretend to be anything, including her love for you, which is real."

"Then she is able to carry out such a cruel deception?! It has been five years, and she has been so silent!"

"How do you know she doesn't show her face? From the first time I saw you on that rainy night five years ago, her heart was covered with sadness. She didn't hide it. This sadness has been with her for five years, just like The background music is always playing, it hasn't stopped for five years, so you don't notice it."

Now Luo Ji understood what touched the softest thing in his heart when he saw her for the first time, made him feel that the whole world was a kind of harm to her, and made him willing to spend his whole life protecting her.It is the faint sadness hidden in her clear and innocent eyes, this sadness is like the firelight in the fireplace, gently shining on her beauty, it is really like the background music that he can't notice, but quietly penetrates into it. Into his subconscious, pulling him step by step into the abyss of love.

"It's impossible for me to find them, is it?" Luo Ji asked.

"Yes, as I said, this is a decision of the PDC."

"Then I will go to the end with them."

"can."

Luo Ji thought he would be rejected, but just like last time when he wanted to give up his identity as a Wallfacer, Say's answer followed him almost seamlessly. He knew that the matter was far from being as simple as this answer, so he asked, "What's the matter?" Question?"

Sai said: "No, this time it is really possible. You know, since the birth of the Wallfacer project, there have been voices of opposition in the international community, and, out of their own interests, most countries support some of the Wallfacers. And against the other part, there is always a side that wants to get rid of you. Now, the appearance of the first wall-breaker and Taylor's failure have strengthened the opposition of the wall-face plan, and are in a stalemate with the supporting forces. If you are at this time Putting forward the request to reach the doomsday is undoubtedly a compromise solution acceptable to both parties. But, Dr. Luo Ji, are you really willing to do this, when all mankind is fighting for survival?"

"You politicians talk about all mankind, but I can't see all mankind, what I see is individual people. I am just a person, an ordinary person, and I can't bear the responsibility of saving all mankind. I only hope to live my own life. life."

"Well, Zhuang Yan and your child are also two of this one person, don't you want to take responsibility for them? Even if Zhuang Yan hurt you, it can be seen that you still love her and your child. Since Since the Hubble II Space Telescope finally confirmed the invasion of Trisolaris, one thing is certain: Humanity will resist to the end. When your loved ones and children wake up in four centuries, they will face the apocalypse of war, and then you, They have already lost their identity as Wallfacers and are no longer able to protect them. They can only live with you and witness the final destruction of the world in a hellish life. Are you willing to do this? This is the life you bring to your lover and children?"

Luo Ji was speechless.

"You don't have to think about anything else, just think about the way they saw you in the flames of doomsday four centuries later! What kind of person did they see? A person who combined all human beings with their favorite A person who is abandoned by everyone, a person who does not want to save all the children, even his own children. As a man, can you bear such a gaze?"

Luo Ji silently lowered his head, and the night rain fell on the grass by the lake, as if countless voices poured out from another time and space.

"Do you really think that I can change everything?" Luo Ji raised his head and asked.

"Why don't you try? Among all the Wallfacers, you are probably the most likely to succeed. I am here this time to tell you this."

"Then tell me, why did you choose me?"

"Because among all human beings, you are the only one that the Trisolaran civilization wants to kill."

Luo Ji leaned against the pillar and stared at Say. In fact, he didn't see anything. He was trying to remember.

Sai went on to say: "That car accident was actually aimed at you, but it just accidentally hit your girlfriend."

"But that was really an accident. The car was swerved because two other cars collided."

"They've been preparing for this for a long time."

"But at that time, I was just an ordinary person without any protection. It was easy to kill me. Why make it so complicated?"

"Just to make the murder look like an accident, without attracting any attention. They almost did it. On that day, there were 51 traffic accidents in your city, and five people died. But the scouts lurking inside the Trisolaran organization have the exact Intelligence: This is a well-planned murder by the ETO! The most shocking thing is: the order came directly from the Trisolaran world and was transmitted to Evans through Sophon, this is the only assassination order issued by them so far."

"Me? The Three-Body Civilization wants to kill me? What's the reason?" Luo Ji once again felt strange to himself.

"No, no one knows now. Evans may know, but he's dead. The 'do not draw any attention' requirement in the murder order was obviously added by him, which further illustrates your importance."

"Importance?" Luo Ji shook his head and smiled wryly, "Look at me, do I really look like a person with superpowers?"

"You don't have superpowers, don't think in that direction, it will lead you astray!" Sai raised a hand to emphasize his own words, "I have already done special research on you, you don't have superpowers, no matter what Whether it is supernatural ability, or super-technical ability within the known laws of nature, you don’t have it. As you said: You are an ordinary person, and as a scholar, you are also an ordinary scholar. There is nothing extraordinary about it, at least we haven’t found it .Evans' additional requirement in the murder order: not attracting attention, also indirectly proves this, because it shows that your abilities may also be possessed by others."

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

"I'm afraid it will affect the kind of ability you may have. Since there are too many unknown factors, we think it's best to let you go with the flow."

"I used to plan to engage in cosmic sociology research because..." At this time, a voice deep in Luo Ji's consciousness said softly: You are a Wallfacer!It was the first time he heard his own voice, and he also seemed to hear another voice that did not exist, which was the buzzing of sophons flying around, and he even seemed to see a few blurred spots of light like fireflies .For the first time, Luo Ji made a move that a wallfacer should have, swallowed back what he wanted to say, and just said, "Does it have something to do with this?"

Say shook his head, "It shouldn't matter. As far as we know, this is just a research topic application you put forward. The research has not yet started, let alone any results. Besides, even if you really engage in this research, we It is also difficult to expect to obtain more valuable results than other scholars."

"how do I say this?"

"Dr. Luo Ji, our conversation now can only be frank. As far as we know, you are unqualified as a scholar. You are engaged in research, neither out of a desire to explore, nor out of a sense of responsibility and mission , just treat it as a job for a living.”

"Isn't that the case now?"

"Of course there is nothing wrong with this, but you have a lot of behaviors that are not commensurate with a serious and dedicated scholar: your research is very utilitarian, you often use opportunism as a means, grandstanding is the purpose, and you have embezzled research funds; From the perspective of character, you are cynical and irresponsible, and you have a mocking attitude towards the sense of mission of scholars... In fact, we all know that you don't care about the fate of mankind."

"So you blackmail me with this despicable means... You have been despising me, haven't you?"

"Normally, it would be impossible for someone like you to take on any significant responsibilities, but now one thing is overwhelming: Trisolaris is afraid of you. Please be your own wallbreaker and find out why."

After Say finished speaking, he turned and walked down the porch, and got into the car waiting there. After the car started, it quickly disappeared into the rain and fog.

Luo Ji stood there, losing his sense of time.The rain gradually stopped, the wind picked up, and the dark clouds in the night sky were blown away. When the snow-capped mountains and a bright moon were exposed, the world was bathed in a silver light.Before turning around and walking into the door, Luo Ji took one last look at the silver Garden of Eden, and said to Zhuang Yan and the child in his heart:
"Honey, wait for me at the end."

Standing in the large shadow cast by the "High Frontier" aerospace plane, looking up at its huge body, Zhang Beihai couldn't help thinking of the "Tang" aircraft carrier, which had already been dismantled. He even had this kind of imagination: " Are there really a few steel plates from the "Tang" on the casing of the "High Frontier"?After returning from more than 30 spaceflights, the burning of re-entry into the atmosphere left a burning color on the wide belly of the "High Frontier", which is really similar to the "Tang" under construction. The two have almost the same There is a sense of vicissitudes, but the two cylindrical boosters hanging under the wings look very new, like the European practice of repairing ancient buildings: the repaired parts are in a new color that contrasts sharply with the original building to remind visitors of this Some are modern additions.Indeed, without the two boosters, the High Frontier looks like an ancient large transport aircraft.

The aerospace plane is actually a very new thing, one of the few breakthroughs in aerospace technology in the past five years, and it may also be the last generation of chemically powered spacecraft.The concept of an aerospace plane has been proposed in the last century. It is a replacement product of the space shuttle. It can take off from the runway like an ordinary aircraft, ascend to the top of the atmosphere with conventional aviation flight, and then start the rocket engine to start spaceflight and enter space orbit. . "High Frontier" is one of the four aerospace planes currently in use, and more aerospace planes are under construction, which will take on the task of building space elevators in the near future.

"At first, I thought that we would never have the chance to go to space in this life." Zhang Beihai said to Chang Weisi who came to see him off. He would board the International Space Station on the "High Frontier" with [-] other Space Force officers. All are members of the three Strategy Research Offices.

"Are there any naval officers who have never been to sea?" Chang Weisi asked with a smile.

"Of course there are, and there are many. In the Navy, there are people who seek not to go to sea, but I am not such a person."

"Bei Hai, you should also be clear: active-duty astronauts still belong to the Air Force establishment, so you are the first batch of people in the Space Force to enter space."

"Unfortunately, there are no specific tasks."

"Experience is the mission. Researchers of space strategy, of course, should have space awareness. Before the advent of space planes, this kind of experience was impossible. It would cost tens of millions of people to go up. Now it is much cheaper. In the future, we must try to make more strategic researchers go to space, after all, we belong to the military branch of space, and now, the Space Force is like a school of empty talk, this is not good.”

At this time, the boarding order was issued, and the officers began to board the aircraft along the gangway. They all wore only training uniforms, and no one wore space suits. It seemed that they were just going on an ordinary air travel.This situation is a sign of progress, at least that going into space is a little more commonplace than it used to be.Zhang Beihai noticed from the attire that besides them there were people from other departments boarding the plane.

"Oh, Beihai, there is one more important thing." When Zhang Beihai brought up his equipment box, Chang Weisi said, "The Military Commission has studied the report we submitted on the future of the reinforcement of political cadres, and the superiors think that the current conditions are not enough. Mature."

Zhang Beihai narrowed his eyes. They were in the shadow of the aerospace plane, but he seemed to see a dazzling glare, "Chief, I feel that we should treat the progress of the four centuries as a whole and distinguish what is urgent. What is important... But please rest assured, I will not say that in a formal occasion, of course I know that the superior has more comprehensive considerations."

"The superior affirmed your long-term thinking and praised you. The document emphasized one point: the future reinforcement plan has not been rejected, and the research and formulation of the plan will continue, but the conditions for implementation are not yet mature. I think , Of course, it’s just my own idea, maybe I have to wait for more qualified political cadres to fill in and reduce the current work pressure before thinking about it.”

"Chief, of course you are aware that for the political and industrial cadres of the Space Force, the most basic requirement is what they must have. Now there are not more and more such people, but fewer and fewer."

"But also looking forward, if there are breakthroughs in two key technologies of the first phase: space elevators and controlled nuclear fusion - which should be promising for the foreseeable future of our generation - things will be better... Alright, I'm urging you."

After Zhang Beihai saluted Chang Weisi, he turned and walked up the gangway.After entering the cabin, his first feeling was that it was not much different from a civil airliner, except that the seat was much wider, which was designed for riding in a spacesuit.In the first few flights of the aerospace plane, the crew had to wear spacesuits when they took off, just in case, but this is no longer necessary.

Zhang Beihai sat on a seat by the window, and immediately a person sat on the seat next to him. Judging from his clothes, he was not a soldier.After Zhang Beihai nodded briefly to him, he concentrated on fastening the complicated seat belt on his seat.

Without a countdown, the "High Frontier" started its aero-engines and began to take off and taxi. Due to its heavy weight, its taxiing distance was longer than that of ordinary aircraft, but in the end it left the ground heavily and embarked on a voyage to space. .

"This is the eighth flight of the 'High Frontier' aerospace plane No.30. The aviation segment begins and lasts about 10 minutes. Please don't take off your seat belt." A voice in the loudspeaker said.

Looking at the receding earth from the porthole, Zhang Beihai thought of the past.In the aircraft carrier captain training class, he experienced a complete naval aviation pilot training and passed the third-level fighter pilot assessment.When he flew solo for the first time, he also looked at the departing land in the same way, and suddenly found that he liked the blue sky more than the ocean. Now, he yearns for the space above the blue sky even more.

He is destined to be a person who flies to high places and goes far away.

"It's no different than flying a commercial airline, is it?"

Zhang Beihai turned his head to look at the person sitting next to him talking, and then he recognized him, "Are you Dr. Ding Yi? Ah, I've heard you famous for a long time!"

"But it will be uncomfortable after a while..." Ding Yi ignored Zhang Beihai's respect and continued, "The first time, I didn't take off my glasses after the flight, and they were as heavy as bricks on the bridge of my nose; the second time I picked it off the first time, but it flew away after weightlessness, and they managed to find it for me on the air filter at the tail of the plane.”

"It seems that you took the space shuttle for the first time, right? It seems that the journey was not very pleasant from the TV." Zhang Beihai said with a smile.

"Ah, I'm talking about taking the space shuttle. This is the fourth time including the space shuttle. The glasses were taken away before the space shuttle took off."

"What are you going to the space station for this time? You have just been appointed as the project leader of controlled nuclear fusion, which seems to be the third research branch?"

The controllable nuclear fusion project has set up four research branches, which are carried out according to different research directions.

Ding Yi raised a finger and pointed at Zhang Beihai under the restraint of the seat belt, "If you study controlled nuclear fusion, you can't go to space? How can you argue with those people? Our ultimate research goal is the engine of the spacecraft, and now in the A large proportion of those who hold the real power in the aerospace industry are those who used to engage in chemical rocket engines, but now, according to their ideas, we should just honestly engage in controlled nuclear fusion on the ground, and have little say in the overall planning of the space fleet .”

"Dr. Ding, I have exactly the same opinion as you on this point." Zhang Beihai loosened his seat belt, leaned over and said, "The spacefleet spaceflight is not the same concept as the current chemical rocket spaceflight. The space elevator is also very different from the current way of spaceflight, but today, the space industry in the past still holds too much power in this field, and those people have rigid thinking and stick to the rules, and there will be endless troubles if this continues."

"No way, after all, they came up with this within five years," Ding Yi pointed around, "This gives them the capital to exclude outsiders."

At this time, the loudspeaker in the cabin rang again: "Please note: we are now approaching an altitude of [-] meters. Since the subsequent aviation flight will be carried out in a thin atmosphere, it is possible to drop the altitude sharply, and there will be a short period of weightlessness at that time. Please Don't panic, everyone. Repeat: please fasten your seat belts."

Ding Yi said: "However, our trip to the space station this time really has nothing to do with the controlled nuclear fusion project. It is to take back those cosmic ray traps, which are very expensive things."

"The space high-energy physics research project has stopped?" Zhang Beihai asked while fastening his seat belt again.

"Stop it, knowing that there is no need to waste effort in the future, it can be considered a result."

"Tomoko has won."

"Yeah, right now, there are only a few theoretical reserves in the hands of human beings: classical physics, quantum mechanics, and string theory that is still in the womb. How far they can go in application is left to fate."

The "High Frontier" continued to climb, and the aeroengine rumbled laboriously, as if it was climbing a peak with difficulty, but the phenomenon of altitude loss did not appear, and the aerospace plane was approaching [-] meters, which is the limit of aviation flight.Zhang Beihai saw that the color of the blue sky outside was fading, and the sky was getting dark, but the sun was even more dazzling.

"Now the flight altitude is 31000 meters, the aviation flight segment is over, and the space flight segment is about to begin. Please adjust your sitting posture according to the legend on the display screen to reduce the discomfort caused by overweight."

At this moment, Zhang Beihai felt the plane rise slightly, as if some burden had been thrown away.

"The aero engine group is disengaged, the countdown to the ignition of the aerospace engine: 10, 9, 8..."

"For them, this is the real launch, enjoy it." Ding Yi said, and then closed her eyes.

After the countdown reached zero, a huge roar sounded, it sounded as if the entire sky outside was roaring, and the overweight was gradually clenching everything like a giant palm.Zhang Beihai struggled to turn his head to look outside the porthole. From here, he could not see the flames from the engine, but the already thin sky outside was reddened, and the "High Frontier" seemed to be floating in the thin sunset glow.

After 5 minutes, the booster disengaged, and after another 5 minutes of acceleration, the main engine was shut down, and the "High Frontier" entered space orbit.

The overweight giant palm suddenly released, and Zhang Beihai's body jumped out of the deep seat. The restraint of the safety belt made him unable to float, but he felt that he was no longer a whole body with the "High Frontier", The gravity that had bonded them was gone, and he and the space shuttle were flying parallel through space.Looking out of the cabin window, he saw the brightest starry sky he had ever seen in his life.Then, the aerospace plane adjusted its attitude, the sunlight came in from the porthole, and there were countless bright spots dancing in the beam of light, which were large particles of dust rising due to weightlessness.As the plane rotated slowly, Zhang Beihai saw the earth. In this low orbital position, he couldn't see a complete sphere, only an arc-shaped horizon, but the shape of the continent was clearly displayed.Then, the Xinghai appeared again, which Zhang Beihai longed to see the most. He said in his heart:
"Dad, I took the first step."

In the past five years, General Fitzroy felt that he was more like a Wallfacer in the actual sense. The wall he was facing was a photo of the starry sky on the big screen in the direction of the Three-body world.Fitzroy was already very familiar with this starry sky. Yesterday, during a boring meeting, he tried to draw the positions of the stars on paper, and compared them with the actual photos, which were basically correct.The three stars in the Trisolaran world are in the middle, very inconspicuous. If you don’t zoom in locally, it looks like just one star, but every time you zoom in, you will find that the positions of the three stars have changed compared with the last time. He was so mesmerized by this random dance of the universe that he forgot what he wanted to see in the first place.The first "brush" observed five years ago has gradually faded, and so far, the second "brush" has not yet appeared.The Trisolaran fleet can only leave an observable wake when it passes through the interstellar dust cloud. Earth-based astronomers have proved it by observing the absorption of background starlight in the space that the Trisolaran fleet will traverse during the four-century-long voyage. Five dust clouds, now, people call these dust clouds "snow", which means that traces of travelers can be left on the snow.

If the Trisolaran Fleet keeps accelerating for five years, it will cross the second "snow field" today.

Fitzroy came to the Hubble II space telescope control center early, and Ringo laughed when he saw him.

"General, why do you look like a kid who wants a present just after Christmas?"

"You said you were going to cross 'snow' today."

"That's right, but the Trisolaran Fleet has only traveled 0.22 light-years so far, and it's still 4 light-years away from us. The light reflecting its passage through the 'snow field' will take four years to reach the earth."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot that." Fitzroy shook his head in embarrassment. "I really want to see them again. It's very important to be able to measure their speed and acceleration this time."

"No way, we are outside the light cone."

"what?"

"Light travels in a cone along the time axis. Physicists call it a light cone. It is impossible for someone outside the light cone to understand what is happening inside the light cone. Think about it now, who knows how many major events in the universe. are coming towards us at the speed of light, some may have been traveling for hundreds of millions of years, but we are still outside the light cone of these events."

"Within the cone of light is destiny."

Linge thought for a moment, then nodded appreciatively at Fitzroy, "General, this metaphor is very good!"

"But Sophon can see what's happening inside the cone outside the cone of light."

"So Sophon changed fate." Fitzroy said with emotion, while looking at an image processing terminal.Five years ago, the young engineer named Harris was working there, and he cried when he saw the "brush". Later, this man suffered from severe depression and almost became a useless person, so he was fired by the center and is now I don't know where to go.

Fortunately, there are not many people like him.

During this time, the weather cooled down quickly, and it began to snow, the surrounding green gradually disappeared, a thin layer of ice formed on the lake, and nature faded its bright colors like a photo from color to black and white .Here, the warm climate is inherently short-lived, but in Luo Ji's opinion, this Garden of Eden seems to have lost its aura due to the departure of his lover and children.

Winter is the season of thinking.

When Luo Ji started to think, he was surprised to find that his thoughts had reached the middle.I remember that when I was in middle school, the teacher once told him a Chinese test experience: read the composition questions at the end of the paper first, and then answer the papers in order, so that during the answering process, you will subconsciously think about the composition questions, much like the computer in the background. program.Luo Ji now knew that, in fact, from the moment he became a Wallfacer, he started thinking and never stopped, but the whole process was subconscious and he didn't feel it.

Luo Ji quickly repeated the first few steps of thinking that he had already completed.

It is now certain that all of this originated from the chance meeting with Ye Wenjie nine years ago.After the meeting, Luo Ji never talked about the meeting with anyone, for fear of causing unnecessary trouble for himself.Now, Ye Wenjie is no longer alive, and this meeting has become a secret known only to himself and Trisolaris.During that time, there were only two sophons who reached the earth, but it is certain that they were suspended beside them in front of Yang Dong’s tomb at dusk, listening to their every word, and the fluctuation of the quantum array instantly crossed the space of four light years, Trisolaris is also listening.

But what did Ye Wenjie say?
Say was wrong about one thing. Luo Ji's uninitiated cosmic sociology research was very important, and it was probably the direct reason why Trisolaran wanted to kill him.Of course Say didn’t know that this research was carried out under Ye Wenjie’s suggestion, although Luo Ji himself just saw an excellent opportunity for academic entertainment—he had been looking for such an opportunity.Before the Three-Body Crisis emerged, the study of alien civilizations was indeed a grandstanding project, and it was easy to be spotted by the media.This uninitiated research itself is not important, what is important is the hint Ye Wenjie gave him, and Luo Ji's thinking is blocked here.

He recalled Ye Wenjie's words over and over again:

I do have a suggestion: why don't you study cosmology?
A term I just mentioned is to assume that there are a huge number of civilizations distributed in the universe, and their number is an order of magnitude with the number of stars that can be observed. There are many, many of these civilizations. These civilizations constitute an overall cosmic society. Cosmic sociology is the study of The form of this super society.

I think so because combining your two majors, cosmic sociology presents a clearer mathematical structure than human sociology.

You see, the stars are all dots. The complex structures of civilizations in the universe, including the chaotic and random factors, are all filtered out by such a huge distance. Those civilizations seem to us to have parameters one by one. point, which is easier to deal with mathematically.

So your final result is purely theoretical, just like Euclidean geometry, first set a few simple self-evident axioms, and then derive the entire theoretical system based on these axioms.

First, survival is the first need of civilization; second, civilization continues to grow and expand, but the total amount of matter in the universe remains the same.

I've been thinking about it for most of my life, but it's really the first time I've talked about this with anyone, and I really don't know why I'm talking about it... Oh, and if you want to deduce the basic picture of cosmology from these two axioms, there are two more Key Concepts: Chains of Suspicion and Technology Explosions.

I'm afraid I won't have a chance... Or, you can just pretend that I'm talking casually, no matter what the situation is, I have done my duty.

……

Luo Ji recalled these words countless times, analyzing every sentence from every angle, chewing every word.The words that make up these words have been strung together into a string of rosary beads. He stroked them over and over again like a pious monk. He even untied the strings and scattered the rosary beads into one piece, and then strung them in various orders until each bead The beads are all worn off.

No matter what, Luo Ji couldn't extract the hint from these words, the hint that made him the only person to be eliminated in the Trisolaran world.

The long thoughts were carried out during aimless walks. Luo Ji walked by the bleak lake, walking in the increasingly cold wind, and often walked around the lake for a week without knowing it.Twice, he even walked to the foot of the snow-capped mountains. The exposed rocky belt like the surface of the moon has been covered with snow and is connected with the snow-capped mountains in front of him.Only at this time, his mind left the track of thinking, and Zhuang Yan's eyes emerged from the boundless blank in this natural picture scroll.But he was always able to control this mood in time and continue to turn himself into a thinking machine.

Before he knew it, a month had passed, and winter had completely arrived, but Luo Ji was still going on his long thought journey outside, and the cold sharpened his thoughts.

At this time, most of the beads on the rosary had been worn out and dimmed, except for 32 beads, which seemed to be getting newer with each passing day, until finally they shone faintly:
Survival is the first need of civilization.

Civilizations continue to grow and expand, but the total amount of matter in the universe remains the same.

Luo Ji locked on to these two sentences. Although he still didn't know the ultimate mystery, long thinking told him that the mystery lies in these two sentences, in the axiom of universal civilization proposed by Ye Wenjie.

But this reminder is too simple after all, two self-evident laws, what can Luo Ji and all human beings get from it?

Don't underestimate simplicity, simplicity means solidity, and the entire mathematical building is built on the basis of this simple axiom that cannot be simpler, but it is logically rock-solid.

Thinking of this, Luo Ji looked around. Everything around him was huddled in the cold of winter, but at this time, most areas on the earth were still full of vitality.This world of life, full of oceans, lands and skies, is complex and vast, but it actually operates under a law simpler than the axiom of cosmic civilization: the survival of the fittest.

Now, Luo Ji saw his own difficulty: Darwin summed up this law through the vast world of life, and he already knew the law, but he wanted to restore the picture of the civilization of the universe through it. This is a road opposite to Darwin's. , but more difficult.

So Luo Ji began to sleep during the day and think at night. Whenever the difficulty and danger of this thought path made him daunted, the starry sky above his head comforted him.As Ye Wenjie said, the long distance makes the complex individual structure of the stars hidden, and the starry sky is just a collection of points in space, presenting a clear mathematical configuration.This is a thinker's paradise, a paradise of logic. At least in terms of feeling, the world Luo Ji faces is clearer and more concise than Darwin's.

This simple world has a strange mystery: on the nearest star to us, advanced intelligent civilizations have emerged, but the entire Milky Way is such an empty desert[29]. It is precisely in this mystery that Luo Ji Found an entry point for thinking.

Gradually, the two mysterious concepts that Ye Wenjie did not explain became clear: the chain of suspicion and the explosion of technology.

The night was colder than usual, Luo Ji stood by the lake, the severe cold seemed to make the starry sky more pure, and the silver dots in those black spaces solemnly displayed the clear mathematical structure once again.Suddenly, Luo Ji entered a state that he had never experienced before. In his feeling, the entire universe was frozen, all motion had ceased, everything from stars to atoms was at rest, and the stars were just countless cold The sizeless dots reflect the cold light of the outside world...everything is waiting in stillness, waiting for his final awakening.

A dog barked in the distance, pulling Luo Ji back to reality. It might be a dog from the security forces.

Luo Ji was very excited. Just now, he didn't see the last mystery, but he really felt its existence.

Luo Ji concentrated his thoughts, trying to re-enter the state just now, but failed.The starry sky is still there, but the world around him is interfering with his thinking.Although everything is hidden in the night, you can still distinguish the snow-capped mountains in the distance, the forest and grassland by the lake, and the villa behind you. From the half-open door, you can see the dark red fire in the fireplace... It matches the simplicity and clarity of the starry sky. For example, everything around here symbolizes the complexity and chaos that mathematics can never grasp, and Luo Ji tries to eliminate them from his senses.

He stepped onto the frozen lake, cautiously at first, but then he found that the ice seemed to be solid, so he slid and walked faster, until the surrounding lake shores could not be seen clearly in the night.At this time, he was surrounded by smooth ice, which separated the complexity and chaos of the world.He imagined that the plane of ice extended infinitely in all directions, and he obtained a simple plane world, a cold and smooth platform for thinking.The trouble disappeared, and he soon entered that state again, feeling that everything was still, and the starry sky was waiting for him again...

With a crash, the ice under Luo Ji's feet shattered, and his body fell straight into the water.

The moment the ice water submerged Luo Ji's head, he saw that the still starry sky shattered. The sea of ​​stars first rolled into a vortex, and then disintegrated into a turbulent silver chaotic wave.The biting cold was like crystal lightning, instantly piercing through the fog in his consciousness and illuminating everything.He continued to sink, and the turbulent starry sky shrunk above his head into a blurred halo at the breach in the ice surface. There was only cold and ink-like darkness all around him. Luo Ji felt that he was not sinking into the icy water, but leaping. into the dark of space.

In this dead silence, he saw the truth of the universe.

Luo Ji quickly floated up, his head out of the water, he spat out a mouthful of water, and tried to climb up the ice surface at the edge of the breach, but his body was only half way up, and the ice collapsed under the pressure. I made a way on the ice, but the progress was very slow, and my physical strength was gradually exhausted in the cold.He didn't know if the guards could detect the anomaly on the lake before he drowned or froze to death.He took off the water-soaked down jacket, so that the burden of movement was much less.Then he immediately thought that if he spread the down jacket on the ice and then climbed up, it might be able to play a role in dispersing the pressure.He did so, and the remaining physical strength was only enough to climb again. He tried his best to climb up the edge of the ice covered with a down jacket. This time, the ice did not collapse, and he finally lay on the ice with his whole body, and moved forward carefully. Climb until it is far away from the breach before mustering up the courage to stand up.At this time, he saw flashlights shaking on the shore and heard someone shouting.

Luo Ji stood on the ice, his teeth chattering in the cold. The cold didn't seem to come from the lake water or the cold wind, but directly from outer space.Luo Ji didn't raise his head. He knew that from this moment on, the starry sky looked different in his eyes, so he didn't dare to look up again.Just like Rey Diaz was afraid of the sun, Luo Ji has since suffered from severe star phobia.He lowered his head, his teeth chattering in the chill, and said to himself:
"Wallfacer Luo Ji, I am your wallbreaker."

"Your hair has turned gray all these years," Luo Ji said to Kanter.

"At least in the next few years, I won't continue to be white." Kanter said with a smile. Before, he always looked polite and thoughtful in front of Luo Ji. Luo Ji still had such a sincere smile. Seeing it for the first time, from his eyes, Luo Ji saw the unspoken words: You finally started working.

"I need a safer place," Luo Ji said.

"That's no problem, Dr. Luo Ji, do you have any other requests for that place?"

"There are no requirements other than safety. Be absolutely safe."

"Doctor, there is no absolutely safe place, but we can get very close, but I need to remind you that such places are often underground, so in terms of comfort..."

"Don't worry about comfort, but this place should be in my country."

"No problem, I'll do it right away."

When Kanter was about to leave, Luo Ji stopped him, pointed out the window to the Garden of Eden, which was completely covered in ice and snow, and said, "Can you tell me the name of the place here? I will miss it."

After more than ten hours of traveling under strict protection, Luo Ji arrived at his destination. As soon as he got out of the car, he immediately knew where it was - a spacious but low hall that looked like an underground garage. Five years ago, Luo Ji was Starting from here, he started his brand new dream life, and now, after five years of alternating nightmares and sweet dreams, he has returned to the starting point.

Among the people who greeted him was Zhang Xiang, the young man who sent him away with Shi Qiang five years ago, and now he is the person in charge of the security here. Five years later, he has aged a lot and looks like a middle-aged man. people.

The person driving the elevator was still an armed police soldier, of course not the one from back then, but Luo Ji still had a sense of intimacy in his heart.In fact, the old-fashioned elevator has been replaced with a fully automatic one, and no one needs to operate it. The soldier just pressed the "-10" button, and the elevator descended to the ground.

The underground building has obviously undergone new renovations, the ventilation ducts in the corridor are hidden, moisture-proof tiles are pasted on the walls, and the old traces including the slogan of civil air defense have all disappeared.

All ten basement floors became Luo Ji's residence. Although the comfort was not comparable to the place he had just left, it was equipped with complete communication and computer facilities, as well as meeting rooms equipped with remote video conferencing systems. It's like a headquarters here.

The administrator specifically showed Luo Ji a type of lighting switch in the room, each with a small sun symbol on it.The administrator said that this kind of lamps called solar lamps must be turned on for no less than five hours a day. This was originally a labor protection product for mine workers. people supplement sunshine.

The next day, according to Luo Ji's request, astronomer Albert Ringer came to the tenth floor underground.

After seeing Linge, Luo Ji said, "You were the first to observe the track of the Trisolaran Fleet?"

Hearing this, Linger seemed a little unhappy, "I have stated to reporters many times, but they still forced this honor on me. It should have belonged to General Fitzroy. He insisted that Hubble II was in the Observe the Trisolaran during the test period, otherwise you may miss the opportunity to observe, and the wake in the interstellar dust will fade."

Luo Ji said: "The matter I want to talk to you has nothing to do with this. I have also engaged in astronomy, but I didn't go deep into it. I am not familiar with this major now. First, I would like to ask a question: In the universe, if there is any existence other than For observers other than the three bodies, has the position of the earth been exposed so far?"

"No."

"Are you so sure?"

"Yes."

"But the earth has already communicated with Trisolaris."

"This kind of low-frequency communication can only reveal the general direction of the Earth and the Trisolarans in the Milky Way, as well as the distance between the Earth and the Trisolarans. In other words, if there are third-party receivers, they may know through these communications Yes, it’s just that there are two civilized worlds 4.22 light-years apart in this area of ​​the Orion spiral arm of the Milky Way, but the precise positions of these two worlds are still unknown. In fact, through such interactive communication to determine the positions of each other, It can only be realized between stars that are very close to each other like the sun and the three bodies, and for third-party observers who are slightly farther away, even if we directly communicate with them, we cannot determine each other's positions."

"why?"

"Positioning the position of a star to other observers in the universe is much more difficult than one might imagine. Here's an analogy: you're flying over the Sahara in an airplane, and a grain of sand in the desert below yells at you 'I'm in Here', and you heard the cry, can you locate this grain of sand on the plane? The Milky Way has nearly 2000 billion stars, almost a desert of stars."

Luo Ji nodded, seemingly relieved, "I see, that's right."

"What's wrong?" Ringo asked puzzled.

Luo Ji didn't answer, but asked, "So, with our technical level, how do we mark the position of a certain star in the universe?"

"Using localizable very high frequency electromagnetic waves, which should be at or above the frequency of visible light, to transmit information at stellar-level power. Simply put, it is to make this star twinkle and make itself a cosmic beacon."

"This is far beyond our technical capabilities."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't notice your premise. With the current technological capabilities of human beings, it is very difficult to show the position of a star to the distant universe. There is a way, but the technical level required to interpret this position information is much higher For human beings, even... I think, it is higher than the Trisolaran civilization."

"Please tell me about this method."

"The relative position of the stars is an important piece of information. If a region of space is designated in the Milky Way, and the number of stars contained in it is large enough, probably dozens of stars are enough, then the relative arrangement of these stars in this three-dimensional space is Almost unique in the universe, like a fingerprint."

"I understand a little bit: if the relative position information of the star to be specified and the surrounding stars is sent out, and the receiver compares it with the star map, the position of the star can be determined."

"Yes, but things are not that simple. The receiver needs to have a three-dimensional model of the entire Milky Way. This model contains all the hundreds of billions of stars, and their relative positions are accurately marked. In this way, after receiving the information we sent, They can search through this huge database to find the space that matches the composition of the location we send out."

"It's really not easy. It's equivalent to recording the relative position of every grain of sand in a desert."

"It's even more difficult. The Milky Way is different from the desert. It is in motion, and the positions between the stars are constantly changing. The later the position information is received, the greater the error caused by this position change. This requires That database has the ability to predict the position changes of all the hundreds of billions of stars in the Milky Way, which is fine in theory, but in practice, oh my god..."

"Is it difficult for us to send this kind of location information?"

"This is not difficult, because we only need to master the limited composition of star positions. Now think about it, with the average star density in the outer spiral arm of the Milky Way, thirty stars are enough to form a composition, or even less , which is only a small amount of information.”

"Okay, now I ask the third question: You seem to have discovered hundreds of other stars with planets outside the solar system?"

"So far, 510 two."

"Which is closest to the sun?"

"244J2E1, 16 light-years from the Sun."

"I remember that the serial number is determined like this: the first number represents the order of discovery, J, E, and X represent Jupiter-like planets, terrestrial planets, and other types of planets, respectively, and the numbers after the letters represent the number of such planets."

"Yes, 244J2E1 indicates three planets, two Jupiter-like planets and one Earth-like planet."

Luo Ji thought for a while, then shook his head, "It's too close. How about something farther away, like...about 50 light-years?"

"187J3X1, 49.5 light-years from the sun."

"That's great, can you make a composition of the star's position?"

"of course can."

"How long will it take? Do you need any help?"

"All you need is a computer with Internet access, and I can do it here. According to the composition of thirty stars, I can give it to you tonight."

"What time is it? Isn't it night?"

"Dr. Luo Ji, I think it should be morning."

Linger went to the computer room next door, and Luo Ji called Kantor and Zhang Xiang again. He first told Kanter that he wanted to ask the Planetary Defense Council to hold a hearing on the Wallface project as soon as possible.

"There's been a lot of meetings in the PDC lately and you might have to wait a few days after you've applied," Kantor said.

"That will have to wait, but I really hope as soon as possible. In addition, there is another request: I will not go to the United Nations, but I will participate in the meeting through the video system here."

Kanter looked embarrassed, "Dr. Luo Ji, this is not appropriate, is it? An international conference of this level... this involves respect for the participants."

"It's part of the plan. So many outlandish requests I've made before have been met, isn't this one too much?"

"You know..." Kanter hesitated to speak.

"I know that the status of the Wallfacers is not as good as before, but I insist on this request." Luo Ji lowered his voice, although he knew that Sophon who was floating around could still hear him, "There are two possibilities now, one is that everything is As before, then it doesn't matter if I go to the United Nations; but if the other possibility comes up, I am now in an extremely dangerous situation, and I can't take that risk."

Luo Ji said to Zhang Xiang again: "That's why I came here for you. This place is likely to become the target of concentrated attacks by the enemy. Security must be strengthened."

"Mr. Luo, don't worry, this place is more than 200 meters underground, and the entire area above is under martial law. An anti-missile system has been deployed, and an advanced stratum detection system has been installed. Any tunneling from the underground to this direction can be detected. , I assure you, it is absolutely perfect in terms of safety!"

After the two left, Luo Ji went for a walk in the corridor, and couldn't help but think of the Garden of Eden—he already knew the name of the place, but still called it in his heart—the lake and snow-capped mountains. He knew that he would probably spend his time underground. the rest of my life.

He looked at the sunlamps at the top of the hallway, their light was nothing like sunlight.

The virtual three-body world in the Internet.

There are two flying stars slowly passing through the sea of ​​stars, everything on the earth is in darkness, and the distant horizon merges with the night sky in pitch blackness.There was a whisper in the darkness, and the speaker could not be seen, as if the voice itself was an invisible creature floating in the darkness.

With a soft clang, a small flame appeared in the darkness, and the faces of three people appeared and disappeared in the faint firelight. They were Qin Shihuang, Aristotle and von Neumann, and the firelight came from Aristotle. The lighter in the hands of Germany, several torches stretched out, Aristotle lit one of them, and then several of them ignited each other, forming a wavering light on the wasteland, illuminating a group of people of all ages. The whispers between them continued.

Qin Shihuang jumped onto a rock and raised his long sword, and everyone fell silent immediately.

"The Lord has issued a new order: eliminate Wallfacer Luo Ji." Qin Shihuang said.

"We have also received this order. This is the second killing order issued by the Lord to Luo Ji." Mozi said.

"But it's not easy to kill him now." Someone said.

"It's not easy, it's simply impossible."

"If Evans hadn't attached conditions to the Lord's first killing order, he would have died five years ago."

"Maybe Evans has a point. After all, we don't know the truth. Luo Ji was lucky enough to let him escape again at the United Nations Square."

……

Qin Shihuang waved his sword to stop the discussion, "Let's discuss what to do."

"No way, who can get close to that 200-meter-deep bunker? Let alone go in! The defense there is too strict."

"Have you considered using nuclear weapons?"

"Damn! That place is a nuclear-proof bunker during the Cold War of the last century."

"The only feasible way is to send someone to infiltrate the security forces."

"Is this possible? After all these years, has anyone successfully infiltrated?"

"Infiltrated into his kitchen!" The words elicited a few chuckles.

"Stop talking nonsense, the Lord should tell us the truth, maybe we can think of another way."

Qin Shihuang answered the last man's words: "I also made this request, but the Lord said that this truth is the most important secret in the universe and must not be revealed. The reason why I talked with Evans at that time was because the Lord thought that human beings already knew the truth. "

"Then ask the Lord to pass on the technology!"

This voice was echoed by many people. Qin Shihuang said: "I also made this request. Unexpectedly, the Lord did not completely refuse it."

There was a commotion of excitement in the crowd, but Qin Shihuang's next words calmed the excitement: "But the Lord quickly rejected the request after learning the location of the target, saying that as far as the location of the target is concerned, it is possible to go to the The technology we pass on can’t help either.”

"Is he really that important?" Von Neumann asked, his tone full of jealousy. As the first successful Wall Breaker, his status in the organization rose rapidly.

"The Lord is very afraid of him." Qin Shihuang said.

Einstein said: "I have thought about it for a long time, and I think there is only one possible reason for the Lord's fear of Luo Ji: He is the spokesperson of some kind of power."

Qin Shihuang stopped further discussion on this topic: "Don't talk about it, let's think about how to fulfill the Lord's instructions."

"no way."

"There is really no way, an impossible mission."

Qin Shihuang knocked on the rock under his feet with his long sword, "This mission is very important. The Lord may really encounter threats. Besides, if it can be completed, the status of the organization in the eyes of the Lord will be greatly improved! Here gathered all the people in the world. Why can’t the elites in the field come up with a solution? Everyone, go back and think about it carefully, and bring the plan to me through other channels. This matter must be done as soon as possible!”

The torches burned out one after another, and the darkness swallowed everything again, and the whispering continued.

The PDC Wallfacer hearing was only two weeks away, and with Taylor's defeat and the hibernation of the other two Wallfacers, the PDC's primary focus and attention shifted to mainstream defense methods.

Luo Ji and Kanter were waiting for the meeting in the video conference room. The video of the meeting had already been connected, and the meeting place of the Planetary Defense Council appeared on the big screen. Luo Ji came here early in order to somewhat make up for the disrespect of not coming to the venue in person.

While waiting, Luo Ji chatted with Kanter and asked him how he was doing here. Kanter said that he had lived in China for three years when he was young, and he was very used to it, and had a good life. After all, he didn’t need to be like Luo Ji. Living underground all day long, his unfamiliar Chinese has become fluent again these days.

"You sound like you have a cold?" Luo Ji asked.

"Just a mild flu," Kanter replied.

"Bird flu?!" Luo Ji was taken aback.

"No, it's light and serious, that's what the media calls it. It was popular in a nearby city a week ago. The infection rate is very high, but the symptoms are very mild. There is no fever, but a runny nose. Some patients may have a sore throat. No medicine is needed. , and healed automatically in about three days."

"The flu is usually very serious."

"Not this time. Many soldiers and staff here are infected. Didn't you notice that the handyman in the room has changed? She also has a mild flu and is afraid of infecting you, but I, the liaison officer, can't change it for a while. .”

The screen showed that representatives from various countries began to enter the venue one after another. They sat down and chatted in low voices, as if they didn't notice Luo Ji's existence.The President of the Planetary Defense Council opened the meeting by saying:

"Wallfacer Luo Ji, you should have read the amended United Nations Wallfacer Act at the just-concluded Special UN General Assembly."

"Yes." Luo Ji replied.

"You must have noticed that the bill has strengthened the review and restrictions on the use of resources by Wallfacers. I hope that the plan you will submit at this meeting can meet the requirements of the bill."

"Mr. Chairman," Luo Ji said, "the other three Wallfacers have already used a lot of resources in the implementation of their own strategic plans. It is unfair to limit my resources to my plan."

"The authority to invoke resources depends on the plan itself. You should notice that the plans of the other three Wallfacers do not contradict the mainstream defense. That is to say, even if there is no Wallfacer plan, these research projects and projects must be carried out. I hope your strategy The plan is also of this nature."

"Unfortunately, my plan is not of this nature and it has nothing to do with mainstream defense."

"Then I also regret that under the new Act the resources you can call upon in this scheme are minimal."

"Even in the old bill, the amount of resources I could call upon was not significant. But Mr. Chairman, that's not a problem, my strategic plan consumes hardly any resources."

"Just like your previous plan?"

The chairman's words drew snickers from several attendees.

"It's less than the previous ones. As I said, it hardly consumes any resources." Luo Ji said frankly.

"Then let us find out." The chairman nodded and said.

"The detailed content of the plan will be introduced by Dr. Albert Ringer. At the same time, I think that the representatives have already obtained the corresponding documents. In short, it is to send a message to the universe through the radio wave amplification function of the sun. The information consisted of only three simple graphics, with some additional information indicating that the graphics were sent by an agent rather than formed naturally, and the graphics were all attached to the conference papers."

There was a sound of flipping papers in the meeting place, and soon every participant found the three pieces of paper. At the same time, the three graphics were displayed on the screen. It was really very simple. Each graphics was just some seemingly random The distribution of black dots, people noticed that there is a black dot drawn bigger and more eye-catching in each picture, and there is also a small arrow to indicate it.

"What's this?" asked the American representative, looking at the pictures one by one like the other participants.

"Wallfacer Luo Ji, according to the basic principles of the Wallfacer Project, you don't have to answer this question." The chairman said.

"It's a spell," Luo Ji said.

The flipping of papers and whispers in the venue stopped abruptly, and everyone looked up in one direction. Now Luo Ji knew where the screen displaying this image was.

"What?" asked the chairman, narrowing his eyes.

"He said it was a spell." Someone at the big round table said loudly.

"Spell against whom?" asked the chairman.

Luo Ji replied: "The planets possessed by the star 187J3X1, of course, may also directly affect the star."

"What will it do?"

"I don't know yet, but one thing is clear: the effect of the spell must be catastrophic."

"So, could there be life on these planets?"

"I have repeatedly consulted the astronomical community on this point, and according to the observation data available so far, there is no." Luo Ji narrowed his eyes like the chairman, and prayed silently in his heart: I hope they are right. of.

"How long does it take for the spell to work after it's cast?"

"This star is about 50 light-years away from the sun, so the earliest time for the spell to work is 50 years later, and we will not be able to observe the image of the action until 100 years later, but this is the earliest time that can be estimated. The time of action may be delayed a lot.”

After a period of silence in the meeting place, the American representative took the first step and threw the three pieces of paper with black dots on the table, "Very good, we finally have a god."

"The god hiding in the cellar." The British representative echoed, and there was a lot of laughter in the venue.

"It's more likely a wizard." The representative of Japan snorted and said that Japan had never been able to enter the Security Council, but was immediately absorbed when the Planetary Defense Council was established.

"Dr. Luo Ji, as far as making the plan weird and inexplicable, you have done it." Russian representative Garning said that he had served as the rotating chairman of the PDC several times during Luo Ji's five years as a Wallfacer .

The chairman tapped the gavel to stop the noise in the venue: "Wallfacer Luo Ji, I have a question: Since it's a spell, why doesn't it directly target the enemy's world?"

Luo Ji said: "This is an experiment to prove my own strategic vision. The real implementation of the strategy will come when the doomsday battle comes."

"Can't the Three-Body World be the target of the experimental spell?"

Luo Ji shook his head resolutely, "Absolutely not. It's too close, too close to us. When the spell works, it may affect us. I even gave up stars with planets within fifty light-years."

"One last question: what do you plan to do in 100 years or more?"

"You can get rid of me now: Hibernate, wake me up when the spell is observed to work on the 187J3X1 galaxy."

While preparing to enter hibernation, Luo Ji contracted a mild flu.The initial symptoms were the same as others, just a runny nose and a slight irritation of the throat, which he and others didn't care about.But two days later, Luo Ji's condition worsened and he started to have a fever. The doctor felt something was wrong, so he took a blood sample and went back to the city for analysis.

That night, Luo Ji fell asleep with a high fever, haunted by frenzied dreams.In the dream, the stars in the night sky were dancing chaotically, like grains of sand on a vibrating drum. He even realized the gravitational connection between these planets. What they did was not the three-body motion, but the movement of all the stars in the Milky Way. 2000 billion body movements!Later, the chaotic sea of ​​stars gradually gathered into a huge vortex, and in the crazy rotation, the big vortex turned into a big silver snake condensed by all the stars, whizzing into his brain...

Around [-]:[-] in the morning, Zhang Xiang was awakened by the phone ringing. It was the leader of the planetary defense and security department calling. The voice was stern, telling him to immediately report Luo Ji's condition and order the base to be in a state of emergency. A team of experts was coming.

Just as Zhang Xiang put down the phone, the ring rang again. It was a call from the doctor on the tenth floor underground, reporting that the patient's condition had deteriorated rapidly and he was now in a state of shock.Zhang Xiang immediately took the elevator down. The panicked nurses and doctors told him that in the middle of the night Luo Ji vomited first, then began to vomit blood, and then fell unconscious.Zhang Xiang saw that Luo Ji's face was pale, his lips were purple, and there were almost no signs of life on his body.

The expert team arrived quickly, including experts from the National Emergency Epidemic Management Center, doctors from the PLA General Hospital, and all members of a research team from the Academy of Military Medical Sciences.

While others were checking their condition, an expert from the Academy of Military Medical Sciences took Zhang Xiang and Cantera outside the door and explained the situation to them.

"We have been paying attention to this flu for a long time, and feel that its source and characteristics are very abnormal. Now it is clear that this is a genetic weapon, or a genetic missile."

"Gene missile?"

"It is a genetically modified virus that is highly contagious, but for ordinary people, it only produces mild symptoms such as mild flu, but this virus has the ability to recognize genes and can recognize the genetic characteristics of a person. The target is infected, the virus creates a deadly toxin in his blood, and now we know who the target is."

Zhang Xiang and Kanter looked at each other, first in disbelief, then into despair, Zhang Xiang turned pale, and slowly lowered his head and said, "I take full responsibility."

The university researcher said: "Director Zhang, you can't say that. It's really hard to prevent. Although we were skeptical at first, we didn't think about it. The concept of genetic weapons appeared in the last century, but who would believe that someone actually used it Although it is not perfect[30], it is really terrible as an assassination weapon: you only need to spread the virus in the approximate range of the target, and you don’t even need to know the approximate range of the target. Spread globally, because this virus has little or no pathogenicity to ordinary people, it can spread quickly and widely, and it is very likely to hit the target in the end."

"No, I take full responsibility." Zhang Xiang covered his eyes with one hand, "If Captain Shi was here, this wouldn't have happened." He put down his hand, with tears in his eyes, "The last thing he said before hibernation What I said was what you just said about being impossible to guard against. He said Xiao Zhang, in our job, we have to sleep with half our eyes open. Now there is nothing foolproof, some things are hard to guard against."

"So what's the next step?" Kanter asked.

"The virus has penetrated deeply. The patient's liver and heart and lung function have failed. Modern medical methods are helpless. Hibernate as soon as possible."

After an unknown amount of time, Luo Ji's subconscious, which had completely disappeared, recovered a bit. He felt it was cold. This cold seemed to originate from his body, and spread out like light, freezing the whole world.He saw a piece of snow-white, at first there was nothing but this boundless white, and then a small black spot appeared in the middle of the white, and gradually, he saw that it was a familiar figure, it was Zhuang Yan, she was holding their child, Walking with difficulty in the snowy field that is so empty that it loses its three-dimensional sense.She was wearing a red scarf, which was the one he wore when he saw her in his imagination for the first time on that snowy night seven years ago. The child's face was red with cold, and he was desperately fighting for him in his mother's arms. Waving his little hands, shouting something, but he couldn't hear the sound.He tried to run after him in the snow, but the young mother and child disappeared, as if melting into the snow.Then he himself disappeared, and the snow-white world shrank into an extremely thin silver thread. In the boundless darkness, this thread was all that remained of his consciousness.This is the thread of time. The thread itself is stationary and stretches infinitely in two directions. Luo Ji's soul is threaded on the thread, and gently slides towards the unknown future at a constant speed.

Two days later, a beam of powerful radio waves emitted by the earth hit the sun. The radio waves penetrated the troposphere and reached the energy mirror of the radiative layer. They were amplified hundreds of millions of times in the gain reflection, and carried the spell of the Wallfacer Luo Ji, at the speed of light. Fly into space.

In the 12th year of the Crisis Year, Trisolaran Fleet is 4.18 light-years away from the solar system
Hubble II Space Telescope Control Center.

"Brush" appeared in space, and the Trisolaran fleet was passing through the second piece of interstellar dust.Since Hubble [-] had been closely monitoring the area, the fleet track was captured as soon as it appeared.At this time, they don't look like brushes at all, but like a clump of grass that has just sprouted in the dark abyss of space. These thousands of grasses grow every day at a speed that can be detected by the naked eye.Moreover, these tracks look much clearer than nine years ago, this is because after nine years of acceleration, the speed of the fleet has increased a lot, and the impact on the interstellar dust has become more intense.

"General, take a closer look, can you find anything?" Linge pointed to the enlarged image on the screen and said to Fitzroy.

"It still seems to be about a thousand."

"No, take a closer look."

Fitzroy looked carefully for a while, then pointed to a point in the center of the "brush" and said, "It seems that... one, two, three, four... ten bristles grow faster than the others, and they stick out."

"Yes, those ten tracks are very faint, and you can only see them after image enhancement."

Fitzroy turned around and looked at Ringer, showing the expression he had when he first discovered the track of the Trisolaran fleet ten years ago, "Doctor, does this mean that ten warships are speeding towards them?"

"They are all accelerating, but these ten tracks show a greater acceleration, but that is not ten warships, the total number of tracks has now grown to one thousand and ten, ten more. By analyzing these ten tracks According to the analysis of the shape, the volume of these things is much smaller than that of the warships behind, only about one hundred thousandth of each of them, that is, the size of a truck, but due to the high speed, the trajectory it produces is still can be observed.”

"So small, ten detectors?"

"Ten probes."

This is another shocking discovery of Hubble [-]: humans will make early contact with entities from the world of Trisolaris, although only ten small probes.

"When will it reach the solar system?" Fitzroy asked nervously.

"I still can't tell, it depends on the future acceleration situation, but it will definitely arrive earlier than the fleet, and the most conservative estimate will be a century and a half earlier. The acceleration of the fleet has obviously reached the limit, because of some reasons we don't know, They want to get to the solar system as quickly as possible, so they launch probes that can accelerate faster."

"Since there are sophons, why is it necessary to launch a detector?" an engineer asked.

This question made everyone fall into deep thought, but Ringe quickly broke the silence, "Don't think about it, this is not something we can come up with."

"No." Fitzroy raised a hand and said, "I can think of at least a part... What we saw happened four years ago. Excuse me, can you confirm the exact date when the fleet launched the probe?"

"Of course. Fortunately, when the fleet launched it, it was in the snow, oh, in the dust, we observed the intersection of the track of the probe and the track of the fleet." Ringer then told Fitzroy a date.

Fitzroy stood still for a while, lit a cigarette, sat down and smoked, and said after a long time: "Doctor, you are not politicians after all, just like I can't see the ten brush hairs growing out. Likewise, you have failed to see a crucial fact."

"Does this date... have any significance?" Ringer asked puzzled.

"On that day four years ago, I participated in the hearing of the Planetary Defense Council's Wallfacer Project. At the meeting, Luo Ji proposed to send a spell to the universe through the sun."

The scientists and engineers looked at each other.

Fitzroy went on to say, "At that time, Trisolaran issued the second order to ETO to eliminate Luo Ji."

"He, is it really that important?"

"Do you think he was a flamboyant playboy first, and then a pretending fake wizard? Of course, we also think so, everyone thinks so, except Trisolaran."

"Then... general, what do you think he is?"

"Doctor, do you believe in God?"

This abrupt question made Ringer speechless for a while, "...God, there are multiple meanings on multiple levels at present, I don't know you..."

"I believe it. It's not that there is any evidence, but it is safer to do so: if there is a God, our belief is right; if there is no God, we have nothing to lose."

The general's words made everyone laugh, and Ringer said: "Your last sentence is not true, and there will be no loss, at least for science... But what if God exists? It has something to do with the things in front of us." Does it matter?"

"If God does exist, he may have a spokesperson on earth."

People froze for a long time before they understood the meaning of the words. An astronomer said: "General, what are you talking about? God will choose a spokesperson in an atheistic country?"

Fitzroy stubbed out the cigarette butt, spread his hands and said, "If all other possibilities are ruled out, and the remaining one is true no matter how bizarre, can you think of any other explanations?"

Ringer pondered: "If God refers to some kind of just power that transcends all that exists in the universe..."

Fitzroy raised his hand to stop him from continuing, as if pointing out everything would reduce the power of this fact, "So, everyone, believe in it, you can start to believe in it." He said, crossing himself on his chest.

The live broadcast of Tianti No. [-] trial operation is being broadcast on TV.Among the three space elevators that started construction at the same time five years ago, Tianti No. [-] and No. [-] have already been put into official operation at the beginning of the year, so the trial operation of Tianti No. [-] did not cause such a big sensation as before.At present, all space elevators have only laid one primary guide rail. Compared with the four guide rails in the design, the carrying capacity is much smaller, but it is not the same as the era of chemical rockets. The cost is already much lower than that of civil aviation aircraft.So, in the night sky of the earth, there are more and more moving stars, which are the large buildings of human beings in space orbit.

Tianti-[-] is the only space elevator whose base point is at sea. Its base point is an artificial floating island on the equator of the Pacific Ocean. The floating island can sail on the sea with its own nuclear power, so it can change the space along the equator as needed. The location of the elevator.The floating island is the realistic version of Verne's machine island, so it is named "Verne Island".From the current TV screen, there is no sea at all. There is only a pyramid-shaped base surrounded by a steel city. The top of the base is the cylindrical carrier capsule that is about to be lifted into the air.From this distance the guide rail extending into space is invisible, it is only sixty centimeters wide, but sometimes you can see the arc of the setting sun reflecting on the guide rail.

Watching TV are three old people: Zhang Yuanchao and his two old neighbors Yang Jinwen and Miao Fuquan. They are all over [-] years old. It is a burden, and they are helpless in the face of reality. The only choice is to spend their old age peacefully in these extraordinary years without thinking about anything.

At this time, Zhang Weiming, the son of Zhang Yuanchao, led his grandson Zhang Yan into the house. He took out a paper bag and said, "Dad, I brought back your food card and the first batch of food coupons." He took out a stack of food stamps from the paper bag and handed it to his father.

"Oh, it's the same as back then." Yang Jinwen said while watching.

"I'm back, I'm back again." Zhang Yuanchao took the food stamp and said to himself with emotion.

"Is this money?" Xiao Yanyan looked at the stack of colorful papers and said.

Zhang Yuanchao said to his grandson: "It's not money, my son, but in the future, if you buy food beyond the quota, such as bread and cakes, and go to restaurants to eat, you have to spend it with the money."

"This is different from then," Zhang Weiming took out an IC card, "This is a grain ration card."

"How much is the ration?"

"I weigh 21.5 kilograms, or 43 kilograms, Xiaohong and you both weigh 37 kilograms, and Yanyan weighs 21 kilograms."

"It's about the same as that time." Lao Zhang said.

"It should be enough for a month." Yang Jinwen said.

Zhang Weiming shook his head and said, "Mr. Yang, you were the one who came here at that time, and you forgot? It is enough now, but soon there will be less non-staple food. You have to pay for vegetables and meat. This is really not enough food. Woolen cloth!"

"It's not that serious," Miao Fuquan waved his hand and said, "We lived this life decades ago. If you can't get hungry, stop talking and watch TV."

"Oh, maybe the industrial coupons [31] will be used soon." Zhang Yuanchao said, throwing the food stamps and ration cards on the table, and turned to the TV.

On the screen, the cylindrical carrier pod rose from the pedestal, accelerated rapidly, and disappeared into the evening sky. Since the guide rails were not visible, it seemed to be ascending by itself.The maximum speed of the carrier module can reach 500 kilometers per hour. Even so, it will take 68 hours to reach the synchronous orbit terminal of the space elevator.The lens switches to the picture taken by the camera installed at the bottom of the carrier cabin. The 60 cm wide guide rail occupies a considerable part of the picture. Due to the smooth surface, almost no movement can be seen. Only the fleeting scale on the guide rail is displayed. The speed at which the camera goes up.The guide rail quickly narrows and disappears as it extends downwards, but far below where it points, the "Isle of Verne" presents a complete outline, as if it is a large plate suspended at the lower end of the guide rail.

Yang Jinwen thought of something, "I'll show you two something rare." He stood up and walked out with already uneasy steps.Probably because of a trip back to his own home, he came back soon and put a slice the size of a cigarette pack on the table.Zhang Yuanchao picked it up and looked at it. It was gray, translucent, and very light, like a fingernail. "This is the material for building ladders!" Lao Yang said.

"Okay, your son actually stole the government's strategic materials." Miao Fuquan pointed to the flakes and said.

"The leftovers are just leftovers. According to him, thousands of tons of this thing was launched into space when the sky ladder was built, where it was made into a guide rail and then hung down from the orbit... Immediately, space travel will be democratized. I I also asked my son to contact me for a business in this area."

"You want to go into space?" Lao Zhang asked in surprise.

"That's nothing special. I heard that the ascent is not overweight at all, just like taking a long-distance sleeper car." Miao Fuquan said disapprovingly. Since he has not been able to operate a coal mine for many years, he has already become a dilapidated household. The villa was closed four years ago. After selling it, this is the only place to live; and because Yang Jinwen has a son who works in the space elevator project, the family conditions have become the best among the three of them, which sometimes makes Lao Miao jealous.

"It's not me going into space." Yang Jinwen looked up and saw that Wei Ming had led the child to another room, and then continued, "It's my ashes going into space. Let me tell you, you two are not afraid Say this."

"There are no taboos, but what do you do with the ashes?" Zhang Yuanchao asked.

"You know, there is an electromagnetic launcher at the end of the ladder, and then the urn can be launched to the third cosmic speed and fly out of the solar system. This is called a cosmic burial, you know... I don't want to stay on the earth occupied by aliens after I die Come on, this can be regarded as escapism."

"What if the aliens are defeated?"

"It's almost impossible, but if that's the case, I have nothing to lose, just roam the universe!"

Zhang Yuanchao shook his head again and again: "You are all intellectuals' whimsy, which is meaningless. Fallen leaves return to their roots, so I'll bury them in the loess of the earth."

"Aren't you afraid that Trisolarans will dig your grave?"

Hearing this, Miao Fuquan, who had been silent all this time, seemed excited. He motioned the other two to come closer, and said in a low voice as if he was afraid Sophon would hear, "Don't tell me, I really thought of this: I am in Shanxi. There are several mines that have been hollowed out..."

"You want to be buried there?"

"No, they are all small kiln mines. How deep can they be? But several of them have been dug through with large state-owned mines. Along their abandoned roadways, you can go down to more than 400 meters underground. Is it deep enough? The wall collapsed, so I don't believe Trisolarans could dig there."

"Hey, people on Earth can dig there, but Trisolarans can't? Just dig down along the tombstone."

Miao Fuquan looked at Zhang Yuanchao and laughed dumbly: "You, Lao Zhang, are you stupid?" Seeing Lao Zhang's bewildered look, he pointed to Yang Jinwen, who was no longer interested in their conversation and was continuing to watch the TV broadcast, " Let the learned tell you."

Yang Jinwen smiled at the TV and said, "Old Zhang, why do you want a tombstone? The tombstone is for people to see, and there was no one there at that time."

Zhang Yuanchao was silent for a while, and finally heaved a long sigh: "Yes, yes, there is no one else, everything is empty."

On the way to the No. [-] Nuclear Fusion Experimental Base, Zhang Beihai's car had been driving in the thick snow, but when it approached the base, the snow on the ground had completely melted, and the road became very muddy. The originally cold air became warmer. Moist, with a breath of spring.Zhang Beihai saw that on the hillside beside the road, clumps of peach blossoms bloomed out of season in this severe winter season.He drove towards the white building in the valley ahead. The main body of the base was located underground, and this building was only the entrance.At this moment, he noticed a person picking peach blossoms on the hillside by the side of the road. After looking closely, he found that this person was exactly the person he was looking for, so he stopped the car.

"Dr. Ding!" he yelled at the man.When Ding Yi walked to the car with a large handful of peach blossoms, he asked with a smile, "Who are these flowers for?"

"This is a flower that is stimulated by the heat of nuclear fusion, and of course it is for myself." Against the background of bright flowers, Ding Yi looked happy, obviously still immersed in the excitement brought about by the technological breakthrough just realized.

"It's too wasteful for so much heat to spread like this." Zhang Beihai got out of the car, took off his sunglasses, and looked at this small piece of spring. There was no white steam when he breathed here, and he could even feel the ground with the soles of his feet. the warmth.

"There's no money and no time to build a power plant, but that's okay, energy is not something to save on Earth from now on."

Zhang Beihai pointed to the bouquet in Ding Yi's hand and said, "Dr. Ding, I really hope that there are some things that can distract you so that this breakthrough can be realized later."

"Without me, the breakthrough is faster. There are thousands of researchers in the base, and I just pointed out the right direction. I have long felt that the tokamak method is a dead end. If the direction is right, a breakthrough will definitely occur. As for me, it is Those who engage in theory, do not understand experiments and direct blindly, may also delay the progress of research."

"Can you postpone the release of the results? I am serious about this, and I also informally conveyed the meaning of the Space Force Command."

"How is it possible? The news media has been tracking and reporting the progress of the three research projects."

Zhang Beihai nodded and said with a sigh, "That would be terrible."

"I know some reasons, but you still tell me why."

"Once the controllable nuclear fusion technology is realized, the research on spaceships will begin immediately. Doctor, you know, there are currently two major directions—working fluid-propelled spacecraft and working-medium radiation-driven spacecraft, around these two research directions , forming two opposing factions: the aerospace system advocates the study of propellant spacecraft, while the space army pushes for radiation-driven spacecraft. This kind of research consumes huge resources, and it is impossible to use equal forces in both directions at the same time. Can focus on one of the directions."

Ding Yi said: "I and the people in the nuclear fusion system are in favor of radiation drive. From my point of view, I feel that this is the only solution that can carry out interstellar space voyages. Of course, it must be admitted that the space system is also reasonable. The working medium propelled the spacecraft. It’s just a variant of chemical rockets, but it uses nuclear fusion as energy, so it’s safer in terms of research prospects.”

"But it's not safe in future interstellar wars! As you said, the propellant spacecraft is just a big rocket, and it needs to use more than two-thirds of its carrying capacity to carry the propellant, and the propellant is consumed quickly. Spaceships can only rely on planetary bases to navigate within the solar system, and doing so is repeating the tragedy of the Sino-Japanese War of [-]-[-], and the solar system is Weihaiwei!"

"This analogy is very profound." Ding Yi raised the flower in her hand to Zhang Beihai.

"It is a fact that the frontier of the navy should be the enemy's port. Of course we cannot do this, but the frontier of defense should at least be pushed forward to the Oort Nebula, and the fleet must have enough detours in the vast space outside the solar system. capability, which is the strategic foundation of the Space Force."

Ding Yi said: "Actually, the interior of the aerospace system is not monolithic. Those who advocate working medium spacecraft are those old aerospace from the era of chemical rockets, but the power of other disciplines is also entering the aerospace industry, such as our nuclear fusion system. Most of them advocate Radiation spacecraft. These two forces are currently evenly matched, and the ones who break the balance are the three or four people in key positions, and their opinions determine the final planning plan. Really, there are only three or four people, but it’s a pity that they are all old aerospace companies.”

"This is the most critical decision-making step in the overall strategy. If this step is wrong, the space fleet will be built on a wrong basis, and it may waste a century or two. At that time, I am afraid that there will be no chance to turn around. .”

"There's nothing you or I can do about it."

After having lunch with Ding Yi, Zhang Beihai left the nuclear fusion base.Not long after the car drove out, the wet ground turned into white snow, glowing white in the sunlight, the air temperature dropped sharply, and Zhang Beihai's heart quickly calmed down.

He absolutely needs a spaceship capable of interstellar voyages, and if the other path fails, the remaining one, no matter how dangerous, must be taken.

Zhang Beihai walked into the home of a meteorite collector located in a courtyard deep in the alley. He felt that the dimly lit old house was like a small geological museum. Not amazing stone.The owner is carefully looking at a small stone with a magnifying glass on a workbench, and greets the visitor warmly when he sees the visitor.This man looked over fifty, with a good complexion and spirit, and Zhang Beihai could tell at a glance that he belonged to that kind of lucky person, who had a small world he loved, and could immerse himself in it no matter how the big world changed.In the antiquated atmosphere of old houses, Zhang Beihai realized that while he and his comrades were fighting for the survival of mankind, most people were still clinging to their own lives, which made him feel warm and at ease.

The completion of the space elevator and the breakthrough of controllable nuclear fusion technology are two great encouragements to the world, and they have also alleviated the defeatist sentiment to a large extent.But the calm leaders know that all this is just the beginning. If we compare the construction of the space fleet with the ocean fleet, human beings have just arrived on the coast with tools, and the shipyard has not even been built yet.In addition to the construction of the spaceship itself, the research on Star Wars weapons and the spacecraft cycle ecosystem, as well as the construction of the space port, will face a technological abyss that humans have never faced. It takes a century.In addition to the daunting technological abyss, human society will also face another severe test: the construction of space defense systems will consume excessive resources, and this consumption is likely to set back human living standards by a century.So the greatest challenge to the human spirit lies in the future.It was under such circumstances that the higher-ups decided to implement the future plan to reinforce the political and industrial cadres of the space army. Zhang Beihai, as the original proposer of the plan, was selected as the commander of the first batch of future reinforcement task forces.After receiving his appointment, he proposed that all task force officers should be allowed to intern and work in space for at least one year before entering hibernation, which is a necessary preparation for their future work in the Space Force. "The superior doesn't want us to become fleet political commissars who can't go to sea at that time, right?" he said to Chang Weisi.The request was quickly approved, and a month later, he would enter space with thirty comrades from the first task force.

"Are you a soldier?" the collector asked while serving tea.After getting affirmative nod from the other party, he said, "Soldiers don't look like soldiers anymore, but you and I can tell at a glance."

"You used to be a soldier too." Zhang Beihai said.

"Good eyesight, I have served in the Surveying and Mapping Bureau of the General Staff for most of my life."

"Why are you interested in meteorites?" Zhang Beihai asked appreciatively, looking at this rich collection.

"More than ten years ago, I crossed the Antarctic continent with an expedition team. The task was to find meteorites under the snow, and I became fascinated by this thing. They come from outside the world, the distant space, of course they are very charming. Getting a meteorite is like going to a new alien world."

Zhang Beihai smiled and shook his head, "It's just your feeling. The earth is formed by the gathering of interstellar matter, so the earth is a big meteorite. The rocks under our feet are all meteorites, and the teacup in my hand is also a meteorite. Moreover, it is said that The water on the earth was brought by comets, so..." He raised his teacup as he spoke, "This teacup also contains meteorites, and you should not be uncommon for these things."

The collector pointed to Zhang Beihai and laughed, "Hehehe, you are very shrewd and have already started haggling... But I still trust my own feelings."

As the collector said, he couldn't wait to pull Zhang Beihai to admire his collection. He even opened the safe to show off his town house treasure: an achondrite from Mars, the size of a fingernail.He asked Zhang Beihai to look at the small round craters on the surface of the meteorite under a microscope, saying that they might be the fossils of microorganisms.

"Five years ago, Haig [32] wanted to buy it at a thousand times the price of gold, but I refused."

"How many of these did you collect yourself?" Zhang Beihai asked, pointing to the surrounding collections.

"It's only a small part, and most of it comes from private purchases and exchanges in the circle... Tell me, what do you need?"

"It doesn't need to be very expensive, but it must be heavy, not easy to break under impact, and easy to process."

"Understood, you want to carve, right?"

Zhang Beihai nodded, "Well, it's best to use a lathe to process it."

"That's an iron meteorite." The collector opened the glass cabinet and took out a dark stone the size of a walnut. "This one is mainly composed of iron and nickel, as well as cobalt, phosphorus, silicon, sulfur and copper. Wait, let’s talk about the specific gravity, it’s really big, more than eight grams per cubic centimeter, it’s easy to process, it’s very metallic, and it’s no problem for lathe processing.”

"Very good, but a little small."

The collector took out another piece, the size of an apple.

"Are there any bigger ones?"

The collector looked at Zhang Beihai and said, "The price of this thing is not measured by the catty, the big one is very expensive."

"So, do you have three pieces of this size?"

The collector took out three iron meteorites of similar size and began to prepare for the asking price: "there are not many iron meteorites, accounting for only 5.00% of the total number of meteorites, and these three are of good quality. Look, this one is eight Face stone, this piece is nickel-rich breccia porphyry complex, look at the staggered stripes on it, which are called Webster stripes; this kind of parallel ones are called Newman stripes; this piece contains cone stone, this piece has nickel striae, These are all minerals that do not exist on the earth. I collected this piece in the desert. I used a metal detector to find it. It was like finding a needle in a haystack. That time, the car sank in the sand and broke the drive shaft, almost killing me. .”

"You make an offer."

"The price of meteorites of this size and grade in the international market is about 18 US dollars per gram. How about [-] for each piece, and [-] for three pieces?"

Zhang Beihai took out his mobile phone and said, "Give me an account number, and I'll pay now."

The collector didn't say anything for a long time. Zhang Beihai looked up and saw him smiling awkwardly: "Hehe, actually, I'm going to ask you to bargain."

"No, I accept."

"Look, after all, space travel has become commonplace now. Although it is not as convenient to get meteorites in space as it is on earth, the price on the market has dropped a little after all. These are all worth it..."

Zhang Beihai interrupted him resolutely, "No, just at this price, let's just show my respect for the person I want to give it to."

After leaving the collector's house, Zhang Beihai brought the meteorite to a model-making workshop.This workshop is located in a research institute affiliated to the Space Force. At this time, it has been off work and there is no one around. There is a state-of-the-art CNC machine tool here.He first cut the three meteorites into many pencil-thin cylinders according to a certain diameter on the machine tool, and then cut these cylinders into small sections according to a certain length.He operated very carefully to minimize the waste of raw materials, and finally got 36 small cylindrical meteorites.After all this was done, he carefully collected the cut meteorite debris, removed the special tool used for processing stone from the machine tool, and then got up and walked out of the workshop.

Zhang Beihai completed the rest of the work in a hidden basement. On the small table in front of him were 36 rounds of 7.62mm caliber pistol bullets. He used pliers to remove the bullets of these bullets one by one.If it was the copper-cased bullets in the past, this would be very laborious, and sometimes bolt looseners would be required. However, the standard guns replaced by the whole army two years ago used caseless bullets, and the warheads were directly glued to the propellant. Yes, it's easy to take off.Then, he glued a meteorite to each propellant with a special glue, thus making 36 meteorite bullets.The adhesive used was originally used to repair the skin of the space capsule, which can ensure that it will not fail in the severe alternating hot and cold environment in space.

Zhang Beihai pressed four meteorite bullets into the magazine, then pushed the magazine into a 2010 standard pistol, and fired at a cloth bag in the corner. In the small space of the basement, the sound of the gunshot was deafening like an explosion. The smell of gunpowder is very strong.

Zhang Beihai carefully inspected the five bullet holes on the cloth bag, and saw that the bullet holes were very small, indicating that the meteorite was not broken during the launch.He opened the cloth bag and took out a large piece of raw beef wrapped inside. He carefully took out the meteorite that had been shot into the beef with a knife, and saw that the four meteorite cylinders had all been broken and became a small pile in his palm. Crushed stone, basically no traces of processing can be seen, and he is very satisfied with the result.

The beef-wrapped cloth is the material used to make space suits. In order to make the simulation closer to reality, the cloth is made into a sandwich, in which insulation sponges and plastic pipes are placed.

Zhang Beihai carefully put away the remaining 32 meteorite bullets, walked out of the basement, and made preparations for going into space.

Zhang Beihai is suspended in space five kilometers away from the Yellow River Space Station. This wheel-shaped space station is part of a space elevator. It is located 33 kilometers above the end of the elevator. The largest man-made object in China, thousands of people can reside inside it.

With the space elevator as the center, there are other space facilities within a radius of [-] kilometers. They are much smaller than the Yellow River Station. A prelude to a massive flight into space.Among them, the space dock, which has just started construction, is the largest, its volume may be ten times that of the Yellow River Station, but so far only a construction frame has been erected, like the skeleton of a giant beast; it is [-] kilometers away from Zhang Beihai , there is an independent space station, only one-fifth the size of the Yellow River Station, which is the first base established by the Space Force in a synchronous orbit, and Zhang Beihai flew from there.He has now lived and worked there for three months with other members of the reinforcements Future Task Force [-], returning to the ground only once.

In the No. [-] base, Zhang Beihai had been waiting for an opportunity, and now the opportunity appeared: the aerospace system held a high-level work meeting at the Yellow River Station, and the three targets he wanted to eliminate were all participants.After the Yellow River Space Station was put into use, many meetings of the aerospace system were held in it, as if to make up for the regret that most of the people engaged in the aerospace industry had no chance to enter space.

Before flying out from Base No. [-], Zhang Beihai left the positioning unit on his spacesuit in his cabin in the base. In this way, the monitoring system of Base No. [-] would not know that he had left the base, and his going out this time would not Leave any records.Using the small jet thrusters on his spacesuit, he flew eighty kilometers into space, arrived at the location he had chosen, and waited quietly.

Zhang Beihai knew that the meeting was over now, and he was waiting for all the participants to come out and take pictures.

It is a tradition that at the end of each meeting, the participants take a group photo in the space.Generally speaking, photos should be taken against the sun, because in this way the space station as the background can be taken clearly. When taking pictures, everyone in the group photo needs to make the mask of the space helmet transparent so that the face can be exposed from the mask. If the sun is in the sky, the strong sunlight will make people unable to open their eyes, and it will also make the inside of the helmet uncomfortably hot. Therefore, the best time to take a group photo is when the sun rises or sets from the edge of the earth. .In the synchronous orbit, the sunrise and sunset also occur every 24 hours, but the time of night is very short. Zhang Beihai is now waiting for the sunset.

He knew that the monitoring system at the Yellow River Station would definitely detect his presence, but this would not attract any attention.In the birthplace of space development, there are a lot of construction materials, both used and discarded, and more garbage, many of which are the size of human bodies.In addition, the relationship between the space elevator and the surrounding space facilities is like a big city and the surrounding villages. The supply of the latter comes entirely from the former, and there is heavy traffic between the two.As people adapt to the space environment, people gradually get used to walking in space alone. At this time, the space suit is like a space bicycle, and the jet propulsion can make it reach a speed of [-] kilometers per hour. The most convenient means of transportation, right now, is that there are people in space suits flying between the elevator and the surrounding space station almost all the time.

But at this time, in Zhang Beihai's perception, the surrounding space is very empty, except for the earth - a complete sphere can already be seen in the synchronous orbit - and the sun that is about to set on its edge, all other directions are In the dark abyss, countless stars seem to be just shining dust, which cannot change the emptiness of the universe.He knew that the life support system in the spacesuit could only last for twelve hours. Before that, he had to go back to the No. [-] Base, which was [-] kilometers away, although now it seemed like a barely existent place in the abyss of distant space. shape points.And the No. [-] base itself, if it leaves the umbilical cord of the space elevator, it will not survive for too long.But at this time, he was floating in this vast void, feeling that he had cut off the connection with the blue world below, and felt that he was an independent existence in the universe, not attached to any world, and there was no earth under his feet. There is only space around, suspended in the universe like the earth, the sun and the Milky Way, without coming from and going to, just existing, he likes this feeling.

He even thought that his father's spirit in heaven might feel the same way.

At this time, the sun begins to touch the edge of the earth

Zhang Beihai raised one hand, holding a scope in the glove of the space suit. He used this thing as a telescope to observe an exit of the Yellow River Station ten kilometers away. He saw a round sealed door on the wide curved metal outer wall. Still closed.

He turned to look at the sun, which was half sunk, a radiant ring around the earth.

Looking at the Yellow River Station through the scope, Zhang Beihai saw that the sign light next to the exit had changed from red to green, indicating that the air in the transition cabin behind had been evacuated.Immediately afterwards, the exit slid open, and a group of figures in white spacesuits came out, about 30 of them.They flew outwards collectively, and the shadow cast on the outer wall of the Yellow River Station was getting bigger and bigger. They had to fly a certain distance to take a full picture of the space station in the background.Soon, everyone slowed down and stopped, and began to line up in a weightless environment under the command of the photographer.

At this time, the sun has sunk two-thirds, and the remaining part looks like a luminous body embedded in the earth. The ocean under the sunset is like a smooth mirror, half dark blue and half orange red, and the clouds soaked in sunlight Like a large pink feather covering the mirror surface.

As the illuminance decreased, people taking photos in the distance began to turn their masks transparent, revealing their faces in the helmets.Zhang Beihai widened the focal length of the scope and quickly found three targets. As he expected, due to the level of these three people, they were all in the middle of the front row.

Zhang Beihai let go of the scope and let it float in front of him. With his left hand, he turned the metal retainer of his right aerospace glove and took off the glove.At this time, his right hand was only wearing a thin cloth glove, and he immediately felt the coldness of hundreds of degrees below zero in space. In order to prevent his hand from freezing quickly, he turned his body at an angle to let the weakening sunlight shine on his hand .He reached into the work pocket on the side of the space suit with this hand and took out the pistol and two clips.Next, he grabbed the floating scope with his left hand and attached it to the pistol.This scope was originally used on a rifle, and he modified it by replacing the original clamp with a magnet so that it could be used on a pistol.

Most of the guns on the earth can be fired in space, and the vacuum is not a problem, because the propellant of the bullet has its own oxidizer. What needs to be considered is the temperature in space—whether it is low temperature or high temperature, it has nothing to do with the atmosphere. The difference is very large, and it may affect the guns and ammunition, so Zhang Beihai dare not expose the pistol and magazines to the outside for a long time.In order to shorten the time, in the past three months, he has repeatedly practiced the actions of taking the gun in weightlessness, loading the scope and changing the magazine.

Then he began to aim, and the reticle of the scope quickly caught the first target.

In the Earth's atmosphere, it is impossible for even the best sniper rifle to hit a target at a distance of 5000 meters, but in space, an ordinary pistol can do it.Because the bullet is moving forward in a vacuum and weightless without any interference, as long as the aim is correct, the bullet can hit the target along an extremely stable straight trajectory; Slow down, the speed when hitting the target is the initial speed when flying out of the muzzle, which ensures the lethality at a long distance.

Zhang Beihai pulled the trigger, and the pistol fired in silence, but he saw the muzzle flash and felt the recoil.He fired ten times at the first target, quickly reloaded a new magazine, and fired ten more rounds at the second target; then reloaded the magazine again, and fired the last ten rounds at the third target. .The gun muzzle flashed thirty times. If someone in the direction of the Yellow River Station noticed it at this time, it would be like seeing a firefly on the dark background of space.

Now, thirty meteorite warheads are flying towards the target. The initial velocity of the bullets of the 2010 pistol is 500 m/s, and it takes about ten seconds for the bullets to cover this distance. move Place.This hope is also grounded, because now the two rows behind the group photo have not yet lined up, and the leaders in the front row can only wait. The white mist dissipated.But the target is suspended in space after all, and its position can easily drift in weightlessness. At this time, the bullet will not only miss the target, but may also injure innocent people.

innocent?The three people he wanted to kill were also innocent. In the years before the Three-Body Crisis, they carefully opened the dawn of the space age with what now seems to be very meager investment... However, it was that experience that imprisoned them. Their thoughts, in order to get spaceships capable of sailing in the stars, they must be eliminated!And their death should also be regarded as the final contribution made by the human space industry.

In fact, Zhang Beihai deliberately deflected a few bullets, hoping to hit people who were not on target, and the ideal situation would be to injure them, but if he really killed one or two more people, he didn't care. The purpose is to reduce possible suspicion.

Zhang Beihai held up the emptied gun and watched calmly through the scope. He was prepared to fail. If so, he would calmly start looking for a second chance.

Time passed by second by second, and finally, there were signs that the target had been hit.Zhang Beihai didn't see the bullet holes in the space suit, but white gas was ejected.Immediately afterwards, between the first row and the second row, a larger cloud of white steam erupted, probably because the bullet penetrated the target and then penetrated the jet propeller behind it.He is confident in the power of the bullet. When the meteorite bullet hits the target without deceleration at all, it is like firing a gun against the target.He saw that a target's helmet visor was suddenly covered with cracks and became opaque, but he could see blood splashing on it from the inside, and then the blood sprayed out with the gas leaking from the bullet hole, and quickly condensed into Snowflake-shaped ice crystals.During his observation, Zhang Beihai quickly determined that five people were hit, including the three targets, and each target was hit by at least five bullets.

Through the transparent masks of several people, Zhang Beihai saw that they were all screaming, and from the shape of their mouths, he could tell that there must be a word he was expecting in what they shouted:

"Meteor shower!"

The jet propellers of the photo-takers were all turned on at full power, and they quickly returned with strips of white mist, and soon entered the Yellow River Station through the circular entrance.Zhang Beihai noticed that the five shot victims were dragged back by others.

Zhang Beihai started the jet propulsion and accelerated towards Base No. [-]. At this moment, his heart was as cold and calm as the empty space around him.He knew that the death of the three key figures in the aerospace industry did not guarantee that the non-propellant radiation propulsion spacecraft would become the main research direction, but he did what he could do, no matter what happened in the future, under the eyes of his father from the shadows, Now, he can feel at ease.

Almost at the same time that Zhang Beihai returned to Base No. [-], a group of people quickly gathered on the internet on Earth, in the desert of the three-body virtual world, discussing what just happened.

"The information Sophon sent back this time is very complete, otherwise we wouldn't believe that he really did that." Qin Shihuang said, and at the same time drew his long sword casually on the ground, showing his uneasiness, "Look what other people do. Yes, let’s look at our three actions against Luo Ji again, alas, sometimes we are really too nerdy and lack this kind of ruthlessness and sophistication.”

"Are we sitting idly by this man's behavior?" Einstein asked.

"According to the will of the Lord, it can only be like this. This person is an extremely stubborn resistanceist and victoryist. For this kind of person, the Lord tells us not to intervene. Our attention should be focused on the fugitives. The Lord even thinks that even the defeatist is more dangerous than the triumphant," said Newton.

"If we want to truly take the mission of serving the Lord seriously, we cannot completely listen to the Lord's strategy. After all, it is only a child's strategy." Mozi said.

Qin Shihuang tapped the ground with his long sword and said: "But as far as this matter is concerned, it is right not to intervene. Let them determine the direction of development on radiation-driven spaceships. In the case of sophon locked physics, this is almost a An insurmountable technological peak, it is also a bottomless abyss into which humanity will throw all its time and resources and end up with nothing."

"Everyone basically agrees on this point, but I think the most important thing is this person, who is too dangerous." Von Neumann said.

"Indeed!" Aristotle nodded again and again, "I used to think he was a pure soldier, but this matter, how does it look like a soldier who has always followed strict discipline and rules?"

"This man is indeed dangerous. He has firm beliefs, great vision, and is ruthless. He acts calmly and decisively. He is usually rigorous and conscientious, but when necessary, he can deviate from the usual track at any time and take extraordinary actions." Confucius said with a long sigh, "Just as As Ying Zheng said just now, we lack such people."

"It's not hard to get rid of him, we just go and report on his murder," Newton said.

"It's not that easy!" Qin Shihuang said with a flick of his long sleeves at Newton, "It's all your fault, you have been using the name of sophon information to sow discord in the Space Force and the United Nations, how are you doing now? Being denounced by you has become an honor, and even a symbol of loyalty!"

"And we don't have conclusive evidence." Mozi said, "His planning was very careful. The bullets were shot into the human body and shattered. If the autopsy is carried out, the dead and injured people will be taken out from the body. Everyone will believe that those people died in a meteorite rain. The truth of the matter is really too bizarre, no one will believe it."

"Fortunately, he is going to reinforce the future, and he won't be our trouble for quite a long time."

Einstein sighed, "It's gone, it's all gone, it's time for some of us to go to the future."

Although goodbye is about to be said, everyone knows in their hearts that this is a farewell.

The political task force that will reinforce the future will go to the hibernation place. Chang Weisi and several senior generals of the space force went to the airport to see him off. He handed a letter to Zhang Beihai.

"This is a letter from me to my future successors. In the letter, I introduced your situation and made a solemn recommendation to the future Space Force Command. The earliest time for you to wake up is 50 years later, and it may be longer. Then At that time, you may face a more severe working environment. You must first adapt to the future, and at the same time maintain the soul of soldiers in our era. You must understand our current working methods, which ones are outdated, and which ones need to be persisted. A huge advantage for you in the future."

Zhang Beihai said: "Chief, for the first time, I feel a little sorry for the atheists, otherwise we could have hoped to finally meet at a certain time and place."

Chang Weisi was a little surprised when he said such words, which were always stern. These words also caused waves in everyone's hearts again, but as soldiers, they all hid the throbbing in their hearts deeply.

"It's very lucky to be together in this life, please say hello to future comrades for us." Chang Weisi said.

After the last military salute, the task force began to board the plane.

Chang Weisi's gaze never left Zhang Beihai's back. After this steadfast fighter is gone, there may never be another person like him.Where did his firm belief come from?This question has always been hidden in Chang Weisi's heart, sometimes even thinking about it makes him a little jealous.A soldier with the belief in victory is lucky, and in this ultimate war, there are very few people who can have this kind of luck.Zhang Beihai's tall and straight figure disappeared into the cabin door, and Chang Weisi had to admit that in the end, he didn't understand him thoroughly.

The plane took off, carrying those who had the chance to see the final end of mankind, and disappeared behind pale thin clouds.It was a bleak winter day, the sun shone weakly white behind this layer of gray veil-like clouds, the cold wind blew through the empty airport, and the cold made the air look like a solidified crystal. This scene makes people doubt that spring will really return arrival.Chang Weisi tightened the collar of his military coat. Today is his 54th birthday. In this bleak winter wind, he saw the end of himself and mankind at the same time.

In the 20th year of the Crisis Year, Trisolaran Fleet is 4.15 light-years away from the solar system
Ray Diaz and Hines are simultaneously awakened from hibernation, and they are told that the waiting technology has emerged.

"So fast?" When the two learned that only eight years had passed, they both sighed.

They were then told that due to the unprecedented large investment, the technological progress in the past few years has indeed been rapid, but this is nothing to be optimistic about. Human beings are just speeding up the last distance between them and the sophon barrier.Only technology is progressing, frontier physics is stagnant like a pool of stagnant water, theoretical reserves are being exhausted, and human technological progress will slow down until it stops completely, but people still don't know when the end of technology will appear.

Hines dragged his feet still stiff after hibernation, and walked into a building that looked like a gymnasium.The interior of the building was shrouded in a misty white mist, and Hines felt that it was very dry here, but he didn't know what kind of mist it was.There is a moonlight-like soft light to illuminate the fog, and the fog accumulates above it, making it appear very thick, and the dome of the building cannot be seen, but the fog is very light in the space as high as a person.In the fog, he saw a petite figure and immediately recognized Keiko Yamasugi, and he ran towards her, as if chasing a phantom in the fog, but they finally hugged together.

"I'm sorry dear, I'm eight years older." Keiko Yamasugi said.

"Even so, you're still one year younger than me." Hines said, looking at his wife, time didn't seem to have left too many marks on her body, she looked pale and weak in the moonlight like water in the white mist .She, the fog, and the moonlight brought Hines back to the night in the bamboo forest in the Japanese garden, "Didn't we agree that you will also hibernate in two years, why have you waited until now?"

"I just wanted to make some preparations for our career after hibernation, but there were too many things to do, so I kept doing it." Keiko Shansugi said, gently brushing a strand of hair from her forehead.

"It's hard, isn't it?"

"It's really hard. Not long after you hibernated, six new-generation supercomputer large-scale research projects started at the same time, three of which were traditional structures, one was non-Fon structure, and the other two were quantum and biomolecular computer research. But two years later, the chief scientists of these six projects told me that the computing power we want is simply impossible to achieve. The quantum computer project was the first to be interrupted, and the existing physical theory could not provide enough support. Hit the wall of the sophon. Immediately afterwards, the biomolecular computer project was also discontinued. They said it was just a fantasy. The last stop was the non-Von structure computer. This structure is actually a simulation of the human brain. They said our egg is still There can be no chickens if there is no formation. In the end there are only three traditional structure computer projects still in operation, but there is no progress for a long time."

"It's like this... I should always be with you."

"It doesn't work, you're just wasting eight years. Then, for a while, we got really desperate and came up with this crazy idea of ​​simulating the human brain in an almost barbaric way."

"How?"

"Transform the previous software simulation into hardware, use a microprocessor to simulate a neuron, all microprocessors are interconnected, and the connection mode can be dynamically changed."

Hines thought for a few seconds before he understood the meaning of Keiko Yamasugi's words, "You mean, make 1000 billion such microprocessors?"

Keiko nodded.

"This... is probably equivalent to the sum of the microprocessors that humans have ever produced?"

"I haven't counted it, it should be more than that."

"Even if you really have so many chips, how long will it take to interconnect them?"

Keiko Yamasugi smiled wearily, "I know it can't be done, but it was a desperate idea. But I really planned to do that at that time, and I just wanted to do as much as I can." She pointed around, "Look here, It was one of thirty simulated brain assembly workshops planned, but only this one was built."

"I should really be with you." Hines said again excitedly.

"Fortunately, the computer we want has appeared, and its performance is [-] times that of the most powerful computer you have in hibernation."

"Traditional structure?"

"The traditional structure can squeeze so much juice from the lemon of Moore's Law, and the computer science community is very surprised... But this time, my dear, this time is really over."

This is an unprecedented computer and, if humans fail, never will.Hines thought so, but he didn't say it.

"With such a computer, it will be easier to analyze the development of the camera... Dear, do you have an image concept for 1000 billion?" Keiko Yamasugi asked suddenly, seeing her husband shaking her head, she smiled and stretched out Pointing around with both hands, "Look, this is 1000 billion."

"What?" Hines looked blankly at the surrounding white mist.

"We are in the holographic display of the supercomputer." Keiko Yamasugi said, fiddling with a gadget hanging on her chest with one hand. Hines saw a scroll wheel on it, which might be something similar to a mouse.

At the same time, Hines felt that the white mist surrounding them had changed, and the mist had been thickened, apparently magnifying a certain part.At this time, he discovered that the so-called fog is actually composed of countless small luminous particles, and the moonlight-like light is emitted by these small particles themselves, rather than the scattering of external light sources.The magnification continued, and the tiny particles turned into shining stars.What Hines saw was not the starry sky on Earth. He seemed to be in the core of the Milky Way. The stars were densely packed, leaving almost no gap for the night.

"Each star is a neuron." Keiko Yamasugi said, the star sea composed of 1000 billion stars coated their bodies with silver.

The holographic image continued to enlarge, and Hines saw the thin tentacles of each star radiating out to the surroundings. These countless tentacles completed the intricate connection between the stars. The image of the starry sky in Hines’ eyes disappeared, and he was in an infinite in a large network structure.

The image continued to zoom in, each star began to show structure, and Hines saw the structure of brain cells and neuron synapses that he had long been familiar with through the electron microscope.

Keiko clicked the mouse, and the image instantly returned to the white mist state, "This is a full view of the brain structure, which was taken by an analytical camera, and 300 million sections were dynamically scanned at the same time. Of course, the image we see now is processed Yes, for the sake of observation, the distance between neurons has been increased by four to five orders of magnitude, which looks like a brain evaporated into gas, but the topology of the synaptic connections between them remains the same. Now look Dynamic……"

There was a disturbance in the mist, just like a pinch of gunpowder was evenly sprinkled on the flame, and bright light spots appeared in the mist.Keiko Yamasugi enlarged the image to the starry sky mode, and Hines saw the turbulent star tide in the brain universe, and the disturbance of the star sea appeared in different forms in different positions, some were like rivers, some were like vortexes, and some were like sweeping everything. tidal.All disturbances are changing rapidly, and self-organized pictures appear from time to time in the vast chaos.When the image was zoomed in to the network mode, Hines saw countless nerve signals busily transmitting along the slender synapses, like glittering pearls flowing in an intricate network of tubes...

"Whose brain is this?" Hines asked in wonder.

"Mine." Shanshan Keiko looked at her husband affectionately, "When this thought picture appeared, I was thinking of you."

Note that when the dot turns green, the sixth batch of test propositions will show that the proposition is true to press the right hand button, and the proposition is false to press the left hand button.

Proposition No. 1: Coal is black

Proposition No. 2: 1+1=2
Proposition No. 3: The temperature in winter is lower than in summer

Proposition No. 4: Men are generally shorter than women

Proposition No. 5: A straight line is shortest between two points

Proposition No. 6: The moon is brighter than the sun
……

The above information is sequentially displayed on the small screen in front of the subject. Each proposition is displayed for four seconds. The subject presses the corresponding buttons of the left and right hands according to his own judgment, and his head is placed in a metal cover. The camera takes a holographic view of the brain, which is processed by a computer to form a dynamic neuron network model that can be analyzed.

This is the initial stage of the Hines thinking research project. The subjects only carry out the simplest judgment thinking, and the test propositions are the most concise and have clear answers. In this simple thinking, the operation mechanism of the brain neural network is relatively easy. Recognition, and thus can serve as a starting point for an in-depth study of the nature of thinking.

The research team led by Hines and Yamasugi Keiko has made some progress. They found that judgmental thinking does not arise in a specific location in the brain's neuronal network, but has a specific neural impulse transmission pattern. With the help of powerful computers, it can be obtained from This pattern is retrieved and located in the vast network of neurons, which is very similar to the way that astronomer Ringer provided Luo Ji with the method of locating stars: looking for a specific position composition in the sea of ​​stars.But in the brain universe, this kind of composition is dynamically changing, and can only be identified from its mathematical characteristics, just like looking for a small vortex in the vast ocean, the amount of calculation required is several orders of magnitude larger than the former, and it is also Only the latest supercomputers can do it.

The Hines couple walked in the brain cloud map displayed on the holographic display. Whenever a judgment point in the subject's brain was identified, the computer would show the corresponding position on the cloud map with a flashing red cursor.In fact, this display method only provides an intuitive visual feast, which is not necessary in specific research. The most important thing is the analysis of the internal nerve impulse transmission structure of the thinking point, where the most essential mystery of thinking is hidden.

At this time, the director of the medical department of the project team hurried over and said that there was a problem with subject 104.

When the analysis camera was first developed, the simultaneous scanning of a huge number of sections produced powerful radiation, which would cause fatal damage to any living body being photographed. However, after many improvements, the radiation during shooting has been reduced below the safety line.A large number of tests have shown that as long as the prescribed shooting time is not exceeded, the analytical camera will not cause any damage to the brain.

"He seems to have a hydrophobia." On the way to the medical center in a hurry, the director of the medical department said.

Hines and Keiko Yamasugi both stopped in surprise, and Hines glared at the director of the medical department and said, "As far as I know, hydrophobia is rabies!"

The director of the medical department raised a hand and tried to clear his mind, "Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't accurate, he doesn't have any physical problems, and his brain and other organs have not suffered any damage, but he does look like a rabies patient." Afraid of water, he refused to drink water, and even dared not eat food containing water. This was purely a mental effect, and he believed that water was poisonous."

"Persecution fantasy?" Keiko Yamasugi asked.

The director of the medical department waved his hand, "No, no, he doesn't think someone poisoned the water, he thinks the water itself is poisonous."

The Hines stopped again, and the director of the medical department shook his head helplessly, "But his spirit is normal in other respects... I can't tell, you can see for yourself."

Subject 104 was a voluntary college student who took the experiment just to earn some pocket money.Before entering the ward, the director of the medical department said to the Hines couple: "He hasn't drunk water for two days, and if he continues like this, he will become severely dehydrated, and he will have to force water in the future." He pointed at the ward by the door One of the household microwaves in the website said, "Look at that, he's going to put bread or something in there and bake it until it's completely dry."

When the Hineses entered the ward, Subject 104 looked at them with horror. He had chapped lips and disheveled hair, but otherwise appeared normal.He pulled Hines by the sleeve and said hoarsely, "Dr. Hines, they are going to kill me, I really don't know why." He pointed his other finger at the glass of water on the bedside table, "They Let me drink water."

Hines looked at the glass of clear water and was sure that the subject did not have rabies, because true hydrophobia would cause the patient to go into horrible convulsions when they saw water, and even the sound of running water would drive them crazy, and even the mention of water would make them crazy. Elicit a strong fear response.

"From his eyes and tone of voice, he should be in a normal state of mind." Keiko Yamasugi, who has a degree in psychology, told Hines in Japanese.

"You really think the water is poisonous?" Hines asked.

"Is there any doubt about this? Just like the sun has light and the air has oxygen, you can't deny this common sense."

Hines supported his shoulder and said, "Young man, life is born in water and cannot be separated from water. Your body is now 70.00% water."

Subject No. 104's eyes dimmed, and he sat on the bed with his head covered, "Yes, this problem is tormenting me. This is the most incredible thing in the universe."

"I want to see the experiment record of No. 104." After walking out of the ward, Hines said to the director of the medical department. They came to the director's office, and Keiko Yamasugi said, "Let's look at the test proposition first."

The propositions are displayed one by one on the computer screen:

Proposition No. 1: Cats have three legs
Proposition No. 2: Stones are inanimate
Proposition No. 3: The shape of the sun is a triangle

Proposition No. 4: The same volume, iron is heavier than cotton

Proposition No. 5: Water is highly poisonous

……

"Stop," Hines said, pointing to Proposition 5.

"His answer was false," said the director of the medical department.

"Look at all the operations and parameters after Proposition 5 is answered."

The record shows that after Proposition No. 5 was answered, the analytical camera conducted an enhanced scan of the judgmental thinking point in the subject's brain neural network. radiation intensity and electromagnetic field strength.Hines and Keiko Yamasugi carefully studied a large field of parameter records on the screen.

"Has this enhanced scan been done on other subjects and subjects?" Hines asked.

The director of the medical department said: "Because the effect of the enhanced scan was not good, and I was worried that the local radiation would exceed the standard, I canceled it only four times. The first three times..." After checking on the computer, he said, "They are all harmless true propositions. "

"The experiment should be repeated on Proposition No. 5 with the same scanning parameters," said Keiko Yamasugi.

"But...who can do it?" asked the director of the medical department.

"Me," Hines said.

water is poisonous

On a white background, Proposition 5 appears in black lettering.Hines pressed the "pseudo" button on his left hand, and apart from the slight heat sensation generated by intensive scanning in his brain, he didn't feel anything else.

Hines walked out of the analysis studio and walked to a table under the gaze of everyone including Keiko Yamasugi.There was a glass of water on the table. Hines picked up the glass and slowly brought it to his mouth to take a sip. His movements were calm and his expression was calm.Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but then they didn't see the movement of Hines' throat when he swallowed the water, but saw that his facial muscles were stiff at first, and then twitched slightly. The fear of the subject seems to be mentally wrestling with a huge invisible force.Finally, he spit out all the water in his mouth with a wow, squatted down and started to vomit, but he didn't spit out anything, but his face turned purple.Keiko Yamasugi hugged him and patted him on the back with one hand. Hines, who had just recovered, stretched out a hand and said, "Give me some tissues or something." After he got the tissues, he carefully Gently wipe off the water splashed on the leather shoes.

"Honey, do you really believe that water is poisonous?" Keiko Yamasugi asked tearfully. Before the experiment, she asked to change the proposition many times and replace it with another harmless false proposition, but Hines refused all of them.

Hines nodded slowly, "I think so," he looked up at the crowd, his eyes full of helplessness and confusion, "I think, I think so."

"I repeat what you said," Keiko Yamasugi said, grabbing his shoulder, "Life is produced in water and cannot be separated from water. Your body is now 70.00% water!"

Hines looked down at the water stains on the ground and nodded, then shook his head again, "Yes, honey, this problem is tormenting me, this is the most incredible thing in the universe."

Three years after the breakthrough in controllable nuclear fusion technology, several unusual stars appeared in the night sky of the earth, and at most five stars could be seen in the same hemisphere. Venus, also flashes sharply from time to time.Sometimes one of these stars would suddenly erupt, increase in brightness dramatically, and then go out within two or three seconds.These objects are experimental nuclear fusion reactors in geosynchronous orbits.

The future development direction of spaceships is finally determined to be propellant-free radiation propulsion. The high-power reactors required by this propulsion method can only be tested in space. These fusion reactors that shine at an altitude of [-] kilometers are called nuclear stars. .Every explosion of a nuclear star marks a catastrophic failure. Unlike what is generally believed, a nuclear star explosion is not an explosion of a fusion reactor, but the outer shell of the reactor is melted by the high temperature generated by nuclear fusion, exposing the fusion core come out.The fusion core is like a small sun, and the most high-temperature-resistant material on the earth melts like wax in front of it, so it can only be restrained by electromagnetic fields, but this restraint often fails.

On the balcony on the top floor of the Space Force Command, Chang Weisi and Hines had just witnessed a nuclear star eruption, and their shadows were cast on the wall by the full moon-like light, and disappeared in an instant.After Taylor, Hines was the second Wallfacer Chang Weisi met.

"This is the third time this month." Chang Weisi said.

Hines looked at the darkened night sky and said: "The power of this kind of fusion reactor is only one percent of what is required by the future spacecraft engine, but it still cannot run stably... Even if the required fusion reactor is developed, the power of the engine Technology is more difficult, and they will definitely encounter sophon barriers in the middle."

"Yes, Sophon is blocking all the roads." Chang Weisi looked into the distance and said, after the light in the sky disappeared, the sea of ​​lights in the city seemed to be more brilliant than before.

"The light of hope that just appeared is dimmed again, and there will always be a day when it will be completely shattered. As you said, Sophon is blocking all roads."

Chang Weisi smiled and said, "Dr. Hines, you didn't come to talk about defeatism with me, did you?"

"That's exactly what I want to talk about. This resurgence of defeatism is different from the last one. It is based on the population with a dramatically reduced standard of living. It has a greater impact on the Space Force."

Chang Weisi looked away from a distance and didn't speak.

"So, General, I understand your difficulties, and I want to help you."

Chang Weisi looked at Hines quietly for a few seconds, and the latter felt his gaze was unfathomable. He did not respond to Hines' words, but said: "The evolution of the human brain takes 20 to 5000 years to develop. To achieve obvious changes, and human civilization is only [-] years old, so what we currently have is still a primitive brain... Doctor, I really appreciate your unique way of thinking, maybe this is really the key."

"Thanks, we really are all Flintstones."

"But is it possible to use technology to enhance thinking ability?"

This made Hines excited, "General, at least compared to others, you are not so primitive! I noticed that you said 'thinking ability' instead of 'intelligence', the former has more connotations than the latter It is much bigger, for example, at present, intelligence alone is not enough to overcome defeatism, and in the face of intellectual barriers, it is more difficult for people with higher intelligence to establish the belief of victory."

"So, you still answer me, is it possible to improve?"

Hines shook his head, "Do you know anything about the work that Keiko Yamasugi and I did before the Three-Body Crisis?"

"I don't quite understand, it seems to be: thinking is not essentially at the molecular level, but at the quantum level. I think, does this mean..."

"This means Sophons are waiting for me," Hines pointed to the sky, "as if waiting for them. But at present, although our research is far from the goal, it has produced an unexpected by-product .”

Chang Weisi nodded slightly, showing cautious interest.

"Leaving aside the technical details, let's just say that in the brain neuron network, we have discovered the mechanism of thinking to make judgments, and can have a decisive influence on it. The process of human thinking making judgments is compared with computers : Input data from the outside world, calculate, and finally give the result. Now we can omit the calculation process and give the result directly. When some information enters the brain, by exerting influence on a certain part of the neuron network, we can make the brain not Make a judgment based on thinking, and believe that this information is true.”

"Has it been realized?" Chang Weisi asked calmly.

"Yes, starting from an accidental discovery, we conducted in-depth research and realized it. We call this device the Thought Stamp."

"What if that judgment or belief doesn't match reality?"

"That belief will eventually be overthrown, but this process is quite painful, because the judgment produced by the ideological seal in consciousness is extremely firm. I once firmly believed that water is poisonous because of this. After two months of psychological treatment, I was able to drink water without hindrance , That process...is really unbearable to look back on. Water is poisonous is an extremely clear false proposition, but other beliefs are not like this, such as the existence of God, human victory in this war, etc., there is no clear answer to the decision , The normal process of establishing such beliefs is that the thinking is slightly inclined to one side in various choices, and once such beliefs are established by the stamp of thought, they are as firm as a rock and absolutely impossible to be overthrown."

"This is really a great achievement." Chang Weisi became serious, "I mean in terms of brain science, but in reality, Dr. Hines, you have created the most troublesome thing, really, the most troublesome thing ever. troublesome stuff."

"Don't you want to use this thing, the ideological seal, to create a space army with a firm belief in victory? In the army, you have political commissars, and we have priests. The ideological seal is just to use technical means to efficiently complete their work. .”

"The work of political thought is the building of belief through scientific rational thinking."

"But is it possible to establish the belief in the victory of this war with scientific and rational thinking?"

"Doctor, if this is the case, we would rather have a space force that has no belief in victory but can think independently."

"Except for this belief, other thinking is of course autonomous. We just intervene a little bit in thinking, use technology to surpass thinking, and solidify a conclusion—just this conclusion—in consciousness."

"That's enough. Technology has already achieved the ability to modify the mind like modifying a computer program. Will the modified person count as a human or an automatic machine?"

"You must have seen A Clockwork Orange."

"A very thoughtful book."

"General, your attitude is within my expectations," Hines said with a sigh, "I will continue to work hard in this regard, the hard work that a Wallfacer must make."

At the hearing of the Planetary Defense Council's Wallfacer Project, Hines' introduction to the ideological stamp aroused rare excitement in the venue. The United States representative's concise evaluation represented the thoughts of most participants:

"Dr. Hines and Dr. Keiko Yamasugi have opened a door to darkness for mankind with their extraordinary talents."

The representative of France left his seat excitedly, "Which is more tragic, the loss of the right and ability of human beings to think freely, or the failure in this war?"

"Of course the latter is more tragic!" Hines got up and retorted, "Because in the former situation, human beings at least have a chance to regain their freedom of thought!"

"I suspect that if that thing is really used...Look at you Wallfacers," the Russian representative raised his hands to the ceiling, "Taylor wants to deprive people of their lives, you want to deprive them of their minds, what the hell are you trying to do? ?”

The words struck a chord.

The representative of the United Kingdom said: "We just put forward a proposal today, but I believe that the governments of all countries will unanimously agree to block this thing. No matter what, there is nothing more evil than thought control."

Hines said: "Why is everyone so sensitive when it comes to thought control? In fact, in modern society, isn't thought control happening all the time? From commercial advertisements to Hollywood culture, they are all controlling thoughts. You, use a Chinese In other words, it's just fifty steps and a hundred steps."

"Dr. Hines, you have taken more than a hundred steps, you have reached the threshold of darkness that threatens the very foundation of modern society," said the U.S. representative.

The venue was noisy again, and Hines knew that he had to control the situation at this time, so he raised his voice and said, "Just learn from that little boy!"

The uproar in the venue really made his last words subside temporarily. "What little boy?" asked the rotating chairman.

"I think everyone has heard this story: a little boy in the forest farm was crushed by a fallen tree on his leg. A decision that would embarrass all representatives: pick up the saw, cut off the pinned leg, climb into the car to find the hospital, and save my own life."

Satisfied that at least no one in the room tried to interrupt him, Hines continued: "The question facing humanity now is whether to live or die, the whole race and civilization as a whole to live or die, in this case How can you not give up something?"

There were two soft bangs, the chairman was knocking on the gavel, even though there was no noise in the venue at this time.Only then did people notice that this German was one of the few people who remained calm at the meeting.

The chairman said in a calm tone: "First of all, I hope that everyone will face up to the current situation. The construction of the space defense system is investing more and more, the world economy is undergoing a sharp decline while transforming, and the living standards of human society will retreat for a century. It may become a reality in the not-too-distant future. At the same time, scientific research related to space defense is increasingly encountering sophon obstacles, and technological progress is increasingly slowing down. All these will trigger a new round in the international community. A wave of defeatism, this time, could lead to the total collapse of solar system defense programs."

The chairman’s words completely cooled the meeting room down. He allowed the silence to last for nearly half a minute before continuing: “Like everyone, when I learned of the existence of the ideological seal, I was as afraid and loathed as I saw a poisonous snake...but now we are the last The sensible thing to do is to calm down and think about it carefully, even if the devil does appear, calmness and reason are the best options. At this meeting, we are just putting forward a resolution for a vote."

Hines saw a glimmer of hope, "Mr. Chairman, fellow representatives, since my original motion cannot be put to a vote at the meeting, can we each take a step back."

"No matter how much you retreat, thought control is absolutely unacceptable," the French representative said, but his tone was not as strong as before.

"What if it's not mind control, or somewhere in between control and freedom?"

"Ideological seal is ideological control." The representative of Japan said.

"Otherwise, so-called control, there must be a controller and a controlled person. If someone voluntarily puts a stamp of thought on his own consciousness, can this be called control?"

The venue fell silent again, and Hines felt that he was close to success. He continued: "I propose to open the ideological seal to the society as a kind of public facility. Its proposition is limited to one, which is the belief in the victory of the war. , Anyone who is willing to obtain this belief with the help of the ideological seal can use this facility on a completely voluntary basis. Of course, all of this should be carried out under strict supervision."

The meeting discussed this. On the basis of Hines’s proposal, many restrictions were placed on the use of ideological seals. The most critical one is that the scope of use is limited to the space army. After all, the unity of thought in the army is a comparison easy to accept.The hearing lasted for nearly eight hours, which was the longest one. Finally, a proposal for voting at the next meeting was formed, and the representatives of the permanent member countries reported to their own governments.

"Do we need a name for this facility?" said the US representative.

"How about a Faith Relief Centre?" said the UK representative, prompting a laugh at the quirky title with British humor.

"Remove the relief and call it the Faith Center." Hines said seriously.

In front of the gate of the Faith Center stands a statue of liberty that is accurately reproduced in a reduced scale. The falsified poem on the seat:[34]
Put you hopeless ones, you confused ones,

Give me all you fearful wanderers who yearn to see the light of victory,
Send all those who are lost in spirit and wandering in soul:

Beside this golden faith, I will lift up the lamp for them.

The golden belief mentioned in the poem is prominently engraved in a variety of languages ​​on a black granite obelisk called the Stele of Faith next to the goddess statue:

In the war against the invasion of the Trisolaran world, human beings will surely win, the enemies invading the solar system will be wiped out, and the civilization of the earth will continue in the universe for thousands of generations.

The Faith Center has been open for three days, and Hines and Keiko Yamasugi have been waiting in the stately foyer.This small building near the United Nations Plaza has become a new tourist attraction. People keep taking pictures in front of the Statue of Liberty and the Monument of Faith, but no one has ever walked in. People seem to be cautiously keeping up with the place. with the distance.

"Do you think this place looks like a mom-and-pop shop with poor management?" Keiko Yamasugi said.

"Honey, this place will become a holy place one day." Hines said solemnly.

On the afternoon of the third day, a person finally walked into the Faith Center. This was a melancholy, bald, middle-aged man who wobbled a little when he walked, and could smell alcohol when he approached.

"I've come to gain a belief," he lisps.

"The Belief Center can only be used by members of the space forces of various countries. Please show your ID." Keiko Yamasugi bowed and said. At this time, in the eyes of Hines, she looked like a polite and thoughtful waiter at the Tokyo Grand Hotel.

The man fumbled and took out his ID, "I'm a member of the Space Force, but I'm just a civilian, is that okay?"

After carefully reviewing the documents, Hines nodded, "Mr. Wilson, are you going to proceed now?"

"Of course." The man nodded, and took out a neatly folded piece of paper from his breast pocket, "That, you call it a belief proposition, write it here, I want to get this belief."

Keiko Yamasugi wanted to explain: According to the resolution of the Planetary Defense Council, there is only one proposition that the ideological seal is allowed to operate, that is, the content written on the stone tablet in front of the door must be verbatim, and any other propositions are strictly prohibited.But Hines stopped her lightly. He wanted to see what the proposition was submitted by this person first. When he opened the paper, he saw that it read:

Catherine loves me, she has never had an affair and never will!

Keiko Yamasugi tried her best not to laugh, but Hines angrily threw the paper into a ball on the sad face of the drunk, "Get out!"

After Wilson was driven away, another person crossed the Faith Monument, which is the boundary between ordinary tourists and the Faith Center.The man was lingering behind the monument, Hines quickly noticed him, and greeted Keiko and said, "Look at that man, he should be a soldier!"

"He looked exhausted physically and mentally," Keiko said.

"But he's a soldier, trust me." Hines said, and was about to go out to communicate with the man, but saw him stepping up the steps in front of the door.This person seems to be older than Wilson, with a handsome oriental face, but as Keiko said, he looks a little melancholy, but this kind of melancholy is different from the frustrated person just now, it is lighter but deeper, and it seems to have accompanied him for many years.

"My name is Wu Yue, and I'm here to gain faith." The visitor said, and Hines noticed that he was talking about faith instead of belief.

Keiko Yamasugi bowed and repeated the sentence: "The Faith Center is only accessible to members of the space forces of various countries, please show your ID."

Wu Yue stood still, and just said: "16 years ago, I served in the Space Force for a month, but then I retired."

"A month of military service? Then, if you don't mind, why did you retire?" Hines asked.

"I'm a defeatist, and my superiors and I don't think I'm fit to serve in the Space Force anymore."

"Defeatism is a very common thought, and you're obviously just an honest defeatist, speaking your mind frankly. Those of your colleagues who continue to serve may have more defeatist sentiments, and they just take this This emotion is hidden." Keiko Yamasugi said.

"Maybe, but I've been lost over the years."

"Because of leaving the army?"

Wu Yue shook his head, "No, I was born in a family of scholars, and the education I received has always made me look at human beings as a whole. Although I later became a soldier, I always think that the highest honor for a soldier is to fight for all mankind. This opportunity did come, but it was a war doomed to failure."

Hines was about to speak, but Keiko preempted her. She said, "May I ask, how old are you?"

"51."

"If you can really return to the Space Force after gaining the belief of victory, at your age, isn't it too late to start again in the military?"

Hines could see that Keiko obviously couldn't bear to reject him directly. This deep and melancholy man was undoubtedly very attractive in the eyes of women.But Hines wasn't worried about anything. The man was clearly hopeless and had no interest in anything.

Wu Yue shook his head again, "You misunderstood, I didn't come here to gain the belief in victory, but to seek peace of mind."

Hines wanted to speak, but Keiko stopped him again.

Wu Yue went on to say: "I met my current wife when I was studying abroad at the Annapolis Naval Academy. She is a devout Christian. She is very calm in the face of the future, a kind of calm that makes me jealous. She said that God put everything Everything has been arranged, everything in the past and the future, we children of the Lord don’t need to understand this arrangement, we just need to firmly believe that this arrangement is the most reasonable arrangement in the universe, and then live peacefully according to the Lord’s will.”

"So you're here to gain faith in God?" Hines asked.

Wu Yue nodded, "I wrote a proposition of belief, please take a look." He said and reached into his coat pocket.

Keiko stopped Hines from speaking again, and she said to Wu Yue: "If this is the case, you can just go to faith, there is no need to go through such extreme technical means."

The former space army colonel showed a wry smile, "I was brought up with a materialistic education and I am a staunch atheist. Do you think it is easy for me to acquire this kind of belief?"

"This is absolutely impossible." Hines said ahead of Keiko. He decided to clarify the matter as soon as possible. "You should know that according to the UN resolutions, there is only one proposition that can be operated by the ideological seal." He took out an exquisite large red paper clip, opened it for Wu Yue to see, on the black velvet lining inside, engraved the victory belief on the belief tablet with gold letters, he said: "This is called the belief book." He took out again A stack of large paper clips of different colors, "This is the version of the Belief Book in different languages. Mr. Wu, let me explain to you how strict the supervision on the use of the Thought Stamp is: in order to ensure safe and reliable operation, propositions are not Instead, the original method of belief book is used to read it out to the volunteers. In order to reflect the principle of voluntariness in specific operations, the operations are all completed by the volunteer himself. He will open the belief book by himself, and then press the thought stamp Before the actual operation, the system will give three opportunities for confirmation. Before each operation, the belief book must be checked and confirmed by a ten-member team. This team is composed of the United Nations Human Rights Committee and the Planetary Defense Council. It is composed of special commissioners from the permanent members of the Council. During the entire operation process of the ideological seal, a ten-member team was also present to conduct strict supervision. Therefore, sir, your request is absolutely impossible to achieve, not to mention this proposition of religious belief, it is based on belief It is a crime to change a single word in the title of the book."

"Then I'm sorry to bother you." Wu Yue nodded and said, he had obviously expected this result, then turned and walked away, his back looked lonely and old.

"The rest of his life will be difficult." Keiko Yamasugi whispered, her voice full of tenderness.

"Sir!" Hines called Wu Yue who had already walked out, and followed outside the door. At this time, the Faith Monument and the glass curtain wall of the United Nations Building in the distance reflected the light of the setting sun, as if it was on fire. Ens squinted at the flame and said, "Maybe you don't believe me, but I almost did the opposite."

Wu Yue showed puzzled eyes.Hines looked back and saw that Keiko hadn't followed, so he took out a piece of paper from his closet pocket and unfolded it for Wu Yue to see: "This is the ideological stamp I want to stamp on myself. Of course, I hesitated, and finally Didn’t do it.” There were several bold words written on the paper:
God is dead.

"Why?" Wu Yue raised his head and asked.

"Isn't that obvious? God ain't dead? Fuck the Lord's arrangement, f**k the mild yoke[35]!"

Wu Yue looked at Hines speechlessly for a while, then turned and walked down the steps.

Hines said loudly to Wu Yue who had already walked into the shadow of the monument of faith on the steps: "Sir, I want to cover up my contempt for you, but I can't!"

The next day, Hines and Keiko Yamasugi finally got the person they were expecting.This morning, four people walked in from the bright sunshine outside the door, three men with European faces and one woman with oriental appearance. They were all young, tall and straight, with steady steps, and looked confident and mature.But Hines and Keiko saw something familiar in their eyes, that is, the melancholy and confusion in Wu Yue's eyes.

They neatly arranged their certificates on the reception desk, and one of the leaders said solemnly: "We are officers of the Space Force, here to gain the belief of victory."

The operation process of the ideological seal was very quick, and the belief book was passed on to the members of the ten-person supervision team. Each of them carefully checked the above content and signed the notarial certificate.Then, under their supervision, the first volunteer took the belief book and sat under the scanner of the thought stamp. There was a small platform in front of him, and he put the belief book on it. In the lower right corner of the platform, there was A red button.He opened the belief book, and a voice began to ask questions:
"Are you sure you want to acquire belief about this proposition? If yes, press the button; if not, leave the scanning area."

This kind of question was repeated three times, and after getting a definite answer, the button glowed red, and a positioning device slowly closed, fixing the volunteer's head, and the voice said: "The ideological seal is ready to activate, please read the proposition silently, Then push the button."

When the button is pressed, it emits a green light. About half a minute later, the green light goes out, and the voice prompts: "The operation of the thought stamp is completed." The positioning device is separated, and the volunteer gets up and leaves.

When the four officers who had completed the operation all returned to the hall, Keiko Yamasugi observed them carefully, and she quickly determined that it was not her own psychological effects: in the four pairs of eyes, the melancholy and confusion disappeared, and the gaze was as serene as water.

"How are you feeling?" she asked with a smile.

"Very good," a young officer smiled back at her, "it should be like this."

When they left, the oriental girl turned around and added: "Doctor, it's really good, thank you."

From this moment on, at least in the hearts of these four young people, the future is certain.

From this day on, members of the Space Force who gained faith continued to come, at first most of them came alone, and later they came in groups.At first, everyone who came here wore civilian clothes, but later most of them wore military uniforms.If more than five people come together at one time, the monitoring team will hold a review meeting to confirm that none of them has been coerced.

A week later, more than [-] members of the Space Force have accepted the belief in victory given by the ideological seal. Their military rank ranges from private to colonel, which is the highest rank allowed to use the ideological seal in the space forces of various countries.

In the middle of the night, in front of the monument of faith under the moonlight, Hines said to Keiko Yamasugi: "Honey, we should go."

"Go to the future?"

"Yes, we are no better than other scientists in thinking research. We have done what we should do. The wheel of history has been pushed by us. Let's go to the future and wait for history."

"How far?"

"Very far, Keiko, very far. We will go to the era when the Trisolaran probe arrived in the solar system."

"Before that, let's go back to that small courtyard in Kyoto for a while. After all, this era is going to pass forever."

"Of course, honey, I miss it too."

Half a year later, Keiko Shanshan, who was about to enter hibernation, was immersed in a deeper and deeper cold, just like the moment Luo Ji fell into the frozen lake more than ten years ago, the severe cold and freezing filtered out the chaos and noise in her consciousness, leaving her The clue she was concentrating on stood out in the cold darkness, and the previously blurred thoughts suddenly became very clear, like the cold sky in severe winter.

Keiko Yamasugi wanted to call to stop the hibernation process, but it was too late, the ultra-low temperature had penetrated into her body, and she lost the ability to speak.

The operator and the doctor saw that the eyes of this woman who was about to enter hibernation suddenly opened a crack, and her eyes were full of fear and despair. If her eyelids were not frozen due to the severe cold, her eyes would definitely be wide open. .But they all thought it was a normal nerve reflex during hibernation, and it had happened to a few hibernators before, so they didn't care.

The United Nations Planetary Defense Council's Wallfacer program hearing discusses the test of a stellar hydrogen bomb.

With the breakthrough of supercomputer technology, the nuclear explosion stellar model that has been theoretically perfected in the past ten years can be realized on the computer, and the production of super-high-yield stellar hydrogen bombs began immediately.It is estimated that the explosive yield of the first hydrogen bomb is 3.5 million tons of TNT, which is seventeen times that of the largest hydrogen bomb ever produced by mankind.It is impossible for such a super nuclear bomb to be tested in the atmosphere, and an ultra-deep well needs to be dug for an underground test. If it is detonated in a test well with a previous depth, the formation will be lifted.However, if such an explosion is carried out in an ultra-deep well, its powerful shock waves will spread all over the world, which may have an unpredictable impact on a wide range of geological structures, and then induce geological disasters including earthquakes and tsunamis.Therefore, the test of a stellar hydrogen bomb can only be carried out in space, but it is impossible to test in a high orbit. The electromagnetic pulse generated by the hydrogen bomb will have a huge impact on the earth's communication and power systems at such a distance. The ideal test location is in The back of the moon, but Rey Diaz had other options.

"I decided to experiment on Mercury," Rey Diaz said.

The proposal surprised delegates, who questioned the point of the plan.

"According to the basic principles of the Wallface Project, I don't need to explain." Rey Diaz replied coldly, "The experiment should be underground, and an ultra-deep well will be dug on Mercury."

The representative of Russia said: "Testing on the surface of Mercury may be considered, but the investment in the underground test is too large. The cost of digging an ultra-deep well there may be hundreds of times that of the same project on the earth. Besides, it is meaningless. There is no need to consider nuclear weapons on Mercury." The impact of the explosion on the environment."

"The Mercury surface test is also impossible!" said the representative of the United States. "So far, Rey Diaz is the most resource-consuming Wallfacer. Now is the time to stop him!" Representative's endorsement.

Rey Diaz smiled and said, "Even if I consume as few resources as Dr. Luo Ji, you are keen to veto my plan." He turned to the rotating chairman, "I ask Mr. Chairman and all representatives to pay attention, Among the strategic plans proposed by the author, my plan is the closest and most harmonious with the mainstream defense system, and it can be regarded as a part of the mainstream defense system. The consumption of resources is very large in terms of its absolute amount, but a considerable part of it is not consistent with the mainstream defense system. overlapping, so..."

The British representative interrupted Rey Diaz's speech: "You should explain why an underground nuclear test was conducted on Mercury. We can't find any other explanation except spending money in different ways."

"Mr. Chairman, all representatives," Rey Diaz countered calmly, "you should see that up to now, the Planetary Defense Council has lost the minimum respect for the wall-facers, and also lost the respect for the wall-facer principle, If all the details of our plan have to be explained, what is the point of the wall plan?" He stared at the representatives of the major countries one by one with scorching eyes, causing them to turn their eyes elsewhere.

Rey Diaz continued: "Nevertheless, I am still willing to explain the question just now: the purpose of the ultra-deep underground nuclear test on Mercury is to blow up a large cave in the planet's underground as a future Mercury base. , for such a project, this is obviously the most economical solution.”

Rey Diaz's words sparked whispers, and a representative asked, "Wallfacer Rey Diaz, do you mean to use Mercury as a launch base for stellar hydrogen bombs?"

Rey Diaz said with confidence: "Yes, the current mainstream defense strategy theory believes that the focus of the defense system should be on the outer planets of the earth, while not paying enough attention to the inner planets, thinking that they have no defensive significance. The planned Mercury base is just a supplement to the weak link of the mainstream defense."

"Isn't it strange that he is afraid of seeing the sun and wants to go to the planet closest to the sun?" said the American representative, prompting some laughter, followed by a warning from the chairman.

"It's nothing, Mr. Chairman, I'm used to this kind of disrespect, I was used to it before I became a Wallfacer." Rey Diaz waved his hand and said, "But everyone should respect the fact that the outer planets and even the earth have fallen In the end, the Mercury base will be the last bastion of mankind, it will be the strongest position with its back against the sun and under the cover of its radiation."

"Wallfacer Rey Diaz, so the whole meaning of your plan lies in the last resistance of human beings when the situation is over? This is very consistent with your character." The representative of France said.

"Gentlemen, we must consider the last resistance." Rey Diaz said solemnly.

"Very good, Wallfacer Rey Diaz," said the chairman, "Now, can you tell us how many star-type hydrogen bombs are needed in total in the overall deployment plan?"

"The more the better, the production capacity of the earth should be made. The specific number depends on how much equivalent hydrogen bombs can achieve in the future. According to current standards, at least 100 million are needed in the first batch of deployment plans."

Rey Diaz's words elicited roars of laughter.

"It seems that Rey Diaz, the Wallfacer, wants to create not only a small sun, but also a galaxy!" The representative of the United States said loudly, and then leaned forward to Rey Diaz, "Do you really think that the protium in the ocean Deuterium and tritium are all prepared for you? Because of your perverted affection for nuclear bombs, the earth is going to become a hydrogen bomb production workshop?"

At this time, Rey Diaz was the only person in the venue with a serious face. He waited quietly for the uproar he caused to subside, and said word by word: "This is the ultimate war for mankind. The amount requested is not enough. Not many, but I expected today’s results, but I will work hard, I want to build more nuclear bombs, build one more if I can, tell you, I will continue to work hard.”

The world of Mercury can only see two colors: black and gold. Black is the earth of the planet. Under the close-range irradiation of the scorching sun, the earth with low reflectivity is still dark; gold is the sun, and the sun occupies the sky in this world. For a considerable part, in the vast solar disk, you can clearly see the surge in the sea of ​​fire, and you can see sunspots drifting by like dark clouds. On the edge of the solar disk, you can also see the graceful dance of gorgeous prominences.

On this big hard rock suspended above the sea of ​​fire in the sun, human beings planted another little sun.

With the completion of the space elevator, mankind began a large-scale exploration of the planets in the solar system.The successive landings of manned spacecraft on the moons of Mars and Jupiter did not cause much sensation, because people knew that the purpose of these expeditions was more realistic and clear than before. It was only to build a defense base for the solar system. Navigation, primarily in chemically powered rockets and spaceships, is a modest start.The initial exploration mainly focused on the outer planets of the earth, but with the deepening of space strategy research, the neglect of the strategic value of the inner planets has been questioned more and more, so the exploration of Venus and Mercury has been strengthened, which is also the reason why Lei The reason why Diaz's Mercury stellar hydrogen bomb test plan was narrowly passed by the Planetary Defense Council.

Digging test deep wells in the Mercury formation is the first large-scale project carried out by humans on other planets in the solar system.Since the construction can only be carried out during the 88-day night of Mercury, the construction period is as long as three earth years, but in the end it is only excavated to one-third of the predetermined depth, and further down, there is an anomaly in which metal and rock are mixed Due to the hard ground, the progress of further excavation was not only slow, but also costly, so it was finally decided to end the project.If the test is carried out at the existing depth, the stratum will definitely be opened by the nuclear explosion, forming a large pit. This is actually a discounted ground test, and due to the interference of the stratum, the observation of the test effect is better than that of a pure ground test. Many difficulties.But Rey Diaz thought that if the pit is covered, it can also be used as a base, so he still insists on conducting underground experiments at the existing depth.

The experiment was carried out at dawn, and the sunrise process of Mercury lasted more than ten hours, when a slight bright color just appeared in the sky.

After the detonation countdown counted down to zero, there were circles of ring-shaped ripples spreading outward with the projection point of the detonation center as the center, and the ground of Mercury seemed to become as soft as satin for a while, and then, a slowly rising mountain appeared at the detonation center, Like the back of a waking giant.When the peak rose to about 3000 meters, the entire mountain erupted, hundreds of millions of tons of soil and rocks flew into the air, and a bunch of angry hair grew on the land of Mercury!As the formation was lifted, the light of the underground nuclear fireball was exposed, shining on the scattered rock and soil in the air, forming a magnificent fireworks in the dark sky of Mercury.The fireball lasted for nearly 5 minutes before being extinguished. During this period, rocks fell one after another under the illumination of the nuclear light.

More than ten hours after the nuclear explosion ended, observers discovered that Mercury had a circle of star rings. This is because a considerable part of the rocks reached the first cosmic speed of Mercury in the violent explosion and became the star ring of the planet. Numerous moons of various sizes, spread out in orbit, make Mercury the first terrestrial planet with rings.The rings are thin, shining in strong sunlight, like a circle around the planet.

Another part of the rock has reached the second cosmic speed of Mercury, completely separated from Mercury, and became a satellite of the sun, forming an extremely sparse asteroid belt on Mercury's solar orbit.

Rey Diaz watched the live broadcast of the Mercury nuclear test from the basement where he lived.In fact, it is not live. There is a time difference of about 7 minutes for the picture to reach the earth.When the nuclear explosion on Mercury had just ended, and the rain of rocks was still falling in the darkness after the fireball went out, Rey Diaz received a phone call from the rotating chairman of the Planetary Defense Council, saying that the tremendous power of the stellar hydrogen bomb was overwhelming to the leadership of mainstream defense. The observers were deeply impressed, and the permanent members of the Security Council demanded that the next hearing on the Wallface project be held as soon as possible to discuss the manufacture and deployment of the stellar hydrogen bomb.The chairman said that the number of hydrogen bombs that Rey Diaz requested was simply impossible, but the major powers did take an interest in the weapon.

Rey Diaz lived in the basement not for safety reasons but because of heliophobia, and the claustrophobic environment away from the sun made him feel more comfortable.

More than ten hours after the Mercury experiment ended, when Rey Diaz saw the new rings of Mercury flashing on the TV screen, the voice of the gatekeeper came from the microphone, saying that the psychiatrist he had made an appointment with came.

"I never called a psychiatrist, let him go away!" Rey Diaz felt very annoyed, as if he had been greatly humiliated.

"Come on, Mr. Rey Diaz." Another more calm voice sounded, obviously a visitor, "I can let you see the sun."

"Go away!" Rey Diaz yelled, then changed his mind. "No, take this idiot into custody and find out where he came from."

"...Because I know your cause." The voice continued calmly, "Mr. Rey Diaz, please believe me, only the two of us in this world know."

This remark made Rey Diaz immediately alert, and he immediately said, "Let him in." Then, he stared blankly at the ceiling for a few seconds, stood up slowly, picked up the tie from the messy sofa, Immediately threw it down again, went to the mirror to adjust his collar, and combed the messy hair with his hands, as if he was about to welcome some solemn event.

He knew it was a solemn thing indeed.

The person who came was a handsome middle-aged man. He didn't introduce himself after he walked in the door. The strong smell of cigars and alcohol in the room made him frown slightly, and then he just stood there, accepting Lydia's words frankly. hereby's scrutiny.

"How do I feel like I've seen you somewhere?" Rey Diaz said, sizing up the visitor.

"No surprise, Mr. Rey Diaz, they say I look like Superman, the one in the old movies."

"You really think you're Superman?" Rey Diaz said, sitting down on the couch, picking up a cigar, biting open his head and lighting it up.

"Asking this means that you already know who I am. I'm not Superman, Mr. Reydíaz, and neither are you." The young man said, taking a step forward.

Rey Diaz found that he was already standing in front of him, looking down at him through the puff of smoke he just exhaled, so he also stood up.

The person who came said: "Wallfacer Manuel Reydíaz, I am your Wallbreaker."

Rey Diaz nodded darkly.

"Can I sit?" the Wall Breaker asked.

"No." Rey Diaz slowly exhaled a puff of cigarette into his face.

"You don't have to be depressed." The Wall Breaker said with a considerate smile.

"I didn't." Rey Diaz's voice was as hard as stone.

The wall-breaker went to the wall and flipped a switch, and the ventilation fan buzzed somewhere.

"Don't mess with anything here," Rey Diaz warned.

"You need fresh air, and even more sunlight, Wallfacer Rey Diaz, I am familiar with this room, in the images sent by Tomoko, I often see you here like a trapped animal for hours on end Walking around, no one in this world has stared at you for such a long time except me, and at that time, please believe me, it was no easier than you."

The Wallbreaker looked directly at Rey Diaz, who was still expressionless like a cold statue, and continued to speak.

"Compared to Frederick Taylor, you are a better strategist and a qualified wallfacer, please believe me this is not a compliment. I have to admit that for quite a while, almost ten years, I was confused by you Yes. You pursued with mad zeal the super nuke - such a weapon that is very ineffective in space warfare, while successfully concealing your strategic direction. For a long time I could not find any clues that could decipher your real strategy , Struggling in the maze you set up, once almost desperate." The wall-breaker looked at the ceiling with emotion, recalling his difficult years, "Later, I thought that it would be very difficult to inquire about your information before you became the wall-facer, because This couldn't be helped by sophons. You know, the limited number of sophons that arrived on Earth at that time, and as the head of a small Latin American country, you didn't get their attention. So I had to collect information by conventional means, which took three years Among these materials, one person caught my attention: William Cosmo, you met him secretly three times successively. Sophon has not recorded the content of your conversation, and I will never know. But a small underdeveloped country It was unusual for the Führer to meet with a Western astrophysicist three times, and we now know that you prepared yourself to be a Wallfacer at that point."

"You are undoubtedly interested in Dr. Cosmo's research results. I don't know how you noticed that result before, but you are a student of science and engineering, and your predecessor who was keen on socialism was also interested in Because of the successful experience of engineers governing the country, this is also an important reason for you to become his successor, so you should have enough ability and sensitivity to notice the potential significance of Cosmo's achievements."

"After the three-body crisis, the research team led by Dr. Cosmo has been engaged in the research of the atmosphere of the three-body star. They speculate that the atmosphere is produced by the fall of the previous planet. The falling planet broke the outer shell of the star and made the inner space The stellar matter ejected into space to form the surrounding atmosphere. Since the motion of the trisolaran stars is completely irregular, the three stars may be closely interlaced. At this time, the atmosphere of one star will be replaced by the other star's Dispelled by gravity, but then replenished by eruptions on the surface of the star, this eruption is not constant, like a volcano, sometimes there are sudden eruptions, which is why the atmosphere of the Trisolaran star is constantly shrinking and expanding. To prove This hypothesis, Cosmo's attempt to find other stars in the universe that have ejected their atmospheres due to planetary impact impacts, after the third year of the Crisis, he succeeded."

"Dr. Cosmo's research team discovered a planet-bearing star 275E1, about 84 light-years away from the solar system. At that time, the Hubble II Space Telescope was not yet in operation, and they used the gravitational wobble measurement method [36], Then, through the observation and calculation of the wobble frequency and occultation [37], they learned that the planet is very close to the parent star. At the beginning, this discovery did not attract much attention, because the astronomical community observed The number of stars has reached more than 200, but further observations later revealed a shocking discovery: the distance between the planet and its parent star is still shortening, and this shortening is still accelerating rapidly, which means that , for the first time, humans will observe the scene of a planet falling into a star. This happened a year later—or 84 years before the observation time. Gravitational swings and the disappearance of periodic occlusions can be used to judge the fall of planets. But then, a spectacle appeared: a spiral flow of material appeared around the star, and this spiral flow around the star continued to expand, looking like a The disc is unwinding clockwork centered on the star. Cosmo and his colleagues soon realized that the stream of material was ejected from the planet's infall point, and that rock shattered the crust of that distant sun, making the The stellar material within it is ejected into space, and the jet becomes a spiral due to the rotation of the star."

"Mr. Rey Diaz, there are several key data: the star is a yellow G2 star with an absolute magnitude of 4.3 and a diameter of 120 million kilometers, which is very similar to the sun; The planet is about 0.04 Earth masses, slightly smaller than Mercury, and its fall produced a spiral cloud of material with a radius of three astronomical units, beyond the distance from the sun to the asteroid belt."

"It was from this discovery that I found a breakthrough to decipher your true strategic intentions. Below is my understanding of your great strategy as a wallbreaker."

"Assuming you end up with those 100 million or more stellar hydrogen bombs, you deploy them all on Mercury as you promised to the PDC, and if you detonate them in the strata of Mercury, it will be like The deceleration effect of a super engine on the planet will eventually cause Mercury to lose the speed to maintain its low orbit and fall into the sun. Next, what happened at 84E275, 1 light-years away, will be repeated on the sun: the sun The outer shell of the troposphere will be penetrated by Mercury, and a huge amount of stellar material in the deep radiation layer will be shot into space at a high speed. During the rotation of the sun, a spiral atmosphere similar to 215E1 will be formed. The sun is different from the trisolaran star, It is a lone star, and there is no possibility of close intersecting with other stars, so its atmosphere will grow undisturbed, and eventually its thickness will be much larger than the atmosphere of Trisolaris, which is also confirmed in the observation of 275E1 The spiral flow of material ejected by the sun will expand outward rapidly like a loose clockwork, and its thickness will eventually exceed the orbit of Mars. At this time, a grand chain reaction begins."

"First of all, the three terrestrial planets, Venus, Earth and Mars, will all orbit in the spiral atmosphere of the sun, lose speed quickly in the friction, and eventually become three giant meteors falling into the sun. In fact, long before that, The earth’s atmosphere is stripped away in the violent friction with the sun’s material, and the ocean evaporates. The stripped atmosphere and the evaporated ocean will turn the earth into a giant comet, and its comet tail may grow around the sun along its orbit. The surface of the Earth will return to the magma sea it was formed in, and no life will survive."

"The fall of Venus, Earth, and Mars will greatly intensify the ejection of solar matter into space, and the ejected spiral stream of matter will increase from one to four. The total mass of these three planets is forty times that of Mercury, and due to the orbital High, the impact velocity during the fall is much greater than that of Mercury, and the violent eruption of each material flow is dozens of times or even more than the fall of Mercury, which will cause the formed spiral atmosphere to expand rapidly, and its top will eventually reach the orbit of Jupiter."

"Jupiter's mass is huge, and the deceleration caused by friction is very small. The impact on the orbit will not be seen until a long time later, but all the satellites of Jupiter will face the following two fates: being stripped of Jupiter during the friction, and then losing their speed and falling to each other. into the sun; or lose velocity in Jupiter's orbit and fall into liquid Jupiter."

"The chain reaction is still going on. Although the spiral atmosphere slows down Jupiter very little, the slowdown exists after all, and Jupiter's orbit will slowly sink toward the sun. As this sinking occurs, Jupiter will be in the denser and denser spiral atmosphere. Running in the middle, the deceleration caused by friction will increase rapidly, which will cause the orbit to sink faster... In this way, Jupiter will eventually fall into the sun. The mass of Jupiter is six hundred times that of the previous four terrestrial planets combined. Such a giant The impact of the mass body on the sun, even according to the most conventional deduction, will produce a more violent ejection of stellar material, making the spiral atmosphere denser, and exacerbating the severe cold of the worlds of Uranus and Neptune. But there is a greater possibility: giant Jupiter The fall of the spiral atmosphere extends the top of the spiral atmosphere to the orbit of Uranus and even Neptune. Even if the top of the atmosphere is very thin, the deceleration caused by friction will eventually pull the remaining two large planets and all their satellites toward the sun. When After the final chain reaction is completed, it will be impacted by four compact terrestrial planets and three giant Jupiter-like planets successively. No one can predict what the sun will be like and what the solar system will be like, but there is one thing. One thing is certain: for life and civilization, this place will be a hell that is harsher than the Trisolaran world.”

"For Trisolarans, the solar system is the only hope before their planets are swallowed by three stars. There is no second world that can immigrate in time. In this way, following humans, the Trisolaran civilization will also perish completely. .”

"This is your strategy of mutual annihilation. When everything is ready and all the hydrogen bombs are in place on Mercury, you will use this to blackmail Trisolaran and ultimately allow humanity to win."

"The above is the result of many years of work by me, your wallbreaker. I don't want to ask for your opinion and evaluation, because we all know it is true."

During the narration of the wallbreaker, Rey Diaz has been listening silently. The cigar in his hand has been smoked for most of the time. Now he keeps turning the cigar, as if admiring the fire from the cigarette butt.

The Wallbreaker sat down next to Rey Diaz on the sofa, and said like a teacher evaluating a student's homework: "Mr. Rey Diaz, as I said, you are an excellent strategist, at least Much excellence has been demonstrated in the development and execution of this strategic plan."

"First of all, you have successfully used your background. Now, the memory of the humiliation you and your country suffered in the development of nuclear energy is still fresh. At the scene of the forced dismantling of the nuclear facility in Orinoco, the world They all saw your gloomy expression. You took advantage of this perceived paranoia about nuclear weapons to mitigate or even eliminate the suspicion that it might arouse."

"Your talent is evident in every detail of the execution of the plan, and here is just one example: In the Mercury experiment, you insisted on digging an ultra-deep well, which was farsighted in the Mercury experiments You know the patience of the permanent members of the PDC for this costly project, and the precision of the grasp is admirable."

"But you still have a major mistake: why did the first nuclear test have to be carried out on Mercury? There will be time later, maybe you are too impatient to see the effect of a stellar hydrogen bomb exploding on Mercury. You see, there are a lot of The formation material was blown to escape velocity, which probably exceeded your expectations, and you are satisfied, but it also confirmed my speculation at last."

"Really, Mr. Rey Diaz, despite the previous work, if it weren't for this last incident, I may never be able to determine your true strategic intentions, because the idea is crazy, but it is really spectacular. Even , very beautiful. If the chain reaction caused by the fall of Mercury is really realized, it will be the most magnificent movement in the solar system. Unfortunately, human beings can only appreciate the first one and a half bars. Mr. Rey Diaz, you are a wall-facer with the temperament of God It is my honor to be your Wall Breaker."

The Wall Breaker stood up and bowed sincerely to Rey Diaz.

Rey Diaz didn't look at the Wall Breaker, took a puff of his cigar, exhaled white smoke and continued to study the cigarette butt, "Okay, then I'll ask the same question Taylor asked."

The Wall Breaker articulated the question for him: "What if all this is true?"

Rey Diaz nodded, staring at the flame of the cigarette.

"My answer is the same as Taylor's wallbreaker: The Lord doesn't care."

Rey Diaz raised his eyes from the cigarette butt, and looked at his wallbreaker inquiringly.

"You are rough on the outside and shrewd on the inside, but in the deepest part of your soul, you are rude. You are a rough man at heart, and this roughness is evident on the basis of this strategic plan: this is a smuggler. According to the plan, human beings do not have the ability to produce such a number of stellar hydrogen bombs. Even if all the industrial resources of the earth are exhausted, one tenth of them may not be produced. If Mercury is slowed down to fall into the sun, even if there are 100 million stellar hydrogen bombs , It’s not enough. You made this impossible plan with the recklessness of a warrior, but you pushed it forward step by step with the wit and wisdom of an excellent strategist, Rey Diaz the Wallfacer, this is really true It's a tragedy."

Rey Diaz looked at the wall-breaker gradually filled with an unfathomable softness, a faint twitch appeared on his rough-lined face, and soon this twitch became obvious, and finally the suppressed maniacal laughter suddenly break out.

"Hahahahahaha..." Rey Diaz pointed at the Wallbreaker while laughing, "Hehe, Superman, hahahaha, I remembered, that, that old version of Superman, who can fly, can turn the earth upside down, but in While riding...hahahaha...broke my neck while riding...ahhahahaha..."

"It was Reeve who broke his neck, the actor who played Superman." The Wallbreaker corrected calmly.

"Do you think, think that your end will be better than his... Hahahaha..."

"Since I'm here, I don't care about my fate. I've lived a fulfilling life." The Wall Breaker said calmly, "You, Mr. Rey Diaz, should think about your end."

"You were the first to die." Rediaz said with a smile on his face. At the same time, he pressed the cigarette butt in his hand between the eyes of the broken wall man. When the latter covered his face with his hands, Rediaz Zi picked up a military belt on the sofa and slammed it around his neck, strangling him with all his strength.Although the Wallbreaker was young, he was helpless in the hands of the fierce Ray Diaz. He was strangled and fell from the sofa to the floor. Ray Diaz yelled in rage: "I'll break your Neck! You bastard! Who told you to come here to be smart? What are you? Bastard! I'll break your neck!" He tightened his belt while banging the Wallbreaker's head hard on the floor, The latter's teeth clicked loudly as they hit the floor.When the guard outside the door rushed in and pulled the two of them apart, the Wall Breaker was already blue and purple, foaming at the mouth, and his eyes protruded like goldfish.

Rey Diaz, in a state of rage, continued to yell during the tussle with the guards: "Break his neck! Hang him! Hang him! Right now! It's part of the plan! The fuck you hear? The plan a part of!"

But the three guards did not carry out his order, one of them held him tightly, and the other two walked out with the broken wall man who was partially relieved.

"Wait, bastard, you're going to die." Rey Diaz gave up trying to get rid of the guards and attacked the Wallbreaker again, and said with a long breath.

The Wallbreaker turned his head from the guard's shoulder, a smile appeared on his bruised and swollen face, he opened his mouth with several missing teeth and said, "I have lived a fulfilling life."

Planetary Defense Council Wallfacer hearing.

At the beginning of the meeting, the United States, Britain, France, and Germany threw out a proposal, requesting that Rey Diaz be suspended as a Wallfacer and be sent to the International Court of Justice for crimes against humanity.

The representative of the United States said: "After extensive investigation, we believe that the strategic intentions of Ray Diaz announced by the Wall Breaker are true and credible. Now we are facing such a person, compared with the crimes he committed. , all the crimes in the history of mankind seem insignificant. In all the existing laws, there is not even a crime clause applicable to him. Therefore, we propose to add the crime clause of the crime of extinction of life on earth to the international law to punish Lei Diaz goes to trial."

Rey Diaz looked relaxed at the meeting, sneering to the U.S. representative: "You guys wanted to get rid of me a long time ago, didn't you? Since the beginning of the Wallfacer project, you have been treating different Wallfacers with double standards, I'm the last person you want."

The British representative retorted: "Wallfacer Rey Diaz's statement has no basis. In fact, it is the countries he accused of investing a lot of money in his strategic plan, far more than the other three Wallfacers. .”

"That's right," Rey Diaz nodded, "but the reason you invested heavily in my plan is because you really want a stellar hydrogen bomb."

"It's ridiculous, what do we want that thing for?" The U.S. representative asked rhetorically, "It is a very inefficient weapon in the space battlefield. On the earth, the 2000 million-ton hydrogen bomb that has appeared before has no practical significance, let alone 3 A monster of more than [-] million tons."

Rey Diaz retorted calmly: "But on the battlefields on the surfaces of other planets in the solar system, stellar hydrogen bombs are the most effective weapons, especially in wars between humans. On the desolate surfaces of other planets, human beings Once a war breaks out, without regard to civilian casualties and environmental damage, large-scale destruction can be safely carried out, and even the entire surface of the planet can be destructively cleaned. At this time, the stellar hydrogen bomb can play its role. You clearly foresee , with the expansion of human beings into the solar system, the disputes in the earth world will inevitably spread to other planets. Although there is a common enemy like the Trisolaran world, this cannot be changed. You are preparing for this. At this time, develop superhuman powers to deal with human beings. Weapons are politically unjustifiable, so you use me to do it."

The representative of the United States said: "This is nothing but the absurd logic of a terrorist and dictator. Rey Diaz is such a person. With his identity and power as a Wallfacer, the Wallfacer project itself becomes the same as the Three-Body Invasion danger, and we must take decisive action to correct this mistake."

“They walk the talk on this,” Rey Diaz said, turning to the chairman. “The CIA guys are right outside the building, and I’m going to be arrested as soon as I walk out after the meeting.”

The rotating chairman glanced in the direction of the American representative, who was concentrating on a pencil in his hand.The rotating chairman of this session is Garning. He became the rotating chairman of the PDC for the first time when the Wallfacer project began. In the following 20 years, he himself can't remember how many times he held this short-term position, but this is the last time Already, he is about to retire with gray hair all over his head.

"Wallfacer Rey Diaz, if what you said is true, then this approach is inappropriate. As long as the principles of the Wallfacer Project continue to be valid, Wallfacers enjoy legal immunity, and nothing you say or do can be legally Evidence of incriminating charges," Garning said.

"And, please note, this is international territory." The representative of Japan said.

"Does that mean..." the representative of the United States raised a pencil in his hand, "When Rey Diaz buries 100 million super nuclear bombs on Mercury and prepares to detonate them, human society still cannot accuse him of guilt?"

"According to the corresponding clauses in the Wallfacer Act, restricting and stopping the strategic plans of the Wallfacers showing dangerous tendencies are two different things from the legal immunity of the Wallfacers themselves." Garning said.

"Rey Diaz's crimes have exceeded the bottom line of legal immunity and must be punished. This is the prerequisite for the continued existence of the Wallfacer Project." The representative of the United Kingdom said.

"I would like to draw the attention of Mr. Chairman and all representatives," Rey Diaz said, standing up from his seat, "this is a hearing of the Planetary Defense Committee's Wallface program, not a trial court for me."

"You'll be in that court soon," said the US representative with a sneer.

"I agree with Wallfacer Ray Diaz, we should return to the discussion of his strategic plan itself." Garning immediately seized this opportunity to temporarily bypass the thorny issue.

The representative of Japan, who has been silent all the time, made a speech: "From now on, all representatives have reached a consensus on the following point: Rey Diaz's strategic plan has an obvious dangerous tendency to infringe on the right of human existence. According to the corresponding principles of the Wall-Facing Act, it should be stopped."

"Then, the proposal P269 proposed at the last meeting to suspend the strategic plan of Wallfacer Ray Diaz should be voted on." Garning said.

"Mr. Chairman, please wait." Rey Diaz said, holding up a hand. "Before the vote, I want to make a final statement on some details of my strategic plan."

"If it's just details, is it necessary?" someone asked.

"You can go to court and say it." The British representative sneered.

"No, this detail is very important. For now, let's assume that my strategic intention announced by the Wallbreaker is true." Rey Diaz continued, "Just now a representative mentioned that 100 million hydrogen bombs have been deployed on Mercury When the situation is ready to detonate, at that time, I will issue a declaration of the end of human beings to the Trisolaran world in front of the ubiquitous Sophon, what will happen at that moment?"

"The reaction of Trisolarans is unpredictable, but there must be billions of people on the planet who want to break your neck, just like you did to your own wall-breaker," said the representative of France.

"That's right, then I must take certain measures to deal with this situation. Please see, this is it." Rey Diaz raised his left hand and showed the participants a watch on his wrist, which was completely black Yes, both the dial area and thickness are twice the size of ordinary men's watches, but it is not too big to wear on Ray Diaz's thick arms. "This is a signal transmitter, and the signal it sends is directly through a space link. Mercury."

"Using it to send a detonation signal?" someone asked.

"On the contrary, it sent a signal not to detonate."

Rey Diaz's words attracted everyone's attention.

Rey Diaz went on to say: "The code name of this system is 'cradle', which means that the baby will wake up when the cradle stops shaking. It continuously sends out signals, and the hydrogen bomb system on Mercury constantly receives them. Detonate the hydrogen bomb."

"It's called an anti-trigger system," the American representative said blankly. "The anti-trigger strategy for strategic nuclear weapons was studied during the Cold War, but it was never implemented. Only a lunatic like you would really do it."

Rey Diaz lowered his left hand and covered the thing called "cradle" with his sleeve. "It wasn't a nuclear strategist who taught me this wonderful idea, but an American movie where a man wears this thing, and it keeps signaling, but if the man's heart stops beating, it's The signal also stopped; while the other person was equipped with an irremovable bomb, if the bomb could not receive the signal, it would explode immediately. Protect him with all my strength... I love watching American blockbusters, and I can still recognize the old version of Superman to this day."

"So, is this device also connected to your heartbeat?" asked the representative of Japan. At this time, Rey Diaz was standing next to him, and he reached out to touch the device hidden under the sleeve of Rey Diaz. The latter pushed his hand away while standing a little further away from him.

"Of course, but 'Cradle' is more advanced and refined. It monitors not only heartbeat, but also many other physiological indicators, such as blood pressure, body temperature, etc. After comprehensive analysis of these parameters, if any abnormality is found, the anti-triggering process will be stopped immediately. signal transmission, and it also recognizes many of my simple voice commands."

At this time, a person suddenly entered the venue with a nervous expression and whispered something in Garning's ear. Keen representatives noticed the scene.

"There is a way to crack your 'cradle', and this method of dealing with anti-triggering has also been studied in depth during the Cold War." The US representative said.

"It's not my 'cradle', it's the 'cradle' of those hydrogen bombs, and they wake up when the 'cradle' stops shaking." Rey Diaz said.

"I also thought of this method," said the German representative. "The signal from your watch to Mercury must go through a complicated communication link. Destroy or shield any node on the link, and then use a fake signal source to Sending anti-trigger signals to the next level of the link can disable the 'cradle' system."

"This is indeed a difficult problem." Rey Diaz nodded to the German representative, "If there is no sophon, this problem is easy to solve: all nodes are loaded with the same encryption algorithm, and every signal sent is encrypted by this algorithm. From the outside world, each signal value is random and different each time, but the sender and receiver of 'Cradle' produce exactly the same sequence value, and the receiver only receives the signal corresponding to its own sequence. The signal is only considered valid when the value of the signal is high. Your fake signal source does not have this encryption algorithm, and the signal it sends must not correspond to the sequence of the receiver. But now there is a sophon, which can detect this algorithm.”

"Perhaps you have thought of another way?" someone asked.

"A stupid way, I can only come up with a vulgar stupid way." Rey Diaz said with a self-deprecating smile, "Increase the sensitivity of each node to its own status monitoring. The specific method is that each communication node is controlled by multiple These units are far apart, but they are connected as a whole by continuous communication. If any unit fails, the whole node will issue a command to terminate the anti-triggering. After that, even if the false signal source goes to the next step. Nodes are not allowed to send signals. The monitoring accuracy of each unit can reach the microsecond level. That is to say, according to the method of the gentleman just now, all the units that make up a node must be destroyed at the same time within one microsecond. Then use a false signal source for signal connection. Each node is composed of at least three units, and there may be dozens of units at most. The distance between these units is about 39 kilometers [[-]]. Any external touch will cause it to send a warning. To disable these units at the same time within a microsecond, maybe the Trisolarans can do it, but humans are definitely unable to do it at present.”

Rey Diaz's last words set everyone on edge.

"I just got a report that the thing on Mr. Rey Diaz's wrist has been sending electromagnetic signals to the outside world." Garning said, this information made the atmosphere of the venue suddenly tense, "I want to ask, Wallfacer Rey Diaz, Does the signal in your watch go to Mercury?"

Rey Diaz laughed a few times and said, "Why did I send to Mercury? There is nothing there now except for a big crater. Besides, the space communication link of 'Cradle' has not been established. No, no, no, everyone. Worry, the signal is not going to Mercury, but to a place very close to us in New York City."

The air froze, and everyone in the venue except Ray Diaz was stunned.

"If the Cradle's sustain signal is terminated, what is the trigger?" snapped the British representative, no longer trying to hide his nervousness.

"There will always be something triggered," Rey Diaz smiled generously at him, "I have been a Wallfacer for more than 20 years, and there will always be something in private."

"So, Mr. Rey Diaz, can you answer a more direct question of mine?" The French representative looked very calm, but his voice was a little trembling, "How many lives are you, or us, responsible for at this time?" ?”

Rey Diaz widened his eyes at the Frenchman, as if he found his question inconceivable, "Why? Does it matter how many people? I thought that all the people here are respectable gentlemen who regard human rights as the highest. One person or 820 million Is there a difference in the life of a human [40]? If it is the former, can you disrespect it?"

The U.S. representative stood up and said: "We pointed out what he was when the front wall project started more than 20 years ago." He pointed at Rey Diaz, swallowed, and tried to maintain his composure, but finally lost control , "He is a terrorist, an evil, dirty terrorist! A devil! You opened the bottle and released him, and you are responsible for it! The United Nations is responsible for this!" Throw it all around.

"Calm down, Mr. Representative." Rey Diaz said with a smile, "'Cradle' is very sensitive to monitoring my physiological indicators. If I was as hysterical as you, it would have stopped sending anti-trigger signals. My Emotions cannot fluctuate, so you, and everyone here, don't make me unhappy, and if possible, try to make me happy, which is good for us all."

"Your conditions?" Garning asked in a low voice.

The smile on Rey Diaz's face became a bit miserable. He shook his head at Garning, "Mr. Chairman, what conditions can I have? Just leave here and go back to my own country. There is a special plane waiting for me at Kennedy Airport .”

The venue fell silent, and unconsciously, everyone's eyes gradually shifted from Rey Diaz to the American representative. Finally, the American couldn't bear these eyes, leaned back on the chair suddenly, and squeezed out a sentence between his teeth. :"get out."

Rey Diaz nodded slowly, got up and walked out.

"Mr. Rey Diaz, I will take you home." Garning said as he stepped down from the rostrum.

Rey Diaz stopped, and waited for Garning, whose pace was no longer flexible, to come over, "Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I remembered that you are also the one who is leaving here."

The two walked to the door, Rey Diaz held Garning back, and turned to face the venue together with him, "Gentlemen, I will not miss this place, I wasted more than 20 years, no one here understands me , I want to go back to my country, to my people. Yes, my country, my people, I miss them."

People were surprised to find that the strong man had tears in his eyes, and he finally said: "I'm going back to my motherland, this is not part of the plan."

When he walked out of the door of the United Nations conference hall with Garning, Rey Diaz opened his arms to the noon sun and called out intoxicatedly: "Oh, my sun!" His heliophobia that had lasted for more than 20 years disappeared up.

After taking off, Rey Diaz's special plane quickly crossed the coastline and flew over the vast Atlantic Ocean.

In the cabin, Garning said to Ray Diaz: "With me here, this plane is safe. Please tell me the location of the device that is in the anti-triggering state."

"There is no device, nothing, it's just a trick to escape." Rey Diaz took off his watch and threw it to Garning, "It's just a simple signal transmitter, modified from a Motorola phone, what does it have to do with my heartbeat It doesn't matter, it's closed, you can keep it as a souvenir."

After a long period of relative silence, Garning sighed and said: "How could this be? The closed strategic thinking privilege of the Wallfacers was originally intended to deal with Sophon and the Three-Body World. Now, you and Taylor are using it to deal with Humanity itself."

"It's not surprising." Rey Diaz sat by the porthole, enjoying the sunlight from outside. "Now, the biggest obstacle to human survival actually comes from itself."

Six hours later, the plane landed at Caracas International Airport on the coast of the Caribbean Sea. Garning did not get off the plane, and he will take it back to the United Nations.

When parting, Rey Diaz said: "Don't suspend the Wallfacer project. In this war, it is really a hope. There are two Wallfacers. I wish them all the best."

"I won't be able to see them either." Garning said sadly. When Rey Diaz left and left him alone in the cabin, he was already in tears.

Caracas was as clear as New York. Rey Diaz walked down the gangway and smelled the familiar tropical atmosphere. He leaned down and kissed the land of his motherland for a long time. Then, under the protection of a large number of military police, he drove to the city.The convoy drove half an hour on the winding road before entering the urban area of ​​the capital and entering the Bolivar Plaza in the center of the city.Rey Diaz got off the bus in front of the Bolívar bronze statue and stood on the pedestal of the bronze statue. Above him, the hero who defeated Spain and tried to establish a unified republic of Gran Colombia in South America was wearing armor and galloping on a horse.In front of him, a crowd of fanatical people boiled in the sun. People rushed forward. The military and police team tried their best to stop them and even fired shots into the air. The next living "Bolívar" flocked.

Rey Diaz raised his hands high, and with tears in his eyes, he called affectionately to the crowd rushing towards him: "Oh, my people!"

The first stone thrown by his people hit him on his upraised left hand, the second hit him on the chest, and the third fell on his forehead and knocked him down.Then the stones of the people rained down, and at last nearly buried his long lifeless body.The last stone that fell on Wallfacer Rey Diaz was thrown by an old lady. She struggled to lift a stone up to Rey Diaz's body and said in Spanish:

"Wicked man, you want to kill everyone, but there is my grandson inside, and you want to kill my grandson!"

As she said that, with all her strength, she tremblingly smashed the rock in her hand onto Rey Diaz's broken head exposed from the pile of stones.

The only unstoppable thing is time, it is like a sharp knife, silently cutting through everything hard and soft, constantly advancing, nothing can make its progress appear the slightest bump, but it changes everything.

In the same year as the Mercury nuclear test, Chang Weisi retired.When he appeared in the media for the last time, he frankly admitted that he had no confidence in the victory of the war, but this did not affect the high evaluation of history for the work of the first commander of the Space Force.Years of stressful work in a state of anxiety had damaged his health, and he died at the age of 68. The general was still conscious when he was dying, chanting Zhang Beihai's name many times.

Just as Keiko Yamasugi expected, Wu Yue spent the rest of his life depressed and confused.He once participated in the Human Memorial Project for more than ten years, but he did not find spiritual comfort from it, and died alone at the age of 77.Like Chang Weisi, he also chanted Zhang Beihai's name at the last moment. This strong fighter who is in hibernation and spans time, entrusted their common hope for the future.

Say, who served as the Secretary-General of the United Nations for two consecutive terms, launched the Human Memorial Project after leaving office, with the purpose of comprehensively collecting data and commemorative objects of human civilization, and finally sending them to the universe with an unmanned spacecraft.The most influential part of this project is an activity called "Human Diary", for which many websites have been established, allowing as many people as possible to record their daily life in words and images during their lifetime, as part of civilization materials .The number of users of the Human Diary website once reached 20 billion, making it the largest body of information on the Internet ever.Later, the Planetary Defense Council believed that the Human Memorial Project might encourage defeatist sentiments, passed a resolution to stop its further development, and even equated it with escapism.But Say continued to make a personal contribution to the cause until his death at the age of 84.

After Garning and Kanter retired, they both made the same choice: to live in seclusion in the Nordic Garden of Eden where Wallfacer Luo Ji lived for five years. I don't know the exact date, but one thing is certain, they all lived a long life. It is said that both of them lived over a hundred years old and died without any illness.

Both Dr. Albert Ringer and General Fitzroy lived to be over 80 years old, saw the construction of the Hubble III Space Telescope with a mirror diameter of [-] meters, and saw the Trisolaran planet through it.But they never saw the Trisolaran fleet and the probes that were already flying ahead, and they couldn't wait for them to pass through the third "snow field".

The lives of ordinary people also continue and end in the same way.Among the three old neighbors in Beijing, Miao Fuquan was the first to die at the age of 75. He really asked his son to bury himself in an abandoned mine shaft more than 200 meters deep. At the same time, a tombstone was erected on the ground for mourning.According to his father's will, the descendants of the generation before the Doomsday War must remove the tombstone. If mankind wins, the tombstone must be restored in place.In fact, less than half a century after his death, the area above the abandoned mineshaft had turned into desert. In the vast yellow sand, the tombstones had long since disappeared.

Zhang Yuanchao died of illness at the age of 80 like an ordinary person, and was cremated like an ordinary person. His ashes were placed in an ordinary square on a long shelf in the cemetery.

Yang Jinwen lived to be 92 years old, and the alloy container containing the ashes flew to the vast universe outside the solar system at the third cosmic speed, which used up all his savings.

However, Ding Yi has survived. After the breakthrough in controllable nuclear fusion technology, he turned to theoretical physics research, looking for a way to get rid of sophon interference in high-energy particle experiments, but he failed to make any achievements.After the age of 70, like other physicists, he was completely hopeless about the possibility of a breakthrough in physics.He went into hibernation, planning to wake up at the end of the war, and his only hope was to see for himself what the super technology of the three-body world looked like in his lifetime.

A century after the three-body crisis, people who lived in the golden age have all passed away.The so-called golden age refers to the good time from the 80s to the end of the three-body crisis. This era has been constantly recalled, and the old people who have experienced this good time are like ruminants. Memories are spat out, chewed sweetly, and always add a sentence at the end: "Oh, why didn't you know how to cherish it at that time?" And the eyes of the young people who listened to their stories were full of envy, and at the same time they were dubious: the mythical peace, Prosperity and happiness, that paradise-like carefree, did it really exist?

With the departure of the old people, the gradually receding Gold Coast completely disappeared into the mist of history.Now, the ship of human civilization has sailed alone in the vast ocean. Looking around, there are only boundless and dangerous waves. No one knows whether the other shore really exists.