Run! He used blind spots and camouflage to evade our surveillance. You're no match for him. Run!
Sophon's subtitles appeared before the man.
"Lord, I..."
The man coughed up blood.
He tried to crawl to his feet, but no matter what he did, he couldn't manage it.
"Talking to your master?"
Waldo stepped forward.
His hearing was exceptionally sharp.
The other man's voice had been quiet, but Waldo had heard every word clearly.
"Tyrant's lackey." The man looked at Waldo.
"Then what are you? A rat that betrayed its own species?" Waldo looked down at him calmly.
The man said, "Human civilization is beyond saving. We're merely doing the right thing."
"Idiot." Waldo couldn't be bothered to debate him.
"Destroy human tyranny! The world belongs to the Three-Body!"
The man shouted his organization's slogan.
He stared provocatively at Waldo.
He intended to anger him and earn himself a swift death.
From the day he chose to join ETO, he had prepared himself to die for his lofty ideals.
"Destroy human tyranny! The world belongs to the Three-Body masters!" Raven also shouted in a mocking tone.
Waldo ignored Raven and calmly watched the man.
For some reason, fury welled up in the man's heart.
Had Waldo abused or tortured him, he might not have been angry.
But that detached gaze made him feel as though he had punched cotton, leaving him powerless.
It made him feel like a clown.
"Do it! Kill me!" the man shouted.
"No." Waldo shook his head. "For people like you, death is not the most frightening thing."
"Making you witness the collapse of your faith is the cruelest punishment."
"You have always dreamed that one day the Three-Body civilization would descend, cleanse humanity, but sadly, that day will never come."
"On the contrary, rats like you will live in prison until the Three-Body civilization becomes ruins beneath the wrath of the Human Empire."
"When that day comes, you will be escorted to the ruins of the Three-Body civilization and executed by firing squad."
A crazed expression appeared on the man's face.
"You can't do it. It's impossible."
Waldo looked at the man beneath his foot, a trace of pity appearing on his face.
"We can. Once the Empire's Ion Barrier is activated, the Three-Body civilization will become blind."
"The blockade on science will also begin to loosen. Long-term suppression will lead to a frenzied outburst, and humanity will enter a period of rapid development."
"Before long, you may witness the destruction of the first space fleet sent by the Three-Body civilization."
"No!" Terror appeared on the man's face.
If what Waldo said came to pass, it would be more terrifying than death.
Raven said, "Oh-ho! When the time comes, let's grow potatoes and tomatoes on the Three-Body planet. With an entire civilization as fertilizer, those potatoes and tomatoes are sure to be exquisite."
Waldo: "."
Did this birdbrain have anything in his head besides fries and ketchup??
When building the Magic Academy, it wanted dedicated courses for fries and ketchup.
When destroying the Three-Body civilization, its first thought was still fries and ketchup.
When the Empire eventually moved against those evil gods lurking in the void—
Would this damned crow's first thought be to try fries and ketchup made from potatoes and tomatoes grown on the corpses of evil gods?!
The man was subdued by Waldo and sent into the Ion Barrier zone.
Within the barrier zone, Sophons could not conduct surveillance.
The man was subjected to round-the-clock, intensive interrogation there.
His will was strong, but experienced interrogation specialists still extracted every one of his secrets.
A massive purge followed, and the ETO organization suffered another devastating blow.
Many elites from political and business circles were arrested, causing a wave of unrest.
The Emperor consolidated all of humanity's resources and used absolute authority to direct the development of human civilization.
Supported by the Eastern Great Power's terrifying infrastructure capabilities, Ion Barrier transmission towers around the world were completed several months later.
The protective system known as Nuwa officially went online.
The Eastern Great Power had completed most of the infrastructure and system compilation.
The Emperor therefore granted them the right to name it.
"Activate the Nuwa system."
When the Emperor's order was given, the researchers pressed the activation button.
Ion Barrier towers across the world activated simultaneously.
Thick beams of light shot from their polished, gleaming spires into the sky, slowly spreading high above to form barriers.
All the barriers merged and connected, creating a force-field shield.
Four light-years beyond the Solar System lay the Three-Body System.
The Three-Body planet was currently in the night of a Chaotic Era.
A massive moon hung in the heavens, its cold radiance covering the land.
Most Trisolarans had dehydrated and entered hibernation. Even the plants instinctively dehydrated, becoming lifeless bundles of dry fibers clinging to the ground.
The giant screen at the Earth monitoring station flickered a few times before going completely black.
The many high-ranking members of the Three-Body civilization watched in silence.
The Ion Barrier had severed the Quantum Induction Array between the Sophons.
Restored to eleven dimensions, the Sophons' internal sensors and I/O interfaces were smaller than the wavelengths of all electromagnetic waves.
Without the help of the induction array, they could neither perceive the real universe nor receive any commands sent by their creators.
The Three-Body civilization had permanently lost the Sophons in Earth's vicinity and could no longer blockade humanity's fundamental science.
"We could have won this war easily."
The Trisolaran leader walked to the window and looked out at the cold land bathed in moonlight.
The military consul also wore a dejected expression.
"Who could have imagined that a ruler with such formidable leadership and methods would suddenly emerge in human civilization, changing humanity's fate through his own efforts alone? It's too unreal."
The other senior officials deeply agreed.
Human civilization had been on the verge of collapse, only for its fortunes to suddenly change with the appearance of such a figure.
He had turned the tide and defied fate.
He was practically using cheats.
They had to file a complaint—a serious complaint.
"Is there anything else we can do?" The leader looked at the science consul. "Any other means of restricting humanity?"
The science consul shook his head. "With all the technology we currently possess, it is difficult to exert any substantial influence on human civilization four light-years away."
"There is one more way." The military consul's words drew every senior official's attention.
"There are vast numbers of extreme pacifists among humanity. If we can organize them into a resistance army fighting for democracy and freedom, perhaps we can restrain the Human Empire's development."
"But the Sophons can no longer enter Earth's vicinity." The leader frowned. "How would we support the resistance?"
"The Sophons cannot enter Earth's vicinity, but they can still transmit information to Earth and convey our orders and ideas to the ETO organization."
The military consul paused before continuing, "We can provide the resistance with the technology for various high-powered weapons, giving them the ability to fight the Human Empire."
"That is simply playing with fire. One misstep, and those technologies may fall into the hands of the Human Empire," said the science consul.
"Playing with fire now is better than being finished later. As everyone knows, humanity's rate of development far surpasses that of the Three-Body civilization."
"If we let them continue developing peacefully, we may live to see human warships appear above the Three-Body planet."
The leader suppressed the others' argument.
"Carry out the support plan. We have no other choice."
"Also, prepare for flight. If we lose the war, the Three-Body civilization will flee outward."
Hibernation Center.
"Has the final battle arrived?"
This was the question every hibernator asked upon awakening.
The Hibernation Center had been bustling lately.
Every day, hibernators were awakened.
With the successful establishment of the Ion Barrier, human society, long suppressed, was finally able to breathe.
It also gave despairing humanity a glimmer of hope that they could defeat the Three-Body civilization.
For fairness, and to demonstrate humanity's unity, no special privileges would be allowed.
The Empire introduced a new bill requiring every human to serve in the war. No one could escape into the future through hibernation.
All hibernators were to be awakened and put to work.
Cheng Xin also awoke.
The moment she awoke, she caused a sensation.
As the lucky girl who owned a star, her romantic story had always circulated throughout human society.
Cheng Xin remained in the hospital for some time and was not discharged until her physical functions had recovered.
During that time, she learned about Earth's current situation.
Every country had vanished, and humanity had been unified by an arrogant man who called himself the Emperor.
Earth had established an Ion Barrier, cutting off the Three-Body civilization's surveillance and breaking the blockade on fundamental science.
Her former agency—the Planetary Defense Council Strategic Intelligence Bureau—had been retained and transformed into the Imperial Strategic Intelligence Bureau.
Cheng Xin was somewhat shocked by the changes in human society, but she soon learned to take them in stride.
After leaving, her life gradually returned to normal. She had thought her life would continue that way.
Until a man came to find her and revealed a terrifying cosmic truth.
"The Dark Forest? Every discovered civilization will suffer a devastating strike?"
"The Three-Body civilization is already prepared to die together with us. Once it loses the war against human civilization, it will reveal the coordinates of both the Three-Body and Earth civilizations to the entire universe."
Cheng Xin trembled at the truth.
Once the Three-Body civilization chose mutual destruction, human civilization would also perish.
The man said, "The Three-Body civilization has always wished to coexist peacefully with human civilization and share the Solar System."
"The Three-Body civilization merely wants to survive. It has never intended to exterminate humanity."
"Miss Cheng Xin, join us. Let us stop that Tyrant together and save both civilizations."
"If war erupts, no one will be able to control where the situation ultimately leads."
Please continue reading. I've been busy these past two days, so updates haven't been on time.
The updates will stabilize again from here on. I hope everyone will keep reading and turn to the last page every day.
Following updates is truly important during a new book's release period.
For the Three-Body arc, we'll return after completing thirty percent of the Destiny Nodes, so it will be a little longer.
Returning does not mean the story is over. It means waiting to merge with the Human Empire later.
When two Level One Human Empires merge, they can become a Level Two Human Empire.
The truth has already been revealed: this is a certain little merging game.
Before you continue