Expedition to the Three-Body System

Imperial soldiers wore exoskeletons and carried finely equipped weapons.

ETO's armed members were no match for them.

The entire battle had been a crushing massacre.

The scene was incredibly bloody.

Mangled corpses lay everywhere.

The surviving ETO leaders were surrounded by soldiers, kneeling on the ground and trembling.

When Vand approached, he recognized Cheng Xin.

She was in a miserable state. Her once-beautiful face had been beaten into a bloody mess.

She had also been shot in the leg.

Fortunately, the bleeding had stopped. She would not die.

"Cheng, long time no see."

Vand looked down at Cheng Xin from above, the corner of his mouth curling into a cruel smile.

Cheng Xin raised her head. Her eyes were swollen and bloodshot, marked by signs of beating.

Every Imperial soldier had been implanted with a Thought Imprint.

They were absolutely loyal to the Empire, to humanity, and to the great Emperor.

They would not speak of human rights when dealing with ETO members.

Vand did not know exactly what had happened.

But he knew Cheng Xin had suffered greatly at the hands of those soldiers.

"Vand?" Cheng Xin recognized the man before her.

She had once worked alongside him.

His madness and coldness had left a deep impression on her.

"Looks like they did not beat your brains out. That is at least some good news."

Vand was like a black phantom. The cold gleam in his eyes inspired a fear that froze the soul.

"Was all this your doing?" Cheng Xin looked around. "Sending the Empire's lackeys to slaughter these innocent people."

"This is war. There is no such thing as innocence in war."

Vand stood perfectly straight.

"If you think those who died were innocent, then you should have stayed safely in your ivory tower."

Cheng Xin stared directly into Vand's icy eyes, courage rising within her.

"Wipe that mocking expression off your face. I fought to protect humanity and defend peace."

Vand took out a cigar and held it beneath his nose for a sniff.

"So this was why you carried out terrorist attacks everywhere, caused innocent civilians to die and suffer, spread social panic, and whitewashed invaders as victims?"

Cheng Xin straightened herself and lifted her chin, showing a trace of defiance.

"You know nothing about the cruelty and darkness of the universe. Humanity's fate has long since become one with that of the Three-Body civilization."

"You mean the Dark Forest?" Vand sneered.

"You know about it?" Cheng Xin grew somewhat flustered.

Vand pointed at his head.

"Every senior official implanted with a Thought Imprint knows. Luo Ji told the Emperor about the Dark Forest, and the Emperor believed we should know as well."

"You clearly know all this, yet you still insist on starting a war between two civilizations." Cheng Xin said, "Are you not afraid that the Three-Body civilization will fight to the death?"

"I need to correct one thing," Vand said. "This war was started by the Three-Body civilization."

"No one has forgotten their arrogance when they held the upper hand. Now that they realize they will lose, they put on the appearance of loving peace."

"Do you remember the first thing the Three-Body civilization said to the public? 'You are bugs.' After that, they never spoke again. They ignored humanity's anger and fear, watching humanity struggle in despair."

Cheng Xin did not want to argue with Vand. She firmly believed she was walking the right path.

"So, are you going to kill me, Vand? Use my death to please that Tyrant and trade it for merit and power?"

"Do not worry so much," Vand said. "You will not die for the time being."

"All important figures involved with ETO will be detained first. Once human civilization defeats the Three-Body civilization, you will all be sent to the ruined Three-Body world for execution."

"You will not succeed," Cheng Xin said. "The will to resist will never disappear. Once the truth of the Dark Forest spreads, all the people will oppose this war."

"You will be stoned to death by furious crowds, just like Rey Diaz."

Vand patiently waited for her to finish before slowly refuting her.

"Do you think this is still the era when humanity was powerless against sophons?"

"The Empire has long controlled all public opinion. Any information must be reviewed before it can spread on a large scale."

"If the Empire does not want the Dark Forest theory to become known to the people, then no matter what methods you use, you will never spread it."

"You dictatorial lunatics!" Cheng Xin cursed.

Vand did not care in the slightest. Instead, he laughed even harder.

Cheng Xin's rage and helplessness delighted him.

Then he delivered another blow.

"There is something I need to tell you. Do you remember the mother Shakyamuni encountered on the day he came looking for you?"

"That was arranged by ETO. They understood your personality very well and deliberately staged that scene."

"Were you excited at the time? Did you believe you had joined ETO to protect beauty and defend those kind people?"

"In truth, from beginning to end, you were merely a weapon used by the Three-Body civilization to attack humanity. A girl with a star resisting humanity's tyranny—what a wonderful story."

"Everything you did was not love at all. It was a slaughter called stupidity. You caused the deaths of those innocent people who believed in you."

Vand casually glanced around and spotted a dead young girl.

"Look, that girl. She admired you greatly, captivated by the story of Yun Tianming giving you a star."

"She was only seventeen, with three days left until her eighteenth birthday."

"But she is dead. You killed her. If you had been willing to think for yourself, you would have known how clumsy ETO's lies were."

"Those pitiful people would not have joined ETO out of trust in you, nor would they have died here."

Cheng Xin trembled as if she had fallen into an ice cellar.

She bit her lower lip tightly, doing her utmost to keep her tears from falling.

Vand wore a cold smile as he admired Cheng Xin's despair and pain.

Killing had never been the cruelest revenge. Destroying the heart was.

When everything one believed in collapsed, death instead became a release.

Vand would not let Cheng Xin die, at least not before the Three-Body civilization turned to ashes.

This was the price. The price of betrayal.

To witness everything she cherished turn to ashes.

To fall into pain forever and ever.

The ETO and resistance forces backed by the Three-Body civilization caused the Empire some trouble.

But people who had lived through the Great Depression were not foolish enough to believe the Three-Body civilization's lies.

Most people still firmly chose to believe in the Empire.

Under the joint suppression of official Imperial forces and civilian groups, ETO and the resistance forces collapsed at astonishing speed.

Several remaining ETO leaders attempted to reveal the Dark Forest theory to the public.

The moment they took action, the Empire's strict censorship system crushed it. They could not even stir up the slightest disturbance.

After purging the traitors within, the Human Empire devoted itself fully to development and grew explosively stronger.

Using near-light-speed ships, it colonized the Moon and Mars and developed the entire Solar System.

Countless war fortresses appeared in the void.

Enormous dockyard factories operated day and night without rest.

An unprecedentedly powerful fleet was born in the void.

Magnificent War Engines would spread death and terror through the galaxy in the Empire's name.

Large numbers of satellites equipped with Quantum Induction Arrays were launched.

The Kunlun Mirror System went online.

Humanity began monitoring conditions beyond the Solar System.

It investigated whether nearby star systems contained life and whether they posed threats to humanity.

Extinction weapons capable of eradicating all surface life, such as Cyclone Torpedoes and Virus Missiles, were loaded in vast quantities.

Once an alien civilization was discovered, the extermination protocol would be activated without hesitation.

Faced with humanity's rapid development, the Three-Body civilization grew increasingly desperate.

At first, they had still intended to fight humanity to the very end.

Once the situation truly became irreversible, they planned to reveal Earth's coordinates to the entire universe, drawing stronger forces into the war and perishing together.

But when the Human Empire developed explosively, with warships appearing like dumplings dropping into a pot and all manner of mysterious technologies—even ones they did not understand—appearing aboard human vessels,

they tasted the same despair humanity had once felt when it had been regarded as bugs: the helplessness of being unable to resist and only waiting for death.

In the end, the Three-Body civilization used the remaining sophons within the Solar System to establish contact with the Human Empire, hoping to negotiate peace.

"We can coexist peacefully and refrain from invading one another. If humanity insists on attacking the Three-Body civilization, the Three-Body civilization will reveal Earth's coordinates to the entire universe."

The Emperor's reply to the Three-Body civilization contained only five words.

"Humanity does not care."

That reply was filled with black humor, and it drove the despair within Three-Body society to its peak.

For a long time afterward, the Human Empire developed at high speed.

When the first human fleet took shape and prepared to launch an expedition to the Three-Body System,

the Emperor received a new reward.

Destiny Node changed by 30%, obtained Two-Dimensional Foil Technology, obtained Deadline Technology, obtained Dimension Reversal Technology

"Our mission here is over, Big Guy. The Destiny Node has reached 30%, and the predetermined fate has completely collapsed," Raven said.

The Emperor nodded. "The humans of this universe have grown up. It is time to leave."

"Of course, one day I will return. When that day comes, the Human Empires of two different universes will merge into one."

"One day, humanity across all universes will be united, rule over the heavens, and become the destined mandate of our race."

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