Expedition to the Three-Body System

The imperial soldiers wore exoskeletons and were well-equipped with weapons.

The armed members of the ETO organization were no match for them.

The entire battle was a crushing massacre.

The scene was incredibly bloody.

Broken corpses were everywhere.

The surviving ETO high-ranking members were surrounded by soldiers, kneeling on the ground and trembling.

As Vand approached, he recognized Cheng Xin.

She was in a sorry state, her once beautiful face beaten to a bloody pulp.

She had also been shot in the leg.

Fortunately, the bleeding had stopped, and she wouldn't die.

"Cheng, long time no see."

Vand looked down at Cheng Xin from above, a cruel smile curving his lips.

Cheng Xin looked up, her eyes swollen and bloodshot, bearing marks from the beating.

The imperial soldiers had all been implanted with Thought Imprints.

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

When dealing with ETO members, there was no talk of human rights.

Vand didn't know the specifics of what had happened.

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

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

She had worked with him before.

His madness and cruelty were still fresh in her memory.

"It seems they didn't damage your brain, which is good news."

Vand was like a black phantom, the cold glint in his eyes instilling a fear that froze the soul.

"Did you do all this?" Cheng Xin looked around. "Letting the Empire's pawns slaughter these innocent people."

"This is war; there are no innocents."

Vand stood straight.

"If you think the dead are innocent, then you should have stayed in your ivory tower."

Cheng Xin looked directly into Vand's cold eyes, a surge of courage rising within her.

"Take that mocking look off your face. I fight to protect humanity and peace."

Vand took out a cigar and brought it to his nose to smell it.

"Is this why you've been carrying out terrorist attacks everywhere, causing casualties among innocent civilians, creating social panic, and whitewashing invaders as victims?"

Cheng Xin straightened her body and raised her head, revealing a hint of defiance.

"You know nothing of the cruelty and darkness of the universe. Humanity and the fate of the Trisolarans are already intertwined."

"Are you talking about the Dark Forest?" Vand sneered.

"You know about it?" Cheng Xin was a little flustered.

Vand pointed to his head.

"All high-ranking officials implanted with Thought Imprints know. Luo Ji told the Emperor about the Dark Forest, and the Emperor felt we should know too."

"You all knew, yet you insisted on provoking a war between two civilizations," Cheng Xin said. "Aren't you afraid the Trisolaran civilization will fight to the death?"

Vand said, "I need to correct you on one point: this war was initiated by the Trisolaran civilization."

"No one forgets their arrogance when they had the upper hand. Now that they realize they're going to lose, they're putting on a show of loving peace."

"Do you remember the first thing the Trisolaran civilization said to the public? 'You are insects.' After that, they never spoke again, ignoring humanity's anger and fear, watching humanity's desperate struggle."

Cheng Xin didn't want to argue with Vand. She firmly believed she was on the right path.

"So, are you going to kill me, Vand? Use my death to please that tyrant and earn your merits and power?"

Vand said, "Don't worry so much, you won't die for now."

"All important figures involved with the ETO organization will be detained first. After human civilization defeats the Trisolaran civilization, they will all be sent to the ruined Trisolaran world for execution."

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

"You will end up like Rey Diaz, stoned to death by an angry mob."

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

"Do you think it's 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 be widely disseminated."

"If the Empire doesn't want the public to know about the Dark Forest concept, you won't be able to spread it no matter what you do."

"You bunch of dictatorial lunatics," Cheng Xin cursed.

Vand paid her no mind, instead laughing even harder.

Cheng Xin's angry and helpless state brought him pleasure.

Then, he delivered another blow.

"There's something I need to tell you. Do you remember the mother you met the day Shakyamuni sought you out?"

"That was an arrangement by the ETO. They knew your personality well and deliberately staged that scene."

"You were very emotional then, weren't you? You thought you joined the ETO to protect beauty and good people."

"In reality, you were a weapon used by the Trisolaran civilization to attack humanity from the very beginning. A girl with stars resisting human tyranny – what a great narrative."

"What you did wasn't love at all, but a slaughter called foolishness. You killed those innocent people who believed in you."

Vand casually glanced around and saw a dead young girl.

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

"She was only seventeen, three days shy of eighteen."

"But she's dead, killed by you. If you had used your brain to think, you would have known how clumsy the ETO's lies were."

"Those poor people wouldn't have joined the ETO out of trust in you, nor would they have died here."

Cheng Xin trembled as if plunged into an ice cellar.

She bit her lip tightly, desperately trying to hold back her tears.

Vand wore a cold smile, savoring Cheng Xin's despair and pain.

Killing was never the most brutal revenge; breaking someone's spirit was.

When everything one believed in collapses, death itself becomes a release.

Vand wouldn't let Cheng Xin die, at least not until the Trisolaran civilization turned to dust.

This was the price of betrayal.

Witnessing everything precious to her turn to ash.

Falling into eternal, unending pain.

The ETO, supported by the Trisolaran civilization, and the resistance forces caused some trouble for the Empire.

However, the populace, having experienced the Great Depression, wasn't foolish enough to believe the Trisolaran civilization's lies.

Most citizens firmly chose to believe in the Empire.

Under the combined efforts of the Empire's official and civilian forces, the ETO and the resistance forces were quickly defeated.

The few surviving ETO leaders intended to make the Dark Forest theory public.

As soon as they acted, they were crushed by the Empire's strict censorship, unable to stir even a ripple.

After purging internal traitors, the Human Empire focused all its efforts on development, growing explosively strong.

Using sub-light speed ships, they colonized the Moon and Mars, developing the entire Solar System.

Countless war fortresses appeared in the Void.

Grand shipyard factories worked day and night.

An unprecedentedly powerful fleet was born in the Void.

A magnificent war engine would spread death and fear throughout the galaxy in the Empire's name.

A large number of satellites equipped with quantum sensing arrays were launched.

The Kunlun Mirror System went online.

Humanity began monitoring the situation beyond the Solar System.

They screened surrounding star systems for life and potential threats to humanity.

Extinction-level weapons capable of clearing surface life, such as Cyclone Torpedoes and Virus Missiles, were heavily loaded.

Upon discovering alien civilizations, they would initiate the extermination program without hesitation.

Faced with humanity's rapid development, the Trisolaran civilization grew increasingly desperate.

Initially, they had plans to fight humanity to the last moment.

When it became truly irrecoverable, they intended to broadcast Earth's coordinates to the entire universe, drawing in stronger powers to intervene in the war and perish together.

But when the Human Empire exploded in development, with numerous warships appearing like dumplings being made, and various mysterious technologies, unknown even to them, appearing on human warships.

They tasted the powerlessness that humanity had felt when they were treated like insects, with no choice but to wait for death.

In the end, the Trisolaran civilization used the remaining Sophons in the Solar System to establish contact with the Human Empire, hoping for peace talks.

"We can coexist peacefully and not invade each other. If humanity insists on attacking the Trisolaran civilization, the Trisolaran civilization will broadcast Earth's coordinates to the entire universe."

The Emperor's reply to the Trisolaran civilization was only five words.

"Humans don't care."

This reply, filled with dark humor, pushed the despair of Trisolaran society to its absolute limit.

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

When the first human fleet was formed and planned to embark on an expedition to the Three-Body System.

The Emperor received new rewards.

[Fate Node Changed 30%, Obtained Two-Dimensional Foil Technology, Obtained Deadline Technology, Obtained Dimension Reversal Technology]

"Our mission here is over, big guy. The Fate Node has reached 30%, and the predetermined destiny has completely collapsed," the Raven said.

The Emperor nodded. "The humans in this universe have grown up. It's time to leave."

"Of course, one day, I will return again, and by then, the two Human Empires from different universes will merge into one."

"One day, all humans across the universes will be united, ruling over the Heavens, which will become our race's predetermined destiny."

Thanks to the Five Elements Delusional Demon Realm and readers Bilibili Friend and Happy to Have Friends for their rewards.