So It Was One of Our Own

"Why would I do that?"

Lin Feng sorted through his thoughts and roughly understood the reason the Wallbreaker mentioned when he said, 'He wants all of humanity to become quantum ghosts.' However, he wasn't sure if his thoughts aligned with the Wallbreaker's, which led him to ask this question.

But to the Wallbreaker and others listening, it sounded like the Wallfacer was making a final struggle.

"Because you believe that such a civilization would not be destroyed by the Trisolarans—a civilization that has already been destroyed cannot be destroyed again; a person who has already died cannot die again!"

"It's the same idea as your father's, but even more insane. He only wanted to murder the future human fleet, to create a fleet that couldn't be killed, to protect human civilization. But you..."

"Want to murder all of human civilization, intending to create a civilization that cannot be destroyed!"

Oh, this...

Lin Feng managed to snap out of his daze.

Brilliant! Why didn't I think of that! This plan is too ingenious!

Since it's an objective fact that humanity can't defeat the Trisolarans, why should humanity confront them head-on?

Can insects survive humanity's eradication simply because they are stronger than humans?

Not at all! Insects have simply found a way to survive!

If all of humanity becomes unkillable, what can the Trisolarans do when they arrive? What good is the strong interaction material of the droplet, no matter how hard it is? What's the power of other Trisolaran weapons not featured in the original work?

Lin Feng's gaze towards Von Neumann changed. At this moment, he thought of Yun Tianming, and he thought of Zhang Beihai.

They all shared a common trait: they couldn't openly express their thoughts due to Trisolaran surveillance, and could only practice their ideas through hints and subjective actions.

The Wallbreaker, Von Neumann, whom Lin Feng was facing now, seemed to be in the same situation.

In the original work, it was indeed his act of wallbreaking that drove Frederick Taylor to a mental breakdown and suicide. But through this action, he also gave humanity a preliminary understanding of the Trisolarans' strength.

Lin Feng now had an idea: what if the Wallbreaker was similar to Zhang Beihai and Yun Tianming?

Is it possible that some people disguised themselves as anti-human elements, infiltrated the ETO organization, and used Trisolaran resources to find a way out for humanity?

Thinking about it carefully, after the Wallbreaker saw through the Wallfacer's plan, there was no need for him to specifically come out and tell the Wallfacer that his plan had been broken. There was no need to publicize it.

Because the route was fundamentally wrong, letting it develop would consume humanity's usable war resources.

Considering the Trisolarans' distrust of the ETO organization in the original work, Lin Feng increasingly felt that some people within the ETO were using anti-human elements as a disguise to deceive the Trisolarans into diverting some resources to help humanity find a way out. Otherwise, how could it be explained?

The thought of someone risking their life to infiltrate the ETO for all of humanity, and even bearing the infamy of being a 'traitor to humanity,' filled Lin Feng with deep respect.

I cursed you as anti-human before and even thought of using you to attack someone's heart, I'm truly sorry. It turns out you're one of us...

"Mr. Taylor, I admire you for having the courage to formulate such a crazy plan and execute it so resolutely. After I first learned of your plan, I was so terrified that I couldn't sleep all night."

Von Neumann's words now conveyed a different meaning to Lin Feng.

I understand, I understand. This is sarcasm. You couldn't sleep because you were worried the Trisolarans would detect you, right?

Rest assured, although I, Lin Feng, am not a qualified Wallfacer and always think about slacking off, I'm not the kind of scumbag who would betray his teammates. I'll cover for you.

"I have a question," Lin Feng said.

"Please, go ahead."

Lin Feng asked, "Assuming what you're saying is true, isn't such a plan good? Quantized humans are alive, they're just affected by probability clouds. All of humanity becomes quantum ghosts, and no one will be lonely."

"Macroscopic quantum states indeed have the drawback of spreading through space over time. The probability cloud will become thinner, making the quantum probability at any point in reality smaller and smaller. Eventually, the probability cloud will diffuse evenly throughout the entire universe, and the probability of quantized human civilization appearing at any point in space will be close to zero, equivalent to the destruction of human civilization."

"But... so what?"

"Quantized human civilization is indestructible because it has already been destroyed. And as the probability cloud spreads, Earth can travel to other stars and traverse the universe without any tools."

"As for the probability approaching zero due to diffusion throughout the entire universe... How big is the universe? The currently observable universe is over 13 billion light-years across. The diffusion speed of the probability cloud cannot exceed the speed of light. Quantized human civilization can last for at least 13 billion years, which is longer than the sun. The history of Earth from its formation to the present is only about 4 billion years."

"Isn't that good?" Lin Feng retorted.

This was why he thought Von Neumann's earlier idea of humanity becoming quantum ghosts was a brilliant one.

Lin Feng had read the original work, and he knew what the future held. Even without the Trisolarans, humanity would be destroyed by the Singer Civilization.

Why?

Because there are countless Singer Civilizations in the universe, and each Singer Civilization has countless Singers. Singers are like strategic nuclear submarines on Earth, hiding themselves and carrying out cleansing operations.

Cleansing whom? Cleansing insects and enemies. Even if they can't win and are captured, it doesn't matter. Singers do not carry any information about their parent civilization.

Following this trend, it's only a matter of time before humanity is discovered by the Singers.

So, can humanity defeat them?

Humanity can't even break through the Trisolarans' technological blockade. What can they use to fight the Singers?

Some might say that humanity will develop new technologies in the future. Lin Feng wants to ask, will the Singer Civilization stand still? Does only humanity deserve to progress?

The Trisolaran civilization is suppressed by three stars, and every time its civilization develops, it is destroyed. However, the countless Singer Civilizations in the universe do not have such civilizational suppression.

In terms of resources, they are inferior. In terms of technology, they are inferior. In terms of development time, they are also inferior.

Even in terms of population, they are a grand interstellar civilization with over a dozen colony planets. What are the mere billions of humans on Earth compared to them? They probably don't even amount to a single drop in the ocean.

What can humanity use to fight the Singers? Even if all of humanity's lives were at stake, they wouldn't care!

Compared to Luo Ji's dark forest deterrence in the original work, Lin Feng felt that making all of humanity quantum ghosts was a much better idea, at least there would be no need to worry about attacks like the two-dimensional foil or light particles.

"Perhaps you believe that everything you've done is to save all of humanity, but I must remind you—if Sophon were truly that useful, capable of making a civilization immortal and indestructible without any drawbacks, why wouldn't the Trisolarans do that?"

"Your gamble is merely pushing humanity into an endless abyss, not saving it."

Von Neumann's words, as they reached Lin Feng, were reinterpreted by him: making all of humanity quantum ghosts might be good, ensuring that human civilization wouldn't be destroyed by the Trisolarans, but the plan had drawbacks.