A Wallfacer, but Cultivating Immortality

Luo Ji regretted it not because he did not want to know, but because he feared the answer would leave him powerless.

If the group leader told him that human civilization was destined for destruction and that the Trisolaran Civilization would ultimately occupy Earth, what could he do?

He was just an ordinary person.

A rookie who could not even hold a gun steady.

Senior-Year Powerhouse: Are you sure you want to know?

Luo Ji stared at the line in his mind.

After struggling for a while, his resolve hardened.

Luo Ji: I'm sure.

Senior-Year Powerhouse: All right.

Senior-Year Powerhouse sent a file—Three-Body: Script of Destiny

Luo Ji took a deep breath and opened the file.

Images flooded into his mind like a tidal wave.

He saw Ye Wenjie.

That woman who had sent a signal toward the sun from Red Coast Base was the culprit who had set everything in motion.

Then came the Trisolaran Civilization, a civilization struggling to survive beneath the torment of three suns, willing to pay any price for survival.

Next came the Sophon. Two protons had been unfolded, etched, and folded into higher-dimensional intelligent entities, then sent to Earth to lock down humanity's fundamental physics and monitor everything humanity did.

Finally, he saw himself, chosen as a Wallfacer.

At the United Nations assembly, he had been granted unrestricted authority and tasked with using every possible means to fight the Trisolaran Civilization.

That day, he stood at the podium and declared to the entire world, "I am Luo Ji. I am a Wallfacer. I declare war on the Trisolaran Civilization."

From his carefree, cynical self, to being reviled by the entire world, then hunted down... he met Zhuang Yan—the girl who had existed only in his imagination, found by Shi Qiang and brought to his side.

The scenes flashed past like a revolving lantern.

Zhuang Yan's smile, a child's cries, the unfamiliar world after awakening from hibernation, the Dark Forest deterrence of the snowfield project.

He saw himself standing in the Deterrence Control Center, his hand on the switch of the gravitational-wave transmitter, gambling with the fates of Trisolarans and humanity.

"If either the Trisolaran Civilization or human civilization must be destroyed, then let us be destroyed together."

And so, the Trisolaran Civilization finally submitted.

Humanity entered the Deterrence Era. He became the Swordholder, and under his watch, the two worlds passed through fifty-four years of deterrence.

Fifty-four years.

Every day and night, every hour and every moment, he held the fates of two civilizations in his hands.

A century-long balance of deterrence was shattered by a woman named Cheng Xin.

The Trisolaran Civilization launched an attack. Humanity's fleet was annihilated, leaving only Australia, the "Human Preserve." Human civilization entered its darkest hour.

In the end, the coordinates of the Trisolaran Civilization were broadcast, and the Dark Forest strike descended.

The Trisolaran Civilization was destroyed, and the Solar System did not escape either. The sun was flattened into two dimensions, Earth was flattened into two dimensions, and human civilization was flattened into two dimensions.

Everything became a painting.

The final image was the epitaph of human civilization in the Solar System—a vast two-dimensional painting floating in the cosmos, eternally telling of a civilization that had once existed.

"Humanity does not thank Luo Ji..."

Luo Ji opened his eyes, his forehead drenched in cold sweat.

His hands trembled, not from fear, but from rage.

Rage toward human civilization, the Trisolaran Civilization, and himself!

If this was how everything ended, then they might as well be destroyed together.

"Group leader..."

Senior-Year Powerhouse: I'm here.

Luo Ji: Is all of this real? If there is no outside interference, will all this happen?

Senior-Year Powerhouse: Yes. This is the script of destiny for your world.

Luo Ji fell silent for a long time.

Senior-Year Powerhouse: Say whatever you want. Don't keep it bottled up.

Luo Ji: I want to ask a question.

Senior-Year Powerhouse: Ask.

Luo Ji: The file never mentioned you. You aren't in the script of destiny. If this script is the version "without outside interference"—then you are that "outside interference."

Senior-Year Powerhouse: You caught on quickly.

Luo Ji: So my fate can change. Humanity's fate can change.

Senior-Year Powerhouse: It can. But that does not mean it will be easy.

Luo Ji: I know.

Luo Ji left the private chat without saying another word.

He merely sat there quietly, his gaze fixed on empty space as his mind raced.

The Trisolaran Civilization, Sophons, Wallfacers, the Dark Forest, deterrence, two-dimensionalization.

All the information in his mind was being reorganized, sorted, and analyzed in depth.

The Dark Forest Law—the universe was a dark forest, and every civilization was a hunter with a gun. Once a civilization exposed its location, it would be destroyed.

This was the truth of the universe, and the fatal weakness of every civilization.

Luo Ji suddenly smiled.

"You're afraid."

"You're afraid other civilizations will discover your location. You're afraid of being destroyed."

"That's why you want to occupy Earth. That's why you want to eliminate humanity."

Luo Ji rose to his feet, walked to the window, and looked out at New York's skyline.

Countless thoughts churned in his heart.

The Trisolarans monitored every key figure on Earth through the Sophons.

His every movement, every word, and every action was under their watch at this moment.

But there was one place the Sophons could not see.

That was the Chat Space, an existence beyond dimensions and a blind spot the current Trisolaran Civilization could not reach.

Luo Ji: Everyone, I'm preparing to begin cultivating.

Xiao Yan: You're finally starting! Is there anything you need help with?

Luo Ji: I need somewhere I won't be disturbed. The Sophons are monitoring me. I can't cultivate right under their noses.

Zhang Sanfeng: The Chat Space. It exists independently of all worlds, so Sophons cannot enter.

Luo Ji: The Chat Space? I remember Xiao Yan mentioning it.

Xiao Yan: Yes, yes! You can cultivate inside the Chat Space, and time moves much faster there than outside! It's also completely safe!

Luo Ji: How do I enter?

Xiao Yan: Just tap the "Chat Space" button, then select "Enter." Time in the basic space moves a hundred times faster than outside, the intermediate space is a thousand times faster, and the advanced space is ten thousand times faster. But the advanced space requires points to unlock.

Luo Ji found the button and tapped it.

The Chat Space panel popped up.

It listed the prices for the three spaces. Even the most basic one required 1,000 points to open, and any unused time would be stored for continued use the next time it was opened.

Luo Ji glanced at his point balance: 69 points.

He could not even open the basic space, much less the intermediate space, which required 10,000 points and C-rank authorization.

In the end, he still needed more points.

So Luo Ji reopened the points store and turned to the "Sell Items" page.

He went through the human technological materials he had organized earlier once more.

B-rank materials: aircraft engine technology, nuclear reactor technology, satellite navigation systems...

He uploaded the materials one by one.

"Ding! The Complete Aircraft Engine Technical Documentation you uploaded has passed review. Price: 100 points."

"Ding! The Detailed Nuclear Fission Reactor Technology you uploaded has passed review. Price: 150 points."

"Ding! The <Global Satellite Navigation System Technical Framework> you uploaded has passed review. Price: 120 points."

Although each set of materials could only be sold once.

Luo Ji had far too much material on hand.

This was humanity's accumulated technology over thousands of years—millions of technical documents, design blueprints, and research results.

By himself, he was a database for the entirety of human civilization.

Ten minutes later, his point balance had jumped from 69 to 8,897.

For the time being, that was enough.

Luo Ji did not continue uploading. He closed the store, opened the Chat Space, and selected "Enter."

His consciousness blurred for a moment.

When he opened his eyes again, he was already standing in a vast expanse of white.

"So this is the Chat Space?"

Luo Ji looked down at his hands.

They were exactly the same as in the real world. Even the watch on his wrist was still there.

He sat down cross-legged, took out True Exposition of Tai Chi Creation from his personal space, and opened to the first page.