I Speak to Trisolarans

Outside the window, New York's skyline loomed faintly through the morning light.

Six forty-three in the morning.

Luo Ji took a deep breath, then picked up the phone from the desk and dialed Shi Qiang's number.

The call was answered in less than a second.

"Luo Ji?! Is that you?!"

Shi Qiang's voice was almost a roar, carrying incredulous shock and uncontainable ecstasy.

"It's me."

"Where the hell have you been?! A whole month! The entire world has been looking for you! The United Nations, the CIA, MI6... even the aliens have been looking for you!"

The corners of Luo Ji's lips lifted slightly.

"The aliens were looking for me too? Their intelligence network is pretty efficient, huh?"

"Efficient? The Trisolarans used Sophons to put a line of text on screens all over the world: 'Hand over Luo Ji'!"

Shi Qiang's voice was trembling. "The day after you vanished, the Trisolarans went completely insane! They wanted to find you at any cost."

"And then?"

"And then the whole world exploded. The United Nations held an emergency meeting, and every government entered the highest state of alert. Secretary-General Sai even gave a speech at the General Assembly, saying, 'Humanity will never submit.' You have no damn idea how much has happened this past month!"

Luo Ji fell silent for a moment.

He had guessed that the Trisolarans and the Federation's upper echelon would react, but he had not expected matters to escalate to this extent.

They had actually issued a public demand to the entire world, threatening the Federation into handing him over.

That was far too unlike the Three-Body.

Trisolaran thinking was linear and efficiency-driven. Public threats had no practical meaning; they would only inflame humanity's will to resist.

Unless... they were afraid.

Only then would they do something so irrational.

"Shi Qiang, I need you to arrange a conference for me."

"The Security Council?"

"No. A press conference for the entire world."

"...What are you planning to do?"

"I'm going to speak to the Trisolarans."

Five full seconds of silence followed from the other end of the line.

"You're crazy."

"Maybe." Luo Ji said. "He said we were bugs. I haven't forgotten."

After ending the call, Luo Ji opened the group chat.

He had not logged in for a month, and more than a thousand messages had piled up in the group.

He did not scroll through them one by one. Instead, he sent a message directly.

Luo Ji: Everyone, I'm preparing to speak with the Trisolarans.

The group fell silent for an instant.

Xiao Yan: Speak with them? Are you sure?

Luo Ji: I'm sure. The Trisolarans have already publicly threatened the entire world through Sophons, demanding that I be handed over. If I don't step forward, panic will keep spreading, and humanity's confidence will collapse completely.

Luo Ji: I'm going to speak with the Trisolarans before the entire world. I'll let humanity know—Trisolarans are not gods. They can be afraid, and they can make mistakes.

Zhang Sanfeng: Good. Though this old man knows nothing of extraterrestrial civilizations, military strategists say: know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles. Young friend Luo Ji's move is precisely to drag the enemy into the open.

Huang Rong: I support you! But be careful. What if the Trisolarans attack you directly?

Luo Ji: They won't. If they could attack me directly, they would have done it long ago. Sophons can monitor and interfere, but they cannot kill people. That is their limit... at least for now.

Three days later.

United Nations Headquarters, the General Assembly Hall.

The eyes of the entire world were focused here—not only humanity's gaze, but that of the Trisolaran Civilization's Sophons as well.

The assembly hall was packed to capacity. Political leaders, military commanders, media reporters—everyone wore grave, tense expressions.

Luo Ji stood at the podium. Dozens of microphones were before him, while the enormous screen behind him broadcast live to the entire world.

He was not wearing a suit, only a simple black jacket.

Shi Qiang stood below the stage, his palms drenched in sweat.

Sai sat in the front row, her eyes fixed tightly on Luo Ji.

Luo Ji swept his gaze around the room, then began to speak.

His voice was not loud, but every word reached every corner of the hall with perfect clarity, carried by satellite to the entire world.

"I am Luo Ji, a Wallfacer."

"One month ago, I disappeared. Many people thought I was dead. They thought the Trisolarans had killed me. But the truth is, I'm alive—and I'm living better than ever."

The audience was silent as a graveyard.

Luo Ji lifted his head. His gaze passed over the crowd, beyond the walls, beyond the sky, as though he were looking at some distant place.

"Trisolaran Civilization, are you watching?"

Every electronic screen in the world flickered at once.

Then, a line of text appeared on every screen.

"Tell us the reason, and we can withdraw."

A commotion erupted in the hall.

Sai shot to her feet. Shi Qiang's hand went to the gun at his waist.

Luo Ji did not move.

He merely looked at that line of text, the corners of his mouth lifting faintly.

"Very good." He said. "Since you're watching, there are some things I want to say to you."

Luo Ji paused, then said each word slowly and distinctly. "Even now, you are still so arrogant."

He raised a hand and pointed into the air.

There was nothing there, but everyone knew the Sophons were there.

"You said, 'Tell us the reason, and we can withdraw.'"

Luo Ji's voice was not loud, yet it rang clearly in every ear. "Listen to that tone—'we can withdraw.' As if you were the occupiers. As if Earth had belonged to you from the start. As if you were bestowing charity upon us."

"You are not."

"Earth is not yours. The Solar System is not yours. Human civilization is not your prey."

"You are merely a band of refugees driven into a dead end. You could no longer survive in your own star system, so you decided to seize someone else's home. This is not survival. This is invasion. Not civilization, but barbarism."

The line of text vanished from every screen in the world.

In its place was blankness.

Luo Ji did not wait for their reply. He continued.

"You want to know the reason?"

"I'll tell you the reason—because you are unworthy."

The entire hall erupted in uproar.

Reporters frantically pressed their shutters, while political leaders looked at one another in shock.

No one had expected Wallfacer Luo Ji to address the Trisolaran Civilization publicly in such a tone, with such words.

"You are unworthy to occupy Earth not because you are not strong enough. On the contrary, it is because you are too powerful."

Luo Ji's voice became even firmer. "When a truly great civilization possesses absolute power, it chooses peace rather than invasion. It chooses coexistence rather than extermination."

"The Trisolaran Civilization struggled through countless eras beneath the torment of three suns. You understand the hardship of survival better than anyone, and cherish the meaning of life more than anyone.

But what did you do? When you found another civilization, your choice was not communication, not cooperation, not living together—but destruction."

"You want to destroy humanity, occupy Earth, and turn humanity's home into your colony."

"This is not survival. It is banditry!"

"That is why you are unworthy."

Luo Ji took a deep breath and stared straight ahead, as if meeting the gaze of some invisible existence.

"Trisolaran Civilization, I now formally notify you, in my capacity as a Wallfacer and in the name of human civilization—"

"First, you must immediately halt the 'Dyeing' Plan and the 'Miracle' Plan. You must no longer interfere with the normal order of human society in any form."

"Second, you must withdraw all Sophons operating within the Solar System, retaining only one for communications."

"Third, you must recognize human civilization's sovereignty over Earth and the Solar System, and abandon any intention of occupation in any form."

"Fourth, you must dispatch representatives authorized to negotiate—with humanity in whatever form possible—and hold formal talks with human civilization."

"These four terms are the prerequisites for negotiations. If you refuse, there will be no negotiations."

The hall fell utterly silent.

No one spoke. No one moved.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for the Trisolarans' response.

On screens around the world, the blankness lasted for a full ten seconds.

Then new text appeared.

"Humanity is not qualified to set terms for us."

Luo Ji smiled.

"You are wrong."

He said, "We are not only qualified—we have the ability as well."