The giant corporations that started from Night City

Chapter 515: Doubts and criticisms! Social unrest! The army is approaching!

After confirming that Sophon had completely disappeared, Chairman Galnin quickly realized that their ongoing plan to build a high-energy particle accelerator had lost its meaning.

Since the sophon, the biggest factor that interferes with particle collision experiments, is no longer around, why would humans continue to build 10,000 high-energy accelerators?

More than a thousand high-energy particle accelerators are enough for humans to conduct many particle collision experiments.

"Then what should we do with the remaining thousands of unfinished accelerators? What practical significance does our previous plan have?"

Galnin felt a pang of heartache at the thought. In order to build the planned 10,000 high-energy particle accelerators, they were willing to pay the price of economic shutdown and the whole human race tightening their belts.

All resources, everything is dedicated to promoting this plan.

If this was just a false plan that Paul deliberately made to confuse the Trisolarans, then such behavior would be too bad.

If the people who have worked so hard for this project knew that everything they have done is in vain, I wonder how much chaos it would cause.

No one can accept the fact that they have been fooled.

"Of course it makes sense. All your efforts have not been in vain. Even if there are no sophons, we still need high-energy particle accelerators."

Paul looked at Galnin calmly, completely ignoring the fact that the other's expression had become increasingly ugly.

"Nonsense! We don't need so many accelerators. Fifty accelerators are enough for the impact experiment, but we have built more than a thousand, and another two thousand are under construction. The foundation of the three thousand test base has just been dug."

Galnin was extremely angry. He really wanted to slap Paul on behalf of the people outside. This guy knew that Chieko would be eliminated, yet he still deliberately caused such a scene to torture them.

"It is more important to unite humanity and gather its fighting spirit and cohesion than to build the accelerator. In the past two years, humanity has abandoned all disputes, not hurting each other, and not engaging in corruption."

“Suffering breeds the purest emotions, and this is the greatest significance of the accelerator project.”

Paul's words quieted down the congressmen who were talking a lot, and they began to ponder his words.

……

The hearing on the Wallbreaker Project did not last long. In order to avoid causing social unrest, the news that Sophon had been destroyed was temporarily blocked.

The project of building 10,000 high-energy particle accelerators is still proceeding normally. The accelerators that have been successfully built have officially entered into operation and are conducting impact experiments day and night.

Human technology has been blocked by the sophon for two hundred years, but now it has finally broken free. Scientists from all over the world are ecstatically throwing themselves into experiments, eager to witness the scientific truth.

Ordinary people had no idea what was happening at the top. They only knew that the project targets were no longer so urgent, and they were finally able to relax a little.

The usual labor benefits have been improved a little, although not much, but it is like a blessing in disguise for them who have suffered for two years. The implementation of the accelerator project has brought all classes of humanity back on the same page.

There is no privileged class, everything gives way to the accelerator.

Scientists of higher status are busy thinking and doing experiments all day long and have no time to worry about how to exploit people. Therefore, human beings on earth have ushered in true equality, harmony and freedom.

Although the threat of extinction of the Three-Body Civilization still hangs over their heads, they are able to find joy in the midst of hardship and feel the sense of social harmony that may have once existed but has long since disappeared.

They saw that the accelerators built by all mankind at great cost, effort and sweat were starting to operate one by one, and everyone could feel that mankind would eventually achieve final victory.

But soon, a sudden news made them feel uneasy.

The 700 star-class battleships of the Asian Fleet are about to take the initiative to attack the nine water drops that have entered the solar system. They will clash in the orbit of Jupiter to fight to defend the survival of the Earth.

This seemingly exciting news did not inspire people. The destruction of the European and North American fleets was still vivid in their minds. How could they believe that such a small number of people could be a match for the nine water drops?

With the military capabilities of the Asian Fleet, how could it possibly stop nine drops of water? This is simply a fantasy.

In stark contrast to the public opinion when the Combined Fleet set out, this time the Asian Fleet's proactive attack aroused strong opposition from the entire nation.

Some of them even ran to the gate of the Combined Fleet Government, demonstrating and shouting loudly.

"Don't you realize how powerful the water droplets are? Do you really want to die in vain?"

"More than a thousand star-class battleships are no match for a single water drop. Using those seven hundred battleships to fight nine water drops is not only suicide, it is extremely stupid!"

"Are humans destined to be a species that cannot learn lessons? Tragedy repeats itself time and time again, and we have never truly learned the lesson of history."

"..."

As doubts continued to ferment, a rumor gradually began to spread in society.

Some people believe that the Asian fleet is not going to intercept the water droplets at all, but to directly abandon the Earth and flee out of the solar system like the Natural Selection did two years ago.

The probability of survival of 700 battleships escaping is much greater than the possibility of survival of a single star-class battleship.

Although this unrealistic statement has many loopholes, the escape of the Natural Selection is indeed an established fact.

In addition, the Natural Selection itself belongs to the Asian Fleet unit, and Zhang Beihai himself is a Chinese, which naturally makes people suspicious of the intentions of the Asian Fleet.

Therefore, more and more people believe that the attack of the Asian Fleet was not an interception of water drops, but an organized and premeditated large-scale escape.

As news continued to arrive about the nine water droplets and the Three-Body Fleet approaching the Earth, people's sensitivity to the escapists reached its peak.

They increasingly suspected that the Asiatic Fleet was planning to abandon humanity and escape with a large amount of resources.

Don’t worry about scarcity but inequality.

Human beings can coexist and perish together, but we cannot accept that some people give up on themselves, otherwise it would be better for everyone to die together.

In order to prevent such public opinion from disrupting the morale of the army, Paul had to come forward in person and deliver a public speech to all mankind, stating that the proactive attack of the Asian Fleet needed to cooperate with the troops of the Universal Corporation to fight against the water droplets.

They are not fighting alone.

"The Universal Corporation will stand with human civilization and fight to the last moment. The Trisolarans are not invincible, and the water droplets are even more defeated by humans. This is obvious to all."

With Paul's personal promise, people's doubts were finally alleviated a little. After all, the first drop of water was destroyed by a global giant.

If the Universal Corporation also attacked together with the human fleet, they would feel much more at ease.

But it would be a lie to say that they were not worried at all. Who could guarantee that the real plan of the Wallfacer in front of them was to fight against the Three-Body Problem? If Paul was also an out-and-out defeatist, then their fate would still be to stay on Earth and wait for death.

It turns out that human beings are still not as united as we imagined, and there will always be different voices.

Paul could only say that he was helpless about this.

He couldn't shut everyone up.

A month passed in the blink of an eye. Through the astronomical telescopes on Earth, people could see that the flames produced by the thrusters of the Three-Body Fleet as it slowed down were becoming clearer and clearer.

They could even see a distinct patch of light in outer space.

The speed of the Trisolaran technological explosion exceeded human imagination. Before this, most people believed that the Trisolaran fleet was still 2.1 light-years away from the solar system.

It will take at least a century to reach Earth.

But at this moment, the speed of the Three-Body Fleet has reached the speed of light. When their tracks were observed, the enemy fleet had already arrived near the solar system.

If the Trisolarans did not need some time to slow down, the Trisolaran civilization would probably have reached humanity's doorstep by now.

Fleet International and the United Nations originally didn't want to report this matter. After all, the existence of the nine water drops had already made them worried, not to mention the Three-Body Fleet.

However, the truth will eventually come to light.

There are many astronomy enthusiasts among the public. They can observe outer space on their own and see the rapidly approaching Trisolaran fleet.

This kind of thing cannot be hidden.

Considering that the Asian Fleet's proactive attack had already caused a stir in the city and rumors were everywhere, if this matter continued to be concealed, it would probably lead to civil unrest.

With no other options left, Fleet International had to announce the imminent arrival of the Trisolaran fleet and called on the public not to panic but to carry out all activities in accordance with government orders.

But things didn't turn out that simple.

Previously, everyone mistakenly believed that it would take at least a hundred years for the Trisolaran fleet to reach the solar system. Even if nine water droplets came, they would not be able to kill all humans in one go.

They can live the rest of their lives safely and peacefully.

But who could have imagined that only two years had passed and the Three-Body Fleet would come to their doorstep to show off its might.

Death is not scary. What is scary is knowing that you will die today. When you truly empathize with others, no one can truly accept the arrival of death.

Contrary to the consensus already reached by employees of the giant global corporation, in the eyes of humans on Earth, the most threatening threat is still the Trisolaran fleet.

As for the water droplets, in their eyes they were just detectors of the Trisolarans.

The colonial warships of the Trisolaran Civilization are like the European fleets of five hundred years ago. They brought killing and repression to the Americas, and now they are just exacting retribution on all of humanity.

North Americans and Europeans have a natural fear of colonization because no one understands better than them what kind of massacre and oppression colonization represents, and no one is more afraid of colonization than them.

Under such panic, human society inevitably became out of control.

Riots and chaos occurred again, and there was even a serious incident in which extremists robbed star-class battleships.

Paul has tried his best to calm the people, but the visible Trisolarian fleet is like a sword of Damocles that could fall at any time, continuously shattering the people's self-confidence.

More and more doubts emerged as time went by. Some people began to criticize Paul's so-called Wallfacer Project as a complete waste of money and time. The ten thousand high-energy accelerators were just to satisfy Paul's twisted psychology.

Just like the ancient emperors were fond of building various wonders to demonstrate their supreme power.

Faced with these continuous criticisms, Paul did not make any arguments. Before things were resolved, people would always speculate the darkest possibilities from various angles.

He can't change human nature, and no one ever can.

That day, Paul came to Luo Ji's research institute. Looking at this wall-facer who was busy with snow engineering all day, he suddenly felt a little emotional.

Compared to burying himself in a boring laboratory, it is more impressive to be the Sword-Bearer who threatens the Three-Body Civilization. But Paul is sure that Luo Ji will not choose any Sword-Bearer. He will prefer this place.

"How is the plan going? Is everything going well?" Paul asked with concern.

Luo Ji put down the electronic board in his hand, forced himself to cheer up, smiled and said, "Everything is fine."

"We have deployed enough stellar hydrogen bombs to ensure that we can observe the traces of water droplets entering the solar system, don't worry."

Compared to being a wall-facer, it is easier to stay here and be an ordinary scientific researcher. At least the things that the soul needs to bear are not that heavy.

In his spare time, Luo Ji can also take time to play with Zhuang Yan and the children.

"Well, you did a great job."

Paul nodded and said that unlike the Three-Body Fleet, water droplets were difficult to observe directly. In order to lock the position of the water droplets, it was inevitable to use snow engineering.

"Paul, are you really ready to fight against the Trisolarian fleet? Can your warships defeat the Trisolarian civilization?"

Luo Ji looked at the other party with doubt on his face. Rumors had been flying everywhere during this period, and even researchers like them who lived in seclusion knew more or less about the outside opinions.

"Also, is the construction of those 10,000 high-energy particle accelerators really in vain? If the people find out that the accelerators you asked them to build are meaningless, do you know what the consequences will be?"

Luo Ji stared at Paul with a serious face. If this was really true, there would be no need for the Trisolaran fleet to come over, as humans would have thrown stones to kill Paul first.

Just like Rey Diaz once was.

"Do you think the same as them? Do you also think that the high-energy particle accelerator is a useless cover?" Paul asked back.

"I don't know. No one can really understand what another person is thinking. Moreover, deception itself is the power of the Wallfacer. No one can blame you for any of your orders."

Luo Ji knew very well how much pressure the wall-facers had to endure and how much criticism they had to endure. He had experienced this kind of discomfort.

(End of this chapter)