The Wallfacer: Everyone wants to break through my wall.

“Nine drops of water did not go to you,” Davis stated, keeping the statement as brief as possible.

After the surprise attack wiped out the human fleet, the nine droplets did not head straight for Earth as Lin Feng had initially predicted, to eliminate him and Luo Ji, the two people who knew about the Dark Forest.

The water droplet disappeared from visible light observations of the space city belonging to the Taylor series.

Davis exhausted all radars but failed to detect the nine water droplets. Until they were discovered, he assumed they were heading to Earth to eliminate Lin Feng and Luo Ji.

"Where did they go?" Lin Feng asked hurriedly.

Davis said, "For a while we lost track of them until just now when we confirmed where they went from the Alliance's military base in the Kuiper Belt. They were dismantling the nuclear weapons we had deployed in the Kuiper Belt."

Thanks to the droplet not destroying human military bases in the Kuiper Belt, these Space Force military bases discovered traces of the droplet's activity in the Kuiper Belt.

Combining the intelligence on the droplets obtained from the military base, Davis could easily deduce what the nine droplets were doing in the Kuiper Belt.

Davis told Lin Feng the results of his analysis: "The Trisolarans have deciphered the algorithm of our anti-trigger system. Six of the nine droplets are evenly distributed near the inner circle of the Kuiper Belt, releasing signals consistent with our anti-trigger system. The remaining three are responsible for dismantling the deployed nuclear bombs."

Because the signal released is consistent with that of the anti-trigger system, even if Luo Ji unilaterally interrupts the signal, the nuclear bombs deployed on the Kuiper Belt will not explode.

Since nuclear bombs cannot explode, interstellar dust clouds cannot form, and this broadcasting system, like the method of using stars to amplify signals to achieve inter-light-year communication, fails due to water droplets.

Originally, the anti-trigger system had a complex algorithm. The anti-trigger system would import the algorithm based on Luo Ji's physical attributes and only release the signal after confirming that Luo Ji's physical characteristics were normal. The same applies to the signal repeater in space.

However, the Three-Body Problem has now cracked this algorithm. They have imported the data on Luo Ji's vital signs into the algorithm and used water droplets to simulate the release of signals consistent with the anti-trigger system, thereby preventing the detonation of a large number of nuclear bombs in the Kuiper Belt and the formation of a dust cloud.

Having been tricked, the methods from the original story no longer worked, and Lin Feng's expression shifted between anger and uncertainty.

Thinking about it carefully, it's actually normal. That's a world, a Trisolaran world that's no less than the human world.

Humans may be very intelligent, but the Trisolarans are not much stupid. They think their plans will not be seen through, just like the people who thought the droplets came to the solar system with good intentions when they first came into contact with them.

Seeing the unconscious seriousness on Lin Feng's face, Luo Ji couldn't help but ask.

"Something went wrong?"

"The nuclear bombs deployed in the Kuiper Belt are blocked by nine water droplets and cannot be detonated now."

Lin Feng shrugged and told Luo Ji the truth about Kuiper.

Seeing Luo Ji standing there dumbfounded, Lin Feng quickly added, "It's alright, I have a backup stellar broadcasting system."

Lin Feng patted his chest and then asked Luo Ji, "Dr. Luo Ji, as a Chinese person, you should have heard the saying 'A leaf before the eyes obscures Mount Tai,' right?"

"Given the right distance, a leaf much smaller than Mount Tai can easily block out an object as large as Mount Tai. The second stellar broadcasting system is based on this principle," Lin Feng explained the principle of this backup stellar broadcasting system.

It was both an explanation to Luo Ji and an explanation to the Trisolarans.

"The fleet world, which left the solar system under my orders three years ago, is constantly receiving high-power signals from the space city belonging to the Taylor system. Once this high-power signal is interrupted, all the ships in the fleet world will deploy into a planar array, spreading out their wide solar panels, which will block the sunlight like leaves blocking a mountain."

"By neatly rotating the solar panels, interference with the sun's outward scattered rays is achieved, with an effect similar to interstellar dust in the Kuiper Belt. If a distant observer observes the sun, they will see a star that flickers on and off. The information marked by this flickering star is the coordinates of the Trisolaran world."

After saying this, Lin Feng handed a pistol to Luo Ji, bowed slightly to him, and said solemnly.

"Dr. Luo Ji, my work is finished. The rest is your work."

Luo Ji looked at the gun in his hand and fell into thought.

Lin Feng didn't linger. He walked with Shi Qiang and Edith towards the cars parked on the side of the road.

This is a duel between Luo Ji and the Three-Body Problem; no one else can interfere.

As Lin Feng walked away, he could faintly hear a man's voice behind him.

"I want to speak to the Trisolaran world."

……

At the car stop, Shi Qiang leaned against the car and smoked a lot of cigarettes; the embers of his cigarettes were particularly noticeable in the darkness of dawn.

Even the most thick-skinned person could see that Shi Qiang was uneasy at this moment.

"Are you sure there's no problem?" Shi Qiang asked Lin Feng.

"He's the most suitable candidate, otherwise I would have found someone else to replace him long ago," Lin Feng said helplessly.

At least that's how it is in the original work... Lin Feng added in his mind, "Not just anyone can be the Swordholder, and negotiating with the Trisolarans is not something just anyone can do."

Lin Feng recalled his past life, where people on the internet always thought the Trisolaran civilization was too stupid, always believing that simply stating the Dark Forest and broadcasting the coordinates would make the Trisolarans tremble like mice.

Such people are as naive as those who believe the water droplet is a symbol of the Trisolaran civilization's 'goodwill'; they make assumptions, and everything they do is based on assumptions.

Reading the original novel means nothing. The Trisolarans are alive in reality. They can be afraid of deterrence or not. Who knows whether you are Cheng Xin or Luo Ji in the eyes of the Trisolarans?

When you really have no choice but to press the switch, do you really dare to do it?

What does pressing it mean? It means killing your closest relatives, killing your friends, killing everyone you care about, including yourself.

As Lin Feng was lost in thought, a gunshot suddenly rang out, jolting him back to his senses.

boom!

Damn it!

Lin Feng's expression changed repeatedly as he ran towards Luo Ji's direction with Shi Qiang.

When they saw Luo Ji, he was lying on the ground, surrounded by blood, with a gunshot wound to his chest.

Three balls floated in mid-air, each displaying a line of text.

Call an ambulance immediately!

Call an ambulance immediately!

Call an ambulance immediately!

"Edith! Over here!"

Lin Feng saw Edith carrying a first-aid kit and running hurriedly toward them.

Shi Qiang snatched the first-aid kit from Edith's hand and was about to give Luo Ji emergency bandaging, but Luo Ji stopped him.

"No...cough..."

Luo Ji coughed up blood, staring intently at the three unfolding Zhizi in mid-air, and said with difficulty.

"The Three-Body world... I am... waiting... for... your... answer... cough..."

We agree to your request!

[The droplets will cease emitting electromagnetic waves towards the sun! All droplets will be destroyed within the artificial black hole created by your antimatter bombs! The Trisolaran fleet will not enter the Oort cloud; they will change course and deviate from the solar system!]

Don't die!

"Cough... This is enough for me... cough..."

Luo Ji's tense nerves relaxed. At this moment, the sun was gradually rising, and the radiance of the rising sun illuminated his pale face.

"The bleeding has stopped. Fortunately, the heart wasn't damaged, otherwise it would have been a real problem." Shi Qiang wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Just as Shi Qiang and Edith were about to take Luo Ji to the hospital, Lin Feng stopped them.

"Wait, I have two additional requests."

Lin Feng stared at the three Zhizi hovering in mid-air and said resolutely.

"First, open the Sophon communication channel so that humans in the solar system can establish real-time video communication with other colonists who have left the solar system."

"Secondly, we need quantum entanglement communication technology."

This requires an order from the Supreme Ruler.

“Luo Ji won’t last much longer.” Lin Feng pointed at Luo Ji, who had already fainted, and then said, “These two requests are to ensure our safety. The colonists outside the solar system do not know the Dark Forest Law. After they have completed their colonization, they will inevitably use the stellar broadcasting effect to contact Earth. You had better think carefully about the consequences.”

After a three-second silence, the water droplet agreed to Lin Feng's two additional requests.

[The Supreme Commander has granted your request, Feng Taylor. Please get Luo Ji to the hospital for treatment as soon as possible.]

Chapter 224 Multi-deterrence System

The deterrence was truly successful!

After taking Luo Ji to the hospital, Lin Feng, sitting outside the operating room, felt a chill run down his spine as he calmed down completely. It was a belated sense of fear.

Just an hour and a half ago, human civilization was nearly destroyed by a single bullet.

Lin Feng, leaning back in his chair, chuckled self-deprecatingly. Two centuries ago, if someone had said that a 30-gram bullet could destroy all of humanity, including the entire solar system, anyone would have thought it was a fantasy.

But now, it has actually happened, just an hour and a half ago.

Lin Feng knew from the beginning that the Black Forest Deterrence was an extremely dangerous thing, but after experiencing it firsthand, he realized that he had oversimplified the matter.

Successful deterrence is a matter of chance, not a certainty.

The concept of deterrence is a joke.

That's a pseudo-concept.

Because fear is subjective, a thought process of intelligent life, while mathematics is definite. So, we use the certainty of mathematics to describe the subjective initiative of intelligent species.

Don't be ridiculous, only an illiterate person would have such an idea.

In the original novel, Luo Ji's intimidation of the Trisolarans could lead to two outcomes: either the Trisolarans would become afraid and agree to all of Luo Ji's conditions, or the Trisolarans would not be afraid and would not believe that Luo Ji would dare to risk everything to perish together with them. In the latter case, the end result would be the simultaneous destruction of human civilization and Trisolaran civilization.

From the perspective of the original author, the original author who intends to continue writing the book will naturally make the outcome of the event lean towards the first scenario. So this gives people the impression that the Black Forest deterrence will definitely succeed. Look at how high the deterrence level of the people threatening the Trisolarans is. How could it not succeed?

However, once the Trisolaran civilization from the book is brought into reality, the deterrence level becomes a string of numbers. Reality does not require rationality. The Trisolaran civilization can take risks and choose low-probability events. The deterrence level will not force the Trisolaran civilization to believe that someone has the courage to perish with them. It is just a string of reference values ​​derived from mathematical models.

Once the reference values ​​are taken into account, whether or not the Swordholders have the courage to broadcast the coordinates is a matter for the Trisolarans, and what does it have to do with humanity? Humanity has no choice!

Take Luo Ji as an example. As the Swordholder, he would inevitably press the transmitter to broadcast the coordinates during the Trisolaran invasion.

However, if the Three-Body Problem, despite deducing from the mathematical model that Luo Ji would most likely press the launcher, still harbors the hope that Luo Ji will not dare to broadcast the coordinates and chooses to launch a blatant invasion, then it can be said that Luo Ji's deterrent effect is very low?

From the moment Luo Ji chose to shoot himself, Lin Feng realized that the deterrent level was just a meaningless number. It had no coercive power and could not determine anything. Ironically, he had once placed his hopes on this meaningless number because of the original work. Thinking back on this, Lin Feng felt a wave of fear.

Lin Feng stood up and said to Edith and Shi Qiang, who hadn't slept all night, "Everyone must be tired. Take a rest first. I'll keep watch here."

Shi Qiang didn't stand on ceremony; he was indeed very tired and needed the necessary rest.

"Then I'll leave this place to you. Wake me up if anything happens."

After saying that, Shi Qiang pressed a button on the armrest of his seat, and the seat extended into a simple bed where he could lie down.

In this era, hospitals have taken into account the resting conditions of patients' families outside the operating room in a very humane way. The chairs for resting can be extended into beds. In underground cities where the surface infrastructure is poor, the beds extended outside the operating room of hospitals are often equipped with mini air conditioners and bedding.

Looking at Shi Qiang, who was fast asleep, Lin Feng turned his gaze to Edith.