Chapter 52 Desperate King Zhou_1

As Shi Qiang was marveling at the aliens' magical ability to dehydrate themselves, King Wen of Zhou was confidently looking up at the faint starry sky, where two shooting stars twinkled.

He uttered that sentence which has been passed down through the ages, a phrase that is both loved and hated.

"Old man has calculated with a pinch of the fingers!"

King Wen of Zhou even pinched his fingers in an affected manner, pretending to be confident as he spoke, "I have observed the celestial phenomena at night, and there are only two flying stars in the sky. The Chaotic Era is about to end, and the Stable Era is about to begin!"

Influenced by Shi Qiang perhaps, he took out a small notebook from his chest and confidently wrote, "Old man has calculated with a pinch of the fingers, the Chaotic Era will end in forty-one days, followed by a Stable Era of five days, then another twenty-three days of Chaotic Era, after which will come a golden age!"

"A golden age of three years and nine months!"

"Oh, the golden age!"

King Wen of Zhou stretched out his arms excitedly, embracing the starry sky. According to the background of this game, this planet has no periodic patterns whatsoever. Encountering a Chaotic Era means disaster, catastrophic disaster for all living beings.

Encountering a Stable Era, though hot, the temperature has adapted to the survival of living beings. Crops can be planted, life can multiply, and naturally it is a golden age!

No one could predict the time of the alternation between the Stable Era and the Chaotic Era, because there was no pattern at all.

King Wen of Zhou was very certain, as long as he told King Zhou of Shang about his discovery, it would be like presenting the emperor with the jade seal of the country!

"If King Zhou knows this, he will surely be overjoyed and reward us with thousands of handsome men and beautiful women. At that time, those beauties will be yours..."

King Wen of Zhou chuckled with a snicker and stroked his beard, "Being highly respected, I hold myself away from gambling and drugs with endless enmity! I never dabble in the pleasures of the flesh!"

Shi Qiang was bamboozled.

And Logic almost burst out laughing. Was King Wen of Zhou really not interested in women?

You must be into men, huh!

That Brother Kun—I heard that!

Never would I have expected that in the year 2063, my "Brother Kun" would still be a household name. It seems that some superior young people have carried on that spirit, a successor has been found, indeed!

Seemingly assured of his bright future, King Wen of Zhou confidently strode forward, almost wishing he could immediately rush to the Holy Land of the Human Tribe, Chaoge, to meet King Zhou and then receive his reward of three thousand handsome men.

Just thinking about it made him a bit damp.

Ah, handsome guys, what are you doing!

Logic fell a step behind and admonished Shi Qiang, "Keep some distance from that fellow later, otherwise you might end up stewing yourself in a pot!"

"Ah?"

Shi Qiang clearly didn't understand the intricacies, but the good thing about him was that he followed orders, heeded commands.

Logic explained from the side, "I've played this game numerous times. The ultimate problem is the survival issue of this planet, that is, the Three-Body problem."

He looked up at the sky, where above the firmament, two shooting stars were incredibly brilliant, especially dazzling as they moved rapidly, "See those two shooting stars? They are not stars at all, but two suns!"

"Suns?"

Shi Qiang suddenly grasped the gravity of the situation. One Earth paired with one sun, like in reproductive biology, one male and one female, is very suitable. But what if you suddenly have three suns?

One on three?

That's unbearable!

"When there are two flying stars in the sky, it means that the two suns are far from this planet, and the planet's temperature is very suitable for living. That is the Stable Era."

"When there is one flying star, it means that only one sun is far from this planet. Two suns shining upon the planet will make it extremely hot, evaporating all moisture, and the ground will crack and dry."

"When there are three flying stars, it means that all three suns are far from the planet, and the planet will face a terrifying cold, unsuitable for any living being. So cold, so desperate, that even the air will freeze, carbon dioxide in the air will turn into dry ice. At that time, plants will not survive, marking the moment when a civilization is destroyed..."

"Only after eons can the seeds of civilization silently sprout and give rise to traces of another civilization, a cycle of civilization. Yet, who knows how many years that will take—it could be millions of years, tens of millions of years, or perhaps hundreds of millions of years."

Logic's casual words sent shock waves through Shi Qiang's heart. The birth of a civilization requires an extensive period, filled with countless chances and coincidences, yet the destruction of a civilization appears so effortless, so insignificant...

He fell silent for a long time, instinctively reaching for a smoke, but found his pockets empty. He could only sigh, "The more I look at the universe, the more I feel how insignificant we people are. Suddenly, my three hundred yuan monthly mortgage in the Capital City doesn't seem so daunting anymore."

"I'm starting to understand what you cultured people think about, indeed studying is beneficial. It's just different from what us rough folks think. When I get back, I'm definitely going to make my kid go to college. How about you be his teacher then?"

Logic smiled without speaking.

At this moment, he too couldn't be sure about the future; he felt the weight of his burden was incredibly heavy, yet the Three-Body Civilization remained a looming threat.

At least for Earth, it would be a threat for a long time to come.

Even though he had grasped the Dark Forest Law, transmitting Earth's coordinates to the universe would require many more years of development.

And the Dark Forest Law was a choice of mutual destruction with the Three-Body Civilization.

The Trisolarans were arrogant, paying little attention to Earth, to ETO, or to Logic, because they believed the insects could never rebel, so they chose to ignore them.

But they were smart.

'Logic' would do it without hesitation—once he realized the Trisolaran invasion was imminent, he would press the button and destroy both civilizations.

But could Logic do it?

To decide against the lives of hundreds of billions with a single thought, that sense of guilt...

He would hesitate, he would be conflicted, he might even become the very Cheng Xin he disliked the most.

All of this could be analyzed by the Trisolarans through Sophon, who collected data on Logic's daily habits and decision-making styles, and it was the reason Logic spent a significant amount of Energy Points to replicate the barrier.

Wallfacer.

He couldn't let anyone see through his thoughts!

"Is there a solution to the Three-Body Problem then?"

"No! At least King Wen of Zhou can't do it! Even the real King Wen of Zhou wouldn't be able to!"

This was also why Logic believed that this female player with the ID named after King Wen of Zhou was doomed to die, because since the problem was raised, three hundred years had passed.

In those three hundred years, countless mathematicians around the world had been deducing and pondering, yet no one had come up with a final solution.

Not even the modern mathematical elite.

Kingly Wen of Zhou of course wouldn't stand a chance either!

Time would prove everything, indeed. King Wen of Zhou, brimming with confidence, presented her calculations before King Zhou of Shang—it was only a system notification in reality, and that female player didn't even understand what it meant.

Her words confirmed some suspicions; King Zhou of Shang believed in the arrival of the Stable Era. He ordered the rehydration of tens of millions of his dehydrated subjects, preparing to welcome his golden age.

The whole country erupted into celebration!

Three years of peace, three years for reproduction and growth—this time was incredibly precious to them!

Unfortunately, it was all a farce.

When the Chaotic Era dawned, everyone fell into profound despair. King Zhou's eyes were cold; rehydration was not an easy task, and tens of millions of citizens needed time to dehydrate again. In the Stable Era, this was fine, but in the Chaotic Era...

Especially during the Chaotic Era of the three wandering stars...

Everyone was doomed to perish!

Tens of millions of citizens were going to die!

King Zhou's eyes turned bloodshot, his hands trembling, his teeth grinding with a grating sound, "Drag her down, and stew her!"

After speaking, he closed his eyes in agony. It was his choice to blindly trust in King Wen of Zhou, leading his entire civilization to demise.

His despair grew deeper.

He coldly added one more sentence.

"On a slow fire!"

"Burn her slowly!"