Chapter 234: Wheel of Fate_1

Jiang Yu pondered for a moment before asking, "Where will the meeting be held?"

Number Three answered, "They still need to keep up appearances, so the senior government officials will come to Mars...

"Oh, more than thirty years ago, some residents of Guanghan City were unwilling to continue the Wallfacing Plan, so they staged a sit-in.

"That place became unsafe for a while, so you were brought to Mars. Later, when those protesters were relocated, Guanghan City settled down again."

Jiang Yu nodded, "At least they had the decency to come and find me for a meeting."

He then asked, "How much armed force can you mobilize?"

"On paper, I have command of twenty new-model warships in the Mars Orbit," Number Three said:

"But right now, I'm just a member of the Military Commission. My authority isn't sufficient to issue attack commands to the warships' computers.

"Gu Cheng took his precautions early on, so even though I have soldiers, I have virtually no troops I can call upon if a real battle would occur."

Jiang Yu then asked, "Do these troops still nominally pledge allegiance to the Wallfacer?"

Number Three nodded, "Yes, but Gu Cheng added a clause to the relevant legislation: specific orders are to be formulated by the Military Commission, and the branches only execute the orders of the Military Commission."

Jiang Yu laughed, "He really is talented. If one is to seize power, they must be fully prepared!"

Number Three sighed, "Indeed, I'm no match for him."

Jiang Yu asked again, "How is the 'Wandering Earth' project doing?"

"That was once one of the main initiatives of the Solar System State," Number Three said: "Now it has also been marginalized, but I have moved the project team to Mars.

"However, there are too few specialists, and there hasn't been much progress in the last twenty years.

"But when Hu Guanghan led the project team, they made considerable progress, especially in the utilization of gravity. It has been proven that the transmission pathways of gravity are also visible on the microscopic level.

"Unfortunately, Sophon's interference was a hindrance. Had we understood the microscopic mechanisms of gravity, we might have found the unified theory of the four fundamental forces.

"This is a problem that has puzzled physicists for two and a half centuries. Under Hu Guanghan's team's groping-in-the-dark research, there was at last hope of solving it.

"Pity, such a pity..."

After a moment of thought, Jiang Yu suddenly asked Jiang Shiliu, "I remember when you were a child, you wanted to create an artificial black hole?"

Jiang Shiliu, who had been leisurely drinking a beverage, was slightly startled, "That's true."

Jiang Yu said, "Then you take over this project team."

Jiang Shiliu thought for a while, "Sure, I've dabbled a bit in the research of the four fundamental forces back in the day. You could say I'm a semi-professional."

Jiang Yu said, "Get familiar with this project team as soon as possible. In at most a year, their research will be very useful!"

"Alright!" Jiang Shiliu didn't ask any further.

Jiang Yu took a deep breath, "As for those children coming to force an abdication, I'll just have to meet with them myself."

Number Three said, "Yes!"

Jiang Yu let out a sigh, "For the coming year, both of us should prepare to play the role of obedient subordinates. We'll be the ones to clean up the mess afterward!"

He waved his hand, "Alright, go back and rest. If there's nothing urgent, we'll talk about everything else after I'm discharged from the hospital."

As Jiang Shiliu was leaving, he added, "Oh, right, when should we wake up Thirty-Six?"

Jiang Yu thought for a moment, "Let's wait until I return to the center of power. By then, everything will have settled down, and we can wake him up."

After Number Three and Jiang Shiliu had left, Jiang Yu lay back in the hospital bed and sank into deep thought.

The situation now was almost as he had predicted, except the thought of sending millions to their deaths made him feel somewhat reluctant.

Previously, he hadn't felt much about it, since the time was still far off, and he always felt there was a way out.

But as "The Waterdrop" approached the Solar System, Jiang Yu realized that the wheels of fate had always been rolling forward, and despite his efforts, he had been unable to change the direction in which the wheels turned.

In the end, he still needed to use "The Waterdrop" to strike at humanity's hedonism and arrogance.

The cost would be the sacrifice of millions of soldiers, in exchange for the despair of the human world.

This seemed more like an opportunity to reboot.

Jiang Yu took a deep breath and thought to himself, why do I have to bear such a heavy choice?

It's all because humanity in this world is so unworthy!

When he thought about the chance for humanity to fight back after this war, Jiang Yu felt that the sacrifice of these people was worthwhile.

The last time he awoke, his reputation had reached a peak.

But the conditions were not ripe then, no matter what he intended to do, there was always the technological ceiling imposed by Sophon.

And it was impossible to keep secrets, could he really always use the goods from "Wallfacer's Shop" to block Sophon's surveillance?

He didn't have that many Deception Points anyway!

Speaking of which, since the power of the Solar System State had grown strong, "Wallfacer's Shop" had become somewhat redundant.

However, in the establishment of the Solar System State and the initial resistance against the Trisolarans, the "Shop" had indeed made significant contributions.

Only from now on, the struggle against the Trisolarans would rely more on Jiang Yu's planning.

Jiang Yu shook his head gently and stopped thinking about it.

Since it was something that had been planned long ago, until a better approach was found, he would continue to follow the original plan.

The next day, Jiang Yu would be discharged from the hospital. Led by Number Three, he briefly toured Yinghuo City.

The difference between this city and Guanghan City was that there was a large gap between the rooftops and the top of the city.

It looked as if there was an iron dome over the city.

Moreover, this dome was transparent, allowing one to see the grey-black sky above.

Because of the thin atmosphere on Mars, looking up at the sky felt almost like seeing the pitch-black space from the ground.

The sun on Mars was different from that on Earth too, not a neatly defined disc but more like a fiery orb.

Though farther from the sun, one could see a more direct aspect of it here.

After a brief visit, Jiang Yu got down to work. High-ranking officials of the Solar System State were arriving in Yinghuo City tomorrow to discuss their strategies.

Number Three was like an enemy at the gates, but Jiang Yu seemed quite relaxed, as if the power he was about to lose didn't weigh heavily on his mind.

After the high-level officials of the Solar System State arrived in Yinghuo City, Number Three prepared a simple yet respectful welcoming ceremony.

Without even resting, they requested an immediate meeting.

The spacious conference room was also ready beforehand.

After all twenty-three high-level officials of the Solar System State took their seats, Jiang Yu leisurely entered, looking at a room full of kids who were either still young or not so young. Except for Number Three, he didn't recognize a single one of them.

Jiang Yu felt a pang of emotion; his real Wallfacer plan was just about to begin, but none of the first followers who had rallied behind him were left.