Chapter 390: The Dark Forest Strike Arrives as Scheduled_1

Venus' answer intrigued Jiang Yu, "So how might we utilize these, these 'Holes'? Can you explain a bit more specifically? Is interstellar shuttling possible?"

Venus: "Holes" can be regarded as gravitational fields excited by the accumulation of dark matter, which briefly form a 3.5-dimensional channel. Because your species is inherently flawed, utilizing the 'Holes' will be complicated. First, you need to map out the true nature of space and then figure out the pattern of dark matter accumulation in a certain region. Interstellar travel is almost impossible because the 'Holes' are unstable."

Jiang Yu was somewhat disappointed, "Continue with the answers to the other questions."

Venus: "I have already explained before that some places may seem far away to you, but to me, they are within arm's reach. I only need to use my own gravity to cleverly leverage dark matter, creating some flexible and variable force fields. Attacking Earth is even simpler—just a 'drag' on the mantle, and the Earth will become a dead place for lifeforms.

"The reason why I captured the Enterprise is that during the previous war, the Trisolarans caused a vibration in space, which woke me from slumber. I found a civilization entering the space age right beside me, and I urgently needed to understand intelligence about you. I happened to encounter the Enterprise in an appropriate position, so I captured it and gathered intelligence about humanity from the memories of its crew."

Jiang Yu thought for a moment and then said, "If I think of any questions, I will seek trade with you again—hoping we can enter a peaceful era."

"You are now in a weakened state, and humanity is very weak. We can confront the strike of the Dark Forest together."

Venus: The trade is possible, but you have to pay me first for the proceeds from our previous trade. After that, we can enter into a new agreement. As for facing the Dark Forest Strike together, you must realize that is impossible. We can only exchange with each other, get what the other wants, and ultimately go our separate ways."

Jiang Yu smiled, "That sounds pretty good too."

The negotiation ended there, with an initial compromise reached between the two parties.

After closing communication with Venus, Jiang Yu immediately classified their conversation as a top-secret file to be read and discussed only on a small scale within the Solar System State.

He promptly organized a team to study "aluminum," a mineral that had long been taken for granted.

Next was to deal with the disaster brought to Earth by the recent small-scale war.

Nowadays, Earth's crustal movements have essentially stopped, and volcanic eruptions and earthquakes have gradually ceased.

However, a large amount of volcanic ash entered the atmosphere, causing several days of night in many regions of Earth.

Climatologists believe that Earth will experience an overall temperature drop of three to five degrees Celsius because of this great disaster, and it might even welcome a minor ice age.

Luckily, humanity no longer depends on the whims of nature for survival, so even if a minor ice age arrives, the impact won't be too significant.

Although the casualties at PDC were quite extensive, the public was unaware of the inner workings of the conflict and thought it was merely a natural disaster. Their sudden silence and frequent disasters temporarily robbed them of the desire to express.

After returning to Earth, Jiang Yu quickly began the reconstruction efforts of the Solar System State.

Jiang Que, protected by Little Q, was unharmed. The little girl, now seven years old, was in the third grade of elementary school, which lasts only three years nowadays.

In her father's arms, Jiang Que narrated the terror of the natural disaster and how thrilling their experience had been.

Seeing that her father, while listening to her, turned his gaze to the sky and remained in that pose, still for a long time.

Jiang Que asked, "What are you looking at?"

"Not looking at anything," Jiang Yu smiled. "I am wondering if that strong light has been emitted yet? I wonder when it will arrive before our eyes."

Having temporarily stabilized Venus, Jiang Yu's attention returned to the distant Three-Body Star System.

Jiang Que scratched his head, "What strong light? Is it related to the war that just ended?"

Jiang Yu shook his head, "It's bad news, not directly related to the war that just ended."

…

The strong light Jiang Yu mentioned arrived at Earth four years later, seven years after the broadcast.

At that time, the Asian continent was in the nighttime, and suddenly a star emitting a blue light appeared in the sky, its brightness overshadowing all the other stars.

Its brightness rapidly increased, making the lights of the cities look dim by comparison.

Approximately two minutes later, this star's brightness peaked, brighter than the full moon, so brilliant that people couldn't look straight at it, and the light's color shifted from a ghostly blue to a ghastly white.

At this moment, people seemed to realize something.

In any case, Jiang Yu felt fear emanating from the cosmos. It seemed like a shudder hidden deep within living beings. Unless such a creature could also initiate such a disaster, it would be intimidated by one.

The brightness of the star, after peaking, gradually diminished, shifting from white to red, and about half an hour later, it completely went out.

This indeed was a piece of terrible news: the destroyed star was one of the stars in the Three-Body Star System!

The Trisolaran World had probably been destroyed three years after the broadcast—the Dark Forest Strike arrived faster than anyone had imagined!

Humanity was once again intimidated by the power of the Dark Forest Law!

Even the citizens of the Solar System State were so shocked that they lost their composure.

Fortunately, the Governing Council had contingency plans in place. Although public servants were also deeply shocked, they still stayed at their posts, maintaining social order and normal operations.

The citizens of PDC, who had just emerged from a disaster and started to question the Dark Forest Law, did not experience a worldwide panic.

However, according to the conclusions of the Solar System State Intelligence Department, the citizens of PDC were in a very strange state, as though waiting for something in a daze.

Jiang Yu believed that such a naive mood was worse than panic. For two centuries, the citizens of PDC had formed a subconscious consensus:

No matter how bad things get, there will always be someone to take care of them.

This belief nearly collapsed during the Great Migration Disaster, but a miracle happened on that darkest morning seven years ago.

So this time, they were also waiting for a miracle.

Three days later, Sophon invited Jiang Yu, Logic, and Cheng Xin for tea.

This immediately became an event that captured the attention of all humanity. Before heading to Sophon's place, Logic and Cheng Xin were both reminded by Cheng Ping, hoping they could bring back some information from Sophon to stabilize people's minds.

There were still many genuinely rational people in PDC, and Cheng Ping was one of them.

He knew well that the will of the PDC citizens was like a fragile thread. If the expected miracle did not happen, who knows, one day the thread might snap, leading to catastrophic consequences.