Chapter 452: The Punishment for Cheng Xin is Still Valid_1

Cheng Xin's limbs still felt weak. In the weightless state, she "floated" inside the spaceship, unaffected by her legs' weakness, but she also couldn't make her way to the porthole to observe the outside:

"How close is the lightspeed ship to the Sun now?"

Jiang Yu shook his head with a smile and countered, "Gas giant planets like Jupiter, they can block the Dark Forest Strike from the lightspeed ship, right?"

Cheng Xin hesitated slightly, "In theory, yes."

Jiang Yu nodded and turned his back again to look out of the porthole, "You, and those fools from the Solar System Federation could think of this, so why can't the civilization that launched the Dark Forest Strike think of it?

How very arrogant of you! How did you come to believe that the whole universe revolves around you? That all the civilizations in the cosmos are not as smart as you?

Oh, that's right, you're different from them.

They knew that the cover world would most likely not survive the Dark Forest Strike, but to maintain their own rule, they had to delude themselves into believing that the cover world could withstand the attack.

Therefore, they secretly researched the curvature engine, just in case.

Only you naively thought that the cover world plan could avoid the Dark Forest Strike."

Cheng Xin's heart sank, "It's not the lightspeed ship strike?"

"Of course not!" Jiang Yu let out a long sigh, "It's the Two-dimensional foil."

"Two-dimensional foil? What is that?"

"Yun Tianming gave us a very clear hint, and I even went so far as to publicize the concept of dimensionality reduction, but you can't hear it!"

Yun Tianming's story flashed through Cheng Xin's mind, and suddenly the scene where people were drawn onto paper was firmly grasped by her thoughts, "Two... that's impossible!"

In Yun Tianming's fairy tale, the needle-eye painter had said something memorable: Even if they asked for a close-up of every hair and sweat gland for each person, I could draw it true to life without missing a single detail.

Later, descriptions such as "painted so vividly" appeared multiple times, and the interpreters at that time all noticed this, but they thought it was exaggerated.

No one expected that these descriptions, seemingly exaggerated, were in fact realistic!

Seeing the shocked look on Cheng Xin's face, Jiang Yu lamented, "I often suspect that Yun Tianming used you as a front.

It was to create the impression that you were his only concern in the human world, which would make the act of passing on information look reasonable."

He turned back to face Cheng Xin, "Many people have read the right answers from the story, yet you do not even have that understanding."

Ignoring Jiang Yu's sarcasm, Cheng Xin asked, "Is it confirmed? Is it really a Dimensional Reduction Strike?"

Jiang Yu waved his hand, and the computer on Galaxy III took the cue, bringing up the image of the Two-dimensional foil.

Cheng Xin looked at the thin strip of paper, incredulously turning to Jiang Yu.

"It looks quite harmless!" said Jiang Yu, frowning, "But now it's wrapped in a layer of gravitational field. Once the gravitational field evaporates completely, the Two-Dimensional Fragment in the middle will be exposed in three-dimensional space!

"I guarantee, you will witness that spectacle, and you will see humanity's plight under the Dimensional Reduction Strike!

"Then this spaceship will exile you!

"The verdict I made on you over half a century ago still stands."

Cheng Xin urgently said, "Solar System State, you, since you foresaw this, you must have a solution, right?"

"Correct! You know about the Wandering Earth Plan. Two years after you went into hibernation, the Solar System State began large-scale interstellar migration, and everyone from the Solar System State will be able to escape the Dimensional Reduction Strike!"

"What about the Solar System Federation? What should they do?"

Jiang Yu spread his hands, "This is the consequence of the choice you made that year, without lightspeed ships, none of them will escape.

"You must be pleased! I reckon the people of the Solar System Federation must also be thrilled because until the last moment, they did not abolish the anti-escapism laws they considered so precious.

"It's good to die together, no need to worry about who leaves first and who leaves last.

"Ah, such stupidity leaves one speechless!"

Cheng Xin stood petrified, and after a moment, she regained her composure and pleaded with Jiang Yu, "I'm begging you, try to take as many people as you can with you, okay?"

"I, I can stay behind, please use this spaceship to take as many people as possible!"

"Please..."

Jiang Yu said heartlessly, "It's too late, what were you doing earlier?"

"This spaceship can at most accommodate two or three people, who do you propose we let go?"

"I can tell you, just announcing that there's a lightspeed spaceship available for evacuation would lead to it being seized by various forces from the Solar System Federation, and in the end, no one would be able to escape."

"Their ostrich-like passive thinking assures that no one will escape, and no one can help them."

Jiang Yu paused, then continued to recite Cheng Xin's punishment: "You think it's over? Your choice all those years ago has caused far more harm to humanity than you can imagine."

"Research from the academy has discovered that on the curvature-driven trail, the fundamental parameters of photons have been altered."

"Of course, so far, the Solar System Federation has been under the impression that it's because the position of the trail, the structure of space has changed."

"But the actual situation is that the fundamental change in photons has triggered the change in space."

"In short, if the second curvature spaceship is placed within the trail range of the first spaceship, it would hardly be able to move."

"Inside the trail, the speed of light can be reduced to the 16.7 kilometers per second that the Solar System Federation can only dream of."

"The Dark Domain, it was created by the lightspeed spaceship!"

"If the Solar System Federation's lightspeed spaceships could have been developed early on, they would inevitably have divided into two factions, those who wanted to fly to the stars and those who wanted to live a comfortable life within the Dark Domain."

"The former would leave aboard the lightspeed spaceship, leaving behind the Dark Domain for the latter, each getting what they wanted."

"The path to survival for humanity has always been through the lightspeed spaceship, and that's the only true way out."

"Yun Tianming pointed out this path, but you blocked it."

Cheng Xin listened silently to Jiang Yu's words, surprised that she didn't cry, nor was she overwhelmed by sadness, but felt as if all her strength had been drained by some force.

She let herself float in a weightless state, and said with a bitter smile, "I've finally done something more terrifying than death.

"Twice I was in a position second only to God, and twice I pushed the world toward the abyss in the name of love, and this time there's no one to help me correct it, right?"

Jiang Yu replied off-topic, "Remember the advice I gave you when we first met?"

Cheng Xin sighed, how could she forget?

Now she truly regretted not heeding Jiang Yu's advice. She was just an ordinary researcher, so why did she arrogantly think she had the ability to protect the world?

Oh, probably since her Staircase Program was adopted by Weide, right?

Cheng Xin reflected that since that time, she seemed to have lost the understanding of her own abilities.

However, Jiang Yu said, "Weide was right all those years ago, the choice you made was the choice that the people of the Solar System Federation were all hoping for. To some extent, making that choice wasn't your fault."

"Your mistake is that you made the choice only from your own perspective, without the ability to make choices for humanity, yet you refused to let go of the power to choose. That is unforgivable."

Cheng Xin's face turned ashen.

With a cruel smile, Jiang Yu said, "Alright, let's proceed with your torture. Compared to humanity's loss, your feelings are truly insignificant!

"But everyone must take responsibility for their choices, and since you made that choice back then, you have to accept the punishment now!"

It seemed as if Jiang Yu was about to leave, but then he seemed to suddenly recall something, "Oh yes, Galaxy III will be watching you, don't think about committing suicide."

"Once you leave the Solar System and fulfill the agreement I made with Yun Tianming, you can do whatever you want, but you cannot die within the Solar System."

"Oh, another thing, Weide sacrificed himself, he died defending the dignity of humanity, and his death was great!"

Jiang Yu's figure disappeared; it turned out the conversation had been via a hologram all along.

Cheng Xin was engulfed in prolonged silence, filled with self-reproach and deep sorrow!