Chapter 511: Sophon Reappears_1
Chatting with Shi Mingwei, Jiang Yu always had a sense of déjà vu and the tone of an elder.
Shi Mingwei didn't find anything inappropriate about it, after all, the Wallfacer and his great-grandfather belonged to the same era.
Through casual conversation, Jiang Yu learned that Shi Mingwei's father had once hibernated for a while due to work. He was one of the first batch of technicians to migrate to the New Continent Star System.
It was only after arriving in the New Continent Star System that he married and had children, including Shi Mingwei.
Shi Mingwei was considered the first generation in the New Continent Star System, and he also had a sister and a brother.
Going back further, Shi Xiaoming's eldest son's descendants were now on Earth, once a junior official in the Wandering Earth project.
Brothers of vastly different ages participated in the last era's two grandest projects of the Solar System State.
Coming to the present, Shi Mingwei now worked in the logistics department of the Cao Yang Corps.
After chatting for over half an hour, Jiang Yu had a very good impression of Shi Mingwei. He wasn't as unpredictable as Shi Xiaoming, appearing to have inherited a bit of Shi Qiang's shrewd and capable style.
Without Shi Qiang's greasiness.
Jiang Yu then said, "The selection for the next generation of Wallfacer candidates is currently underway. You should take part in it!"
Shi Mingwei was mildly startled, then immediately replied, "Thank you for your guidance."
Such a selection spot was incredibly precious, and by rights, it shouldn't have been Shi Mingwei's turn. Jiang Yu's suggestion was akin to providing him with a backdoor.
If he passed the selection and became one of the candidates, even if he never got the chance to become a Wallfacer, this experience alone would pave the way for a limitless future.
...
Just like the Three-body crisis of yore, the Paradise crisis placed immense pressure on humanity. Under Jiang Yu's guidance, this pressure was completely transformed into motivation.
A new round of technological explosion unfolded at a visibly rapid pace, once again igniting humanity's potential.
The Shadow Project, planned to be implemented around the 30th year of the Galaxy, achieved significant breakthroughs by the 18th Year of the Galaxy and scheduled the first star-destroying experiment for September 16th of the 18th year.
In September, at the beginning of the 18th year, the attention of everyone in the Solar System State was focused on this experiment.
Everyone knew the experiment's success or failure had major implications for humanity's future.
It signified not just the smooth implementation of the Shadow Project but also that humanity had acquired preliminary capabilities for a Dark Forest Strike.
People on Earth, deep in space, were equally focused on this major event.
On the morning of the 15th, on the surface of Asia on Earth, the "Catcher" work platform.
The duty manager of the control center, Zhang Man, finished the day's maintenance work early and hurried back to the control room to watch the live broadcast of the final tuning of the super particle accelerator with his colleagues.
Although it was still working hours, their workload was not heavy. Since its completion, the "Catcher" system had never been engaged in actual combat.
In the live broadcast, the five-kilometer diameter acceleration ring moved slowly in the pitch-black space.
A nearby dwarf planet "slowly" passed below the acceleration ring, as if it too were just an ordinary spectator.
Wuu wuu wuu~
Just then, the alarm in the control room suddenly went off.
Zhang Man was stunned for a full second before, as duty manager, he came to his senses: "Deploy the 'Catcher', immediately enter combat-ready status!"
The "Catcher" system, the predecessor of which had been a device used by Jiang Yu to destroy a Sophon at the deterrent power handover ceremony between Logic and Cheng Xin, had been built.
In the following two centuries, according to Jiang Yu's instructions, vigilance against the Trisolarans could not be relaxed even in the slightest.
So, this set of equipment has been improved many times, and now the "Catcher" system has almost replaced the "Blind Zone" system.
On Earth, only three sets of "Catcher" systems are needed. For detectors like Sophon, as long as they appear within 30,000 kilometers of Earth, they can be captured and destroyed.
Moreover, the "Catcher" system consumes less energy in standby mode and has lower construction costs, making it a very reliable alternative to the "Blind Zone".
When the "Catcher" system was first built, there were as many as a hundred staff members in the control room. That busy period has long passed, and now, except for system maintenance or software upgrades, there are usually only a dozen people on duty.
This system is part of the Earth Corps, and all the staff here are professional soldiers.
With a command from Zhang Man, everyone immediately returned to their workstations.
The radar team reported first: "Duty officer, we have detected abnormal single proton activity, and we basically identify it as a Trisolaran Sophon intelligent computer!"
Although the presence of detectors similar to Sophon from other civilizations couldn't be ruled out, the most likely scenario was still a device from the Trisolarans.
Zhang Man swallowed hard, "Capture and destroy it immediately!"
"Yes! The 'Catcher' is deploying!"
In the cold surface of Earth, within the dark howling wind, a tall windmill-like structure was rapidly unfolding, turning into a net-shaped circular radar. This was the external structure of the "Catcher".
"Deployment successful, charging now!"
The external structure of the "Catcher" immediately flashed with purple sparks, completing the charging at the highest speed.
Standing behind everyone, Zhang Man glanced at the radar team, and the Sophon still had not left the attack range.
The Trisolarans probably thought that humans were still using the "Blind Zone" system for passive defense, which is why this Sophon dared to roam around Earth.
"Capturing now!"
The purple sparks from the external structure formed a fleeting flash of purple lightning in one direction.
"Capture successful, proceeding with destruction!"
The purple sparks from the external structure flared up, instantly melting the surrounding ice within several kilometers and burning the rocks into lime.
Especially on the dark surface of Earth, this enormous purple spark could be seen from hundreds of kilometers away.
"Three two one! Destruction successful!"
The radar display showed that the Sophon had been torn apart by electrons.
The operators applauded together, as this was the first successful application of the system since its construction.
Zhang Man had no time to celebrate; he immediately reported the situation. Less than a half-minute later, Zhuang Yue was informed and ordered the Earth Corps to enter into a level-one combat readiness state!
If the Trisolaran Sophon had come, then the Trisolaran fleet might not be far from here.
Shortly afterward, Zhuang Yue immediately reported the incident to Blue Maiden Star.
About a minute later, Jiang Yu authorized Zhuang Yue to assume the position of wartime commander, ready to fight the Trisolarans at any moment!
But until that evening, the Trisolaran fleet had not appeared within 1,600 astronomical units of Earth and the Moon.
Zhuang Yue had no choice but to adjust the level-one combat readiness state to level two; otherwise, their forces would collapse even before the enemy arrived.
Meanwhile, that same night, Zhuang Yue organized several scout fleets equipped with combat radar, preparing to form a radar network approximately six thousand astronomical units in size.
This was to detect the enemy from a farther distance so that the Earth Corps could have more preparation time.
Because the enemy had not been found for a long time, the people on Earth, in their tension, had the leisure to make some guesses: Did the Trisolarans do this on purpose? The day before the experiment of the super particle accelerator, did they send a Sophon to show off to humanity?