Chapter 31 You... Should Think More_1

By comparison, Lin Sen admired Zhang Beihai's father even more, a man whom even Chang Weisi couldn't see through, a man who spent 30 years cultivating Zhang Beihai, a man who saw everything clearly.

Zhang Beihai's father was one of the founders of the School of Future History, which was also the source of Zhang Beihai's unwavering will. The School of Future History almost prophesied everything about the future; it predicted the Great Ravine, the Second Thought Revolution and Technological Revolution, and it also predicted the inevitable failure of the Doomsday Battle,

Just as Zhang Beihai said, apart from the unforgivable error of dense formation in the Doomsday Battle, everything else was anticipated, which is why Zhang Beihai had a firm conviction to escape.

Apart from a deep conversation with his father during his father's final moments, Zhang Beihai always showed rebellion and disdain for his father, considering him a defeatist.

Here are the conversations between Father Zhang and Zhang Beihai, and the thoughts of Zhang Beihai:

"What should I do?" [Asking this question, my son, undoubtedly indicated the failure of my cultivation efforts over more than thirty years at the most critical moment. But please tell me, Dad, your son is not as strong as you think, just this once, I'm begging you to tell me.]

"You need to think more," his father said.

"What should I think about after that?" [Forgive me, Dad, if my previous question disappointed you, this time I've reverted to a child.]

"Beihai, I can only tell you that you need to think more about what comes before," his father replied.

[Thank you, Dad. You've made it very clear and my heart understands.]

Father Zhang was implying that Zhang Beihai should think more about the future of humanity. The School of Future History had prophesied the sure failure of the Doomsday Battle, and there was a need to leave a spark for humanity. What after leaving the spark? To think even more about the future beyond it, to step into the universe comes with a greater cost than you imagine.

Sometimes we can hardly believe that Father Zhang was the greatest man of that era. He knew nothing of cosmic sociology, and yet he might have glimpsed the essence of civilization. He didn't understand cosmic civilizations, but he had researched human civilization and social science to its very core.

He spent 30 years cultivating Zhang Beihai, whom no one could peer into, with the purpose of turning him into someone who could possibly succeed in the complex and perilous field of the navy.

The Trisolaran crisis turned the navy into the Space Force. To become someone who could potentially succeed in the Space Force was incredibly difficult; it was a domain untouched by anyone prior, and everything had to rely on oneself, bearing the responsibility for an entire civilization.

The final wish of Father Zhang might have been for the School of Future History to grow with Zhang Beihai. Zhang Beihai led the fleet in escape, facing the crisis of survival, sacrificing others became the only option. His will, which had been steadfast all his life, hesitated in the final moments, a human radiance that transcended divinity, even if it only shone for a fleeting moment.

The School of Future History disappeared into the vastness of history, but that serves to highlight the preciousness of the moment when the brilliance of humanity shone.

To learn the Dao in the morning and to die in the evening would be enough! For a moment, eternity!

The Trisolarans would also lament in the future, wondering why humanity learned about the Dark Forest universe so late. Evans might have been informed by the Trisolarans, Ye Wenjie might have deduced it from clues, but although Father Zhang didn't know about the Dark Forest, he understood the essence of civilization better than anyone else.

Even Father Zhang might have deduced the Dark Forest, but he could not let it be reflected in the School of Future History. In the end, he could only tell Zhang Beihai, "You need to think more about what you used to think."

After escaping, one faces the universe, must revere the universe, and dare to face its darkness, while also admiring those who confront it directly. One must dare to face the darkness in the human heart, which is not brighter than the universe. It is even darker and crueler!

Lin Sen could not show any interest in the School of Future History. The future he clearly understood was nothing but a God's-eye view. As it kept changing, the future was no longer familiar to him, and he would eventually lose his prophetic aura.

Whether humanity could triumph over the Trisolarans, and even if they did, could they still presage the future after the battle of doomsday? The answer is no; he needed the School of Future History.

Lin Sen always had an idea to combine space sociology with future historiography, paired with supercomputer simulation models, to create a new doctrine, the Future History of the Universe (similar to psychohistory founded by Seldon in "Foundation," where psychohistory is the prediction of a single civilization, whereas future history of the universe forecasts the fates of multiple civilizations). It would simulate the future progression of human civilization and other civilizations against the backdrop of the universe, requiring the tireless efforts of countless generations.

He hoped that the Future History of the Universe could illuminate a path for human civilization, though it would be a rough one. It is still fraught with bumps and could plunge into the abyss at any moment. All we can do is to press on first. Why should humanity assume it can survive indefinitely?

Seeing Zhang Beihai made Lin Sen very happy; he finally met the fifth Wallfacer, perhaps the only chance for a meeting. In the original timeline, when Zhang Beihai was closest to Logic, they were still over fifty kilometers apart—Zhang Beihai was by the sea, while Logic was flying to the PDC Wallfacer headquarters.

Logic and Zhang Beihai, these two greatest individuals—one walked two centuries with firm belief, preserving the seeds of civilization for humanity. The other faced a white wall in the depths of the Earth alone, deterring the Trisolarans for nearly 60 years, leaving peace for humanity.

Their meeting in this timeline was a thrill that had to be kept within the heart. How much he wished to leave them with a joint photo, settling one regret in Lin Sen's heart. But he could do nothing to show it; that would be too unfair to Zhang Beihai.

Fortunately, because of Logic's speech at the Wallfacer Conference, which directly affirmed the propulsion of spaceships without working mass, Zhang Beihai no longer had to risk assassinating the old-school astronauts. With the mass-less propulsion ships in service, there was no controversy as in the original timeline, no meteor assassination, and Zhang Beihai was not prematurely exposed to the Trisolarans. In the original timeline, it was the Trisolarans' disregard for him that gave him a chance for success; otherwise, there would have been no chance of success.

Lin Sen always believed that there were still too many great figures in this era, many people like Zhang Beihai who silently made their preparations, all betting on that one in ten thousand chance of success.

Zhang Beihai succeeded due to his luck. When he assassinated the old-school astronauts, the ETO thought he was a madman and did not intervene. Even when ETO's reputation soured, and they labeled someone evil, humanity would think of that someone as good. Proposing reinforcements for the future, ETO regarded him as an extreme obstinate resistor and triumphalist, harmless to them and, under superior orders, Zhang Beihai was still selected as a participant in the Reinforcement for the Future program.

If things had progressed normally, Zhang Beihai would not have been awakened. However, Shan Shanhui announced Hines's Wallfacer plan. It was possible that among the Space Force, there were those branded with Thoughtcontrol who might hijack a warship to escape. Because Zhang Beihai could not be branded with Thoughtcontrol, Fleet International appointed him and other hibernating military personnel as Executive Captain.

In the end, he hijacked the Natural Selection, heading toward a predetermined destination to begin the journey of escape.

"There are no eternal enemies or comrades, only eternal responsibility."

Zhang Beihai successfully preserved the seed of civilization from both the Trisolarans and Earthlings opposing escape, scattering it throughout the universe. Without Hines's Wallfacer plan, without all those coincidences, it would have been impossible for him to succeed.

How many elite humans like him are there, exactly? We are familiar with Rey Diaz, who had also begun preparations in the three years before the birth of the Wallfacer Project. Perhaps, had he not been chosen as a Wallfacer, the outcome of his plans might have been even greater.

In this era, how many such people are there, really? No one can say for sure; only that there are many, many.