Chapter 48 Rey Diaz's New Mission_1

Lin Sen watched Tyler's retreating figure, seemingly eager. After breaking through the wall, Tyler seemed to have always been seeking an opportunity for redemption, or perhaps he just wanted an objective to strive for.

Using the study of micro and macro atoms to research dimensionality reduction, and even ultimately the Sophon Shielding Room, such a plan was directly disclosed to the Trisolarans. Ostensibly, this is a straightforward plot, the advantage of which is that it only requires the opponent to respond to the superficial aspect of the plan, without considering any deeper cunning it might contain.

This was also the illusion Lin Sen had always left with the Trisolarans, telling them his goal was to study the Sophon Shielding Room, so even if the Trisolarans lacked cunning, they would believe that the real objective was not the Sophon Shielding Room. But who could be sure that Lin Sen's true goal wasn't the Sophon Shielding Room? Those who are adept at using straightforward plots, their hidden plots are certainly more dangerous.

Sophons are the result of proton dimensionality reduction, and macro electrons (ball lightning) are the result of ordinary electron dimensionality reduction.

The dimension of microphysics is, in mathematical terms, the number of parameters used to describe the position and dynamics of microscopic particles, and physically, it manifests as the levels of distorted and wrinkled space. Dimensionality reduction is the process of smoothing out these distorted, wrinkled spaces, something we can't achieve, but nature has done it with ball lightning.

Ball lightning is a smoothed two-dimensional space that can pass through any material. However, it certainly cannot contain dimensionality-reduced sophons within it, meaning sophons cannot eavesdrop (a condition that requires reducing to below six dimensions) within ball lightning. Essentially, this is also the Sophon Shielding Room.

But the "sophon shielding" effect of ball lightning is limited and not exploitable—if it were useful, Tyler would certainly study it—instead, if an anti-macro electron were added to its exterior, forming a super-large, stable pair of macro atoms, a matter-antimatter pair would usually form rather than annihilate directly. The macro atoms were Lin Sen's only hope to explore dimensions or space after the sophons had blocked humans' attempts to explore the micro realm.

The topic of dimensions runs throughout the Trisolaris story line; the Solar System was reduced to two dimensions by the Singer civilization, the Human Fleeing Fleet used four-dimensional fragments to destroy and capture sophons, the universe went from a pastoral age of eleven dimensions down to the three dimensions we see today after a lengthy cosmic war.

In the Battle of Doomsday, the Trisolaran Droplets were able to make sharp-angle turns, something that's impossible in classical physics, but the Droplets did it. This can only indicate that it likely involved macro spatial transformations, or macro-dimensional control—sharp-angle turns are not possible with curvature propulsion either.

If the Droplets could be captured, then the future of human technology could achieve a complete breakthrough, but all these are matters for later on.

...

Lin Sen continued forward, approaching Rey Diaz, who was basking in the sun. Rey Diaz was naturally aware of Lin Sen, but he clearly didn't have much affection for him. To be precise, he held a grudge against Logic, but the duty of a Wallfacer is to hide oneself and not to show any real emotions.

His lapse at the Wallfacer conference was his last incompetence. Logic had essentially thwarted his plan, but he was a strong person and needed to think of other plans. He did not allow himself to lose.

Rey Diaz had come to Logic's estate also to seek tranquility for himself.

Rey Diaz knew that Tyler had effectively been broken through. In a certain sense, so had he. Tyler's breakthrough was overt; he had been too hasty, his plan was not intricate enough, too straightforward. However, having persevered after being broken through, Rey Diaz also admired the other party. When he thought about their past grievances, they now seemed to gradually blur with the passage of time, leaving behind perhaps only a mutual respect.

Sometimes, Rey Diaz would get caught in his own obsessions, wondering how he could have allowed himself to be broken through when his real plan hadn't even begun. He had never shown any interest in Mercury and had always been researching He Dan, but all of this was inexplicably blocked by Logic. His path was cut off, and he hadn't come up with any other methods in the past six months.

If he considered fleeing, Rey Diaz believed he had a way to do it, but his pride, born from building up a small country, would not allow him to be weak. A strong man must have the principles of a strong man; fleeing was not what he wanted.

What Rey Diaz wanted was to confront the Trisolarans head-on and make them feel his threat. What options were left for him to confront the Trisolarans directly? He really wanted to know Logic's plan, to understand the confidence that fueled his belief.

Lin Sen was the first to speak, "I'm sorry to disturb your peaceful life. How does it feel to abandon the Wallfacer's duties and enjoy this comfortable life?"

Rey Diaz replied with little emotion, "Can't you be more direct? Do you always have to beat around the bush? Just say it, what do you want?"

Lin Sen was rendered speechless, a bit helpless, "Controlled nuclear fusion now shows promise, and the space elevator project has already been launched. The era of mankind entering space is about to arrive. I would like you to lead the construction work of the Moon Base."

Rey Diaz kept his expression neutral but was inwardly surprised. Had controlled nuclear fusion and the space elevator project progressed so quickly? Logic had only established these two departments and they had already made breakthroughs.

His own Science Advisory Board had told him that it would take at least five to more than ten years to break through the first generation of controlled nuclear fusion. As for moving into space, that time frame was even more unpredictable. Building controlled nuclear fusion on the Moon was possible, but that would be a matter for the distant future.

The construction of the space elevator would take decades, the bottleneck being the production speed of nanomaterials. For the time being, the most efficient way to reach space remained the electromagnetic railgun.

But Rey Diaz instantly understood what Lin Sen meant by establishing a Moon Base and asked incisively, "Is it a Moon Base for humanity or for the Wallfacers?"

Lin Sen replied, "Oh? ... Is there a difference? Whichever it is, that would be humanity's hope!"

The Wallfacers were humanity's hope. The Moon Base should belong to the Wallfacers; future plans needed the Wallfacers to also have some authority. Tyler and Rey Diaz had also discussed the overt strategies of the PDC, but Rey Diaz understood these issues without needing Tyler to explain them. In fact, Rey Diaz even felt that there must be something hidden behind the Wallfacer Act; he just hadn't figured it out yet.

The talent that Logic had shown as a Wallfacer made him realize that Logic was not as simple as he had imagined. The Wallfacer Act could very well be a cover for Logic, after all, Logic was a target for Trisolaran assassination, and undoubtedly, there was something hidden behind him. He trusted his judgment and was willing to serve Logic's plans.

Rey Diaz concurred, "Indeed, it makes no difference; they are all humanity's hope!"

Lin Sen said, "General Chang Weisi has already gone to Africa to discuss the site selection for the space elevator. You can apply to him for some Space Force armed forces. This contingent will be under your command in the future, and I believe you also have some military force of your own. Gather them together, the Moon needs them."

Rey Diaz understood Lin Sen's intentions, but still had many doubts and hoped Lin Sen would reveal more, even though he knew he shouldn't ask further. "What scale is required for the Moon Base?" he continued.

Lin Sen replied, "The plan is quite massive; let's just get started for now. It's inconvenient to say too much at the moment. General Chang Weisi will support your work."

Rey Diaz seemed to have received the answer he wanted. Such people only needed a simple hint to understand everything you intended to do. The Moon Base of the future needed to be of an enormous scale, complete with its own research institutions and military base.

"Alright, I will build the Moon Base well. Since there's work to be done, I should be leaving. Ah... I'm a bit reluctant to leave this life behind," said Rey Diaz.

"Stay with us and celebrate the Spring Festival before you go!" Lin Sen urged.

"No, I knew from my first day here that this place is not for me. I should always be standing, not lying down; I've been lying down for nearly half a year now," Rey Diaz resolved.