Chapter 157 Requesting Conversation with Trisolaran World_1

Several days later.

Lin Sen sat alone in an empty room for a few hours. At this moment, he slowly opened his eyes, which revealed neither joy nor sorrow.

His gaze seemed to penetrate the room, the atmospheric layer, and the distance of 4 light-years, looking towards the Trisolaran Joint Council Hall.

Because today, the fate of both human and Trisolaran civilizations would be decided.

"Wallfacer Lin Sen, requests dialogue with the Trisolaran world!

"Whether you acknowledge it or not, humanity possesses the qualification to converse with you. This qualification is not derived from the technological achievements of present-day humanity, which are of no consequence to you.

"It is because humanity has broken the shackles you placed upon human thought. The humanity of this era is incredibly powerful.

"You should have also foreseen that there will inevitably be a conflict between the Moon Base and the Earth Alliance.

"You should also be aware that, in order to maintain communication between Earth, the Moon, and Mars, we have built a large number of high-powered communication stations on the surface of the Earth, the Moon, and on various space stations and starports.

"However, you may not have realized that the maximum power output of these stations is now close to that of the Red Coast's transmitter.

"If we were to increase the input power in a short time, although the transmitters of these communication stations would burn out, they could still operate for a very short period in an overpowered state.

"What would happen if someone directed such a high-power communication station transmitter at the sun?

"The ultimate outcome of an Earth-Moon conflict could only be the complete annihilation of one side, regardless of the result of the war?

"Facing extinction, can you be certain that no one among those facing annihilation will comprehend the Dark Forest?

"Xiang Gaofeng's experience tells you that the Dark Forest is not some profound theory; its enlightened understanding does not demand much, even a middle school student can grasp it.

"The essence of such enlightenment is merely a conjecture. In the face of life and death, any straw will be grasped, even if it means mutual destruction.

"You should be able to calculate the probability of such an event occurring, do not doubt the tendency of Earthlings toward self-annihilation.

"Humanity's penchant for self-destruction is just as strong as the impulse for self-preservation.

"If you wish, you may continue to remain silent and leave everything to fate. But I would prefer that you respond to me.

"Silence will not protect you; what you face is a choice!

"You have ten minutes to consider!"

Having said this, Lin Sen closed his eyes.

Unlike the final confrontation between Logic and the Trisolaran world along the original timeline, Logic did not ask for negotiations but used his life as a bargaining chip, praying for survival.

Now, Lin Sen was different; this was a negotiation, but Lin Sen had few chips, and the deterrent effect of the plan was low. It all depended on how the Trisolarans would decide.

All of humanity's communication stations had their power limited below the threshold needed for solar amplification gain; PDC was in place to prevent any use of the solar amplification function.

Although humans did not know about the Dark Forest, this did not prevent them from being extremely cautious in their exploration of extraterrestrial civilizations.

...

In the Trisolaran world, in the Joint Council Hall.

Supreme Leader: "Science Governor, calculate immediately the probability of humans using the communication stations to direct transmissions at the sun."

Science Governor: "Lin Sen is correct, humans have a great tendency towards self-destruction.

"According to our models, the more they are in space, the more they face extinction, the more frequently they contemplate the universe, the easier it is for them to understand the Dark Forest.

"Taking into consideration all factors, during the final stages of the human Earth-Moon conflict, the probability that someone comprehends the Dark Forest and uses the communication stations to direct transmissions at the sun is 32%."

Supreme Leader: "This probability is too high, and it poses a significant risk to us.

"We must be cautious in our choices, but the risk of responding to Lin Sen may be even greater; he's too astute. We need to analyze Lin Sen's motives."

Military Governor: "I believe this is a sign of Lin Sen's desperation."

"We had previously calculated the development of the human-moon war, where Lin Sen would find himself in a dilemma."

"If the Moon Base were determined from the start to destroy all forces of the Earth Alliance and completely shatter humanity's path into space, namely the space elevator, it would achieve a blockade of Earth."

"Without the space elevator, humanity entering space would be like researching the microcosm by breaking through the Sophon blockade."

"In that case, the Moon Base would inevitably be the victor, but human overall strength would be greatly diminished."

"The Strategy Governor had previously analyzed Lin Sen's Island Plan, the purpose of which is for humanity to be reborn from the ashes and to adapt to and enter the Interstellar Era as soon as possible."

"To destroy all forces of the Earth Alliance would undoubtedly declare the Island Plan a total failure, and humans on the Moon Base clearly do not have the potential of those from the Earth Alliance."

"But if the Moon Base does not destroy all forces of the Earth Alliance from the beginning, and later allows the Human Alliance to break out of Earth, the Moon Base's destruction would be certain, and Lin Sen's fate would be sealed."

"Either way, it would spell Lin Sen's failure. I suspect that Lin Sen wants to cooperate with us, using this deterrence to make us submit, to help him through this difficulty."

Strategy Governor (No. 7): "Military Governor, your analysis is not accurate."

"There are three flaws here:"

"First, the Moon Base will not be annihilated; there is some deception in Lin Sen's words."

"Because of the Trisolaran crisis, as long as Lin Sen were to move towards the launch pad when the Moon is on the verge of defeat, and use the Dark Forest deterrence on us, we would be very likely to choose negotiations."

"Through this, deterrence for peace could also be formed with the Earth Alliance, a deterrence that would cause both us and humanity to hesitate. Therefore, Lin Sen is not on a path with no return."

"Second, if Lin Sen wants to deter us, to cooperate, he could simply use it directly; there is no need to stack it on top of the Earth-Moon war."

"There is no need to deploy so many high-power communication stations, of course, it could also be a mix of bluffs and realities intended to confuse us. Regarding this, I have another speculation, which I will try to verify later, and will not discuss for now."

"Third, Lin Sen should know that just with that kind of threat, we would not likely respond to him."

"In our view, the degree of threat from Lin Sen to us is greater than the risk of someone using high-power communication stations to broadcast our stellar coordinates."

"Lin Sen can threaten us at any time, while others merely possess that possibility. By comparison, we would more likely choose to let the Earth Alliance destroy Lin Sen."

"This is how we think, and Lin Sen should be able to guess that we think this way, so his real plan is definitely not like this."

Leader: "Your analysis is correct. So you mean we should refuse to respond, but the likelihood of the scenario Lin Sen described is also a great one."

"But Lin Sen is not wrong, the Earthlings of this era are incredibly 'strong', and are more likely to comprehend the Dark Forest theory."

"They have always been growing in the dark and their understanding of the darkness surpasses any previous era."

No. 7: "Indeed, Lin Sen is forcing us to respond to him. But I believe his purpose is certainly not limited to this; perhaps there are other goals."

Leader: "Elaborate."

No. 7: "Lin Sen is like a venomous snake; once we interact with him, he might have set traps for us in countless places, he is too dangerous."

"But danger and opportunity exist side by side, the serpent in the Bible is the bringer of wisdom to people, this might also be our chance for self-transformation."

"All the plans proposed by Lin Sen are about guiding in some ways, leading others to take the initiative to complete."

"Although there are many holes in what he said today, it clearly also expresses a willingness to cooperate."

"If he wants to cooperate with us, it means that there must also be reasons for us that would be difficult to refuse."

"Lin Sen would not undertake meaningless actions; we need to analyze what this irresistible reason might be?"

If No. 7 had the thinking of a human from Earth, they would certainly curse outright: How come it's so hard to just cover for Lin Sen, with nothing clear, don't they know we Trisolarans are not good at schemes?

Letting us guess about everything, you just shut your eyes and pretend, leaving me to rack my brain to find reasons for you, be reasonable!

Through his interaction with No. 7, Lin Sen realized that No. 7's cunning had reached the level of an adult, such analysis should be possible for No. 7 to accomplish.

Human beings often like to believe in the truths they have discovered, and so do the Trisolarans; the reasons they figure out themselves are the most convincing to them.