Chapter 239 Deterrence Center and Gathering

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Crisis Era Year 203. Earth, New Life Village No. 5.

Lin Sen, Logic, Rey Diaz, Shi Qiang, Shi Xiaoming… They were seated around a long table, a rare gathering for a meal.

The table was laden with delicious dishes, from the steaming stir-fried Chinese cuisine to the exquisite Western desserts, all available.

Of course, some of Lin Sen's familiar faces were missing.

Hines and Ding Yi were currently fully committed to mastering the Droplet Technology and the super-distance communication technology using high-dimensional space.

Feng Zi and Ye Chen were now the two most powerful people in the Solar System, too busy to attend.

The current New Life Village No. 5 might be the place with the strictest security on Earth, but the security personnel had little interference with the people inside.

After the doomsday war, Logic too had awakened his wife and daughter, who had then accompanied him for half a year.

The Trisolarans provided gravity wave broadcast technology, and humanity built the first gravity wave broadcaster in just six months, which was also called the Deterrence Center.

As with the original timeline, humanity deeply reflected on the concept of deterrence itself, giving birth to a new discipline: Deterrence Game Theory.

People quickly discovered a very depressing fact: if the control of the Dark Forest Deterrence lay in the hands of a large human collective, the degree of deterrence was nearly zero.

The Swordholder Project was executed just like in the original timeline, and Logic was appointed as the first Swordholder by the Permanent Defense Council six months earlier.

The war between humanity and the Trisolarans was far from over, and the Swordholder would become humanity's last line of defense.

The difference was that humanity did not place all its hopes on the Dark Forest Deterrence and the Swordholder.

Indeed, the Deterrence Center was the most solid fortress, but it didn't impose many restrictions on the Swordholder.

Even the human government had transformed the broadcasting center district into the look of Luo Ji's Wallfacer Manor.

Humanity did not need Logic to maintain a constant level of deterrence against the Trisolarans.

Logic was about to enter the Deterrence Center, and his wife Zhuang Yan would accompany him, spending his entire Swordholder career together.

At first, the human government refused this arrangement as it would greatly decrease Logic's degree of deterrence.

But Lin Sen believed that humanity now had the capability to confront the Trisolarans and the current peace would last a long time; humanity's deterrence against Trisolaris should come from humanity's true strength.

After Logic entered the Deterrence Center, the hardest part would not be deterring the Trisolarans, but how to judge that humanity had already lost!

Holding the keys to the life and death of two civilizations, how could he possibly press that button before the very last step? Any frontline failure could be a well-prepared trap.

But if it came to the last step, it might be too late.

On reflection, humanity realized they might have always been mistaken, constantly focusing on the nerve of the Dark Forest, and even overlooking the most basic logic.

Lin Sen once again proposed to build a Sophon Shielding Room for Logic; if he entered the Sophon Shielding Room several times a day, his degree of deterrence could dramatically increase.

Many things, when viewed from a different angle, reveal new discoveries and understandings.

The peace of humanity was won by the victory of war, not by deterrence, and the role of the Deterrence Center was completely different.

The Swordholder Project might not be as important as humanity had imagined; it was merely a safeguard.

In fact, the elite of humanity might have also realized that the higher Logic's degree of deterrence, the greater his authority would be if he were fixated on it.

If Logic maintained a deterrence level that was neither too high nor too low, it might be good for everyone; if humanity failed, then let Logic make his own choice.

Eventually, the human government also agreed with Zhuang Yan accompanying Logic to safeguard peace together.

Logic's daughter was just over one year old and could not accompany them to grow up in the Deterrence Center, which wouldn't be fair to her. The human government destroyed all her information.

She would be adopted as an orphan of war by an ordinary family, and she would have a complete life of her own. Including those covertly protecting her, fewer than ten people worldwide knew her true identity.

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The person secretly protecting her would regularly report her related information to Logic, and Logic and his wife could only silently accompany her as she grew.

Strict secrecy was necessary, the human government had to ensure that no one could threaten Logic with his daughter.

There was no need to worry about the Trisolarans leaking information because any human attempting to threaten Logic would surely do so to advance their own views, which would definitely relate to deterring the Trisolarans. Trisolarans would not do it unless they were fools.

Having the Sword of Damocles in Logic's hands was certainly better than in the hands of those people.

Believing such an outcome to be Logic's best destiny, Lin Sen did not want Logic to carry too much burden, to bear the weight of an entire civilization on his own shoulders, only to be discarded in the end. This Logic no longer existed on this timeline.

This was also Lin Sen's regret, which he finally could now make whole.

As for the problem of the deterrence level dropping, there has never been an exact theory for it; after all, the deterrence game is still mathematics and does not represent the human heart.

It's like handing over the control rights of a nuclear counter-strike during the Cold War phase of the 20th century to a twenty-five-year-old lieutenant who had just graduated from Fulong Grass Military Academy.

That is the best deterrence. If humanity really failed, whether the Swordholder would push the button would no longer be important.

Back to the present.

People's faces were filled with smiles, sharing amusing stories and memories with each other. Logic and Lin Sen revealed the foolish things they did in their youth, which made everyone roar with laughter.

Rey Diaz recalled the days when he had fought, a look of determination and sorrow flashing in his eyes.

Shi Qiang also remembered his former comrades-in-arms and everything from the Common Era. The bugs had never been defeated, and now they could face the Trisolarans head-on. Did he have any regrets now?

Now Shi Qiang had been appointed by the Permanent Defense Council as a liaison for the Wallfacers, returning to his old job, though he was also forced to learn many professional qualifications and skills.

The human government chose him mainly for his rich experience and keen insight—the skills could be trained, but that kind of insight was unlearnable.

Shi Xiaoming injected jokes and made everyone laugh.

Even though Shi Xiaoming was now a financial tycoon, he still missed the days when he was taught by his father. He had also married in this era, and his spouse had come from the hibernation of the Common Era Century.

Everyone seemed to deliberately avoid the topic of the deterrence center; after all, Logic would soon start his new life there.

Everyone knew that Logic was about to face a lonely and lengthy guardianship. Although there was one person to accompany him, by the time they would emerge, the world might well have completely changed.

Lin Sen thought it was about time, leaned back on the sofa, and patted Logic's shoulder casually, saying:

"Logic, I'm about to set off to meet the Trisolaran Interstellar Fleet's missing warship; I won't be attending your swearing-in as the Swordholder."

Logic: "When are you leaving?"

Lin Sen: "Command Headquarters sent a message, the fleet has completed its modification in Jupiter Orbit, and I'm leaving tomorrow."

Logic looked somewhat grave: "Is there any danger?"

Lin Sen: "I'll be careful. The chances of them attacking me aren't great, but the chances of successfully receiving them aren't high either."

Logic sat straight up, looking forward, and spoke earnestly: "They won't let anything happen to you; that's my promise."

This sentence was addressed to the Trisolarans—if they dared to harm Lin Sen, then Logic would become completely uncontrollable, and no one could know what he might do.

In terms of rationality, Logic would not launch retribution on two worlds over one person, which would be no different from a madman. But regardless, Logic's deterrence would surely rise above 99.

Lin Sen: "I go in peace, my purpose is to form an alliance with them. Although the likelihood is low, I'll give it a try, and it's okay if it fails.

"If we don't even attempt, how could we be content? I hope my next move can become a groundbreaking act for humanity and the Trisolarans.

"This warship is of great significance to us, I have to go.

"This Dark Forest might need our unity even more."