Chapter 285: Trisolaris Again Faces a Choice

When Bunker's outer defenses were breached, four hundred Human special warships shot out like arrows released from their bows, accelerating to their maximum speed. They dashed out from under the protection of Bunker at speeds that even reached three-thousandths of the speed of light, and their velocity was still rapidly increasing.

On the surface, these warships seemed to be scattering in all directions, as if they were merely fleeing the Bunker area. However, upon closer observation, it was apparent that their target directions were actually orderly and clear.

With slight adjustments, they could position themselves in the potential escape paths of the Trisolaran warships. It appeared they were not escaping, but executing an interception mission.

If the Trisolaran warships intended to withdraw, decelerating in a straight line before accelerating in the opposite direction was not only risky but also inefficient – clearly not a wise choice. A more rational strategy would be to adjust the flight path and adopt a sort of parabolic trajectory, gradually moving away from the center of the battlefield in a curved path to select a safe direction for retreat.

However, the Trisolarans had not yet realized the potential threat posed by these special warships. Their attention was still caught by the shocking fact that Humanity had successfully replicated Sophons, a truth so unimaginable they couldn't yet accept it.

At the start of the war, the Trisolarans had destroyed all human superluminal communication devices, precisely to prevent Humanity from detecting the onset of the attack in time, thus depriving them of the chance to react more promptly.

If Humanity possessed Sophons, such strategy would be meaningless – the moment the Trisolarans began their attack on the periphery of the Solar System, Humanity had already been informed, and even had more than four hours to respond.

Humanity's counter-strategy had been to play along with the plan, allowing the war to unfold seemingly exactly as the Trisolarans had anticipated.

However, this very act further revealed that Humanity had deeper schemes in play. What made the Trisolarans feel even more defeated was that they had now realized they were destined to fail in this war, yet had no idea where their defeat would come from.

In terms of the current military force comparison, the Trisolarans still maintained overwhelming superiority. As for the four hundred Human warships that had broken out, the Trisolarans had not yet considered them a real threat, and their sense of military superiority was still firmly intact.

Even No. 7 was close to breaking down. Based on the previous layout by Humanity, there must be some grand conspiracy brewing, but he had no knowledge of what the conspiracy was, let alone how to thwart Humanity's plot. Surely Humanity didn't intend to completely destroy their own 1200 super warships?

...

Trisolaran World, Combat Command Hall.

The Military Governor was filled with anxiety and anger, "What exactly is Humanity's plan? Why would they allow us to attack all broadcasting centers and superluminal communication devices? What ulterior motive could they possibly have hidden behind this?

"This war is truly frustrating; all our moves have been anticipated by the enemy, yet we can't even figure out their real purpose."

The Science Governor also fell into an inescapable predicament: "It's unbelievable. What kind of trump card could Humanity possibly have that makes them believe they can confront our super warships?

"Any form of human defense would disintegrate into cosmic dust under the onslaught of the Sophon Field. I cannot think of any technology capable of blocking it, and according to our theoretical prediction models, there is no possibility of blocking a Sophon Field attack in theory.

"By all accounts, Humanity seems destined to fail. Despite having countless opportunities to reestablish the Dark Forest Deterrence, why have they chosen not to do so?"

The Strategy Governor pondered before speaking: "Is there a possibility that everything we're witnessing is just an elaborate play directed by Lin Sen?

"The Giant Ring Accelerator might not actually be used to create Sophons but could be a conventional facility for human research into high-energy particles.

"Lin Sen perhaps hopes to intimidate us through it, after all, we haven't obtained definitive evidence that Humanity possesses Sophons.

"I just performed a close-range probe using a Sophon, and found that its core components were all covered by the Sophon shielding field, so we cannot ascertain whether it's truly used for two-dimensional proton unfolding.

"Furthermore, its design is highly similar to that of our Giant Ring Accelerator; I suspect that humanity may have constructed it based on the appearance from the Trisolaris game, which seems a bit too deliberate.

"Additionally, the tens of thousands of Strong-Interaction Erosion Ships are mostly within the Sophon Field, with only a few devices outside. They do indeed possess the capability of strong-interaction erosion, but that is also something humanity can do now.

"I suspect that the tens of thousands of Etching Ships within the Sophon Field are all fake; they are merely a ruse intended to stage an empty fort strategy, to deter us and force us to retreat.

"In conclusion, this is what I believe to be the most logical conjecture."

The Military Governor said to the Strategy Governor, "Your deduction is indeed the most logical, but Lin Sen has never been someone whose actions can be predicted by common sense or logic.

"When all the evidence indicates that he has no cards left to play, that might precisely be the moment he reveals his biggest trump card. Sometimes, he even shows us his cards openly, and we still don't believe those are his true cards."

The Supreme Commander stopped the discussion, speaking gravely, "Continuing this discussion is unnecessary; our primary task at the moment is to make a decision.

"Do we choose to continue clashing with humanity or decisively end this war and choose to retreat?"

The Military Governor said helplessly, "Although from any perspective, I am extremely reluctant to choose retreat, psychologically, I think we must withdraw. If we delay, it might be too late; Lin Sen cannot be estimated using common sense."

The Science Governor said, "I feel as if I've been branded by thoughtcontrol; all my knowledge tells me that the people have no means to resist us, but the Thoughtcontrol is forcing us to choose retreat.

"I even suspect that our current hesitation is precisely what Lin Sen has deliberately led us to, the goal still being for his hidden ploy."

The Strategy Governor firmly stated, "In my view, this is nothing more than Lin Sen's bluff; he cannot truly defeat us.

"What we need to overcome is our inner fear of Lin Sen and our excessive worries. Although Lin Sen has defeated us before, it does not mean he will always win. I don't believe that in the face of absolute power, Lin Sen can forever defeat us.

"We should discard these unnecessary persecution delusions and view the current situation rationally, otherwise, we will never be able to defeat humanity."

No. 7's heart was also in a great struggle, Lin Sen had certainly presented him with a difficult dilemma; no matter which choice he made, it felt like a loss.

If he followed his instinct, that would be to choose retreat, but that might mean missing the last chance to completely defeat humanity;

If he followed reason, that would be to continue the struggle, which might lead him into a trap carefully laid by humans, facing great risks.

In this moment, the choice facing No. 7 seemed to echo the dilemma the old Supreme Commander had faced during the battle on doomsday, again finding himself in a life-or-death decision.

The very nature of the Trisolarans is to forge ahead without retreating. Yet, the current situation forced him to contemplate the option of retreat.

And the final decision No. 7 made was to retreat during the attack; yes, No. 7 was prepared to retreat. He knew that if Lin Sen dared to lure the Trisolarans into attacking, he must have a hidden ace up his sleeve to deal with the Trisolarans.

The old Supreme Commander had been tricked once; he must not make the same mistake again.

Attacking while retreating was actually not a viable tactic, for it would extend the time required to retreat, and attacking humanity's conventional forces at this moment really wasn't very meaningful anymore.

But at this time, No. 7 had no choice!