Chapter 293: Deceiving Oneself Again

```

(After completing this chapter, I found it too verbose and it can be skipped without affecting the plot.)

As The Waterdrop attacked the Trisolaran Warship, the Thunderstrike Ship continued to advance, cleverly weaving behind the attacked Trisolaran Warship like a dancer with plenty of skill to spare.

Positioning itself behind the Trisolaran Warship, the Thunderstrike Ship naturally employed its curvature propulsion to provide Absolute Defense for this hard-won warship, ensuring its safety against potential destruction by the Sophon Field from the trailing Trisolaran Warships.

On the battlefield, it may be easy to destroy a Trisolaran Warship, but taking it away safely is far from simple.

Subsequently, the Human Pulsar-class Warships immediately commenced separation maneuvers. The ship's body quickly disassembled, leaving only the bow section equipped with the Curvature Propulsion Defense Mechanism, discarding the rest of the ship.

At the same time, the bow of the Thunderstrike Ship also discarded its outer shell, revealing its uniquely structured interior. Rather than calling it the bow of the Thunderstrike Ship, it was now purely a Curvature Propulsion Defense Mechanism.

The Curvature Propulsion Defense Mechanism had ten protrusions made from strong interaction materials, each with a concave surface. Such a structure was indeed baffling, but humanity immediately provided an explanation.

Then, ten waterdrops flew to these protrusions, their frontal sections precisely fitting into the concaves, closely adhering to them. Upon contact, the tails of the waterdrops erupted with dazzling energy, unleashing the waterdrops' most powerful force, providing the Curvature Propulsion Defense Mechanism with a strong reverse thrust, allowing it to quickly decelerate and then accelerate in the opposite direction, and rapidly pursue the captured Trisolaran Warship.

It is important to note that the damaged Trisolaran Warship was traveling inertially forward at 10% the speed of light, while the Human Pulsar-class Warships were also coming head-on at 2% the speed of light towards the Trisolaran Warship.

The bow of the Human Pulsar-class Warship, that is, the Curvature Propulsion Defense Mechanism, had a relative speed of 12% with the Trisolaran Warship. With such a differential in velocity, catching up was not going to be easy.

If they did not reverse accelerate and pursue the first Trisolaran Warship, by the time the second ship from the Trisolaran Interstellar Fleet came from behind, the prepared Trisolaran Warship would inevitably be able to completely destroy both the Curvature Propulsion Defense Mechanism and the Trisolaran Warship that we had captured.

After all, humanity's second Thunderstrike Ship couldn't arrive that quickly to protect the captured Trisolaran Warship up front.

The strategic intent of the vanguard Trisolaran Interstellar Fleet's warship was to create a breakthrough, allowing the middle warships of the column to quickly escape. Therefore, the front Trisolaran Warships were actually attracting the Human Pulsar-class Warships' firepower on purpose, thus the intervals between the front Trisolaran Warships were rather large.

At this moment, the second warship of the Trisolaran column was nearly 6 million kilometers away from the lead ship, distance enough for the Curvature Propulsion Defense Mechanism to decelerate and reverse accelerate.

Through simple calculation, we can determine that the acceleration experienced by the Curvature Propulsion Defense Mechanism at this moment would be over ten thousand Gs. This figure was already very close to the acceleration experienced by a smoothbore cannon shell within the barrel.

Although a smoothbore cannon shell undergoes acceleration of several tens of thousands of Gs momentarily during launch, that extreme state usually lasts for just a few milliseconds. By comparison, the Curvature Propulsion Defense Mechanism had to endure the trial of over ten thousand Gs for 5 minutes, an ultimate challenge to its physical structure and material properties.

Under such acceleration, every component inside the Curvature Propulsion Defense Mechanism, every circuit, felt as though it was being relentlessly pulled and twisted. This extreme state of stress highlighted the strength and resilience of human technology.

...

```

What had happened seemed incredibly complex, yet in reality, it all took place in the blink of an eye.

At this moment, the Trisolarans finally snapped out of their shock and suddenly realized that Humanity's goal was to capture their warship.

Lin Sen's earlier proposal for the Trisolaran Warship to surrender was indeed a deception intended for the Trisolarans. Knowing that the Trisolarans would not easily surrender, Lin Sen had still insisted on persuasion, with the true purpose of causing the Trisolarans to misjudge the current situation, thereby overlooking Humanity's intentions.

Lin Sen's words were like a meticulously woven net, trapping the Trisolarans in a maze of thought. They deluded the Trisolarans into believing that the Human Pulsar-class Warships still relied on traditional sophon bullet weapons, when in fact, hidden within these seemingly ordinary ships were more than a dozen Waterdrops.

It was as if Lin Sen had seen their previous planning.

In fact, when the Trisolarans learned that Humanity had grasped Sophon Technology, strong interaction materials, and even obtained a deep understanding of curvature navigation and some unknown defense technology, they should have been able to astutely deduce that Humanity was capable of constructing Waterdrops.

However, Lin Sen's strategy had successfully confused the Trisolarans' judgment. His offer to negotiate surrender, even considering an 80-year blueprint for the Trisolarans, led the Trisolarans into intense internal debates.

This debate was Lin Sen's true aim, leaving the Trisolarans with no time to consider anything else.

Under this meticulously planned misdirection, the Trisolarans step by step fell into a trap, ultimately leading to the capture of their warship by Humanity without any chance of triggering a self-destruct.

Some might ask, why wasn't the Trisolaran Warship's self-destruction device controlled by an intelligent program that would activate upon sensing the warship was in danger?

The answer is much like why Humanity does not use intelligent programming to control the switch of Dark Forest Deterrence; while such programming can execute commands precisely, it cannot simulate the complex psychology and unpredictability that arise in the face of threats.

It must be said, the depth of Lin Sen's cunning and the precision of his calculations are indeed astounding. His mastery had reached its pinnacle, especially in deciphering an enemy's psyche and exploiting their weaknesses.

In this contest, the sole victim was the Trisolarans, who once again lost the future of their civilization. Lin Sen's cunning had once more demonstrated its unfathomable depth; every word he uttered, every action he took was rife with schemes.

When other Human forces glimpsed this scene on the battlefield through Sophons, they were all shaken. That breathtaking moment made them acutely aware of Lin Sen's intelligence and skill, and a sense of indescribable awe surged in their hearts, filled with genuine admiration for the abilities of this strategist.

Can Human calculations truly reach this degree?

To have such an individual as an adversary would likely mean being cunningly outmaneuvered to death, without even a chance to resist. They also came to a quiet resolution: whatever Lin Sen wished to do in the future, they would support him unconditionally.

Although Lin Sen was not a dictator, in a sense, he had already achieved a form of dictatorship over Human civilization. Like a brilliant star, he illuminated the path forward for Humanity. His wisdom, prestige, and influence had transcended the boundaries of nationalities, races, and beliefs to become a shared spiritual wealth for all of Humanity.