Chapter 298: Survival Should Not Be About Muddling Through, Civilization Must Strive for Freedom

Military Governor: "Your Excellency, this is not giving up."

"It's a matter of responsibility, someone must take charge!"

"The Trisolaran world is an extremely authoritarian society but under the influence of the human world, this autocratic society has become increasingly unstable."

"We once believed that by preventing the lower classes from gaining any information about the human world and controlling various thoughts, we could avoid upheaval in the Trisolaran world."

"But we oversimplified the problem. They only needed to know that there exist other civilizations to trigger an endless yearning and desire."

"Our blockade of human messages has only intensified their longing for the human world, which is worse than letting them understand the human world directly."

"Especially after these two failures where we lost the future of Trisolaris, this will only further exacerbate their extreme longing for the human world."

"They will develop a deeper hatred for our system. When such social sentiments accumulate to a certain degree, the greatest crisis of our world will come."

"I must take responsibility, attributing the failure of the war to individual command errors and provide the public with an outlet for their emotions."

"My past military commands were almost all under me and led by me. Initially, we envisioned that if the war went unfavorably, I could take full responsibility, and we would still need to resign from my position as Military Governor."

"The current situation is far more complex and severe than we initially imagined. The worst case we considered at that time was no more than that humanity had other means of broadcasting."

"You… as the Leader, are the soul and pillar of the Trisolaran civilization."

"You can't have any issues, Trisolaran civilization still needs you to continue leading. This is the last thing we can do for Trisolaris."

The Leader's heart surged with an indescribable sadness, like the endless cold of the universe. After 200 cycles of hard struggle, civilization faced unprecedented defeat just as it neared the dawn of victory.

The Trisolaran world was on the brink of collapse; humanity could strike again for at least half a century, and it was uncertain if the Trisolarans could hold on until that day.

The Leader's gaze pierced through the panorama window, staring at the profound and pitch-black night sky. Where was the path for Trisolarans? Where lay the direction for the salvation and redemption of Trisolaran civilization?

The Leader fell into an unusual silence, his deep eyes revealing an unspeakable heaviness and helplessness.

After a while, the Leader finally spoke slowly, his voice carrying a hint of fatigue and desolation:

"Today's Trisolaris is storm-tossed. The ship of Trisolaran civilization has sailed into the vast ocean alone, looking around, there is only boundless and treacherous waves. No one knows if there is really a shore beyond."

"Responsibility for a lost war… Ironically, we never had this concept in our history."

"Yet now we need it to maintain the stability of the political situation, which is indeed a lamentable thing."

"Since three centuries ago, when we received Ye Wenjie's greeting, everything changed. Our mode of survival has unknowingly changed, even our values and beliefs have shifted."

"The Military Governor is right; it's not about how much the lower class knows about human civilization. The appearance of human civilization is like opening a window in their hearts."

"They long for a ray of sunlight to shine through this window."

"We have always believed that pursuing freedom and beauty, love and enjoyment, democracy and wealth… these would weaken our civilization."

"But the reality is precisely that these supposedly fragile aspects of civilization change have demonstrated unprecedented resilience and vitality in human civilization."

"Perhaps, it's time we changed as well."

"Survival must not be about scraping by; civilization should strive for freedom."

"Our very survival, constantly fought to the utmost, is essentially about resisting the uncertainty of the universe, seeking that deepest freedom within our hearts."

"The Dark Forest has made us more lost; we have become accustomed to submission, accustomed to scraping by, as if only in such a way can we survive in this indifferent universe."

"A free Trisolaris ought to break away from the shackles of darkness, to throw off all the chains. Even if there is no path ahead, we must blaze our own trail with courage and wisdom."

"A free Trisolaris should possess unwavering conviction, unafraid of any challenge, and with endless exploration, pursue the freedom within."

"A free Trisolaris should take freedom as its faith, civilization as its mission, to brave the waves and forge ahead with determination. If this universe is a Dark Forest, then let us burn ourselves as a splendid firework in this darkness."

...

The Trisolarans looked at their leader with blazing eyes, as if a fierce flame had ignited in their hearts. The glimmer in their eyes was filled with a yearning for freedom and longing, as well as a steadfast belief in the future.

Crisis was also an opportunity, a chance for them to advance towards a higher civilization.

They intended to use their own hands to create a future for the Trisolarans, a future brimming with freedom and hope.

...

The leader finally said, "Military Governor, I agree to your request.

"We will immediately begin the selection process for the next Military Governor."

The joint meeting promptly commenced selecting the new Military Governor.

Within the Military Advisory Group, a newly promoted military adviser had foreseen the possibility of Humanity mastering gluon bullets and Sophon technology in his pre-war combat plans, and had formulated corresponding combat strategies.

Aside from the Absolute Defense which he had not anticipated, other human tactics and strategies were precisely predicted by him. His foresight had not been fully appreciated at the time, and it was even dismissed as unrealistic fantasy by some.

However, the reality unfolded just as he had predicted, proving his prescience. His accurate predictions of human tactics and technology displayed his extraordinary insight and vision.

It was precisely because of his deep insight and accurate forecasts that the leader specially appointed him as the new Military Governor.

In this solemn and oppressive atmosphere, the old Military Governor and the new Military Governor completed the transfer of power.

The handover of the Military Governor was far more complex and sensitive than that of the leader, because it involved the control and succession of the most powerful armed force of a civilization.

His silhouette gradually blurred in the eyes of the onlookers, much like the departure of the old leader, signifying the end of an era. This handover was not just a change of authority, but a major transformation of the Trisolaran civilization in the face of crisis and challenge.

Perhaps, at this critical moment, the Trisolaran world needed such a Military Governor, filled with innovative thinking and courage, to drive the Trisolaran world through a profound and necessary transformation.

At the same time as the handover of the Military Governor, the Trisolaran hierarchy also needed to decide how to disclose the news of the war's defeat to the general populace.

Originally, all Governors had thought to gradually disclose the news of the defeat to the general populace after completing a series of military deployments and preparations.

As for the feasibility of keeping the news under wraps, it was clearly lacking in substance. In the current Trisolaran world, people should focus more on the future path and direction.

However, the old Military Governor believed that it was only necessary to take control of some key military forces in order to announce the news of the defeat, with many of the key responsibilities for the defeat being taken on by the old Military Governor himself.

When this news spread among the populace, the entire Trisolaran world seemed to be shrouded in a blanket of silence.

They widened their eyes, listening incredulously to this shocking news as if the entire world had come to a standstill at that moment.

They had once placed boundless confidence and hope in the supplant built by the Trisolaran civilization, which they saw as the pride and unbeatable symbol of Trisolaran civilization.

But now, this fleet had suffered a devastating defeat in the Solar System. This left them feeling shocked and despondent, as if the whole world had been overturned in that moment.

What was even more unbelievable was that Humanity had managed to master the Sophon, The Waterdrop, and that critically important Absolute Defense Weapon, ultimately even capturing over a hundred of their warships. For the Trisolarans, this was an unimaginable massive blow.

Perhaps the Trisolarans might believe that there was no major fault at the tactical level in the Military Governor's command, the key issue was that human technological progress was too unforeseen.

But deep in their hearts, a nameless fury still rose, which was both an outcry against the injustice of fate and a helplessness at their own powerlessness.

Fearful and helpless, they were anxious that, given Humanity's current performance, the Trisolarans might soon have to fiercely resist a human invasion on the Trisolaran Star System, which gave them an unprecedented sense of pressure and anxiety.

Thus, the Trisolaran world experienced the first protest in its history, with an unprecedented scale.

In order to quell the discontent and anger among the populace, the old Military Governor decided to face the surging crowd in public.

In the vast square, the Trisolaran people seemed deaf to any sound; it was as if the world was silent. At some point, a Trisolaran picked up a pebble from the ground and threw it at the once leader.

This action spread rapidly among everyone, and they started picking up pebbles, hurling them towards the platform—each stone symbolizing their disappointment and rage.

The stones flew like raindrops, eventually almost burying the lifeless body of the old Military Governor, just like Rey Diaz in the original text.

With the fall of the last stone, the world seemed even more silent—what exactly had they done...