Chapter 328: Shui Wa's Return

```

Crisis Era, year 443.

After 70 years, the messenger spaceship of the Devouring Empire had quietly approached the Solar System, now only 5000 astronomical units away.

Shui Wa stood once again at such a distance, gazing at that eternal Sun in his heart, his emotions a complex mix. He did not know what he had brought to this stellar system, whether it was opportunity or a new crisis.

Shui Wa and his companions' feelings were complicated and apprehensive, both urgently longing to know the current state of the Solar System and fearing the potentially brutal outcome.

During this voyage, although they spent most of their time in hibernation, there was still a considerable amount of time spent living normally.

In this time, they even managed to explore and surmise the technology behind most of the structure of the messenger spaceship, not fully understanding why they were doing so, perhaps just "preparing" for some unfounded reason.

It was then that Big Tooth, raging with anger, found Shui Wa and the others. His face was etched with fury, as if everything he held dear had been ruthlessly destroyed.

"What the hell is going on? Did humanity erupt into a civil war after you left? They even laid hands on their own home planet, Earth. This is unforgivable!" Big Tooth's voice was filled with anger and incomprehension.

"I just used the giant telescope to observe the surface of Earth, and it is almost destroyed. The current Earth is like Hell itself, hardly a place where life can survive," said Big Tooth, his words revealing deep sorrow and heartache.

Big Tooth continued, "To inflict such vast destruction on Earth, human technology must have reached at least Level 1.1, they should still be in the Solar System.

"Those bastards, I will initiate the patrol mode to search all regions of the Solar System to see where they might be."

Frequent interaction with Shui Wa and his team had made Big Tooth's language habits highly similar to those of humans, like habitually referring to the third planet of the Solar System as Earth.

Big Tooth's complaints also implied a worrisome reality to Shui Wa and his team—their gravest fears had indeed come to pass, filling his heart with infinite regret. Had humanity finally failed to withstand the Trisolaran invasion?

Their hearts felt as if blocked by a massive stone, almost unable to breathe. Although they had accepted it internally, the harsh reality was still difficult to come to terms with when faced directly.

But Shui Wa did not know that humanity had long since overcome the Trisolarans and that human society was thriving.

In the Dark Forest, humans strove to conceal themselves, and many Space Cities were constructed in space. These Space Cities not only had their own propulsion systems, but their surfaces were also coated with exceptionally high-grade stealth materials.

The stealth capabilities were no different from those of Trisolaran interstellar warships. The cities even released their internal consumed energy as cosmic background radiation, making them very hard to detect, even at close range.

Of course, due to the immense size of the Space Cities, they could still be detected at close range using gravity wave surveillance technology.

After a while, Shui Wa and the others managed to pull themselves together and regain their spirits. It seemed their earlier loss of composure was due to the overwhelming shock of Earth's destruction, which they had a hard time accepting.

However, their hearts were anything but calm. Now, the only hope for humanity's revenge lay with the Swallower.

"Has Earth really been destroyed?" Shui Wa's voice trembled slightly, unable to accept this cruel truth, "It's unknown if any humans survived, or where they are now?"

"Mr. Big Tooth, our purpose in coming was to warn humanity in advance to evacuate Earth, but with Earth so severely damaged, its surface is unlikely to harbor any human life now.

"If the remaining humans are hiding elsewhere, should we still broadcast a message to the civilizations in the Solar System to announce our arrival?"

Big Tooth was silent for a moment, contemplating the suggestion. Although Earth was badly wounded, the remaining part was still fit for devouring.

```

However, he also had to consider the issue of war with human civilization.

If it was only a 0.9 or 1.0 civilization, Swallower, due to the huge technological gap, would not care about humanity.

But if human civilization might have entered 1.1, a critical watershed, it would mean they had begun to venture into the microscopic higher dimensions, not something to be easily dealt with.

Add to that the possibility of humanity preparing for several decades and potentially fighting back, they could cause certain damage to Swallower.

Moreover, if the envoy spaceship were to retreat, coming directly to the Solar System to devour Earth in another 30 years might be too late.

If the spaceship retreats, it must go through a process of deceleration and acceleration. Although Swallower possesses the technology to eliminate "Trailblazer," it's impossible to eliminate it completely; at such a close distance, humans would inevitably discover the spaceship.

This was a thorny problem that had to be carefully considered.

Swallower was extremely intelligent, their wisdom no less than that of humans. They preferred straightforwardness, and most of their thought was devoted to contemplating issues of consumption, hence they seemed artless.

But in fact, when it came to combat and strategy, Swallower also had exceptional abilities.

Big Tooth gazed intently at Shui Wa, his tone carrying an unquestionable resolve:

"Before that, I hope you can honestly tell us the real situation of the human world.

"From the beginning, I knew you were hiding something from us, but we did not care. Although we can control you and read your memories, we have refrained from doing so.

"You are special, and we do not wish to harm you.

"However, the situation is different now. You should not conceal any longer; I hope you can tell us the true situation."

Shui Wa understood that the intelligence on Trisolaris could not be concealed any longer, this day was bound to come, and now there was no point in hiding it.

Shui Wa sighed heavily and slowly began, "Indeed, we have concealed something from you.

"Do you remember when I inquired about Sophon?

"In fact, Sophon is not our invention or conception but the product of the Trisolaran Civilization.

"Before I left, human civilization faced the crisis of a Trisolaran invasion. Their civilization could not solve its own survival crisis and prepared to invade the Solar System, to build their new home within it.

"The Trisolarans are a civilization located in a three-star system between Sirius and Proxima Centauri, also the closest stellar system to The Sun."

Following that, Shui Wa narrated to Big Tooth the entirety of the Red Coast affair, the dispatching of Sophons by Trisolaris, the establishment of the Wallfacer Project by humanity, and even roughly described the deeds of each Wallfacer.

History always has its astonishing coincidences. As the Trisolarans prepared a voyage to find a new home, Ye Wenjie's message arrived, and the Trisolarans immediately set course for Earth.

As Swallower completed its consumption of Sky Garden and needed a new target, Shui Wa appeared as an envoy of humanity, and Swallower too immediately headed for Earth.