Chapter 355: Fleeing the Trisolaran Star System

The warships of the Mountain Civilization did not fire the kind of Sophons familiar to humanity, but rather each beam contained trillions of special "cheap Sophons."

The Mountain Civilization had mastered the technology of broad dimensionality reduction control of protons in the first few dimensions, which was fully applied in their warships.

In their warships, protons were first accelerated in an accelerator, and after reaching certain conditions, they were transported into the huge spheres in front of the warships.

There, a large number of protons were controlled and drawn down from the 11th dimension to the 8th. At this dimension, the size of the protons expanded to the nanoscale.

This enabled the Mountain Civilization to use their unique "lithography" technology to precisely etch simple control module circuits and charging functions onto these tiny "protons."

At this moment, the "cheap Sophons" of the Mountain Civilization were completed—the giant sphere was actually a cheap Sophon factory.

Afterward, these Sophons would be raised back up to the 11th-dimensional space, and by utilizing the entanglement properties between Sophons, the Mountain Civilization was able to achieve simple yet effective control over their direction of travel.

These cheap Sophons did not have the ability to monitor the outside world; they relied on standard Sophons to guide them.

At the same time, these trillions of cheap Sophons were also in an entangled state, with a single standard Sophon able to control the entire Sophon beam from the outside.

Furthermore, the array of these trillions of Sophons did not just form a simple straight line. If it were a straight line, each Sophon absorbing vacuum zero-point energy would leave behind an energy void affecting the Sophons behind it.

In fact, they formed a complex multi-layered array surface structure, which was key to their indomitable energy.

It was this unique structure that enabled the warships of the Mountain Civilization to destroy Neutron Star Warships with these Sophon beams. Otherwise, under such high energy, they could easily form micro black holes.

Perhaps only at this moment, did humanity realize why there are so many Sophon blind zones in interstellar space.

If high-energy Sophon beams were used as a routine weapon, their power on the interstellar battlefield would be incalculable.

Imagine, the enemy could launch an attack from hundreds or even thousands of astronomical units away. Not only does this attack have precise navigational capabilities and can reach its target directly, but its immense power could destroy any defense system.

In the face of such a weapon, any civilization would find it difficult to remain calm and restrained because resistance seems so powerless against such a formidable method of attack.

Therefore, as the best defensive measure, creating a widespread Sophon blind zone becomes particularly necessary. Sophon-blocked zones can not only sever the connection between standard Sophons and high-energy Sophon beams but also cause Sophon beams to lose their entanglement with one another, rendering such beams useless.

The reason for so many detectable Sophon blind zones may be that these places were once the battlefields of civilizations, or where civilizations once existed.

Behind each blind zone could lie a tragic history and endless lamentations. These blind zones are not only scars in interstellar space but also testimony to the conflicts and confrontations between civilizations.

...

The Mountain Civilization's Pioneer Fleet Command Center.

The Commander of the Fleet gazed at the Trisolaran Sophon, his tone filled with emotion, "Humanity, truly a civilization to be awed by!

"Even when their technology was blocked by your Sophons, they were still able to rise in rebellion, even pushing you to the brink of extinction. Such tenacity and wisdom are indeed rare."

He paused, then continued, "Our central intelligence kernel, combined with the human thinking model you provided, has computed and simulated.

"The results show that at least after destroying 200 human Neutron Star Warships, they might have discovered the secret of the High-Energy Particle Beams.

"Yet, in an almost suicidal manner, humans managed to probe the secret of these beams after only losing 9 warships, which is simply unbelievable.

"Human Civilization may have undergone a monumental transformation.

"Even we, a Silicon-based Civilization, cannot have our members willingly engage in such a brutal war.

"Without the most forceful and severe orders, our members would never choose such a path.

"Yet, human warships, without any orders, unanimously chose this path full of sacrifices. This is the greatness of humanity."

The subtitle read: [Perhaps our research on the human thinking model is still centuries behind, and the data and theories from that time can no longer fully reflect the present-day humans, who have completely changed.

The resilience of humanity may not be as strong as ours, yet in strategic ingenuity and the spirit to confront crises, they have doubtlessly shown a strength far surpassing us.

They can find hope in hopeless situations and plan counterattacks amidst adversity, capabilities beyond our reach.

This is something we must acknowledge and deeply contemplate.]

The Commander then said, "Humans have already uncovered the secret of the High-Energy Sophon Beam; they even calculated the minimum turn radius of the Sophon Beam.

"This means that the upcoming war will no longer be a simple confrontation of weapons, but a contest of computing power."

"High-Energy Sophon Beams will select the optimal route to attack the human warships, acting like intelligent hunters, seeking out the human warships' weaknesses, to deliver the most lethal blow."

"The computing power of our central intelligence core is far superior to that of humanity's, which is our greatest advantage. At the same time, they will learn our attack patterns and explore new plans, so we must not become complacent."

"Furthermore, our second wave of High-Energy Sophon Beams will arrive in two hours, initially targeting the standard human warships."

"But now, if I am not mistaken, the standard human warships will also swiftly withdraw from the battlefield, rendering this second wave perhaps less effective."

"Within the Trisolaran Star System, we are aware of the distribution of the Sophon Blind Zones, but in the vast reaches of interstellar space, we can only rely on the mini probes sent out earlier to detect the specific locations of the Sophon Blind Zones."

"If the human warships start fleeing now and continue to deploy new Sophon Blind Zones, then in areas not yet reached by our mini probes, the High-Energy Sophon Beams dare not pursue too closely."

"On one hand, this is because once we enter a Sophon Blind Zone, our Sophon Beams will lose direction and can no longer be controlled."

"On the other hand, if we pursue too closely, there is also a certain probability that they will activate faster-than-light travel."

"Given the current situation, we estimate that humanity can escape with about 8,000 warships."

Caption:[This is also an unavoidable circumstance, humanity has never been easy to deal with.

Their intelligence, courage, resilience, creativity, and adaptability always manage to create astonishing miracles at the most critical moments.

In dealing with humanity, we must first abandon conclusions overly reliant on computational models.

Their existence and behavior are always full of uncertainties, constantly challenging our predictions and computational models.

We must remain vigilant, ready to respond to sudden changes, and adapt continuously to their strategies and actions.

Subjugating human civilization will certainly not be easy; this is not only a contest of the strength of civilizations but also a contest of intelligence, courage, resilience, and creativity.]

Commander of the Mountain Civilization's Fleet: "The Mountain Civilization has weathered many storms along its path and has never regarded any challenge as insurmountable.

"Human intelligence and cunning are inexhaustible treasures. If needed, we will learn from them, master them, and integrate this precious wisdom into our civilization.

"If cunning is a mountain, then we, the Mountain Civilization, can also climb and surpass it.

"On this journey, what we believe in is the equal importance of strength and strategy, not fearing hardships, not shying from challenges.

"As high as the mountains, as deep as the clouds, where my heart longs to be, there lies only climbing and surpassing, continuously challenging ourselves.

"Even if we fall at the feet of humanity, the footsteps of our ascent will not stop. I believe, someone will inherit our beliefs and continue moving forward until we reach our goal.

"Besides, we have many more advantages compared to humanity; in facing their challenges, our confidence and strength put the advantage in our hands!"

Upon hearing this, No. 7 almost took a tumble. Commander, er, President, please rein in your divine powers! Otherwise, we might have to switch to a different partner.

…

Meanwhile, the Expedition Fleet received an urgent order from the Solar System Alliance. The order demanded that they immediately abandon their annihilation campaign against the Trisolaran Civilization and, against all odds, flee the star system at full speed to return to the Solar System.

During the retreat, the Fleet was authorized to freely choose their return path. It was advised to first head towards the Sirius Star System to put a distance between themselves and the Trisolaran Star System, then take a detour back to the Solar System.

They were to gather as much specific intel about unknown civilizations as possible, based on their situation, and if necessary, they could also use faster-than-light travel, having been granted the activation key.

By this moment, humanity had also essentially identified the direction from which the unknown civilization originated—it was Ross 154, also known as V1216 Sagittarii.

This place might also have given birth to a remarkable civilization; many of humanity's sci-fi works have imagined a powerful civilization existing here. Now, fiction has reflected reality, and humanity is about to face a truly remarkable civilization.

Humanity will use the next twenty-plus years to prepare thoroughly for war and meet the unknown civilization in the Oort Cloud.

The decision-making of the Solar System Alliance Command Headquarters demonstrated extreme efficiency and decisiveness. Although the Expedition Fleet's utmost strategic value lay in probing the unknown civilization and acquiring more intel.

But value is never calculated in such a way; the Expedition Fleet is not just a military force but also the embodiment of the convictions of all of Humanity's Space Force.

If the Expedition Fleet were to be destroyed, the spiritual damage to humanity would be too great; after all, humanity is not like the Silicon-based Civilization or the Trisolarans, incapable of coldly ignoring everything in pursuit of "rational" choices.

Upon receiving the clear withdrawal command, the Human Warship fleet rapidly responded. Including the 800 Neutron Star Warships, almost all of them activated at full power, turned course, and sped towards the Sirius Star System, rapidly putting distance between themselves and the Trisolaran Star System.