Those who face the wall, but are in the Nascent Soul stage.

Chapter 279 Shi Qiang
One week later, Antarctic hibernation base

"There are so many stars... it's fucking amazing." A familiar, slightly rough and hoarse voice rang out beside me.

Luo Ji didn't turn his head, but a slight smile curved his lips. "Comrade Shi Qiang, you're awake too?"

Shi Qiang walked a few steps to the railing and stood next to Luo Ji. He was also dressed in civilian clothes, though the size seemed a bit too big, making him appear somewhat stocky. He had a neat buzz cut, and the muscles in his face seemed a bit more muscular, but his eyes still held the scrutinizing and slightly reckless glint unique to criminal investigators. He habitually touched his pocket, then realized that smoking was strictly prohibited at the Antarctic hibernation base, and clicked his tongue somewhat resentfully.

“I woke up earlier than you. What do you think of this place?” Shi Qiang raised his chin and looked around at the enormous Antarctic hibernation base. Antarctica was currently in the polar night, and the sky was full of stars. However, most of these stars were orbiting cities and spaceships slowly traversing the night sky.

Luo Ji looked up at the starlight in the sky and said in a low voice, "It's like a dream. I never dared to think of something like this when I watched science fiction movies before."

Shi Qiang also said, "Science fiction films are not enough; we also need to include fantasy films."

“Yes,” Luo Ji said, his gaze still lingering on the starlight that symbolized human military power. He knew that those moving starlight were giant human ships. “Fleet International, Solar System Fleet. Nearly five thousand star-class warships and more than forty thousand planetary-class warships. I thought there would be warships two hundred years from now, but I didn’t expect there to be so many… and I certainly didn’t expect that these warships would be less effective than him alone.”

Luo Ji's tone carried a sense of detached observation, as if the scene was shrouded in an illusory canvas, making it impossible for him to immerse himself in it.

"The idea of ​​wielding Pluto on the battlefield is too authoritative," Shi Qiang sighed. "I woke up earlier than you and witnessed the scene. It was all over the news, everywhere. The CCTV news anchors were so excited they wanted to jump up. It was more exciting than any festival."

"I missed it; I watched a pre-recorded video," Luo Ji said with a wry smile.

"It's fine if it's pre-recorded. Actually, we can see that even without Luo Shenxian's intervention, the humans could win by ramming their warships multiple times. This is a victory, you don't have any objections, right?"

“No objection,” Luo Ji nodded. “An epic victory. Human civilization has proven its power in the universe.”

Luo Ji paused, his gaze sweeping over the staff on the platform who were excitedly chatting, oblivious to the stars in the sky. These people were already familiar with the starlight; they didn't care about it, but they certainly exuded a carefree confidence, chatting about trivial matters. "Look at them, Officer Shi. Everyone's full of confidence."

Shi Qiang followed his gaze and snorted. "Professor Luo, you've only been awake for a short time and your understanding of this world is insufficient. You'll understand once you come back to Beijing from Antarctica with me and stay for two months. You'll soon realize how arrogant modern people are. They seem to be getting too big for their britches."

Luo Ji's smile held a hint of relief: "It's understandable. After all, they just defeated an interstellar civilization that is far older and larger than ours. The confidence that comes with such a victory is explosive."

"I feel like there's something hidden in your words."

Luo Ji didn't answer directly. He pointed to the largest wall screen, which was displaying video content directly supplied by Fleet International. The video was showing news about how, inside the Devouring Ring, humanity, as the arbitrator, facilitated a peace talks between the Devouring Civilization and the glowing mushrooms, as well as news about some of the mushrooms entering the engine bays of warships and being incorporated into the Solar System Fleet to become interstellar Puji warriors.

"Look, humans have begun to intervene in the conflicts between the third race, and have even started to incorporate non-human warriors."

In addition, the live stream video, which was delayed by 6 hours, also had comments such as "Humanity's glory will live on forever!", "Solar System Fleet, guardians of the universe!", "Trisolarans, your doomsday has come!", and "Fleet party, that's enough."

Coupled with the video's rousing music, a new generation's fervent energy almost spilled out of the video itself.

Shi Qiang was puzzled.

"Da Shi, do you know what I did last before I went into hibernation?" Luo Ji's voice was very calm.

"I went to bed a year earlier than you, and I really have no idea what you were doing," Shi Qiang said casually. "The Wallfacer Project, well, it certainly wasn't just about living with Yan Yan. You were definitely out there playing mind games with the Trisolarans. Although I wasn't at a high enough level to know the details back then."

Luo Ji said, "I heard that Zhizi has been expelled from the solar system, so I should be able to say something about it too."

His voice deepened: "I've always been curious about the sociological structure of the universe. After waking up, I looked up the history of dinosaurs and managed to prove some of my judgments. Those glowing mushrooms and balloon fish were all preserved as spoils of war, and they just happened to encounter a powerful human civilization, and also happened to encounter Luo Qing, who could cultivate immortality... Both of them have high moral standards, but I think there are always things in the universe that are stronger than us and worse than us."

He paused, pointing to the confident crowd and the imposing fleet on the screen. "And now, look at this. The technological explosion and Luo Qing brought a leap in human power, but also... a simplistic mindset. They believe that a powerful fleet is the answer to all problems."

Shi Qiang corrected him, "That's called empiricism. Empiricism is the most correct before it goes wrong. It's not that humans think so, but that's the fact."

Luo Ji's tone carried a hint of worry, "What if there are civilizations stronger than us?" "Cosmic civilizations aren't like cabbages. There are only so many stars around our solar system; how could they all have civilizations? According to data on dinosaurs, most civilizations are like mushroom civilizations, Eridanus civilizations, or balloonfish civilizations—they can't even leave their home planets. Insufficient civilization potential... what's that called again?

"Fermi Paradox".

"Yes, that's the Fermi Paradox. There may be beings stronger than humans, but I don't believe there could be another individual in this universe wielding a planet as a weapon. Besides, those beings stronger than humans wouldn't bother with humans, would they? The Trisolarans had nowhere to live, the dinosaurs wanted to eat, but I don't believe every other civilization has such a reason."

Luo Ji changed the subject: "Let's not talk about this nonsense. Aren't you taking me back? Let's go."

One month later, in the Beijing Underground City.

The nuclear fusion sun emitted a low-power warm light, and the underground city still carried some residual warmth from the ground at dusk. The three men squatted on that familiar curb, staring blankly at the maglev flying cars flying back and forth in front of them.

The last time someone squatted in this spot was three other men: Luo Qing, Ding Yi, and Weide.

This time, however, it was Luo Ji, Shi Qiang, and Hines.

Hines approached Luo Ji after learning of his awakening, while Shi Qiang received a message from the United Government and was specifically assigned to protect Luo Ji.

The two wallfacers squatted on the curb, smoking and watching the cars passing by in the underground city, neither of them saying a word.

No modern people recognized them; apart from Luo Qing, the other Wallfacers were virtually unknown.

Unlike Luo Ji, who had just awakened, Hines had been awake for a long time, as had Shi Qiang.

Shi Qiang woke up two years earlier than Luo Ji.

This is largely thanks to his youngest son, Shi Xiaoming.

Two years ago, when humans and dinosaurs were fighting fiercely, Shi Xiaoming worried that his own father would not have a good life if humans lost. So he used all his connections to contact the Antarctic hibernation base and thawed Shi Qiang ahead of schedule.

The thawing was purely coincidental. Shi Xiaoming had some money, but he didn't yet have the means to extend his reach into Antarctica.

As Luo Ji's contact and protector, Shi Qiang was originally planned to be awakened ahead of schedule by the United Government, but the specific date had not been set. After Shi Qiang's son caused a ruckus, the United Government's unfreezing officer went along with it and allowed Shi Qiang to be unfrozen ahead of schedule.

In order to let his father enjoy the benefits of the new era, Shi Xiaoming even spent money to buy several high-priced sex dolls.

This is such a filial son.

Faced with his son, who was several years older than him, Shi Qiang couldn't resort to violence like he had two centuries ago. After cursing him a couple of times, he made his son return the sex dolls.

But Shi Qiang was soon very grateful that his youngest son had woken him up in advance.

The reason was simple: Shi Qiang witnessed a scene even more shocking than a hundred naked sex dolls piled up in the room.

Luo Qing, the Wallfacer, swung Pluto up after the Solar System Fleet's decisive battle with the Devouring Ring.

Shi Qiang, who had just been thawed, was dumbfounded.

This Luo Qing... if I remember correctly, Shi Qiang had 'saved' him, but that was two centuries ago.

Shi Qiang felt an absurd sense of disconnect, a feeling that didn't subside until several months later. In contrast, Luo Ji accepted reality much faster than he had expected.

(End of this chapter)