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

Chapter 319 Ten Sparks (3k)

The *Natural Selection* is calling the *Asian Fleet*.

About six minutes after the pursuing fleet set sail.

An electromagnetic signal spanning 1500 million kilometers was emitted from the Natural Selection and received by the Solar System Fleet.

...

[Asian Fleet]: "The Asian Fleet has received your call. Please report your ship's status."

【Natural Selection】: "I am Captain Zhang Beihai, and I wish to speak directly with the Commander of the Asian Fleet."

[Voice communication established.]

Commander of the Asian Fleet: "I'm right here."

Zhang Beihai: "I take full responsibility for the ten warships that broke away from their course, namely Natural Selection, Wanhu, Infinite Frontier, Stardust, Lexington, Antarctica, Einstein, Foghorn, Aristotle, and Greece."

Commander of the Asian Fleet: "This pot is too big."

Zhang Beihai: "They were indeed misled by me."

Commander of the Asian Fleet: "Great, is this the appeal of 'our' military?"

The commander of the Asian Fleet emphasized the word "we".

Zhang Beihai: "..."

[Natural Selection] Communication interrupted.

Communication was restored after 7 seconds.

Zhang Beihai: "Chief, this has nothing to do with my status. I think you can understand what I'm doing."

Commander of the Asian Fleet: "I don't understand, and I don't want to talk to you. I want to talk to Captain Dongfang Yanxu."

Zhang Beihai: "I'm sorry, she is temporarily unable to speak to you."

Commander of the Asian Fleet: "Any casualties?"

Zhang Beihai: "Seven people sustained minor injuries, with no serious casualties."

Commander of the Asian Fleet: "What about the other defecting warships?"

Zhang Beihai: "I don't know, sir. I haven't established communication with them yet, but I think you may have used the wrong words. They are not defecting warships."

Commander of the Asian Fleet: "If it's not defection, then what is it? A group tour? Even if it's a tour, there's no need to fly in all directions."

Zhang Beihai: "Commander, you are very humorous. But I reiterate, the escape is a fact, but it is not a betrayal. Flying in all directions is just to maximize the survival rate."

Asian Fleet Commander: "Very good, increase survivability. Do you think the probes sent by the Trisolarans can easily destroy the Solar System Fleet?"

Zhang Beihai: "I didn't say that."

Commander of the Asian Fleet: "Zhang Beihai, I can tell you now that Dr. Ding Yi has begun studying the early-captured detector. It won't be long before we can pry open its outer shell without damaging its internal structure. Its outer shell is just some kind of special lightweight material, and it does not contain antimatter, so it does not have the capability of mass destruction."

Zhang Beihai: "I understand."

Commander of the Asian Fleet: "So you're still insisting on fleeing?"

Zhang Beihai: "Yes."

Commander of the Asian Fleet: "Luo Qingfei has come to find you."

Zhang Beihai's heart skipped a beat.

Commander of the Asian Fleet: "I'm just kidding. He still doesn't know what's going on here."

Zhang Beihai: "..."

Zhang Beihai: "Chief, regardless of Luo Qing's attitude, I have to do this. I acknowledge that his contributions to humanity are indelible, but I always believe that it is unreasonable to place all our hopes on one person, even if that person seems very powerful."

Commander of the Asian Fleet: "Existence is its own justification, and besides, humanity has not placed all its hopes on it. The Solar System Fleet is a force that humanity has developed itself."

Zhang Beihai: "But that's the reality. A powerful hero is leading humanity forward, but what if that hero disappears? I don't want everything to crumble like a castle in the air."

The commander of the Asian fleet said: "The Solar System Fleet is not a castle in the air. It is a powerful armed force that defeated the Devouring Empire. It has a speed that surpasses that of the Trisolaran fleet. Moreover, our scientists are accelerating the development of antimatter weapons technology and the application of four-dimensional space technology. Technologically, humanity will surpass the Trisolarans."

Zhang Beihai: "Yes, I have always believed that human technology will surpass that of the Trisolarans, but not now."

Commander of the Asian Fleet: "Why?"

Zhang Beihai: "The blockade against Zhizi was lifted too late. If Zhizi had disappeared fifty years earlier, I would have given up on my escape."

Commander of the Asian Fleet: "We still have two hundred years. Beihai, perhaps you can come back. I won't hold you responsible. I promised Commander Chang Weisi I would take care of you." Zhang Beihai: "I'm sorry."

Commander of the Asian Fleet: "I can't convince you, but someone else can. Someone will talk to you."

[New voice communication service has been launched]

came a familiar voice.

Zhang Zhaohua: "Beihai..."

Zhang Beihai was shocked: "Dad?!"

Zhang Zhaohua: "The signal isn't very good. We're 1500 million kilometers apart, no, 1600 million kilometers. The delay is a bit severe, so we won't video chat."

Zhang Beihai: "Dad...you're still alive?"

Zhang Zhaohua: "How strange! I practice longevity boxing with Luo Qing on TV every day, and occasionally go to the vicinity of the wall-facers' compound to get some fresh air. Isn't it only natural that I live a long life? Your superiors later sent someone to find me, hoping that I would hibernate. This is a requirement of the country, and I was too embarrassed to refuse. That's how I ended up here in a daze."

Zhang Beihai calmed down: "Dad, are you here to dissuade me?"

Zhang Zhaohua glanced at the room full of senior officials from the United Government, as well as the holographic projections of those Jupiter officials, and gave everyone a reassuring smile.
Zhang Zhaohua: "Why would I try to dissuade you? I'm just saying that if you've really decided to move forward, then no matter what happens, you have to keep moving forward and don't look back."

Inside the room, the officials' confident smiles froze instantly.

There was clearly some commotion at the other end of the communication line, and after a short while, control of the communication returned to the commander of the Asian fleet.

The commander of the Asian Fleet sounded somewhat helpless: "It seems this was a bad move. I have already emphasized that your thinking was likely influenced by the older generation, but unfortunately those self-righteous government officials did not think so. Now, your will is even stronger."

Zhang Beihai also calmed down: "Commander, my will is not influenced by my father, and I firmly believe that this is the right step."

Commander of the Asian Fleet: "Your thinking is indeed more stubborn than a steel stamp of thought. Who do you think can prove you right?"

Zhang Beihai: "History."

Commander of the Asian Fleet: "North Sea, this is not how the people's historical perspective is used."

Zhang Beihai realized a problem: as a fellow political cadre, he was unlikely to persuade this old commander, who had weathered two centuries of storms, through mere debate. He now suspected that this old commander not only knew Commander Chang Weisi, but might even know his own father. His father's hibernation might very well be related to this commander.

Zhang Beihai: "Commander, this is not just my personal opinion."

Commander of the Asian Fleet: "You mean the theories of the 'Future Historians' and the 'Luo Qing School,' right?"

The Luo Qing School and the Future History School are two schools of thought on social issues research from the early stages of the Crisis Era to the Great Depression. The Luo Qing School is different from the fanatical belief organizations that sprang up like mushrooms after the Pacific Exercise.

The Luo Qing School is committed to rational, objective, and factual evaluation and argumentation of the positive/negative impact of Luo Qing's emergence on human civilization, the subtle butterfly effect of his existence on human civilization, and even the merit/demerit evaluation of all of Luo Qing's actions.

After the great trough, due to Luo Qing's confrontation with the risk-takers and his methods of resurrecting the souls of deceased scientists, which far exceeded human imagination, the last group of people who insisted on objectively evaluating Luo Qing also chose to remain silent and stop speaking.

The Luoqing School eventually degenerated into a Luoqing worship organization similar to the Luoqing Cult, and ten years later, the Luoqing School also declared its extinction.

In the early days, the Future History School and the Luo Qing School shared commonalities. Some people were members of both schools, such as Dongfang Mingxi, the ancestor of Dongfang Yanxu, who was one of the main participants in the Luo Qing School.

Zhang Beihai also learned of the existence of this organization through Dongfang Mingxi.

Faced with the Asian Fleet Commander's questioning, Zhang Beihai did not deny it: "Yes, Commander, as early as two hundred years ago, the Future History School and the Luo Qing School had already reached similar conclusions. The Future History School believed that human civilization would develop in the direction he considered correct under the guidance of the immortal cultivator Luo Qing. But this development is fragile. Once separated from the Wallfacer Luo Qing, human civilization is very likely to fall back to its original state. Human civilization is a train moving forward, and its forward development should be based on the driving force of its own internal forces, not being dragged along by immortals. Human civilization possesses advanced technology, strong physique, and noble morality, but it lacks a matching level of thought, which is extremely dangerous. Both schools of thought have always believed that humanity should prepare for a situation where the Wallfacer Luo Qing does not exist. At least a backup and a spark should be kept in case of unforeseen circumstances."

Commander of the Asian Fleet: "You've made your point and convinced me. Now, can you explain the source of your doomed defeat mentality?"

Zhang Beihai: "I told you, the time it took for Zhizi to lift the blockade was too short, only five years. Yet, in just five years, the Solar System Fleet has already gained the confidence to defeat the Solar System Fleet of five years ago. Don't you understand what this means?"

Zhang Beihai: "The Trisolaran First Fleet set sail during our Cold War, which is four years after Ye Wenjie first sent a signal through the sun. In other words, the Trisolaran First Fleet decided on this expedition when it had no idea of ​​the location of the solar system and only had a general direction. At that time, mankind had just completed its first manned lunar landing, and the technological level difference between them was hundreds of years."

Zhang Beihai: "Now, 250 years have passed since the Cold War. For 200 of those years, humanity has stagnated under the technological blockade imposed by the Sophons. Therefore, the Trisolaran civilization's technological level should be at least 300 years ahead of humanity's. During this period, they even experienced an intellectual awakening and technological explosion, and launched their second fleet. I see no hope that this 300-year technological gap can be erased in a short time. As I said, before making any major decisions, I will assume that the Wallfacer Luo Qing does not exist. Therefore, based on the above premise, I have established the idea that humanity is destined to lose."

Commander of the Asian Fleet: "Even if, as you say, the Solar System Fleet and the Trisolaran Fleet still have a 300-year technological gap, we still have 200 years, don't we?"

Zhang Beihai: "It's not 200 years anymore. It's been 200 years since the Second Fleet was completed. We haven't even found the location of the Second Fleet yet."

Commander of the Asian Fleet: "Zhang Beihai, I have to tell you that Luo Qing, the Wallfacer, recently discovered the Trisolaran Second Fleet, which is 0.2 light-years away from the Trisolaran system, on the large ring telescope. Not only did they not fly towards Earth, they even stayed in place."

Zhang Beihai: "There's no difference, they're all the same. Besides, the telescope is observing footage from four years ago. Even if it has already set sail, we still can't see it."

The commander of the Asian fleet fell silent.

The commander of the Asian Fleet thought of many things, including the Second Fleet, the God Fleet, the Refugee Fleet, and news of more Trisolaran probes. He also thought of the nine probes that had been lost so far, and suddenly felt that Zhang Beihai's actions could be understood. Although the other party did not know this intelligence, he made what he believed to be the right choice before the intelligence was available.

This forward-thinking approach may indeed spark a flame on the grassland.

Commander of the Asian Fleet: "The pursuit fleet has set sail. Good luck."

Zhang Beihai: "Okay, thank you for not activating Jupiter's orbital defenses. If 'Natural Selection' is fortunate enough to successfully leave the solar system, I think I will contact you again."

(End of this chapter)