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

Chapter 401 One effort, then a decline, then exhaustion (4k)

On the surface of Beijing, in the new five-district development.

On the light rail tram, the outside is filled with new buildings of various shapes, and the transparent cabin reflects the flowing clouds in the sky, but the inside of the carriage is devoid of any vitality.

Shi Qiang leaned back in his chair, his rough fingers rubbing the two bottles of liquor he was carrying. Although he was a government employee, he was still doing his old job as a criminal investigator, only the cases these days were getting weirder and weirder.

He had more contact with people at the bottom of society and was more sensitive to the problems that were emerging in the current social sentiment.

Some questions that are hard to explain.

Look, it's not even been a month since New Year's Day, and he already has more cases of group sex than he did in the entire previous year. Those young people are naked and crammed into abandoned underground passages, their eyes vacant as if they've lost their souls.

When asked why they insisted on engaging in such lewd behavior, they were all speechless, like quails, their mental state resembling that of someone on drugs.

It's as if all of humanity is severely sexually repressed.

But Shi Qiang knew that the apparent sexual repression leading to group sex was just the surface of the problem, merely an outlet for the invisible pressure of emotions.

The high pressure of social emotions is not caused by a specific social conflict, but rather by a nationwide psychological problem caused by various external forces from top to bottom. It is a bug in the underlying operating logic of human society, and it is beyond the power of the government to reverse.

Moreover, compared to group sex, the incidence of various large-scale illegal and criminal activities is also soaring.

For example, the US police once arrested two criminals who used a remote-controlled drone to carry explosives to crash into the new Twin Towers. When the two young men were interrogated about why they attacked historic American buildings, their answer was "bored and fun".

In addition, they dressed as Magnetic Storm Troopers to attack the Eiffel Tower with a huge current generator, illegally used mining equipment to drill into the ground in Moscow's Red Square and cause damage, disguised themselves as mummies inside the Great Pyramid of Giza to attack tourists, and illegally established a military base on the surface of the Sea of ​​Tranquility on the moon, etc.

Someone even launched an attack on Pearl Harbor from the Pacific Ocean using an ancient battleship of their own invention, destroying several civilian shipyards.

Recent news reports that someone attempted to bomb the Statue of Liberty from a distance using a missile battleship they invented, but it was ultimately sunk by a C4 bomb used by an American policewoman named Tanya, preventing a disaster.

In comparison, the area Shi Qiang was in charge of was at least not as chaotic as the US area.

But it's not much better.

These illegal and disorderly acts, which clearly "deconstruct" symbols of traditional human culture, were met with almost identical responses from the perpetrators during interrogation after their arrest: "It's too boring," "I'd rather go to jail," "I just wanted to do something exciting," "It's a pity I can't get enriched uranium," "I wanted to bring some fun to the world," "I'm sick of the virtual world," and so on.

In addition to these social phenomena, there has been an increase in deconstructive criticism of ancient sages in public discourse and books, with almost all historical figures now having their own insults.

This large-scale cultural suicide involving self-criticism and self-deconstruction is unprecedented in the entire history of humankind.

Government propaganda agencies and the traditional education system have been unable to reverse this phenomenon, and it has even drawn a tsunami of criticism from the public.

If it weren't for the strong resolve of major powers, they probably would have succumbed to the pressure and revised their education systems or even their laws long ago.

Once these kinds of events become more frequent, they can no longer be encompassed by postmodernism and magical realism.

Some social researchers have given this phenomenon a new term to summarize it:

"Bored, I want to see rivers of blood" ideology ro "Damn it, let's explode with the whole world" ideology

The underlying cause of these apparent problems seems to lie within humanity itself.

Last night, during a departmental dinner, Shi Qiang overheard the cyber police from the neighboring network team complaining that over the past year, the internet had repeatedly broken online peak records, with more than 17 billion people backing up their digital personalities in hopes of achieving immortality in the quantum world after death.

In addition, various cybercrimes have emerged one after another, and the number of daily active users of virtual games has increased from more than 3 billion to 5 billion.

Keep in mind that the entire human race only has a little over 10 billion people, and half of them are immersed in the virtual world.

The booming virtual economy and the global stock market boom also left the honest and unassuming Shi Qiang speechless.

Even his youngest son, Shi Xiaoming, said to Shi Qiang, "Dad, I feel like society is too restless these days, even more so than during the early stages of the major downturn I experienced. Business is getting harder and harder. Zhang Yan, who used to be my business partner, gave up that barbecue restaurant and invested in a newly released R26 game, making a fortune. I want to try it too."

Shi Qiang immediately retorted, "Stop meddling!"

But after hanging up the phone, he himself started to have doubts.

Society is like a punctured balloon, all the air has leaked out and gone astray.

Shi Qiang became increasingly frustrated the more he thought about it.

"This damn life is getting worse and worse. How did the world become like this?"

Looking at the handsome men and beautiful women inside the light rail tram, and the various colorful, foil-like clothes they wore, Shi Qiang couldn't help but mutter a curse under his breath.

“When people lose their drive, they start using their energy in the wrong way. Once their threshold is high, nothing seems interesting anymore.” A Chinese voice with an American accent suddenly came out, startling Shi Qiang.

Shi Qiang turned his head and noticed the American behind him—at a glance, Shi Qiang knew this must be an American from the Common Era. The man was wearing a black suit and shirt, and even an old-fashioned navy blue tie. Slightly incongruous, he was also carrying a box of traditional tea, specifically West Lake Longjing.

They look like Americans who have come to China to give gifts, as if they've come to a local custom.

Among these handsome young men and women in the carriage, his slightly aged face looked quite out of place.

Shi Qiang felt that the other person looked familiar. He quickly memorized the face of the middle-aged American and then compared it with the face memory database of tens of thousands of people in his mind. He soon remembered where he had seen this person before.

Two hundred years ago, on the day Luo Ji took office as a Wallfacer, he was assassinated by an ETO assassin using a small-caliber sniper rifle. In the chaos, Shi Qiang inadvertently caught a glimpse of the assassin's face. At the time, the man was talking to UN officials. After the assassination, while protecting Luo Ji, he happened to make eye contact with the man.

He was followed by a young Chinese woman at the time. I vaguely remember her; she looked like Zhuang Yan, but was much uglier.

'His name was... what was it again, Thomas Wade? I think he was a PIA intelligence officer from the US,' Shi Qiang recalled.

Wade was unaware that the burly Chinese policeman in front of him had recognized him. He didn't have Shi Qiang's sharp memory. He smiled at Shi Qiang and introduced himself, "My name is Wade, I'm also from the Central Plains, and I'm here to travel in China."

Shi Qiang glanced at the beautifully packaged tea gift box beside Wade out of the corner of his eye, without revealing his police identity. "My name is Shi Qiang. It sounds like you have some opinions about the current situation, brother?"

Wade laughed and said, "I wouldn't call it an opinion. Aren't we all like this, old folks? We're always unhappy with the new era. I also think life is tough."

Shi Qiang habitually took out a Liqun cigarette and offered one to Wade. Wade took it skillfully, without considering the environment inside the tram, and took out a lighter from his pocket, lighting it directly.

The modern people around immediately covered their noses and dispersed in disgust. The handsome men and beautiful women who had initially shown obvious interest in Wade, a traditional white racer, also showed expressions of disappointment.

Why is this person smoking?

One of the biggest differences between modern people and people in the Common Era is the debate about smoking.

The air vent above Wade's head also turned on instantly, sucking up his exhaled smoke without letting it escape and expelling it outside the car.

Then, Wade took out a cigar from a small metal box and gave it to Shi Qiang.

Shi Qiang accepted the cigar, and the two men simultaneously revealed smiles unique to men.

The two cigarettes quickly closed the distance between the two men, and Shi Qiang also started smoking a cigar, puffing out clouds of smoke.

The communication between the two continues.

Shi Qiang explained: "I don't mean to say that this era is bad. Everyone can eat well, live in a good house and wear good clothes. These are things we used to dream of. It's just that I feel that people nowadays, especially young people, don't know what they're thinking. The whole social atmosphere is very oppressive. Look at this whole carriage, there's not a single person talking."

Wade said, "So it's funny, people have just entered a basic era of material abundance and are already showing self-destructive tendencies. You think those young people in the news are courting death? They have no other choice."

Shi Qiang frowned: "No way? Technology is a hundred times better than before, we can play games to our heart's content..."

“What’s powerful in this era is technology, not people,” Wade interrupted him.

"You seem to have a good understanding of this era."

Wade chuckled self-deprecatingly: "It's hardly research. Every sociologist has seen the problem. I was just expressing my feelings for a moment. I can't change anything anyway."

Shi Qiang comforted him, saying, "We as individuals certainly can't change anything, but times are moving forward. Maybe in ten or twenty years, the social climate will change again, and things will get better."

Wade shook his head: "You're only in your forties. I should have thawed out earlier than you. I'll presume to call you Brother Shi. Brother Shi, society is very different now than it was in the past."

Shi Qiang asked, "What's different?"

Wade: "The external factors are too great, too heavy."

"How to say?"

Wade's tone was tinged with sarcasm. "Brother Shi, what has happened in the last two years that humanity has handled on its own? The solar system fleet was almost completely wiped out by the droplets, Luo Qing secretly developed the helium flash, the carbon-based federation warned the Trisolarans, and then threw humanity a white hole that would last for millions of years. We don't even need to research technology anymore; we can just eat the Trisolarans. We've even figured out the direction for light-speed spaceships. Even the Trisolarans surrendered not because humanity won—it was because they were afraid of a more advanced civilization."

He counted on his fingers, his eyes growing colder with each item he mentioned. "Humanity is like a child protected by adults. After two hundred years of hard work, they suddenly realize they are nothing, so of course they give up."

Shi Qiang sighed: "I know what you mean. Humanity has a strong initial burst of energy, but it weakens after a second attempt and is eventually exhausted. The will to fight is gone... No matter how hard we try, we can't catch up with those top civilizations."

Shi Qiang added, "But things will get better eventually, won't they? In twenty or thirty years, the young people will recover..."

“We can’t recover.” Wade shook his head, his tone resolute. “People used to have goals—to eat their fill, to build, and to fight the Trisolarans. And now? The Trisolaran Second Fleet is still flying toward Earth, light-speed spaceships, those incredibly powerful light-speed spaceships, the Trisolaran Second Fleet has a full 415 of them… We’ll still have to rely on others to solve this in two years.”

He paused, looking at Shi Qiang, "Have you ever seen a child who knows their fate is entirely in the hands of others and still manages to live a good life?"

Shi Qiang took a deep drag on his cigar. He thought of the young people who had been arrested and what they said during interrogation: "At worst, I'll go to jail" and "I want to do something exciting." He suddenly felt that it wasn't that they were crazy, but that the world was too unreal—on one side, there was readily available material wealth, and on the other side, there was an uncontrollable fate. Caught in the middle, how could they not only find crooked ways to vent their frustrations?
It's not just young people who have lost their spirit; the scientific community, the military, and even governments around the world have also lost their spirit.

Earth alone has three gods: Luo Qing, Li Bai, and the Risk Taker. Rumor has it that there's another one hidden in the sun. What's the point of trying?

Even technology is being fed by the compensation payments from the Three-Body world.

"Then tell me, what should we do?" Shi Qiang asked. He rarely asked others for their opinions, but when facing Wade, he inexplicably felt that this man could offer something different.

Wade's smile was somewhat cruel: "Whatever. It mainly depends on the situation of the Trisolaran Second Fleet two years from now. If they change course, everyone's happy; if they don't, we'll have to rely on a miracle worker to save the day again. Or..."

He leaned closer and lowered his voice, "Wait for humanity to bring about its own demise, wait for Luo Qing to lose patience, and then start all over again, until humanity's intellectual level can match its level of development."

Shi Qiang sat up straight after hearing this.

After a moment of silence, Shi Qiang suddenly said, "It's terrible. No matter how you live your life, it's still the same. Fate isn't in your own hands, so people's pursuit has changed from contributing to the times to finding amusement for the times."

The light rail suddenly slowed down, and an announcement came on: "Tsinghua University has arrived. Passengers getting off, please prepare to disembark."

Wade stood up, picked up the tea gift box, and straightened his tie—his movements were so meticulous, as if he were going to attend a United Nations meeting, completely out of place in this absurd era.

"I'm leaving, Mr. Shi Qiang." He waved his hand and said nothing more.

Shi Qiang also stood up, carrying two bottles of wine. He suddenly called out to Wade, as if he had realized something.

"Brother Wade, you're not going to..."

Vader made no attempt to conceal his purpose: "To visit the Wallfacers..."

Shi Qiang slapped his forehead: "Damn it, no wonder we met. We were going the same way. Wait, which Wallfacer are you talking about?"

Wade smiled and said, "Foundation Establishment cultivator."

"Then let's go with Luo Ji. Let's go together. I'm looking for him too." Shi Qiang shook the two bottles of red wine in his hand.

Wade was stunned for a moment, then his memories gradually overlapped, and finally he realized what was happening.

"Wait, I think I remember now...aren't you the... policeman next to Luo Ji, the Wallfacer?"

"You only recognize me now? You call yourself the head of the intelligence bureau? Come on, get out of the car, let's go find that kid and mooch a meal together, his wife's cooking is pretty good." Shi Qiang put his arm around Thomas Wade's shoulder and got out of the car with him without saying another word.

(End of this chapter)