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

Chapter 441 The Vision of Star Ring City (5k)

"Dr. Luo Ji, hello,"

"Hello, Commander Qian, it's been a long time."

The two parties, separated by a distance of approximately 7.3 million kilometers, communicated face-to-face using holographic projection through quantum entanglement technology.

"You remember me?"

Qian Mengjian was slightly surprised; he hadn't expected Luo Ji to still remember him.

"How could I forget that?"

Luo Ji had a strong impression of the commander of the solar system fleet.

At the beginning of the Crisis Era, the emergence of the Three-Body Crisis led to the first-ever alliance among countries around the world, and NATO thus achieved its long-awaited 'NATO expansion to the east'—incorporating all five countries—China, Russia, North Korea, Japan, and South Korea.

Thus, a new NATO emerged, stretching from the Chukchi Peninsula in the east to the Alaskan Peninsula in the west. Under the direction of the 47th Special Session of the UN General Assembly, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was reformed into the Northern Hemisphere Treaty Organization (NATO) under the leadership of the PDC, forming a preliminary world united front against the Trisolaran conflict.

In order to ease the East-West antagonism caused by the macro-fusion crisis in early 2005, the PDC selected a Chinese-American U.S. military general as the first commander of the new NATO, and that commander was Qian Mengjian.

At the beginning of the Crisis Era, Qian Mengjian, as a representative of the traditional army, was also a member of the hearing for the Wallfacer Project. When Luo Ji was giving his report on the Wallfacer Project, he knew these hearing members well and naturally had some impression of him.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the two got down to business.

Qian Mengjian said, "Dr. Luo Ji, the Second Fleet has now accelerated to 0.06C. We have dispatched an unmanned fleet to intercept it, but judging from the Second Fleet's refusal to communicate, it is unlikely that the interception of this new planetary fleet will be successful."

Luo Ji: "What are the specific methods of intercepting this unmanned fleet?"

Qian Mengjian explained: "They are still some conventional weapons, such as electromagnetic railguns, stellar hydrogen bombs, and so on."

Luo Ji asked in bewilderment, "These outdated weapons are ineffective against droplet detectors, so what use are they against warships?"

Qian Mengjian added: "Each electromagnetic railgun shell contains about one gram of magnetically confined antimatter. Any electromagnetic railgun shell that hits the Trisolaran Second Fleet can annihilate their strong interaction force armor. As for the stellar hydrogen bomb, it is just a decoy used as cover. Even if it can't blow them up, it can still make a sound."

Luo Ji then realized that humans do have some talent in warfare, and he couldn't have come up with the idea of ​​hiding antimatter in electromagnetic gun shells.

The linear thinking of the Trisolarans is probably beyond our comprehension.

Luo Ji asked, "Can it hit?"

Qian Mengjian: "This is exactly the question I wanted to ask you."

It has long been discovered that the annihilation engines of the Trisolaran spacecraft are not very powerful, and the annihilation engines used by both the First Fleet and the Second Fleet require a long time to operate.

Trisolaran fleet researchers believe this is because the Trisolaran warships have insufficient antimatter reserves, allowing only a very small amount to be annihilated.

The method of producing antimatter on Earth involves consuming resources and increasing the efficiency of particle accelerators. Currently, the Large Hadron Collider can produce approximately tons of antimatter annually—an extremely large amount of resources.

If it weren't for the Risk Mitigator's sensors' concerns about vacuum decay, humanity would probably have already begun constructing a solar accelerator.

Even with the Threat-Slayer sensors blocking its way, the construction of the Sun-Circling Accelerator has already been put on the agenda by the Solar System Federation government. The only condition is that once it is completed, they promise the Threat-Slayers that they will not conduct world-ending energy level experiments.

The biggest conflict between humans and the Risk Removers' sensors is not the Sun accelerator, but Ding Yi. The Risk Removers stubbornly believe that humanity's promise not to conduct world-ending energy level experiments cannot restrain that idiot named Ding Yi.

Unless Ding Yi is arrested.

Ding Yi publicly stated: "A bunch of nonsense. Let the sensors figure out the diffusion phenomenon that has been going on for 13.8 billion years due to parity non-conservation before we talk."

It was also because of Luo Qingshen that the Risk Remover Sensors had effectively placed human civilization on the same level as themselves. Therefore, he only held opposing views and would not directly interfere, nor would he directly eliminate it without human permission, as he had done with the Equatorial Accelerator.

If the risk-mitigating sensors don't forcibly stop it, then the construction of the Sun accelerator is probably a 90-90% certainty. Humanity is currently in the midst of a technological explosion, and the demand for the Sun accelerator is extremely strong. Once the Sun accelerator is realized, the Star Ring City, which relies on the Sun accelerator, can also be built.

In the Solar System Federation's century-long plan, Star Ring City will become the premier scientific research city for humanity to study cutting-edge technologies such as 'four-dimensional space', 'warp drive', and 'vacuum zero-point energy'.

Among them, the production scale of antimatter alone could increase by a thousand times over the current output. This large-scale celestial accelerator would provide enough energy to mass-produce antimatter for human use.

In contrast, the Three-Body world can only obtain antimatter particles by capturing and dismantling virtual particle pairs (virtual particle pairs are products of the "vacuum fluctuation" phenomenon in quantum mechanics, referring to particle-antiparticle pairs that are generated spontaneously and briefly in a vacuum) through a magnetic field funnel in a vacuum.

This method of collecting antimatter is not very efficient. Moreover, because virtual particle pairs have extremely short lifespans and are prone to annihilation, the Trisolarans' behavior of guarding the magnetic field funnel to collect antimatter is no different from trying to collect water dripping from a cliff with a wooden bucket.

A drop of spring water evaporates more than half before it even falls into the wooden bucket.

It will take a long time to fill the barrels.

This is why the Second Fleet's current acceleration is not high; it took half a month to reach 6% of the speed of light. The acceleration is only 13.89 m/s, similar to the [Advance 3] of the old star-class warships.

Thanks to the application of strong interaction materials in nuclear fusion engines, human planetary warships have increased their speed from 1% of the speed of light to 20% of the speed of light, and this acceleration phase only takes 24 hours.

The interception fleet that Qian Mengjian mentioned is an interception team composed of 100 new planetary-level warships. These 100 planetary-level warships are flying towards the Second Fleet at 20% of the speed of light. They will use their own destruction to complete the first probe of the Trisolaran Second Fleet.

If the Trisolaran fleet does not activate its warp drive for an extended period, the two fleets will reach the same speed level when they meet, approximately 0.2c for each other.

—Due to limited antimatter reserves, the Second Fleet's ships can only reach a maximum speed of about 0.2c under conventional power.

In contrast, with sufficient antimatter reserves, humanity is confident that it could increase the maximum speed of a spaceship to 80% or even 90% of the speed of light within 30 years—but 99% of the speed of light is almost impossible, because based on general relativity, even the power of matter-antimatter annihilation is insufficient to generate such enormous propulsion energy.

Humanity has realized that achieving stable sub-light speed flight at 99% of the speed of light seems even more difficult than warp drive flight technology.

Qian Mengjian described to Luo Ji the current predicament faced by the Solar System Fleet and raised a question.

"Half a month has passed since the array was activated, and its visible light has already traveled 3000 astronomical units. The Second Fleet should have noticed these nine 'nine-colored thin lines' in the solar system, but they didn't brake or take any action. Why is that?"

Luo Ji explained, "The Trisolarans cannot see this formation."

It was initially thought that after the formation was activated, the second fleet would slow down or even enter a state of light-speed travel to fight the humans to the death, but the enemy did not react at all.

This caused great concern among the command of the Solar System Fleet.

Moreover, the current solar system fleet has not yet witnessed the true power of this formation.

Qian Mengjian asked in confusion, "Can't you see?"

Nine-colored beams of light intertwined in the sky above the Earth, forming a massive spherical barrier. The barrier consisted of four layers: one each around the orbits of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The outermost layer, Neptune's barrier, was enough to block the bombardment of light particles.

Neptune's current orbit has formed a faint ice crystal barrier, so that the space station crew can see the outermost pale blue ice shield without needing any additional telescopes.

Can't you see this? Is the Second Fleet traveling with its eyes closed?
Luo Ji explained, "There's a saying in cultivation methods that there's a separation between immortals and mortals. It means that mortals can't see cultivators fighting, so the Trisolarans shouldn't be able to see the formations. That's... well, a characteristic of cultivation."

Qian Mengjian asked in confusion: "But we 'ordinary people' can also see it, and it's clearly visible on television. We can even see the yaks on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the jade-white pillar of light above the Himalayas."

Luo Ji didn't speak, but kept his head down. Qian Mengjian gradually thought that this contained some earth-shattering secret of cultivators, and hurriedly explained, "You don't have to say if it's inconvenient."

Luo Ji was simply looking through his WeChat chat history with Luo Qing.

Having noticed early on that Luo Qing's descriptions of cultivation contained many inconsistencies, Luo Ji suspected that Luo Qing wasn't very good at 'cultivating immortality' either. Therefore, he didn't fully trust the cultivation theories that Luo Qing taught him, but instead wrote them all down in his memo.

Soon, Luo Ji found the answer in the chat log.

Luo Ji said seriously, "That's because you are all people with spiritual roots, so you can see the formation. As for the yak... you know, animals with good talent can also cultivate into demons."

Qian Mengjian pondered for a moment and said, "But as far as I know, dinosaurs and mushrooms can also be seen; do they also have spiritual roots?"

When the array was activated, 360 silver-white light pillars intertwined on the outer surface of the large ring, then curled inward to form a magnetic energy flow similar to a ring magnet. Finally, an energy light flow was generated at the center of the ring, which was added to the huge and complex solar system array network. This caused a great shock among the dinosaurs.

The dinosaurs all said, "Luckily we cast our ball early."

There was no explanation for this part in the dialog box, so Luo Ji had to make up an excuse to get by: "Dinosaurs have dragon spirit roots, mushrooms have mushroom spirit roots, but the Trisolarans don't, so they can't see them."

Qian Mengjian persisted, "Monitor 1379 has been reborn through cell cloning technology. These more than a thousand Trisolarans now live in a city on a 'Trisolaran island' in the Pacific Ocean. But according to these Trisolarans, they can also see the array's light pillars. Surely the Trisolarans can't also have spiritual roots?"

Luo Ji flipped through the chat box left by Luo Qing again, but unfortunately he couldn't find the answer.

Luo Ji believes this topic needs to be skipped as soon as possible.

"I'm not quite sure about that. I've only been cultivating immortality for a short time, but Commander Qian, that shouldn't be the main reason you came to see me, right?"

“Of course not,” Qian Mengjian said. “While the Second Fleet has not yet fully accelerated, we have organized an interception line deployed in the Kuiper Dust Belt. However, it is probably unrealistic for the Solar System Fleet to completely intercept the Second Fleet with its own power. I came to ask you when you plan to activate that stellar spear that moves across the surface of the sun like a golden dragon?”

Luo Ji had guessed that this was the reason the military had come to find him, and it turned out to be true.

It's not just Qian Mengjian; many others have asked themselves why they don't "kill the enemy billions of kilometers away."

Luo Ji expressed his concerns to Qian Mengjianming.

"Currently, Earth is about 4480 billion kilometers away from the Trisolaran Second Fleet. Even at the speed of light, it would take 400 hours to reach them. This means that once the formation is activated, the Starflame Spear will also need to travel for 400 hours."

"Although the Starfire Spear can change direction with my guidance, the speed of light is too slow. The Trisolaran Second Fleet's formation is very loose. The 415 warships occupy a space volume larger than the sun itself. I am worried that if the Starfire Spear fails to completely annihilate the Trisolaran Second Fleet, the latter will activate the warp drive to escape."

Once the Starfire Spear leaves the sun, it can be remotely controlled by Luo Ji within a range of two light-years. However, once it leaves the Oort Cloud, the Starfire Spear can only head towards deep space and never return.

The Second Fleet also flies at the speed of light, which means that the Starfire Spear cannot catch up with any of the warships.

Luo Ji's idea was that the Solar System Fleet would try to attract and gather the Trisolaran Second Fleet together using its own strength. Then, he would send the Starflame Spear through the giant ring, a towering spear with a range of 20 kilometers and a diameter of 1 kilometers, to wipe out all 415 Trisolaran warships in one fell swoop.

Upon hearing this, Qian Mengjian pondered for a moment: "It is indeed regrettable that we could not completely annihilate the Second Fleet, but from the perspective of protecting the solar system, if we can force the Second Fleet to completely turn around and escape from the solar system, then this war can be considered a victory."

Luo Ji: "No, we must annihilate them all in one go."

Qian Mengjian asked, puzzled, "Why?"

Luo Ji looked at the official beside him: "Will this communication video be released to the public?"

The head of Zhizi Communications said, "It will be reviewed by internal staff, but if you have a request, it can be kept confidential and not made public."

Luo Ji: "Then let's seal the video. Don't reveal my conversation with Commander Qian."

The head of Zhizi Communications said, "We have done as you said. This video will be completely sealed. Unless the Wallfacer gives permission, only the Federal President has the right to access it."

Luo Ji nodded: "Okay, you can go out now."

Sophon Communications Director: "Huh?"

Luo Ji: "This is part of the plan..."

The head of Zhizi Communications took a deep breath, created a sonic boom with one step, and dragged all the relevant personnel in the room out, not forgetting to lock the door afterward.

Qian Mengjian also asked the high-ranking fleet officers who were listening in behind him to leave temporarily.

Luo Ji: "The area tracks created by the Second Fleet while dodging the bombardment of the Starfire Spear will have irreversible consequences."

Qian Mengjian nodded: "Low light speed pollution zones are indeed a problem."

Luo Ji: "No, I'm referring to another problem. This Federation Chairman, President Jupiter Grant, and the leaders of various major powers all know about it, well, but you don't seem to know much about it."

Qian Mengjian: "Before me, the position of commander of the solar system fleet had been vacant for nearly six years. Grant only held the position for a very short time, and I have only just taken office."

Currently, human social systems still prioritize politics over military affairs, and the political command of the military is a characteristic of human systems. Given the harmfulness of the Dark Forest Theory, it is reasonable for the military to be unaware of it.

Luo Ji explained the 'Dark Forest Theory' to Qian Mengjian in detail, and pointed out one point: "The slow fog traces after curvature diffusion will expose their location in the universe for a long time, which will inevitably trigger a Dark Forest attack."

The star 187J3X1 was destroyed by the Hessen attack, a fact personally confirmed by the commander of the Carbon-Based Federation.

Even the Carbon-Based Federation has stated that in a suburb of the Milky Way like the Solar System, a Dark Forest War is inevitable.

鉴于187J3X1被毁灭时罗辑的咒语只飞行了十几光年，因此这意味着对恒星187J3X1发动打击的文明一定拥有着类似智子的超光速通讯手段。

This was followed by the "A-fires-B-guides" pattern, where "A discovers the spell, calling on B, which is closer to star 187J3X1, to strike."

This also means that the spaceship that carried out the Hessian strike was only a dozen light-years away from the solar system at its closest point.

This terrifyingly efficient attack also confirms the perilous nature of the area within 50 light-years of the solar system.

The ability to destroy stars implies that the civilization that carried out the Hessen strike must have a technological level far exceeding that of the Trisolaran world and Earth.

The reason the Second Fleet uses conventional engines for propulsion is most likely because they are worried that if the solar system is exposed, they will have nowhere to take it.

After Luo Ji finished explaining, Qian Mengjian remained silent for a long time.

He finally realized how that inexplicable "Constitution Prohibiting the Control of High-Power Transmission Devices" had been passed. At the time, even large military electromagnetic radars were to be dismantled, and it was even written into the federal constitution, which Qian Mengjian found incomprehensible.

After a long while, the commander of the solar system fleet slowly raised his head, his expression solemn.

"Then as you say, the Solar System Fleet and all the armed forces of the Solar System will do their utmost to create strategic opportunities for the formation to strike, and strive to destroy all the Trisolaran warships before they start their warp drives."

Luo Ji nodded: "Do what you can. I have already entrusted the government to pass on the detailed functions and power data of the formation to the military. You can refer to the formation appropriately when making defensive deployments."

"Based on the Second Fleet's speed, we have at least six months to prepare before formal contact."

(End of this chapter)