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Chapter 168 The Three-Body Problem

Chapter 168 The Three-Body Problem
The chill of early autumn has already crept up the treetops, and the leaves have not yet turned completely yellow.

A thin mist swirled around the branches, and the air in the forest was exceptionally fresh.

The villa is located near the state border; it has an old exterior but is exceptionally well maintained.

Hollen never mentioned the house, but Natalie learned of its location by chance.

It is registered under the name of a small offshore company located in the Caribbean.

The coordinates did not appear in any searchable databases on any major platform.

Clearly, the owner never intended for anyone to know of its existence.

Zhou Yi was at the old desk in the study, inspecting the heat vents of the laptop.

He has disconnected it from the internet, disassembled it, and flashed an open-source BIOS onto it.

Completely disable the wireless function and ground the internal battery to disconnect power.

The entire process was carried out without any ambiguity.

Then, a pre-configured Tails bootable USB drive was inserted.

Natalie sat beside her, looking down as she read her emails.

“They’ve started moving,” she said suddenly.

Zhou Yi didn't look up: "Who?"

Natalie raised an eyebrow and handed over the computer.

The language is sincere and restrained, yet the content is astonishing.

The other party claimed to be an associate professor of economics at a certain university, but the signature was obscured.

Inspired by "her" article, they believed that her arguments became the anchor point for the "theoretical legitimacy" of their actions.

—Not because you called for action, but because you explained why the system cannot correct itself.

The email has no attachments.

Only at the end was an access key provided.

Zhou Yi did not click immediately. He first opened the link in the isolated sandbox environment to confirm that its redirection path and execution script had not been tampered with before logging in.

The interface is extremely simple.

The name is "Occupation2.0_Nov7".

The group has over a hundred members and is extremely active in messaging.

No nonsense.

Each message is marked with the sending time, the responsible person's code, and the tag category.

Much of the content includes maps, site layout diagrams, and police deployment reference diagrams.

The channel is divided into task sections, including action node coordination, legal risk monitoring, and media liaison.

In the shared files, a route covering Lower Manhattan was divided into seven different options.

Zhou Yi quickly glanced through it.

A moment later, he commented: "This is not an ordinary street protest."

Natalie tilted her head slightly, indicating that she was listening.

“These people are not expressing emotions; they are trying to create paralysis.”

"November 7th happens to be voting day."

"There are two reasons for choosing this time to take action."

As Zhou Yi spoke, he flipped to a form titled "SignalLoad".

"First, administrative resources are constrained by elections; second, market psychology is the most sensitive factor."

He turned the screen toward Natalie and pointed to one of the data paragraphs.

"They're not just trying to shout slogans; they're trying to make the financial markets themselves go wrong."

Natalie only glanced at it twice before immediately frowning.

"What they're planning to interfere with is the exchange's local server and microwave relay signals? Even the pressure gauges on fire hydrants are on the list?"

“Yes,” Zhou Yi said. “This is what I was referring to a while ago as the ‘second Occupy Wall Street.’”

"It's much more sophisticated than the squares, tents, and slogans of yesteryear," Natalie commented.

"After all, times have changed."

“In 2008, social media was just starting out, with low mobilization efficiency and loose action.”

"Now, more motivation, more tools, more anger."

Do you think they can succeed this time?

Zhou Yi was silent for a moment, then shook his head: "Impossible."

“They can create trouble, but they can’t create collapse.” “These people are still stuck in some kind of naive political ethics.”

"It is necessary to maintain a certain absolute legitimacy."

"Technological radicalism, but never daring to cross the line."

"They can draw up blueprints, set milestones, and spread public opinion."

"At the same time, they are afraid of handling guns and afraid of violence."

"Once there are casualties, the entire argument collapses."

"Then, tragedy struck again."

Natalie smiled slightly. "It sounds like you have a more sophisticated plan."

Zhou Yi did not respond immediately.

He looked out the window, pondered for a long time, and slowly said:
"Based on the information they provided—"

"If we're going to play, let's go big."

"Let me help them with what they dare not do."

Natalie seemed quite interested and was about to ask more questions when Zhou Yi returned to the computer and made a shushing gesture.

Immediately afterwards, he connected the SIM frequency hopping device and manually entered the hidden address.

The page loads, redirects three times, and finally leads to a rudimentary website with no logo or explanation.

Zhou Yi typed in the word "horace".

A few seconds later, a clean and concise communication interface appeared.

—List of attendees at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York meeting on November 7, external security arrangements, and on-site communication frequency allocation.

—The priority area is the 33 Liberty St building and the surrounding three blocks.

He pressed the Enter key, letting the terminal wait for a reply automatically.

At this point, Natalie spoke again: "What exactly did you mean by 'playing big'?"

Zhou Yi smiled. "Have you heard of the Three-Body Problem?"

"That one in the physics textbook?"

"Ah."

After receiving affirmation, Natalie said:

"The gravitational system between the two celestial bodies is calculable, stable, and predictable."

"But as soon as a third one is introduced, the whole system becomes chaotic, unsolvable, and unstable."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Yi nodded:

"Now there are two forces at play in this game—they, and the New York Police Department."

"The ending of the story is easy to guess."

"The NYPD will close roads and detain a number of people. The media will set the tone, the market will fluctuate, and the emotions will cool down within a few days and eventually return to calm."

"The Federation continues to linger on, and even if I'm unwilling to admit it, highly redundant systems always possess a certain unshakeable resilience."

"However, when we introduce a third force, everything will become uncertain."

Natalie's expression shifted slightly: "You mean the right wing?"

"Yes."

"Anyway, they've been organizing militias all over the country this week."

"They claimed they wanted to 'punish traitors and save the country'."

"This is a perfect opportunity for them."

“Aren’t they the ones who were hurt the most by Wall Street?” Natalie pressed.

“They don’t care,” Zhou Yi said calmly. “Natalie, they don’t care at all who bankrupted them.”

"They just need one reason to vent the anger that has been building up since Severn's assassination."

Upon hearing this, Natalie said thoughtfully, "Perhaps it's not a three-body problem, but a four-body problem."

"You'll go too, right? But your goals are different from theirs."

"Of course," Zhou Yi said without hesitation.