Three-Body: Climbing the Ladder of Technology Across the Universe

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This chapter is just for fun and not part of the main text; feel free to skip it if you like.

"The Waterdrop from the Trisolaran Faction approaches, and it already has a path to certain death!"

Ding Yi sat cross-legged on the moon, emitting terrifying gravitational electromagnetic fluctuations, his gaze piercing towards the Centaurus Constellation.

Several years later, the Waterdrop attacked!

"Geological Hammer." Ding Yi shifted his gaze away from the electron tunneling microscope and looked calmly at Xi Zi, who immediately understood and began frantically searching the cabin; eventually, she found a geological hammer left behind by someone in a corner.

Receiving the geological hammer from Xi Zi, Ding Yi looked at her with gentle eyes, like water. Perhaps her face reminded him of someone from the past, which made Ding Yi more talkative. "Xi Zi, humans have their limits."

Xi Zi was somewhat confused, but out of respect, she stood upright by his side, quietly waiting for what was to come. "I've realized in my fleeting life that merely studying external matters is not the ultimate way to explore truth. Only by harnessing great power within oneself can one walk the bright path straight to truth!"

At that moment, something changed in Ding Yi. It was as if he had returned to age eighteen, the age when he could die for the truth without a second thought, despite the fact that he appeared to be a withering old man, and despite the truth having forsaken him more than once.

"I must transcend humanity."

"Wh-what do you mean, what are you talking about?" Xi Zi was a bit flustered; she didn't know what Ding Yi was planning to do, but she could sense some change in his mentality.

The feeling was indescribable; it was like he was saying, "Children, I will protect the Earth."

"I'm no longer human, Xi Zi."

"Hammer coming!!!"

Without giving anyone time to think, Ding Yi slammed down the geological hammer in his hand. This tool, which had dealt with rock samples for a lifetime, touched silently against another creation it should have had no connection with in the vastness of space.

If there were one thing they had in common, it would be that both were born for destruction.

"Clang——"

Xi Zi and the Colonel's eyes widened. In actuality, they heard no sound— as the vast universe does not permit sound waves to drift freely, but the moment the hammer touched the Waterdrop, a wave of such noise tumultuously rolled through their minds. What tremendous power it was.

The smooth and compact Waterdrop under the microscope now undulated with ripples on its surface, and as for the geological hammer—it's not quite accurate to still call it a hammer since its metal part had been compressed into a red disc, squished right at the center of the ripples.

The wooden handle, on the other hand, turned into powder in Ding Yi's hands and slowly dispersed into the void.

Eventually, the ripples subsided, and the once immaculate Waterdrop was reduced to a pile of ragged metal scraps.

"Science is quite fascinating, isn't it?" As though declaring his victory, Ding Yi said this to the air. His lips did not curl into any arc, yet strangely, everyone could read satisfaction in his words.

"Yes... it is." Xi Zi unconsciously replied, but quickly recovering from her shock, she knitted her brows deeply. Was this really okay? Perhaps this was a token of goodwill from the Trisolarans.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Commander and Chief Scientist of the Trisolarans, far away in the Centaurus Constellation, witnessed it all, losing 18.9% and 26.7% of their mass respectively. They knew Ding Yi's words were directed at them, both a declaration and a warning.

Ding Yi formed the Waterdrop fragments into a sphere and threw it with force, landing it between the Trisolaris Star and the Solar System.

"Dare to violate the boundaries of my human race, you mere ants! Today, if I don't exterminate your kind, then let the future bear witness to the might of the human race's powerful beings. They will decide your fate!"

"Before that time, should you dare cross this boundary, the Three-Body will perish!"

ETO: The sovereign doesn't care!

Decades later, the Trisolaran Interstellar Fleet reached the Solar System!

"How dare the Trisolarans!"

"It doesn't matter; I will take action!"

A roar erupted from Earth, and an old man leaped from the ground, shooting rapidly into space. His towering figure blocked the Trisolaran Fleet near Neptune. The Geological Hammer vibrated with destructive energy, and the four fundamental forces surged, decimating more than half of the Trisolaran Fleet with a single blow.

The Emperor's dignity is inviolable!

"Run, run fast! Silly children, run!" The Trisolarans became dehydrated, carrying the remains of their ships and fled overnight.

In this moment, the people of Earth recalled the legends of the Era of Deterrence when the old man shattered Waterdrop probes with each hammer blow!

Countless people were tearful: "Who says there are no emperors among humans!" Later, Ding Yi was honored by the United Nations as the Guardian Emperor, meaning the protector of Earth's peace.

"Even if I have to shoulder the Earth, and bear the Solar System in one hand, I, Ding Yi, am still unbeatable in the world! Swordholder, off you go."

Logic, who had ascended to emperorhood, nodded. "I shall wage war across the Milky Way! Destroy the forbidden zones! Let blood flow like a river!"

Zhuang Yan and the children, wait for me to return.

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After bidding farewell to his family, Dr. Qin, holding the Ultimate Emperor Sword in a high-energy quark-gluon state, crossed the void alone and departed. From then on, the Three-Body World had one formidable enemy more, making the Singer, the Returner, and innumerable other civilizations tremble.

He, the Swordholder, Luo Ji, Supreme Emperor of Swords, waged war on the heavens and flattened the Dark Forest!

At that time, the Beihai Emperor was carrying the Natural Selection toward the Trisolaris star system, intending to eradicate the Three-Body problem at its roots; Cheng Xin, still on Earth, had taken on the persona of Green Tea to temper her mind amid worldly affairs, preparing to comprehend the Madonna Dao and become Earth's fifth Great Emperor.

"Could it be that my Trisolaran civilization's centuries of calculations will be destroyed in one fell swoop? Why does the human race, mere ants, possess such terrifying strength?" the Trisolaran Commander wailed toward the boundless universe. Then, as though grasping at something in despair, he threw himself back onto the command platform.

"Quick! Sophon, go to Earth and find Cheng Xin! Her rise from a common person to her current status was not without the merit of Three-Body. Cheng Xin... no, the Benevolent and Magnanimous Saint Cheng, if she becomes emperor, will surely spare us a way out in memory of past kindness."

...

Hundreds of years after Luo Ji's departure, the Singer arrived.

Ding Yi, sitting in meditation at the center of the Sun, opened his eyes, his gaze piercing through the nine skies of the Milky Way.

The Singer's spaceship stopped to observe the Solar System when suddenly a voice came from outside the window.

"Parking fee, five bucks an hour!"

Turning his head, he saw an old man in a security uniform, whose badge bore several gilded ancient characters with overwhelming authority: "Solar System Parking Lot."

What! The Singer was shocked, believing it impossible for a being to approach the spacecraft so silently, with the ship registering no scan, no alarm.

In a panic, and with cold sweat breaking out, the thought of being nothing more than a garbage disposal worker, not worth taking risks to fight, crossed his mind. Hastily, he dropped a two-dimensional foil and activated the spacecraft to accelerate away.

Watching as the two-dimensional foil collapsed space into two dimensions, the nearby asteroid was also crunched into a massive painting.

Arriving at the edge of the collapsed two-dimensional foil, the Guardian Emperor's expression grew more serious. He tossed out a massive fine from his pocket, which instantly turned into a Chang'an car, the car unfolding a majestic spatial barrier to stop the two-dimensional foil from expanding further.

With a shake of his shoulder, he transformed into a beam of golden light and flew off into the distance, swiftly arriving in front of the Singer's spaceship and said, "Parking fee is 5 bucks, littering fine is 50!"

The Singer panicked, his eyes wide with terror, and he trembly pointed at the security guard in front of him, "You, you, you, do you know who I am? I've already sent a distress signal to my home planet. If you kill me, the forces behind me..."

He couldn't finish his sentence before the security guard slapped him into dust. The guard looked into the distance and calmly said, "It doesn't matter, he will make a move."

Ding Yi sent out a message through a shadow spirit – Luo Ji had found the Singer's home planet. His figure stood tall in the dark space, his aura of an emperor spreading, the terrifying oppression causing space to distort under its weight.

With the Ultimate Emperor Sword in hand, he fought the Singer's civilization to the edge of the universe; with every gesture, countless unknown waves spread out, grinding even three-dimensional space to nothing.

Who dares claim invincibility! Who dares speak of being undefeatable!

Ultimately, he extinguished the last planet of the Singer's civilization, his mighty voice echoing through all quarters of the universe.

"Those who offend our human race, no matter how far away, will be pursued and punished!"

Emperor Luo Ji ruled unparalleled for all eternity, yet humankind did not thank Luo Ji.

All of this was being observed by Dr. Qin, who was currently engaged in a discussion with Old Chen.

"It's impolite to be distracted while talking to someone, my friend."

"I am watching my chess piece."

"Oh? Do tell."

"What is there to say? It was just the Covering the Sky plan of my weaker years, using the chess piece to conceal the heavens."

"Heavens? Does your world have a celestial order?"

"The celestial order, heh, is nothing but Earth's Sophon."

"Which universe are you from?"

"The Three-Body Infinite Multiverse."

"The TV series version or the animated debate version?"

"The novel version."

Chen Ang: "..."

All this stemmed from that once frail young man...