Chapter 284 Everything is Bait

Lin Sen's Wallfacer Team was composed as follows:

The Science Department, primarily responsible were Ding Yi, Bi Yunfeng, and also counting Cao Bin among its number;

The Military Advisory Group, primarily responsible was Chu Yan;

The Military Command, the overall person in charge was another Wallfacer, Rey Diaz;

The Future Intelligence Office, primarily responsible was Wade;

The Cosmic Society Study Room, also under the charge of Wallfacer Hines. After the success of the faster-than-light communication research, Hines turned to the study of cosmic sociology.

He was as distinguished in science as he was in sociology. He discovered a mysterious and inseparable connection between the human brain and the universe. If this connection could be fully understood, it might guide the direction of human civilization's development.

Of course, there were other secondary departments, such as the liaison office with Shi Qiang, the Engineering Department with Bi Yunfeng…

Ding Yi seemed somewhat sentimental, "The plan was successful, but the price we paid was too severe. Earth has become unlivable, the support battleships that came were all destroyed, we couldn't even send a warning, and it is estimated that this battle eventually caused nearly a hundred million deaths."

The primary person in charge of the Military Advisory Group was Chu Yan. He possessed strategic vision and unwavering determination but also did not shy away from using any means necessary to achieve his goals.

Chu Yan spoke solemnly, "The planning of this battle was the work of our Military Advisory Group. If there is any responsibility to bear, we will face it without hesitation.

"This is a battle of civilization, we can't have the slightest hesitation or sympathy. For the final victory, we will spare no effort, even at any cost."

He then looked around and continued, "In this life-and-death struggle with Trisolaran civilization, nothing is too great to sacrifice.

"All military forces of the Long-Livers' Camp were bait, and all military forces of the Naturals' Camp were also bait.

"Even their conflicts and wars were bait to attract the Trisolarans. The engagement of the 3000 Wallfacer battleships was also a decoy.

"From the moment the Trisolarans launched their assault, all of humanity's broadcasting stations, faster-than-light communication stations, would also become bait."

He took a deep breath, his voice even lower, "Even our Bunker is bait.

"We engaged The Waterdrop with full-protection strong-interaction battleships and cleverly diverted it, ensuring that the 10 giant interstellar transmission antennas could safely enter the Bunker's periphery where broadcasts could be transmitted.

"This move seemed to be about rebuilding the Dark Forest Deterrence, but in essence, it was still bait.

"The Trisolarans would not know that 8 of the 10 giant transmission antennas were empty shells, simply because Sophons concealed this from the Trisolarans. The Trisolarans would certainly conduct a detailed analysis of our resources, which was also a part of misleading their decision-making.

"We had been worried that the Trisolaran Warships would be too cautious to approach the Bunker area. The initial concept was to negotiate with the Trisolarans by rebuilding the Dark Forest system while covertly dispatching special warfare battleships to lie in wait and ambush the Trisolaran Warship.

"However, to our surprise, the Trisolarans combined all their warships to launch a simultaneous attack on our Bunker, which was the only highlight of the Trisolarans' command in this battle.

"But what the Trisolarans could never have anticipated was that we also had Sophons. We knew well before the moment when their 600 warships at the periphery of the Solar System gathered for the salvo. Their strategy played right into our hands.

"Their strategic intention was now very clear, so we complied once more, offering the 10 giant transmission antennas for them to destroy. All this was part of our plan, our bait.

"We predict that in 7 hours, our Bunker will also be destroyed by them, and by then the Trisolaran Warships will be only 2 astronomical units away from us. That will be the perfect distance for our counterattack, we simply have to wait for the arrival of the Trisolaran Warships.

"Our strategic objective is no longer to severely damage the Trisolaran fleet, but to wipe them out completely.

"Moreover, we have already roughly locked in the positions of the 600 Trisolaran Warships on the periphery of the Solar System. They have not yet taken any offensive action against our battleships, providing us with a rare opportunity to approach and launch a fatal blow."

Lin Sen also sighed inwardly, truly, the son of fate, Chu Yan! He was calculating against the Trisolarans with deadly precision. It was uncertain whether No. 7 could withstand the pressure.

For Chu Yan and these old humans, Lin Sen only had one word to say, "Good luck!"

As the overall military commander of the Bunker, with the highest decision-making power in the military, Rey Diaz was stunned by the combat plan of the Military Advisory Group.

From strategic deployment to tactical application, from resource allocation to timing, this plan took into consideration nearly every possible scenario that could arise.

They employed any means necessary to achieve their goals, in a way that was both cold and precise, which sent a chill down his spine.

Compared to the humans of the Common Era, the social environment they grew up in was completely different.

The difficult years of the Great Ravine, the isolation of the Island Project, the secret survival of the Underground City project, and the interstellar voyage of the Lagrange Project – these historical events progressively pushed them towards becoming more calm, and even more ruthless.

They were perhaps better adapted to the laws of the universe because, in their maturation, every choice and decision was critical, with no room for the slightest tenderness or hesitation.

This was decidedly different from both Common Era people and those born after the Battle of Doomsday.

Lin Sen sighed, "Your strategic planning is excellent, and the Trisolarans will surely pay for their actions.

"War inevitably involves sacrifice, and it's not just about defending our homes, but also about learning the pain that comes with war and growing through that pain.

"The sacrifice in this battle is indeed great, but it is the battle for the rise and stand of human civilization.

"From this point on, human civilization will truly stand among the interstellar civilizations."

The most heart-wrenching aspect of this battle is Earth, which may now take tens of thousands of years to recover. More cruelly yet, once the war with Trisolaris commences, the destruction of Earth will become inevitable.

This is not about whether we wish to face it, but an inescapable, unchangeable fact.

The cruelty of interstellar war lies in its ruthless destruction of everything. And most brutally of all, the Trisolarans have no intention of destroying Earth, but they must attack it unless there are no more deterrence centers and broadcast facilities on Earth.

Lin Sen's mood was also exceedingly heavy; when he made the decision to go to war with the Trisolarans again, he was acutely aware it would mean the destruction of Earth, an inevitable reality.

In the current situation, confrontation with the Trisolarans is unavoidable; humanity has no choice but to fight this battle for civilization to stand, so that from today onwards, humans can truly face the Trisolarans on level terms.

Actually, deep in Lin Sen's heart lay an even more far-reaching plan—to leave the Solar System.

Though Earth was the cradle of human civilization, it had become like an invisible chain restraining humanity's desire and pace to explore the wider universe, also becoming a shackle that held humanity back from pressing forward into the vaster cosmos.

The Solar System was on the seedling route and might be discovered by Hunters soon; humanity must leave.

However, relying on the civilization's internal drive, it was not possible to leave the Solar System, especially against the backdrop of the Dark Forest; random running and heedless expansion were tantamount to seeking death.

The Trisolarans and even this war were but bait in Lin Sen's plan, driving humanity to truly venture into the sea of stars.

...

Seven excruciatingly slow hours passed, each minute and second as long as a knife's edge, as if a century's worth of waiting had transpired.

The shadows of tension and anxiety, deep as a never-ending night, mercilessly shrouded everyone's hearts. The Trisolaran warship, like a raging beast, continuously launched fierce attacks on the Bunker.

With each barrage, the outer layers of the Bunker shook violently, the trembling as if it were groaning in agony or wailing in silence.

At this moment, humanity's Bunker was about to break.

The fleet of the Trisolarans, like a pack of hungry cheetahs closing in on weary prey, was now less than 2 astronomical units away from the Bunker.

Both the Trisolarans and humans seemed to hold their breath in anticipation, quietly awaiting the arrival of that final, fate-deciding moment. Their future was dependent on the revelation of the ultimate enigma.

Finally, under the fierce onslaught, the outer layers of the Bunker were completely destroyed. All the ice crystals and nanoparticles disintegrated in an instant, dissolving into the interstellar medium, scattering across the boundless universe. At the same time, the sophon shield of the Bunker also collapsed under the attack, unable to continue.

Only special locations and small sophon shielding devices equipped on some warships were still struggling to operate, but they too were unlikely to survive the continuous barrage from the Trisolarans. Moreover, nearly 600 Trisolaran warships were less than 2 astronomical units from the Bunker, nothing could stop the Trisolarans' advance.

In that moment, the interior scene of the Bunker was finally exposed to the Trisolarans. This lengthy wait and fierce battle finally approached its decisive moment.

The first thing that caught the Trisolarans' eyes was 400 full-protection battleships alongside several towering large military harbors and numerous ordinary spacecraft.

This scene caused some surprise among the Trisolarans; how could the Bunker only contain a few hundred warships, this was completely contrary to their expectations.

However, this doubt was quickly replaced by extreme terror that seemed to make their souls shudder.

The attention of the Trisolarans was firmly captured by a gigantic ring-shaped space particle accelerator, a device they were all too familiar with. Simultaneously, tens of thousands of strong-interaction erosion spaceships on the near-Earth orbit of Ganymede also came into their view.

At that moment, like waking from a dream, the Trisolarans suddenly realized that humans might have mastered the technology to produce sophons. This indicated a significant breakthrough in humanity's exploration of the microcosm and the capability to independently create sophons.

If humans truly possessed sophons, then all of the Trisolarans' military actions would be almost transparent to humans. Could the Trisolarans still have any hope in this battle?

Could all of this... have been a lure?