Chapter 371: No One Regarded Them as Opponents_1

"Your kind of understanding is beyond my comprehension," Sophon said with a genuinely puzzled expression to those who were crying "slaughter."

A representative sneered, "How can you have the nerve to say that leaving the reserve is an invasion of the Trisolaran World's territory?

"That place is clearly the territory of the First Legion..."

He didn't finish his sentence before Sophon had shot him dead.

"And the food? Where does the food come from?" someone else shouted, their fear of Sophon gone, replaced by sheer despair, even after she had just killed someone.

Sophon surveyed everyone in the hall: "Food? Isn't this food? Look around you, everyone, it's all food, living food."

Sophon spoke very calmly, as if truly reminding people of a forgotten granary.

She continued, "In the imminent struggle for survival, most will be eliminated.

"By the time the fleet arrives, there will be thirty to fifty million people left on this continent, these final victors will start a life of civilization and freedom in the reserve.

"The flame of Earth's civilization will not be extinguished, but can only maintain a flicker, like the eternal light in a tomb.

"Survival has always been a matter of luck; the old Earth was like this, and now in this frigid universe, it is the same everywhere.

"But at some point, humanity developed an illusion that survival had become something within easy reach, and this is the fundamental reason for your failure.

"The flag of evolution will rise again in this world; you will fight for survival, and I hope every one of you present will be among those final fifty million.

"I hope you get to eat food, and not be eaten by it!"

After a long pause, a representative said, "Humanity is doomed!"

"Ah!"

...

It was only when Jiang Yu saw Sophon's speech that he remembered the mixed-up lines from before—"Survival has always been a matter of luck"—she had said it at this moment.

But these were all minor details. Jiang Yu glanced at the senior military officers around him who were watching the video with him.

Everyone's face was grim. All along, there had been a realization: the Solar System State bullying PDC was tolerable, but the Trisolarans bullying PDC made people uncomfortable.

An officer said, "There were reports before that the so-called reserve had turned into a living hell.

"As of today, even hell isn't so terrible."

But Jiang Yu said, "Don't rush to sympathize with them; the educational significance of this incident is self-evident.

"PDC, these fools! To this day, they still believe humans cannot defeat the Trisolarans.

"Even the victory of the 'Second Battle' hasn't been able to inspire their determination to fight for survival.

"Well, now Sophon has made the decision for them, but it's already too late for them to resist."

Jiang Yu spread his hands: "What can be done? PDC brought it upon themselves by sticking their necks under Sophon's blade!

"Before you all sympathize with them, always remember: in interstellar strife, never expect mercy from an enemy!"

The officers nodded in agreement, with someone even shouting, "Praise the Wallfacer!"

Without Jiang Yu, there would be no Solar System State, and without the Solar System State, humanity wouldn't have its current backbone.

But the air in the room instantly became tense; everyone knew that Wallfacer Jiang Yu hated superstitions and had publicly declared that one should not treat him like a god or demon.

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The people who had just "praised Wallfacers" realized belatedly that they had misspoken, and looked toward Jiang Yu with some panic, as did everyone else.

Jiang Yu was inexplicably in a good mood today, "Mind your own image as officers, and don't pull these stunts in public!"

Everyone sighed in relief.

Although Jiang Yu had never commanded battle, his presence imposed tremendous pressure on the soldiers present.

An officer quickly changed the subject, "Why are the Trisolarans being so ruthless before even defeating us?"

According to normal thinking, the Trisolarans' greatest enemy at the moment is the Solar System State, shouldn't they be trying to win over the PDC and Fleet International to join forces against the Solar System State?

Why are they putting so much pressure on the PDC and Fleet International first?

Another officer asked, "Could it be because we're not putting enough pressure on Sophon on Earth?"

Up until now, the entire Solar System's forces are still gathering at the Kuiper Belt; after the departure of four legions, a Seventh Corps has been formed, consisting of more than seven thousand warships.

This brand-new corps boasted over a hundred Luminous Monster Cannons.

To support the 'ammunition' for these behemoths, all research projects at the Solar System State's particle colliders were scrapped, and they were repurposed for antimatter production.

A newly built particle accelerator encircling Saturn will be completed next year.

Meanwhile, half a century ago, the Science Academy had already improved small particle colliders, reducing their size from thirty kilometers in length to about five.

Now, under the Solar System State's massive industrial capacity, small colliders are almost like assembly line products, with a new one being assembled every week.

Due to the huge demand for antimatter, the process of capturing it has been improved multiple times through the ages, with each collision now yielding double the capture compared to half a century ago.

The Seventh Corps has just departed as reinforcements, and in a month, the Eighth Corps of similar size will also go to battle.

The powerful industrial forces that have been built over the years, that's where Jiang Yu finds his confidence to go toe-to-toe with the Trisolarans.

However, the First Legion on Earth's battlefield received pitifully little industrial support; on the contrary, every day the First Legion had to escort a large number of parts or semi-finished warship products to Jupiter.

This is also why the forces under Zhuang Yue's command were always inadequate: not a single officer in the entire Solar System United Military treated the PDC and Sophon's proxy forces as serious opponents.

Was the officer suggesting that the First Legion wasn't putting enough pressure on Sophon, allowing her to confidently strike at her own pawns?

Jiang Yu thought for a moment and then said, "Maybe, the Trisolarans don't take the PDC seriously either.

"It's like fighting an enemy in a forest; would you care about the thoughts of a group of monkeys in the jungle?"

His words seemed very reasonable to everyone.

Yet another officer raised a new topic, "Where do the Trisolarans get such confidence?

"Sophon said that the Second Fleet's firepower is only seven or eight times that of the vanguard, but our firepower has increased too, right? There are more than a hundred and sixty Monster Cannons when all four legions are combined!"

Jiang Yu reminded, "Sophon's words may not be trustworthy; when she says seven or eight times, it could mean dozens of times!

"Of course, it could also be to console the PDC and Fleet International, implying that the Second Fleet might not stand a chance."

"Dozens of times?" The officer who brought up the topic was first startled, then as if gaining sudden insight, "Does a quantitative change lead to a qualitative change?"

Jiang Yu nodded, "Exactly, the weaponry of a few hundred warships might produce some qualitative change compared to a few dozen warships, that's why the Trisolarans are so confident."

Everyone fell into contemplation, the upcoming third battle could be more difficult than the "Second Battle."

But what no one expected was that six days later, on the verge of battle over a thousand astronomical units away from Pluto, the Trisolaran warships suddenly changed course.

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