Chapter 206: Deterrence_1

Jiang Yu felt somewhat helpless in his heart; he was not any "Black Cuboid Person" at all! Mentioning it would surely give him away.

Then he immediately thought, could this be the ETO probing him?

After all, having been at odds with the ETO for so many years, the sudden revelation that he, Jiang Yu, was an alien surely must have been hard to swallow; it was possible they sent someone to test and verify.

Of course, it was also possible that the Trisolarans truly intended to negotiate with the "Black Cuboid People."

In any case, the Trisolarans would certainly pay great attention to these negotiations; he couldn't let anything slip in his words, or the cover-up for his own people thus far would have gone to waste.

In just an instant, Jiang Yu's mind shifted, he rose from his chair and scoffed, "What's there to talk about?

"When our paths do not align, we do not conspire together. There's only one Solar System; when the Trisolarans decide not to lay fingers on our colony, we can continue to talk."

Jiang Yu strode off, both to show his decisiveness and to seize the opportunity to end the topic.

But Anthony immediately followed up, "Mr. Jiang, you haven't heard the conditions offered by the master yet!

"The master promises you that once they arrive on Earth, they will help you repair the 'Dark Forest.'

"With Earth's current industrial base, there's still no way to repair the 'Dark Forest,' but the master's industrial system has hope of fixing it."

Anthony, chasing after Jiang Yu, said, "You've been away from your homeworld for so long, you must be missing home terribly. Once the 'Dark Forest' is repaired, you can go home!

"The master would just happen to take over the governance of the Solar System, and everyone gets what they need."

Jiang Yu's thoughts raced; he had to respond with something, but the moment he spoke, he had to intimidate the Trisolarans immediately—the longer this topic dragged on, the greater the possibility of being exposed.

It was only a second or two, Jiang Yu already had an idea; he stopped, turned around to look at Anthony with a sneer and said, "This is the condition your ETO is offering, not your masters, right?"

Anthony was taken aback, "The master told me personally... directly!"

"Haha!" Jiang Yu laughed, "Do these Trisolarans think I'm a three-year-old child?

"The first thing they'll do when they arrive on Earth is probably to exterminate us completely!"

Anthony frowned, "The master wouldn't deceive you over such a trifle!"

Jiang Yu suddenly said coldly, "Then let me ask you, why does your master insist on killing Logic?"

"This…" Anthony obviously did not know the reason and was pondering how to respond to Jiang Yu when suddenly a line of text appeared:

Jiang Yu is undoubtedly a "Black Cuboid Person"; why doesn't he establish a deterrence system against us?

This was Sophon communicating directly with Anthony.

Anthony was somewhat flabbergasted, "Why don't you... build a deterrence system?"

Jiang Yu breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, having bluffed his way through this challenge with the "Dark Forest" rules.

He scoffed, "It seems your master is guiding you from behind. Then I will directly address the Trisolarans with my answer:

"Don't you all know why we aren't building a deterrence system? Do you want this secret to be disclosed on Earth? We're not willing to take this risk.

"Besides, up until now, we still possess absolute superiority. We can perform some operations on Earth, while you can only affect the situation on Earth through your lackeys.

"This advantage, at the very least until your spacecraft arrive in the Solar System, will not be lost by us.

"There are still over two hundred years left, the outcome is yet unknown, and there's no need to take risks!"

With each line of Deception Points information surfacing in his mind, Jiang Yu was certain that he had fooled the Trisolarans.

Jiang Yu, pretending to be calm, laughed again, "I'll take the head of this brother Anthony."

He signaled the security personnel protecting him, "This is a leader of the ETO, take him to the police station!"

After that, Jiang Yu casually continued to the supermarket to buy groceries.

On the surface, he appeared composed, but a layer of cold sweat had formed on his back.

Far away, hidden in the rainforest, Bai Xiao was quite surprised. He had prepared for Jiang Yu to slip up—death would have been the worst outcome!

Who would have thought that Jiang Yu would actually withstand the test of the Trisolarans? Now even Bai Xiao started to wonder, could it be that Jiang Yu was really a "Black Cuboid Person"?

In the recent conversation between the two parties, what was the deterrence mentioned by the Trisolarans?

…

After this unexpected round of negotiation, Jiang Yu knew he had to hibernate as soon as possible.

If the Trisolarans sent someone to negotiate again, he might not be able to handle it.

But how should he explain this to his parents? He had already agreed with his parents to stay home for the new year before continuing with work.

To Jiang Yu's surprise, during dinner, the elder, Jiang Wenhuan, suddenly said, "Why don't you go back to work tomorrow?"

Jiang Yu was startled, "Ah?"

Jiang Wenhuan took a sip of wine, "We noticed a while ago that your mind has been elsewhere.

"I've said before, this is home, where you can always come back to rest. But home should not tie you down.

"It's hard to balance loyalty and filial piety since ancient times. If you have taken on this burden, then you need to work hard and achieve something outside.

"We can't really help you with what you are doing now, and I don't understand it either, but we can't hold you back!"

Jiang Yu's mother had been silent the whole time, but Jiang Yu knew that his mother did not want him to leave.

Yet, for the sake of his own familial joy, Jiang Yu could not do something that would endanger the lives of the brave warriors fighting alone amongst enemies.

After a brief consideration, Jiang Yu said, "Alright, I'll return to Beijing tomorrow."

Jiang Wenhuan nodded in approval, "Take care of Lele for us, blood is thicker than water after all. Help him out whenever you can."

Jiang Yu's mother was quietly wiping away tears.

Jiang Yu poured himself a glass of wine, "If there is an afterlife, I will repay the kindness you two have shown in raising me."

Having said that, he drank the wine in one gulp.

Early the next morning, Jiang Yu left; he feared that if he stayed any longer, he wouldn't have the heart to leave.

Upon returning to Beijing, Jiang Yu immediately prepared for his hibernation.

Before hibernating, Jiang Yu had a long talk with Number Three, "The food shortage is getting worse. We need to prepare more equipment for producing artificial starch to avoid famine in the future.

"When there is a famine, pass my message on to Burton and the others. If necessary, provide food to the hungry for free to minimize deaths from starvation.

"Leave the specifics to Burton and his team to plan, but don't allow the refugees to become a burden, and don't let the PDC use this as an excuse to shirk responsibility."

Number Three nodded in agreement.

Jiang Yu added, "Remember, if there are people from the ETO who come to surrender, treat them well, and send them to start a new life on the Moon.

"If there's anything you can't solve by yourself, seek advice from Thirty-Six.

"Wake me up if there is a major change in the situation, a technological breakthrough, or if either of my parents is critically ill."

Number Three was slightly startled; the last two requests were understandable, but what did the first one mean?

Provide those surrendering from the ETO with a good life to undermine the enemy from within?

Jiang Yu did not elaborate. He reckoned that he would probably wake up in twenty to thirty years at most, and there was nothing else he needed to leave instructions for.

Number Three was still somewhat naive, and Jiang Yu was somewhat worried about him. But there was nothing he could do if he couldn't stay awake indefinitely.

As Jiang Yu lay in his hibernation pod, he comforted himself: at least Thirty-Six was there to help.

A wave of tiredness swept over him, and Jiang Yu once again entered hibernation.