EBE Chapter 259 Unable to Prove Itself
Chapter 259 Unable to Prove Itself
"Lin Xuan, what's the progress on that matter I told you about last time? The high radiation-resistant activation material is definitely much better than the batch we used before. If you can solve this problem quickly, the construction speed of the ring project can be increased."
"Also, regarding the batch of data that Zhizi gave us before, we've been studying a few of the node routes for almost two months, but we haven't made any progress yet. Why don't you urge them again and see if you can get any new information out of them?"
Inside the office, Lin Xuan leaned back in her adjustable chair, listening to Wang Miao's incessant chatter.
Wang Miao is still the same Wang Miao, unchanged over the years.
Perhaps he is not as good as geniuses like Ding Yi and Bai Bing in terms of scientific research ability, and even Cao Bin and Bi Yunfeng are more talented than him, but Professor Wang is one of the few people Lin Xuan can trust. She can only feel at ease entrusting the task of the ring belt project to him.
However, this guy is really too annoying. Since Lin Xuan came back, he has temporarily taken over Luo Congmin's presidency. Almost half of the decision-making power in the entire Earth Alliance needs to be carried out through Lin Xuan.
"I'll figure something out. Can't you just finish what you can do first? Why are you nagging me every day?"
"No, Lin Xuan, I've told you many times, materials science is the foundation of engineering..."
Seeing that Wang Miao was about to launch into another long speech, Lin Xuan quickly interrupted his chanting and spellcasting.
"Okay, okay, I understand. I'll go think of a solution right away."
Since the Dark Forest Strike actually occurred, all of humanity has been working on the reconstruction of the RimWorld.
Although many parts were damaged, the main structure of the facility still exists, so repairs are not very difficult.
The main workload is still in the selection of new materials.
Since the war ended, the two civilizations have engaged in friendly communication and exchanges. It seems that Lin Xuan once again took advantage of the other civilization, stealing all of their technology.
After combining the captured materials with their existing technology, they discovered at least a dozen new materials that could replace the old ones.
Since no one knows when the attack will come, everyone felt it was necessary to put more effort into the initial materials. In case of any danger in the future, even if they couldn't fight back, at least they would be able to escape.
After the Three-Body Problem war, all of humanity has developed a fear of technological inadequacy.
If it weren't for the fact that danger was approaching, all of humanity would probably want to push their technology to the top in the universe before emerging from seclusion to learn a move from the Sword God of Shili Slope.
Lin Xuan didn't dawdle. After having Zhang Xiang inform Luo Congmin to resume his presidency, she immediately headed to Star Ring City.
Since the end of the war, Tomoko has been under house arrest at the headquarters of the Star Ring Corporation.
Of course, this arrangement does not mean that the Earth Alliance trusts AiAA, but rather that since Cheng Xin was convicted, Radiaz and the garrison troops need to monitor her 24 hours a day.
It's a good idea to also send Zhizi's mecha there; monitoring one is monitoring, and monitoring two is also monitoring.
As for whether locking Cheng Xin and Zhi Zi together would cause any more trouble, Lin Xuan wasn't too worried about it.
After all, since the explosion of the Trisolaran civilization, the connection between the Sophon and the main world has been completely severed.
To everyone else, she is now just an AI with a higher level of intelligence.
If Zhang Beihai hadn't taken Cheng Xing's main body away, Lin Xuan would have actually considered having Cheng Xing overwrite Zhi Zi's main consciousness. At least things created by oneself are safer to use.
As for those doves from before, Taylor took them around the world to perform forced labor—yes, the kind that's broadcast live online.
Taylor even thoughtfully enabled the gift tipping feature.
"Hey everyone, it's Warden Taylor's live stream again today. Send him a pair of sunglasses and he'll randomly get a whipped whip; send him a Porsche and you can designate a government official to work an extra hour..."
Taylor may not be a qualified Wallfacer, but he is definitely an excellent entertainment star. When he was a Wallfacer, the PDC had him do a lot of commercials and film superhero movies to increase public confidence. It was at that time that Taylor discovered his second career: to be an excellent actor.
He even played himself in the movie "Gulf War," which can be described as a true self-portrait performance.
However, Taylor's approach also has significant drawbacks. The imprisoned dove officials were once high-ranking government officials, but now they are living worse than dogs. The public is happy to see this, but the middle and upper management feel a sense of shared sorrow.
Lin Xuan is far too cruel. Treating high-ranking officials of the Earth Alliance in this way will inevitably cause widespread panic and paralyze the Earth Alliance's governmental functions.
Lin Xuan already had a solution for this situation. He had Ai AA, in Cheng Xin's name, take the lead in forming a new group called "Friends Circle" by uniting various non-governmental companies.
Then, in a very generous manner, they told those mid- to high-level government officials that if they were willing to embrace capitalism, they could join Star Ring Group and its network of friends, but they should not forget who caused them to end up like this.
This move was undeniably malicious, directly transforming the original conflict between him and Cheng Xin into a conflict against Cheng Xin.
In some ways, Lin Xuan was actually more ruthless than Weide.
Thomas Wade's methods are more overt, letting you know how ruthless he is, while Lin Xuan is more adept at using others to do her bidding, enslaving others to work for her.
Just like a hundred years ago, no one can ever truly understand what Lin Xuan is thinking. And by the time you can see through him, you've already been forced into a corner, with no choice but to continue following the plan he's set for you.
Just when everything was gradually getting on track, Luo Ji suddenly approached Lin Xuan.
Lin Xuan was quite surprised by Luo Ji's sudden appearance.
He had assumed that after completing his glorious mission, this man would become like most married middle-aged men, idle and with the only thrill in his life perhaps being to go to a bathhouse for a half-service.
But Luo Ji reappeared, bringing very bad news.
"Lin Xuan, there's something we might have all guessed wrong before. Being an observer might not be a good thing."
"Have you considered that if the ring world is successfully built, it might mean that we will have the ability to move the entire star and the entire universe around? If our previous speculation is correct, Earth itself is one of the experimental containers. Would you allow your experimental subjects to run to places that even you can't find?"
Lin Xuan did not speak upon hearing this.
He had actually thought about this problem a long time ago, but at that time he was too busy dealing with the Trisolaran civilization to have time to consider these details.
Now that Luo Ji has brought it up again, he can only remain silent.
"How would we know? Maybe the experiment was conducted by a four-dimensional being. Wherever we go is no different from running on paper. Does the Lord not care?"
Luo Ji sighed.
"This is the best possible outcome, but as you and I both know, the outcome may lean more towards the second one. At crucial moments, an interventionist may emerge to correct the escape of the entire experimental sample."
When Luo Ji said this, he met Lin Xuan's gaze, as if trying to see through what the man was thinking.
With just one glance, Lin Xuan understood what he meant.
"So...you're doubting me, Dr. Luo Ji?"
"You suspect that I am actively interfering with your choices?"
"We can't rule out that possibility. After all, you don't even know your own identity. Maybe someone has already implanted something like a mental imprint in your brain. It may seem like your choice, but it's actually all programmed."
Lin Xuan burst out laughing upon hearing this.
"So, is this the Wallfacer's laugh? I and Taylor back then encountered the same situation. You all know very well that I cannot be an observer. This statement was only to gain more advantages during the Trisolaran War. But now that the war is over, I can no longer prove to you that I am really not an observer."
"Alright, then we'll do it your way. I won't interfere with any major decisions made by the Earth Alliance for the foreseeable future. But if another accident like Cheng Xin happens, are you sure you can handle it?"
Luo Ji remained silent, pondered for about ten seconds, and then shook his head helplessly.
"Livestock kept in cages don't seem so bad, at least for now we don't have to worry about food and clothing."
With that, he got up to take his leave.
“I’m not here today to ask you to hand over the power of the Earth Alliance or anything else. My mission is complete, and I owe humanity nothing. But you, I’ve always considered you my friend, so I don’t want you to stand against all of humanity one day. That’s all.”
Watching Luo Ji's departing figure, Lin Xuan was filled with mixed emotions.
Now, the plot has veered so far as to be beyond his control.
So he also had to start thinking about why he had traveled to this world in the first place.
The title of observer was imposed on him by Sophon from the beginning, and he never acknowledged this identity.
The few times they feigned admission were merely attempts to exploit the information gap between the two sides to achieve unexpected results.
But over time, Lin Xuan realized that she had actually been neglecting something very important.
That's why the Trisolaran world has always firmly believed that it is the observer.
He had used this identity to deceive them more than once, yet the Trisolaran civilization had fallen for it every time, which was a bit unreasonable.
Even knowing all the information about the other party and the future plot, Lin Xuan never became so arrogant as to believe that her wisdom could surpass that of the entire civilization.
There must be some reason I don't know that compels the other party to be deceived.
He had considered this point before, but due to the tense situation of the war, the current troubles were far more urgent than this, so he had not thought about it.
"It seems I still need to make a trip to Star Ring Group."
Soon, Lin Xuan contacted Zhang Xiang and asked him to send a warp drive spaceship to pick her up.
Previously, the Star Ring was taken away by Thomas Wade. For safety reasons, Lin Xuan did not allow the Star Ring Group to stop developing warp drive spaceships.
After all, he didn't know when the blow would come.
If you're unlucky enough, you might fall into a two-dimensional world before RimWorld is even finished.
In that case, no matter how hard Lin Xuan tries, she won't be able to change the inevitable defeat of humanity.
The worst outcome of building warp drive spaceships now is that everyone will live in the Dark Zone for the rest of their lives, which is still better than dying.
However, this also met with considerable opposition from the lower classes, since warp drive spaceships could not be used by every civilian, and in the end, it was mostly officials and children of high-ranking officials who escaped.
Then what's the point of everyone working so hard?
Therefore, in order to quell the anger of the lower classes and to maintain the stability of the political structure within the Earth Alliance, Luo Congmin included a portion of the rights to use warp drive spaceships in the Strong Foundation Program.
The top scorers in the college entrance examination in each province, regardless of their background, can receive the right to use a spaceship to ensure the safety of themselves and their families.
This has revitalized the previously stagnant education sector.
However, the phenomena of cross-provincial college entrance examinations and proxy exams are also rampant, but compared to the stability and peace of human civilization as a whole, this is nothing.
Not only the Ministry of Education, but also Ding Yi's research department, Wang Miao's engineering department, Wei Cheng's statistics institute, Bai Bing's network supervision institute, and the various companies and groups under Cao Bin and Bi Yunfeng have all obtained the right to use the warp spaceship to varying degrees.
According to Lin Xuan, everyone doesn't need to take things so extremely.
The original class contradiction can be transformed into competition between people of the same class.
As long as the Earth Alliance remains stable, he can focus on completing the reconstruction of the Ringworld without worry.
He could tolerate other problems.
Despite the fact that Xinghuan Group produced someone as hated as Cheng Xin, it still doesn't affect the company's technological monopoly in various fields of the Earth Alliance.
When Lin Xuan arrived at the headquarters of Xinghuan Group, she saw Xinghuan City, which was dozens of times larger than before.
"My God, this woman is really extravagant. This place looks even more luxurious than the headquarters of the Earth Alliance. I need to thoroughly investigate their company. I have a feeling she has embezzled a lot of money."
Lin Xuan gazed out the window at Star Ring City, where countless spaceships were moving in and out of its starport, looking from a distance like bees collecting nectar.
Zhang Xiang switched the spaceship to automatic parking and smiled when he heard Lin Xuan's words.
"When Luo Congmin first met Xinghuan City, his reaction was exactly the same as yours. As a result, when he had Radiaz check their company's transaction records, they couldn't find a single clue."
"Does the fact that nothing has been found mean they can't be convicted?"
Lin Xuan looked serious, but what she said made Zhang Xiang feel like his cerebellum was about to atrophy.
"This... isn't a good idea. Even if the Star Ring Group is rich, it won't fall into our hands. This isn't an ancient emperor. If you confiscate their property, the end result will only be a dozen or so Star Ring Groups. At least Ai AA has been quite obedient all these years."
"I know that... I'm just envious, how can she be so rich!"