EBE Chapter 145 Crisis Era, End.
Chapter 145 Crisis Era, End.
While Earth was being attacked by the water droplets, the crew of the Navigator received images taken from the three home ports.
The droplet has successfully destroyed all the remaining fleet. At this point, only a few scattered turrets deployed in geosynchronous orbit are still putting up resistance.
But how could these defensive turrets possibly handle a droplet that even a star-class warship couldn't defeat?
The crew watched in shock as water droplets destroyed space facilities, feeling a profound sense of powerlessness.
Can humanity truly defeat the Trisolarans?
This problem perplexed everyone on board, and the answer lay only in that uncertain future.
After the three home ports were destroyed by the ring caused by the explosion of the Reach space station, the images were cut off, and their hundred warships completely lost contact with Earth.
Just as everyone was feeling lost about the future, a calm and powerful male voice interrupted everyone's thoughts.
"Captains of all ships, please come to the conference hall for a meeting."
Everyone looked over and saw that the speaker was Zhang Beihai, the executive captain of the Natural Selection. Standing beside him were Dongfang Yanxu, the former captain of the Natural Selection, and Chu Yan, the captain of the Blue Space.
"Captain, Executive Captain, come here, we need to discuss our future plans."
Zhang Beihai's voice remained calm and composed, as if he had truly succeeded in completely severing his connection with Earth, just as Chang Weisi had said, and had ascended to become a "new human" in the truest sense.
After saying this, Zhang Beihai turned and left. Chu Yan nodded slightly to everyone and then followed Zhang Beihai to the conference hall.
The hundreds of captains present looked at each other in bewilderment upon witnessing this scene.
"Why do I always feel like Zhang Beihai and Chu Yan are a bit different from us?"
"What's the difference?"
"I don't know, I can't quite put my finger on it, but I always have a feeling that they're in cahoots with Chang Weisi."
This statement instantly garnered unanimous approval from everyone present.
“Indeed, I had the same feeling. Ever since we boarded the Navigator, I’ve felt something was off. It felt like we were tricked into coming here, as if everything that’s happening now was all within the three of their expectations.”
"Forget it, what's the point of thinking so much? We can't go back now. Let's go and hear what Chang Weisi and the others are planning."
The captains followed Zhang Beihai and his companion through the corridor and into the conference hall of the Navigator.
It must be said that Lin Xuan considered almost every possible problem when designing the Navigator.
The Navigator is equipped with ecological modules for various environments and fusion photosynthesis modules suitable for crop growth. It even has a conference hall in the very center of the ship that can accommodate tens of thousands of people.
When the captains entered the conference hall, they were stunned by its spaciousness and luxury. However, the layout of the conference hall seemed strangely familiar.
It took a long time before one person finally realized what was happening.
Isn't this the former UN General Assembly Hall located in New York City?
Lin Xuan actually replicated that conference hall one-to-one on the Navigator?
So the Navigator was built from the very beginning to enable humanity to establish a new regime in space?
No wonder the Navigator was almost entirely unarmed, focusing all its skill points on escaping; it was determined to run away from the very beginning.
"Could this be Lin Xuan's Wallfacer Project? To let a portion of the sparks of civilization drift into space, preserving a glimmer of hope for human civilization?"
"No, you're underestimating him."
Just then, two more people stepped into the conference hall.
The person in the lead was none other than Principal Liu Chang, who had come to reinforce the fleet, and beside him was Shi Qiang, who was smoking a cigarette.
“You’ve underestimated Lin Xuan. This is just part of his plan to face the wall, or rather, it’s just something he did on a whim.”
"What do you mean?"
Some people didn't quite understand what Liu Chang meant, but Shi Qiang, who was standing to the side, glanced at Chang Weisi on the podium, silently put the cigarette he was about to light back into his pocket, and explained.
"Lin Xuan never had any plan to face the wall from beginning to end."
"What? Then everything he did before..."
"It's all fake. He deceived everyone, including me."
"Actually, that's not quite right. As you all know, the Wallfacers' plan has two layers: one is a blatant plan to deceive the Trisolarans, and the other is a hidden, real plan."
"But two of the five Wallfacers are exceptions."
"The first one is Luo Ji. He never had any overt cover-up plans from beginning to end, which is why we saw him do almost nothing for two centuries."
"The second one is Lin Xuan. He seems to have done everything, but in reality, all his plans are fake, because his only goal from beginning to end is to help Luo Ji complete the only real plan of facing the wall."
Chu Yan also laughed.
"Lin Xuan is a truly terrifying person. We should be thankful that he is not a real Trisolaran, because his plan is the most difficult of all the Wallfacers to complete... no, it is even impossible to complete."
"Because he first needs to break through the walls of all the Wallfacers and select the one he believes is most likely to save humanity, and then cover for it so that the other party can successfully complete his Wallfacer plan."
"The difficulty of this plan is self-evident, which is why he broke through the wall of three Wallfacers in succession. Rather than letting them waste resources to continue to carry out a plan that could not succeed, it is better to break free from the shackles of the Wallfacer identity as soon as possible."
Upon hearing this, the captains below the stage suddenly realized what was going on!
"So that's it!"
"Yes, Lin Xuan used the simplest and most impossible method. He followed the path of the Trisolarans, and then opened up a new path on the right path, successfully leading the Trisolarans into a ditch."
"I can't imagine if he often couldn't sleep at night, thinking about the Wallfacers' plans all night long, and breaking through the wall. He was truly a god-like man."
If Lin Xuan were here, she'd probably burst out laughing!
Okay, okay, you guys are all masters of imagination.
However, these people probably never imagined that Lin Xuan knew the original plot and that it wouldn't be as difficult as they claimed.
“Ahem, so our escape... no, pursuit plan was also conceived by some Wallfacer beforehand?” Captain Scott of the Bronze Age asked.
At this moment, Chang Weisi, who was sitting on the stage, spoke first, before Liu Chang.
"Yes, but the person who came up with this plan was not a Wallfacer, but one of us."
"Who?"
"Captain of the Natural Selection, Zhang Beihai!"
Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look at Zhang Beihai, who was sitting not far away.
When the latter saw that Chang Weisi had called out his name, he could no longer hide it, so he stood up and nodded slightly to the crowd.
"This is just what I should do as a soldier. I want to preserve a spark for humanity. I never expected that General Chang Weisi would do even better than me."
The audience was familiar with Zhang Beihai; many of them had even attended the strategic meeting with Lin Xuan alongside him.
They only just realized it now.
"Holy crap... So, Zhang Beihai was a staunch loser from the very beginning. He firmly believed that humanity would fail, but he cleverly concealed his true intentions?"
"Isn't this just like the Wallfacers?"
"A wild wall-facer," someone joked.
"Yes, the wild Wallfacer, the only person who paid for the Wallfacer project out of his own pocket."
Everyone present couldn't help but laugh, but at that moment, they also felt a greater sense of respect for the captain of the Natural Selection.
“The reinforcement plan was proposed by Zhang Beihai. I only learned about Zhang Beihai’s plan from Lin Xuan. The first version of Star Wars: Dark War was actually a simulation exercise of Zhang Beihai’s plan. I practiced it thousands of times to ensure that this escape was foolproof,” Chang Weisi said, looking at Zhang Beihai.
"To be honest, when I first learned your true purpose, I was shocked, and then I was angry. After all, as a soldier, you chose to desert your post instead of facing the difficulties head-on."
"This practice is an insult to the honor of your family, which has three generations of soldiers."
“But later, my thoughts changed. I don’t know if what you did was right, but I decided to take the blame for you. After all, I’ve lived for two centuries. I don’t care about these things anymore.” A rare hint of relief appeared on Chang Weisi’s face.
Zhang Beihai remained silent.
He knew that what followed was Chang Weisi's real purpose in holding this meeting.
“Those three water droplets are still chasing us, and they’re getting closer and closer. If this continues, none of us will be able to escape,” Chang Weisi said, glancing at the crowd in the hall.
"Someone has to sacrifice themselves. We might... only half of us will escape the droplet's pursuit."
"As for the remaining half of the people... the water droplet's fuel is limited, so the remaining half of the people need to be responsible for diverting the water droplet."
"Or to be more precise, it consumed all the remaining fuel of the water droplet at its own expense."
After Chang Weisi finished speaking, the entire room fell into a deathly silence.
Everyone knows that at this critical moment, someone needs to make a sacrifice.
However, once the course is changed, it means that there will be no chance to return. It may become a ghost ship drifting in space, or it may be destroyed after encountering the droplet.
Regardless of the method, death is inevitable.
"So... who will attract the pursuing water droplets, or rather, who will be sent to their death?"
"I!"
The first person to raise his hand was a captain from the Asian Fleet. He had once been a soldier under Chang Weisi and a member of the second team that reinforced the Future Project.
Once there was a first one, a second and a third soon followed.
"General Chang, I'll go!"
"Sir, let me go!"
“Mr. Chang Weisi, I’ll go too.”
……
It was clearly a mission that would result in certain death, yet everyone eagerly raised their hands to sign up.
This army is a collection of the elite of all mankind. They come from all nations, but at this moment, they all share one common name—human.
Humanity unites!
"Let's draw lots instead; that would be fairer," Chu Yan suggested.
But Chang Weisi shook his head, indicating he had no intention of adopting the suggestion.
"No, no need, we already have someone in mind."
As Chang Weisi spoke, he took a step forward.
"All immortals, step forward!"
Wow!
Immediately, rows of immortals stepped out from the crowd.
This naturally includes Chang Weisi himself.
"We are all immortal beings, old monsters who have lived for nearly two centuries. We've had enough of living. Perfect timing! Let's take this opportunity to add one last bit of fuel to the future of humanity!"