vrcanaries Chapter 195, Xin, please sit down.
Chapter 195, Xin, please sit down.
Three days later, under the direction of Thomas Wade, the second Swordholder of the Earth Alliance, the Alliance dispatched nearly half of humanity's young men and women to join the construction of the Halo.
Why are there women?
Because one of the features included with the Mewtwo database is a brain-computer interface, the brain network allows any ordinary person to operate machinery and industrial-grade powered armor.
With the assistance of these machines, the differences between men and women's bodies have long been smoothed out and disappeared.
Industrial engineering, like military engineering, is no longer a job exclusively for men; women and gender-neutral individuals are equally capable of performing this work.
It is worth mentioning that, thanks to the assistance of clones and intelligent machines, the population issue is no longer directly linked to productivity. As a result, some people have chosen to genetically modify their bodies, abandoning gender characteristics to achieve the most stable physical form.
Without the task of procreation, even if you don't get married, no one will say anything. At worst, you can just change back to your original genetic makeup if you want to get married. With current human genetic technology, this is not a difficult thing.
Of course, if some people give up their gender characteristics, then others will switch gender characteristics. There have even been geniuses who have asked if it is possible to have two gender characteristics, forcing the Earth Federation to legislate that any gender characteristic can only be chosen one, and the same human being cannot have two gender characteristics at the same time.
Originally, only the Star Ring Corporation and the Earth Federation were involved in Project Halo, but under Vader's pressure, all of humanity became participants in the project, which resulted in the construction of Halo being more than ten times faster than before.
The world tour, originally expected to take decades to complete, may only take a few years to finish.
Wang Miao was very happy about this, after all, he was the chief designer of RimWorld. He originally thought it would be a long time before RimWorld was completed, but now it seems that there may be hope soon.
"There's just one thing I don't quite understand: what are all these points that extend out from around the world?"
Looking at the images sent by Xinghuan Group, Wang Miao asked curiously.
The halo is a colossal structure large enough to cover the entire sun; it's like a hula hoop encasing the sun.
Then, the inner layer of the ring world can continuously absorb the energy released by the sun to supply itself, while the outer layer can be planned as a space station suitable for human habitation.
However, in the actual blueprints provided by the Star Ring Group, the inner layer of the Ringworld, in addition to energy absorption modules that capture stellar energy, also has extended probes pointing directly at the sun.
"A traction device used to secure spacecraft and planets."
Ding Yi knew what it was for after just one glance.
Wang Miao's research field is mainly materials engineering, so it's normal that he hasn't seen this kind of particle physics device before. But Ding Yi is very familiar with this thing. He used to need this thing when building spaceship docking areas.
But Ding Yi really couldn't understand why Wade, or rather Lin Xuan, would place this thing in the RimWorld.
"Do you think it's possible that... he's planning to drive the sun away?"
As Wang Miao spoke, he used his pen to add another semicircle to the outer layer of this ring world, enclosing most of the sun within it.
In this way, a simplified version of a thruster is formed, which uses the sun's energy as fuel and propels the entire device forward.
"Don't go too far. What's the point of doing this? Taking away the entire solar system?" Ding Yi scratched his head.
"How should I know? You're a scientist, I'm just an engineer. The blueprints from the design institute look like this, and that's how I built it. Why do you care what they're going to do with it?" Wang Miao tossed the blueprints aside and chose to stop thinking.
"Is this why you built a propulsion system as a heating furnace when you were building Reach?"
When building the Reach Star, Wang Miao once held the blueprints for a certain thruster module upside down, and ended up building a heating module that propels internally, which directly shocked scholars from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, including Wei Cheng and others.
However, Reach was later destroyed by the Trisolaran droplets, and Wang Miao's dark history was only known to a few people.
The construction of Halo is in full swing, but Vader's exploitation of the entire human workforce has also drawn a lot of opposition.
About seven days after Vader took over as the Swordholder, an organization called the "Saviors" quietly emerged among the human population.
Somewhere in Europe:
In an abandoned underground city, thousands of people have gathered, all of them with the same tattoo on their arms: a pattern of Earth and three stars.
In this design, Earth represents human civilization, while the three stars represent the Trisolaran universe.
On the high platform, Comer, the leader of the "Saviors," was giving a loud speech.
"Thomas Wade, the embodiment of evil, has wielded the power of the Swordholder. This is a catastrophe for both the Trisolaran world and the human world!"
"The Earth Alliance has chosen silence, Lin Xuan has chosen silence, and Cheng Xin, who should have been the Swordholder, has also chosen silence. It's alright, we will speak out for them!"
"We are the saviors, rescuing this enslaved world from the clutches of demons, freeing the oppressed people from their evil ways, and reclaiming the identity of Cheng Xin as the Swordholder!"
"Comrades, comrades-in-arms, war is about to break out. Our path is tortuous and uncertain. In this revolution against the Swordholder, we may sacrifice ourselves, we may die in battle, but as long as we can save humanity, we will fear nothing!"
As he spoke, Comer raised his arm high, making a fist.
“Save the world!”
Thousands of people in the audience followed suit.
“Save the world!”
Where there is oppression, there is resistance. Vader's oppressive policies are very likely to provoke a backlash from revolutionary armies in human society.
Human society has never lacked revolutionaries with the ideal of saving the world, and they are not afraid even when facing Thomas Wade, the Swordholder.
As long as they are not afraid of death, even the swordsman cannot threaten them.
And the Saviors are not the only such organization. In just seven days after Vader took office as the Swordholder, revolutionary armies similar to the Saviors appeared in about thirty regions.
Although their philosophies differ, their ultimate goal is the same.
Overthrow Thomas Wade's tyranny and return the identity of the Swordholder to its master, Cheng Xin.
In the eyes of humanity, Thomas Wade is nothing short of a usurper, and only Cheng Xin is the rightfully chosen Swordholder.
Just like emperors in ancient times, it is almost impossible for usurpers to gain the support of the common people.
Fortunately, Wade never sought the support of the common people. He was a dictator and a tyrant, but this was also the source of his absolute power.
When Cheng Xin arrived at Luo Ji's house and met Luo Ji, she found that Zhang Xiang and others were also there.
Today happens to be Luo Congmin's birthday, so everyone gathered together to celebrate with some hot pot.
It's rare to have so many people gathered here today; apart from Lin Xuan, almost everyone from Lin Xuan's faction is here.
"Hey, Cheng Xin, have you eaten yet? Please have a seat."
Luo Ji, holding a bowl, saw Cheng Xin walk in from outside the door and quickly patted Luo Congmin, who was happily eating beside him.
"Go, go, go, get your sister-in-law another pair of chopsticks."
Luo Ji's reminder made everyone present realize that, to the outside world, Cheng Xin was still Lin Xuan's nominal lover.
"puff!"
Zhang Xiang couldn't help but choke on his words. He took the tissue Bai Bing handed him and stood up.
"No, no, no, don't trouble our President with this kind of thing, I'll do it, I'll do it!"
Cheng Xin felt embarrassed upon hearing Luo Ji's words.
However, she suppressed her shame and accepted the bowl and chopsticks Zhang Xiang offered, sitting down at the same table with everyone else.
Before she could speak, Luo Ji broke the silence first.
"You've taken over the Star Ring Group, haven't you?"
Cheng Xin nodded slightly.
"Well, after Wade became the Swordholder, AiAA became the nominal boss of the Star Ring Group. I'm currently working for her as a technical consultant for the Star Ring Group."
"Sure, with your abilities, you should have a good career in Star Ring," Luo Ji joked.
"Ah."
Cheng Xin didn't say much, only Zhuang Yan kept piling food into her bowl.
The atmosphere fell into an awkward silence once again. After a long while, Cheng Xin finally spoke.
"I'm here today to ask you to help me clarify the relationship."
Luo Ji seemed to have anticipated this, and after downing the liquor in his glass in one gulp, he slowly began to speak.
"You mean to talk about your relationship with those organizations like the Saviors, right?"
"Yes."
Cheng Xin remained noncommittal. In recent days, a large number of rebels had openly rebelled against Thomas Wade under her banner.
Although Cheng Xin didn't like having Wade as the sword wielder, she knew that if she really angered that demon, he might just press the switch and destroy both worlds.
Therefore, even Cheng Xin felt dissatisfied with those people's behavior, let alone the fact that they were using her name.
He hadn't done anything wrong, and those organizations had nothing to do with him.
Upon seeing this, Luo Ji couldn't help but smile.
"You know what, Cheng Xin? You look just like my teacher did back then."
Luo Ji and Yang Dong were classmates, and the teacher he mentioned was naturally Ye Wenjie, the woman who brought about the destruction of humanity.
"The only thing that a person who is hailed as a savior and a person who is sent to the guillotine have in common is that they have no choice."
Upon hearing this, Cheng Xin opened her mouth, as if to say something.
"But you're in a much worse situation than my teacher. At least my teacher was nominally the spiritual leader of ETO back then. You didn't even get to meet those organizations before being used as their pawn."
"Different."
Cheng Xin shook her head slightly.
"To be honest, I actually agree with the views of the Saviour Organization. It's just that Vader has too much power, and I know that their rebellion is futile, so I have to stop them."
Cheng Xin took a deep breath.
"Professor Luo, you should know as well as I do what kind of annihilation humanity will suffer once that demon Thomas Wade becomes the Swordholder. Why don't you stop him?"
Upon hearing this, Luo Ji paused in his act of picking up food, and after a long silence, he spoke again.
"How can I stop him? He was appointed as the sword bearer because of Lin Xuan's decision. I can't possibly go against Lin Xuan, can I?"
Upon hearing this, Cheng Xin felt a chill run down her spine.
She said that the reason why Wade's operation went so smoothly was that without Lin Xuan's assistance, how could Wade have avoided Zhizi's surveillance?
If the security around the swordsman can be so easily breached, then the deterrent effect would have long since disappeared.
"But...you have to consider the people in both worlds. Aren't you being too selfish?"
Upon hearing this, Luo Ji adopted an indifferent attitude.
“I am indeed selfish, I have always been a selfish person.”
"I've said it before, I became a Wallfacer back then only for Zhuang Yan and the child. If that old woman Sai hadn't threatened me with my family, what would the destruction of humanity have to do with me?"
"Later I became the Swordholder for the same reason: I can consider the interests of humanity, but only if my family is safe."
“You can say I have no vision, that I am narrow-minded. Three hundred years ago, they called me an academic fraud in the name of the nation, saying I was wasting national resources and never considering the nation’s interests. Two hundred years ago, they called me a traitor to humanity in the name of the international community, saying I didn’t consider humanity’s interests. Now, you’re standing up and saying I don’t consider the interests of people in both worlds.”
“But Cheng Xin, from beginning to end, I have never changed. I have always been that narrow-minded, selfish person who only cares about family.”
"Of course I don't mind fulfilling my responsibility to protect humanity and the world, but the premise is that it cannot conflict with my other choices. The conditions for serving as a Swordholder and a Wallfacer are both based on ensuring the safety of those around me."
“My stance is different from yours. Faced with the choice between country and family, I will choose family; faced with the choice between the world and country, I will choose country; faced with the choice between civilization and the universe, I will choose civilization. I cannot be as righteous as you, but you have no right to judge my stance.”
"Do you know why the Cradle Project of The Three-Body Problem trained a large number of interstellar people? It's because interstellar people are most likely to lean towards the path of the white left, and they are easily confused about the difference between the greater good and the individual."
"Similarly, Lin Xuan is our friend, and his choice is also our choice. Do you expect us to be enemies with Lin Xuan, form some kind of squad, and then fly over to cut off Lin Xuan's head?"
"Perhaps others can do this, but we are the only ones who cannot."
"As for now, I have fulfilled my duty, and Vader is more suitable to be the Swordholder than I am."
"As for what methods he uses, I don't care."
After Luo Ji finished speaking, he clearly intended to see the guest out.
Cheng Xin was rendered speechless by what the other party said, so she had no choice but to get up and leave.
Before leaving, Luo Ji spoke again.
"If you still believe in your ideas, you might as well talk to Wade in person; perhaps things will change."