Chapter 136: Humanity heads for Australia, Wise Particle: You are insects, only Luo Ji deserves respect

One centimeter.

Two centimeters.

Then.

Boom!

The first gravitational wave transmission tower was pierced by the Water Drop.

Boom!!

The second.

Boom!!!

The third.

In the picture, three huge fireballs rose from the earth's surface, and the mushroom cloud shot straight to the horizon.

Then everything fell silent.

Cheng Xin's hands hung at her sides.

There were no fingerprints on the button.

The final frame of the sky-screen froze on the holographic projection at the exact center of the circular room.

A woman in a white dress, the simulant form of the Wise Particle, slowly emerged.

A hint of a smile touched her lips.

Then she spoke.

Her voice passed through the global broadcast system, reaching every corner of Earth.

"Humans."

"You are all insects."

"Now, you have forty-eight hours."

"Go to Australia."

The sky-screen gradually darkened on this image.

The last line of golden subtitles emerged from the endless darkness.

【Deterrence Era Year 62. Swordholder Cheng Xin failed to press the button.】

【Deterrence failure.】

【Human civilization, despite having all the chips,】

【buried itself with its own hands.】

On the myriad-worlds public screen, the danmaku lingered for a full five seconds.

Then, a danmaku slowly rose from the bottom.

【Cybertron—Megatron】: What did I say again?

No exclamation mark.

No mockery.

No long rant.

Just these five words.

So calm it made everyone's spine chill.

Immediately after, a second danmaku appeared.

【Naruto World—Sasuke Uchiha】: …Luo Ji held out for fifty-four years; she couldn't even last ten minutes.

The third.

【Dragon Ball World—Piccolo】: Humans personally chose their own grave-digger.

The sky-screen went completely black.

The myriad-worlds public screen's comments stopped for five seconds.

Then it was as if someone had flipped the master switch, and all channels overloaded at once.

Land of Light, Universal Defense Force Headquarters.

Taro slammed a fist onto the control panel.

"Ten minutes!" his voice cracked, "Luo Ji held out for fifty-four years, and she lost everything in just ten minutes!"

Seveng stood still, his ice axe planted in the floor beside his foot, cracks spreading from the point of impact in all directions.

"No."

Seveng's voice was soft.

"She didn't lose."

"Losing means you tried but failed."

"But Cheng Xin…… she never fought at all."

Ultraman Father remained silent for a long time, then finally spoke.

"A warrior who cannot bring himself to harm the enemy will ultimately hurt everyone who trusts her."

Hikaru typed a line on the public screen.

【Land of Light—Hikaru】: According to the data, Cheng Xin's deterrence rating hovered near zero from the start. The Trisolaran Civilization bet that she wouldn't dare press it. She didn't. They won the bet. It's that simple.

Dragon Ball World, King Kai's Planet.

Wukong crouched on the grass, clutching his head with both hands.

"King Kai, I have a headache."

"I have a headache too."

Jie Wang put down the teapot.

Wukong raised his head: "I've been thinking for a long time; if it were me, would I press it?"

Bi Ke said coldly: "You will."

"Hmm." Wukong nodded, "I will."

"Because you know, the consequences of not pressing are worse."

Bi Ke crossed his arms,

"Luo Ji knows, Wei De knows, and the Trisolarans know."

"The only person who doesn't know was pushed into that position."

Wukong fell silent for a few seconds, then said a line that left even Jie Wang stunned.

"These humans are scarier than Buu."

"Buu only destroys others; they destroy even themselves."

One Piece world, the Ten Thousand Miles Sunshine.

Robin opened her notebook and wrote two words below: "Stupid."

Zoro leaned against the mast, not lifting his eyelids: "What did I say? Idiots rule."

Luffy sat at the bow, the meat in his mouth forgotten to swallow.

"That old man guarded for fifty-four years."

His voice was muffled,

"and that woman was taken care of in ten minutes."

"Luffy."

Nami stood behind him.

"If someone takes my crew to gamble and loses,"

Luffy tightened his grip on the straw hat,

"I'll smash his face."

"She's not gambling," Zoro corrected, "the premise of gambling is that she has the courage to place a bet. She hasn't even stepped through the casino's doors."

Super Beast Armor world, the Black Tortoise.

Huo Lin Fei plopped down on the spaceship, his whole spirit deflated.

"It's over."

"It's all over."

"We finally won, but ten minutes later everything was sent back."

Tian Yu stood by the porthole, eyes closed.

"The problem isn't Cheng Xin."

She opened her eyes,

"The problem lies with those who chose her."

"An individual's weakness can be forgiven."

"But what about the collective weakness of billions?"

"Then it's not simple weakness; it's suicide."

Miao Tiao Jun clung to a chip box.

"So... Luo Ji guarded for fifty-four years, and in the end humanity gave up on its own?"

No one answered him.

Armored Warrior world.

Bei Miao stood by the window, silent.

He had just said, "I was wrong."

He acknowledged that Luo Ji was the Iron Wall.

Now that Iron Wall has been torn down, replaced with a paper-paste window.

The paper window shatters at the slightest blow of wind.

Bei Miao's fist clenched and then relaxed.

"Heh, as expected, rivers and mountains are easy to change, but nature is hard to alter."

"Rotten oranges are forever rotten oranges!"

"If anyone dares to dismantle the defenses I set up and replace them with a pretty decoration,"

his voice extremely low, "I will bury the one who made that decision first."

Naruto world.

Yu Zhibo Ban's Rinnegan slowly turned.

He spoke for the second time on the public screen.

Still only one sentence.

"【Naruto World—Yu Zhibo Ban】: Fifty-four years of armor cannot withstand ten minutes of mercy. Human destiny has always been self-inflicted."

Sai Bo Tan Xing.

Qing Tian Zhu stood at the center of the Autobot base's main control room, his blue optical sensor dimming for a moment.

He shut down the holographic terminal before him.

"Wei Zhen Tian."

"Hmm?"

You won this argument.

Wei Zhen Tian, unusually this time, had no pride.

He leaned against the wall, his scarlet optical sensor fixed on the fading afterglow of the sky screen.

I never wanted to win this kind of argument; winning or losing it means nothing.

Reading it only makes the seed of my anger ache.

Beside,

The iron cannon barrel drooped, and the bumblebee's radio automatically switched to mute.

Stellar Human Federation.

Grand Marshal Sidney sat in the command chair, a finger repeatedly tapping the armrest.

Her gaze was ice-cold to the extreme.

【Stellar Human Union—Grand Marshal Sidney】: Luo Ji spent fifty-four years proving to the cosmos that humanity deserves to live. Cheng Xin spent ten minutes proving to the cosmos that humanity does not deserve to live.

【Stellar Human Union—Grand Marshal Sidney】: Choosing kindness is not wrong. Choosing kindness on the battlefield is a crime.

Wandering Earth Universe, Navigator International Space Station.

Liu Peiqiang stood before the observation window.

Moss.

Here.

Say the analysis again, the ninety-three point six percent one.

Mr. Liu Peiqiang, given that the enemy has not yet neutralized its threat capability, unilaterally reducing our deterrent force ultimately leads to catastrophic consequences with a probability of ninety-three point six percent.

Liu Peiqiang closed his eyes.

Now it's one hundred percent.

Moss did not reply.

Only a line of small text appeared on its screen.

【Let humanity forever remain rational; indeed, that is a luxury.】

The sky screen brightened again.

But this time, the picture had no golden subtitles.

No grand panorama of the universe.

Only gray.

A blanket of gray.

Australia.

A forty-eight-hour deadline.

A death march of seven billion people.

The images switched quickly.

Frame after frame of footage looked like a tape dug out of the ruins, the picture quality rough, the tone gloomy.

All continental ports and airports were choked.

The crowd surged toward Australia from all directions like a flood.

Someone was trampled to death on the dock.

Someone fell from an overloaded ferry into the sea.

A large passenger plane, landing on the Sydney coast, collided with the plane ahead due to runway congestion.

A fireball rose.

No one went to rescue.

Because more planes behind still needed to land.

Lines of text rose on the sky screen one by one.

【Trisolaran Civilization orders all humanity to relocate to Australia within forty-eight hours.】

【Seven billion people are compressed into 7.6 million square kilometers of land.】

【Food supply is fully taken over by the sophons, maintaining only the bare minimum survival standard.】

【Population density exceeds the carrying limit, and the resource allocation system collapses within three days.】

The picture continued.

The Australian interior.

Red desert covered with temporary tents as far as the eye can see.

Kilometer-long queues formed before the distribution stations. Each person received a compressed ration block and half a liter of water per day.

Someone was beaten to death for cutting in line.

Someone collapsed from dehydration in the queue, and those behind stepped over them to keep lining up.

A mother sat outside the tent holding her infant, who had already gone still.

No doctor came.

Because medical supplies were exhausted on the first day.

The sky-screen text continued.

【Human civilization, from a stellar space age, degraded to a refugee camp within forty-eight hours.】

【This is the price of losing deterrence.】

【This, is the price of choosing Cheng Xin.】

Universal Public Screen, this time without barrage comments.

All civilizations fell silent.

That silence was not due to shock, but because of something deeper.

Witnessing a disaster that could have been avoided, that mute, suffocating feeling.

Then the heavenly screen picture suddenly switched.

The camera pulled out from the grayish refugee camp and cut to a standalone building on a coastline somewhere in Australia.

A clean, well-maintained standalone villa.

There were no refugees around.

Because the area within a two-kilometer radius had been cleared.

The area was cleared not by human troops, but by two water droplets.

They hovered above the villa, their mirror-like shells reflecting the grayish-white sky light, like two drops of solidified mercury.

The villa's door opened.

An old man walked out.

White hair, old coat, slightly stooped back.

Luo Ji.

The heavenly screen subtitles appeared.

【After the Trisolaran Civilization occupied Earth, they allocated an independent residential zone for Luo Ji.】

【Equipped with exclusive living supplies, guarded around the clock by the water droplet.】

【The Trisolaran Leader conveyed a message via the sophon.】

The sophon's subtitles condensed in the air. The font was upright, the tone respectful.

【"Mr. Luo Ji. You are the only human we respect."】

【"You once had the capability to destroy us, but you chose restraint. With fifty-four years of will, you maintained the balance."】

【"This 'restraint' and 'will' are more awe-inspiring to us than all of humanity's weapons combined."】

【"You may live here until the end of your life. We guarantee your safety and dignity."】

In the picture, Luo Ji stood at the villa's doorway.

Two kilometers away, the clamor of the refugee camp could be faintly heard.

And around him, it was so quiet that only the sound of waves could be heard.

He did not go inside.

He stood there, facing the direction of the refugee camp, looking for a long time.

The heavenly screen's camera gave him a long side shot.

The wind blew through his white hair.

His expression could not be described as either sad or calm; he simply looked.

He watched those who once cursed him as a tyrant now crowded in tents, scrambling for a piece of compressed rations.

He watched those who had voted to replace him now clutching half a liter of water, trembling, afraid to spill it.

The heavenly screen cut to another shot.

Cheng Xin was also in the refugee camp.

She sat in the corner of a gray tent, knees drawn up to her chest.

No exclusive residential zone.

No water droplet guarding.

No respect from the Trisolaran Leader.

Like the other seven billion people, she queued for rations.

A passing young man recognized her.

"It's her! It's the woman who didn't dare press the button!"

The crowd's gaze turned toward her.

Someone threw a stone.

Cheng Xin did not dodge.

The stone struck her shoulder; she flinched slightly and lowered her head.

The heavenly screen's subtitles appeared silently.

【The Trisolaran Civilization respects Luo Ji because he had the courage to destroy them.】

【The Trisolaran Civilization looks down on Cheng Xin because she lacks even the courage to defend herself.】

【The Trisolaran Civilization looks down on humanity because they chose Cheng Xin.】

【In the laws of the universe:】

【The strong are respected, the weak are devoured.】

【Kindness has never been a free pass; strength is.】

On the myriad worlds public screen, comments began to slowly float up.

【Cybertron—Megatron】: The only correct thing the Trisolarans did was not throw Luo Ji and those people together.

【Cybertron—Optimus Prime】: …I cannot refute.

【Beast Wars—Tian Yu】: Enemies respect heroes more than their own side. This is probably the most sarcastic thing I've ever heard.

【Naruto World—Sasuke Uchiha】: In the same world, fifty-four years ago the people who cursed him as a tyrant are now queuing in tents for food.

【Naruto World—Sasuke Uchiha】: And the "tyrant" lives in the villa, protected by the enemy.

【Naruto World—Sasuke Uchiha】: What is this? Karmic retribution?

【Land of Light—Ultraman Seven】: The Trisolaran civilization's understanding of "respect" is equal destructive capability. Luo Ji has it, so he is respected. Cheng Xin does not have it, so she is trampled. The universe has no extra subsidy for kindness.

【Dragon Ball World—Piccolo】: Humans chose an executioner who dares not kill as an executioner. Now it's others' turn to hold knives against them, and they are crying again.

【United Nations of Planets—Grand Marshal Sidney】: Every person suffering in the refugee camp right now should remember——you voted in favor. Ninety-seven point eight percent.

【The Wandering Earth—Liu Peiqiang】: Letting humanity always remain rational is indeed a luxury.

Trisolaran Universe, Luo Ji's Manor.

The living room was so quiet that only the ticking of the hanging clock remained.

Luo Ji looked at the 「future self」 protected by the droplet on the sky screen, and at the hell on earth outside two kilometers away, his expression very complex.

Not pride.

Not sorrow.

It is a fatigue deep into the marrow.

「Chief Historian」

He opened his mouth.

「Hmm」

「You say, if my future self refuses to hand over that control terminal, not letting her take over, will the outcome be different? 」

Shi Qiang thought for a moment.

「No」

Luo Ji raised his head and looked at him.

Shi Qiang's eyes were very clear.

「Your refusal is also useless. 」

「Ninety-seven point eight percent of people want you to step down. 」

「If you don't leave, they will drag you out. 」

「They would rather be killed by the enemy than be protected by you. 」

「Because the way you protect them makes them afraid. And humanity, 」

Shi Qiang's rough voice paused a bit,

「Would rather choose a death that lets them feel at ease, and not a life that makes them fearful. 」

Luo Ji did not speak.

In the center of the living room, the sophon's light point pulsed slowly.

A line of new subtitles condensed in the air.

【Mr. Luo Ji.】

【The Trisolaran civilization, starting today, acknowledges you as the only individual in human civilization worthy of dialogue.】

【About the future shown by the sky screen——】

【We hope that this time we do not have to go that far.】

The subtitles dissipated.

Luo Ji stared at that light point for a few seconds, the corner of his mouth twitched.

That was a weary smile.

……