Chapter 145

When Saiwen's words came out, the myriad worlds public screen instantly boiled.

But the Trisolaran fleet's response was 0.3 seconds faster than the public screen.

Inside the flagship of the Trisolaran First Fleet,

The thought bodies of nearly all Trisolarans received the sky curtain broadcast signal at nearly the same instant.

Ultraman, we need the coordinates.

The thought signal exploded in the fleet's communications network.

A hawkish military officer's thought transmitted first:

"Release the coordinates! Release them immediately!"

"Send our position to Ultraman!"

"Are you crazy?"

Another dovish officer's thought signal surged violently,

"Revealing the coordinates equals suicide; Ultraman hates evil like an enemy—what have we done to humanity?"

"Sophon blockade! Droplet massacre! Driving seven billion people into Australia to be raised like livestock! Do you think Ultraman will let us off after seeing this?"

"Not revealing them is suicide!"

The hawkish commander's thought body twisted violently,

"Ultraman is a supreme god‑level civilization! It will find us even without coordinates!"

"Proactively handing over the coordinates would at least show our attitude—we are willing to cooperate!"

The dovish officer's thought signal became so rushed it was distorted:

"Hear what you're saying! Ultraman's kind despises nothing more than bullying the weak with strength!"

"When we pierced human warships one by one with droplets, did you ever imagine this day?"

"That scene was broadcast clearly by the sky curtain! The whole universe saw it!"

"What do we do then? Wait to die?"

"At least don't walk right into it!"

"You think we can avoid it by not stepping forward? Do you think Ultraman is blind?"

Inside the fleet, hundreds of Trisolaran thought bodies simultaneously fell into a frenzied debate.

The hawkish and dovish thought signals clashed, superimposed, and distorted, overloading the entire communications network to the point of nearly burning out the main node.

The leader's thought body hovered in the central command area of the flagship, not taking part in the argument.

It was calculating.

The result of the calculation made it feel colder the more it computed.

What the Trisolaran civilization has done to humanity: the Sophon blockade of basic physics, droplets destroying over two thousand warships, forcibly relocating seven billion people to Australia, and implementing resource controls on a scale of species extinction.

Each of these is an act Ultraman cannot tolerate.

And these actions were just broadcast in full, frame by frame, on the sky curtain.

Broadcast to the entire universe.

Broadcast to Ultraman.

The leader's calculation yielded only one conclusion:

Whether or not the coordinates are disclosed, the Trisolaran civilization has no bargaining chips left before Ultraman.

All they can do is beg for mercy.

What they don't know is.

At this moment,

this scene of theirs, chaotic as a pot of porridge,

is being simultaneously relayed by the sky curtain to every corner of the myriad worlds.

The hawks and doves argued until their faces flushed and necks thickened, their thought signals swarming the fleet like a disturbed beehive.

All the spectators of the myriad worlds saw it.

Dragon Ball world, Kaiō's planet.

Vegeta sat cross‑legged on a large rock, watching the tangled mass of thought signals inside the Trisolaran fleet on the sky curtain, his mouth twisted downwards.

"Take a look at these guys."

Vegeta raised his hand and curled his finger toward the sky curtain.

"Back when we used droplets to crush human warships, we were mighty—each of us was unstoppable."

"Now that you know Ultraman is coming? Are you panicking? Starting to argue?"

He glanced toward Goku: "Kakarot, look at these cowards."

Goku squatted on the grass, picking his toes, and glanced up at the sky curtain.

"Hmm… they really do seem afraid."

"They deserve it."

Vegeta without hesitation,

"The more arrogant they are when bullying the weak, the more cowardly they become when facing the strong."

"A foe that a Saiyan cannot defeat will at least die standing; these Trisolarans can't even keep their footing."

Piccolo added from the side: "The point is, they really do have a reason to beg for mercy."

"The sky curtain has exposed everything they've done."

"Before Ultraman, this amounts to being presented with evidence in court."

"So what?"

Vegeta snorted,

"The evidence is in; however it should be judged, that's how it should be judged. Saiwen isn't the type to smooth things over."

Warhammer 40K universe, Marklag.

Guilliman placed both hands on the hilt of the Sword of Justice,

Watching the infighting of the Trisolaran fleet displayed on the sky curtain, he slowly shook his head.

"They are facing an unsolvable multiple-choice question."

"The Honor Guard Captain beside him, Sicarius, spoke: 'Primarch, do you think the Trisolaran civilization… deserves to die?'"

Guilliman pondered for a moment.

"What they have done, under Imperial law, each offense would merit the death penalty."

"Blocking technology, slaughtering civilians, colonial oppression."

He paused.

"But I also noticed something: their universe has the Dark Forest Law."

"In that universe, under such a Dark Forest state, exposing one's coordinates will result in eradication."

"What they have done to humanity, to some extent, is forced upon them by that universe."

Sicarius frowned: "Your meaning is… they don't deserve to die?"

"What I mean is, in a universe just as diseased as ours, almost every civilization would end up like this."

"The Trisolaran civilization is merely a product of that law. What truly deserves to die is the law of the universe itself."

Guilliman raised his head, gazing into the depths of the sky curtain.

"But that doesn't mean they can be exempt from responsibility."

"The punishment should match the evil they have done. As for how severe the punishment should be, that depends on Saiwen."

Super Beast Armament world, the Xuanwu.

Huo Linfei braced both hands on the control panel, his face almost touching the screen.

"Hehehe, I just said the Trisolarans would be scared!"

"They were so fierce toward humans before; now it's their turn, right?"

Miaotiao Jun sat in the corner, holding a newly opened bag of chips, muttering:

"But… although the Trisolarans have done many excessive things, they don't seem to have succeeded, right?"

"The sky curtain did broadcast it, didn't it? Humanity finally forced the Trisolarans to retreat by broadcasting their coordinates."

"Moreover, the Trisolaran civilization itself was wiped out by the photoids."

"What do you mean?"

Huo Linfei turned his head and glared at him.

"What I mean is, if we follow the future shown on the sky curtain, the Trisolaran civilization was destined to perish… If Saiwen goes back now, it might be a bit… redundant?"

Tianyu stood by the porthole, finishing Miaotiao Jun's words for him:

"Not redundant. The sky curtain altered the timeline."

"Now, if Saiwen goes back, the Trisolarans haven't yet had the chance to commit those crimes."

"So what Saiwen faces is not judging crimes that have already occurred, but preventing a disaster that is about to happen. The nature is different."

Huo Linfei scratched his head: "Oh… then should the Trisolarans die or not?"

Tianyu did not answer.

The flagship of the Star-People Union.

Grand Marshal Sidney held the newly replaced coffee cup.

The previous one she had dropped.

She gazed at the chaotic scene of the Trisolaran fleet on the sky curtain and spat out two words.

"Serves them right."

The chief of staff beside her hesitated for a moment:

"Grand Marshal, objectively speaking, although the Trisolaran civilization's actions were brutal, within the Dark Forest Law environment…"

"I know what you're going to say."

Sidney interrupted him,

"You want to say that the rules of that universe forced them to act this way, so it's understandable."

The chief of staff remained silent.

"'Understandable' is what judges say."

Sidney took a sip of coffee,

"I am a soldier. Soldiers only look at the results."

"The Sophon's blockade of technology is tantamount to binding someone's hands so they can be beaten."

"The Droplet destroyed warships, over three thousand of them, annihilating the entire fleet."

"Driving seven billion people into a continent to be raised like pigs. These are facts."

"As for the Dark Forest Law, it is the law of their universe, not an amnesty."

"Just like killing prisoners on the battlefield, you say it's because logistics can't support them; I understand the reasoning."

"But killing is killing; responsibility must still be pursued."

While all civilizations were still debating the Trisolaran civilization's guilt and punishment,

On the Myriad Worlds Public Screen, a line of text suddenly popped up.

It was not a bullet screen.

It is a set of data.

Precise to twelve decimal places, a three-dimensional spatial coordinate.

The coordinate of the Three-Body World.

Above the public screen, the information source is labeled.

【Three-Body Universe·Earth·PDC Planetary Defense Council】

Marvel Universe, Avengers Tower.

Tony Stark's hand, holding a coffee cup to his mouth, stopped.

Wait, who?

He put down his cup, took two steps to the holographic screen, and magnified that line of coordinate data three times.

These coordinates… are they sent from Earth in the Trisolaran universe? Sent by humans?

Jarvis's voice came through.

Yes, sir. Information source verification complete. The sender is Saly, Secretary-General of the Trisolaran Universe PDC Planetary Defense Council.

Did humans themselves hand over the Trisolaran coordinates?

Tony leaned back a little, letting out a hiss,

This boldness… no, this trust, she's betting that Ultraman won't destroy humanity together.

One Piece world, the Thousand Sunny.

Robin closed the notebook in her hands.

Interesting.

Nami came over: "What's up, Robin?"

Robin pointed to the coordinate data on the public screen:

The Trisolarans themselves are still arguing over whether to disclose the coordinates.

As a result, humans made that decision for them first.

Zoro leaned against the mast, gave a cold snort: "These humans, acting on their own again."

No.

Robin shook her head,

Last time acting on their own was choosing Cheng Xin; this time acting on their own… the direction is reversed.

The sky-screen image switched.

Trisolaran universe, Earth, PDC headquarters.

At the center of the United Nations Planetary Defense Council hall, Saly stood before the podium.

Behind her were the representatives of various nations, newly summoned,

After the sky-screen finished playing the full story of Trisolaris, all senior officials rushed back to headquarters immediately.

Saly's voice came from the global broadcast system and was simultaneously relayed by the sky-screen to all worlds.

First, I speak on behalf of the PDC, Earth, and human civilization.

She paused.

Apologize to Mr. Luo Ji, Mr. Zhang Beihai, and Mr. Wei De.

They are humanity's heroes.

The sky-screen showed us a possible future, in which we mistreated every person who fought desperately for humanity.

We drove the heroes from power, sent the warriors to the execution ground, and snuffed out the fire seed in our own hands.

Such things will not happen during my term.

The hall fell silent for a few seconds.

Saly continued: "Second, regarding the coordinates of our universe."

She took a deep breath.

I have decided to submit the world's coordinates to Ultraman of the Land of Light.

A commotion arose in the hall. Several representatives began to whisper among themselves.

Saly raised her hand to press down.

I know many will say, "How dare you?"

What if Ultraman wipes out both civilizations?

My answer is: I choose to trust Ultraman.

The sky-screen showed us everything about the Land of Light.

They guard the universe, protect the weak, hate evil like an enemy, but never slaughter the innocent indiscriminately.

Ultraman's character has been verified in countless incidents.

Humanity once made a wrong choice. They chose Cheng Xin.

This time, I choose to trust Ultraman.

After she finished speaking, the entire venue fell into a silence lasting five seconds.

Then, applause broke out.

Armored Warrior world.

Duanmu Yan stood by the window, watching Saly's image on the sky-screen, silent for a long time.

... Finally, someone who understands has arrived.

He turned around and spoke to Ma Lingling behind him:

What the humans in that previous universe did was so stupid it makes me want to smash something.

Choose Cheng Xin, kill Wei De, drive Luo Ji away. Every single one is stupid to the bone.

But this Sa Yi.

Duanmu Yan finally relaxed her breath.

She at least still knows to bow when she should bow, to trust when she should trust.

Compared to Cheng Xin's nonsense "I feel the universe is full of love," this woman's brain is finally working properly.

Dragon Clan World.

Lu Mingfei pulled the lollipop out of his mouth, uttering an "Mm".

This Sa Yi has something.

He sat on the edge of the rooftop with his legs crossed, swinging his legs.

You know, the Trisolarans are still hesitating whether to announce their coordinates, but humanity went ahead and sold the Trisolarans' coordinates. That move is ruthless.

He then stuffed the lollipop back into his mouth, mumbling a supplement.

But having said that, although these humans were previously absurdly stupid, they can still produce one or two normal people at critical moments. It's not completely hopeless.

The heavenly screen switched back to the Land of Light.

Universe Defense Force Headquarters.

The coordinate data has been received and parsed completely.

The precise location of the Trisolaran World in the universe is now projected onto the central holographic star map of the headquarters hall.

Father of Ultraman stood up.

His cape unfolded behind him as the light from the Plasma Spark Tower shone on him, refracting a gentle yet heavy radiance.

All the Ultraman warriors in the hall straightened their bodies.

Father of Ultraman turned toward Seveng.

"Seveng."

"Here."

"Go to that universe."

Seveng's right hand had already gripped the ice axe.

"I've long been ready."

Father of Ultraman nodded:

"The rules of that universe differ from ours."

"They have what is called the Dark Forest Law; exposing coordinates will get you wiped out by a higher civilization."

"Under that law, the Trisolaran civilization has become the aggressor."

"But the reasons for aggression and the act of aggression are two different things. Go, see clearly, then decide."

"Just remember the Ultraman spirit."

Seveng gripped the ice axe tightly, without saying more.

He turned and walked toward the teleportation array at the far end of the headquarters hall.

Shikali was already waiting there.

He held a freshly calibrated dimensional penetrator and gestured to Seveng.

"Parameters calibrated. The dimensional barrier strength of the Trisolaran universe is medium; I'll open a gap here, you go straight through."

Seveng stepped onto the teleportation platform.

The ice axe on his head flashed in the light.

Shikali activated the dimensional penetrator.

A vertical rift tore open before Seveng; the scene beyond the rift was blurry and distorted, faintly showing the outlines of stars and fleets.

Seveng stepped forward.

His red figure vanished into the rift.

The rift closed behind him.

In the Hall of Light, Taro clenched his fists and whispered softly: "Seveng brother, hang in there."

……

Trisolaran First Fleet Flagship.

The argument continued.

And it grew increasingly heated.

The Dove Faction Officer's thought signal had already been distorted to the edge of delusion:

"I'll say it one last time: we absolutely must not actively announce our coordinates! Ultraman isn't here to negotiate!"

"It's here to judge! Announcing our coordinates is tantamount to saying: come here, I'm here, do whatever you want with me!"

"The Hawk Faction Officer's thought signal roared back:"

"Can we avoid detection by not announcing?"

"Do you think Ultraman is one of us? Do you need coordinates to locate us?"

"It's a Primordial God-level civilization! If it wants to find you, hiding in an eleventh‑dimensional pocket won't help!"

"So sending ourselves to its doorstep is out of the question!"

"Enough."

"The Leader's thought signal pressed down."

"The entire fleet's communication network fell silent instantly."

"The Leader's thought form hovered above the control core at the center of the flagship."

Its dehydration cycle has become disordered; excessive anxiety causes abnormal fluctuations in its biological circulation system.

I will make this decision.

The leader's thought signal slowly unfolded.

Two options.

Announce, or not announce.

Announce, there is a sliver of life; not announce.

Its thought paused for a moment.

As if sighing.

Trisolarans lack the physiological ability to sigh, but the leader's thought fluctuation pattern at this moment is indistinguishable from a human sigh.

It slowly turned its thought body,

preparing to announce the final decision to the entire fleet.

Then its thought completely froze.

The exterior of the flagship's main screen.

Precisely, it was the front of the flagship's hull.

At some point, something appeared.

A giant.

A red body.

Silver soft armor covered its chest, abdomen, and shoulders.

The ice axe on its head refracted a chilling light in the starlight.

Saiwen Aoteman

He simply hovered in space, arms naturally hanging down, head slightly tilted, looking directly inside through the flagship's hull.

Looking at the leader.

The leader's thought body exploded.

Not in the rhetorical sense of "exploded."

Its thought signal underwent a complete overload collapse within 0.2 seconds.

All thought conduction pathways short-circuited simultaneously, and the output signal became a jumble of fragmented garbage.

"Se... Se... Se... Wen... Wen..."

"Se... Wen?"

"Se... Wen!"

"Sevin!!"

Intermittent thought fragments surged from the leader's consciousness core,

like a computer with a fried motherboard repeatedly blue-screening and rebooting.

Worse still was its body.

Its life-support system suffered structural rupture under the impact of the thought overload.

Cracks spread from the side of the device, the high-purity life-sustaining fluid stored inside.

which is the fluid the Trisolarans rely on for survival, spewed out from the cracks.

It was not slowly seeping out.

It was a sudden "whoosh," like turning on a faucet.

The leader's body lost forty percent of its water in three seconds.

Its thought body began to shrink, wrinkle, and collapse.

It was directly frightened into dehydration.

……