The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu Read Free Book Online Page B

not going to stand for your bile. I’m gonna—”
    Then Zhang Yuanchao slammed the table with a noise three times louder, knocking over two of the cups and startling a yelp from the Sichuan woman. He pointed his finger at the other two in turn. “Fine. You’re an elite, and you’ve got money. That leaves me. What the hell do I have? I’m just a poor man, so it serves me right that my line will be wiped out?” With obvious effort he restrained himself from kicking over the table, then turned and stormed out. Yang Jinwen followed him.
    *   *   *
    The Second Wallbreaker carefully put new goldfish into the bowl. Like Evans, he enjoyed isolation, but he needed the companionship of beings other than humans. He often spoke to the goldfish like he spoke to the Trisolarans, two forms of life whose long-term presence on Earth he was looking forward to.
    Just then the sophon’s text appeared on his retina.
    I’ve recently been studying A Story of Three Kingdoms , and like you said, deceit and trickery are an art, just like the markings on a snake.
    “My Lord, once again you bring up the snake.”
    The more beautiful the markings on a snake, the more fearsome it looks. We didn’t use to care about humanity escaping, so long as they stopped existing in the Solar System, but now we have adjusted our plans and have decided to prevent humanity from fleeing. Letting an enemy whose thoughts are totally opaque flee into the cosmos is very dangerous.
    “Do you have a specific plan in mind?”
    The fleet has made adjustments to its Solar System deployment. It will detour in four directions at the Kuiper Belt 6 and encircle the Solar System.
    “If humanity really flees, your fleet will be too late to do anything by the time they do.”
    That is true, so we require your assistance. The next mission of the ETO is to halt or delay humanity’s escape plans.
    The Wallbreaker smiled. “My Lord, you really don’t have to worry about that at all. No large-scale flight of humanity will ever happen.”
    Even given the present, limited space for technological development, humanity might be able to build generation ships.
    “The greatest obstacle to flight is not technology.”
    Then is it disputes among countries? This UN special session may resolve that problem, and if it can’t, then developed countries are entirely capable of brushing aside the opposition of developing countries and forcing a plan through.
    “The greatest obstacle to flight is not disputes among countries, either.”
    Then what is it?
    “Disputes among people. The question of who goes and who stays behind.”
    That doesn’t seem like a problem to us.
    “We thought so at first, but it turns out to be an insurmountable obstacle.”
    Can you explain?
    “You may be familiar with human history, but you will probably find this hard to comprehend: Who goes and who remains involves basic human values, values which in the past promoted progress in human society, but which, in the face of ultimate disaster, are a trap. Right now, the majority of humanity has not realized how deep this trap is. Lord, please believe my words. No human can escape this trap.”
    *   *   *
    “Uncle Zhang, you don’t have to decide now. You’ve asked all the necessary questions, and it’s not a small amount of money, after all,” Shi Xiaoming said to Zhang Yuanchao, his face a picture of serenity.
    “It’s not that. Is the plan for real? The TV says—”
    “Don’t you mind what the TV says. Two weeks ago the government spokesperson said that freezing accounts was impossible, but now look what’s happened.… Think reasonably. You’re an ordinary man, and you’re thinking about the continuation of your family line. What about the president and the premier? Won’t they be thinking about the continuation of the Chinese people? And the UN about the continuation of the human race? This UN special session is actually an international cooperative plan that will formally launch the