Lin Fan was standing in front of the panoramic floor-to-ceiling window.
He didn't look at the perfectly planned, fairy-tale garden city below him.
His gaze pierced through the atmosphere, looking toward the sun.
Or rather, looking at the massive ring visible to the naked eye on the surface of that star.
"Fucking... ridiculous," Lin Fan cursed in a low voice, but the corners of his mouth curled up involuntarily.
Twenty or thirty years ago, he was just a greenhorn slacking off in university, and Luo Ji was his cynical young professor who constantly talked about that "Cosmic Sociology" nonsense.
Lin Fan still remembered when Luo Ji was chosen as a Wallfacer and first expounded his "Dark Forest" hypothesis at the PDC meeting in a near-sleepwalking tone. He remembered the looks in the eyes of the politicians, generals, and scientists in the audience...
It was the look of seeing a madman, a clown, a fool grandstanding for attention.
But now.
This madman in the eyes of the world had become the sole leader of human civilization—no, a god.
Lin Fan subconsciously touched his cheek.
Smooth, firm, without a single wrinkle, full of youthful vitality.
Every cell in his body was functioning perfectly, driven by surging life energy.
Today, under the rule of the Human Alliance, the base lifespan of every citizen had reached a terrifying five hundred years.
But only core biological scientists like Lin Fan knew that this was just the beginning.
As long as there was enough energy, as long as they wanted to, they could even live for thousands or tens of thousands of years.
Immortality, a word that once only existed in myths, was gradually being realized.
The changes over these past few decades were simply a miracle.
Disease, hunger, poverty... these words that had plagued human civilization for thousands of years had now been completely swept into the garbage dump of history.
Everyone lived in a perfect utopia.
They enjoyed unprecedented happiness and peace, revering Luo Ji, who had created all this, as a living savior.
But Lin Fan knew the truth.
He knew this utopia was only temporary.
He knew what those "Black Domains" scattered across the Earth, which even the Sophons couldn't pry into, really were.
He knew that the two Sophons—captured alive, formatted, and now serving as humanity's mouthpiece—were weaving a lie of endless internal strife on Earth for the Trisolarans.
He also knew that in the shadow of Jupiter's magnificent storms, a massive fleet named "Dreadnought" was expanding twenty-four hours a day without interruption.
Those cold, ferocious war machines were like a shiver of dormant sharks, waiting for the day to tear their prey apart.
The enemy had never disappeared.
The Trisolarans were only the first hunters humanity had encountered in the dark forest, but absolutely not the last.
In the deeper, more distant darkness, even more terrifying entities lurked.
Lin Fan had once felt lost and terrified by this.
He once couldn't understand why Luo Ji would use such extreme, insane methods to tie the entire human civilization to a runaway chariot.
Until that day.
He was authorized to enter Black Domain Laboratory A-01 beneath the capital.
Then, a memory was forcibly implanted into his mind.
About the Qu, about the Star People, about the Worm People and the Carpet People... that hellish torment and despair spanning hundreds of millions of years.
At that moment.
Lin Fan threw up.
He vomited until the world spun, nearly throwing up his own bile.
And it was at that moment he completely understood his teacher's actions.
He finally understood what kind of heavy fear, enough to crush a civilization, was hidden deep within Luo Ji's dead eyes.
He also finally understood why the current Human Alliance was developing technology so desperately and frantically, regardless of the cost.
Buzz—
The personal terminal on his wrist transmitted a slight vibration.
A bold red news headline popped up.
Lin Fan's pupils suddenly contracted.
It's here!
The completion of the Dyson Ring provided humanity with nearly inexhaustible energy.
And the massive structure built on the inner side of the Dyson Ring, the star-fortress-like Star Harvester, provided humanity with vast amounts of resources.
...
Three months later.
The Star Harvester shipyard.
A peculiarly shaped experimental ship floated quietly in the center of the massive berth.
It lacked the aerodynamic, streamlined design of traditional spacecraft. The hull was spindle-shaped, its surface covered in a pitch-black coating capable of absorbing almost all light.
At its bow and stern, there were massive, structurally complex metal rings.
The *Voyager*.
Humanity's first experimental ship equipped with a rudimentary Curvature Engine.
It couldn't instantly warp light-years away like in sci-fi movies.
But it could distort the space immediately in front of and behind it for a short time, forming a "Curvature Bubble" that propelled the ship at speeds far exceeding the speed of light.
Although it was only a rudimentary version, it was already a technological leap.
In the control center, Luo Ji stood before the giant viewport, looking at the ship.
"Chairman, all systems have completed their self-checks. The *Voyager* is ready to depart at any time," the project director reported from behind him.
"Then let it depart," Luo Ji said, his voice betraying no emotion.
"Our time is running out."
"Yes, sir!"
Following the issuance of a command.
The metal ring at the stern of the *Voyager* instantly lit up with a blinding blue light.
The space around it began to show visible, water-like ripples.
The next second.
It vanished.
Without a single roar, it simply disappeared into thin air from the berth.
On the control center's main screen, the blip representing the *Voyager* was flying out of the solar system at a terrifying speed.
The speed of light had been breached.
For the first time, humanity's reach truly possessed the ability to extend beyond the cradle of the solar system.
The entire control center erupted into thunderous cheers and applause.
Countless white-haired scientists embraced and wept, acting as if they had gone mad.
This was the greatest day in the history of human civilization.
But Luo Ji merely watched the screen quietly, his face devoid of any joy.
He turned around and, amidst the fervent cheers, issued a new command.
"Using the *Voyager* as a technological blueprint, initiate the next phase of the plan."
"I need more ships equipped with Curvature Engines."
"Scatter them like dandelion seeds to all star systems within a hundred light-years."
"Go find new resources, new homes, and..."
Luo Ji's voice paused, a cold, hunter-like sharpness flashing in his dead eyes.
"...new civilizations."