The Droplet, like a tear shed by the Trisolarans, glided silently against the pitch-black backdrop of the universe.
It bypassed the human-built defense line along a near-perfect trajectory.
It triggered no alarms.
It encountered no interception.
Inside the Trisolaran command center, the dead silence born of shock was finally broken by a trace of hopeful thought from the Princeps.
"Their defense systems seem to be nothing but for show."
"To think the Droplet could pass through their detection network so easily."
This sliver of hope rapidly fermented, twisting into a comforting sense of superiority.
Perhaps those bugs were merely putting up a front.
They had transformed their entire star system into a massive, magnificent empty shell, but their weapon systems remained crude and utterly incapable of locking onto a target as precise and minuscule as the Droplet.
In that case, all of this was nothing more than a gift left for the Trisolarans!
Yes.
That had to be it.
"Continue advancing," the Princeps's thoughts regained some composure. "Enter Earth's atmosphere. Let us see what secrets this planet is hiding."
The Droplet faithfully executed the command.
Earth, that azure planet, grew increasingly clear in its sensors.
Closer.
Even closer.
Just as the Droplet was about to touch the edge of that pale blue atmosphere...
An anomaly occurred without warning.
The space ahead of it suddenly rippled.
Like a pebble tossed into a tranquil lake.
Three pitch-black, unmanned drones, each only a few dozen meters long, materialized out of thin air.
They had no engine exhausts, no windows, and no superfluous structures.
Their pitch-black surface coating absorbed all light.
They formed a standard triangular formation, completely sealing off the Droplet's path.
Inside the Trisolaran command center, the newly risen hope vanished instantly.
"Interceptors?"
The Security Consul's thought waves were filled with incomprehensible confusion.
"Such tiny things? They intend to stop the Droplet with these?"
A surge of fury erupted in the Princeps's mind at being toyed with.
"Bug tricks!"
"Ram them!"
"Crush them into dust!"
With that single command!
The Droplet did not decelerate in the slightest; it even completed one final acceleration in an instant!
Its absolutely smooth body, composed of strong interaction material, carried the terrifying kinetic energy of near-light speed as it barreled straight toward the lead black drone!
In the minds of all Trisolarans, this would be a one-sided slaughter without any suspense.
The laws of physics had long predetermined the outcome.
However.
The black drone did not dodge.
It did not even attempt any tactical evasive maneuvers.
It simply hovered there quietly, as if awaiting a fateful encounter.
The next second.
Its nose silently split open to reveal a seam.
A crystal-clear probe, no thicker than an arm and made of an unknown crystal, slowly extended like a work of art.
A beam of light illuminated from the tip of the probe.
A white light so faint it was almost negligible.
That light had no temperature, no brightness, and did not even possess an offensive form.
It simply shone quietly upon the surface of the oncoming Droplet.
And then.
The universe fell into absolute, dead silence.
There was no earth-shattering explosion.
There was no world-destroying shockwave.
There was not even the slightest dissipation of energy.
On the massive holographic projection in the Trisolaran command center.
That culmination of the Trisolaran civilization's highest technology, that object hailed as the "Tear of God," that perfect creation believed to be the most indestructible thing in the universe...
The Droplet.
The moment it was touched by that faint white light.
It began to disappear.
Its head, that perfect teardrop-shaped tip, was gently erased from the blackboard of the universe by an invisible eraser.
The outer shell composed of strong interaction material was incomparably fragile before it.
In less than a thousandth of a second.
Not even enough time for a Trisolaran's thought core to complete a basic logical deduction.
The Droplet, along with all the pride and hope of the Trisolaran civilization.
Was thoroughly and cleanly erased from this universe.
A dead silence filled the command center.
Until the Chief Navigator's thought waves, completely distorted by extreme terror, transmitted.
"Matter... matter decomposition technology..."
"They... they've mastered the technology to directly interfere with strong interaction forces!!"
"God..."
...
The *All Tomorrows* space station.
Luo Ji stood before the massive viewport, quietly watching the entire process of the Droplet's annihilation on the holographic screen.
From its appearance to its disappearance, it took only a few seconds.
Behind him stood a group of tense PDC officials and scientists.
The moment the Droplet vanished, the entire command hall erupted into tsunami-like cheers!
"We succeeded!"
"We did it!"
"Beautifully done!!"
Countless people hugged each other in excitement, weeping tears of joy.
Only Luo Ji had no expression on his face.
He merely looked calmly at the empty space on the screen, then reached out and closed the communication channel.
As if he had just done something utterly insignificant.
...
At the same time.
Earth.
All global channels, whether news, entertainment, or sports, were instantly cut off.
They were replaced by the solemn yet proud face of a PDC leader.
"Fellow humans, we are now broadcasting an emergency announcement."
"Fifteen seconds ago, a supreme technological probe from the Trisolaran civilization was automatically eliminated by the Solar System Defense System while attempting to invade Earth."
"This proves that the Trisolarans are no longer a threat."
After a brief silence.
The entire globe boiled over!
Countless people rushed into the streets, waving their arms and cheering hysterically.
"Badass!!!"
"Did you hear that?! Automatically eliminated! Instantly wiped out without breaking a sweat!"
"This is our Solar System Defense System! This is the security Chairman Luo Ji has brought us!"
"Trisolaran scum, drop dead!"
"Long live Chairman Luo Ji! Long live human civilization!"
The cult of personality surrounding Luo Ji reached an unprecedented peak at this moment.
Meanwhile, four light-years away.
Trisolaris, the supreme command center.
The Princeps's thoughts remained frozen on the frame where the Droplet was erased.
He "looked" at that empty, void space where nothing was left behind.
He "looked" at those three black drones, like the scythes of the Grim Reaper, turning into spatial ripples and vanishing without a trace after completing their mission.
He finally understood.
He finally understood why that man named Luo Ji had staged that shocking, fifty-year-long deception.
Because... in these short fifty years...
He didn't even care whether the Trisolarans would come or not.
Because, from the moment humanity mastered this technology, this standoff and war between two civilizations that had lasted for centuries...
Before it even began.
Was already over.