That brief, few-second clip was transmitted through the Trisolaran thought network, instantly reaching the cognitive core of every Trisolaran.
Collapse.
The Trisolaran civilization experienced a total disintegration, from the mental to the material.
They had been reduced to a complete joke.
The Trisolaran world plunged into a chaos more despairing than a Chaotic Era with three suns in the sky.
Countless Trisolarans abandoned their dehydration or rehydration processes. They darted frantically above their cities, emitting illogical shrieks filled with terror and despair.
"A trick! It was all a trick!"
"The Droplet... our Droplet... is gone?"
"What kind of weapon was that? What kind of technology? Why? Why is this happening!"
"We're doomed... It's all over..."
The once indestructible social structure, which prided itself on absolute rationality and collectivism, was as fragile as a child in the face of an absolute technological gap.
The riots began.
Not to fight over resources, nor to rebel against the ruling class.
It was a pure madness born from the collapse of their beliefs.
The Princeps forcibly convened an online meeting, attended by all the Trisolaran authorities.
On the holographic projection, the footage of the three black drones effortlessly erasing the Droplet played on a continuous loop.
The entire meeting was saturated with despairing thought waves.
"It's you! Security Consul! You were the one constantly preaching about the fragility of Earth's civilization! You led us into this damned arrogance!"
"What's the point of saying this now! Who agreed to send the Droplet for reconnaissance in the first place?"
The once imperious representative of the war faction, the Security Consul, now had nothing left in his cognitive core but chaotic static. He couldn't utter a single word.
He "watched" the footage, his thoughts endlessly looping a single phrase.
Impossible.
Impossible.
The consuls of the peace faction, meanwhile, emitted sorrowful thought waves.
"Peace? Do we even have the right to speak of peace anymore?"
"The moment they mastered those technologies, we lost the right to converse with them. In their eyes, we might be the ones who are just... bugs waiting to be squashed."
That word had once been their derogatory term for humanity.
Now, it had become the most accurate description of themselves.
Amidst this quagmire of despair, a thought wave that had remained entirely silent suddenly became clear and resolute.
It was the Chief Navigator.
The "coward" who, decades ago, had led a splinter fleet away from the main course out of fear of Luo Ji and the Dark Forest.
At this moment, he was the only entity in the room still capable of rational thought.
"Enough!"
"Pointing fingers will do nothing but make us all die faster!"
"Right now, we only have one choice left."
Everyone's thoughts focused on him.
The Chief Navigator pulled up a star map. A red trajectory extended from the Trisolaran system, pointing toward the desolate darkness on the outer edge of the Milky Way's spiral arm.
It was the same heading he had taken with his splinter fleet decades ago.
"Flee."
The Chief Navigator's tone was cold and absolute.
"Abandon the main fleet. That crawling coffin has become the most conspicuous target in the universe."
"Abandon the home world. Everything on this planet is meaningless against the impending strike."
"Mobilize the last of our civilization's strength, gather all our resources, modify every ship capable of flight, and execute the largest interstellar exodus possible!"
"An exodus?" The Princeps's thoughts were filled with bitterness. "Where can we flee? The universe is vast, but where is it safe?"
"There is no safe place!"
The Chief Navigator's thought waves grew impassioned.
"That is exactly why we must scatter! Like seeds cast into every corner of the cosmos! A hundred thousand ships! A million ships!"
"As long as a single ship survives! As long as a single Trisolaran lives! Our civilization will not perish!"
This mad, desperate plan suddenly offered them a glimmer of hope.
Indeed.
They couldn't win a fight.
But couldn't they at least run?
It was their final, and only, path to survival.
"I agree." For the first time, the Princeps's thought waves carried a tragic but resolute determination.
"I agree."
"Agreed."
Passed unanimously.
Trembling, the Princeps issued the final and heaviest command in the history of the Trisolaran civilization.
"Initiate the Great Escape Plan."
...
Earth, Nevada Desert, Spark Base.
On a massive holographic screen, the frantic Trisolarans four light-years away were being broadcast in real-time.
A steaming cup of tea sat in front of Luo Ji.
The tea leaves unfurled in the water, releasing wisps of fragrant steam.
He quietly watched the screen, observing the Trisolaran civilization's tragic and desperate attempt at self-salvation.
He watched as their once magnificent cities, full of geometric beauty, were dismantled by their own hands.
He watched as the monuments symbolizing their glorious history were melted down into molten iron to cast armor plating for their escape vessels.
An entire civilization was using this method to fight for a sliver of survival.
"Chairman."
A cold, hard voice sounded from behind him.
The newly appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Dreadnought Fleet, Li Wei, walked over.
He wore a black PDC general's uniform, his posture ramrod straight and his gaze as sharp as an eagle's.
He was Zhang Beihai's successor, and the most perfect war machine forged under the "Humanity Supreme" mental brand.
His eyes fell upon the screen, staring at the chaotic escape fleet being frantically assembled. There was no pity in his gaze, only a cold, murderous intent.
"The Dreadnought Fleet has finished assembling. The energy matrix overclocking is complete."
"We can activate the Curvature Engines at any time and arrive at the Trisolaran system before they finish mobilizing."
Li Wei paused, then requested orders.
"Should we launch an immediate strike and... completely annihilate them?"
It was the most logical military suggestion.
Pull the weeds out by the roots to prevent future troubles.
However.
"No."
Luo Ji shook his head. He picked up his teacup and gently blew on the floating leaves.
Li Wei froze, confusion flashing in his eyes.
Luo Ji set the teacup down. "Let them build."
"Let them dismantle their own home. Let them wager all their resources on this."
"Let them see a sliver of hope for escape amidst their endless despair."
Luo Ji turned his head and looked at Li Wei. A chilling light flickered within his dead, silent eyes.
"And then."
"We will go and personally snuff out that hope right in front of their eyes."
Luo Ji's voice was very soft, yet it carried a cruelty capable of freezing the soul.
"I will not only destroy their present."
"I will also..."
"Completely eradicate their... seeds."
...
One year later.
The Trisolaran system.
A massive fleet consisting of tens of thousands of ships of various shapes and sizes slowly departed from orbit.
Some still retained the contours of proper warships, while others were merely ugly cubes hastily welded together from giant alloy plates.
It was a cobbled-together, dilapidated "Beggar Fleet."
But it carried the last individuals of a civilization and all of their hopes.
Behind the fleet lay their home planet.
The planet that had once nurtured a great civilization had now been reduced to a gnawed, riddled ruin, quietly marching toward death beneath the light of its three suns.
There were no farewells, no looking back.
The colossal escape fleet accelerated silently and resolutely toward the unknown, profound darkness.
Like a group of refugees fleeing hell, they believed they were finally flying toward heaven.
They did not know.
On their flight path.
A hunter far more terrifying than hell had been waiting for a long time.