Ten years.
To the entire universe, ten years was but a fleeting moment.
But for Earth's civilization, it was an earth-shattering decade.
Driven by the "Human Supremacy" Mental Brand, the planet erupted with unprecedented developmental power.
The Spark Base deep underground had long since expanded into a massive subterranean research institute.
...
"According to the newly published *White Paper on Human Health*, our average lifespan has stabilized at five hundred years."
At the PDC Supreme Council, Chairwoman Say's voice echoed through the cold conference room via the speakers.
Yet, there was no joy on her face.
"All genetic defects, including cancer, hereditary diseases, and aging, have been completely eradicated."
"But, Luo Ji."
She turned her gaze to the man sitting at the head of the table, whose appearance hadn't changed in the slightest over the past ten years.
"These are only the publicly released figures. The technology sealed within Spark Base is enough to achieve theoretical immortality. When will we make it public?"
Luo Ji raised his eyelids, his eyes still a bottomless, dead silence.
"When a person believes they can live forever, they lose the courage to fight for their life," he said softly, yet his words sent a chill through everyone present.
Over the past ten years, Earth's technology had experienced an explosive boom.
In the field of materials science, Strong Interaction Material, abbreviated as SIM, had already entered small-scale production.
The atomic nuclei of this material were tightly bound, manifesting macroscopically as absolute smoothness and absolute indestructibility.
In quantum physics, they had achieved even more subversive breakthroughs.
Building upon the knowledge Ian had directly downloaded into their brains, the scientists bypassed all the tortuous detours and reached the finish line.
They successfully developed a "Quantum Entanglement Trap."
Theoretically, it could capture the Sophons that monitored the entire Earth from a microscopic dimension while unfolded in a quantum state.
And this was the core of today's meeting.
"I object!"
Say stood up abruptly, slamming her palm onto the conference table.
"Luo Ji, you're insane! Capture a Sophon? Do you know what failure means?"
"It means we would be directly telling the Trisolarans about all our progress over the past decade! That we truly possess technology they cannot comprehend! This will provoke them prematurely!"
"We are poking the bear right under their noses! If we fail, there will be no turning back!"
The atmosphere in the conference room instantly grew heavy.
The leaders of the five permanent member states, now all maintaining their peak middle-aged appearances thanks to genetic optimization, remained silent.
They didn't speak; they merely watched Luo Ji.
Over the past ten years, they had grown accustomed to leaving the final decision to this man.
Luo Ji tapped the table lightly.
"Objection overruled. I have already made my decision. Furthermore, you are getting old and are no longer suited for this position. After this meeting, you will step down and take a back seat."
Then, a document was projected in front of everyone.
The title consisted of a few cold words.
"We cannot live under the surveillance of others forever."
Luo Ji's voice carried no emotion.
"The Trisolarans can observe us anytime, anywhere, while we know absolutely nothing about them."
"This is not an equal war."
"Therefore, I have decided to blind their eyes."
He paused, raising a hand to point at a name in the document.
"To execute this plan, I need someone."
Everyone's gaze followed his gesture, landing on that name.
Zhang Beihai.
A name that had been silent for a long time, almost entirely forgotten.
"Zhang Beihai?" The Russian leader frowned. "I remember him. A former hardliner military man. Where is he now?"
"He is right here," Luo Ji replied calmly.
The alloy doors of the conference room slid open silently.
A man walked in from the shadows outside the door.
Dressed in a black combat suit, his figure was tall and straight, every step as precise as if measured by a ruler.
When he stepped into the light, everyone subconsciously held their breath.
It was a cold, hard face, as if chiseled by an axe, but the most striking feature was his eyes.
In those eyes, there was none of Luo Ji's dead silence, none of a politician's profound scheming, and none of an ordinary person's joys or sorrows.
There was only a burning, pure will to fight, unextinguishable like the core of a star.
He was Zhang Beihai.
A "super soldier" who had undergone the most advanced genetic enhancement and modification.
He walked up to the conference table, his gaze sweeping over everyone present before finally resting on Luo Ji's face.
"Chairman Luo Ji."
"Comrade Zhang Beihai."
Luo Ji's plan continued to unfold following Zhang Beihai's appearance.
"Comrade Zhang Beihai will lead a 'Ghost Squad' composed of one hundred top-tier genetically enhanced soldiers."
"Each of their brains has undergone special modification, allowing them to 'overclock' for a short period, forcibly keeping up with the instantaneous speed of a Sophon unfolding at the microscopic level."
"They will wear armor forged from Strong Interaction Material and pilot several specialized spacecraft to execute the capture."
As soon as these words were spoken, the entire room was shocked.
"With our current technology, their nervous systems will suffer massive burnout after overclocking. Even if they survive, they will be crippled," Say's voice trembled.
"They volunteered, and we will have the capability to heal them in the future!" Zhang Beihai spoke, his voice like grinding metal. "Do not worry about us. To die for human civilization is a soldier's highest honor."
Luo Ji finally revealed the core of the plan.
"According to precise calculations from the observatory, there will be a once-in-a-millennium solar storm in three months."
"At that time, all electromagnetic communications within the Solar System will suffer severe interference. It is theorized that the information transmission between the Sophons and the Trisolaran world will also experience a brief, extremely faint delay and noise."
"That will be our only opportunity."
"Under the cover of the solar storm, the Ghost Squad will launch a capture operation against the two Sophons patrolling Earth's orbit."
The entire plan was insane, audacious, and filled with a desperate, tragic heroism.
Say slumped back into her seat. She knew she could no longer stop this madman.
Luo Ji stood up and surveyed the room.
"Everyone, remember."
"We cannot live under the surveillance of others forever."
"For true freedom, and for the better development of humanity."
"Even if there is only a one-in-a-ten-thousand chance, it is worth risking everything we have."
The meeting ended.
People gradually left with complicated emotions.
In the end, only Luo Ji and Zhang Beihai remained.
Zhang Beihai walked up to Luo Ji, and the two stood facing each other.
One was the commander orchestrating the war.
The other was the sharp blade executing it.
They didn't say a single word.
Zhang Beihai raised his right hand and gave Luo Ji an impeccably standard military salute.
The wind generated by his raising arm fluttered the hem of Luo Ji's clothes.
Luo Ji nodded slightly, accepting the salute.
A single look was worth more than a thousand words.
Zhang Beihai turned and strode away, his back resolute, never looking back.
...
At the secret base on the dark side of the moon.
One hundred soldiers, their eyes burning with the same fire as Zhang Beihai's, had finished assembling.
They silently donned their pitch-black armor.
The streamlined armor perfectly fit their rigorously tempered bodies.
The cold metal helmets were slowly lowered into place.
Their human vision vanished, replaced by an interface filled with streams of green data.
They were waiting.
Waiting for the arrival of the solar storm that would decide the fate of their civilization.