Chapter 519: There Has Never Been Any Savior! The Iron Fist of Justice from the Megacorp!
"We absolutely cannot abandon our plan just because of this setback. Even without the sophons and water droplets, our chances are still greater than humanity's."
The Trisolaran commander pulled up the data that the water droplets had transmitted back to headquarters before being destroyed, and said to the high command below: "We fell into the thought-trap deliberately set for us by humanity."
"They first used ordinary electromagnetic metal cannons to lull us into complacency, and only when the droplets closed in on the battleships did they unleash large quantities of antimatter penetrator rounds."
"Without the sophons' assistance, the droplets could not immediately distinguish which shells carried antimatter. On top of that, they advanced too deep into enemy territory and were encircled, which is why they were wiped out."
For a long time, sophons had been an indispensable assistant in Trisolaran planning and decision-making. Without them, it was difficult for the Trisolarans to make such delicate and precise judgments.
That overwhelming advantage was more absurd than fighting with a full-map cheat code. But now, without the sophons, having to conduct meticulous analysis themselves truly felt unnatural for them.
Fortunately, Trisolaran thought was still rigorous enough; they knew how to extract valuable insights and analyze the human forces.
"The only new development is that Universal Megacorp has joined the war. Their AI drone swarms are troublesome, and they're armed with large numbers of antimatter munitions."
"Other than that, humanity has no further advantages."
The Trisolaran fleet commander knew that their next actions would be extremely difficult, but no matter how hard, they had to endure.
Their more than one thousand warships were the only hand they had left to play. Even if they sacrificed sixty percent of their fleet in a hard exchange with the Asian Fleet and the drones of the Megacorp, they would still have four or five hundred warships left to reach Earth.
Sacrifice another hundred or two against the Megacorp's Infinite-class carrier, and even then, they would still have over two hundred ships for Earth's colonization.
Such a plan might be ruthless to the point of madness, but it was the only option left.
The Trisolaran fleet's combat capacity wasn't as formidable as the water droplets', but they still had shipborne weapons—such as recoverable strong-interaction cannons, one of their hidden assets.
Though they couldn't pull off the sharp, instantaneous turns of the droplets, destroying the armor plating of human warships was no problem.
"But who can guarantee that humanity isn't hiding even more trump cards? What if they have more than one Infinite-class carrier—then what?"
Another Trisolaran captain raised the question. For some reason, it felt to them that humanity hadn't revealed its full strength at all, that they were still hiding some secret weapon.
Yet the fleet itself had sunk into a near-blind optimism, while its strength was being steadily eroded and devoured by humanity.
The sophons were gone. The droplets were gone. Would their fleet be next?
"What can we do? Do we have any other choice? We have no retreat left!"
The commander's tone was as cold as ever, like shards of ice. Their sunk costs were far too great. Pulling back now would mean every investment their civilization had made so far would be wasted.
They carried the sole hope of Trisolaran survival. From the day they set out, turning back was never an option. If they gave up now, the entire Trisolaran world would despise them as a disgrace.
In other words, they would die in the Solar System if they must. This death-bound chariot thundered forward, unstoppable. Sacrifice was inevitable.
Immediately, the fleet commander spoke to unify the fleet's resolve and to forbid any voice of retreat or fear:
"If anyone cannot accept this, then step down and let someone else take your post, and go throw yourself into the incinerator in dehydration form. At least then you'd contribute something to Trisolaran civilization."
The commander's crystalline logic was laid bare for all to see, forcing every captain present to grit their teeth and accept its orders.
Indeed, the Trisolaran fleet had been influenced to some extent by human thought, but this didn't change the fact that they still operated under a system of absolute central authority.
Without direction from the Trisolaran leaders, here the sole authority was the fleet commander. Its orders could only be followed without condition.
Meanwhile, humanity on Earth was sobering up from their initial wave of excitement. They had destroyed the droplets, yes—but the Trisolaran fleet showed no sign of turning back from the Solar System.
It still advanced toward Earth, not in the least like an enemy that had just been defeated.
This made many realize that the war was far from over. Unless this Trisolaran fleet was smashed to pieces, they would never give up on colonizing Earth.
Soon, the United Nations began releasing once-classified information to the public, revealing, for instance, that the droplets had been the Trisolarans' true main force, and that the fleet they now faced was little more than oversized transports.
To calm the people and bolster morale, some truths had to be revealed at last.
Upon learning that this Trisolaran fleet's mission was to land on Earth, the populace realized their concern now should be how to prevent that landing, and to hold out until the Asian Fleet could return.
Humanity had clashed with the Trisolarans in space several times already, but they had never experienced what the Trisolaran ground forces were like.
They didn't even know what Trisolarans looked like, let alone the structure of their military units.
If the Asian Fleet could make it back in time to stop the Trisolarans from landing, that would of course be ideal.
After all, humanity had long since shifted the vast majority of its armed forces to the Jupiter base. Only the International Fleet still possessed combat capacity, leaving Earth itself completely undefended.
In recent years, humanity had poured enormous resources and effort into building high-energy particle accelerators, with little left over for training ground troops in defense.
At this stage, Earth was little more than a lamb to be slaughtered by the Trisolarans, with hardly any noteworthy orbital defenses.
What could a single Infinite-class carrier possibly do against more than a thousand Trisolaran warships?
If the Trisolarans crushed the carrier before the Asian Fleet could return and landed on Earth, humanity would be forced to pit their flesh and blood against alien war machinery.
Worse still, the fleet likely possessed orbital bombardment capabilities. Humanity's defense would become a nightmarishly brutal struggle.
On the ground, forces would suffer both bombardment from orbit and assaults from Trisolaran landing troops. The casualty rate of such a defense could only be imagined.
And even if the Asian Fleet made it back in time, if they entered combat without rest or resupply, there was no guarantee they could withstand the Trisolarans in direct battle.
First, there was the sheer disparity in numbers: the Asian Fleet had fewer than seven hundred ships left, and their round trip had consumed enormous amounts of energy. By the time they returned to Earth, they would likely have only twenty percent of their reserves remaining.
The Trisolarans, meanwhile, were waiting fresh, with twice the fleet strength. In a direct fire exchange, there was no chance of achieving the kind of superiority they'd had over the droplets.
The Asian Fleet's victory over the droplets had owed a great deal to strategy and tactics.
And during that time, Universal Megacorp's AI drone swarms had filled the gap in the Asian Fleet's insufficient firepower.
The same battle strategy could never again produce such brilliant results when used against the Trisolaran fleet.
All things considered, even though the United Nations disclosed part of the classified information to calm the public, some people still couldn't help but feel nervous.
If land was kept but people lost, both would be lost.
If the Trisolarans really managed to wipe out Earth in one strike, then the Asian Fleet's earlier victories would mean nothing.
Soon, once the true intentions of the Trisolaran fleet were detected, humanity on Earth immediately entered a tense state of war readiness.
The construction of accelerators was halted across the board, with everyone shifting instantly to building defensive facilities. Even the abandoned, heavily polluted surface areas were reclaimed to serve as frontline positions.
According to Fleet International's plan, civilians would be arranged to take shelter in underground cities, while the able-bodied men were selected and drafted into combat units, staying behind with a small number of soldiers to hold the defensive lines.
This approach could minimize civilian casualties as much as possible, while also allowing humanity to use nuclear weapons for counterattacks without hesitation once the surface was reduced to a wasteland.
In short, after one victory after another, humanity had finally regained the confidence to defeat the Trisolaran civilization. They no longer cursed their fate or blamed themselves, but instead actively faced every challenge head-on.
At this moment, everyone was prepared for the worst.
Seeing Earth's people shake off the despair of three years ago and finally display the responsibility and survival instinct befitting a civilization, Li Ang, far away at the War Moon headquarters, at last nodded in relief.
Three years of planning had finally borne some fruit.
Defeating the Trisolarans was simple; changing humanity was hard.
For the Universal Megacorp to unify the Three-Body universe, it could not rely on its own strength alone—the wisdom of these Earth humans was just as crucial.
Only by uniting every possible ally could consumption of their own resources be kept to a minimum. This had always been Li Ang's operating principle, and it had never changed.
Li Ang turned toward the holographic screen before him. At this moment, Paul Atreides was inside a secret Earth base, discussing the next steps with the planet's leaders.
Without sophon surveillance and interference, he could finally observe everything openly.
"Given the current situation, sending the Infinity-class carrier away from Earth to join the Asian Fleet and jointly resist the Trisolaran fleet is humanity's only hope for victory."
The representative of the Wallfacer Project Committee, Jonathan, voiced their unanimous view to Paul.
This wasn't about having the Universal Megacorp abandon humanity—it was about preserving as much strength as possible to secure victory in the future.
"Lord Paul, we are truly grateful for everything you've done for humanity. The advantage we've gained so far would never have been possible without the Universal Megacorp.
"To be honest, making it to this point has already surpassed all our expectations. Even if humanity were to perish, our deeds would still be worthy of song and story."
Jonathan couldn't help but sigh with emotion. After so many ordeals, he truly felt that humanity was an extraordinary civilization, a species that had, through its own strength, step by step turned defeat into resurgence.
To fight from a crushing disadvantage all the way to a stalemate—such a feat was unparalleled in history!
"Don't be too pessimistic. Our efforts are leading human civilization toward revival. Now, we're only one step away from defeating the Trisolarans."
Paul patted him on the shoulder. Since the Trisolarans wanted a fight to the death with humanity, so be it. If they had the ability, let them blow Earth to pieces—otherwise, they could never hope to exterminate mankind.
As long as the human species did not descend into civil strife, no matter how tough a stalemate it faced, it would endure until the final victory.
"Earth is about to become an extremely brutal battlefield. Without the Asian Fleet's cooperation, the Infinity-class would surely fall into the Trisolaran fleet's encirclement."
"You must leave here quickly and rendezvous with the main force, or else this combat strength will only be wasted."
Jonathan urged Paul to withdraw as soon as possible.
This somewhat surprised Paul. After all, previously, whenever humans heard news that the Infinity-class carrier might leave, they panicked, terrified that the Universal Megacorp would abandon them and flee the solar system.
But now, they were willing to support the Universal Megacorp's departure. It seemed that, as the war escalated, humanity on Earth was gradually gaining a clearer sense of the bigger picture.
This was undoubtedly a good sign.
"Are you sure you want us to leave? Without the Infinity-class carrier stationed here, Earth will truly be an undefended lone city. With your limited defensive power, can you really hold out until reinforcements arrive?"
Paul looked at Jonathan with a smile. In truth, he already had a concrete plan and would not allow humanity to make excessive sacrifices.
"Of course. This is for the sake of ultimate victory!"
Jonathan nodded firmly and said, "The Earth International has already prepared to fight to the very last moment. We will use every available military facility to resist the Trisolaran landing forces.
"These three years have taught us one truth we already knew: there has never been any savior. If we want to survive, we can only rely on ourselves!
"It was true in the past, it is true now, and it will remain true in the future."
In that instant, Paul saw the unyielding light shining in Jonathan's eyes. He believed the man's words also represented the thoughts of the masses at that very moment.
Humanity, once arrogant and naïve, was rapidly maturing. Step by step, they were overcoming the Trisolarans, becoming the new noble civilization of the universe.
"Don't worry. We won't leave Earth. The Universal Megacorp will never allow the Trisolaran fleet to succeed in landing.
"You won't have to smash yourselves bloody against them—such sacrifices are meaningless."
Paul smiled. To deal with the Trisolaran civilization, why would humanity need to throw themselves into futile losses? The Megacorp had more than enough means to crush these collapsing cosmic desperadoes.
The Universal Megacorp's earlier act of feigned weakness had only been to avoid scaring the Trisolarans off. But now that they had entered the solar system's very core, the Megacorp no longer needed to keep up the pretense.
It was time for these country bumpkins of the stars to experience the Universal Megacorp's righteous iron fist!
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