Starting as a Wallfacer, his defection to the Three-Body Problem shocked the world.

Chapter 174 Something happened

The force field space is a cage, binding Lin Xuan and trapping Zhizi within it.

The two sat facing each other. On the chessboard in front of them, the black and white pieces had been locked in a fierce battle for hundreds of rounds, but no winner had yet emerged.

"So, you're not the only one with Tomoko, right?"

Lin Xuan, holding the white pieces, quickly placed one on the board to suppress Zhi Zi's relentless attacks.

"You should already know the answer."

Zhi Zi smiled and placed her piece as well, forming an encirclement on the chessboard that trapped Lin Xuan's pieces within it.

"Judging from your tone, you think you've got me figured out?"

Lin Xuan chuckled and placed a piece in an instant. Although this move failed to break Zhi Zi's blockade, it did extend the outwards of his pieces, forcing Zhi Zi to expand the encirclement further.

"It's just a desperate struggle; the strongest defenses are often breached from within," Zhizi laughed.

As she spoke, her slender fingers gently picked up a chess piece and placed it in Lin Xuan's encirclement.

It seemed like she was deliberately creating a weakness for Lin Xuan, but in reality, this was the first step the other side was taking to dismantle Lin Xuan's defenses from within.

"The advantage is already very obvious, Mr. Lin Xuan. Without sufficient planning, you can only make a last-ditch effort."

……

The Sun Circulation Accelerator's verification of fundamental theories has debunked the Trisolarans' deception.

It's not really a scam, since it's normal for the Trisolarans to hide their technology from humanity given their knowledge of the "knowledge sealing principle."

However, this still led to a stalemate in the relationship between the human and Trisolaran sides. Humans gradually realized that the Trisolarans now possessed basic deception abilities, which was not a good sign and indicated that humanity's only advantage was gradually disappearing.

Hawkish representatives also seized the opportunity to get involved, using the incident to demand that the Trisolarans release more intelligence and technology as compensation for this deception in their technical communications with the Trisolarans.

The result was unexpected.

In the past, when faced with various threats and conditions from Earth's humans, the Trisolarans would fabricate a false reason to deal with them, or simply offer some insignificant technology as compensation.

But this time, the Trisolarans chose to refuse outright.

And their attitude was very tough, completely unlike the easily bullied person they used to be.

The Trisolarans' strange reaction immediately alerted the high-ranking members of the Earth Federation.

"The Trisolarans' sudden change in attitude is definitely not without reason. Something we don't know about must have happened in the shadows, giving them the confidence to refuse our conditions," Luo Congmin analyzed at the conference.

“How come you see?”

The question was raised by a committee member born in the Deterrence Era. He did not find anything wrong with the Trisolarans' change in attitude, so he expressed deep incomprehension at the large meeting and discussion that Luo Congmin and others had made.

“It’s quite simple. In the past, our technological exchanges with the Trisolarans were actually under an unequal treaty,” said an official from the Crisis Era, standing up slowly.

"An unequal treaty? For the Trisolarans?"

A commotion immediately erupted in the hall. To be honest, although many people knew that the conditions that humans had put forward to the Trisolarans in recent years were indeed somewhat excessive, this was the first time in history that they had been elevated to an unequal treaty.

After all, people who said that in the past were either regarded as traitors to humanity or retorted with comments like, "The Trisolarans haven't said anything, so what right do you have to speak for them?"

And now, at this meeting, this word has been brought up again.

"Yes, unequal treaties. If we set aside the positions of the two civilizations and look at the demands made by humanity over the years from the perspective of the Trisolarans, aren't the vast majority of them unreasonable conditions?"

Everyone was silent when they heard this.

Silence means consent.

"But let's look at the Trisolarans' reaction. They have almost never objected to these unreasonable demands. Although we now know that most of what they offer is fake and they have always used deception tactics against humanity, they have never opposed or refused these conditions in a direct negotiation."

"This phenomenon began in the Deterrence Era. As for the reason, it's not hard for you to guess: based on the threat posed by the Swordholder and Lin Xuan, they are quite wary of us."

"As for their attitude towards us before the Deterrence Era, I won't say. Everyone here has experienced or studied that period of human history, so don't assume that the Trisolarans have always been easy to talk to. That was just something they had no choice but to do."

"But why aren't they afraid of us anymore?"

Luo Congmin tapped his fingers lightly on the table, pointing out the most crucial point of the problem.

Silence fell again. This time, everyone present began to breathe rapidly, and an answer was already on the tip of their tongues.

"Something must have happened to the Swordholder or the Observer!"