The Dark Forest

One and a half more years pass, so it is now year 208 in the Crisis Era. The neighborhood where Luo Ji lives has decided he can’t live there anymore. They’re disturbed by the people who sometimes come to heckle and throw rocks at Luo Ji’s house. More than that, though, they can’t bear the disappointment that Luo Ji has been, especially to his fellow hibernators. The director of the neighborhood council goes to Luo Ji’s house to tell him the news. His house is strewn with bottles and cigarette butts, and every wall is covered by a screen, like a house in the underground city. The director tells Luo Ji he has to leave, and Luo Ji agrees. He had been planning to leave that night anyway.

That night, Luo Ji flags down a ride with a family. When they realize who he is, though, they tell him to get out of the car. Luo Ji then boards a bus, but when people on the bus recognize him, they force him out. Luo Ji then walks the rest of the way to where he’s headed and finally arrives at the cemetery where Ye Wenjie is buried. There, he starts digging his own grave. Eventually, he grows tired and falls asleep. While asleep, he dreams of Zhuang Yan and Xia Xia. When he wakes up, he has a fever from sleeping in the cold. He reaches into his jacket pocket and takes out a pistol.  

Luo Ji points the pistol at his chest and says he wants to speak with the Trisolarans. Nothing happens. He then pulls out a small device and says that it’s similar to the kind of device that Rey Diaz once claimed to have. It’s a device that, if Luo Ji dies, will trigger the explosion of the bombs that Luo Ji has positioned in space as part of the Snow Project. He says that he’s positioned those bombs in such a way that if they detonate, they’ll send images into space that detail the precise location of the Trisolaran fleet. He says that that will give away Earth’s position, too, but Luo Ji is willing to do that. He says he’s giving the Trisolarans 30 seconds to respond, and if he hears nothing, he’ll fire the gun and trigger the explosions in space.

About 10 seconds later, three sophons appear and broadcast text Luo Ji can see. The text says, Stop! Luo Ji says he’ll stop once his demands are met, and the sophons ask him what his demands are. He says he wants the probe to stop interfering with the sun so the sun can once again function as an antenna humans can use to broadcast messages into the universe. The Trisolarans agree. Luo Ji says he also wants the nine other probes that are headed to Earth to change course. The Trisolarans agree to that too. He then tells the Trisolarans that he wants them to change the direction of their fleet so that it is no longer headed to Earth. The Trisolarans take a while to respond but ultimately agree to do that as well.

Luo Ji is immensely relieved. He’s finally succeeded. Through the sophons, the Trisolarans say they made a mistake with their strategy, and that’s what did them in. Luo Ji says the ETO would have seen through his plan, and the Trisolarans say they should not have abandoned the organization. The Trisolarans then broach the topic of negotiations, and Luo Ji says that’s not his area of expertise. He does say, though, that humanity may want information about how to build a transmission system that isn’t based on the sun, and that humans will also want the sophon block repealed so they can pursue more scientific endeavors. He says that humans may also want the Trisolarans to teach them what they know about science and technology. Luo Ji then thanks the Trisolarans for letting humanity and themselves live.