The Dark Forest: Pages 61-79 Summary & Analysis

After witnessing the death of the woman he was with, Luo Ji wakes up in an unfamiliar room. He doesn’t know exactly where he is. He only knows that he is in a basement room that seems to be 10 stories beneath the surface. A man walks into the room and says his name is Shi Qiang and that he’s a former police officer. Luo Ji immediately says that he had nothing to do with the death of the woman he was with and that it was a traffic accident. At first, Shi Qiang doesn’t tell Luo Ji why he (Shi Qiang) is there, but he eventually says that he’s there to help. Then, another person knocks on the door and tells Shi Qiang that the meeting has been moved up.

Meanwhile, Zhang Beihai visits his father in the hospital. He tells his father that he has joined the space force and says that the space force will be built on principles of naval combat, which is why he’s suited for the job. He then asks his father for advice and asks what he should do now. His father says only that Zhang Beihai should concentrate on his work and think long and hard before he makes his next move.

Shi Qiang returns to the basement room with another young man, who gives Luo Ji a jacket. Luo Ji expects the clothing to be a prisoner’s uniform, but it’s a brown jacket like the one Shi Qiang and the other man are both wearing. Shi Qiang explains that it’s bulletproof. They leave the basement room and get into a car that’s escorted by soldiers in other cars, which takes them to an airport. Fighter jets line the runway. Shi Qiang and Luo Ji board a charter plane that looks like a passenger plane on the outside, but inside, there is a bedroom and an office. Shi Qiang warns Luo Ji that the plane could make some unorthodox maneuvers, and then the plane takes off. 

On the ground, Zhang Beihai and Wu Yue meet. Zhang Beihai says that he has noticed that Wu Yue has been depressed since joining the space force and that Wu Yue is struggling with defeatism. Wu Yue’s defeatism comes from his conviction that the Trisolarans’ advanced technology will guarantee victory for them against humans. Zhang Beihai says that Wu Yue’s attitude is an example of “technofetishism” and “technological triumphalism,” which ignores the role of human qualities like determination and grit in battle.

On the plane, Luo Ji and Shi Qiang talk. Luo Ji asks Shi Qiang where they’re going and why. Shi Qiang says he barely knows more about that trip than Luo Ji, and it’s not time to disclose information yet. Shi Qiang adds that he’s not with the police and that the police aren’t involved in this mission. He then details several interrogation techniques, including making people answer the same questions multiple times to see if their answers change and “good cop, bad cop.” He says that to really outsmart interrogators, one should try and remain off their radar and convince those interrogators that one is of no importance whatsoever. The two then go to bed. Out the window, Luo Ji sees four fighter jets flying alongside the plane. 

The space force also has a meeting that night. During that meeting, Zhang Beihai gives a presentation about how to spot defeatism in members of the space force and brings up the ideas of “technofetishism” and “technological triumphalism” again. The people listening seem to not be paying close attention until Zhang Beihai directly accuses Wu Yue of falling prey to the kind of defeatism that will doom any chance they have to succeed against the Trisolarans. He then says that Wu Yue isn’t fit for the space force. People in the audience murmur. Wu Yue then speaks up and says that it’s true. He does feel like the effort is hopeless, and he knows that means he should no longer be a member of the space force.