The Three-Body Problem

Shi brings Wang to another meeting at the Battle Command Center, and Wang is amazed to realize that “for the first time in history, the armed forces of the world’s nations faced the same enemy.” General Chang explains that the human race must fight against the Trisolaran aliens—which, right now, means fighting against the human members of the ETO.

Specifically, Chang’s mission is to intercept the messages from the Judgment Day ship without destroying the ship itself. Now is the time to strike, as the ship is about to pass through the Panama Canal. Different military experts propose options for how to do this: they could work with spies on Judgment Day, or they could use advanced weaponry like a neutron bomb or nerve gas. But all of these ideas pose huge logistical risks, and Chang—along with his colleague General Stanton of the United States—vetoes all of them.  

Though the military men do not take him seriously, Shi has an idea even when the others fall silent. Before he reveals his plan, Shi boasts that his years of dealing with petty criminals has made him uniquely able to “think outside the box”; this brag further frustrates General Stanton.

Finally, Shi explains his vision: as the Judgment Day passes through the Panama Canal, it will be sliced by “Flying Blade,” a razor-sharp, invisible string of nanomaterial. Since Wang is the foremost expert in nanomaterials, all of the generals turn to him to verify if Shi’s plan is indeed possible. After some quick calculations, Wang confirms that Flying Blade is a viable option.

The people at the Battle Command Center decide that they will string the nanomaterial right across the narrowest point of the canal, at the Gaillard Cut; this project will be called Operation Guzheng. Shi notes that they must do this during the day—at night, all the soldiers on the ship will be lying down asleep, and the sharp filament might miss them. Though one of the diplomats at the meeting is shocked by Shi’s “demon[ic]” thoughts, General Stanton congratulates him for his quick thinking, giving Shi a Cuban cigar as a token of his respect.

Four days later, Wang and Stanton arrive at the Gaillard Cut section of the Panama Canal. Wang notices that here, too, there has been widespread deforestation. Stanton and Wang keep close watch as the invisible net of Flying Blade filaments—held up by two pillars on either end of the canal—is put into place. While this happens, Stanton reflects on all the other times he has been in Panama; though in those days, he thought he was “witnessing history,” now it all seems “so insignificant” by comparison.

Wang’s heartrate speeds up as the Judgment Day approaches the invisible net. Though Stanton tries to calm Wang down with conversation, Wang can barely breathe. At last, the ship passes through the Flying Blade, but nothing happens right away. Only after a few seconds does a thin antenna at the top of the ship split in two, showing Wang that his plan has worked after all. Moments later, the ship falls apart entirely—both people and mechanical parts are sliced in two, and the Judgment Day splits into 40 separate slices. As dozens of soldiers descend on the shipwreck, Wang takes out a pair of binoculars to look more closely at the wreckage. He thinks he sees blood.

The interrogation transcript resumes again, and Ye’s interrogator presses her to explain why she automatically trusted the Trisolarans. When Ye cannot give a “scientific” answer for her trust, the interrogator guesses that her faith in the Trisolarans stemmed from her love of her father. Ye says nothing in reply. The interrogator then explains that Evans has been killed, and that the world’s military forces have successfully intercepted the Trisolaran messages. Nervously, Ye at last reads what this alien society has written.