"Dr. Shen, please calm down and put the knife down. Blades are blind and accidents can happen easily. If you're facing any difficulties, you can talk to me, I might be able to help you, but don't be rash and take a criminal path," said Cao Ge, clearly frightened, his speech becoming halting.
Imagine someone coming home from work, just thinking of resting on the sofa for a moment, during the time when a person is most off guard, and suddenly, someone bursts into his house, holding a knife to his throat. Anyone would be scared in that situation.
Cao Ge had originally thought that if the ETO were to trouble him, it would at least be the Adventists.
He really hadn't expected Shen Yufei to come at him with a knife.
"I don't care," Shen Yufei said calmly, as she drew the knife across Cao Ge's neck.
Shen Yufei glanced at Cao Ge, then suddenly put down the dagger in her hand and sat down opposite him.
As soon as Shen Yufei moved the knife away, Cao Ge straightened his head and almost subconsciously reached up to touch his neck. Finding no wound, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Shen Yufei toyed with the dagger in her hand and sat down opposite Cao Ge.
Realizing he was relatively unharmed, Cao Ge turned his gaze to Shen Yufei, who had taken a seat across from him, but neither of them spoke.
The room fell into a sudden silence.
Gradually, Cao Ge composed himself and looked at Shen Yufei with some resentment. "Dr. Shen, what was the meaning of that just now?" he asked.
Shen Yufei looked at Cao Ge with extreme calm, paused for a moment, and then, as if the previous incident had not occurred, she slowly said, "Mr. Cao, I came here today to inquire about how far your research on artificial intelligence has come?"
Hearing Shen Yufei's words, Cao Ge had a general idea of what was going on.
"Dr. Shen, is that how you ask others for help?" Cao Ge asked with furrowed brows.
"I don't care about the method; I only care about the result," Shen Yufei replied calmly.
"Mr. Cao, I suggest you restart your artificial intelligence research as soon as possible, otherwise I will come to you again," Shen Yufei threatened, suddenly lifting her head and looking at Cao Ge.
"Shen Yufei, look at yourself. Do you even look like a scholar now? You're nothing but a madwoman!" Cao Ge exclaimed in anger.
Shen Yufei ignored Cao Ge's tirade as if it was nothing, her gaze slowly drifting to the dagger in her hand.
"I don't care," she said.
"If I see you spending time on things that are meaningless, I will come for you again," Shen Yufei stated.
After realizing that Shen Yufei's actions were a sign of her impotence, Cao Ge suddenly became cheerful and said, "I think I understand why you have come to me. Wei Cheng has failed, hasn't he? That's why you're pinning all your hopes on artificial intelligence now, am I right?"
Regardless of his normally reserved nature, Cao Ge had a temper, too. With Shen Yufei wielding a knife, he couldn't hold back and directly taunted her in response.
Shen Yufei looked up at Cao Ge in surprise, as if she was asking, "How did you know that?"
"I know what you're up to. Whether it's the Three-Body game or marrying Wei Cheng, it's all to solve the Three-Body Problem, right?" he said.
"How do you know about Wei Cheng, and how do you know that I'm looking for a way to solve the Three-Body Problem?" Shen Yufei asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.
Cao Ge did not immediately answer Shen Yufei's question but picked up a bottle of mineral water from the table, opened it, and began to drink.
"I've investigated you, Dr. Shen. Wei Cheng is your husband, so of course, I know about Wei Cheng. He lives right next to me and often takes walks in the yard searching for inspiration, constantly muttering about the Three-Body Problem," Cao Ge said.
"What else do you know?" Shen Yufei asked with tight brows.
"Why should I tell you?" Cao Ge said coldly, looking at Shen Yufei's long, slanting bangs.
"Heh~"
Shen Yufei suddenly laughed, her whole body quivering slightly.
"Mr. Cao, do you know? I just realized that you're much more interesting than I had imagined," Shen Yufei said as she leaned in close, looking at Cao Ge's face, then spoke in an indescribable tone.
Shen Yufei's dismissive attitude made Cao Ge feel extremely uncomfortable, and his brows furrowed again as he looked at Shen Yufei, who was laughing without restraint.
Cao Ge angrily said, "Dr. Shen, it's getting late, and I need to rest now. Please leave my house."
Shen Yufei looked at Cao Ge with a cold expression and after a moment of silence, she slowly said, "Mr. Cao, I don't know how much you're aware of, but let me tell you, if you solve the Three-Body Problem, you will be the savior. If you fail, you'll be the world's greatest sinner. Think carefully about my words."
Since Shen Yufei was unsure whether Cao Ge knew of the Trisolarans, she spoke ambiguously.
After finishing speaking, Shen Yufei didn't linger any longer, and stood up and headed towards the door. But just as she was about to reach the doorway, she stopped and, turning around in her high heels, said to Cao Ge, "Mr. Cao, you should hurry; you don't have much time left. Also, if you decide to continue your research, don't do it here. You should find a safe place."
Without waiting for Cao Ge's response, she stretched out her hand, opened the door, and stepped out.
"Bang!"
The room fell into silence once more.
Cao Ge looked around the empty room, frowning as he pondered Shen Yufei's words.
When he saw Shen Yufei come here and threaten him with a knife to continue his artificial intelligence research, he had already understood her purpose.
It was simply because Wei Cheng's failure had made her realize that relying on mathematical methods was insufficient to solve the Three-Body Problem.
Therefore, she had turned her attention to Cao Ge's artificial intelligence, hoping it could make a breakthrough in the Three-Body Problem.
But Cao Ge could tell her with certainty that this was nothing but a fool's dream.
Whether artificial intelligence could solve the Three-Body Problem, Cao Ge did not know, but he knew he couldn't create an artificial intelligence capable of doing so.
Because in the original story, the Trisolarans themselves had developed a super artificial intelligence, Sophon.
And what the Trisolarans did was still search for a new home.
Which is to say, even Sophon's abilities were inadequate to solve the Three-Body Problem.
How could Cao Ge possibly be more formidable than an entire civilization?
And what Shen Yufei mentioned later, about finding a safe place for his research, he figured briefly that it probably meant the Adventists would try to stop him from continuing.
However, Cao Ge had not anticipated that the first person to threaten him with a knife would be Shen Yufei.
The ETO was too dangerous.
He could understand why the Adventists came looking for him; after all, he was researching artificial intelligence, and the Trisolarans' method of locking down human technology was by using the two Sophons to replace particles in the particle collider and thus output wrong results.
That is to say, if humans were also capable of creating Sophons, then with just two, they might restore foundational physics research, but this path was impossible because Sophons were made by unfolding protons into two dimensions, and humanity's understanding of fundamental particles could no longer progress.
But the Trisolarans were still limiting Cao Ge's research, which suggested that other forms of artificial intelligence might still find ways around the Trisolarans' technological restrictions on humans.
Despite this possibility being almost non-existent, they wished to strangle it in the cradle.
These were Cao Ge's reasonable conjectures.
If things kept going this way, Cao Ge would be in grave danger.
Because he would venture into other worlds, and if he brought back technology far beyond what this world possessed.
Then he would immediately be detected by the Trisolarans, no different from a technological explosion.
The reason the Trisolarans locked down human technology was precisely to prevent a technological explosion on Earth.
But under the assumption that Earth's technology was already locked down, Cao Ge was still capable of producing technology far beyond human civilization.
Cao Ge estimated that if that happens, his level of threat to the Trisolarans might be similar to that of Logic.
His current threat level to the Trisolarans should be similar to that of Wang Miao.
The reason the Trisolarans wanted to limit Wang Miao's research into nanomaterials was that the materials he was studying could be used to construct a space elevator, which would enable humans to enter space on a large scale.
Whether it was potential human defenses or the possibility of human escape, both would pose some trouble for the Trisolarans when they eventually descended upon Earth.
The former wasn't much of an issue, as locked-down humanity could not possibly create weapons capable of contending with the Trisolarans, who were chiefly concerned about the latter.
If humans entered space en masse, what would happen if they fled?
If humans were allowed to flee, then even if the Trisolarans occupied Earth, there would always be the risk of being exposed in the future.
Of course, this possibility was very low. After all, humanity's fleeing spacecraft could never be faster than those of the Trisolarans, who would ultimately catch those who fled.
The reason they didn't want to bother was simply not to waste resources.
Cao Ge's current level of threat was the same as Wang Miao's, potentially creating an artificial intelligence that could help humans break free from Sophon's control, but the chance was exceedingly slim, or perhaps by the time he succeeded, the Trisolarans would have already arrived.
But the Trisolarans wanted to prevent this danger; it was an act of casting a wide net.
The ETO's inducement of scientists to commit suicide was due to this; the fields of research those scientists were pursuing, if developed, might to some degree cause troubles for the Trisolarans' descent upon Earth.
Thus, the hint for the ETO to stop Cao Ge's research was just a subconscious act. To use the words from the Three-Body original story, "the leaders didn't care much about it."
This was also why the ETO wasn't that invested in the matter. For example, with Wang Miao, the best outcome would be to induce his suicide, and if they couldn't convince him, the ETO didn't take any further steps.
But if Cao Ge suddenly produced technology decades or even a century beyond current Earth civilization, then the situation might change from prevention to direct elimination.
Because at that time, his danger level would be similar to that of Logic.
With such speculations, Cao Ge felt even more endangered.