On the thirty-eighth day after the end of deterrence, the Ringier-Fitzroy observation station at the outer rim of the asteroid belt discovered 415 new trails in the interstellar dust cloud near the Trisolaran star system. Apparently, Trisolaris had sent a second fleet toward the Solar System.
在威慑中止后的第三十八天，运行在小行带外侧的林格—斐兹罗观测站发现，三体星系附近朝太阳系方向的星际尘埃云中出现了飞船航迹共四百一十五条，显然，三体世界向太阳系派出了第二支舰队。
This second fleet had left Trisolaris five years ago, and passed through the dust cloud four years ago. This had been a huge risk on Trisolaris’s part — if they couldn’t destroy humanity’s dark forest deterrence system within five years, the discovery of this fleet might have led to the activation of the deterrence broadcast. This meant that as long ago as five years, Trisolaris already had sensed the shifting mood toward dark forest deterrence among humanity and correctly predicted the kind of second Swordholder that would be elected.
这支舰队应该是五年前派出的，在四年前穿过了尘埃云。这是三体世界一个相当冒险的行动，因为如果不能在起航后的第五年摧毁人类的黑暗森林威慑系统，舰队穿过尘埃云被发现后可能引发威慑操作。这说明，早在）那时。对于人类世界对黑暗森林威慑心态的转变，以及可能选择什么样的第二任执剑人，三体世界已经有了准确的预测。
The end of deterrence once again cast the future of humankind into darkness, but, just like in the first crisis over two centuries earlier, people did not connect this darkness with their individual fates. Based on analysis of the trails, the Second Trisolaran Fleet’s velocity wasn’t so different from that of the First Trisolaran Fleet. Even if they could accelerate more, the fleet wouldn’t arrive at the Solar System for at least two or three centuries. Everyone alive would be able to live out the remainder of their lives in peace. After the lessons taught by the Great Ravine, modern men and women would never again sacrifice the present for the future.
在威慑中止后，人类世界的前途再次陷人一片黑暗之中，但同两个多世纪前第一轮危机开始时一样，人们并没有把这种黑暗同自己的命运联系起来。从尘埃云中的航迹分析，第二支三体舰队的速度与第一支没有太大差别，即使后面会有更高的加速，舰队到达太阳系也在两三个世纪以后，现在活着的人们都能够平安地度过自己的一生。有了大低谷的教训，人类社会不会再次为了未来而牺牲现在。
History seemed to have been reset; a new cycle had begun.
历史似乎又回到了起点。新的轮回开始了。
Three days after the Second Trisolaran Fleet left the interstellar cloud, the observation system detected 415 trails in the second interstellar cloud. These trails couldn’t belong to a different fleet. The First Trisolaran Fleet had taken five years to go from the first dust cloud to the second, while the Second Trisolaran Fleet had taken only six days.
在三体舰队驶出尘埃云后仅三天，观测系统竟然在第二片尘埃云中发现了航迹，也是四百一十五条！这不可能是更早时候派出的另一支舰队，只能是几天前发现的那同一支舰队。第一支三体舰队从第一片尘埃云到达第二片用了五年，而第二支舰队只用了六天！
The Trisolarans had achieved lightspeed.
三体舰队达到了光速！
But this time, humanity wasn’t so fortunate.
但这一次人类没有那么幸运。
Timing wise, it appeared that the fleet had entered lightspeed as soon as it exited the first dust cloud; there didn’t appear to be a stage during which it accelerated.
从时间上看，舰队在穿过第一片尘埃云时立刻进人光速，其间竟没有加速过程。
Analysis of the trails in the second interstellar dust cloud confirmed that they continued to extend through the cloud at lightspeed. At such high velocities, the trails left by the ships’ impacts became particularly prominent.
从对第二片尘埃云中航迹的分析也证明了这件事。那四百一十五条航迹以每秒三十万千米的光速延伸，在光速飞船的冲击下，那些航迹十分醒目。
If that was true, then the Second Trisolaran Fleet should have already or almost reached the Solar System. Using midsized telescopes, it was possible to see a patch of 415 bright lights about six thousand AU from the Earth. These were the lights generated by deceleration. Apparently the ships’ propulsion systems were conventional. The fleet’s velocity was now only 15 percent of the speed of light. This was evidently the fastest speed that still permitted safe deceleration before arriving at the Solar System. Based on the observed velocity and deceleration, the Second Trisolaran Fleet would arrive at the edge of the Solar System in one year.
如果这样，三体第二舰队应该已经到达了太阳系。可以说它们几乎到达了。现在，使用中型天文望远镜，也可以看到距太阳六千个天文单位处的太空中的一片亮点，有四百一于五个。那是三体舰队减速时推进器的火焰，但这却是常规推进器，这时，舰队已经脱离光速，速度骤降至光速的百分之十五。显然这是允许常规推进在到达太阳系前充分减速的最高速度，按照这个速度和舰队减速率计算，三体第二舰队到达太阳系还需一年左右的时间。
This was a bit puzzling. It appeared as if the Trisolar ships were capable of entering and dropping out of lightspeed within an extremely short period of time, but they chose not to do so too close to the Trisolaran star system or the Solar System. After the fleet had left Trisolaris, the ships accelerated under conventional power for an entire year, until they were about six thousand AU from home, before entering lightspeed. Similarly, they dropped out of lightspeed at the same distance from the Solar System and switched to conventional deceleration. This distance could be covered in a month at lightspeed, but the fleet chose to spend a year traversing it. The cruise of the Second Trisolaran Fleet would thus take two years longer than it would if the entire voyage were conducted at lightspeed.
这确实是一件令人费解的事：三体舰队显然能够在极短的时间内达到或脱离光速，但它们却不敢在三体星系或太阳系附近这么做。舰队起航后，用了整整一年时以常规速度航行，直到与三体星系相距六千个天文单位时才进人光速；在距太阳系同样距离处脱离光速降至常规推进速度。这段距离光速航行只需一个月，舰队却不惜再花一年的时间用常规推进航行。这样，第二舰队的航行时间比完全光速航行整整多出了两年。
Only one explanation for this curious decision came to mind: It was motivated by a desire not to harm either solar system during the process of entering and dropping out of lightspeed. The safe radius appeared to be two hundred times the distance from the Sun to Neptune. This suggested that the power generated by the drives was two orders of magnitude greater than a star, which seemed unimaginable.
能想到的解释只有一个：这是为了避免四百一十五艘飞船进入光速时对两个世界产生影响。这个安全距离是地球到海王星距离的两百倍，如果在这个距离上才能避免飞船对行星的影响，那就意味着引擎产生的能量比恒星还高两个数量级！这实在以想象。
[Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time, Technology Explosion on Trisolaris]
【摘自《时间之外的往事》三体世界的技术爆炸】
First, Earth civilization had a tremendous impact on Trisolaran civilization — on this point, at least, the Trisolarans likely didn’t lie. Since the arrival of the first sophon, the massive inflow of human culture profoundly changed Trisolaris, and some human values resonated with the Trisolarans. Trisolaran society broke down the barriers to scientific progress imposed by the extreme totalitarian political system that had been adopted as a reaction to the chaotic eras, encouraged freedom of thought, and began to respect the individual. These changes might have triggered ideological transformation movements akin to the Renaissance in that distant world, leading to leaps in scientific and technological progress. This must have been a glorious period in Trisolaran history, but the specific details were unknown.
首先，地球文明对三体世界产生了巨大的影响，在这一点上三体人可能没有撒谎。自第一个智子到达地球后，大量涌入的人类文化使三体世界发生了深刻的变化。人类的部分价值观得到认同：发现了为应对乱纪元的灾难而产生的极权体制时科学的阻碍，思想自由得到鼓励，个体的价值得到尊重——这些都有可能在那个遥远的世界引发类似文艺岌兴的思想启蒙运动，进而产生科技的飞跃，这一定是一段辉煌的历史，但其具体的过程却不得而知。
Exactly when the rate of Trisolaran technological progress had shifted from constant to explosive was a mystery. Some scholars believed that the acceleration began before the Crisis Era; others believed that the forward leap didn’t happen until the Deterrence Era. There was, however, general consensus on the causes for the technology explosion.
三体世界的技术发展是从什么时候由匀速变为爆炸式加速的，这一直是个谜。有学者认为这种加速早在危机纪元开始前就出现了，也有人认为三体世界的技术是晚至威慑纪元才出现飞跃的。对于三体技术爆炸的动因，人们的看法倒是比较一致，认为主要有两个方面：
For the first time since the end of deterrence, Sophon appeared. Still dressed in camouflage and wearing the katana on her back, she announced to the world that the Second Trisolaran Fleet would arrive in four years to complete the total conquest of the Solar System.
智子在威慑中止后第一次露面，她仍然穿这那身迷彩服，背插武士刀，向全世界宣布二支三体舰队将于四年后到达太阳系，将完成对这个恒星系的全面占领。
Trisolaran policy toward humanity had changed since the first crisis. Sophon announced that Trisolaris no longer intended to exterminate human civilization, but would create reservations for humans within the Solar System — specifically, they would let humanity live in Australia and on one-third of the surface of Mars. This preserved the basic living space needed for human civilization.
与第一轮危机时不同，三体世界对人类的政策发生了重大变化。智子宜称三体没有消灭人类文明的计划，而是在太阳系为人类划出了保留地。具体的位置是：地球上的澳大利亚，火星的三分之一领土，这样，就保证了人类文明最基本的生存空间。
[Post-Deterrence Era, Day 60, A Lost World]
【威慑后六十天，失落的世界】
A second possibility was only a guess: The exploratory sophon missions sent in other directions in the universe were not fruitless, as the Trisolarans claimed. Before being blinded, they might have found at least one other civilized world. If so, Trisolarans might have not only received technological knowledge from this other civilization, but also important information about the condition of the dark forest in the universe. If so, Trisolaris far surpassed the Earth in every domain of knowledge.
另一个可能只是猜侧：飞向宇宙其他方向的智子并非像三体人所说的一无所获，在进入盲区前，它们很可能至少探测了一个文明世界，如果是这样。三体世界从这个第三方文明中得到的可能不仅仅是技术知识，还有关于宇宙黑暗森林状态的重要信息，那样的话，不管在哪个方面，三体世界现在都比地球所知道的多得多。
Five days after this historical “Reservation Proclamation,” one of the five droplets cruising within the Earth’s atmosphere attacked three large cities in Asia, Europe, and North America. The purpose of the attacks wasn’t to destroy the cities, but to instill terror. The droplet passed straight through the giant forests of these cities, colliding with all hanging buildings that happened to be in the way. The struck buildings burned and then fell several hundred meters, like overripe fruits. Over three hundred thousand people died in the worst disaster since the Doomsday Battle.
在史称“保留地声明”的讲话发表五天后，一直在地球大气层内巡行的五个水滴中的一个攻击了北美、欧洲和亚洲的三座大城市。攻击的月的并不是毁灭城市，只是恐吓。它径直穿过城市的巨树森林，沿途撞击悬挂在树枝上的建筑，那些被击中的建筑先是熊熊燃烧，然后像烂掉的果实一般从几百米高度坠落到地面，造成三十多万人死亡，这是自末口战役后最惨重的人类伤亡事件。
To prepare for the Trisolaran conquest in four years, Sophon declared that humanity must immediately begin to resettle. To accomplish the so-called “defanging” of humanity, and to prevent the reappearance of dark forest deterrence or similar threats in the future, humanity must be completely disarmed and resettle “naked.” No heavy equipment or facilities would be permitted in the reservations, and the resettlement must be completed within one year.
智子说，为四年后的被占领做准备，人类必须立刻开始向保留地移民；为了执行她所说的“去威胁化”，彻底杜绝黑暗森林威慑和类似威胁的再一次出现，人类必须解除武装，进行“裸移民”，即在移民过程中不能携带任何重型装备和设施。移民必须在一年内完成。
Human habitats on Mars and in space could accommodate about three million individuals at most; thus, the main destination for resettlement was Australia.
目前，人类在火星上和太空中的可居住空间，最多只能容纳三百万人，所以，移民的目的地主要是澳大利亚。
But most people still held on to the illusion that they would have at least a generation of tranquil life. After Sophon’s speech, no country responded, and no one actually emigrated.
直到这时，人们仍然幻想着至少一代人的平安生活，所以在智子的讲话发表后，没有一个国家响应，更没有人开始移民。
As a matter of fact, humans had been working toward overcoming this disadvantage. Humans understood early on that only strong-interaction materials (SIM) could be used to defend against droplets. Before the termination of deterrence, research facilities on Earth and in the fleet could already produce small quantities of such material in laboratories, though large-scale manufacturing and utilization would not be possible for years. If humanity had had another ten years, production of large amounts of SIM would have been a reality. Although the propulsion systems of the droplets would still have been far beyond human capabilities, at least conventional missiles could have been made out of SIM to destroy the droplets by sheer numerical advantage. Alternatively, SIM could have been used to construct defensive screens. Even if the droplets had dared to attack these shields, they would have become one-time-use shells.
其实，人类正在逐渐改变这种劣势。人们早就认识到，对水滴的防御只能借助强互作用力材料（SIM）1本身。在威慑中止前，地球和舰队的研究机构已经能够在实验室中少量制造这种超级材料，只是距批量生产和实用化还有很远的距离。如果再有十年时间。强互作用里材料就可以大批量生，虽然水滴的推进系统还远远超出人类的技术能力。但可以用SIM制造常规导弹，借助数量优势，一旦击中就有可能摧毁水滴；或SLM建造防御屏障。即使水滴敢于攻击这种屏障，它也变成了一枚一次性的炮弹。
People finally understood that, to the droplets, the human world was as fragile as eggs under a poised rock. Cities and large-scale facilities were defenseless. If the Trisolarans wanted, they could lay waste to every city, until the surface of the Earth was one large ruin.
现在人们认识到，在水滴面前，人类世界就像石块下的鸡蛋一般脆弱，任何城市和大规模设施都不可能提供有效遮蔽。如果三体人愿意，他们可以摧毁所有城市，逐步把地球表面变成一片废墟。
Thus began the Great Resettlement of all of humanity to Australia.
智子最后说：全人类向澳大利亚的移民开始了。
But all of this depended on the successful accomplishment of the initial resettlement to Australia. If the relocation effort did not commence immediately, the droplets would continue to attack the cities. After the expiration of the one-year period, any humans found outside the reservations would be exterminated as invaders on Trisolaran territory. Of course, if humans left the cities and scattered across the continents, the five droplets alone would not be enough to locate and kill every single individual. But the Second Trisolaran Fleet arriving in four years would no doubt be able to.
但这一切，都要以第一次移民的顺利进行为前提。如果向澳大利亚的移民不立即开始，水滴将继续攻击城市。在一年的期限后，任何处于保留地之外的人类都将被当做三体领土的人侵者而消灭。当然，只要人类离开城市呈疏散状态仅凭五个水滴是做不到这一点的，它们不可能把分散在各大陆上的一个个或一小群一小群的人全部杀死，但在四年后。到达太阳系的三体舰队无疑能够做到这一点。
Alas, none of these visions would ever come true now.
但现在，这已经永远不可能变为现实了。
Sophon made another speech, in which she explained that Trisolaris had changed its policy of extermination of humanity out of love and respect for human civilization. It was inevitable that resettlement of humanity to Australia would cause them to suffer somewhat for a period of time, but it would last only three to four years. After the arrival of the Trisolaran Fleet, the conquerors were capable of helping the four billion people in Australia live comfortably. Also, the conquerors would assist humanity in constructing additional habitats on Mars and in space. Five years after the arrival of the Trisolaran Fleet, humanity could begin to migrate in large numbers to Mars and space, a process projected to take fifteen years. By then, humanity would possess adequate living space, and the two civilizations would begin a life of peaceful coexistence.
智子再次发表讲话，声称三体世界之所以改变对人类文明的灭绝政完全是出于对地球文化的热爱和敬意。向澳大利亚的移民完成后，会有一段艰难的口子，但只是短暂的三四年，当三体舰队到达后。完全有能力使澳大利亚的四十亿人过上舒适的生活。同时，占领者还将帮助人类建造火星和太空中的居住空间。在舰队到达五年后就可以向火星和太空大规模移民。十五年后就能基本完成。那时，人类将拥有相对而言足够大的生存空间，两个文明将在太阳系开始新的和平生活。
“The glorious and resplendent civilization of Earth earned humanity this one chance at survival,” said Sophon. “Please treasure it.”
“是灿烂辉煌的地球文化为人类赢得了生存的机会，希望你们珍惜。”
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