Wang Miao goes to the Three Body players' meet-up expecting an active gaming discussion, but finds only seven attendees in a quiet, out-of-the-way coffee shop. The group is subdued rather than enthusiastic, suggesting that the game has affected them deeply. Wang notices that most of the players are social elites, including a famous philosopher, an avant-garde writer, a software company vice president, a State Power Corporation executive, a reporter, and a doctoral student.

When the organizer arrives, Wang is startled to recognize Pan Han, the prime suspect in Shen Yufei's murder. Wang secretly texts Shi Qiang, who replies that the police also see Pan Han and tells Wang to keep acting like a devoted player. Pan flatters the group as exceptional players capable of appreciating Three Body, and the others begin to describe how important the game has become to them. From the writer's mention of the 203rd civilization, Wang realizes that different players may experience different progressions inside the game.

Wang then asks the question everyone wants answered: whether Three Body is only a game. Pan responds solemnly that the world of Three Body, Trisolaris, really exists. He claims that some features shown in the game are true, including the Trisolarans' ability to dehydrate and the existence of the Trisolaran-formation computer. Pan explains that the game uses human history and imagery only as a familiar framework, while the actual Trisolaran world is very different, though its three-sun system is real.

Pan next reveals the game's purpose: it is not meant for profit, but to gather people with shared ideals. He asks how the players would feel if Trisolaran civilization entered the human world. Several attendees answer enthusiastically, saying they have lost faith in humanity and welcome outside intervention. The old philosopher deepens the argument by comparing humanity to the Aztecs and suggesting that conquest by a more advanced civilization can be historically beneficial, while the doctoral student praises this view as profound.

The discussion exposes a divide in the room. The power company executive objects that such thinking is dangerous and points out that the Aztecs were destroyed by conquest, while the software executive is also unconvinced. When Pan asks Wang for his position, Wang cautiously aligns himself with the pro-intervention comments in order to maintain his cover. Pan then expels the two dissenting men, has them removed from the group and from the game, and formally declares the remaining five players his "comrades," revealing that the Three Body community is an ideological organization rather than merely a gaming circle.