In interrogation, Ye Wenjie is pressed about the Trisolaran messages that the Adventists intercepted and hid. Ye says she knows only that some messages were withheld. She also confirms that she once planned a third Red Coast Base, but only a receiver was built before the project was dismantled because Trisolaris had stopped sending ordinary messages to Earth. That silence makes the missing Adventist archives more valuable to both the authorities and rival ETO factions.

The interrogator then turns to Mike Evans and the ETO’s internal divisions. Ye says Evans hid how far his hatred of human civilization had gone, and that her original hope of using alien contact to reform humanity has been twisted into the Adventists’ desire for human destruction, the Redemptionists’ worship, and the Survivors’ self-preserving betrayal. When asked why she did not use Redemptionist forces to strike Judgment Day, Ye explains that the ship stores the intercepted messages; if it were attacked, the Adventists might erase them. Because those records are treated as indispensable, both Ye’s side and the investigators have hesitated to move against the vessel directly.

Asked whether Trisolaris has sent anything to Earth besides radio waves, Ye says the answer is almost yes. She explains that the Trisolaran fleet can theoretically reach one-tenth light speed, but its huge ships must accelerate slowly, coast, gather antimatter fuel, and then accelerate again, so the trip still takes more than four centuries. She then reveals that six years earlier Trisolaris launched two hydrogen nuclei, effectively two protons, at near-light speed from four light-years away, and that they reached Earth two years ago. According to Ye, these two protons are a lock that will prevent any major progress in human science until the fleet arrives, though she admits she does not understand the mechanism.

Near midnight, Wang Miao and Ding Yi leave the Battle Command Center after listening to the session. Wang finds the claim unbelievable, but Ding first emphasizes the astonishing precision required to fire two particles across interstellar space and hit Earth. Using cigarette filters and activated charcoal as analogies, Ding argues that tiny structures can unfold into vast lower-dimensional surfaces, then extends this to physics: truly advanced civilizations can exploit hidden micro dimensions beyond the familiar macroscopic ones. Ding still cannot say exactly what the two protons are doing, but the discussion convinces him that Trisolaran technology may operate on a level humans barely comprehend, reinforcing the bleak idea that humanity is still only a race of bugs.