Starting as a Wallfacer, his defection to the Three-Body Problem shocked the world.

At Hines's belief center, business remained dismal; after waiting all day, not a single person was willing to come and voluntarily implant their thought imprint.

It wasn't until the afternoon that one person entered the Faith Center.

"I'm here to acquire a belief."

This was a middle-aged man with a melancholy face and a bald head. He reeked of alcohol and even walked with a swaying gait.

"The Belief Center is only open to members of the space forces of each country. Please show your identification."

Hines pointed to the notice board next to him, which clearly stated the PDC's procedures and restrictions for accepting thought stamps.

"I used to be in the Space Force, but only as a civilian employee, is that alright?"

Hines took the other person's identification, checked it repeatedly to make sure it was in order, and then nodded.

"Yes, Mr. Wilson, would you like to proceed now?"

"of course."

As the man spoke, he took out another neatly folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Hines.

"Um, you guys call this a proposition, right? I'm writing it here because I want to gain this belief."

Hines took the paper from the other person, glanced at it, and saw that it read:

“Catherine loves me, and she could never have an affair.”

This is an unlucky guy in the original storyline. If Lin Xuan were here, she would definitely gossip about his backstory.

Hines shook his head and handed the piece of paper back to the man in front of him.

"I'm sorry, but PDC regulations stipulate that the Space Force can only accept the text on that stone tablet when it comes to the proposition of the thought imprint. Even I can't change that."

Hines pointed to the black granite monument in front of the door, on which were written in clear lettering.

"In the war against the invasion of the Trisolaran world, humanity will surely win, the enemy invading the solar system will be destroyed, and Earth's civilization will continue in the universe."

This proposition was set by the PDC beforehand, and they even sent someone to supervise Hines to ensure that he could not do anything underhanded when the thought imprint was implanted. Even now, Hines does not even have the authority to touch those machines.

After the drunkard was driven away, another person walked in from outside, but he seemed a little hesitant when he reached the stone tablet.

This time, however, Hines took the initiative to go to greet him.

“I know you. I’ve heard Lin Xuan mention you. Your name is Wu Yue, and you’re Zhang Beihai’s colleague.”

"Former colleague."

Wu Yue looked very tired, as if he had just recovered from a serious illness. His spirits were low, and if it weren't for his burly physique, it would be hard for anyone to associate him with the word "soldier".

That meeting seemed quite insignificant at the time, but after the RX cell fluid was deciphered, people realized that the era of immortals began with that meeting.

Almost all the senior military officers who attended that meeting are now holding important positions in the military and government, with the only exception being Wu Yue, who is standing right in front of us.

He was removed from his position in the Space Force by Zhang Beihai before the meeting, which prevented him from becoming an immortal.

But he didn't feel sorry for him; in fact, he was very grateful for Zhang Beihai's decision, because for Wu Yue, immortality was just prolonging his suffering.

“I only served in the Space Force for a month before I was discharged.”

“I know that. Lin Xuan has already told me about your situation,” Hines said.

Long ago, when Lin Xuan was discussing defeatism with herself, she mentioned that she had attended that Space Force meeting. As for Wu Yue, Lin Xuan's assessment of him was that he was an ordinary person.

Wu Yue is a defeatist, but that's actually the kind of reaction an ordinary person should have.

People like Zhang Beihai, who firmly believe that humanity will prevail, are only a minority.

"In that case, I can save myself a lot of unnecessary things to say."

Wu Yue took out a piece of paper and handed it to Hines.

"I'm here to take a belief."

"Are you sure? As far as I know, you are over fifty years old this year."

"At your age, even if I were to give you a mental make-up, wouldn't it be a bit too late to start over in the military?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Yue shook his head slightly.

“No, Dr. Hines, you misunderstand. I am not here to gain the belief in victory; I am only here to seek peace of mind.”

“Peace of the soul?” Hines frowned slightly.

“I wrote down a proposition of faith for myself: faith in God.” Wu Yue took out a piece of paper from his pocket.

"Belief in God?"

"Yes, my wife and I met while studying at the Annapolis Naval Academy. She is a devout Christian, and she is very open about the future, a kind of openness that I envy."

"In her view, God has arranged everything, and we, as His children, only need to live peacefully."

Hines was somewhat puzzled.

"If you want to believe in God, then just believe. Why use such an extreme technological means as mind imprinting?"

"You must have seen those clones too. After they were branded with the ideological imprint of loyalty to PDC, they were turned into killing machines that only obeyed orders."

"Although I created this technology, I still have to admit that it still has certain harmful effects."

"Yes, I know." A hint of helplessness appeared on the face of the former Space Force colonel.

"But I am a materialist and a staunch atheist. My upbringing has made it impossible for me to believe in the existence of God."

“I’m sorry, even so, it won’t work.” Hines refused outright.

He took a large red paper bag from the reception desk, opened it, and showed it to Wu Yue.

"This is called the Book of Beliefs. It contains different language versions of beliefs, all of which are predetermined by the PDC. I have no right to modify these beliefs. There is only one proposition that can be used on humanity, and that is 'Humanity will prevail.'"

"Moreover, the use of the thought imprint is very strict. It is forbidden for any human other than the Space Force to use it. In order to ensure safety and reliability during operation, the proposition is not even prompted on a display screen, but is read aloud by the person who voluntarily has the thought imprinted in the most primitive way, such as the belief book."

"Then they have to press a button themselves to decide whether to implant the thought imprint. Before the actual operation, they also need to press the confirmation button three times. Each time the confirmation is pressed, a review team has to confirm the belief book."

"The review panel is composed of the PDC and the G7, and even I have no right to interfere. So, sir, your request is simply impossible. On a matter of belief, even changing a punctuation mark is a crime."

Upon hearing this, Wu Yue appeared slightly disappointed, as if he had already anticipated this outcome.

"Sorry to bother you." Wu Yue said, turning to leave, but Hines' next words made him stop in his tracks.

"Moreover, Mr. Wu Yue, I have great contempt for your behavior."

The setting sun cast long shadows of Wu Yue and Hines.

"Defeatism is not your fault; it's a mindset that an ordinary person should have. But your mistake is that, as a staunch materialist, you attempted to gain peace of mind through faith in God. You are giving up on yourself and selling your soul."

Wu Yue did not refute Hines's sarcasm, just as he had not refuted Zhang Beihai back then.

He knew that both of them were right.

"To be honest, Mr. Wu Yue, I almost did the exact opposite of what you did."

Hines also took out a piece of paper from his pocket, on which a line of text was written.

“God is dead.”

……

Hines and Keiko Yamasugi's wedding was finally held at St. Paul's Cathedral.

Amidst envious glances from onlookers, the couple, who had been dating for many years, finally tied the knot and entered the hall of marriage.

"Mr. Hines, do you take Ms. Keiko Yamasugi to be your wife, to live with her according to the teachings of the Bible, and to make a vow to her before God?"

"I am willing."

"Miss Keiko Yamasugi, do you take Mr. Hines to be your husband, to share your joys and sorrows, and to love him faithfully, for better or for worse, until the end of time?"

"I would like that too."

The wedding went very smoothly, and everything was going in a good direction.

After their marriage, Hines and Keiko Yamasugi lived a simple life, like most couples, without any dramatic ups and downs or any great success. Fortunately, they always loved each other deeply.

The change occurred several years later.

Although Keiko Yamasugi's experimental project was rejected by the research institute, her mechanical modifications continued with Hines' support.

However, the technology eventually encountered a serious bottleneck.

An accident occurred when Keiko Yamasugi attempted to mechanically transform her brain as well.

Brain-modifying mechanical technology that can be implemented in animals will lead to brain death in humans. Even if it is successful by chance, the person will completely lose the ability to think and become a puppet.

It's as if there's an invisible rule in this world that separates the human species from other life forms on Earth, giving them an independent consciousness that doesn't belong to any other species.

Humans are special.

However, Keiko Yamasugi is an atheist, and she believes that the reason why this secret cannot be solved now is because the scientific methods she has are not powerful enough.

If one day I can master technology that surpasses that of my predecessors, then the evolution of the human species will surely be successful!

Just when she was on the verge of despair over her experiments, an organization calling itself "Science Frontier" approached her.

"Ms. Keiko Yamasugi, do you believe in God?"

"We are God's agents in this world. We follow the Lord's guidance to eliminate human tyranny and remove it from this earth!"

Keiko Yamasugi entered the frontiers of science with almost no effort, and from that moment on, she had a new name of her own—Aristotle.

"From today onwards, we are comrades."

Keiko Yamasugi's ideal also changed from that time onwards, from wanting to transform humanity to completely eradicating the human species.

Her hatred for humanity arose inexplicably, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, until the day a letter of appointment fell from the sky.

"Now we will announce the list of Wallfacers."

"The third Wallfacer, Bill Hines."

When Keiko Yamasugi in the audience heard this name, her expression froze.

"How...is this possible?"

Hines is a Wallfacer!

She should have been happy about this; her lover would have been a hero to all mankind.

but……

Keiko Yamasugi quickly concealed her worries, gazing tenderly at Hines on the stage with a complex expression.

Before, she could love Hines without restraint, but from now on, they will be enemies, and mortal enemies at that!

“Aristotle, you will be in charge of breaking down the wall for Hines.”

Keiko Yamasugi let out a long breath, calming the pressure in her heart.

"I'm the only one left to break down his barriers."

But there was a second half to that sentence, which she spoke very softly, so that only she could hear it.

"Because... I am his only weakness."