The Redemption of Time (The Three-Body Problem Series Book 4)

by Baoshu

“Love?” The Trisolarans were confused. “Are you talking about … that emotion that encourages altruistic behavior in order to enhance the reproductive fitness of the species? We experience such emotions, too. But how could such an emotion be applied to an alien species from across the stars? Such an act has no benefit to the reproduction of her species!” “A man once said, ‘Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.’” “What … what nonsense is that? That sounds like a paradox.” “No, this is a lesson from one of the greatest teachers of our species. Many still believe that this is the greatest truth in the universe, far more important than mere survival.” The Trisolarans did not respond for some time, as though sensing the spiritual power in those words. After a while, they said, “If every species in the cosmos believed this, perhaps there would be no dark forest.” “Perhaps,” Tianming said. He gazed at the darkness of space outside the portholes, and he suddenly wondered whether the dark forest existed in only this dim corner of the universe—perhaps only this galaxy, or maybe even the few hundred square light-years at the end of one spiral arm. In the rest of the grand universe, the light of love had long illuminated every leaf, every blade of grass, every trail in the forest. What would such a sunlit forest look like?