Sixty days after deterrence ends, Sophon appears publicly for the first time and announces that the Second Trisolaran Fleet will arrive in four years to complete the conquest of the Solar System. Trisolaris changes its declared policy from extermination to controlled survival, offering humanity reservations in Australia and on one-third of Mars.

Sophon says humanity must begin immediate resettlement and complete it within one year. To prevent future resistance or a renewed dark forest deterrence, humans must be completely disarmed and move without heavy equipment, facilities, or industrial capacity. Because Mars and space habitats can hold only about three million people, Australia becomes the main destination.

Most people initially refuse to act, still believing they have time before conquest. Five days after the proclamation, one of the droplets attacks three major cities across Asia, Europe, and North America. The droplet does not aim to destroy the cities completely, but its passage through hanging buildings kills more than three hundred thousand people and proves that Earth's cities are defenseless.

The disaster makes clear that droplets can devastate human civilization at will. Humanity had been close to developing defenses based on strong-interaction materials, including possible missiles or shields, but large-scale production would have required years that humanity no longer has.

Sophon then frames Trisolaris's policy as an act of respect for human civilization, promising that suffering in Australia will last only a few years and that the Trisolarans will later help build more habitats on Mars and in space. Sophon also threatens that if resettlement does not begin, the droplets will continue attacking cities, and after one year any humans outside the reservations will be exterminated. The Great Resettlement of humanity to Australia begins.