Office Workers Offered 50 Million Yuan to Betray Earth Ask Where to Sign

A hypothetical moral dilemma posted on RedNote has revealed that humanity’s planetary-defense strategy may contain a serious weakness: employed people.

The question was simple.

While at work, you discover that 50 million yuan has suddenly appeared in your bank account. In exchange, you must send Earth’s coordinates to the Trisolarans, the alien civilization from Liu Cixin’s Three-Body universe.

Would you do it?

The intended dilemma presumably concerned greed, morality and responsibility for the future of human civilization.

The comment section instead became an open procurement market for planetary betrayal.

“How do I contact them? I will do it for free.”

That response received nearly 5,000 likes.

Another user wrote:

“Hesitating for even one second would be disrespectful to this post.”

Within minutes, the original 50-million-yuan offer was no longer competitive.

Bidding War Immediately Moves in Wrong Direction

A normal auction raises the price.

This one rapidly lowered it.

One commenter offered to send the coordinates for 10 million yuan.

Another objected:

“No undercutting!”

Others proposed five million, 500,000, 5,000, 500 or the price of a cup of milk tea.

Several volunteered to pay the aliens.

One user offered 50 yuan and explained that the small amount reflected personal poverty, not a lack of enthusiasm.

The labor market had become so distorted that a commenter issued an imaginary regulatory notice:

“The comment section is seriously disrupting the interstellar coordinate market. Please stop reckless underbidding and maintain fair pricing.”

The warning had no effect.

By then, multiple users were offering free delivery, technical support and post-sale customer service.

Workers Ask Whether Repeated Betrayal Pays Per Transmission

Once the basic terms were accepted, commenters moved to practical questions.

Was the payment issued once per coordinate transmission?

Could the sender transmit three times and receive 150 million yuan?

Would copying and pasting count as separate work?

Could the task be automated?

One proposed buying a massage gun and using it to press the transmission button continuously.

Another promised to send the coordinates daily so the aliens would not become lost.

A third offered multilingual delivery, error-correcting codes and ongoing updates on Earth’s condition.

The planetary betrayal had become a subscription service.

Main Strategic Calculation: Aliens Are Very Far Away

Many commenters based their decision on the travel time in The Three-Body Problem.

The Trisolaran fleet is generally understood to require centuries to reach Earth.

This made the proposal attractive to people practicing a highly personal form of long-term planning:

1. Receive 50 million yuan now.
2. Spend it.
3. Die naturally.
4. Leave the invasion to people who have not yet been born.

Variations of “I will already be dead when they arrive” appeared throughout the thread.

This was occasionally expressed as confidence in future generations.

More often, it was expressed as complete indifference toward them.

“They will arrive in 400 years. Believe in the wisdom of our descendants.”

The descendants were not consulted.

Some Commenters Reverse Position After Receiving Money

A smaller philosophical school argued that the payment itself would make them less willing to expose Earth.

One wrote:

“I was willing at first, but after receiving 50 million yuan, I am no longer willing.”

The reasoning was straightforward.

Before receiving the money, Earth contained work, debt and inconvenience.

After receiving the money, Earth contained restaurants, travel, housing and a suddenly meaningful future.

Another commenter observed that if they became rich, they might develop a strong desire to defend the planet.

This suggests that planetary loyalty may be income-sensitive.

Under this model, poverty creates civilization risk, while direct cash transfers function as an anti-alien defense program.

Others Demand Faster Destruction Instead of Payment

Not everyone was satisfied with the centuries-long delivery schedule.

One commenter asked:

“Can I refuse the 50 million yuan if the Trisolarans agree to arrive tomorrow?”

Another requested that the aliens come before 7:30 the next morning because work began at eight.

Several complained that the Trisolarans lacked urgency, ambition and basic project-management skills.

One imaginary message to the aliens read like a workplace performance review: their output was weak, their progress reports lacked depth and other civilizations might be selected if they failed to improve.

The aliens had not yet conquered Earth and were already being asked to submit daily, weekly and monthly reports.

Nobody Actually Knows Earth’s Coordinates

A technical obstacle eventually emerged.

Thousands of users were prepared to sell Earth.

Very few knew how to describe its location.

“I am willing, but I do not know Earth’s coordinates.”

Others produced increasingly elaborate addresses:

Observable universe → Laniakea Supercluster → Local Group → Milky Way → Orion Arm → Solar System → third planet.

Some suggested sending a real-time map location.

Others proposed sharing a phone pin.

One asked whether the Trisolarans used Gaode Maps.

A deeper logical problem also appeared: if the aliens could deposit 50 million yuan into a specific person’s bank account, they probably already knew where Earth was.

This raised the possibility that the entire offer was an interstellar scam.

Commenters Introduce Procurement, Tax and Compliance Concerns

The thread also addressed administrative details.

Would the 50 million yuan be taxed?

Which currency was being offered?

Was the transfer legal?

Would the bank freeze it as suspicious?

Could the recipient issue an invoice?

Should the matter first be reported to the United Nations?

One user proposed taking the offer to wealthy people and demanding more money not to transmit the coordinates.

Another wanted to auction the button to the highest bidder.

A third suggested accepting payment, sending a false location and repeating the process until retirement.

Within one discussion, humanity moved from moral philosophy to extortion, fraud, procurement and tax compliance.

The aliens had selected the correct planet for capitalism.

“What Is the Downside?” Becomes the Dominant Response

The most repeated joke in the thread was:

“You have explained the benefits. What is the downside?”

For many commenters, the scenario contained two rewards:

• sudden wealth;
• the eventual destruction of the system requiring them to work.

The offer was therefore not perceived as a moral test.

It was seen as a promotional bundle.

Some even felt uncomfortable receiving both advantages at once.

“How can I accept the money and the apocalypse? That feels impolite.”

Others called it “double happiness.”

Several asked whether the activity was still open.

Dark Humor Reveals More Than Alien Enthusiasm

The thread is funny because almost no one believes an alien transfer is coming.

Its underlying emotion, however, is recognizable.

The post invited people to choose between human civilization and money.

Exhausted workers responded as though human civilization were the organization currently scheduling their meetings.

The Trisolarans became a fictional external force onto which users projected dissatisfaction with work, housing costs, social pressure and the distant future.

The jokes did not necessarily express a desire to die.

They expressed how little ownership some people feel over the world they are repeatedly told to preserve.

One unusually sober comment observed:

“Looking at the comment section, everyone seems to be in pain.”

That may be the real center of the joke.

Planetary Defense Council Urged to Improve Compensation

A small number of commenters refused.

Some said they had children, partners, parents or pets and could not decide the fate of others.

Others noted that money would become useless if civilization collapsed.

A few said they had no right to make such a decision for humanity.

These responses demonstrated that Earth still has defenders.

Unfortunately, many of them appeared to require fewer working hours, better pay and assurance that the aliens would not harm their cats.

The most practical conclusion is that humanity should not store the planetary-transmission button near an overworked employee on a Monday.

The Trisolarans may not need advanced weapons.

They may only need to post a job listing.