Ren Zhong furrowed his brows and muttered to himself, "I've tried everything. It's all a dead end. Lately, I haven't even been able to get within five million kilometers. Sigh... I guess I'll just have to take one step at a time."

Just then, the office door was opened from the outside.

He frowned.

He had previously told others not to disturb him.

Just as he was about to scold them, he suddenly looked surprised and slowly stood up.

"Why have you all come?"

It was Ju Qingmeng, Ma Xiaoling, Ou Youning, Hua Yuelan, Chen Qiao, Wang Qiao, and others who had abandoned him long ago in Starfire Town.

Qian Wangshen's office was large enough to accommodate hundreds of people, and in just a moment, it was filled with people, almost all of them.

Ju Qingmeng approached with a complex expression, tears in her eyes as she looked up at him, asking softly, "Why?"

Ren Zhong was momentarily stunned, then quickly understood.

Back then, after witnessing with their own eyes the extermination of 18 billion lives, including many friends and relatives, these people suffered a blow to their spirits and wills, choosing to escape through cold sleep. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

This was reasonable.

After that, Zheng Tian and Xiao Xingyue awoke on their own and observed for a long time within the fleet. Although they still had grudges in their hearts, they eventually managed to convince themselves to stand up and fulfill their duties.

But as for the others present, their mindsets during cold sleep remained unchanged; time hadn't erased the scars in their hearts.

It was likely that Zheng Tian wanted to join the other super-level professionals in the suicide squad to face the enemy upon return, so she decided to wake everyone up and inform them of the current situation.

Unable to understand, they came to ask for the reasons.

Ju Qingmeng's "Why" carried different connotations.

At the time, in order to satisfy the laws of the Empire, he executed a great purge on Source Star, which to others appeared as an offering of 18 billion people by this temporary Viscount of the Empire to eliminate any worries before entering Imperial society.

If the person doing this was not Ren Zhong but rather a frozen elder or a high-ranking member of the Source Star Association, it might have seemed reasonable. Even if they had grudges, they could only endure and bide their time.

But it was Ren Zhong who did it, which was particularly disheartening.

Because all along, he had been seen as a paragon, without blemish, in the hearts of the people of Starfire Town.

He was honest, brave, and intelligent. He sympathized with the weak, was generous, and had never been power-hungry, always advocating for the underprivileged. Even at the pinnacle of Source Star Society, he did not indulge in desires but cared instead about how to improve the living conditions of the destitute.

Such a person was simply perfect.

But his final actions made people feel that his former kindness was merely a facade, just a means to win people over to fulfill his ambition.

He had been so deep and concealing, only showing true intent in the end.

This realization was especially heartbreaking, realizing they had been deceived and manipulated all along.

Each person felt a sense of betrayal.

Every grand statement he ever made, upon reflection, seemed utterly pretentious, extremely detestable.

Some even thought, "So his ambition was always with the Empire, and we were just the fools he tricked to satisfy his ambition."

If Ren Zhong wanted to live and go to the Empire, this understanding seemed ingrained and irrefutable.

Yet the current situation was that this temporary Viscount, Supreme Commander, was not afraid of death, even planning to charge into battle with the suicide squad, making people utterly baffled.

Logically, he now held high rank and authority, even surpassing the frozen elders. If he had ambition, he should cherish his life more.

After all, the Source Star Fleet was merely a C-level colonial product, while the awaiting enemies were the powerful, unimpeded marauding hunting teams roaming around the Empire's territory.

Even full military engagement offered little chance of success, and the 30,000-strong super-level professional suicide squad was doomed to be cannon fodder.

He didn't have to do this; he should have even fled far away on the Tracker Spaceship. Given its cruising speed was much faster than transport and armed battleships, he had a chance to return to the Empire.

Ren Zhong looked at Ju Qingmeng, then at Ma Xiaoling, who was staring intently at him, thought for a moment, but simply smiled and shook his head, not explaining, only saying, "I'm glad you all woke up, but I don't intend for you to risk your lives for me, because a forced melon is not sweet. Whatever I do, I have my reasons. I can only say, I've always had a clear conscience. If there's nothing more, you can either go back to cold sleep or, since you're awake, return to your posts and do your jobs. I depart in three days, and you can somewhat help."

At this point, Ju Qingmeng frowned and said, "I just looked at the Water Drop Ship's design. Even if it's the pinnacle of Source Star technology, a quarter of light speed cruising is still too hard. Space isn't a perfect vacuum; there's always stardust floating. Even if you hit stardust once every hundred kilometers and its diameter is only 2.5 nanometers, it still puts immense pressure on the ship's force field shield. It's possible it could penetrate the shield and hit the ship, causing severe structural damage. Long-distance cruising risks disintegration or explosion. Traveling from here to C1915 Star far exceeds the max cruising range. With such a range, a fifth of light speed is the limit; only unmanned missiles can reach a quarter light speed, and their range is only 60 billion kilometers. Even if they explode, no one dies. The 'Net' calculates the chance of success is less than fifty percent. Let alone ambush the enemy, you might die on the way..."

As Ju Qingmeng spoke, she fell silent again.

Ren Zhong did not explain, only continued to look at her.

In his heart, he thought, although Ju Qingmeng seems to have neglected a bit after taking over administrative work in Starfire Town, she still maintained a high level in equipment development and manufacturing.

After a long while, Ren Zhong grinned, "So, don't you think about staying here to help me continue improving the Water Drop Ship and Red Blade Armor? Like before."

Ju Qingmeng: "..."

After quite a while, most of the people in the office finally left.

Only Ma Xiaoling, Wang Qiao, Shi Lin, and other combat personnel remained.

Ma Xiaoling walked up to Ren Zhong and said only one sentence, "I want to go too."

Ren Zhong nodded, "Alright."