"Take another look at the unexplored idle planets—there actually aren’t many left, roughly close to a thousand stars in total. Among them, over five hundred belong to Liu An’s territory, with the remaining planets divided among various Viscounts and Barons, and many directly under the Royal Family’s dominion. Idle stars are predominantly found in the outer layer, with only a few having flourishing civilizations due to Fold Jump passage networks."

"This indicates that resources within the Nanxiang Star Cluster are actually limited. The most critical limited resource isn’t stellar radiation energy, but rather the transport capacity represented by the Fold Jump passages. The convenience of transportation is vastly different with or without these passages."

"So, if the resources in the Nanxiang Star Cluster seem unlimited but are actually limited, will Liu An, who possesses absolute power, continue to covet those slightly partitioned Royal planets in the Central Star Region? If I go there and become an Earl, I’ll become his direct competitor, taking away what he sees as his possessions. Can he accept that?"

"Let’s analyze Liu An’s age and how far he is from becoming a Marquis, and further examine Nanxiang Marquis Liu An’s actions over the years. We can conclude that we must take a detour, or it will be a dead end!"

"Liu An looks down on us from the depths of his heart, sees us as colonists, and despises me. Yet I have become a prospective Earl, and once I gain a foothold, there will be one more Earl in the Nanxiang Star Cluster competing with him for military achievements, something he cannot bear. Two tigers cannot live on one mountain. This is inevitable."

"Meeting adjourned!"

Ren Zhong was in a fairly good mood.

Among the eight core subordinates, three shared his exact viewpoint, indicating they were indeed thinking critically and making reasonable judgments.

After everyone dispersed, Zheng Dafa, now responsible for resource distribution within the fleet, nervously returned, and upon entering, he fell to the ground with a thud, "My Lord Earl! I was wrong, I... I was too naive! That’s what I genuinely thought at that time."

Ren Zhong stood up, walked to the desk, pulled up Zheng Dafa, and said irritably, "Why so tense? I didn’t say I would remove you from your position. The true purpose of this meeting wasn’t just to assess your understanding but more importantly to cultivate you. Although you are not particularly clever, you have been diligent over the years, and I’ve seen that. Your loyalty is unquestionable, so I will naturally look after you and your descendants adequately. Of course, if you want to become a carefree man, that’s feasible, but your offspring will still need to rely on their abilities to speak for themselves if they wish to hold high positions like you."

"Thank you, my Lord Earl, for understanding," Zheng Dafa replied, bowing and retiring backward.

Once Zheng Dafa left, Ren Zhong couldn’t help but smile.

He knew that small figures have their own ways of surviving.

This Zheng Dafa, like Ding Canghai, was once a lackey of Wang Jinsou, and a treacherous adviser. It was he who facilitated and incited Ding Canghai to assassinate Ren Zhong.

After defecting and surrendering to him, he has always lived cautiously.

Aware of his own dullness, he could only be diligent when dealing with matters, seizing every opportunity to serve as an assistant to Ju Qingmeng and Huo Donghua, learning whatever he could.

Zheng Dafa now has settled down within the fleet with his family, fearing he would lose Ren Zhong’s trust because of a minor mistake.

After waiting a while longer, Xiao Xingyue arrived.

Having not met alone for a long time, Ren Zhong realized Xiao Xingyue hadn’t aged much.

Although she frequently engaged in activities over the years, each session was brief, spending most of her time in slumber.

At that moment, Xiao Xingyue was still wearing the traditional Telekinesis Master white robe, making her appear tall and slender.

When she looked at Ren Zhong, her expression no longer housed the shadows of the past, but rather revealed relief and remorse.

She sat in the chair across from Ren Zhong’s desk and sighed.

Observing her hesitation to speak, Ren Zhong smiled and said, "Say whatever you want directly, don’t hold back. We’ve known each other for not just a day or two."

Xiao Xingyue looked up at him, expressing, "Actually, before you showed me the information about Liu An, I once fantasized about the Empire. I always thought a civilization developed for millions of years wouldn’t be too backward or barbaric, and there must be some advanced civil governance concepts. However, thinking back now, I was naive. Your decision at that time, although harsh and cold, proved unavoidable upon reflection. Only in this way can a little bit of Source Star’s flame be preserved at least, proving that many people once existed on Source Star. Liu An is terrifying. Through gene-targeted compilation, he changed the innate personalities of tens of trillions, creating trillions of bloodthirsty war-mongers. Such a person has no limits, so nothing he does should be surprising. He’s just the tip of the Empire’s dark iceberg. You understood, while we remain ignorant." 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Ren Zhong acknowledged without defending his actions.

After a long silence, Xiao Xingyue rubbed her temples, saying, "I want to apologize to you, I’m sorry."

She spoke slowly, her face filled with sincerity.

Ren Zhong’s face broke into a smile, "Thank you for your understanding, but the past is the past. I don’t blame you. After all, according to normal thinking, who would have thought such a decayed and backward Empire could sustain for millions of years? It doesn’t align with common sense, but it did happen. There must be a reason, and I will strive to find that reason."