Ren Zhong watched as the staff gently pushed Qian Wangshen's wheelchair out.

At the passageway, Zhuo Yihang gently reminded, "Minister Zheng, let's go. We need to finish our work quickly."

Zheng Tian nodded slightly, continued walking forward, and turned to look at the person beside her.

Zhuo Yihang's temples were already graying, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were becoming more pronounced.

Zheng Tian, on the other hand, looked much better, resembling someone in their early twenties on Earth.

When Zhuo Yihang first joined Ren Zhong, he was just a young lad, even younger than Zheng Tian.

Zheng Tian had met him once, had a little interaction, and remembered somewhat this young man with a difficult fate but decent ambition.

Time flew by, and over twenty years had passed in the blink of an eye. Now, her youth remained, while the other seemed to have aged quickly, inevitably making one feel sentimental.

Zheng Tian asked, "Minister Zhuo, haven't you spent much time in cryogenic sleep over these years?"

Zhuo Yihang responded with a hum, "Yes. Like a stupid bird flying early, I don't have as much talent as you, Minister Zheng, so I have to learn more, think more, and summarize more. Managing a spaceship fleet is different from managing planetary affairs. This objective reality has brought me closer to others and allowed me to make up for gaps through hard work."

Zheng Tian: "But now you're old. When you reach the Empire, there will be a new Anti-aging Potion that can extend your lifespan to over sixty years. Minister Zhuo, won't you regret using up your lifespan in advance like this?"

Zhuo Yihang was slightly taken aback at these words and turned to look at Zheng Tian.

After a moment, he shook his head, "I owe you an apology; for a moment, I doubted your loyalty, Minister Zheng. This is just a very personal question, isn't it?"

Zheng Tian hummed an affirmation, "Yes."

Zhuo Yihang looked back slightly, "I won't regret it. No matter what Mr. Ren did, I always believe in my former judgment of him, and I trust and admire him unconditionally. I believe that someone like him, no matter what he does, must have his reasons."

Zheng Tian: "Even if it means massacring 18 billion people in one go?"

Zhuo Yihang: "Of course. Because even without Mr. Ren, everyone would sooner or later die anyway. At least he gave those people's deaths meaning, didn't he? Just like myself, whether I live forty years and then die, or live sixty to seventy years and then die, or use cryogenic sleep to cross millennia and then die, it makes no essential difference. I am a symbol, passing through history's Long River. The active cycle of my representing symbol belongs only to its own span and has nothing to do with cryogenic sleep. Whether the symbol is worth remembering is also unrelated to the length of the active cycle."

"I think the most important thing in life is not how long you live or where you live but what you do while alive. The former me was very dull, unable to find the greatest meaning of life, just living muddleheadedly, being a slave in Census Official College, bullied by others, good for nothing. Mr. Ren changed my life. I also very clearly understand that for mediocrities like me, there's no need to consider life's meaning; just following the lead of the master and implementing his will is certainly the greatest meaning. Mr. Qian must feel the same. Minister Zheng, the master needs you all. If there's a chance, persuade others."

As they spoke, the two arrived at a fork in the road, with the Military Affairs Department to the left and the Government Affairs Department to the right.

Zhuo Yihang bowed humbly, turned, and left quickly.

Zheng Tian pondered for two seconds, then turned left quickly as well. She had to preside over the mobilization meeting.

Elsewhere, fifteen minutes later, Ren Zhong attended a funeral primarily attended by military research personnel.

Qian Wangshen lay peacefully on the alloy bed.

His once messy hair had been neatly combed.

In his hand, he still held the projection tablet he had played with before his death.

Earlier, staff had tried to remove the tablet, but it didn't budge on the first attempt.

At that time, Qian Wangshen had gripped the tablet very tightly.

Ren Zhong instructed the staff not to remove it.

The data had already been synced to the network, so since old Qian wanted to take this tablet to continue fighting in another world, let him take it.

According to Qian Wangshen's last wishes, his brain will not be harvested and preserved.

His body will be completely placed into an atomic reactor to be thoroughly disassembled and reverted to atomic form, to be recycled into pure carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and other substances, then sent to various material production workshops.

Perhaps, someday in the future, components containing atoms that once formed Qian Wangshen will appear on every ship in the fleet.