But Ren Zhong was very wary of Li Yang's ability to silently take over others' minds, which made it almost impossible for him to trust the people around him.

In some previous timelines, even Zheng Tian and Yujin had their thoughts taken over by Li Yang, forcing Ren Zhong at the time to reset his behavior patterns, divert Li Yang's actions, and try his best to ensure that his real plans were not interfered with by Li Yang.

For example, now, Ren Zhong silently turned his head and looked at Qian Wangshen, who had lost consciousness inside the War Armor, along with several other unconscious Starfire Soldiers.

Having had many such experiences, Ren Zhong was not nervous; it wouldn't take long before these people, who were once absolutely loyal to him, would wake up. They would remember what happened, but it would feel like a dream, hard to distinguish between reality and illusion.

Then, Ren Zhong quietly disengaged the self-destruct device inside his armor, and turned back to gaze at the scorching brightness that even the fully blackened visor of his armor couldn't block, and let out a long breath.

He whispered to himself in his heart, "Finally, I've waited for the perfect ending I wanted."

Yes, it appeared to be a continuous narrative, but in reality, Ren Zhong had self-destructed thousands of times.

There were times when the No. 0001 ship did not explode; instead, he suddenly faced an attack by Ma Xiaoling.

There were times when Ma Xiaoling couldn't break through to the surface of the Tracer, forcing the use of the Three-Phase Bomb to blast open a path, only to find that the angle of the explosion wasn't quite right, or too many other innocent and ignorant soldiers were harmed.

There were times when Chen Hanyu refused to leave No. 0001 with him.

There were times when the final signal from the frozen elders was unsatisfactory.

There were times when the unexpected detonation in the cargo hold of the No. 0001 Warship didn't convincingly seem like an accident, and the instantaneous fault self-check information released by the black box looked too much like a conspiracy.

...

In his last stand, Ren Zhong indulged his obsessive compulsions to the extreme, scrutinizing details to the utmost.

However, there will always be unpredictability, instability, and so many unsatisfactory elements in everything.

But after using the Resurrection Ability in a nearly vengeful manner repeatedly, he achieved a perfect performance.

This was both difficult and simple; in any case, he accomplished it.

The events that followed were somewhat melodramatic, yet reasonable.

The warriors who stormed into the Throne Hall did not find the supposedly powerful and terrifying Sublimers.

The first warrior to break in was lucky enough to capture the final image, the exact moment when the nine determined frozen Elders simultaneously pulled the trigger to sacrifice themselves for the country.

These were clearly nine ordinary yet extraordinary individuals.

The footage was preserved, sent back to the Fleet Command and the Business Association's Supreme Elder Council.

Including the core members of the Elder Council and key figures from the Nine Major Groups, who almost simultaneously awakened from a brief coma, then in panic held an emergency meeting.

Ren Zhong, Chairman of the Ren Group at the frontline, and Armed Fleet Marshal, participated in this highest-level meeting centered on the Upper Origin Capital's servers through the help of point-to-point Ghost Particle Communicators.

Everyone, regardless of location or current activities, had to join the meeting immediately.

The atmosphere was as solemn and cold as the dead of winter, with the minds of each participant buzzing with fear for their actions.

Only Hugh Augustus, aged and withered, felt a greater, indescribable desolation and loneliness beyond fear.

He had just awakened from his sickbed, only to be pulled into the meeting room. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Disruptive memories spanning twenty years exploded like thunder in his mind, leaving him dizzy.

He clearly remembered his last conscious memory before the coma: ordering the Armored Soldier named Xu, whom he painstakingly trained, to join the battle and become a key player in the assault on the Tracker Spaceship. Then, in real-time battlefield synchronization, he saw the frozen Elders' instant of simultaneous suicide, particularly his once-revered ancestor Barton Augustus' face of sorrow.

He stared blankly at the screen where a face full of black liver spots and wrinkles, with sparse few strands of hair, stared back—a face he couldn't believe was his own.

He raised his trembling hands to feel his weathered face, the sensation like sandpaper on ancient tree bark.