After a long while, Ren Zhong let out a long sigh, "Ah."

"Why deceive her? Why deceive others?" Sun Ai's voice echoed in his mind, "Is it because you don't trust them?"

Ren Zhong shook his head at the air, "Of course not."

"Then you could have been more discreet. Anyway, you're just lying. You could have waited until everyone fell asleep to complete this step. And after I reconnect with the Empire Super Network, I could have sent the video over, couldn't I?"

Ren Zhong shook his head, "Lies mustn't be ambiguous. I need everyone to see it, so they can cooperate with my lies. I must keep the secret buried only within you and me. I once learned a saying, 'There are no walls in the world that can't let the wind through.' This secret concerns the lives of at least eighteen billion, maybe even twenty billion people, and it concerns every step I'll take in the Empire next. It's too important to allow even the slightest risk, no room for error. I must act strictly according to the Empire's rules. There are twenty billion people here; it's impossible to silence twenty billion mouths. Even if I reveal the truth within a small scope, it will magnify nonexistent risks infinitely. Since there are professions like Telekinesis Master on Source Star, I believe the Empire must have more ways to pry open everyone's mouth, to uncover secrets they vowed to keep. Even if we manage to evade scrutiny upon arriving in the Empire, in the long river of future, anything can happen. A secret will eventually leak, whether actively or passively. So I have no choice. If I didn't need your cooperation, I would even have kept it from you. Alas."

After speaking, Ren Zhong rose tall from the throne, glanced back at the still-empty other nine chairs, and waved his hand, "Sun Ai, put away these nine chairs. From now on, I'll be the only voice in this hall."

Leaving the hall, he donned an inconspicuous overcoat, then set himself into a modest Level Nine standard War Armor, temporarily leaving the Tracer. He boarded a small high-performance Flying Device disguised as an ordinary transport ship, heading straight for the location where Source Star was situated.

After approximately three hours, Ren Zhong arrived above a transport ship hovering on the far orbit of Source Star.

He didn't notify anyone, instead using the highest authority provided by Sun Ai, entering the most core frozen cargo hold within the transport ship through a secret passage.

The alloy door of the circular channel slowly opened, and a wisp of white mist billowed forth.

Ren Zhong stepped inside, the alloy door behind him slowly closing.

He glanced at the external environment detection on the right side of his War Armor helmet.

The temperature here was minus sixty degrees.

Walking further inside, he traversed a thirty-meter-long corridor.

Appearing before him was a tall shelf.

On the shelf were neatly placed dense rows of goods.

These items were small, hemispherical, with wrinkled surfaces and convoluted structures, precisely human brains.

Ren Zhong didn't need to count to know these were nearly five million human brains.

In fact, Source Star had not dispatched an Annulus Ship externally for almost eighty years.

All newly built Annulus Ships over these years were here.

As for the inventory of human brains, it increased at an average annual rate of nearly five hundred million, now totaling around forty billion, evenly distributed within each Annulus Ship.

Ren Zhong's breathing gradually grew heavier.

He uncovered the Armor mask, letting the cold air pour into his nostrils and lungs.

After a long while, his blood slightly cooled, then suddenly he turned and left.

…

Two days passed.

A massive fleet composed of eleven thousand eight hundred sixty-eight ships formed a giant formation, swiftly sweeping across the distant orbit of Source Pluto.

The fleet would slightly accelerate under Source Pluto's gravitational pull, then correct its course toward the nearest star to Source Sun—South Nine Star.

Next, the fleet would continuously accelerate for five days, gradually reaching one-tenth light speed.

At the forefront of the formation, nine Armed Battleships that departed first had already separated from the main force by nearly thirty billion kilometers. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

These nine Armed Ships were the Vanguard Team, additionally equipped with scanners remodeled from Ghost Particle Communicators, covering a scanning range of a hundred billion kilometers.

Other than these, there were numerous small reconnaissance ships operated by teams of ten positioned even further ahead. These small reconnaissance ships didn't have such a vast scanning range but could approach unknown targets closely, analyzing more information that larger scanners couldn't identify.