Wen Lei, Tang Youyun, and others were equally puzzled.

Ma Xiaoling shook Ma Xiaocheng's shoulder, "What exactly is going on?"

Ma Xiaocheng said softly with a solemn face, "The so-called cleansing means killing everyone and destroying all things with Empire's technological features. This is indeed a requirement in the Empire's law for the Tracer colonies, aimed at preventing the leakage of the Empire's unique technology. But I thought this had been canceled. Even the self-governance war was aborted halfway due to the rapid rise of the Ren Family Group, and the ancestors didn't interfere, nor did they harvest the brains of the wild people and low-ranking citizens. So I don't understand what happened. Why has he changed his mind?"

"Viscount, this violates the last wishes of the administrators! You must be joking, right?"

Just as Ma Xiaocheng was about to speak up, a crisp female voice rang out from the crowd.

Everyone turned around to see that it was Gao Ya, who had just recently emerged from cryogenic slumber and then took over the role of Steering Man of Purple Crystal Mining, holding her hand high.

At this moment, Gao Ya had her lips tightly pressed together, her eyes wide as she looked at Ren Zhong, her face full of dissatisfaction and incomprehension.

Some keen-eyed people even noticed a glistening at the corners of her eyes.

Back when Ren Zhong went to Lower Origin Capital City to attend Census Official College, Gao Ya had once briefly interacted with him under the alias Zhou Ya.

Later, even after Gao Ya's identity was revealed, the two did not break off contact.

She had witnessed Ren Zhong pulling Hu Yang out of a pile of corpses out of sympathy, even at the risk of offending Tang Xiangyun.

Subsequently, she continued to accompany Ren Zhong as an assistant, going through the three-year Census Official studies and managing many things, and she had seen with her own eyes how Ren Zhong repeatedly saved many unjustly killed people from the clutches of the vicious Census Officer, Brown Jonathan.

She considered herself to understand Ren Zhong very well, but now she was even more shocked and confused than Ma Xiaocheng.

Ren Zhong turned his head to look at her.

There was instant silence among the crowd.

Many people who had been standing beside Gao Ya quietly moved away from her.

Many recalled that less than a day ago, Ren Zhong had stated that as a dictator, he would not explain everything to everyone.

The last person who questioned him was from the Augustus family, and now the direct bloodline of the Augustus family was almost extinct.

Ren Zhong's gaze put immense pressure on Gao Ya.

Her uncles and siblings were frantically signaling her with their eyes.

She slightly withdrew her raised hand.

But then she bit her lip hard and raised it up again.

Ren Zhong squinted his eyes and finally spoke, "I don't know where the previous administrators learned incorrect information and changed the rules on their own after the 'Net' went to sleep. But now the 'Net' has awakened, and it tells me that there was no such precedent in the Empire; this is incorrect."

Sun Ai was roaring inside Ren Zhong's mind, "You are framing and slandering!"

Ren Zhong ignored her.

Here, Gao Ya bit her lip, not knowing what to do.

At this moment, from the front of the Ren Family Group's camp, Zheng Tian finally stepped forward.

She stared directly into Ren Zhong's eyes, "But Hanyu, Hu Yang, Yujin, Wen Lei, and Uncle Wang's families are all still on Source Star! If you're going to..."

Zheng Tian was even more perplexed.

She thought that if Ren Zhong had decided from the beginning to destroy Source Star's civilization, then surely he should have taken these closest people with him.

Beside Zheng Tian, Ju Qingmeng repeatedly hesitated to speak, desperately glaring at Ren Zhong with questioning eyes.

Ren Zhong ignored Ju Qingmeng's gaze and slowly stood up, looking around, "I've already given my explanation. What you should do is silently witness me complete the final step of the Tracer colony operation." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"No..." Zheng Tian took a step forward.

Ren Zhong turned away, staring coldly at her, "Zheng Tian, you are my Military Affairs Officer. That means when I am not commanding, you are the highest Military Commander of the fleet. You must remain absolutely calm and obey me absolutely. Because for a soldier, obeying orders is paramount. I will only allow you to make this one mistake. Step back! Everyone, sit down! Gaze at the Star Map, bid a final farewell to our homeland and those remaining on Source Star!"

"Their sacrifice holds the greatest meaning, which is to help us live better in the Empire. We will take their part and grow anew in the Empire, entering the interstellar era! I... have a clear conscience."