Unity

"Minister!"

As soon as Yue Yuan arrived at the Security Department, Man Yuemei came up to greet him.

Man Yuemei was the deputy minister of the Security Department. However, since Yue Yuan also served as Base Chief, the Security Department was basically under Man Yuemei's command.

Especially during the time Yue Yuan had returned to Earth, she had handled all Security Department affairs on her own. There was no question about her abilities; if anything, she was almost too capable.

Though Man Yuemei was a woman, she possessed a boldness uncommon among ordinary women. A graduate of a military academy, she had started at a higher point than ordinary soldiers, yet she had begun as a private and risen rapidly through her own abilities before being selected for a special operations unit.

There, she had remained equally outstanding. She was both an expert marksman and a hand-to-hand combat specialist, with exceptional military skills. Later, she had been transferred to Callisto to serve as an instructor for the Security Department as well as its deputy minister.

Yue Yuan knew that she had come to gain experience.

If not for this disaster, she would soon have become both the Base Chief and Security Minister of Yinghuo Base.

Though she had a lovely figure and the air of an elegant older woman, every soldier who had worked with her knew that she was in fact a ruthless person, someone willing to use any means necessary to achieve her goals.

That was why Yue Yuan had been completely at ease when he sent her to maintain order during the Great Relocation, though people like her were not easy to keep in hand.

Yue Yuan returned her salute, then said, "Vice Commander Man, you've worked hard these past few days. Leave what comes next to me. Go get some rest first."

Go back and rest?

Man Yuemei frowned. "Minister Yue, just tell me what you need. I guarantee I'll complete the mission!"

Yue Yuan walked past her toward the Security Department. Only after sensing that she had followed did he say, "Vice Commander Man, I'm afraid you misunderstood me. I mean that you and some of the Security Department brothers should go rest first. Leave things to me for now. In the latter half of the night, bring people over to take over the shift. People can't go without rest. Besides, these are extraordinary times. We can't afford any mistakes, much less give those with impure intentions an opening."

"Oh, and you still need to attend the meeting at eight tomorrow morning. It won't look good if you don't get proper rest now and end up dozing off during the meeting," Yue Yuan added.

"That makes sense, but..."

"No buts. I won't feel at ease without you in the latter half of the night. The Great Relocation caused quite a few incidents before. I think the ones trying to stir up trouble are spies planted by other countries." As Yue Yuan spoke, he secretly shook his head.

What fucking time was this, and they were still jumping out to cause trouble? They were opposing things just for the sake of opposing them. They really had holes in their heads.

"Oh~~~"

Hearing Yue Yuan say that, Man Yuemei drew out a long "oh." As she walked, she repeatedly examined the palms and backs of her hands. "Now that's interesting."

Uh.

Yue Yuan froze. He looked back at Man Yuemei, who seemed to have entered some strange state, and said, "We don't even know whether we can make it back to the surface alive. Don't create unnecessary complications."

"Rest assured, Minister. I know what to do." Man Yuemei seemed not to notice Yue Yuan's gaze at all and continued staring at her palms and the backs of her hands.

After the two arrived at the Security Department and made a few arrangements, Man Yuemei went back to rest.

Yue Yuan led some of the soldiers in maintaining order until the shift change in the latter half of the night, then returned to rest. However, after sleeping only a few hours, he woke again and hurried to the Conference Room.

By the time Yue Yuan reached the Conference Room, the room that held more than three hundred people was nearly full. He swept his gaze over it and saw that Man Yuemei had arrived as well.

Gan De, Su Song, Zhao Youqin, Yu Nanfeng, Xu Zhenyi, Li Zenglu, Yi Kai, and other experts and PhDs from various scientific fields had all come, but no one spoke. The atmosphere was somewhat lifeless, as though everyone was still immersed in grief.

After entering the Conference Room, Yue Yuan rubbed his eyes to wake himself up further, then headed for the seat at the very front. He glanced at the time along the way.

Seven fifty-eight.

After waiting silently for two minutes, Yue Yuan immediately brought the microphone to his mouth, cleared his throat, and declared, "Everyone! I have gathered you here today for no other reason than to discuss the future survival of humanity—or rather, us survivors!"

"First, I wish to thank all the PhDs in the scientific community. Without them, Callisto Base would have had no chance to prepare in advance for this disaster. Second, I must thank every soldier in the Security Department. Their tireless efforts day and night allowed the Great Relocation to conclude successfully. At the same time, we must also thank every department for their close cooperation. Without them, our large machinery, engineering equipment, and life-support equipment could not have been successfully transported to our destination. It was them, it was you, it was the shared effort of all of us that allowed us to survive, that allowed us to remain here and mourn our deceased relatives, friends, and fellow human beings. Now, please join me in observing a minute of silence for our fallen kind."

After delivering that string of necessary empty words, Yue Yuan began to address the main issue.

"I know this senseless disaster has filled every one of us with sorrow and despair, but we cannot let it break us. We cannot spend our days in decay because of it. We survived, so we must bear the name of humanity. We must prove worthy of the ten billion fallen compatriots. Then how do we prove worthy of them?"

Yue Yuan swept his gaze across everyone in the room, then raised his right hand and clenched it into a fist. Solemnly, he said, "Revenge!"

In truth, neither Yue Yuan nor anyone present knew why the Alpha Centauri Triple Star System and the Sun had gone supernova, but anyone with half a brain knew it could not have happened naturally.

That did not prevent Yue Yuan from using this matter to ignite the survivors' fighting spirit.

"Revenge! No matter what the future brings, no matter how far we can go, and no matter whether we possess the ability to do so, as long as we still draw breath, we must do everything possible to uncover the truth behind this event. Then we will find the aliens who destroyed us and wipe them from this universe! Only the blood of our enemies can honor the spirits of our ten billion fallen compatriots! We will have revenge!!!"

"Revenge!"

"Revenge! Revenge! Revenge!"

Excited shouts suddenly erupted in the Conference Room, startling Yue Yuan into quickly pressing both hands down to quiet everyone.

"But if we want revenge, we must first survive. And if we want to survive, we must unite and become one unbreakable force! We must unite, stand as one, so that we can survive in this dangerous universe."

Speaking of unity, Yue Yuan raised his fist again. "Humans are social animals. Even in the cradle where we grew up, humans could not survive alone apart from the group, much less in the boundless universe."

After that impassioned opening, Yue Yuan saw that the atmosphere in the room had changed completely. The lifeless mood was gone, replaced by people sitting tall with their chests out and their spirits renewed.

Seeing this, Yue Yuan nodded to himself.

Now this was more like it. Without any drive, how could they lead the survivors through months of underground life? How could they lead the survivors back up to the surface?

If those at the top set a bad example, those below would follow. A weak general made an army weak. A good atmosphere had to start from the top.