The Xu Fu spacecraft had left the Earth-Moon System, carrying the hopes of hundreds of millions of people in Huaxia toward a barren wilderness tens of millions of kilometers away.
Just as the global space industry turned its gaze toward the distant reaches of space with that majestic starship, another major event took place in the world of physics.
With the successful convening of the IMCRC committee meeting and the election of a new chairman, Lu Zhou, the IMCRC's founding chairman, took the podium in the conference hall as scheduled and delivered his farewell address to committee delegates from various countries, board members, and leading figures in physics.
In his speech, Lu Zhou expressed an optimistic vision for the future of physics. He believed the discipline would enjoy unprecedented prosperity over the next hundred years, and that this prosperity would reach every corner of human society.
Yet that optimism did nothing to dispel the regret and reluctance that filled the hall.
Although Lu Zhou had stated more than once, long before this day, that he would only serve a single term as chairman, when the moment of his departure finally arrived, people still found themselves looking back on the past. Their minds involuntarily recalled one incredible miracle after another that he had led the IMCRC to achieve.
Even Professor Whittle, who had opposed him throughout his entire term, could not help feeling saddened by his departure.
Perhaps that was simply human nature.
Only when something was lost did people remember how wonderful it had been to have it.
At that moment, Professor Whittle finally understood what his old friend had meant: having a wise leader showing the way was a blessing indeed.
From now on, they would have to walk that road alone.
Almost everyone listened to his speech with