209: Each person's choice

Bai Qianqian's eyes gradually grew moist and slightly red, her throat choked with emotion, and her body swayed, forcing her to lean against a nearby pillar.

She had imagined meeting the Lord of the Star Sea on countless nights, and she had imagined receiving his affirmation for all her efforts.

Although this sentence was brief, she felt it carried immense weight.

Her hundred years of persistence had finally been affirmed.

Bai Qianqian bowed deeply to He Ming and said in a trembling voice, "It was not hard work."

"It was you who gave me the platform I had dreamed of, allowing me to fully utilize my talents."

Jiang Zhonghua laughed, and he also cried.

The contributions of over a hundred years had brought about the current scale of the Xinghai.

In his twilight years, he had finally met the person behind the scenes and received the affirmation he had most hoped to hear.

"It was not hard work. Seeing the Xinghai reach where it is today, I have no regrets in this life."

Lin Dong and Zhang Kaiwen looked at each other, seeing the moisture in each other's eyes.

Chen Wanwan wiped away her tears, thinking of her grandfather.

How wonderful it would have been if he could have heard those words.

He Ming nodded slightly.

"I will give you two the choice to start over."

"You can enter a completely new spacetime, obtain a young body, or even achieve immortality, where you can begin an entirely new life."

"Alternatively, I will give you resources sufficient to break through the limits of life, but it will require double the effort to polish your foundations from scratch and gradually regain your youth."

"At the very least, you will be able to extend your lifespan by another five hundred years."

Upon hearing this, the six people reacted differently, seemingly contemplating the choice between the two paths.

After a long while, Jiang Zhonghua stepped forward, bowed deeply to He Ming, and after raising his head, spoke slowly: "Thank you for your gift, but my life has been wonderful enough. I have no regrets and have lived long enough; now, I just want to spend the last leg of my life in peace."

He Ming nodded slightly.

"Very well."

Lin Dong sighed and chimed in: "I am old, and I no longer wish to stir things up. The future belongs to the young; I only hope that my descendants can be better looked after."

He Ming nodded in response: "That can be done."

Zhang Kaiwen nodded with a smile.

"My choice is the same as theirs; I only hope that my descendants can have better development."

Chen Wanwan stepped forward and said: "I choose the second path. Before my grandfather passed away, he hoped that the Huaxia Federation would one day break out of the Milky Way Galaxy. I want to fulfill my grandfather's wish."

A blue light flashed in He Ming's hand, and a ring was delivered to Chen Wanwan's hand.

"The cultivation resources inside are enough to extend your lifespan by another five hundred years. If you can strictly follow the system's requirements to complete your daily cultivation tasks, you could ideally extend your lifespan by ten thousand years."

Xiao Yuan helped Su Jin take a step forward. She first glanced at Bai Qianqian and then spoke slowly: "I also choose the second path. The path of the Xinghai has not yet reached its end, and I want to see that day arrive."

He Ming nodded slightly and also presented a Spatial Artifact.

Bai Qianqian clenched her fists and replied with a smile: "My only hobby in this life might be mountain climbing, because it allows me to see the scenery behind the mountain."

"I hope to let the Xinghai break out of the Milky Way Galaxy and climb the highest mountain; the scenery there must be very beautiful."

He Ming: "Very well."

A spatial ring was delivered to Bai Qianqian's hand.

"It contains everything you need. Practice diligently, and perhaps you will have the chance to see that day arrive."

After finishing all this, He Ming's figure flashed and disappeared before the six people.

He looked around the Xinghai Park, and just as he was about to leave, he suddenly paused.

Two elderly women were sitting on a bench in a corner of the park, holding hands and basking in the sun, with smiles on their faces, seemingly chatting.

He Ming recognized them at a glance.

Group Leader and Lily, that pair of best friends.

Recalling the past, the reason he had kept Group Leader in the company was to let her see his rise in status and stage a satisfying, classic face-slapping scene.

But later, because he was too busy, he had forgotten about it.

His heart stirred, and he suddenly felt a bit of mischievous humor.

One should always see things through to the end.

He snapped his fingers, and a spatial ring suddenly appeared on Group Leader's hand.

"Whether you can enjoy a second spring depends on your own fortune."

"If you can live until the day I become the Universe Master, perhaps you will still have the chance to deliver that slap."

Blue Star.

Huaxia Federation Headquarters, Seventh Bureau.

Yan Zheng stood up from his office chair, picked up the third-generation longevity water on the table, and drank it in one gulp.

His current life index had reached 100,000.

Planetary Level, with a lifespan of five hundred years.

At this moment, he still looked like a middle-aged man.

A special notification sound suddenly rang out.

Yan Zheng was stunned, and distant memories surfaced involuntarily.

He shook his head and chuckled: "I have waited for this email for over a hundred years."

He sat back down, his eyes instantly becoming sharp, and his spirit and energy renewed.

Opening the email, the title at the top made his whole body tremble, his hair stand on end, and goosebumps rise all over his skin.

[Milky Way Galaxy Poverty Alleviation Plan]

When he saw the content of the main text, Yan Zheng's expression suddenly became extremely animated.

Shock, horror, surprise, and finally, extreme excitement!

"Ha, hahaha?"

"The Human Emperor, the Human Emperor!"

"In just over a hundred years, he quietly conquered the entire Milky Way Galaxy?"

Yan Zheng scratched his head vigorously, his scalp aching from the intensity.

The territory of the Huaxia Federation had just finished expanding, covering a ten-light-year radius centered on Blue Star.

The Mars colonization plan had been successfully completed.

In addition, they had annexed Hai Star 14, Lyra 15, and numerous uninhabited resource stars.

The population base had expanded from 8 billion to 39 billion.

He had thought that the Huaxia Federation's pace had been big enough and fast enough.

Who could have imagined that the person who had disappeared for over a hundred years had actually conquered the entire Milky Way Galaxy.

Official estimates stated that the diameter of the entire Milky Way Galaxy reached 25,000 light-years.

By this calculation, the Huaxia Federation had only achieved 1/2500 of that person's accomplishment in a hundred years...

In reality, the longest diameter of the Milky Way Galaxy could reach 37,000 light-years.

Yan Zheng continued to read the content of the main text.

Half an hour later.

He gradually sorted out what the Huaxia Federation needed to do in the future.

The Milky Way Galaxy was very large, and among it, many life-bearing stars were still in a semi-primitive era.

Stars within the Huaxia Federation's territory, such as Beastman Star and Luyuan, were at this level.

The first step of the poverty alleviation plan was to build roads and develop agriculture on barren planets.

"This is our Long Country's specialty, but this task is too heavy; we are completely short-handed."

Yan Zheng quickly flipped to the last page of the text.

When he saw the startup capital, his eyes lit up instantly, and his confidence was immediately boosted to the maximum.

[Startup Capital: 10 quadrillion in equivalent mineral resources]

[Third-Generation star gate, can span a distance of 100 light-years, quantity: 100,000]

[Fourth-Generation star gate, can span 1,000 light-years, quantity: 100]

"Holy crap!"