With three superpowers at his fingertips, he could dominate the 1970s.

About half an hour later, the footsteps grew closer and stopped at the door.

Jiang Zhiyu looked up and saw Old Zhuge standing outside the door waving at her.

She got up and followed him, without saying a word or looking at her surroundings, only focusing on following that figure forward.

Her heart was still pounding, but her feet followed mechanically until she reached the door of the conference room at the end of the corridor.

It was a huge conference room, with a long table stretched all the way to the back, and both sides were packed with people.

When Jiang Zhiyu entered, the voices in the room immediately fell silent, and dozens of eyes turned to her.

She paused only slightly before following Old Zhuge to the seat against the wall. She glanced at the people present; besides a few veteran cadres whose names she only recognized from documents, there were several familiar faces from the Bureau. Zhong Dingwen was also there, sitting in the middle, giving her a very slight nod. There were a few other people in the corner whom she had met before, but couldn't recall their names immediately.

Not long after, the soft sound of wheels rolling over the ground came from the doorway. The old leader was pushed in in a wheelchair and taken straight to the head seat.

His complexion was even worse than it had been in the ward. He leaned back in his chair for a moment to recover before raising his hand to gesture for everyone to sit down. No one spoke again in the room; even their breathing became soft.

"Everyone here today understands what this means. The path forward was already discussed in yesterday's meeting, so I won't go into details today." The senior leader spoke first, his voice not loud, but clear enough for everyone in the room to hear.

"The main reason I called you all here today is to introduce a new comrade."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Zhiyu's heart skipped a beat, and she looked up at her former boss. His gaze fell upon her, a gentle smile in his eyes, and he beckoned to her.

"Come here, Xiao Jiang."

Jiang Zhiyu got up and walked over, standing behind the wheelchair, directly facing the gazes of everyone in the room. The old leader took a breath before continuing.

"Most of you here probably don't know who Xiao Jiang is. Just remember, she works for the Second Administration Bureau, and she carries out top-secret national missions. Most of you don't have access to her information. Introducing her today is to let you get to know her beforehand, so you won't feel like strangers when you see her later."

The old leader paused, his chest heaving a couple of times, before finally uttering his last sentence.

"Today, Comrade Jiang Zhiyu is officially appointed as the Deputy Director of the Second Administration Bureau."

As soon as he finished speaking, it seemed as if the air in the room had been frozen in place.

Jiang Zhiyu stood there, stunned, her mind going blank for a moment, unable to hear the rest of the sentence clearly.

She didn't want to be stuck in a real position, with the title of deputy director weighing her down. If that came down, how could she be free to do as she pleased and roam around outside?

She instinctively wanted to decline, but when she looked up and met her old leader's gaze, which was filled with expectation and a solemnity as if he were making his last arrangements, she swallowed the words that were already on her lips.

The old leader seemed to see through her thoughts, and his voice softened even more.

"Don't worry, with Zhong Dingwen taking the lead, you don't need to worry about those trivial matters. The deputy director position is just a title; you'll still be carrying out some secret missions, just like before. It's just that you'll have a formal affiliation, which makes it easier to explain if anyone asks."

Jiang Zhiyu then slowly exhaled and turned to give Zhong Dingwen a barely perceptible nod.

When she nodded, a round of applause immediately broke out. At first, there was some hesitation, but it became more and more unified.

The old leader then looked at Zhong Dingwen, his voice carrying a hint of entrustment.

"You'll need to look after this girl from now on. Old Zhuge is getting old and can't manage everything anymore. From now on, she'll be working under you."

Zhong Dingwen stood up straight, raised his hand in salute, and his eyes were clearly red.

"Yes."

He didn't say anything else, only responded with a single word, a word that weighed more heavily than any long sentence.

The people below had different expressions, but no one in the Second Administration Bureau area had any objections; instead, their faces showed a calm "I knew it" attitude.

Several older comrades elsewhere, unaware of what was going on, exchanged glances across the table, their faces still showing some doubt.

However, this room was never short of clever people. Zhong Dingwen accepted the order without saying a word, and Old Zhuge nodded in approval from the side. Not a single person in the Second Administration Bureau uttered a sound, which alone spoke volumes.

The deputy director position was given to a young woman whose name no one had ever heard of. Director Zhong approved, Old Zhuge approved, and everyone in the management bureau approved. Anyone who has spent a few years in the system knows how significant this is.

Several older comrades who had been looking doubtful just moments before have now composed themselves and lowered their eyes to ponder the matter.

Everyone who came from the Second Administration Bureau held this girl in high regard; she was someone they absolutely couldn't afford to offend in the future.

Seeing that he had said almost everything he needed to say, the old leader's face grew increasingly pale, and even nodding was difficult for him as he leaned back in his wheelchair.

The guards and medical staff standing by exchanged a glance, then immediately pushed the wheelchair out. The door closed softly behind them, and the room fell silent enough that they could hear each other breathing. Those who remained looked at each other, none of them making a move.

Zhong Dingwen stood up at this moment, first raising his hand in the direction of Jiang Zhiyu, with a restrained smile on his face.

"Now that Comrade Jiang has officially joined our Second Administration Bureau, on behalf of everyone in the bureau, I would like to extend a warm welcome. You previously visited our bureau only once as a special advisor; we hope you will come often in the future."

As soon as he said this, the other colleagues from the management bureau nodded in agreement, their attitude clearly showing their closeness.

The few people at the other end of the room, who weren't from the Second Administration Bureau, saw everything. Jiang Zhiyu's weight in their hearts felt even more real at that moment.

Jiang Zhiyu sat back down, her hands quietly folded on her knees, her face expressionless. She hadn't fully recovered from hearing the words "deputy director."

Everyone stayed here tonight, barely moving, not even the sound of chairs being moved. Sitting under this patch of light, they looked at each other, no one speaking, no one getting up. Outside the window, it was pitch black, and the occasional hurried footsteps of medical staff echoed down the corridor.

Time ticked by, minute by minute. After an unknown amount of time, a cry suddenly echoed from the end of the corridor. It began as a suppressed sob, then continued unabated, like a breach in a dam.