Fang Zheng was not surprised by Sidonia's choice. In fact, he had long guessed that this was their only option.
The reason was simple. When the gap between two sides was too great, the weaker side either had to work hard or risk their lives. This was true between people and between nations. If a country was poor and weak, it naturally had to make countless sacrifices to catch up with prosperous, advanced nations. What was the use of standing there shouting that everyone was equal?
Besides, people were not born equal in the first place.
Who would be equal with you?
If Sidonia wanted to take control of its own fate, it had to make sacrifices, because it truly had nothing else it could offer in exchange.
Their proposal was more or less what Fang Zheng had expected as well. Sidonia would draw the enemy's attention from the front while the Azure Fleet launched a surprise attack from behind. Naturally, Fang Zheng had no objection and nodded in agreement.
As for Hoshijiro Shizuka and Shiraui Tsumugi, they would naturally remain stationed with the Azure Fleet as Sidonia's representatives. Put bluntly, Shizuka was essentially responsible for relaying messages. If anything happened on Sidonia's side, it would be conveyed to Fang Zheng through her, and Fang Zheng's responses would likewise be relayed back to Sidonia through her. From that perspective, Shizuka was practically Sidonia's ambassador now...
Naturally, Hoshijiro Shizuka had no objections to staying aboard the Azure Fleet. It was easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go from luxury back to frugality. Shizuka had grown up on Sidonia and had been accustomed to its environment, never feeling there was anything wrong with it. But after living aboard the Azure Fleet for a few days, she felt uncomfortable