Under the original plan, three Radiant Wing ships were undergoing their final maintenance in Gibraltar. Yu Lian had complete confidence in Liuli, Red Star, and the RN Shipyards, but since he was already there, it would have felt just a little lacking if he hadn't gone aboard himself and put on a show of inspecting them.
So Yu Lian went through the motions of inspecting the two ships belonging to the "Red Comet" racing team, then chatted for a bit with young Jean Cook. The latter awkwardly apologized for turning down Yu Lian's invitation at the last Navy Day, but Yu Lian told him that since he'd found such a promising job as an interstellar courier, of course work came first. As someone who had risen above vulgar interests, he knew that real labor was more important than putting on a show.
Cook was slightly taken aback. He couldn't help marveling that His Excellency the General really understood him.
"But isn't taking part in a racing competition also putting on a show?" he couldn't help asking.
What a straightforward, fine young man! Yu Lian wasn't surprised, though. Someone who could still charge headlong into battle in a warship at fifty must have been exactly this sort of person when he was young.
So Yu Lian patiently explained, "This isn't putting on a show. You're the banner for couriers across the entire galaxy now! You have to show them who really holds the power."
The young Cook wasn't tall or particularly strong, but the benefits of youth were plain to see. It was as if hot blood had filled him out into a strapping fellow whose arms could bear a horse. The sense of duty in his eyes seemed capable of setting the universe ablaze.
After reassuring everyone on the racing