It wasn't particularly strange for unidentified ships to be operating nearby. The busier the trade routes, the more pirates there were, just as flies were always drawn to garbage heaps. It was really the same principle. Besides, current technology couldn't monitor every corner of the universe, which always left outlaws room to operate.
In space, even the line between merchant and pirate could shift in an instant.
Pirates were, after all, in it for the money. When they went to work, they always tried to avoid the busiest routes and steer clear of the areas patrolled by national navies.
A ship like this should, in theory, be keeping its distance from the Blue Princess, not approaching it.
"Should we put all warships on alert?" the duty first officer asked.
This time, Yang Mingzhao hesitated briefly. It wasn't that he couldn't make a decision; he simply had a feeling that putting the fleet on alert would inevitably wake the president. His instincts told him that once the president woke and learned that enemy ships were approaching, he might immediately slip into a strange state of excitement. That could get very troublesome.
But he had no reason to stop them, either.
So, half an hour later, President Keith Nishita appeared on the bridge, accompanied by Marshal Elwin—the only senior member of the delegation present.
They hadn't woken anyone else because the president had said there was no need to disturb the other dignitaries over such a minor matter. They were all old gentlemen of a certain age, after all, and sleep was precious. Besides, military affairs weren't their area of expertise. Using unscheduled work to interrupt the staff's regular rest would be a foolish thing to do.
Marshal Elwin, of course, was a patriotic, dedicated career soldier and a military adviser to