Agnès looked Horatio Wayne up and down as if he were some bizarre, grotesque monster.
She had thought herself crazy enough, but she hadn't expected there to be someone here who was an even more extreme oddball. She couldn't help glancing at Michiel Kent.
The female ranger had figured it out: this deputy commander, bookish but otherwise unremarkable, was probably the sensible one.
Kent nodded. "At least before we reach the Gate of Glory, this plan is still somewhat feasible."
"Who says the Gate of Glory is off-limits? No one can say what the future holds." Wayne spoke as if it were only natural. "Zhengqing and William have already made it into Imperial territory. We can't fall too far behind our classmates."
He meant Deng Zhengqing and William Banner. Fellow members of the Class of 830, they were serving under Brigadier General Bazan, helping the veteran lead his fleet across the depths of the Far Shore Nebula and carry the fighting into Imperial territory.
Wayne and the others had heard the news from Yu Lian while they were on standby at the Tower of Babel.
In truth, however, the Bazan Fleet hadn't sent word in two months.
Kent fell silent for a moment, then smiled. "That's true. We can't fall too far behind. As president and vice president of the Lionheart Society, if an ordinary member gets the marshal's baton before us, we'll be nailed to the society's wall of shame."
He still couldn't refuse his friend. It had been that way ever since they'd played picture cards together in kindergarten.
"And besides, doing this will ease the pressure on the Southern Heavenly Gate and indirectly help the Saed battlefield, won't it? If there's anything we can do for Yu Lian, two million light-years away, this is it."
"You didn't