Yu Lian sat in the opulent chair aboard the Pilgrim, watching his fleet disappear into the far reaches of space. When the last warship dwindled into a dotted line and vanished, a pang of wistfulness unexpectedly stirred within him. Relief and reluctance mingled in his heart, gradually turning into a sense of loss.
What was this feeling, like sending a child off to college? He shuddered. Even he was disgusted by his own sentimentality, so he sprang to his feet, only to meet Feifei's amused, cool gaze.
"Congratulations. After a year, Commander Yu has become Captain Yu again. Have you gotten used to losing the attention of an entire fleet?" Feifei asked, arms folded.
"That's not quite right. The captain is a colonel. I'm not bored enough to fight him for that little bit of authority." Yu Lian smiled. "What about the Earl I Star Gorge? I just heard there was some new intel?"
Once the fleets had rendezvoused, the scouting vessels that had been covering their retreat had hurried back to rejoin them. Now, the only ones monitoring the Imperial fleet in the Earl I Star Gorge were their loyal Eyes of the Heavens.
"They've started moving forward. In a long, single-file line, of course."
There was no helping it. Though the gorge was wide enough for capital ships to pass through, its capacity was limited. And the "long, single-file line" was actually made up of squadrons.
"Also, the Kalaman Fleet has moved. They've turned toward the Lukanar Corridor."
"They've changed course twice in a week, traveled at least five hundred light-years farther, and gotten a faceful of misery for their trouble. Hard work." Yu Lian gave them a sympathetic look.
Who exactly had given them that faceful of misery didn't matter.
Feifei smiled. "That also tells us the