Yu Lian could guess what Teacher Yang was planning without even blinking.
His senior had already told him: that old fox had never expected this so-called joint reconnaissance operation to succeed, and he had never planned to commit his precious troops to rescuing Yu Lian, either. He had focused all his efforts on strengthening the colony's defenses. In fact, sending out the Thirteenth Fleet in full strength this time was part of that same plan.
Wiping out the pirates would at least "clean up" the battlefield. Besides, sending precious dreadnoughts into some pitch-dark, uncharted star region to play hide-and-seek with the Marauders' main force—when the enemy might well have star charts dug out of some ancient tomb—was practically asking to get killed.
In Yang Xiyi's eyes, that was a textbook waste of manpower.
He had plenty to do, and no matter how he looked at it, he was short on troops. Rather than that, he might as well "meet them" and recruit them... no, escort them back so they could fight alongside everyone else. They could look out for one another and survive in this chaotic universe!
"By the way, where is the Imperial warship that was operating with you—the Blizzard?" Eleanor asked.
You're even eyeing the Imperial warship?
"...Heh, I was only asking. The Imperial allies have come a long way, and as an officer of their host country, I can't be rude. I should prepare to receive them in advance." His senior smiled faintly.
Yu Lian reckoned his senior had already drawn up a complete plan to seize the Blizzard. She might even have picked out a new name for it. Unfortunately, the ship really had gone missing. Yu Lian had left a gravitational-wave relay in the Shepherd Tree System. If they found it, they should get in