Yu Lian was a little surprised, but on second thought, perhaps not all that surprised.
The Scarlet Throne had nearly ten thousand people aboard. It also needed maintenance, repairs, and supplies at New Lushun Spaceport. No matter how careful they were, it was impossible to keep everything completely secret.
After all, hadn't Duke Sutherland noticed and even brought troops after them?
As for the Empire, not only had it deployed support ships directly under the Starrealm Knights, it had also brought in the colony's security patrol fleet, and finally even the fleet of their "ally," the Buckywee birdfolk. There was no way to call that secret, either.
Yu Lian reckoned that this "joint archaeological expedition" between the Community and the Empire had long since become a key piece of intelligence that the leaders of every nation needed to know.
But this wasn't the galactic heartland. No matter how advanced the technology or profound the mystic arts, messages still took at least weeks to travel back and forth. The bigwigs back home couldn't send their wise and mighty decisions to the New Continent in time, so all matters had to be left to the judgment of the intelligence officers on the front lines.
But in the end, in any respectable country, the autonomy of frontline intelligence officers was limited. The decisions they could make and the resources they could mobilize were extremely limited.
By the time their superiors back home responded, it would be too late.
So Yu Lian wasn't worried at all that troublemakers from other nations would disrupt this "archaeological dig," unless...
"Heh, could it be those guys?" Yu Lian raised his left hand and made a snake-fist gesture.
Respectable countries had to maintain proper order and institutions, so they couldn't give their frontline intelligence officers too much authority.