"Be careful. Protect our daughter. Don't let her or yourself get hurt."
"Don't worry. I will, as always."
Yao En said goodbye to his wife.
Diana, dressed in combat gear, stood beside Yao En with the crew of the Mars Witch.
They were saying farewell to Yao En's wife.
Yao En's wife was a dark-skinned, short, thin woman.
The most advanced life-extension technology had preserved her appearance at forty forever. That was not exactly a youthful or beautiful age, especially for a weathered woman from the underhive.
But the moment this dark, skinny woman found Yao En beside a rubbish heap in Kato City, Hive Terra, digging through trash and stuffing things into his mouth, then smiled and pulled out a piece of bread stained with muddy water, she had forever imprinted her most youthful and beautiful image in Yao En's mind.
"Go back." Yao En released his wife's hand.
His wife released her husband's hand as well.
Neither of them showed much expression, but the act of letting go was especially "sticky."
Yao En turned, taking his daughter and her subordinates toward the transport platform in the spaceport.
Their status as Custodians allowed them to pass the soldiers waiting in line for transport ships and board a small transport ship first.
When the transport ship left the spaceport and headed toward the immense fleet in the system, Yao En and the others stood in the cramped cabin and looked outside through virtual windows.
An enormous fleet had assembled, warships packed densely together in neat formations.
Above each fleet section, giant holographic banners displayed the allegiance of the fleets below.
Three hundred warships of all types from the White Scars Chapter.
The vast fleet of Greater Ultramar, equivalent in size to two sector fleets combined, totaling 2,700 warships of all