BATTLE FOR STARS

“By the way, Xiao Fei, don’t go to that training device today—come down with us instead,” Belina said, reverting to her familiar way of addressing Ding Yufei when no outsiders were around.

“Sure, I’ve been playing with it for days anyway. Time to try something new.”

“Why are you so obsessed with a military training device?” Liang Jinsong asked, puzzled.

“That thing is used to train ground mech operators.” Seeing his friend still confused, Ding Yufei added, “It’s kind of like a combination of Iron Man suits and exoskeletons from our movies—but much bigger.”

“That kind of armor is rarely used in space combat,” Claudia added. “Mostly for ground battles or boarding operations.”

“But I modified it,” Ding Yufei said excitedly. “I changed the settings to make it look like a Gundam. You know Gundam? It’s from a sci-fi series on Earth—giant robots.”

“You guys seriously don’t know? I’m a huge Gundam fan! Driving one in the simulator feels completely real—it's amazing.”

“Never heard of it,” the others replied flatly, giving him unimpressed looks.

“Fine, forget I said anything.” Ding Yufei shrugged. “Let’s go—time to disembark.” Everything fascinated him; after all, this was his first exposure to extraterrestrial civilization.

“Don’t forget to put on your glasses,” Claudia reminded him. “They’re basically your personal AI assistant and phone.”

“Got it.”

Not long after, Belina and her group boarded a small landing craft, passed through a dome, and arrived at the surface of Boman Planet. The dome served as a planetary port, specifically for receiving visitors—essentially the equivalent of customs on Earth.

Although every starship could land directly on a planet, most developed worlds had such dedicated ports for security and traffic control. After all, with current technology, someone could easily cause trouble and escape in an instant. With controlled ports, that became much harder.

The port resembled an airport, except it was three-dimensional—like a giant tree. Landing crafts docked at different “branches.” And for a massive entertainment planet like this, there wasn’t just one such “tree,” but many.

After disembarking, they entered a passage filled with unmanned flying vehicles. Belina, Claudia, Ding Yufei, and Liang Jinsong boarded one, which automatically carried them toward the exit.

They were using a VIP passage. Each of them received a wristband—an identification device that allowed communication, tracking, and, most importantly, payment for everything on the planet.

“Why does the gravity here feel the same as on the ship?” Ding Yufei asked curiously. The planet seemed smaller than Earth.

“Because it’s artificial gravity, just like on the ship,” Belina explained. “To make things easier for everyone, all our star systems use the same standard—about eight percent weaker than Earth’s gravity.”

“Welcome to Boman. This will be the most memorable journey of your life. Please keep your wristband safe—it is your identity marker. In case of emergency, tear it off and we will respond immediately. Funds can be transferred into the temporary account within the wristband. All terms and instructions have already been sent to your personal AI assistant. Simply confirm them. There is no need to worry about financial security.”

A beautiful woman stood nearby, loudly explaining the procedures.

Belina’s group walked forward. All this information had already been transmitted to their devices. The fact that someone was explaining it verbally was almost unusual—something you’d only see in a slave empire like Resk. In their own kingdom, robots would have handled it long ago.

“Wow… that’s an elf!” Ding Yufei suddenly exclaimed in a hushed voice. He had been focused on the data and hadn’t paid attention to the woman earlier.

The most striking difference was her pointed ears. He quickly nudged Liang Jinsong. “I didn’t expect to see elves here.”

“That’s not an elf—that’s a slave marker,” Claudia stepped in quietly to explain.

“What?” Both men were stunned. They hadn’t expected such a beautiful woman to be a slave.

“Calm down. Resk is a slave empire. On this entertainment planet, most service workers are slaves. Aside from tourists, slave owners, and a small number of civilians, almost everyone you see here is a slave.”

“Civilians? What are civilians?” Liang Jinsong asked.

“Slaves who buy back their freedom become civilians. There are also people from other planets who come here to work. Those with red badges you saw earlier—they’re civilians, responsible for maintaining order and management. As for slave owners, they usually don’t work.”

“Then how do they make a living?” Ding Yufei asked.

“Slave owners live off the labor of their slaves. Civilians work. And if you have money, you can buy slaves and become a slave owner yourself,” Belina said, glancing at him, nearly exasperated by his naïve question.

“Oh… right.” Ding Yufei suddenly understood. It wasn’t that he didn’t know—he simply had never encountered a slave society before.

“The pointed ears are a deliberate design by Resk to mark slaves,” Belina continued. “Some are genetically modified, others are surgically altered. They’re not the cute elves from your stories—don’t mix them up.”

“I see… still feels strange. But they really are as beautiful as elves,” Ding Yufei said.

“Their appearances are genetically designed before birth—usually optimized for attractiveness. There are exceptions, but they’re rare,” Claudia added.

“Alright, let’s go find something fun to do,” Belina said cheerfully. “I’ve heard this place has plenty of entertainment.”

“Princess… I won’t be joining you,” Claudia said with slight embarrassment, her cheeks reddening. “Liang Jinsong and I are going to spend some time alone.”

“Alright,” Belina replied with a playful grin. Ding Yufei winked at Liang Jinsong, leaving him looking awkward.