BATTLE FOR STARS

“Has anyone ever played until the end and then realized they didn’t have enough money to pay?” Ding Yufei suddenly thought of this question.

“Haha, definitely there are, but it’s very rare. Your spending amount can be checked at any time.”

“Then if it does happen, how is it handled in the end?”

“That’s simple. This is the Resk Empire. You can ask family or friends for help, you can work to repay the debt, or you can borrow money from them and pay it back later—basically like a loan.”

“Wouldn’t some people just borrow money and run away without paying it back?” Ding Yufei was still curious.

“Unless they flee to the Hill Empire. As long as they’re within the Confederation, sooner or later they’ll have to repay it. Resk has people specifically responsible for debt collection,” Belina said.

Ding Yufei knew the Hill Empire was the enemy currently at war with their Confederation, so fleeing there meant the debt wouldn’t need to be repaid—but it also meant never coming back.

“I see,” Ding Yufei said. “Where are we going now?”

Belina turned to the female elf. “What’s your name?”

“Heidi.”

“Heidi, take us to the casino first,” Ding Yufei said. He was curious about what an alien casino would be like.

Led by Heidi, the group arrived at a casino. In fact, it wasn’t very different from those on Earth—casinos, across time and place, were largely the same. The only difference here was that it was more beautiful and more luxurious.

The casino occupied an enormous hall. Many people gathered around different gaming tables, creating a lively atmosphere. There were also numerous private rooms for guests with special needs.

At a glance, Ding Yufei noticed even more sharp-eared elf slaves here. Even the staff at the gaming tables were slaves. Unlike on Earth, every guest had an elf-like attendant beside them—some even had three or four.

The attendants were all quite attractive, while the guests varied greatly—some were burly, some lean, some fair-skinned, some covered in patterns, and there were even quite a few petite and cute female guests.

Ding Yufei also spotted a few people with electronic eyes or mechanical limbs, and a handful of clearly genetically modified bodyguards, though such individuals were rare.

“Why are even the waiters serving drinks slaves? In such an advanced civilization, shouldn’t robots be doing this?” Ding Yufei asked curiously. In his mind, advanced alien civilizations should rely almost entirely on automated robotic services.

“That’s because service from slaves appears more prestigious than from robots,” Belina explained. “A robot delivering drinks is cheap—how can it compare to being served by a person? Most guests here are served by robots on their own planets. If they come here and still get robot service, do you think they’d enjoy it?”

“I see.” Ding Yufei realized he had learned something new again.

“But why do some of them have different badges?” Ding Yufei soon noticed that some attendants had different symbols on their chests and pointed them out.

“Those are household slaves—not exactly the same as attendants.”

“Household slaves?”

“Yes. They are personal slaves belonging to slave owners, mainly responsible for managing certain affairs. They’ve gained their masters’ trust and can be considered minor leaders among slaves. You can think of them like squad leaders or sergeants in the military.”

“Do they also do attendant work?” Ding Yufei asked.

“They mostly serve their masters directly and act more like supervisors here,” Belina explained, then smiled. “Of course, they can also take on attendant work for others—but usually you’d need to negotiate directly with their master. The price would be much higher and not fixed like regular attendants.”

“So you’re saying that aside from these few household slaves, all the others here—including those working at the tables—can be taken away by us?”

“Yes. As long as they haven’t been chosen by another guest, you can take them. You can adjust your glasses to scan the badges on their chests to see their prices and special services. When you’re close enough, your wristband will automatically read the badge information and transmit it to you,” Belina explained in detail.

“Then the attendants we saw at the entrance earlier…”

“Yes, they’re the same people. That was just a small selection. On this planet, you can choose attendants anytime,” Belina confirmed.

Ding Yufei finally understood why Thomson had let them go so easily earlier—because transactions could happen at any time.

He had already become familiar with how to use the glasses. They worked through eye movement, blinking, along with some voice and gesture inputs. The AI quickly helped him understand most of the casino games.

“These gambling games are basically the same as on Earth—mostly about luck and probability,” Belina explained. Although the formats looked different, the essence was unchanged.

“I have a question,” Ding Yufei pointed at a card game similar to poker. “If my AI can calculate probabilities, why would anyone bet on low-probability outcomes?”

“True, casinos can’t restrict guests from using their AI—even implanted ones—but they can adjust the rules,” Belina explained.

“For example, each deck might only be used for one round before being reshuffled. That keeps probabilities essentially random. They can also adjust payouts—higher probability outcomes pay less. In short, casinos don’t rely on winning money from players—they profit from fees. So they try to keep games relatively fair.”

“Got it.” Ding Yufei understood. He wasn’t particularly interested in gambling, so despite the many unfamiliar games, he only observed and learned the rules through his AI before moving on.

During this time, quite a few male and female elf attendants flirted with him, clearly attracted to the fit and capable young man, which made him rather uncomfortable.

Belina, however, didn’t mind at all. She even said to Sade, “Sade, I’ll cover the cost of this attendant. If you like others, you’ll have to pay for them yourself.”