BATTLE FOR STARS

“Please take care,” the robot said respectfully as the house slave left.

Ding Yufei couldn’t help but pause at the sight.

“What was that about? Why was that slave carrying a baby?”

“That is his child. Naturally, he would be the one holding it.”

“Slaves can have children too?”

“Of course. Anyone can choose to have offspring, as long as they can afford it,” the robot replied.

“We can even raise the child to adulthood on their behalf. In fact, the cost of raising a child is far lower than buying one’s freedom, so many slaves would rather have a child than redeem themselves.”

Ding Yufei frowned slightly as a new question came to mind.

“Then what about the child? Are they considered a civilian, or their master’s slave?”

“Only slaves purchased by a master belong to that master. Any child a slave pays to have is considered a civilian.”

“Do many slaves choose to do that?” he asked.

“According to our data, approximately three percent of slaves choose to raise their own offspring.”

“Only three percent…” Ding Yufei exchanged a glance with Belina.

It wasn’t hard to imagine why. For a slave who hadn’t even bought their own freedom yet, raising a child must come at an enormous cost.

What they didn’t realize, however, was that being born a civilian didn’t guarantee a better life. Without proper training or skills, finding work could be just as difficult—sometimes even harder than for slaves. In many cases, civilians didn’t live any better. That, too, was why many slaves chose not to have children at all.

“Where are the artificial wombs? We’d like to take a look,” Ding Yufei said.

“This way, please.”

The robot led them into a corridor.

Only after stepping inside did Ding Yufei realize it was more than just a passage. Along the edges of the floor ran moving walkways, much like escalators back on Earth. As long as you stood on them, they would carry you forward automatically, while the center remained stationary.

After passing through two doors, they arrived at a viewing corridor outside a large chamber. One entire side of the wall was transparent glass.

Beyond it lay a dense array of growing infants.

Each baby floated inside an oval-shaped transparent container about a meter across, filled with liquid. Several thin wires extended from above, connected to the infant’s body, while a thicker tube—about the width of a thumb—attached to the abdomen, resembling an umbilical cord. Beside each container, a display panel continuously monitored the infant’s condition.

Some of the embryos were still tiny, no bigger than a clenched fist. Others had already grown to twenty or thirty centimeters in length.

Ding Yufei had seen plenty of images showing fetal development inside a mother’s womb, but never anything like this—hundreds of lives growing simultaneously in artificial chambers.

He couldn’t quite decide whether this was a triumph of life… or a kind of indifference toward it. Yet here, this was simply the most common way for reproduction.

Some of the infants even moved slightly from time to time. But unlike on Earth, there was no mother here to respond.

Soft music played throughout the room. Occasionally, one or two staff members walked between the artificial wombs, but most of the work was handled by cold, methodical monitoring robots.

Ding Yufei and Belina stood there for quite a while, silently observing.

After counting roughly, Ding Yufei estimated there were at least several hundred embryos growing in this single room. He turned to the robot.

“How many rooms like this are there?”

“Twenty-two in this facility.”

“I see… Then where can we see newborns?”

“The nursery is next door. Please follow me.”

They were led into the adjacent area.

Again, it was a viewing corridor, with another glass wall separating them from the interior. Inside, rows of transparent incubators lined the room. Each contained a newborn baby, with real-time data displayed along the side.

These infants had clearly just been born. Their hair was sparse, their skin wrinkled, their eyes mostly closed. Most lay quietly asleep, though occasionally one would wake and cry—only for a robot or staff member to quickly attend to it.

When they entered, someone else was already there.

A figure in a hooded coat stood quietly, facing the glass. From the silhouette alone, it was clear she was a woman.

It was impossible to tell whether she was here to see her own child or simply visiting out of curiosity. But neither side disturbed the other. They each stood apart, silently watching.

The babies lay neatly arranged in rows, like pieces on a vast chessboard. Some stirred slightly, but most remained still, lost in sleep.

As Ding Yufei watched, he felt a quiet sense of awe at the miracle of life.

And yet, when he thought about their futures, that feeling turned complicated.

Some of these children would spend their entire lives as slaves.

Some would be sold off-world, their fates unknown.

Others would be born into privilege, never worrying about survival.

The contrast was stark.

He couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

He had once believed that scientific progress might one day erase such inequalities. But now it seemed—whether on Earth or among the stars—true fairness simply didn’t exist. For many, fate was decided long before they even opened their eyes.

Just then, a side door inside the room opened.

A medical worker and a robot wheeled in a woman lying on a bed, along with a baby in an incubator. They were quickly taken into one of the smaller rooms along the side.

Only then did Ding Yufei notice that there was a row of private rooms along that wall. They had been empty before, so he hadn’t paid attention.

This, however, was a scene he recognized.

The woman on the bed had clearly just given birth. The baby beside her was her own child.

It seemed that natural childbirth still existed—but was now exceedingly rare, leaving most of those rooms unused.

“Wow… I didn’t expect to see a natural birth here,” Belina said, visibly surprised.

“Back in our kingdom, this method has almost completely disappeared.”

“Is it because you consider natural childbirth outdated?” Ding Yufei asked.

“You could say that,” Belina replied.

“You men wouldn’t fully understand. Pregnancy and childbirth are not only painful and exhausting, but also carry significant risks. The invention of artificial wombs has completely eliminated those issues.”

She paused slightly before continuing.

“In a way, this technology has truly freed women from the burden of reproduction. Having children is no longer something imposed on women—it becomes a choice, for either partner.”

“From a technological standpoint… this is what real gender equality looks like.”

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