BATTLE FOR STARS

Thinking about it now, after spending these days on Boman, Ding Yufei finally realized something.

Back on Earth, Belina had really been living a “hard life” following him around.

The Kramic kingdom was the most technologically advanced of the four nations within the Confederation. Their primary source of wealth came from selling high-tech products.

From interstellar warships to humanoid robots, from fully intelligent home appliances to AI computers, from planetary terraforming equipment to medical nanobots used inside healing capsules—they were involved in nearly every field imaginable.

And among those industries, products manufactured by factories tied directly to the royal family occupied almost half the kingdom’s economy.

As the king’s youngest child—and his only daughter—Belina’s wealth could only be described one way:

Rich enough to rival nations.

During these days on Boman, almost everything they used and ate had been the best available. Compared to life back on Earth, the difference was like heaven and earth.

Still, Ding Yufei couldn’t exactly reveal Belina’s identity in front of everyone right now.

“Tell your boyfriend to head straight over,” Ding Yufei said to Lina. “We’ll wait for him at the restaurant.”

“My boyfriend?”

“I mean your male intimate partner.”

“Oh, alright.”

As she spoke, Lina sent a message through her wristband.

Meanwhile, Ding Yufei pulled Little Chubby along as they headed outside. At the same time, he used his wrist device to summon a flying car. It was the fastest way to get there.

Guided by the vehicle, the group arrived at the Lakeside Restaurant.

It was an extremely high-end establishment. Even the entrance was hidden within a lush artificial forest. Their flying car smoothly stopped beside the main gate.

But what stood out most were the brightly colored vehicles parked nearby.

They were private flying cars.

Not ordinary public transports, but luxury vehicles reserved for special individuals.

In the highly advanced Resk Empire, very few people still used personal vehicles anymore. Even wealthy slave owners rarely maintained private cars.

One reason was that public flying cars and private vehicles were nearly identical in configuration and comfort.

Another reason was speed.

Both types traveled at supersonic velocity, and all air routes were strictly controlled by the Air Traffic Administration. Every time a private vehicle wanted to fly, it had to submit a separate application for route approval.

Although the approval process was fast, if a person could summon a public flying car anywhere on the planet within seconds, what was the point of maintaining a personal vehicle?

Well, “seconds” was a bit exaggerated.

But in most regions, public flying cars arrived within less than a minute, and reserving one only required tapping a wristband.

Under those conditions, very few people bothered owning private vehicles anymore.

But on the other hand, anyone who did own one wasn’t merely rich.

They had to possess powerful background influence as well.

Only private vehicles with specially assigned routes and unrestricted clearance from the Air Traffic Administration could move freely without limitations. Otherwise, a private car might end up slower than public transportation.

Without enough status, owning one would be meaningless.

The moment Belina saw the insignia on the parked vehicle, she frowned slightly.

Ding Yufei had no understanding of the difference between private and public flying cars. As for Lina and Little Chubby, most of their travel was limited to underground hover trains and small personal aircraft. Expensive flying cars were already beyond their usual experience, let alone private royal vehicles.

But Belina immediately recognized the emblem because her AI assistant had already scanned and identified it.

It belonged to the royal family of the Resk Empire.

Back in the Kramic kingdom, every citizen had a personal quantum computer implanted beneath the cerebral cortex. It assisted with nearly every aspect of life and functioned essentially as a personal AI assistant capable of handling both daily living and work.

Belina herself, however, disliked cranial implants.

Instead, she had converted hers into an earring accessory.

She hadn’t worn it while staying on Earth. Only during the final few months, for convenience during travel, had she begun using it again.

Now, it was this AI that had detected the royal vehicle through the retinal scanner hidden in Belina’s eyes.

She had even given the AI a name.

Avril.

Or simply, Little Ai.

As soon as the group stepped out of the car, two young female intimate partners were already waiting nearby.

“Welcome,” they greeted softly in unison.

Neither of them showed any surprise or disdain toward the slaves and civilians accompanying Ding Yufei and Belina.

In a place like this, it was completely normal for guests to dine alongside servants or intimate partners. Besides, both Ding Yufei and Belina carried VIP wristbands.

“We’d like to see the dining environment first,” Belina said.

The main reason she had chosen this place was because the introduction described the scenery as exceptional.

The restaurant’s dining rooms were individual floating suites drifting across the surface of the lake.

Thanks to anti-gravity systems, the suites could move freely above the water without requiring any cables or support structures.

“Please come this way,” one of the red-haired female intimate partners said politely. “This is the observation platform. You can choose whichever location you like from there.”

She led the group to a viewing platform on the side of the main hall.

The platform sat on elevated ground beside the lake. From there, the entire lakeside scenery unfolded before them.

More than ten floating dining suites drifted quietly over the water.

The largest suite floated furthest ahead, slowly gliding across the lake.

“Wow. This restaurant is amazing,” Ding Yufei exclaimed. It was his first time seeing a drifting restaurant.

Lina and Little Chubby were clearly excited too.

“Yeah, it’s really nice. We’re definitely getting one of these,” Belina said with satisfaction.

Regardless of how good the food was, the environment alone deserved the restaurant’s Gold-class rating.

“Guest, what class of suite would you like to reserve?” the female intimate partner asked.

“There are different classes?” Belina sounded slightly surprised.

“Yes,” the girl explained carefully. “The Special Class is our highest-tier suite. It can move freely to any position on the lake and offers the widest viewing range. However, there is only one, and it has already been reserved today.”

“The First Class suites are slightly below that. They can also move freely across the lake, but they cannot move ahead of the Special Class suite and block its view.”

“As for the Second Class suites, they operate under the same rule. They must remain behind the First Class area.”

“Then what if we accidentally drift past the Special Class suite?” Ding Yufei asked while looking at the many floating rooms scattered across the lake.