BATTLE FOR STARS

Belina stopped wasting time with polite phrasing.

She had already waited far too many days for this matter. Anyone would lose patience at this point, so she immediately drove straight to the core issue.

More importantly, she deliberately used the word “return,” making it clear that ownership of those starships originally belonged to her side.

“We never said we wouldn’t return your starships,” the General replied calmly. “They’re simply still being used for certain internal training exercises and military operations within the Empire. Once those are finished, they’ll be handed over immediately.”

“That condition was never part of our original agreement,” Belina shot back. “According to the schedule, the starships should’ve been transferred to us by the end of last month at the latest. It’s already been another full month since then.”

She had come here specifically to recover those starships. There was no way she would back down because of a few vague excuses.

“Princess, please rest assured. We absolutely will return them. The timing has simply been delayed somewhat,” the General repeated.

“General, I’ve already given your side more than enough extra time.” Belina looked directly at Frederick and Emperor Hogan as she spoke seriously. “I cannot continue waiting indefinitely.”

She didn’t even ask how long the delay would last.

Because the moment she asked, it would mean she was willing to compromise again.

“If you truly insist on keeping those starships for internal training purposes,” Belina suddenly continued, changing her tone completely just as everyone expected her to lose her temper, “then that’s not entirely impossible.”

Both the General and the Emperor stared at her in surprise.

But what she said next shocked them even more.

“You can exchange them for the Mustan Star Sector.”

The Mustan Star Sector wasn’t particularly large.

It was a small and remote region containing just over a hundred stars and roughly three hundred planets. Fewer than five of those planets were actually habitable, and the entire sector accounted for less than five percent of the Resk Empire’s territory.

However, it was also one of the Empire’s primary sources of metal resources.

Most of the planets there were either too small or had environments too harsh for human habitation. But because they contained abundant mineral deposits, they still held considerable strategic value.

Both Emperor Hogan and the General frowned slightly.

Although the sector generated little direct economic profit for the Empire, its metal production ensured they weren’t dependent on outsiders for many essential materials.

From that perspective alone, it still possessed significant importance.

“Are you joking?” the General asked after glancing toward the Emperor. “You want to trade a mere handful of starships for an entire star sector?”

“A mere handful?” Belina’s expression darkened immediately. “General, you should remember we’re talking about more than two thousand starships here. These aren’t ordinary cargo ships or civilian vessels.”

“You understand perfectly well how much time and cost goes into producing a single military starship. One warship alone is equivalent to more than ten civilian ships.”

Then she calmly added:

“And we’re not asking to own the sector permanently. We only want mining rights for twenty years.”

Belina glanced toward the Emperor.

“Twenty years isn’t even that long. Based on your current production levels, that’s only enough raw material for maybe three or four hundred starships.”

Of course Frederick understood this perfectly well.

The real issue was that the Resk Empire simply had no intention of fully developing the sector.

Even their combat starships were mostly purchased externally, meaning they had little demand for massive metal extraction in the first place. That was why production levels remained so low.

But low production didn’t mean they were willing to hand over the mining rights.

After all, the sector still counted as a strategic asset.

And if the Kramic kingdom gained access to it — combined with their far more advanced extraction technology and efficient industrial systems — their output in just two years might exceed what the Empire extracted in ten.

And as development deepened later on, that efficiency gap would only grow larger.

“No.”

After a long silence, Emperor Hogan finally spoke.

He had considered it carefully.

Although the Mustan Star Sector itself wasn’t especially important to the Empire, it already contained substantial infrastructure and Stargates.

If the resource-efficient Kramic kingdom were allowed to exploit it, their national strength would rise even faster.

Their unmanned fleets were already proof of what they could accomplish technologically.

With Mustan added on top of that, the future balance of power could become difficult to predict.

From the standpoint of maintaining strategic balance, the Emperor refused the deal.

“However,” Hogan continued, “since you brought up exchange terms, I would still be interested... if your side is willing to trade that planet you call 1573.”

Planet 1573.

That was the designation the Kramic kingdom had assigned to Earth after discovering it long ago.

However, they had never interfered with the planet’s native civilization, nor had they allowed any other interstellar power to touch it.

Ding Yufei already knew from Belina that Planet 1573 referred to Earth.

The moment the Emperor mentioned it, his attention sharpened instantly.

“That planet is private territory belonging directly to our king,” Belina replied immediately. “Besides, it’s also being used as an experimental base. It isn’t suitable for exchange.”

“I’m not interested in the planet’s resources,” Emperor Hogan said casually. “What interests me are the people living there.”

“I’ve heard your side has already raised the population close to ten billion.”

He smiled faintly.

“You only need to give me half.”

As expected from someone whose empire was built on slavery, Hogan’s attention naturally focused on human labor itself.

“Those people wouldn’t be very useful to you,” Belina replied. “Most of them are already adults. It would be difficult to reshape them into the type of slaves you prefer.”

“Then you underestimate our conditioning systems,” the Emperor answered confidently.

“As long as they’re human, we can train them into whatever we want.”

“And from what I hear, their lifespans still haven’t been artificially extended yet.”

“If provided with life capsules, those people could continue working for at least another two hundred years.”

“That’s extremely cost-effective.”

Clearly, Hogan didn’t agree with Belina’s argument at all.

“Besides,” he continued calmly, “we’re currently in a state of war. Even if they don’t become workers, they could still be trained into excellent suicide troops.”

“Is that so?” Belina replied evenly. “Unfortunately, we still have special plans for that planet. So it cannot be used in a trade.”

She still refused.

During this visit to Planet Boman, she had already witnessed the Resk Empire’s methods of raising and cultivating slaves.

However, she still hadn’t personally seen their so-called conditioning systems.

She had only heard rumors about them.

Supposedly, those systems were specifically designed for slaves whose thinking had become “abnormal,” used to “correct” dangerous ideological deviations.

“As for your Planet 1573,” Emperor Hogan suddenly added, “I actually received some interesting information recently. Perhaps you’d find it useful.”

He had no idea Belina herself had spent the past two years interning there.

“What information?” Belina asked, visibly interested.

“According to the data models we currently possess,” Hogan said slowly, “the existence of 1573 may not continue for much longer.”

“Oh?”

“I don’t mean the planet itself will be destroyed,” the Emperor clarified. “I mean the environmental deterioration there is accelerating rapidly.”

“According to our projections, not only will the environment worsen, but the probability of large-scale war is also extremely high.”

“And once war truly begins, the population losses could become catastrophic.”

“Possibly even total extinction.”

“If that happens, the planet will lose most of its value.”

The Emperor looked at Belina with an expression almost resembling pity.

“I simply hope your kingdom doesn’t wait until everything is lost before regretting this missed opportunity.”

“Thank you for the advice,” Belina replied calmly. “We’ll continue monitoring the situation closely.”

She hadn’t expected Emperor Hogan to suddenly take interest in Planet 1573.

Although Earth had been discovered long ago, information regarding it had always remained highly classified externally.

But now it was obvious that more and more people had begun paying attention to it.