BATTLE FOR STARS

The population on Earth was undeniably a massive temptation for the Resk Empire.

After all, the Empire itself currently possessed only around five billion slaves.

Unlike robots, slaves couldn’t simply be mass-produced overnight. And from the Empire’s perspective, wasn’t plundering far cheaper than creating?

“My purpose for coming here is to recover our starships. It does not involve any other negotiations,” Belina replied politely. “If Your Majesty is interested in that matter, I can arrange for someone else to discuss it with you later in detail.”

While they were speaking, the gladiator platform below had already been cleaned.

The Mech Fighter Tournament was about to begin.

“Let’s watch the match first,” Emperor Hogan said calmly. “We can discuss the starship matter afterward.”

He had always viewed Belina as the same little girl he remembered from years ago.

In his mind, reclaiming the starships was probably just a childish demand that could easily be delayed and brushed aside. His strategy all along had been to stall until she either lost patience and returned home herself, or eventually accepted his conditions.

Ever since learning about Planet 1573, the Emperor had become deeply interested in it.

But this time, Belina had shown far more patience than expected.

And at the end, her attitude had become surprisingly firm.

Clearly, simply sending her away was no longer going to be easy.

Although the Confederation itself was merely a loosely organized alliance mainly focused on coordinating military resistance against the Hill Empire, Emperor Hogan still didn’t want disputes like this damaging relations between both sides during wartime.

Still...

Letting potential profit slip away also left him unwilling to give up.

“This,” Hogan suddenly said as he changed the subject, “is my youngest son, Balk.”

He gestured toward the man standing behind him.

“You two should have met years ago. Though at the time, you were both still quite young. Balk hadn’t even joined the military yet.”

“I wonder if you still remember.”

“Not only do I remember,” Belina replied calmly, “we actually met again a few days ago.”

Of course she remembered.

Back then, Balk had been a genuine spoiled aristocrat.

When he visited the Kramic kingdom years ago, he caused trouble everywhere he went — until he ran into fifteen-year-old Belina, who thoroughly humiliated him before he finally behaved himself.

“Oh?” Emperor Hogan seemed genuinely unaware of that.

“We happened to dine at the same restaurant,” Belina said evenly. “We greeted each other and exchanged a few words.”

She deliberately omitted everything else that had happened between them.

“My son has spent the past several years in the military,” Hogan said. “After some proper tempering, he’s matured quite a bit. If you have time, you should interact with him more often.”

The Emperor understood his son’s feelings very well.

Although Balk had once been humiliated by Belina when she was still a young girl, he had also become obsessed with her because of it.

At the time, however, Balk’s overall behavior and reputation were terrible. Belina would never have looked twice at him.

That was why Hogan had deliberately sent him into military service these past few years.

And apparently, the results weren’t bad.

At the very least, after standing there this entire time, Balk’s posture remained perfectly straight.

But inwardly, Belina didn’t agree with Hogan’s evaluation at all.

At least, the Balk she had seen a few days ago looked very different from the disciplined soldier the Emperor described.

And she also understood perfectly well what Hogan was truly planning.

These days, political marriages between nations were no longer commonly used to strengthen alliances.

But if she and Balk were to develop some kind of relationship — especially if they produced a child — it would undoubtedly deepen ties between the two powers.

Like the Kramic kingdom, the Resk Empire was also a hereditary monarchy.

Whoever became ruler ultimately possessed absolute authority.

Within the Resk Empire, just as masters controlled slaves, the Emperor could determine the fate and life of countless people — especially those who had sworn loyalty to him.

Of course, all of this was accomplished through psychic waves.

Whoever possessed the privilege of psychic wave control essentially controlled most of the Empire itself.

Back when Ding Yufei first learned about this system, he had found it extremely confusing.

In his way of thinking, rulers should logically keep tighter control over people who opposed them, while those who were loyal should naturally receive greater trust.

But Belina had explained it differently.

Only those willing to surrender even their life and death entirely to the Emperor could gain his absolute trust — and therefore obtain true power.

Otherwise, no matter how talented someone was, they would only ever be used as ordinary tools, never allowed into the real center of authority.

Although Belina’s family didn’t use psychic waves to control people, their kingdom still operated through similar principles.

Whoever became king controlled the kingdom’s vital systems and military forces.

Everyone else obeyed.

“Of course, Your Majesty,” Belina answered smoothly on the surface.

As for how things between her and Balk would actually develop later...

That was no longer something the Emperor could control.

Watching all of this unfold, Ding Yufei felt deeply uncomfortable.

As someone from Earth, hearing outsiders casually discuss Earth’s future — deciding humanity’s fate with a few effortless sentences — left him feeling profoundly powerless.

Even though he understood that this was simply reality, the feeling of being helpless meat on someone else’s chopping block lingered heavily in his heart.

---

Today was the day of the Mech Fighter Tournament finals.

For Lina, it might also be the most important day of her entire life.

During this period, she had not only devoted herself to integrating Tai Chi into mech combat, but had also remained extremely cautious about everything around her.

Belina had warned her that Balk was both vindictive and a high-ranking general within the Empire.

So Lina had become extraordinarily careful.

Yet strangely enough, nothing had happened during all this time.

Still, just to be safe, even the water she drank today had been brought from home personally.

She had also inspected her competition mech multiple times herself.

Of course, against someone like a potential imperial heir, precautions like these were practically meaningless.

But this was already the limit of what Lina could do.

At the moment, she sat quietly inside the waiting room.

She had been here many times before, whether for official matches or exhibition events.

But today...

She hoped it would be her last.

Just moments earlier, she had already seen the results of the sword fighter finals.

One veteran sword fighter with years of fame behind him had died there today.

The other had suffered severe injuries.

Although Mech Fighter matches weren’t quite as brutal, Lina knew that someday, that same fate could easily arrive for her as well.

More than ever before, she desperately wanted to end this life and leave for another planet.

Lost in thought, she suddenly saw Julia walking toward her.

The sight surprised her slightly.

Although both of them were Mech Fighter competitors, the two hadn’t properly spoken ever since Lina defeated her with a single move two years ago — even though they occasionally participated in the same exhibition matches.

“Lina,” Julia said as she stopped in front of her, staring directly into her eyes, “today, I’m going to defeat you and officially claim the title of strongest Mech Fighter.”

“And I’m going to wash away my master’s humiliation.”

Lina frowned slightly.

The first half of that statement she understood perfectly well.

Every annual champion of the Mech Fighter Tournament received the title of Strongest Mech Fighter.