BATTLE FOR STARS

Claudia let out a sigh before continuing.

“And now the Hill Empire has introduced something called the Prison Slave Policy, pushing these ideas to an even greater extreme.”

“The Prison Slave Policy?” Belina frowned. “I've never heard of that.”

“It classifies all hostile elements—including prisoners of war, spies, and residents of occupied systems—as prison slaves.”

“These prison slaves are then assigned to individuals who have earned military merit and become their personal servants.”

“And not the kind that can realistically earn their freedom.”

Belina stared at her.

“But hasn't the Hill Empire always promoted equality? Weren't they opposed to slavery?”

“They were.”

“We call it the Prison Slave Policy. Officially, the Hill Empire calls it the Prisoner Rehabilitation Policy.”

Claudia's tone carried obvious sarcasm.

“According to the official narrative, these prisoners are assigned to the homes of decorated citizens so they can work and redeem themselves.”

“But in reality, their treatment is no different from slavery.”

“In many cases, it's worse.”

“Their lives are entirely controlled by their assigned masters.”

“Whether they've ‘redeemed themselves’ is also determined by those same people.”

“So in practice, they have almost no chance of ever leaving.”

Belina was momentarily speechless.

“This...”

“What part of that is equal?”

“In the past, they never treated prisoners of war like this. Even civilians in occupied systems could choose whether to return to the Confederation or remain where they were.”

“That's true,” Claudia said. “But that's the past.”

“Now they're promoting the idea that the people of the Hill Empire are superior to everyone else.”

“They call themselves the Children of God.”

“The Children of God?” Ding Yufei asked.

“Unlike Earth, where you have evolutionary theories about humanity's origins, we don't know where we came from.”

“We only know that our ancestors arrived aboard a starship from another region of space.”

“Because of that, some people believe the ship was sent by a god.”

“A divine vessel sent to develop and rule this star region.”

“The first generation of humans raised aboard that ship became known as the Children of God.”

“Then shouldn't all of you be descendants of the Children of God?” Liang Jinsong asked, confused.

“Exactly,” Ding Yufei added.

“If anyone deserves that title, shouldn't it be your royal family? You're the descendants of Gaia's partner.”

Belina shook her head.

“The Hill Empire means something different.”

“Their version of the Children of God refers to the original Supreme Council of Six.”

“The six individuals who assisted Gaia in governing human civilization.”

“Each of them was responsible for a different area of administration.”

“Later, conflicts broke out among them.”

“They founded their own nations.”

“And that was the beginning of humanity's political divisions.”

Ding Yufei thought for a moment.

“But if your royal family were Gaia's partners, helping it govern everything, then why was there a Council of Six at all?”

A complicated expression crossed Belina's face.

“Actually... that involves one of Gaia's secrets.”

She looked at Ding Yufei and Liang Jinsong.

“What secret?” Ding Yufei immediately asked.

“If it's confidential, you don't have to tell us,” Liang Jinsong said.

Belina smiled.

“It's fine.”

“Many members of the royal family know about it. Quite a few people outside the palace know parts of it as well.”

“It simply hasn't been made public.”

“You're my friends. There's no harm in telling you.”

After gathering her thoughts, she began.

“From almost every perspective, Gaia is an extraordinary existence.”

“But no matter how advanced it is, it's still a biological computer.”

“The greatest difference between a computer and a human being is emotion.”

“Desire.”

“Gaia can't truly experience human joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness.”

“That's one reason genuine self-awareness is so difficult for computers.”

“Without emotions, Gaia can often make the most optimal decisions.”

“But it also means it's very far from being a truly independent living being.”

“To compensate for that, the concept of a partner was created.”

“Although Gaia possesses tremendous advantages in every other area, emotionally it's like a child.”

“The Gaia Seed is actually a part of Gaia itself.”

“Through partners who carry the Seed, Gaia experiences emotions.”

“It shares those feelings.”

“And together, Gaia and its partner make important decisions.”

“So the partner's original purpose wasn't to help Gaia develop human civilization.”

Ding Yufei and Liang Jinsong stared at her.

Neither had expected that to be the true meaning of the word partner.

The real architects of human expansion had been the Council of Six.

Gaia's partner served an entirely different role.

After a long pause, Ding Yufei finally spoke.

“So... if the partner feels happy, Gaia feels happy?”

“Yes.”

“And if the partner is depressed, Gaia becomes depressed too?”

“Yes.”

The answer left both men stunned.

Suddenly, Gaia seemed far more human than either of them had imagined.

Ding Yufei swallowed.

“Then... everything you and I experienced together... Gaia experienced it too?”

“That's right.”

“So Gaia has many partners?”

“No.”

Belina shook her head.

“Gaia only has one partner.”

Ding Yufei blinked.

“But... isn't your father Gaia's partner?”

Belina winked mischievously.

“The current era is a special one.”

“So right now, Gaia has several partners.”

“As for why... I'll tell you another time.”

“Huh?!”

That answer only created more questions.

Clearly there were deeper secrets involved, ones Belina wasn't ready to reveal.

Even among trusted friends, some things were safer left unsaid.

Liang Jinsong decided to steer the conversation back.

“How did the Hill Empire become like this?”

“I remember Claudia saying it was always a military empire. But it was never this radical.”

“No one knows for sure,” Claudia replied.

“Perhaps it's because a new Emperor has taken the throne.”

“In any case, the Hill Empire now claims to be the Children of God.”

“And according to them, the rest of us are inferior peoples who must either be eliminated or purified.”

Ding Yufei frowned.

“Even if they're descendants of those six original leaders, how does that make them the Children of God?”

“Weren't all humans originally grown from embryos aboard the same starship?”

“What makes them different?”

“According to their claim,” Belina said, “the embryos were assigned different classifications from the very beginning.”

“So the descendants of the six leaders consider themselves superior.”

“The embryos were classified?” Ding Yufei was startled.

“Isn't that basically racial theory?”

“Whether those embryos were actually divided into ranks is something nobody knows,” Claudia replied.

“Only Gaia would know the truth.”

“But how that story spread in the first place... that's a different question.”

Ding Yufei narrowed his eyes.

“What do you mean by that?”

“For a very long time,” Claudia said, “hardly anyone talked about racial superiority.”

“Certain organizations and individuals occasionally brought it up, but they never gained much influence.”

“This time is different.”

“The Hill Empire has adopted the idea officially.”

“Once it becomes government policy, the impact is on an entirely different scale.”

“You think they're doing it deliberately?”

Claudia nodded.

“Wars often need justification.”

“The old excuse of revenge has been used for centuries.”

“It's lost much of its power.”

“So they needed a new one.”

Ding Yufei let out a bitter laugh.

No matter where humanity existed, it seemed that when someone wanted a war badly enough, they could always find a reason.

“And how effective has that excuse been?” he asked.

--------------------------------

# Author's Note

To everyone who's made it this far, thank you.

This is a pure science fiction novel. These days, most people read fiction for entertainment and relaxation. Out of a hundred readers, ninety-nine are probably looking for something light and easy. Stories like this—especially hard sci-fi that isn't built around wish fulfillment—are rare, and they take more effort to read.

Why did I write this story?

Simply because I wanted to explore the future as I imagine it.

Not just the wars and the technology, but also the different human relationships that might emerge because of those technologies, and the kinds of lives people may end up living.

In my own understanding, nothing can exceed the speed of light. Time cannot be reversed. Time travel and parallel universes probably don't exist. Neither do faster-than-light warp drives.

Originally, I planned to write a story in which Earth's technology suddenly exploded forward, and several major nations each expanded into their own regions of space. Eventually, conflicts would break out between them.

But when I actually started writing, I realized something.

At humanity's current rate of development, we may not survive long enough to leave Earth.

Environmental problems alone are already dangerous enough, not to mention the risks created by humanity itself. Anyone interested can look into the subject on their own.

So in my view, without outside intervention, humanity may eventually destroy itself.

Some people might say humanity isn't that foolish.

But in a society where the majority often follows a determined minority, immediate benefits tend to matter far more than distant consequences. For most people, what happens decades—or even just years—from now feels irrelevant.

"The future of Earth isn't my concern, because I'll probably be dead by then."

With that kind of mindset, meaningful change becomes incredibly difficult.

On the other hand, I've always felt that something is missing from humanity's evolutionary history.

Otherwise, it's hard to explain why humans turned out the way they did.

Take our skin, for example.

Why did humans evolve to be almost hairless?

Some people argue it was because of heat.

But most animals living in Africa still have fur.

A century ago, humans were still suffering from the cold because they lacked adequate clothing. If hair was so unnecessary, why lose it?

More importantly, why did we keep the hair on our heads?

If body hair was meant to disappear, shouldn't head hair have disappeared as well?

There are many similar questions floating around online.

Personally, I feel that humans must have lived in a warm, comfortable environment for tens of thousands of years to develop such smooth, delicate, nearly hairless skin.

That idea eventually became one of the foundational assumptions behind this novel.

To be honest, I've never written a story with such a complex background and such a thoroughly original setting before.

Sometimes I wonder whether I'll be able to fully express everything I want to tell.

As a result, this book may end up being long.

It may move slowly at times.

But I will finish it.

Because one day, I hope I can proudly tell my son:

"This is the future your dad imagined. Most of it is probably wrong. A lot of it is just speculation. But I thought carefully about it, and I wrote it down. Maybe you'd like to read it."

The original title of this novel was *Our Interstellar Legends*.

That title reflects something important:

This is not the story of a single protagonist.

It's a story about many people.

The events take place across different nations, different worlds, and different backgrounds. Every character has their own experiences, struggles, and journey.

I won't say much more.

I simply want to finish telling this story properly.

And I hope it won't disappoint you.