Chapter 20: Going All Out
Since future mining operations were to be large-scale and standardized, the current situation—with only a handful of people at each mining site and not even a proper dormitory—was completely unacceptable.
So, the 600 Clones drove tractors loaded with a large amount of materials and tools, charging toward the three mining sites with fierce determination.
First, they set up temporary dormitories and built a provisional kitchen. Then, the special cement transported from the main base arrived.
Before long, a building of over 300 square meters was completed. It could house 200 people and included water treatment facilities, an electric kitchen, and a dormitory area.
From this point on, the Clones involved in the construction no longer had to live in temporary shelters.
In these proper dormitories, they could rest, eat, and drink in comfort and convenience.
After that, a large amount of machinery was assembled.
Crushers, thermal cutting tools, mine carts, excavator buckets, cranes, hoists, and rail connectors—everything was put together.
At this Oxygen Ore collection point, Li Qingsong stationed 180 Clones. Ten were assigned to logistics, while the remaining 170 all became miners.
Unlike the crude extraction methods used before, these miners now followed a standardized, process-driven operation model.
Specialized miners used thermal cutting machines to excavate large chunks of Solid Oxygen. Dedicated transport personnel then hoisted the chunks onto trailers and hauled them to the preliminary sorting workshop. Here, large impurities were removed. Next, they went to the primary processing workshop to be cut into more manageable sizes. Finally, a hoist would load the packaged ore onto a train to be shipped away.
With this complete, standardized process in place, the efficiency of Oxygen Ore mining immediately increased by more than tenfold, and production capacity soared.
The same was true for the other two sub-bases: the iron ore base and the Tolin Mine Base.
Once the railway was finally finished, all three sub-bases went into operation simultaneously.
Completed at the same time was a new power plant, located in the main base’s energy and industry sector.
This power plant used more advanced generation technology, reducing the fuel required to produce one kilowatt-hour of electricity by over 5% and running much more stably.
For this plant, Li Qingsong drew on his previous experience and technology from making generators to specially develop six large generators, each with an installed capacity of 2,000 kilowatts.
At full capacity, the power plant could generate 12,000 kWh per hour, totaling 288,000 kWh a day!
A mere 12,000 kilowatts of total installed capacity was practically negligible on Earth, even considered obsolete and outdated.
After all, modern power plants on Earth commonly used single generators with capacities exceeding 1,000,000 kilowatts.
That meant a single one of those generators could produce 1,000,000 kWh per hour—several times more than the entire daily output of his six generators combined.
But for Li Qingsong, this new power plant was more than satisfactory.
Aside from the demands of the steel mill, it could even support the entire electricity consumption of all four of Li Qingsong’s bases!
Whether it was the lights in the cultivation base, the water pumps in the livestock base, the electric trains on the railway, or the kitchen appliances in the sub-bases—this one power plant could supply them all.
Of the six generators, three were dedicated to the steel mill, two supplied the other factories and daily needs, and the last one was kept by Li Qingsong as a flexible power source, to be allocated as needed.
Now, the railway was laid, the sub-bases were built, and the power plant was complete.
Li Qingsong’s heart swelled with joy. ’The steel mill can finally run at full capacity...’
And so, with the main base at its center, the four bases buzzed with bustling activity.
Train after train sped back and forth on the rails, continuously transporting vast quantities of ore back to the main base.
At the sub-bases, rested Clones in Space Suits would leave the dormitory area, pick up fully charged vehicles from the charging station, and head out to the mining sites.
Miners who had worked for over ten hours would drive their vehicles back to the charging station, plug them in, and return to the dorms. After a quick wash, a hot meal would be served.
After eating their fill, they would relax for a short while before heading to their bunks to sleep.
At the "dock," dozens of Clones operated various machines, loading the pre-processed minerals into the train, one car at a time. Once all 30 cars were full, powered by a surge of immense electricity and with a slight tremor of the ground, the heavy-freight train, weighing over a thousand tons, roared into the darkness-shrouded distance.
Upon arriving at the canyon where the main base was located, another "dock" with a full set of mechanized equipment was there to unload the materials.
The iron ore and various materials for steelmaking were sent to the steel mill, while the Oxygen Ore and Tolin ore were transported to the power plant.
The six generators hummed with a low rumble, churning out vast amounts of electricity. Over at the steel mill, the various workshops coordinated in an orderly fashion, transforming massive quantities of ore into steel ingots and plates, which were then moved to a warehouse for temporary storage.
Vehicles from other areas converged here like ants, carrying away the steel ingots and rolled steel plates. This steel was then delivered like nutrients to the construction sites of other factories, causing them to spring up like mushrooms after a rain.
With an ample supply of steel, Li Qingsong could finally let loose and build without constraints.
The first factory he built was the battery factory Li Qingsong had been dreaming of.
Supported by a strong chemical industry, this new, properly constructed battery factory could produce an average of ten high-capacity battery packs per day, which were then supplied to the machine factory.
The machine factory had not yet been divided into specialized workshops; for now, it produced everything from tractors and mine carts to bulldozers and excavators.
With enough steel, it also began to operate at full capacity, producing an average of ten mechanical vehicles per day.
After that came the cultivation and livestock bases.
As the population and demand for food grew, Li Qingsong also adopted a more specialized strategy for his agricultural facilities.
He built a total of ten agricultural centers. One center was dedicated to growing wheat, another to corn, and others to soybeans, vegetables, and so on.
In addition, there was a poultry center for raising chickens, ducks, and geese for both meat and eggs; a livestock center for pigs, cattle, and sheep; and an aquaculture center for raising fish.
But none of these factories were what Li Qingsong valued most.
The factory he prized above all others was the one located in the very core of the base.
The Clone Cultivation Factory!