Chapter 75: 3.3 Million
In the context of Ceres’s unique environment, rockets and spaceships could, to some extent, be considered one and the same.
The only real difference was that one was single-use, while the other was reusable and had more functions. But when it came to their Thrust Devices, didn’t they all burn methane and oxygen, expelling high-temperature, high-pressure gas to generate thrust?
An increase in spaceship maneuverability naturally meant an increase in rocket performance.
The days of needing a seventy-thousand-ton rocket just to send a single Detector to Earth were over; that would never happen again.
Therefore, it became imperative to launch Detectors to every major celestial body, conduct a comprehensive survey of their resource reserves, and prepare for the future.
Although the Human World had already conducted thorough surveys of every large celestial body, Li Qingsong didn’t have access to that data.
He had to rely on his own strength.
And so, Li Qingsong quickly manufactured over a thousand rockets and Detectors, transported them into orbit around Ceres, and launched them one by one, like setting off a string of firecrackers.
The rockets varied according to their mission objectives, but the largest of them had a total mass of no more than 2,000 tons. They were practically minuscule compared to that previous, colossal rocket.
Of course, even with the advances in Thrust Device technology, such a massive difference in size was not solely due to efficiency. The main factor was that Li Qingsong was in no rush this time. The Detectors didn’t need to reach their targets with frantic urgency; they could take a more leisurely path.
For that purpose, rockets under 2,000 tons were more than sufficient.
And so, more than a thousand Detectors set off on their various trajectories, bound for the vastness of Deep Space.
Some of these Detectors were communications relay Detectors.
They would orbit the Sun on different paths, providing communication relay services for the other satellites.
The other satellites were the survey Detectors themselves.
Some of them would reach the Eight Major Planets and orbit them, while others targeted the moons of the major planets and some dwarf planets.
For instance, Europa, Titan, Ceres, Vesta, Pluto, Triton, and the Moon.
They would fly through the vastness of space for over twenty years before reaching their final destinations.
Once this was done, Li Qingsong paid little mind to the follow-up. Now, all he had to do was wait.
His attention returned to the most important matter at hand.
The large-scale development of Enemy God Star.
Due to the recent leaps in technology, resource consumption had surged. While reserves of high-quantity resources like iron and aluminum ore remained abundant, many others were dwindling and becoming increasingly difficult to extract.
For example, rare earth elements, copper ore, and dry ice deposits.
He had to begin acquiring resources from Enemy God Star immediately.
’And now... Jade Emperor! It’s your time to shine!’
Inside Supercomputer Number One, the machine Li Qingsong valued most, the Jade Emperor AI had been continuously nurtured and trained for several years. It had passed its initial tests, achieving results that Li Qingsong found quite satisfactory.
’In that case, the Ceres base cluster is temporarily in your hands!’
Li Qingsong once again prepared a massive fleet.
The total size of this fleet exceeded fifteen hundred ships.
Aside from 400 Mercury-class Warships, the remaining 1,100 ships were all cargo freighters.
They were fully loaded with various machinery, equipment, the energy needed for the initial phase, and most importantly, Clones.
On average, one freighter could transport 3,000 Clones. With 1,100 ships, that meant 3.3 million Clones!
It was a bit crowded, but that didn’t matter. The Clones wouldn’t complain, much less express dissatisfaction.
Li Qingsong’s consciousness was currently inside the head of one of these 3.3 million Clones.
Yes, this time, Li Qingsong would personally lead the expedition! He needed to complete the large-scale industrial construction on Enemy God Star in the shortest possible time, then leave a certain number of Clones there and hand over the entire base to the Jade Emperor for management.
During his absence, the base on Ceres would also be managed by the Jade Emperor, which would serve as a comprehensive test for the AI.
Amid the roar of countless engines, the enormous fleet slowly escaped Ceres’s gravitational field, heading out into the vast, boundless void of space.
In the beginning, the communication delay between Li Qingsong and the Clones was still very low, allowing for near real-time control.
But as the distance increased, the communication delay grew.
And so, the production model Li Qingsong had envisioned entered its true testing phase.
The basic operations of the entire Ceres base cluster were handed over to the Jade Emperor for management.
The millions of Clones left behind all took on the roles of supervisors, maintainers, and decision-makers.
They sat in a massive control room, observing every fluctuation in the data and assessing the overall operational status. Under Li Qingsong’s guidance, they contemplated the meaning of these changes and looked for signs of malfunction.
Their connection to Li Qingsong was no longer instantaneous. It often took tens of seconds, sometimes even minutes, for a newly emerged situation to be transmitted to Li Qingsong’s consciousness and for him to send back feedback.
But it didn’t matter. These decisions did not require immediate action; a delay of a few minutes was acceptable.
Even maintenance work on certain pieces of equipment didn’t have particularly high demands for real-time control.
’At worst, an action might pause for a few seconds, or even a few dozen. It’s no different from remotely controlling a robot at a distance.’
Overall, the operations of the entire Ceres base cluster remained stable.
Under the control of the Jade Emperor AI, trains still sped along their tracks, factories still hummed with activity, and the planting and animal husbandry bases continued to produce large amounts of food.
Even the work of the research Clones did not stop.
It was just that there was some delay in their mutual communication. An idea born in one Clone’s mind would take several minutes to synchronize with the minds of the other Clones.
Because of these delays, the overall efficiency of the base undoubtedly dropped significantly, and some of the more complex tasks could not be performed for the time being—after all, the Jade Emperor AI was not a true artificial intelligence, and its capabilities were still quite limited.
But it didn’t matter. For now, Li Qingsong’s requirements for the Jade Emperor AI weren’t that high.
’As long as it can handle some basic production tasks in the future, that’s enough. I’ll handle everything else myself.’
Time passed quietly. Propelled by the new Thrust Devices, the massive fleet took just about four months to arrive once again in orbit around Enemy God Star.
Looking at the abundant wreckage and debris still present in the nearby space, and at the scarred and battered surface of Enemy God Star, Li Qingsong’s heart swelled with ambition.
’You call what the Blutuk Civilization did "development"?
Now, I’ll show you what true, large-scale planetary development really looks like!’