Chapter 70: Skyrocketing
In that moment, Li Qingsong’s mind was a complete blank.
He maneuvered the detector, desperately searching Earth for any trace of Human Civilization’s existence.
But ultimately, he was met with disappointment.
The endlessly stretching Great Wall of China, the towering Pyramids, the majestic dams, the massive cities, the vast farmlands...
Everything was gone without a trace.
’This... what in the world is going on...’
Making Human Civilization disappear was one thing, but completely erasing every trace of its existence was another. The latter was far more difficult—at least ten, if not a hundred, times more so.
’Perhaps Human Civilization never really existed?’
’Then where did I come from?’
Li Qingsong’s mind drifted back to his past on Earth. He remembered event after event, one by one. He remembered his parents, relatives, and friends. He remembered his passionate, fiery youth; the sweet romance of his younger years; the struggles of building a career as an adult...
Even now, the Deep Space Spaceship held vast amounts of information from Earth, from the Human World.
Communications with the Human World, all sorts of cultural works like movies, books, and music...
All of this showed that the existence of the Human World was not an illusion.
’But, but...’
’Perhaps, even all of this, even my own memories, were fabricated by some existence I cannot comprehend? Even this ability of mine...’
The Blutuk Civilization had been observing the Solar System for centuries and had already confirmed that no intelligent life existed here.
’The Molomans really didn’t lie to me. The Blutuk Civilization probably had nothing to do with humanity’s disappearance. They weren’t here to invade the Solar System; they were just migrating.’
Li Qingsong shook his head, pushing all these thoughts aside for now.
He knew that at this stage, he couldn’t figure these things out.
’Since that’s the case, I’ll stop thinking about it for now. I’ll just take things one step at a time.’
’No matter what, the Solar System is my home.’
’It’s mine. Even without Human Civilization, it’s still mine. It’s mine!’
’I don’t want to leave it, and at this stage, I don’t have the ability to leave it either.’
As he recalled the information he’d gathered from the vanguard fleet about the Blutuk Civilization’s main force, Li Qingsong’s heart grew heavy.
Mature, miniaturized Nuclear Fusion Reactor technology; High-speed Ion Propulsion; multi-layer reactive armor; Electromagnetic Cannons; Laser Cannons; high-speed reaction radar; Automatic Intercept Technology; information interference and counter-interference techniques; an industrial capacity so vast it was unimaginable; and a population numbering in the hundreds of billions, with several billion of them holding the title of scientist...
Every single one of these technologies was far beyond Li Qingsong’s reach.
’If a single Warship possessed and integrated so many of these advanced technologies, just how powerful would it be?’
’And he couldn’t forget: in the last war, the Blutuk Civilization’s vanguard fleet had consisted only of armed Scientific Research Vessels—not even true Warships—and he had been forced to resort to every trick in the book just to barely scrape by with a victory.’
’And in the Blutuk Civilization’s main fleet, even the smallest Warship was ten, even a hundred times more powerful than an armed Scientific Research Vessel!’
’Against such a powerful fleet, even with his special ability to control Clones, he had no confidence he could win.’
’And he only had 400 years to prepare.’
’But...’
’I have no choice. And I don’t want any other option. If you Blutuk Civilization want to plunder the Solar System’s resources, you’ll have to get through me first.’
Li Qingsong’s resolve solidified.
In the past, whenever he faced immense difficulties, a single thought had always sustained him: ’Maybe the Human World just ran into a little trouble. Maybe they’ll come for me after a while?’
’Maybe my fellow humans are still living perfectly fine on Earth right now. If I can just find a way back, I can rejoin the Human World?’
Human Civilization had always been his deepest, most steadfast anchor.
But now, that anchor was gone. And it made him realize that the only person he could rely on was himself.
And so, in that moment, all of Li Qingsong’s hesitation, doubt, and confusion vanished. His heart became truly resolute.
’To fight the Blutuk Civilization, I can’t waste a single moment of the next 400 years. I have to make use of every second.’
’So... first things first, I need to expand my consciousness connection limit!’
Over the past few years, while waiting for the detector to reach Earth, Li Qingsong had been working tirelessly to absorb and adapt any Blutuk knowledge and technology he could currently comprehend and utilize.
Of all these, Li Qingsong placed the most importance on biotechnology.
The Blutuk People were also carbon-based lifeforms. While their anatomy was completely different from that of humans, the fact that they were both carbon-based meant there were bound to be some similarities.
Their biotechnology could also be used on humans after some modification.
As a result, he had made immense progress in biotechnology over the past few years.
Brand-new gene modification protocols, culture solution formulas, and cultivation equipment designs were on the verge of a final breakthrough!
To this end, Li Qingsong had even diverted over one hundred thousand Clones, dedicating them entirely to the construction of a new clone cultivation factory.
Including its various support facilities, the new cultivation factory complex covered a total area of over 50 square kilometers!
Its production capacity would be as high as 1.5 million Clones per year!
He had built it so large, with such a high production capacity, because he estimated that—after years of absorbing and digesting Blutuk biotechnology—the next generation of Clones would be of such high quality that his consciousness connection limit would skyrocket once more.
But Li Qingsong didn’t yet know exactly what that new limit would be.
At this moment, the clone cultivation factory’s "warehouse," or rather, its dormitory, was completely full.
A Clone lay on each of the 6.3 million beds.
These Clones, who were little more than dead weight and could do nothing but consume resources, placed an immense burden on Li Qingsong’s logistics. Even so, he continued to produce them nonstop.
At this very moment, the total number of Clones under Li Qingsong’s command had already exceeded 10 million! Yet his current maximum consciousness connection limit was a mere 1.1 million.
But that didn’t matter. The first small batch of the newest generation of Clones had finally been created.
He eagerly transferred his consciousness into the mind of one of the new-generation Clones and immediately began the connection process.
The connection limit began to grow rapidly, finally stabilizing at 4,981,137.
With this new generation of Clones, his consciousness connection limit had skyrocketed, increasing by more than fourfold!