Chapter 12: A Good Place
Through continuous study, Li Qingsong directed his clones to use the metalworking equipment to fabricate a rudimentary glass production setup.
This particular setup couldn’t operate in a vacuum; it required sufficient atmospheric pressure. To accommodate this, Li Qingsong had to find another small cave and seal its entrance with a thin membrane, finally creating a suitable environment for the equipment to function.
It consisted mainly of a few parts, starting with a tank for processing raw materials.
Ceres also had plenty of silicon dioxide, and its purity was high enough that it could be used directly. In the processing tank, this silicon dioxide was mixed with sodium oxide, limestone, and other materials.
Next, the mixture was sent to a furnace and electrically heated to over 1500 degrees Celsius, at which point it would completely melt.
Then, a clone tasked with glassblowing would use a long blowpipe to gather some of the molten glass and blow it into a mold to shape a glass tube.
Once it cooled, it was ready for use.
Of course, the manufacturing method Li Qingsong employed was extremely simplified. The glass tubes it produced had a host of flaws: low transparency, rough edges with burrs, and a tendency to shatter easily.
But all these disadvantages were outweighed by one crucial advantage.
The fact that he could make them at all at this stage—that was the greatest advantage!
Excluding the 17 Clones responsible for agricultural production and manning the base, Li Qingsong took the remaining 10 and assigned two of them specifically to blow glass tubes.
Of the remaining eight, two took a rover and, following previous survey data, set out to find mercury and argon.
Both elements were essential for making fluorescent lights.
Of the six remaining Clones, three stayed on the surface of Ceres. They operated the blast furnace and metalworking equipment to produce the tungsten filaments, metal sheets, and other parts needed for the fluorescent lights. The other three took these components back to the Deep Space Spaceship and began handcrafting starters and other devices in the ship’s laboratory.
Once again, all 27 bodies were fully occupied, with none to spare.
By the time the Clones found and returned with the colorless argon ore and silver-white solid mercury—both also frozen solid—the first batch of glass tubes, starters, and ballasts was already finished.
Li Qingsong directed a clone to begin the final assembly.
At this rudimentary stage of technology, the most difficult step should have been creating a vacuum.
After all, the inside of a fluorescent tube must first be evacuated to a vacuum before being filled with argon gas.
But for Li Qingsong, this step was no problem at all.
The reason was simple: the surface of Ceres was a natural vacuum. There was no need to pump one.
And so, the small components and wiring were placed inside the glass tube.
After building a fluorescent light, Li Qingsong carefully connected it to a power source.
The next moment, a bright light flared from the tube, so brilliant that the clone involuntarily squinted.
’Not bad. Not bad at all.’
Li Qingsong was very pleased with the result.
Having confirmed the ability to manufacture fluorescent lights, the biggest obstacle to building the second planting base was now removed.
So, of these ten Clones, five were assigned to manufacture fluorescent lights, while the other five began using various equipment to fabricate planting racks.
These planting racks looked similar to bookshelves, but with open sides.
Each planting rack was about one meter deep, two meters high, and ranged from three to four meters in width.
Depending on the need, its interior was divided into two to four levels.
The two-level racks could be used for taller crops like wheat and rapeseed. The four-level ones were for shorter plants, like leaf lettuce and sweet potatoes.
There were also undivided racks, which were intended for growing corn.
Li Qingsong had a variety of these racks built.
This time, building the planting base wasn’t going to be as simple as growing just a few types of crops. Li Qingsong planned to plant at least some of everything useful. Even if he couldn’t eat it all, it could be repurposed for industrial use.
Time passed slowly. In the blink of an eye, several months had gone by. Li Qingsong added another five Clones to his workforce, bringing the total to thirty-two.
With the sole tractor working over ten hours a day to transport fuel and ore, with thirty-two Clones toiling ceaselessly, and with the blast furnace smelting and metalworking equipment roaring around the clock, all the necessary equipment for the second planting base was finally complete.
Even the larger generator prepared for the second base was ready.
Finally, it was time for the actual construction.
Fifteen Clones marched out, clad in shoddy, dilapidated Space Suits patched with duct tape. They arrived at a massive cave that had been scouted earlier, a cavern boasting an internal area of 11,000 square meters.
A cave this massive, with no central supports, could probably only form on a low-gravity body like Ceres.
On Earth, it would have collapsed long ago.
Though the cave was enormous, its entrance was not, measuring only about a dozen square meters in total.
The fifteen Clones worked in unison. After moving all the supplies inside, they sealed the entrance with a specially fabricated steel plate that served as a massive door. At the bottom of this door, they left an opening for an entrance and an airlock to allow the Clones to come and go.
The cave’s interior was sealed by natural rock, and the entrance was sealed by the steel door. With that, the inside was completely isolated from the outside.
The fifteen Clones once again set to work together. In just a few hours, they had laid out long, flexible metal hoses across the entire cave floor to serve as underfloor heating.
As the steam generator roared to life, immense heat was pumped into the pipes, beginning to warm the ground.
Vast quantities of frozen substances on the ground began to sublimate directly into gas, rising into the air.
Normally, these gases would flow toward areas of lower pressure. But with the entrance blocked by the steel door, they could only accumulate inside the cave.
As the gases warmed, they started to cause the frozen materials on the walls and ceiling to sublimate as well, causing the pressure inside the cave to build higher and higher.
When the pressure reached the equivalent of one standard atmosphere, a clone opened a gas vent.
A torrent of miscellaneous gases billowed out, jetting forth like a long sword.
After jetting out for several meters, the gas rapidly cooled and fell back to the ground as snow.
Once the internal pressure dropped, the vent was sealed, and the heating process began anew.
This process was repeated several times, finally purging all the impure gases from the cavern. Only then did Li Qingsong direct his Clones to bring purer components into the cave: Solid Oxygen, solid nitrogen, a measured amount of carbon dioxide, and water ice.
Once they had all sublimated and turned to gas, filling the entire cave, Li Qingsong directed a clone to enter the second base.
The clone removed its Space Suit and took a breath of the slightly humid air. As it gazed out at the vast, empty cavern, Li Qingsong thought to himself with a sigh, ’What a magnificent place.’