Chapter 8: Brand New Base No. 1
While the original twelve Clones maintained their existing duties, the five newly added Clones were also put to work.
Drawing on his previous experience, Li Qingsong once again had two Clones begin constructing a second steam turbine using the available components.
The other three Clones repeated the construction process for the first base, starting by using electric heaters to clear the frozen gases from the other areas of the cave.
The cave had a total area of about 600 square meters, but only 200 square meters were currently occupied. Now that he had enough manpower, Li Qingsong planned to utilize the remaining space as well.
The electric heaters required a large amount of electricity, but the power supply was currently limited. To avoid interrupting power to the sunlamps and stunting crop growth, the gas-clearing work had to be done at a low efficiency, taking nearly ten days to complete.
Afterward, several Clones knocked off all the sharper protrusions from the cave walls, grinding them down until they were smooth to avoid puncturing the membrane.
Next, Li Qingsong brought over eighty percent of the special membranes stored on the Deep Space Spaceship and installed them along the walls of the cave.
The original cultivation base was incorporated directly into the new, larger one.
After completing this series of tasks—splicing, laying, and securing the membrane, checking the seal, and installing temporary lighting—Li Qingsong looked at the vast, empty hall, dreaming of the future. He then got busy again, transporting down all the remaining planting racks and usable pipes from the Deep Space Spaceship.
By the time the planting racks were assembled, the pipes were laid, and the sunlamps were installed, the second steam turbine had also been built. A new generator was salvaged from the Deep Space Spaceship and connected to it.
This new steam turbine had a capacity of 30 kilowatts. While not enough to power the entire cultivation base on its own, it was more than sufficient when combined with the first one.
"Start it up!"
At Li Qingsong’s command, the Clone acting as a Stoker immediately threw the prepared frozen Tolin Mine and Oxygen Ore into the thawing chamber.
Heat from the first generator was channeled to the chamber, slowly thawing the materials. Once mixed with oxygen, they immediately began to burn violently.
The ice melted into liquid, then turned into steam. The heavy rotor began to spin, making the very ground seem to tremble slightly.
A powerful current flowed out and into the sunlamps, which instantly blazed to life.
Meanwhile, the steam, still extremely hot after doing its work, flowed through pipes into the ground beneath the base. Once cooled, it returned to the steam turbine.
The temperature inside the first cultivation base immediately began to rise.
Once the temperature had risen sufficiently and the atmospheric pressures had equalized, several Clones stepped forward and dismantled the membrane of the original base.
At that moment, the large and small bases truly became one.
The prepared anchoring materials, nutrient solution, and sweet potato vines were methodically placed on the new planting racks.
From now on, they would grow alongside the original sweet potatoes.
The new cultivation base now had a total floor space of 600 square meters and a height of 2.3 meters. Of this, 400 square meters were still dedicated to growing sweet potatoes, while the remaining 200 square meters were set aside for other purposes.
The newly added planting racks for the sweet potatoes were also four-tiered. Thus, the 400 square meters of floor space were quadrupled, creating a total planting area of 1,600 square meters.
This 1,600 square meter planting area was projected to yield around 10,000 kilograms of sweet potatoes per season.
Based on a consumption rate of three kilograms per Clone per day, or 270 kilograms per season, the base could now support roughly thirty-seven Clones on sweet potatoes alone!
Of the remaining 200 square meters of floor space, 80 were used for a nutrient solution mixing room, temporary storage, a rest area, a kitchen, and other facilities.
On another 80 square meters of floor space, by adding racks with two, three, or four tiers, Li Qingsong created about 200 square meters of additional planting area. There, he planted a variety of other crops like wheat, soybeans, peanuts, rapeseed, oil-seed lettuce, and spinach.
He didn’t plant much of any single variety, so the yields would be small. They were intended to serve as a seed reserve and as an occasional dietary supplement.
The final 40 square meters of floor space were taken up by internal pathways and access corridors.
Li Qingsong had planned the 600-square-meter base down to the last inch, with space utilization pushed to its absolute limit.
The expanded planting area led to higher electricity demand, which in turn required more manpower.
The five new Clones were just enough to keep the entire base running, leaving Li Qingsong with virtually no one to spare for other tasks.
The two steam turbines roared day in and day out, like two insatiable beasts. No matter how much Tolin Mine and Oxygen Ore the Clones brought, it was all consumed in a flash.
This forced Li Qingsong to add another Clone to the mining team, bringing its number to five.
The Stoker team was also expanded from two members to three. The three Clones worked in shifts, each putting in over twelve hours a day, which was just barely enough to keep up with the steam engines’ consumption.
The two Clones stationed on the Deep Space Spaceship were not to be moved. Aside from the most critical reason—avoiding a total wipeout—they were also responsible for studying and nurturing new Clones.
The remaining seven Clones were all assigned to the cultivation base, spending their days repairing faulty wiring, mixing nutrient solution, and tending to the crops.
In total, the seventeen Clones were endlessly busy.
Time passed quietly amidst the constant work. 「In the blink of an eye, another three months had gone by.」
This time, the Clones gathered in the base once more, working together to harvest all the mature crops.
A day later, looking at the more than 10,000 kilograms of sweet potatoes piled high in the temporary warehouse, alongside a wide variety of wheat, grains, beans, peanuts, and vegetables, a smile spread across Li Qingsong’s face.
’The survival crisis has been solved, at least for now. With this many sweet potatoes, I finally don’t have to worry about starving to death.’
’However...’
As he contemplated their current, frantic pace, Li Qingsong’s expression gradually grew solemn.
’My agricultural foundation is still too fragile. If there’s some accident that causes a major rupture in the membrane, all the air will vent in an instant, and every last crop will die immediately.’
’My industrial base is even more non-existent.’
’Thankfully, I finally have some food reserves, and for now, enough manpower for agricultural production. Once I add more new Clones, I can finally start pulling them away from farming to work on other things.’