Chapter 2: Modification
Li Qingsong was in awe as he took in the sensation.
He realized that with two brains, all his cognitive functions—learning, reasoning, memory, information processing, and more—had doubled.
At the same time, having two bodies meant his physical capabilities had also doubled.
He stared at the clone before him in utter amazement as both his brains began to whir at high speed.
’If two bodies means a twofold increase, then what about three? Four? What about a hundred, or even a thousand clones?’
’Wouldn’t all my abilities increase a hundred, even a thousand times over?’
Not only that, but Li Qingsong also discovered that his consciousness could seemingly switch freely between the two bodies.
With a mere thought, he suddenly felt himself inhabiting a brand-new body.
A body that was healthy, young, and strong—one free from the poor health caused by long-term work, chronic fatigue, and an irregular lifestyle.
A surge of abundant energy and stamina washed over him, making him feel completely reborn.
He threw a few punches and stretched, still in disbelief. He then glanced at his original body, which stood there dazedly, like an unconscious shell, as it had yet to receive any commands. At that moment, joy flooded Li Qingsong’s heart.
’Being able to switch between different bodies at will... to change bodies freely... this means I’ll never grow old, never die!’
’If one body gets sick, old, injured, or disabled, I’ll just switch to a new one.’
’Every new clone doubles all my abilities. And on top of that, I have the ability to never age or die...’
Li Qingsong walked to the porthole. He gazed out at the vast, starry Cosmos, then down at the massive, dark-red planet below. A fire ignited in his heart.
’With this, I might actually be able to survive on this planet!’
’I’m not just going to survive. I’m going to find a way to acquire enough scientific and engineering knowledge to build my own interstellar Detectors, even my own spaceship.’
’When that time comes, I’ll go to Earth and see what really happened to our civilization.’
’Even if it’s dangerous, even if my original body can’t go, I’ll send Detectors and Clones to find out exactly what happened.’
In that instant, the cloud of listlessness and despair that had shrouded Li Qingsong for so long vanished completely.
His two brains kicked into high gear once more.
’To survive on Ceres, the key is acquiring resources and energy, which will require a significant engineering effort.’
’My two current bodies definitely won’t be enough. If I had ten Clones, or even more, I’d have a decent chance.’
’So the most urgent task now is to keep cultivating Clones and increase their number!’
He looked at the massive cultivation tank behind him.
Only a large cultivation tank like this one could grow his Clones. But there was only one of them.
’Growing one clone every six months is too slow. So...’
’I’ll dismantle the other small cultivation tanks and build a few more large ones from the parts!’
After a quick calculation, Li Qingsong determined that by using existing reserve materials and salvaging parts from elsewhere, he could probably modify the current equipment to create four more large cultivation tanks.
That would give him five in total.
’Five new Clones every six months... that should be barely enough to get started.’
’And if it isn’t, there’s nothing to be done. There aren’t any more materials or parts on the Deep Space Spaceship.’
With the plan set, Li Qingsong didn’t even think about resting. He immediately directed his two bodies to the study room.
The study room’s database contained a massive trove of scientific and technical data provided by the teams of scientists, covering nearly every subject imaginable.
After all, Ceres was too far from Earth. A one-way communication had a delay of about fourteen hours, meaning a round-trip message would take more than a day.
If he encountered an unexpected problem, Li Qingsong wouldn’t have time to wait for instructions from Earth. That’s when the study database would be invaluable.
He could look up information, formulate plans, and solve emergencies on his own.
Right now, Li Qingsong was studying the operating principles, mechanical structure, and other related technical knowledge for the clone cultivation equipment.
The advantage of having two bodies and two brains immediately became apparent.
He hadn’t become any smarter, but the study materials that would have originally taken him 80 hours to finish now only required 40.
The method was simple. Li Qingsong assigned the operating principles to his original body, the mechanical structure to the clone, the electrical systems back to the original body, the engineering knowledge back to the clone, and so on.
His own consciousness operated on a higher level, integrating and synthesizing the knowledge acquired by both bodies.
The two bodies acted like two people on a single team, each shouldering a portion of the learning tasks.
And because he had complete control over both, Li Qingsong could precisely coordinate their learning tasks, ensuring they worked together to achieve maximum efficiency.
There was no wasted energy, no internal friction.
This level of efficiency was leagues beyond that of any team back on Earth.
After 40 hours of studying, the two bodies returned to the cultivation room. Carrying various tools, they began dismantling the original equipment for the subsequent upgrades, modifications, and reassembly.
During the hands-on work, the two bodies once again demonstrated incredibly precise coordination.
The moment one body finished a task, the tool for the next step was passed over at the perfect time.
As soon as one body finished assembling a set of components, the corresponding section was also completed, ready to be joined together seamlessly.
The two bodies moved about the cramped workshop, their actions never interfering with one another, let alone accidentally bumping into each other.
Working at this incredible efficiency, they managed to build four new large cultivation tanks in just one month.
They looked much cruder than the original tank, but it didn’t matter. As long as they worked.
Five processed cell samples were placed into the five cultivation tanks, and the growth process began.
If all went well, in six months, Li Qingsong would have five more bodies and five more brains at his disposal.
Now, Li Qingsong turned his attention to another matter.
’Having enough bodies isn’t enough. To operate on Ceres, Space Suits are essential.’
’Right now, including the three spares, I have a total of four Space Suits. At the absolute most, that’s only enough for four bodies.’
’That won’t work. I have to find a way to build more Space Suits—at least another eight. That’s the only way all twelve of my bodies will be able to set foot on Ceres.’