Chapter 25: Arsenal
Li Qingsong had completely lost contact with Base 45.
The loss of a single Base 45 was still within an acceptable range. In the short term, Li Qingsong wouldn’t even mind losing more bases.
The critical issue, however, was that he couldn’t lose the main mining veins!
For instance, Iron Mine No. 1, Copper Mine No. 1, the No. 1 Oxygen Ore, and the No. 1 Tolin Mine—ten major veins in total.
These veins were Li Qingsong’s lifeline. Their output was what sustained the main base’s development.
’The key problem now is to figure out just how many of these strange birds there are and where they’re all located.’
As the thought crossed his mind, Li Qingsong aimed the Deep Space Spaceship’s telescope at Ceres. From hundreds of kilometers away, he began to search the planet’s surface.
But compared to an entire planet, the strange birds were simply too small. The search from the Deep Space Spaceship yielded no sign of their existence.
He couldn’t even see Base 45, a location he already knew was infested with the strange birds.
He had no other choice. After some thought, Li Qingsong decided to take a risk, launching his only landing craft to carefully search the surface of Ceres.
After flying for barely a hundred kilometers, Li Qingsong witnessed a shocking sight.
He saw countless strange birds scattered densely across the dark-red surface of Ceres. They varied in size; the largest stood over three meters tall, while even the smallest were over a meter high!
A quick visual estimate put their numbers at over two thousand in this area alone!
They were currently on the surface of Ceres, using their sharp mouthparts and wings to collect organic compounds like Tolin, formaldehyde, and methane, seemingly through a dual process of heating and cutting, before swallowing them in great gulps.
About a thousand had appeared at Base 45, and there were another two thousand here...
’When on earth did these monsters arrive...?’
Li Qingsong thought to himself. He had no space observation or early-warning capabilities. Otherwise, he could have detected them before they descended from space and wouldn’t be in such a passive position now.
Piloting the landing craft, Li Qingsong pressed onward.
After advancing a bit further, Li Qingsong spotted another flock. This time, it seemed the creatures had noticed him.
A few of the creatures shot powerful jets of gas from their tails, propelling their bodies into the air at high speed and charging toward the landing craft.
Li Qingsong immediately took evasive action.
But the strange birds didn’t get very high—only a few dozen meters. The jets of gas from their tails then dissipated, and their bodies slowly fell back down.
At the same time, Li Qingsong saw more of the creatures falling from the endless darkness of Deep Space up ahead. They were descending at incredible speeds. Just before hitting the ground, they also shot jets of gas from their tails, decelerating their bodies so they could land on the surface of Ceres at a slower velocity.
But even after decelerating, some were still moving too fast and slammed heavily into the ground. Some stopped moving entirely, while others just struggled, unable to get up for a long time.
A realization dawned on Li Qingsong.
These creatures had indeed migrated from the stars.
Perhaps due to a long period of Interstellar Travel, their energy reserves were nearly depleted. For now, they had essentially lost the ability to fly.
This was good news for him.
But... Ceres had abundant resources for them to replenish their energy.
Li Qingsong didn’t know exactly how long it would take for them to convert the materials gathered on Ceres into fuel for flight, but he suspected it wouldn’t be too long.
Based on the data from the earlier dissection of one of the creatures, Li Qingsong made an estimate.
It would be a month and a half at most, or more precisely, somewhere between 30 and 40 days.
As far as he could see, the creatures covered the landscape. Within his line of sight alone, their numbers exceeded ten thousand.
Including those he hadn’t yet discovered and the ones still descending from space, what would the grand total be?
Li Qingsong’s expression was grim. He immediately made a decision.
’I’ll stock the Deep Space Spaceship with 50 Clones and the necessary supplies. First step is to evacuate Ceres and hide out in space!
The remaining Clones, industrial facilities, and supplies I can’t take with me will have to stay on Ceres. We’ll fight these bastards to the death!
If we can win, I’ll continue developing on Ceres. If we can’t, I’ll flee to another planet and continue from there!
Thankfully, the Deep Space Spaceship has been inactive lately, with very few Clones on board. Coupled with the fact that these creatures are low on energy, it hasn’t attracted their interest. Otherwise, if I lost the Deep Space Spaceship, I’d have no final escape route left.’
Li Qingsong decisively piloted the landing craft back to the main base. He immediately began transporting the necessary Clones and supplies, then activated the Deep Space Spaceship’s Thrust Device, steering it to begin the withdrawal into Deep Space.
Over the years, Li Qingsong had been meticulously maintaining the Deep Space Spaceship. His current technological level was just barely sufficient to manufacture the chemical fuel required to power it up again.
As the Deep Space Spaceship began its withdrawal, Li Qingsong made a second decision.
’A war with these creatures is inevitable.
Since that’s the case, I need to shrink my defensive lines! I’ll abandon all secondary bases and concentrate all the Clones at the ten major mining sites. We’ll defend the main base, the ten mining sites, and the railway lines at all costs to buy time for development.
And then... I’ll go all-out on developing weapons technology!’
In an instant, nearly ten thousand Clones poured out from over ninety of the one-hundred-plus scattered bases. All kinds of machinery—mining carts, bulldozers, trucks, and exploration vehicles—roared to life, charging desperately across the dead, silent surface of Ceres.
On the railway, every train was mobilized, pulling the numerous Clones from their existing outposts and transporting them to the main base or the core mining sites.
Within the core mining bases, droves of Clones also sprang into action, gathering every component that could serve as a weapon and doing their utmost to arm themselves.
At the main base, thousands of Clones also put on their Space Suits and rushed to the perimeter.
Rows of searchlights were erected along the base’s edge, and numerous exploration vehicles fanned out as the Clones charged into the darkness, braving the risk of death.
Sending out the only landing craft again was too risky. For now, he had to rely on the Clones to perform reconnaissance on foot.
They would patrol the base perimeter and stand guard. The moment they spotted an attack by the strange birds, they could instantly relay the information back.
In addition to these preparations, Li Qingsong was simultaneously undertaking his most critical and urgent task.
The dozens of existing factories with metalworking capabilities all halted production of their current items. Li Qingsong converted every single one of them into the most important type of factory for this stage.
Armories!
Armories for producing cold weapons!