Chapter 39: Discrete Integrated Circuit
The ring of bases, with the main base at its center, once again became a hive of construction activity after the threat of the strange birds was completely eliminated.
The destroyed mining bases were rebuilt, the residential buildings were reconstructed, and the damaged mining equipment was repaired and upgraded. Once more, they began to roar to life, extracting vast quantities of minerals.
Heavy-haul trains began to speed along the once-decimated railway lines again. Minerals, measured in the thousands of tons, flowed into the main base like rivers into the sea.
At this time, the Deep Space Spaceship, which Li Qingsong had previously sent into deep space for safety, returned and once again docked in the orbit of Ceres.
Several Clones immediately took specimens of the strange birds, boarded a landing craft, and traveled to the Deep Space Spaceship to perform a genetic analysis on them.
After the analysis was complete, the genetic profile of the strange birds was soon presented to Li Qingsong.
And Li Qingsong was shocked.
’What in the world? This creature’s genome is actually 50% genetically similar to me—to humans?’
This was enough to shatter his worldview.
Although Li Qingsong knew that even a banana shared a high genetic similarity with humans, as much as 40%–60%, the current situation still shocked him.
After all, both humans and bananas were life forms from Earth, having evolved from a common species over countless years. In other words, humans and bananas shared a common "ancestor." But could this strange bird also share a common ancestor with humans?
’Was it once an Earth life form too?’
After careful study, and relying on his currently incomplete genetic analysis technology, Li Qingsong reached a rather rough, general conclusion.
According to the genetic analysis, this strange bird was indeed once a species from Earth. Before Human Civilization had mysteriously lost contact with him, the closest living relative to this creature among all known Earth life forms was a microorganism: the tardigrade, or water bear.
Li Qingsong had once read some records about researchers discovering microbial life in Earth’s upper atmosphere, anywhere from tens to hundreds of kilometers above the surface.
So... perhaps in Earth’s early history, some extremely resilient species living in the upper atmosphere left the planet and entered space through various special mechanisms, such as a near-miss from an asteroid or the effects of solar wind.
Then, after billions of years of evolution, they finally adapted to the space environment and evolved into the species they were today.
They had adapted to the darkness and the cold. In fact, they were now ill-suited to environments closer to the Sun, with higher temperatures and more intense solar wind and radiation. Thus, they remained in the vast Deep Space far from the Sun, constantly migrating and reproducing to survive.
’No wonder their bodily fluids are rich in nutrients that human embryos can absorb... It turns out we all shared the same ancestor billions of years ago.’
Li Qingsong was filled with emotion.
The wonder of life was vividly displayed before Li Qingsong at that moment.
’If a tiny planet like Earth can give birth to such wondrous life, then how many more wondrous types of life must exist in the Vast Cosmos?’
Gazing into space, Li Qingsong’s heart filled with anticipation.
’Once I’ve dealt with humanity’s disappearance, with the abilities I have now, I certainly won’t be content to stay within the small Solar System.’
’Venturing into the starry Cosmos is the path my future lies on.’
After indulging in these thoughts for a moment, Li Qingsong reined in his mind.
Even the tallest tower is built from the ground up.
’For now, I need to restore production levels to what they were before I can even talk about further development.’
More than sixty thousand Clones worked tirelessly for over a month. All facilities damaged in the conflict were fully repaired, and production was completely restored.
The plot of land for the giant Clone incubation factory had also been designated and had undergone preliminary leveling.
But Li Qingsong didn’t immediately commit all his idle construction resources to it. Instead, he began to work on something else.
Developing computer chips!
Li Qingsong had now achieved a considerable level of industrialization. He could produce his own internal combustion engines, various vehicles, and Cannons. He could build factories of all kinds, construct railway and power grids, and possessed a significant level of chemical engineering expertise. He keenly felt, however, that his current model of manually directing Clones to perform every task was still too inefficient.
In the cultivation bases, for example, the Clones working inside had to manually mix the nutrient solutions every day. They had to manually add, dilute, and recycle the solution, process organic matter, and even harvest the wheat by hand.
Raising pigs required daily manual watering, administering medicine, and mixing feed by hand.
And that was to say nothing of the various factories and mining bases.
Everything was manual!
But this kind of tedious, fragmented, and repetitive labor was a huge waste of the Clones’ physical and mental energy. It wasn’t just wasteful; it was also inefficient.
The solution was simple: automation.
Once he had automation, he could delegate at least 70% of the repetitive labor to automated systems.
By doing so, without adding a single Clone, Li Qingsong’s productivity could increase severalfold out of thin air.
This was especially true for a massive construction task like the giant Clone incubation factory cluster, which would cover a total area of ten square kilometers. Without automation, relying solely on manual labor, it would probably take more than ten years to complete.
But with a certain level of automation, the production efficiency of various building materials would be greatly enhanced, and construction speed would also see a massive boost. It might even be possible to finish it in a single year.
But to implement automation, he first needed chip technology.
’Chip technology is the foundation for almost all future technologies. I’ll conquer chip technology first, then!’
Li Qingsong made up his mind.
He directly assigned ten thousand Clones to quickly build a massive laboratory. Following the knowledge he already possessed and what he had learned from his knowledge base, he custom-built various pieces of equipment, prepared all the necessary materials, and began the experiment immediately.
Since he was just starting to manufacture his own chips, it was obviously not feasible to jump directly to producing planar integrated circuits, which were technologically complex.
However, with his solid grasp of the principles and a certain amount of accumulated technical knowledge, he didn’t need to start from the very basics, following the historical development of chips step by step.
After considering all factors, Li Qingsong finally decided on his goal.
Discrete circuits!
The so-called "discrete" method involved first manufacturing individual components like resistors, capacitors, and transistors, and then mounting them one by one onto a circuit board and connecting them with thin wires to achieve their function.
Roughly speaking, when compared to modern chips, this level of circuit technology was equivalent to a millimeter-scale manufacturing process.
One millimeter is equal to one thousand micrometers, or one million nanometers. And Human Civilization had long been capable of manufacturing chips with a 2-nanometer process! In modern times, they had even developed quantum chips that went beyond the scope of silicon-based technology!
Chips with a millimeter-scale process were so backward they were almost laughable.
But for the initial stages of an automation upgrade, millimeter-scale chips were good enough.