Chapter 33: Internal Combustion Engine
Li Qingsong was shocked to find that the strange bird’s bodily fluids were not only rich in various amino acids, proteins, and active enzymes, but also contained multiple types of sugars.
Although the specific types differed from those found in life on Earth, they were, without a doubt, the very substances with which Li Qingsong was so familiar.
This was very strange.
As far as he knew, amino acids, proteins, and the like should be unique to life on Earth. ’Does this strange bird, a form of space-faring life, operate on the same biological mechanisms as life on Earth?’
’What is its relationship to life on Earth?’
After a moment’s thought, Li Qingsong temporarily set the question aside.
He had already piloted the Deep Space Spaceship into hiding out in deep space, and it was the only place with gene-analysis equipment.
’This strange bird seems to be based on DNA and RNA as well. Once this incident is resolved and the Deep Space Spaceship returns, I’ll run a genetic analysis on it. Everything will become clear then.’
Setting this matter aside for now, Li Qingsong’s attention quickly shifted to something else.
’Since this strange bird’s body fluid is so nutritious... could it be used to grow the Clones?’
One of the major limitations preventing him from creating higher-quality Clones—and thus gaining more consciousness bandwidth to control them—was his inability to produce a sufficiently nutritious culture medium. Without it, the cells couldn’t develop according to his custom genetic optimization plans.
This "nutrition" didn’t just refer to simple things like sugars, proteins, and fats. If that were the case, with all the sugar beets and sugarcane Li Qingsong had planted, he could have easily just soaked the Clones in pure sugar.
But that obviously wouldn’t allow the Clones to develop.
The nutrients the Clones required had to be specifically tailored for early-stage cell division and embryonic development. They needed to be easily absorbable, perfectly balanced, and composed of the correct types, among many other requirements.
The more advanced the genetic optimization plan, the higher the demands placed on the culture medium. Even the slightest deviation could prevent the cells from developing at all, or cause them to develop incorrectly, leading to a malformed organism.
But the nutritional profile of this strange bird’s body fluid seemed to be a perfect fit for his requirements!
Limited by his current technology, Li Qingsong could only make a rough assessment. He had no way of detecting what trace impurities the fluid might contain, or in what quantities.
But that didn’t matter. He’d just have to use it and see.
’What if there are impurities and the cultivation fails?’
’If it fails, it fails. I’ll just destroy it like a malformed fetus. What else is there to do?’
Li Qingsong didn’t even bother running tests on lab mice, rabbits, or livestock. He went straight to using his own cell samples. After filtering, purifying, and refining the strange bird’s fluid according to procedure, he poured it directly into the cultivation tanks.
And not just one tank. He set up a hundred of them at once.
He would know whether it was a success in six months.
Unable to proceed with the strange bird’s physiological analysis for the time being, Li Qingsong turned his attention to another matter.
Developing an internal combustion engine that ran on methane and pure oxygen.
By now, Li Qingsong had come to realize the limitations of his electric vehicles.
They were too demanding on his logistics network.
They required a power grid and storage batteries. A charging station had to be available within a 200-kilometer radius of any operational area.
They simply couldn’t operate far from the base.
This model hadn’t been an issue back when there were no external threats. He could simply expand his infrastructure gradually without worrying about it being destroyed.
But the arrival of the strange birds had instantly exposed this weakness.
For instance, his battery-powered scout vehicles had a maximum range of only 200 kilometers from the base. They couldn’t go any farther.
At his current stage of development, he couldn’t build aircraft either. This made a global survey of Ceres impossible.
An internal combustion engine, however, was a different story.
A three-ton vehicle would only need eight liters of liquid methane and oxygen to travel 100 kilometers.
Ceres has a diameter of about 2,350 kilometers, meaning its circumference is just under 7,400 kilometers. A vehicle carrying 600 liters of fuel could circumnavigate the entire dwarf planet.
Moreover, he would eventually need to develop tanks and armored vehicles. Recharging batteries in a combat environment wasn’t practical, but replenishing methane and oxygen was far more convenient—a single tanker truck would suffice.
All these factors combined led Li Qingsong to the decision to develop an internal combustion engine.
The principle behind an internal combustion engine was simple enough: methane and oxygen would combust in a chamber, generating high-temperature, high-pressure gas that would push a piston, which in turn would drive a crankshaft to produce work.
With his current technology, Li Qingsong couldn’t match the peak efficiency of Earth-era engines, but there was no need to aim so high. His old mantra still applied: as long as it worked, it was good enough.
And so, hundreds of Clones were assigned to the task.
Following their established methods, they began by custom-fabricating parts in the lab. They assembled these into a primitive internal combustion engine, got it running to produce external work, and then began to optimize its structure and improve its performance, bit by bit.
After all, the principles were well-established, so building a primitive internal combustion engine wasn’t difficult.
The subsequent optimization and refinement, however, would be a meticulous process requiring a great deal of time and technological accumulation.
But again, this was no issue. Hundreds of Clones, each possessing a complete mastery of all his current engine technology, simultaneously explored hundreds of different optimization paths. As soon as one Clone made a discovery, it was instantly synchronized with all the others, who then built upon that new foundation. In less than ten days, the first practical internal combustion engine was complete.
At the same time, the several hundred other Clones tasked with developing the transmission, body structure, steering system, and braking system also completed their work.
And so, this newly developed internal combustion engine—the "heart"—was installed into the vehicle’s chassis.
The "fuel-powered" vehicle Li Qingsong had built was approximately two meters tall, three meters wide, and five meters long.
Its body was fully enclosed and equipped with an air circulation system, an insulation system, and a degree of radiation resistance.
Its specially reinforced body could withstand a short burst from a Type-1 assault weapon without being breached.
However, it wouldn’t hold up against sustained fire or repeated impacts.
Its total mass was 2.8 tons, or approximately 3.5 tons when fully loaded.
It was powered by two "fuel" tanks.
One was a 100-liter tank for methane, and the other was a 200-liter tank for oxygen.
On a full tank, it had a range of over three thousand kilometers.
In addition, it had reserve fuel tanks.
These reserve tanks came in various sizes and could hold over a thousand liters of methane and oxygen, which could be used not only to propel the vehicle but also to supply the Clones with breathable air.
Now, with a driver Clone at the controls, the engine suddenly roared to life.