Humanity Is Gone, but I Have Billions of Clones

He had known for some time that his opponent's unmanned combat system was formidable.

But he never could have imagined it was *this* strong.

This strength wasn't a matter of hardware performance.

In fact, in terms of performance alone, the enemy was significantly inferior.

Both sides were using Unmanned Warships, but the enemy's vessels had far worse maneuverability. The projectiles they fired were weak and slow, and the vast majority were intercepted by his own Unmanned Warships' Radar Systems.

In contrast, his own Electromagnetic Cannon Projectiles, traveling at over twenty kilometers per second, could easily tear through the enemy's defensive screen and destroy them directly.

The performance gap was enormous, but the enemy's unmanned combat system was far more intelligent.

The enemy's unmanned ships, Interstellar Mines, Interstellar Missiles, Cannon Platforms, and spy satellites were somehow coordinating on a strategic level, working in concert to achieve specific objectives.

For example, some of the enemy's Interstellar Mines would activate at just the right moment, forcing his unmanned fleet to commit fully to interception while maneuvering in a different direction. But in that new direction, a large number of enemy Unmanned Warships had already massed and were unleashing a furious barrage.

In an instant, his unmanned fleet was caught in a pincer, forced to make a hasty retreat after suffering casualties.

This sort of tactical coordination seemed simple, but on a vast and chaotic unmanned battlefield where the situation changed in a flash, actually pulling it off was incredibly difficult.

There were simply too many variables. What level of intelligence would it take to assess the entire battlefield, from the big picture down to the finest details, consider innumerable factors, and make such an intelligent judgment in a fraction of a second?

His own quantum supercomputer's combat AI certainly couldn't.

It wasn't a lack of processing power, but a lack of true intelligence!

It was also impossible for these intelligent maneuvers to be the work of a living, thinking being.

The reason was simple: this was just one minor detail on the battlefield. The window of opportunity appeared and vanished in an instant. A human brain couldn't possibly perceive such a minute detail on a battlefield this vast, much less react so quickly.

This could only be the judgment of an intelligent AI!

'So, how did they manage to give their combat AI such powerful intelligence?'

As he watched the state of the battle, seeing these intelligent maneuvers unfold one after another, an image surfaced in Harir's mind.

He could almost see a scene from ancient times, when early humans, armed with crude weapons, surrounded and hunted a powerful Elephant Beast.

The Elephant Beast was enormous, incredibly strong, with a tough, thick hide. The early humans were small and weak; they seemed to be no match for it at all.

But by using their intelligence, the early humans eventually killed the mighty Elephant Beast. It was just like now: his own powerful unmanned weapons were being systematically destroyed by a comparatively tiny, weaker opponent who was relying on superior intelligence...

In the underground base on Saturn's Third Moon, Li Qingsong was simultaneously directing two hundred million Clones in an emergency production effort while tensely preparing for the coming battle. He, too, was learning a great deal from this war between unmanned systems.

'The enemy is stronger than I expected.'

'The performance of their unmanned ships, their Missiles, their Electromagnetic and Laser Cannons, their communication systems, their Thrust Devices...'

'...and so on. The performance of almost every piece of their equipment is superior to my own.'

'All told, it's almost a full generational gap in technology!'

He could see that the one hundred supercomputers supporting this unmanned operation—some on Supercomputer Ships, others on the moons of Uranus—were already pushed to their absolute limits. Their processing usage was consistently holding at over eighty percent.

Beneath massive heat dissipation systems, immense amounts of heat were constantly being vented. Even so, the internal temperatures of the supercomputers remained high.

Just to maintain the current stalemate was forcing the Wukong AI—an entity he had spent countless resources training—to operate at maximum capacity.

At this moment, what Li Qingsong saw in the starry expanse was not a battle between thousands of unmanned craft. He saw countless ferocious Violent Apes, clad in armor and wielding Golden Cudgels, locked in a desperate struggle against a sky filled with demon gods.

Every Violent Ape was covered in wounds, panting for breath. But each one was still fighting to the death, refusing to retreat, desperately holding back the tide of attacking gods and demons.

'Thank goodness. Thank goodness I started continuously upgrading the performance of my unmanned equipment a hundred years ago. I paid the price of tens of thousands of destroyed Warships and millions of dead Clones to improve Wukong's capabilities. Only now can I barely hold the enemy back and avoid being routed in this initial unmanned phase.'

At this moment, Li Qingsong was filled with a sense of gravity.

'In the battlefield of space, the attrition rate for unmanned assets has reached an astonishing level.'

'So... production in the rear can't slow down! I have to produce Interstellar Mines, Nuclear Missiles, Cannon Platforms, satellites, Unmanned Warships, chemical fuel, nuclear fuel, projectiles, explosives... all war materials at the fastest possible speed!'

'I can't let up for a single moment!'

Li Qingsong made his decision.

Meanwhile, aboard the flagship of the Blutuk Fleet's forward command, General Harir noticed his unmanned forces were being steadily encircled and destroyed. He, too, made an instantaneous decision.

'The original battle plan has to be revised!'

'The plan was to commit thirty thousand elite Manned Warships to the fight, but looking at it now, that's not enough.'

'I need to add another ten thousand Manned Warships!'

'And the Manned Warships have to enter the fray sooner. If we can't gain an advantage with our unmanned forces, we'll take it back with the manned fleet!'

'Never forget, on an interstellar battlefield, no matter how powerful an unmanned combat system is, it can only ever play a supporting role. The decisive factor will always, and can only, be people!'

With the assistance of the combat AI, the vast team of staff officers immediately began drafting a new operational plan. Moments later, a series of adjustments were finalized and immediately put into action.

From the reserve force of over sixty thousand Warships orbiting Neptune—stationed there to guard against outside reinforcements—several of the largest capital ships deployed. They led a force of more than ten thousand small and medium-sized Warships, which, supported by their own unmanned assets, brazenly charged toward the battlefield from seven different directions.

The original thirty thousand Warships now officially entered the fray.

A sense of gravity settled deeper into Li Qingsong.

'So, it's finally time for the main event? Good. Very good...'

Under Li Qingsong's command and with the Wukong AI's assistance, a fleet totaling over one hundred thousand Warships departed from their bases. They lifted off from the various moons of Uranus and charged toward the vast, chaotic battlefield.