Chapter 179 - 178: Ready to Evacuate
During his long voyage over the past several hundred years, Li Qingsong had accumulated numerous experimental needs.
If he just allocated the necessary industrial power to build the wide variety of experimental facilities he needed, he could verify each of his hypotheses one by one. After collecting the corresponding data and performing further analysis, Li Qingsong was certain his technological level would make a giant leap forward.
Although this wouldn’t involve phased breakthroughs—like advancing from nuclear fission to fusion, or from secondary pressurized propulsion to a perfected plasma drive—the numerous improvements in specific technical details would still powerfully propel his overall progress forward.
But at this moment, Li Qingsong had no intention of dedicating his industrial power and brainpower to technological advancement.
The reason was simple. Li Qingsong had to first complete another, extremely important task before he could turn to this.
Namely, repairing his Interstellar Fleet and stockpiling resources. He had to reach a point where the fleet could launch at a moment’s notice if the situation changed. Only then would Li Qingsong have the focus to do anything else.
Li Qingsong had never forgotten the threat of the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity.
For this, even the crucial task of developing technology could be temporarily set aside.
Now with a well-established industrial base, large-scale production, repair, and resource collection began at once.
Countless factories roared day and night, churning out mountains of components. Legions of Clones boarded industrial vessels, traveled to one ship after another, and, during spacewalks, dismantled and replaced every faulty part.
Giant dry docks, large enough to moor Space-Air Carriers, appeared one after another. The Space-Air Carriers, which had been in continuous operation for centuries, could finally dock, evacuate all non-essential personnel, shut down all systems, and undergo a comprehensive overhaul.
The total number of ships, large and small, in Li Qingsong’s fleet was over a hundred million. Now, every single one of these hundred million ships was undergoing the most rigorous inspections and repairs.
On the massive gas giant, Oriental A, Li Qingsong specifically selected several zones with stable airflow and designated them as deuterium fields. He produced a large number of Jupiter Planes and deployed them there to tirelessly collect deuterium fuel day and night.
Endless parts, raw materials, water ice, methane, ethane, sulfuric acid, nitric acid, caustic soda, and other basic materials were produced and temporarily stockpiled in warehouses.
In the ship factories, countless components were assembled by robots and Clones, and a large number of ships began to gather in space.
Li Qingsong had no plans to build new ships locally to replace the old ones in his fleet. All the ships currently being produced were merely empty shells intended for camouflage.
And so, after more than twenty years of all-out effort, all the work was finally complete.
The ships, which had been battered and broken from a centuries-long voyage, were now completely refurbished, their performance restored to peak condition.
The once-empty warehouses were again filled to the brim with resources and various materials gathered from the Oriental Star System.
A large number of decoy ships were in position, and even the ballast for them was ready. If needed, they could immediately set off in a different direction to act as cover for the main fleet.
Even the Clones lost over the past years had been replaced by the cloning factories, bringing their total number back up to three billion.
At this point, it could be said that Li Qingsong had fully completed preparations for his next interstellar voyage.
If necessary, Li Qingsong could issue the retreat order the very next second. After no more than five days of recalling the Clones and securing precious resources, the entire fleet could set sail and leave the Oriental Star System.
Only now did Li Qingsong’s constantly anxious heart ease slightly.
Only by ensuring he could withdraw at any time did Li Qingsong have the peace of mind to focus on other matters.
He raised his head, gazing at a dim star in the night sky.
Right now, the Sun was just an ordinary-looking star in Li Qingsong’s eyes, completely indistinguishable from the others.
Even with the most advanced telescopes, Li Qingsong couldn’t detect any changes happening in the Solar System.
The vast Cosmos concealed all details, hiding them behind a thick veil of darkness.
It was a darkness that not even the most powerful electromagnetic antennas could penetrate.
Any other Electroweak Civilization would likely be unable to obtain any intelligence about the goings-on within the Solar System.
But Li Qingsong was different.
The connection between his true self and his Clones, based on some unknown principle, could pierce through these obstacles and allow for communication between the two star systems.
And right now, Li Qingsong couldn’t establish any contact with the Clones slumbering in the Solar System.
This seemed to mean that no incidents had occurred in the Solar System, and no external fleets had entered.
’Or... maybe an external fleet has already entered. Maybe the Clones have already been awakened, but due to the communication delay, what they’re seeing hasn’t reached my mind yet?’
But that was an unpredictable scenario. With no information coming in, Li Qingsong could only assume for now that nothing was happening in the Solar System.
’If the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity hasn’t reached the Solar System yet, then I’m temporarily safe here in the Oriental Star System.
’At the same time, advancing technology is impossible without the support of ample resources. Even for someone like me, who is beyond the level of a normal civilization and can carry more supplies, technological progress during Interstellar Travel is still extremely slow.
’If I embark on a long voyage now, I still won’t be able to develop my technology. And without developing my technology, I’ll never be able to completely escape the threat of the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity.
’So... I shouldn’t leave yet. I’ll stay in the Oriental Star System for now and go all-out on developing my technology. If the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity really does arrive in the Solar System, it won’t be too late to begin my voyage and escape then.’
Having made up his mind, Li Qingsong immediately threw all his existing industrial power into the construction of research facilities.
Laboratories and experimental bases sprang up one after another. Hordes of Clones were then thrown into scientific research, beginning to verify the hypotheses accumulated over the past several hundred years of travel.
Experimental data was generated, hypotheses were verified or ruled out one by one, and new technologies began to emerge.
Although these new technologies were generally minor and mostly at the application level—like increasing the fastening strength of a certain type of bolt by 5%, or the toughness of a support rod by 3%—Li Qingsong was still invigorated.
’Every little bit adds up. One new technology doesn’t mean much, but tens or hundreds of thousands of them combined can have a significant overall impact.’