Chapter 183 - 182: A Slim Chance of Survival
In that instant, Li Qingsong’s more than one billion brains spun into a frenzied state of operation.
The situation had deteriorated to the point where it couldn’t possibly be worse. Any other civilization, such as the Blutuk Civilization, would have absolutely no hope of survival under these circumstances.
Even if the Blutuk Civilization had defeated him back in the Solar System, and with his assistance, managed to gather resources in the shortest possible time before heading to the next Interstellar System, they still would have been unable to avoid capture by the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity.
The moment the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity appeared in the Solar System, the Blutuk Civilization’s doom was sealed.
Even if he hadn’t wiped them out, the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity would have.
’But... I am no ordinary civilization!’
’For an ordinary civilization, this would be a hopeless situation. But for me, it might just be possible to find a path to survival!’
And Li Qingsong had just figured out what that path to survival was.
It was something an ordinary Electroweak Civilization would never dare to imagine, let alone accomplish.
Developing technology while on the run!
To develop technology while simultaneously fleeing through the vast, empty void of space during a long interstellar migration!
’As long as I don’t stop in any Interstellar System and just keep drifting through the vast void, the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity Fleet is unlikely to find me.’
’The Cosmos is simply too vast. No matter how powerful the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity Fleet is, it can only search Interstellar Systems. It’s impossible for them to sweep the entirety of interstellar space.’
’They can’t find the Detectors I secretly deployed in the Solar System to run reconnaissance on their fleet.’
’And if my fleet is drifting through space, they won’t find us either!’
’I’ll have to take all of these large-scale scientific apparatuses with me—all 1,500-plus sets that I worked so painstakingly to build, with a total mass of over three billion tons. Out in space, I will conduct all the large-scale experiments crucial for advancing fundamental physics: particle collision, Gravitational Wave observation, neutrino observation, ultra-high temperature and pressure experiments, and so on!’
’Only by doing this will I have a fighting chance to break through and become a Level Three Strong Core Civilization before the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity catches me.’
’Only as a Level Three Strong Core Civilization will I have any chance of survival against that Intelligent Mechanical Calamity!’
But...
These large-scale scientific apparatuses not only have an extremely high mass, but carrying them on a long voyage would consume even more resources. Operating them would also require an incalculable amount of energy and materials.
A single high-energy Particle Collider would require a dedicated nuclear fusion power plant, and its power consumption would be comparable to a large spacecraft at full propulsion. And he had more than 1,500 sets of such apparatuses.
’Furthermore, to achieve a technological breakthrough, I must give it my all and use my full brainpower. This means the number of conscious Clones I’ll need to maintain long-term won’t be one billion like during the last migration, but at least two billion.’
’How much would that increase resource consumption?’
More critically, as the amount of required supplies increases, the corresponding increase in the number of spacecraft is not one-to-one.
’Assuming the previous fleet’s structural mass was 1 unit, and its maximum payload (excluding propellant) was also 1 unit, then to increase the payload to 2 units, the fleet’s structural mass would have to increase to 4 or even 5 units.’
’Increase the payload to 3 units, and the fleet’s structural mass would probably need to be 10 units.’
’Because the propellant is also part of the mass.’
’More supplies require more propellant. More propellant, in turn, requires even more propellant to carry it.’
This was the same principle behind the tens-of-thousands-of-ton rockets Li Qingsong had built just to launch Detectors into the Inner Solar System.
After a quick calculation, Li Qingsong found that to achieve his goal, his payload, excluding propellant, would need to be at least five times what he carried when he left the Solar System.
’Correspondingly, the total scale of my fleet would need to expand to 30 times its original size!’
Back when he left the Solar System, the fleet’s scale had already astonished the Blutuk People, far exceeding the limits of an ordinary Electroweak Civilization.
But now, a fleet 30 times that size... even Li Qingsong felt daunted by the thought of such a scale and the industrial power it would demand.
’This fleet is simply too enormous. Even for an entity like me, whose existence is akin to a Celestial Calamity, it would take at least 300 years of completely dedicated, single-minded construction to build it.’
Three hundred years... It was too long. Li Qingsong couldn’t afford to wait.
’Then... I’ll have to jettison non-essential weight.’
Li Qingsong gritted his teeth. ’Those countless Unmanned Warships... I’ll abandon 90% of them! I’ll only bring a small portion!’
’During the migration, if I encounter a Strong Core Civilization like the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity, it won’t matter how many Unmanned Warships I have; they’ll be useless.’
’If I run into an Electroweak Civilization like the Blutuk, my current complement of Unmanned and Manned Warships should be sufficient.’
’Besides the Unmanned Warships, everything else that can be streamlined will be. For daily consumables like food and water, I’ll increase the efficiency of resource recycling to reduce the spacecraft’s weight... ’
After a full assessment, the required size of the fleet he needed to build was reduced to 20 times its current scale. The necessary time also dropped significantly, from 300 years to around 200.
But... that was still too long!
The absolute most time Li Qingsong could accept was 30 years.
The reason was simple: the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity could arrive at any moment. Any longer than 30 years, and the risk would be far too great.
But in just 30 years, to build a fleet 20 times the current size—constructing 10,000 giant Space-Air Carriers, 50,000 heavy transport ships, 5,000 large cylinder ships, 3,000 large Scientific Research Vessels, and 50,000 other assorted spacecraft, not to mention gathering all the deuterium, minerals, chemicals, and other supplies needed for all these vessels and personnel...
’How could that possibly be done?!’
Even if Li Qingsong worked all the Clones to death and overclocked the Supercomputing Base running the Divine Craft AI until it started smoking, it would still be impossible to complete such a colossal construction task.
So, what was the solution?
After a moment’s thought, Li Qingsong made his decision.
’The only feasible way to accomplish this is through improvements on two fronts.
First, I will use the Interstellar Travel experience, scientific conjectures, and technical concepts accumulated over the past several hundred years of interstellar voyaging to comprehensively upgrade and optimize the fleet’s performance and efficiency, minimizing resource consumption as much as possible.
Second, I will spend five years mastering quantum computing technology. This will dramatically boost the performance and intelligence of the Divine Craft AI, which will in turn massively increase my industrial capacity, allowing me to complete the task of building a fleet 20 times the current size within the remaining 25 years!’
In certain fields, quantum computing holds enormous advantages over traditional electronic computers.
This is because unlike electronic circuits, which can only be in one of two states at any given time, a quantum gate can exist in three states simultaneously: on, off, and both on and off.
This means it possesses an extremely high capacity for parallel processing.
If you task a conventional electronic computer with reading a very thick book, it can only go through it sequentially, one page at a time.
A more advanced computer with greater processing power would simply turn the pages faster.
But a quantum computer is different. It’s like having a group of people read the book simultaneously, with each person looking at a different section. It completes the task of reading the book by leveraging its superior parallel processing capabilities.