Humanity Is Gone, but I Have Billions of Clones

This was just one of the scenes Li Qingsong witnessed.

Elsewhere, Li Qingsong saw another of the hideous creatures direct a swarm of drones to obliterate a mountain peak, apparently for no other reason than it was impeding the flow of a river.

The mountain collapsed, and a torrent of water rushed down, creating a massive flood. Countless animals fled for their lives, only to be swallowed by the deluge.

The bizarre creature's bloated body trembled again, clearly in a state of excitement.

Over the ocean, countless aircraft dove into the sea. A short while later, they emerged, hoisting a massive whale. They flew thousands of meters into the air and simply dropped it.

At a geologically weak point, several high-yield nuclear bombs were dropped. Magma immediately began to erupt, and innumerable animals died...

Every one of these strange creatures was accompanied by numerous ground-based robotic spiders and drones. They were like the most loyal lackeys, obeying every command from their masters.

A glacial chill flashed in Li Qingsong's eyes.

'So, you're just playing...'

These alien lifeforms, who had been reduced to pets kept by the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity, were treating Earth as their personal playground.

Under Li Qingsong's close watch, a steady stream of new alien lifeforms arrived. They would "play" for varying lengths of time before leaving. This continued for over a decade until, finally, Earth was gradually left alone. It seemed these aliens had lost interest.

Through observations from his Clones in space, Li Qingsong saw that Earth, whose ecosystem had once fully recovered, now had vast new deserts across its surface. Its forest coverage had plummeted, and even the atmosphere was becoming polluted again.

Earth's ecosystem had once again suffered a devastating blow. While not completely destroyed, it looked like it would take at least a century to recover.

'You had a lot of fun in my home, didn't you? You really treated my home like a damn playground...'

Li Qingsong suppressed all his rage deep within his heart, pouring even more effort into his fleet's construction while continuing to closely monitor the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity's movements.

He saw that aside from the lifeforms who did nothing but "play" on various planets—creatures whose sole purpose in life seemed to be enjoying themselves under the protection and assistance of an AI—there were also boundless automated machines descending upon countless resource-rich planets.

The sheer scale of it sent a slight chill through Li Qingsong's heart.

In terms of industrial capacity alone, this Intelligent Mechanical Calamity Fleet had already surpassed his own!

The endless swarms of aircraft, similar to the Jupiter Planes used for gathering fusion fuel; the countless general-purpose robots; the innumerable factories and transport ships—all of it demonstrated the immense industrial might of the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity.

Li Qingsong had always taken the most pride in his industrial power. But now, in the very area where he was most confident, he was being crushed by the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity.

Their industrial strength was even greater!

Based on this level of industrial power, he calculated that even for such a massive fleet, a complete resupply would probably take only twenty years.

Fast resupply and high travel speed meant a rapid search pace.

After witnessing this, the Blutuk People, led by Molomans, all turned pale.

'How laughable. We actually dreamed of escaping the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity's pursuit through interstellar migration... Looking at it now, even if we had managed to defeat the Master back then, could we have truly escaped?'

'Impossible.'

'From the moment the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity targeted us, our fate was sealed.'

'Only by submitting to the Master, by relying on his inexplicably powerful industrial capabilities and technological drive, did we have a sole chance at survival...'

—By now, the Blutuk People were aware that Li Qingsong possessed industrial and scientific capabilities far exceeding those of a normal civilization. However, they still didn't know that this power stemmed from the fact that every human was one of Li Qingsong's Clones. They simply assumed that Human Civilization had some kind of fortuitous encounter.

As for what this encounter was, no one dared to pry, nor did anyone care. As long as the Master showed them goodwill, they were content.

Faced with this cruel reality, all the Blutuk People reaffirmed their resolve to follow Human Civilization. Unconsciously, their loyalty to Li Qingsong had risen significantly once more.

Li Qingsong knew that it was actually understandable, and quite logical, for the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity to possess such formidable industrial power.

The reason was simple: the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity possessed AI technology far superior to that of other civilizations at the same level.

Why was their AI technology more advanced? The reason for that was even simpler: this civilization had surrendered all of its decision-making authority to its AI system.

The AI system received far more opportunities for training and growth, so its capabilities naturally became stronger.

This was something ordinary civilizations could not replicate. No normal civilization would ever feed its right to develop as training data to an AI, and simulations could never match reality.

The Intelligent Mechanical Calamity's AI technology was stronger, its industrial power was greater, and correspondingly, its combat strength was also superior to that of ordinary civilizations at the same technological level.

However, this came at the cost of sacrificing their civilization's potential for development.

Clearly, the lifeforms Li Qingsong had seen, which resembled piles of rotting flesh, had long since lost the ability to advance technology.

There was nothing left in their lives but pleasure.

They had no ability to develop technology on their own, relying solely on AI algorithms and capturing life from other civilizations to make progress... How much progress could they truly make that way?

But... to maintain one's own development potential, everyone in a civilization, from top to bottom, had to suppress their desires, force themselves to toil, and invest vast resources into development. And even then, at the same technological level, their combat strength would be weaker than the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity's.

If they encountered the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity, their fate would be annihilation.

Conversely, to give up one's own development potential meant everyone in the civilization, from top to bottom, could indulge in pleasure and enjoy life to the fullest, while also having stronger combat capabilities at the same tech level.

Between these two choices, it was truly hard to say which one was correct.

'It doesn't matter what other civilizations choose, or whether they can resist the temptation to "throw all responsibility and obligation to an intelligent program and just enjoy themselves." For me, at least, this question is irrelevant.'

'All intelligent programs in my hands are merely tools, aids to help me climb to the peak of technology. They will never become the masters.'

'As for this Intelligent Mechanical Calamity...'

A vicious sneer flashed across Li Qingsong's mind.

'Whether you are completely degenerate, whether you still deserve to be called an intelligent civilization—that's none of my business.'

'But you dared to try and capture me, to hunt me down, and to wantonly destroy my home...'

'You've chosen the path of your own destruction!'

'Just you wait. Every single one of you will pay the price...'