Chapter Four: The Base

At this moment, ten clones wore thin, dark yellow spacesuits, each wrapped with coils of tape, resembling interstellar refugees. The tape primarily served to maintain the shape of the thin-film spacesuits, preventing them from ballooning into spheres due to excessive internal pressure. Yet, through the gaps between the tape, rings of air still bulged outward like excess flesh.

Beneath the suits, the clones donned heavy clothing, doing their utmost to retain body heat and prevent it from dissipating into the outside environment. Warm air, heated by batteries, flowed from vents, brushing over the visor glass of the suits to prevent frosting while supplying precious oxygen inside.

Above their heads, battery-powered lamps, resembling miner’s lights, cast illumination. There was no alternative—Roshan was too dark; lighting was indispensable.

Li Qingsong assessed the clones’ conditions and detected no discomfort. There was a faint chill, though whether psychological or physiological was unclear. It mattered little; if the cold became unbearable, they would retreat to the landing ship’s cabin to warm up.

Ten clones disembarked, standing genuinely on Roshan’s soil, carefully experiencing its gravity, which was only about eight percent that of Earth. Here, a human weighing 100 kilograms would feel as if they weighed merely around 8 kilograms. Every ordinary person here was a powerhouse.

Four clones took the planetary rover away from the landing site to search nearby for needed minerals. The remaining six approached the landing ship, dismantled all removable equipment inside, temporarily setting it on the ground, then, exerting collective strength, lifted the landing ship—its mass reduced to five tons—off the ground.

Of course, weighing five tons in mass but only about 400 kilograms in weight here, six clones could easily lift it.

Next to the landing site lay a deep canyon. Carefully coordinating, the six clones carried the landing ship down a gentle slope to the canyon’s bottom—an already surveyed cave.

The cave indented about 30 meters inward, stretching 20 meters wide and approximately 5 meters in height.

This provided roughly 600 square meters of space, mostly shielded by Roshan’s thick rock walls.

Under the miner’s lamp, the uneven, dark-red terrain, nearly identical to the outside ground, presented itself before Li Qingsong’s eyes.

This was Thorin, a peculiar copolymer molecule absent on Earth, formed only on distant planets far from the sun through interstellar high-energy radiation and complex processes.

Thorin came in various hues but was mostly brownish-red or dark red.

This substance was common on remote dwarf planets like Roshan. It was because of Thorin that Roshan bore its dark red appearance.

Like frozen dry ice, methane, ethane, water ice, oxygen, nitrogen, and Roshan’s rocky surface, Thorin was exceptionally hard—harder even than the toughest steel.

Here was the site where Li Qingsong would build his first Roshan base.

After some labor coordinating six clones, all dismantled supplies and equipment from the landing ship were brought here.

Then, an electric heating device, connected to the small fission reactor inside the landing ship, began scorching the surface at high temperatures.

Massive amounts of gas instantly formed, sublimating directly into the vacuum. Some escaped Roshan’s gravity field outright; others cooled at a distance and re-solidified, falling as flakes of snow and accumulating.

After clearing about 200 square meters of ground, the six clones used simple tools to smooth the surface.

This entire process took a full three days.

Because of the extreme cold, the clones had to return inside the landing ship every few hours to rest briefly, warm up, and eat before resuming work.

The thin plastic film composing the spacesuits often tore during this time, and gray-white gas would sometimes spurt out from a clone’s surface like a column of vapor.

But it was no issue—any breach was taped up, and work continued unhindered.

Finally, with the ground cleared, the six clones laid out a large amount of the plastic film used for spacesuits, carefully spreading it out.

It had been pre-processed into a huge tent.

Of course, without atmospheric gas inside, it lay limp on the ground.

At that moment, the four clones who had gone mining returned with the rover, their cargo bed loaded with “ore” of various colors.

Among them, oxygen frozen into solid form was pale blue; solid nitrogen was transparent; dry ice was white.

Due to abundant impurities, the colors were not pure.

These gases had become mineral-like resources on Roshan, able to be mined block by block.

The clones moved these ores into the plastic tent, connected the small nuclear fission power station, sealed the tent, and carefully heated the ores.

Vast quantities of gas quickly formed, inflating the limp tent like blowing air into it, until it became a structure covering about 200 square meters and two meters high.

This “house” even had an airlock at its entrance.

It featured two doors that created a separate chamber. When the clones entered or exited, they first passed through the airlock, adjusting air pressure and preventing gas from escaping.

Once inflated, clones outside secured the tent with tethers, while those inside connected power and installed multiple lights.

Electric lights illuminated the spacious 200-square-meter hall in full view.

Thanks to the recently heated gases, the interior temperature was a comfortable twenty degrees Celsius or more.

One clone tentatively opened their spacesuit and took a breath of the external air. The slightly pungent air entered their lungs.

“A bit harsh, probably due to impurities. But not too serious.”

Looking at the vast hall, Li Qingsong felt deep satisfaction.

He envisioned rows upon rows of hydroponic racks brimming with lush green vegetables, golden rice, and wheat.

“This is my first base on Roshan.

Next, I will try growing vegetables and grain here. Once there’s enough food, I will create more clones.”