Chapter 49 Ultimate Efficiency

The first challenge Li Qingsong faced was the transportation of materials and goods.

If the technology were advanced enough, Li Qingsong would have wished to build a space elevator, which would eliminate the complications of spacecraft transportation and allow massive amounts of supplies to be sent directly into space with ease.

Unfortunately, his technology had not yet reached such heights; at this stage, he could only rely on spacecraft.

The current spacecraft could only transport two tons per trip, which was far too inefficient. Developing new types of spacecraft was not something that could be done overnight.

Given this, the only solution was to increase quantity.

Thus, Li Qingsong’s first decision was to immediately expand the production capacity of the spacecraft industry chain, building more spacecraft in the shortest possible time.

At the same time, manufacturing more spacecraft and frequently using them was itself a process of identifying potential risks, defects, and opportunities for upgrades and optimization.

At this moment, all of Li Qingsong’s dozens of precision machining factories were converted to producing spacecraft components.

On a cleared and reinforced plot of land, using a framework structure, a spacecraft assembly line was completed in just one month, replacing the previous small-scale production line.

Thus, amid the roaring of heavy-duty trains and the Type-1 Flying spacecraft, a flood of components surged toward this new assembly line.

Over ten thousand clones worked here, aided by highly efficient automation technology, transforming themselves almost into robots, not daring to slack off for a moment.

Behind them, dozens more clones were always on standby.

Normally, these clones remained quietly inactive, not consuming any of Li Qingsong’s precious consciousness link resources. But the moment a clone at a workstation needed to leave—even just to relieve themselves—another clone would immediately step in without delay, seamlessly taking over the work and ensuring the assembly line never stalled for a single second.

Under such conditions, this new spacecraft assembly line, supported simultaneously by over a hundred precision machining factories, several high-reliability chip factories, and numerous plants producing connectors, plastic films, screens, rubber, detectors, controllers, and more, saw its production capacity soar to four spacecraft per day in a short time.

Though four spacecraft daily might seem small, one must understand that each was a large mechanical device integrating the most advanced technology available to Li Qingsong at this stage. Their complexity and precision were incomparable to a mere train or factory.

On the assembly line, one after another, massive spacecraft weighing over 30 tons and reaching over 50 tons when fully fueled were produced continuously and swiftly put into transportation service without delay.

At the launch site, spacecraft were taking off or landing almost every moment.

Because of the extreme frequency of takeoffs and landings, the ground at the landing area had even been scorched to a glassy state.

And this was merely one of the dozen or so existing launch sites.

Amid such circumstances, box-packed construction materials for the space laboratory were transported into space, orbiting the Luo Shen planet at approximately 900 meters per second.

While vigorously expanding the number of spacecraft, Li Qingsong was also engaged in another task.

More spacecraft meant greater fuel consumption.

The current fuel reserves were insufficient; methane and oxygen production capacities had to be increased by over a hundredfold!

One spacecraft round trip consumed about 15 tons of fuel. Three trips a day meant 45 tons. With around 220 spacecraft currently in operation, that amounted to about 10,000 tons of fuel daily.

Moreover, as the number of spacecraft increased, this figure would rapidly escalate.

In the future, consuming tens of thousands of tons of fuel daily would not be surprising.

Especially with the construction of the space laboratory, energy consumption and electricity demand at other factories surged simultaneously.

To generate sufficient electricity, ample fuel supply was essential.

According to Li Qingsong’s calculations, his base cluster previously consumed about 100,000 tons of Tolin and methane, along with 30,000 tons of oxygen daily.

But now, factoring in the fuel needed for spacecraft, this number suddenly doubled to 200,000 tons of Tolin and methane and over 60,000 tons of oxygen each day!

Consequently, clones working in oxygen mines, Tolin mines, and methane mines plunged into intense labor.

Large numbers of machines and clones joined the mining efforts; heavy-duty trains roared tirelessly along the tracks.

To compensate for insufficient transport capacity, even the Type-1 Flying spacecraft were temporarily recruited for emergency material transport.

With the growing number of spacecraft, chip consumption also surged dramatically.

Besides the main control computers, other parts of the spacecraft required chips.

Each sensor, each controller, demanded chips.

A single spacecraft required tens of thousands of chips!

Producing four spacecraft daily meant over 200,000 chips per day, amounting to more than 70 million chips annually!

Moreover, the space laboratory itself also demanded an enormous quantity of chips.

Li Qingsong estimated at least hundreds of millions would be necessary.

Thus, chip factories plunged into busyness as well.

To free up more personnel for production, staffing at planting, breeding, and aquaculture bases was significantly reduced, yet food and biological resource output could not decline.

Therefore, those sectors also entered a state of intense activity.

At the same time, the construction of the space laboratory entailed substantial production and research tasks.

More factories and research center clones were thrown into the fray.

For a time, due to this space laboratory, all of Li Qingsong’s bases—whether mining, industrial, research, or food production—were consumed by busyness.

His 700,000 consciousness link slots were nearly pushed to their utmost limits.

Every moment, countless clones would jog to their beds, collapsing onto them, instantly severing their consciousness link.

Simultaneously, clones occupying other beds would snap awake, practically springing up, devour breakfast in mere seconds, and rush out of the dormitories.

At all times, open-top buses waited at the dormitory entrances, from which large numbers of clones would leap down.

Each bus, emptied moments before, would be filled within a minute by incoming clones.

Then the buses would roar away like flying creatures, ferrying clone after clone to factories, bases, buildings, research institutes...

In space, thousands of clones clad in spacesuits conducted extravehicular activities, assembling component after component.

On the ground, spacecraft took off and landed constantly, ferrying crates of construction materials into space.

Everything proceeded in orderly fashion.

Though overwhelming in busyness and operating at peak efficiency, there was no chaos, no miscoordination.

This was the scene at that time.