Chapter Seven: Harvest

On this day, except for the two bodies remaining aboard the Deep Space vessel and one body responsible for refueling the steam engine, the other nine clones all gathered at Planting Base No. 1.

The nine clones worked together—some specialized in harvesting sweet potatoes, others in transporting them, and some in gathering the sweet potato vines. The remaining clones organized the fixtures and recycled the nutrient solution. Everything proceeded in an orderly manner.

After a full day, the sweet potatoes from just under one acre were all harvested and piled in a corner of Planting Base No. 1.

Looking at the large heap of sweet potatoes of various sizes before him, Li Qingsong was filled with joy.

He had already weighed them; their total weight reached 520 kilograms!

Of course, this accounted for the lower gravity of the planet Luoshen. If measured on Earth, this pile would weigh about 4,160 kilograms.

Originally, Li Qingsong had estimated around 4,000 kilograms, so he was pleasantly surprised to have exceeded his expectation by 160 kilograms.

“With these sweet potatoes, adding five more clones won’t be a problem at all,” he thought, feeling deeply satisfied.

At this moment inside the Deep Space vessel, five brand-new clone bodies were developing.

When the first batch of sweet potatoes was planted, the seeds for these five clones had already begun cultivation. Now halfway through their growth cycle, they were expected to be fully born by the time the next sweet potato harvest took place, adding a new group of helpers for Li Qingsong.

Besides the sweet potatoes, Li Qingsong also harvested a small amount of peanuts and rapeseed, but only a little.

The peanut harvest was about 8 kilograms, and the rapeseed only 7 kilograms.

This small amount wouldn’t yield much oil, so Li Qingsong kept it all as seeds for future use.

He left some sweet potatoes behind at Base No. 1, but transported the rest using the landing craft back to the Deep Space vessel for storage.

There were no proper storage facilities on Luoshen, and the crops would spoil if left too long, so the ship was the only viable option.

Along with the sweet potatoes, over a thousand kilograms of sweet potato vines were also transported to the ship. This meant the livestock and poultry in the cultivation chamber aboard the ship finally had something new to eat, offering a change in their diet.

Not just the livestock and poultry—Li Qingsong also took some tender sweet potato vines, blanched them, and stir-fried a batch. The clones, who were accustomed to vitamin tablets, and Li Qingsong himself finally enjoyed fresh vegetables, lifting their spirits and invigorating their bodies.

Having completed the first harvest, the second batch of sweet potatoes was promptly planted.

Since there was no seasonal restriction in the planting base, planting could begin at any time.

The more complicated part was preparing the nutrient solution. However, with accumulated manure and crushed discarded plant matter as supplements, the supply of nutrient solution could barely keep up.

For Li Qingsong, no organic matter was wasted—be it clone or livestock manure, even animal hair, bones, or plant stalks—all were processed into nutrients for the next growth cycle.

With the new sweet potatoes planted, over the following three months, all twelve bodies returned to their previous routine.

Two clones stayed aboard the Deep Space vessel to study, two tended the fires, four mined, and four cared for the plants—busy without days off or holidays.

Their diet mainly consisted of sweet potatoes, supplemented by small reserves of meat, grains, and vitamin tablets stored on the Deep Space vessel. They slept along the aisles of the planting racks, with blankets on the floor serving as beds.

The landing craft, stripped of many internal facilities, had two beds but was cramped and small.

Even so, only clones feeling unwell or overly fatigued were allowed to sleep inside for a night.

Fortunately, these clones lacked self-awareness and thus did not complain. If they were normal humans, rebellion might have been inevitable.

Time passed under these conditions for another three months.

On this day, Li Qingsong’s spirits soared once more.

Planting Base No. 1 welcomed another bountiful harvest, yielding over 4,000 kilograms of sweet potatoes and a large quantity of vines.

But this was not the main reason for his excitement.

What pleased him most was the birth of five brand-new clone bodies.

After half a year of careful cultivation, these had grown from a few initial cells to fully formed bodies, ready to be born.

The two clones remaining on the ship, under Li Qingsong’s control, carefully operated the cultivation tanks, drained and collected the nutrient solution, then opened the tanks and lifted the five clones, still in deep unconsciousness, into the observation room to await awakening.

At the same time, a new batch of five cell samples was placed into the cultivation tanks to begin another round of growth.

Several hours later, the five clones opened their eyes one after another. Yet without self-awareness, they lay quietly on their beds, motionless.

Li Qingsong focused his mind and extended his consciousness to connect with their brains. At that moment, the five clones stood up.

At first, their movements were stiff and unnatural, but with some adaptive training, their bodies quickly returned to normal.

A meal, designed to be easily digestible and nutritious, awaited them.

After eating their first meal, followed by some rest and further adaptive training, the five were dressed in five sets of makeshift spacesuits that had been prepared in advance.

“Time to work,” Li Qingsong said.

The landing craft roared as it left the mothership and descended once more onto Luoshen.

With the addition of these five clones, Li Qingsong’s shortage of manpower was finally alleviated.

Yet a new problem arose.

“Seventeen clones consume 51 kilograms of fresh sweet potatoes daily, totaling 4,590 kilograms over three months.

After the next five clones are born, the quarterly consumption will rise to nearly 6,000 kilograms.

In that case, even if Planting Base No. 1 operates at full capacity, there will still be a shortfall of about 2,000 kilograms each quarter.

After half a year’s consumption, the base’s sweet potato reserves have dwindled to less than 2,000 kilograms, only enough to last one quarter.

After that, we’ll have to dip into the reserves, which is not sustainable.”

Li Qingsong thought to himself, “Now that we have enough manpower, it’s time to expand the planting base.”