Chapter 165 - 164: Major Technological Development

High gravity poses a grave danger to the human body.

It not only leads to mechanical injuries, such as muscle strains, bone damage, and internal organ damage, but also severely affects the body’s endocrine and nervous systems.

Unlike the G-forces from a spaceship’s acceleration, which last only for a moment, the high gravity on Jupiter is constant.

Once within a certain range of Jupiter, there is no escaping its influence.

A Clone who remained in such an environment for an extended period would be crippled within a few years.

Therefore, to keep this energy-harvesting system operational, Li Qingsong had his Clones work on a rotational basis, deploying them to Jupiter for a period before pulling them back to recuperate.

Even so, an average of several hundred Clones still died or were crippled by the gravity each day. Having lost their value, they could only be destroyed.

The losses within the Jupiter System were undeniably severe. But could that be considered an obstacle?

Li Qingsong’s answer: It could not!

Compared to the grand endeavor of developing the entire Solar System, to his own technological progress, to the hum of his factories... what were a few dead Clones and wrecked aircraft?

’I can afford the loss!’

Under these circumstances, supported by a ceaseless supply of deuterium from Jupiter, Li Qingsong’s entire industrial complex thrived, and his technology advanced at a blistering pace.

By this point, controllable nuclear fusion technology had nearly matured and entered the large-scale application phase. Only miniaturization had yet to be cracked.

With the guidance and data from the Blutuk People, Li Qingsong already had a clear path forward and believed a breakthrough was imminent.

While pursuing research into controllable nuclear fusion, Li Qingsong was also simultaneously developing another piece of vital technology.

High-speed Ion Propulsion!

Like controllable nuclear fusion, High-speed Ion Propulsion was another technology essential for Interstellar Travel.

Secondary-pressurization propulsion still required massive quantities of chemical fuel as propellant, which was unfeasible for Interstellar Travel.

No spaceship, no matter how large, could carry that much propellant.

At best, it was only sufficient for travel within a single stellar system, as was currently the case.

Li Qingsong had begun researching High-speed Ion Propulsion long before the Blutuk People ever arrived.

But back then, the research had only progressed to the point of being able to propel a single sheet of paper; it was entirely without practical application.

Since defeating the Blutuk Civilization decades ago, capturing enough Blutuk People, and obtaining vast amounts of technical data, High-speed Ion Propulsion—much like controllable nuclear fusion—had advanced by leaps and bounds.

From an initial ion exhaust velocity of only 30 kilometers per second and a total thrust that could barely move a sheet of paper, the technology steadily progressed, its power and efficiency increasing day by day.

Kilogram-level thrust, then ton-level, then hundred-ton-level. The ion exhaust velocity increased from the initial 30 kilometers per second to 100, then 500, then 1,000 kilometers per second...

After decades of all-out development, Li Qingsong’s ion propulsion technology could now eject ions at 1,500 kilometers per second. This generated immense counter-thrust, enough to propel a 300-ton Mercury-class Spaceship with maneuverability in no way inferior to the previous secondary-pressurization propulsion!

But this was still not the technology’s final form. Compared to secondary-pressurization propulsion, which had reached its technical limits and was constrained by the laws of physics, ion propulsion still had vast potential for improvement.

Especially when paired with compact, onboard nuclear fusion devices, High-speed Ion Propulsion became even more powerful.

Now, it was ready for mass application!

Consequently, Li Qingsong initiated a comprehensive overhaul of his entire spaceship fleet.

All freighters, Scientific Research Vessels, probe ships, passenger liners, and so on—having already been converted to controllable nuclear fusion power—had their secondary-pressurization propulsion modules removed and replaced with High-speed Ion Propulsion modules.

Excluding his Warships, Li Qingsong possessed tens of thousands of spaceships of all sizes. The nearly one million high-speed ion engines equipped on them were in operation almost constantly, feeding a massive amount of operational data back to Li Qingsong to support further improvements.

At this stage, ion propulsion—much like the miniaturization of Nuclear Fusion Reactors—had reached a bottleneck. This was no cause for alarm, however. There were no fundamental obstacles to its subsequent development; as long as research proceeded step-by-step, its performance would continuously improve.

Beyond these two most critical technologies, Li Qingsong was also digesting and absorbing knowledge in high-speed layered scanning radar, high-speed Electromagnetic Cannons, high-power Laser Cannons, and materials science. He assimilated the knowledge that originally belonged to the Blutuk People and integrated it into his own systems at a speed that left them utterly dumbfounded.

Time trickled by. In the blink of an eye, another 20 years had passed.

Now, a small Warship with a fully loaded mass of only 300 tons appeared in the main spaceship assembly plant, presenting itself before Li Qingsong.

Upon ignition, it shot into space at an incredible speed, vanishing from the Clones’ field of view.

Propelled by a brilliant blue exhaust plume, it executed a variety of nimble maneuvers in space. Its high-speed layered scanning radar ceaselessly scanned the surrounding area for any activity.

Supported by high-speed turret mounts, the Electromagnetic Cannon unleashed a storm of projectiles at speeds exceeding 20 kilometers per second, its rate of fire far surpassing anything before it. The high-power Laser Cannon fired off laser beams that carried an aura of destruction, searing everything, tangible or not, in their path...

Gazing at this new-model Mercury-class Warship, Li Qingsong was filled with delight.

This Mercury-class Warship’s performance metrics now completely matched the level of the Blutuk Civilization’s warships of the past, even slightly exceeding them in some respects.

The creation of this Mercury-class Warship meant that his own technological level had now fully caught up with that of the Blutuk Civilization!

’Even if another Blutuk Civilization were to appear at the height of its power, I could annihilate it with ease.’

’Our technological levels are the same, but my industrial production efficiency is countless times greater than theirs.’

This meant that he now truly possessed the capability for interstellar voyages.

’In that case...’

’It’s time to leave.’

’I’ve delayed for so long. If I don’t go now, I may never be able to.’

’Then, let’s build a fleet.’

’Time to build a fleet truly capable of interstellar voyages spanning several, or even dozens of light-years. A journey of tens, even hundreds of trillions of kilometers. Time to build a true Interstellar Fleet.’