Chapter 178 - 177: Peak Industrial Strength

Asteroids have vastly different masses.

In addition to the larger asteroids—measuring several kilometers, hundreds of meters, or even just a few meters—there are also numerous micro-asteroids only tens of centimeters, or even a few centimeters, in size.

This group of asteroids couldn’t be pushed away with Thrust Devices.

And in terms of sheer numbers, this group of asteroids was the most abundant.

After all, to equal a mass of ten tons, you would only need one larger asteroid. For these micro-asteroids, however, it could take tens or even hundreds of thousands.

To deal with this group of asteroids, Li Qingsong began constructing another component of the Skynet Project.

Space-based and ground-based defense bases!

Following the same design philosophy as the defense systems on his Warships, he would build massive radar stations on the surface and in space. These would comprehensively scan for any micro-asteroids daring to intrude. He would also construct numerous Electromagnetic Cannon and Laser Cannon emplacements. Using data from the radar stations, they would shatter the targets with kinetic impacts or melt them with laser ablation!

Oriental A1 had a thin atmosphere. While not very effective, it was still capable of burning up the fragments of shattered micro-asteroids.

For the other moons that lacked an atmosphere, their destructive power would be greatly reduced after being shattered or melted. Any remaining fragments could be stopped by reinforcing buildings with thicker steel plates.

Various models of automated, free-roaming Thrust Devices, countless automated space stations, and a multitude of space-based and ground-based defense installations—these formed the entirety of Li Qingsong’s Skynet Project.

The entire Skynet Project was highly automated.

At this stage, Li Qingsong had already deployed over ten million Thrust Devices of various types into space. He had built more than 1,000 space stations and established over 2,000 ground-based and space-based defense installations across Oriental A’s seventy-six major moons. The scale of the entire system was already immense.

Yet, fewer than 100,000 Clones were required to maintain this entire system. Even counting the Clones responsible for manufacturing the various facilities, the total number was no more than 500,000.

The roles of the Divine Craft AI and Wukong AI were once again on full display.

Even now, vast numbers of small celestial bodies were still intruding into the system at every moment. But every single threatening object was met with either a trajectory alteration or a strike from an Electromagnetic Cannon or Laser Cannon.

The entire Oriental A system was like a great umbrella, or a giant net, that had been raised to block out all external threats.

Li Qingsong’s attention then turned to the rocky planet located inside Oriental A’s orbit, closer to Oriental Star.

Li Qingsong had named this rocky planet Oriental B.

Like Oriental A, Oriental B was also enduring a seemingly ceaseless bombardment by vast numbers of small celestial bodies. At the same time, Oriental B also held an important place in Li Qingsong’s plans.

’Alright, time to bring Oriental B under the Skynet’s protection as well!’

A fleet departed at once. It carried numerous free-roaming Thrust Devices, space station components, defense installations, and the construction materials and machinery for various other factories. They left Oriental A and set a course for Oriental B.

And so, after just a few short months, not a single small celestial body could strike the surface of Oriental B.

With the full construction of the Skynet Project complete, and the environmental threats thoroughly neutralized, Li Qingsong finally breathed a sigh of relief.

’Finally, I can proceed with the next phase of construction without any worries.’

’It’s just... this system is detrimental to the future development of Oriental A, Oriental B, and their moons,’ he thought. ’But I can’t afford to worry about that now.’

Asteroid impacts are a necessary process for large celestial bodies to accumulate mass and grow. Li Qingsong had just brought that process to an abrupt halt.

Massive construction projects began soon after.

Following the same procedure he had used when developing the Solar System, Li Qingsong began constructing space elevators with all possible speed. Through these elevators, he completely linked the dozens of large moons of Oriental A with Oriental B. Simultaneously, he initiated the mass construction of various factories on every celestial body.

Mines, power plants, chemical plants, robotics factories, starship factories...

And so on and so forth.

Including reserves, a total of over two billion Clones were bustling with activity on every planet and moon. Hundreds of thousands of ships shuttled between the various worlds, transporting an endless flow of resources.

The Blutuk People also contributed to this process, but their efforts were restricted to more ’high-level’ tasks, such as formulating strategy, designing schematics, and directing the Divine Craft AI in factory construction.

Li Qingsong did not permit the Blutuk People to involve themselves in the more basic aspects of production.

This was, of course, a measure by Li Qingsong to strip the Blutuk People of their capacity for self-sufficiency, but it unexpectedly earned him their gratitude.

When they saw countless humans toiling in harsh environments, working on the front lines and performing extremely arduous tasks, while they themselves could sit in comfortable, climate-controlled offices and perform intellectual work—with all basic tasks handled by humans and AI, keeping them completely safe and free from hardship—the Blutuk People were moved to tears of gratitude.

It was the contrast that truly moved them.

’We never enjoyed a life like this back in our own civilization!’

’Now, after being defeated by our enemy and taken captive, we’re actually living a life of paradise.’

’We travel in luxurious vehicles and live in large houses. The stores are so well-stocked it’s as if the goods grow on the shelves, so we never worry about shortages. There’s a comprehensive medical system if we fall ill, and our children receive the best education.’

’We have no need to worry about the pressures of life; we only need to contribute our intellect—and honestly, contributing our intellect is an incredibly fulfilling job.’

’We just have to direct things from on high, without performing any manual labor, and our ideas become reality.’

’Is there any better job than this?’

’If we aren’t loyal to a master like this, who should we be loyal to?’

’The humans’ real goal is to exploit our intellect, essentially treating us as slaves?’

’So what? Being a slave is actually pretty great.’

For a time, Li Qingsong’s prestige within Blutuk society reached its zenith. Countless Blutuk People even began to worship him as a god, pledging their undying loyalty.

And so, through the combined, all-out efforts of Li Qingsong’s numerous Clones and the entire Blutuk society, a complete and sufficiently large-scale industrial system was established in just over a decade.

At this point, Li Qingsong’s industrial might was in no way inferior to what it had been at its peak in the Solar System; in fact, it now slightly exceeded it.

This was because during the several centuries of Interstellar Travel, although technological development had been slow due to insufficient resources, some progress had still been made.

Those technological advancements were now being fully utilized.

Now, it was time to initiate the next phase of the plan.