Chapter 34: Machine Guns, Artillery, and Tanks!

Based on the construction and operation of this vehicle, the clone was almost frantic, shaking gear levers, pressing buttons, and pulling triggers in a flurry of activity before the vehicle finally began to move. It could not be helped; as a primitive vehicle without any automation, the operation was naturally cumbersome. An automatic transmission was out of the question, and even a modern manual transmission was impossible. To shift gears, the clone had to first disengage the current gear and then manually swap in another gear within the transmission housing. When starting the engine, the clone had to precisely monitor the dashboard, tracking the pressure of methane and oxygen to manually regulate the flow of both gases. If the speed increased, the fuel supply had to be manually adjusted, or the engine would stall.

However, this was fine. Though complex, it remained a trivial task for Li Qingsong. After the clone acting as the driver practiced and became familiar with the process, all the clones quickly mastered the operation of this incredibly complex machine. After driving the vehicle around the perimeter of the base for a few hundred kilometers, Li Qingsong tested it once more. The results were satisfactory; after making a few hundred minor adjustments, the design was finalized and sent into mass production. It was clear that the vehicle was far from perfect. Through practical use, Li Qingsong discovered several "anti-human" design flaws that could not be immediately fixed, and he was certain that as large-scale use continued, more defects would inevitably emerge. But it did not matter. As long as it worked, that was enough—the clones would not be filing any complaints.

To ramp up production, Li Qingsong requisitioned dozens of factory buildings and constructed dozens of new facilities: dedicated plants for engines, steering gears, fuel tanks, tires, chassis, glass, and so on. Soon, this rudimentary off-road vehicle, which Li Qingsong named "Hunter Type I," was being produced rapidly, and a fleet of one thousand was quickly assembled. Li Qingsong assigned 1,000 clones as drivers, fueled each vehicle for a range of over 10,000 kilometers, loaded them with food, water, and oxygen, and dispatched the scouting fleet. From this moment on, they would roam the entirety of Luoshen Star, searching for and identifying the numbers and locations of the strange bird clusters. When not tracking birds, they would not be idle; they would survey the surface of Luoshen Star to confirm the locations and reserves of various mineral deposits, preparing for larger-scale development in the future. With the experience gained from building the vehicle, Li Qingsong immediately began developing specialized vehicles such as armored cars, tanks, and fuel tankers.

These specialized vehicles were, in principle, no different from the off-roaders—essentially large shells driven by internal combustion engines, merely fitted with more armor, weapon systems, or other modifications. The requirements were not high; as long as they were functional, that was enough. While the vehicles were being developed and produced, Li Qingsong did not neglect another priority: machine guns and artillery. Building on the foundation of the original "Assault Type I" firearm, he aimed to develop weapons with greater power, higher rates of fire, and larger magazine capacities. Ideally, he wanted a weapon that dispensed with magazines entirely, using ammunition belts instead. As for artillery, the basic principle was not much different from firearms—using gunpowder to generate hot, pressurized gas to launch a projectile. The only difference was that artillery shells contained their own explosive charges, whereas bullets relied purely on kinetic energy. Even so, this required Li Qingsong to divert a significant number of clones to research. These were weapons, after all, not civilian equipment; if a barrel burst or an ammunition depot detonated, the consequences would be catastrophic.

Advancing these lines simultaneously—even with the war temporarily suspended and the front lines no longer requiring excessive consciousness-link capacity—Li Qingsong clearly felt the pressure. Not only were the clones withdrawn from the front lines put to work on the new production lines, but Li Qingsong also had to "cheat" a little to meet the demand for manpower and brainpower. The clones responsible for perimeter security at various bases obviously did not all need to be on high alert; only a portion needed to maintain consciousness links and reconnaissance capabilities. Thus, Li Qingsong "stole" three thousand consciousness-link slots and mobilized three thousand reserve clones to join the production efforts, just barely managing to handle the current construction tasks.

Time passed quietly. At the firing range, the thunder of machine guns and artillery caused the earth to tremble incessantly. In the vehicle factories, equipment roared day and night as steel was kneaded like dough into various shapes, assembled, and ultimately transformed into a variety of vehicles: three-meter-tall armored cars weighing over five tons; two-meter-tall tracked tanks weighing fifteen tons, equipped with long barrels—Li Qingsong’s custom-developed tank cannons; and massive tankers, five meters tall and twenty meters long, hauling 120-cubic-meter tanks for transporting methane or oxygen. Like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, a vast array of weaponry and equipment appeared in the main base, a far cry from the days when they had to rely on kitchen knives as weapons.

At this moment, Li Qingsong’s confidence was swelling to unprecedented levels. Although he still could not build airplanes, with so many assault rifles, machine guns, cannons, and tanks, he was confident that even if those strange birds returned in the hundreds of thousands, he could wipe them out in a single battle. However, the current situation seemed somewhat strange. One thousand scout vehicles were roaming the entirety of Luoshen Star searching for the birds, but so far, apart from a few dead specimens, they hadn't found a single living bird. "Where have they all gone?" Li Qingsong wondered, filled with suspicion. He absolutely did not believe that there were fewer than one hundred thousand birds on Luoshen Star. They must have gathered somewhere, which was why he couldn't find them. But what were they doing gathered together? This unknown caused Li Qingsong a faint sense of unease.

The search continued without progress, but something happened in the biological laboratory. Li Qingsong looked at the embryos still developing in the culture tanks, shock filling his heart. Although they had not yet been born, even as embryos, he could clearly perceive their "excellence" and "robustness" through the data. Compared to the embryos he had cultivated previously, these were far stronger! And... with such strong, healthy bodies, what high-quality brains would they eventually develop?