Chapter 38: A Surge in Market Share

The vast army returned to the main base in a grand procession. All combat gear was immediately sealed, and the clones that had served as soldiers returned to their respective quarters.

Those that could not yet be controlled retreated to the communal dormitories to rest, while the 21,000 clones under direct control were immediately deployed to resume production.

While the "War of the Strange Birds" had yielded significant spoils, it had come at a heavy cost for Li Qingsong. Out of over a hundred peripheral bases, only ten core facilities remained intact; the rest were left in ruins.

The original force of 150,000 clones had been halved. Beyond the 21,000 active, controllable units, only about 40,000 remained in reserve. Furthermore, the stockpiles of resources—mined, smelted, and farmed through decades of painstaking effort—had been entirely exhausted. Though the battles had been exhilarating, the giant warehouses at the main base were now essentially empty. If there were mice on Luoshen Planet, they would surely be weeping at the sight.

Li Qingsong’s most urgent priority was to restart production: repairing the peripheral bases, the railway lines, and the power grids, while resuming mining, farming, and food storage.

Here, the disadvantage of insufficient manpower became glaringly obvious. It was not that he lacked clones—he still had 40,000 in reserve—but that he could not control them all simultaneously. Consequently, the massive restoration effort began at a pace that Li Qingsong found agonizingly slow.

Tens of thousands of clones were scattered across a hundred sub-bases, working day and night without pause. Li Qingsong sighed inwardly. "It is still too slow. It will take at least a year or two to restore production to its previous levels. Until then, any further technological development is out of the question."

He had no choice but to endure the situation. Yet, after a month or two of patience, a spark of anticipation began to grow within him. The first batch of clones cultivated using the strange bird’s bodily fluids as an additive was about to be born.

In the reproductive laboratory, dozens of clones stood ready, as if facing a great threat. Under Li Qingsong’s strict control, they monitored the dials on the incubation tanks, not daring to waver. Any abnormal reading was met with immediate intervention and adjustment by Li Qingsong to ensure the embryos developed successfully.

Finally, the day of birth arrived. The incubation fluids were carefully drained, and the unconscious clones were transported to the rest area. After several hours, the first clone opened its eyes and regained consciousness.

Li Qingsong, impatient and eager, immediately extended his consciousness to connect with it. A marvelous sensation surged through him. It was as if someone with poor vision had suddenly put on glasses, bringing the entire world into sharp focus; or as if someone suffering from a severe cold and a perpetually foggy head had suddenly regained their health and mental clarity.

In that instant, Li Qingsong realized that by "inhabiting" this new body, his basic cognitive functions—thought processing speed, logical reasoning, mathematical calculation, and spatial awareness—had improved by at least 10%.

While 10% might sound modest, it represented at least a fourfold increase in his consciousness connection capacity. Based on his experience, he estimated that his total capacity had surged to at least 90,000 connections. He could not confirm the exact upper limit due to a lack of available clones, but 90,000 was more than sufficient.

At this moment, he only had about 60,000 clones in total. Now, every single one of them could be put to work.

Filled with joy, Li Qingsong immediately extended his reach to the clones resting in the dormitories. The next moment, those who had been lying listlessly on their beds sprang to life, formed orderly lines, collected their equipment, and marched out of the building like a mighty torrent.

They divided into groups and headed in different directions: wheat fields, rapeseed fields, rice paddies, pig farms, cattle ranches, aquaculture facilities, steel mills, copper smelters, foundries, engine plants, and power stations.

Every single clone on Luoshen Planet was now engaged in restoration work, leaving none idle. Yet, even then, Li Qingsong could clearly feel that he still had at least 30,000 consciousness slots to spare.

"What a find! Truly a magnificent find..." Li Qingsong looked with delight at the blocks of strange bird fluid stored in the giant warehouse and at the wounded birds kept in iron cages.

"Limited by my current purification and separation technology, the fluid I am using is not pure. Once I refine these techniques and perhaps make further adjustments, the quality of the clones will undoubtedly improve. I might eventually be able to control 150,000 or even 200,000 clones simultaneously! Counting those on rotation and in reserve, that would require a total force of at least one million."

"Once production is restored, I must immediately build a larger cloning facility! With a six-month cycle, I need to produce at least 50,000 clones per batch."

A factory capable of producing 100,000 clones annually would be gargantuan, occupying at least 100,000 square meters even with multi-story construction. Including all necessary supporting facilities—nutrient configuration plants, power plants, grids, food, water, and oxygen supplies—the total area would likely exceed ten square kilometers.

It would require a massive complex, a square with sides of over three kilometers, to support such an operation. But that was fine. With over 60,000 clones now firmly under his control, Li Qingsong was full of confidence.