Chapter Five: Steam

Given the current state of Base One, it was clearly impossible to cultivate crops.

First, Qing Song Li needed a stable source of heat to maintain a sufficiently warm temperature inside Base One.

Second, he required a stable power supply. After all, there was no sunlight on Roshen Star; artificial lighting was essential.

But fluorescent lights were notorious power hogs.

These two demands could not be met by the fission reactor on the landing ship. The remaining nuclear fuel was dangerously low—once it was gone, that would be the end.

He had to find a way to harness energy directly from Roshen Star.

All twelve of Qing Song Li’s brains started working simultaneously.

“Then let's build the simplest steam turbine possible—use it to drive a generator and produce electricity. At the same time, the waste heat can be recycled through pipes back into the base to raise its temperature.”

Immediately, the two bodies aboard the Deep Space ship began studying steam turbine technology, while two clones shuttled back and forth between the ship and the surface of Roshen Star, ferrying materials and parts.

The remaining eight clones took the only two planetary rovers and sped across the dim, dark-red terrain of Roshen Star, searching for and collecting essential minerals for the project.

The principle of a steam turbine was straightforward: burn fuel to generate high-pressure steam, which then drives a generator to produce electricity.

Simple in theory, but difficult in practice. The two clones on the surface struggled mightily with limited tools and materials, barely managing to assemble a steam engine.

This steam engine consisted of two layers: an inner layer with a conventional combustion chamber and boiler, and an outer layer housing two independent thawing chambers.

Each thawing chamber connected to the outside via a separate feed port.

While constructing the steam engine, the other clones dismantled the generator originally linked to the nuclear fission reactor on the landing ship, then connected it to the steam engine using gears and belts.

They also brought a large supply of pipes—both leather and metal—from the Deep Space ship.

These pipes, only a few centimeters in diameter, were all connected and laid out beneath Base One’s floor like underfloor heating pipes.

Their inlets and outlets also connected directly to the steam engine.

Once everything was ready, the mineral-gathering clones returned in their rovers, each carrying loads of minerals—some transparent, some milky white, some dark red, others pale blue.

They unloaded the minerals onto a makeshift fuel pile, which quickly filled up.

“Well then... ignition sequence, start!”

Qing Song Li solemnly gave the command. Two clones carried forward a chunk of dark red mineral—Thorlin—and a piece of pale blue solid oxygen, feeding them into the thawing chambers.

Heat, temporarily transferred from the nuclear fission reactor, warmed the steam engine’s thawing chambers, slowly melting these extremely cold, solidified substances into gases.

As the gas concentration rose, the two different gases broke through multiple barriers and entered the combustion chamber.

With a spark, the gas mixture ignited violently.

Inside the boiler, ice-cold water began melting, then boiling under the rising heat.

Feeling the faint vibrations of the steam engine as water boiled, Qing Song Li’s heart swelled with joy.

The water was boiling; steam was being produced continuously, pressure growing steadily.

When the pressure reached a critical point, the heavy rotor reluctantly began to turn.

This rotational force transferred mechanically to the generator, producing an electric current.

Inside the previously darkened Base One—cut off from power—the lights flickered on, restoring brightness to this shadowy planet.

But this was only the beginning.

As more solid oxygen and Thorlin were fed in, melted, and burned, the hot, high-energy steam was channeled through pipes connected to the base’s underfloor heating system.

The previously frozen surface of Base One began warming again; oxygen, nitrogen, and other gases that had crystallized into snowflakes started melting and rising.

The shrunken Base One swelled once more, returning to its original form.

The cooled steam then cycled back through the pipes to the steam engine for reheating and another round of work, simultaneously cooling itself and raising the base’s temperature.

Watching this integrated system smoothly come to life, Qing Song Li was filled with satisfaction.

With this steam engine, he had a stable source of electricity.

As for fuel, he felt no concern.

Billions of years of evolution and accumulation had left Roshen Star’s surface rich in Thorlin—likely hundreds of trillions of tons—practically inexhaustible.

Solid oxygen, serving as the oxidizer, was also abundant and easy to mine.

At present, the temperature inside Base One was still low, around 0°C, but this was expected—the steam engine was not yet running at full power.

With little power demand for now, there was no need to waste energy producing excess electricity.

After building the steam engine, the clones resumed their work.

They repeatedly traveled between the Deep Space ship and Base One in the landing ship, dismantling the planting equipment on the ship and transporting it to the base.

They also brought along a grinding machine.

Once connected, the grinding machine allowed the steam engine to run at full power, and Base One’s temperature quickly rose, stabilizing at approximately 30°C.

The grinder roared to life, pulverizing minerals rich in potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorus that Qing Song Li had gathered.

Inside the small Base One, the ten clones bustled with activity.