Chapter 56: Massive Consumption

Right now, within the orbital space surrounding the planet Luoshen, alongside the previously constructed space laboratory, an even larger space base had made its appearance.

The space laboratory was elongated in shape; although sufficiently long, it lacked adequate thickness and width.

In contrast, while this new space base was not as long, it was spherical, boasting a diameter of approximately 600 meters.

Numerous scaffolding structures extended outward from its surface, resembling needles protruding from a giant sphere.

These were individual spacecraft docking berths.

When spacecraft required resupply, they could approach and anchor themselves to these frameworks, after which extension pipes would reach out to furnish the vessels with various supplies.

Aside from material resupply brackets, there were numerous personnel passages, spacecraft maintenance stations, and more.

This massive sphere, with a diameter reaching 1,200 meters, possessed an internal total volume of approximately 0.9 cubic kilometers.

At its very core lay numerous gigantic tanks stored in accordance with a strict isolation protocol.

One batch of tanks contained liquid methane, ethane, and hydrogen, with a total storage volume reaching 1.5 million cubic meters and a total mass of about 800,000 tons.

Another batch of tanks held pure oxygen, with a total storage volume hitting 1 million cubic meters and a total mass of roughly 1.1 million tons.

Beyond these two most crucial supplies were storage spaces for numerous spacecraft components, maintenance tools, artillery shells, bullets, missiles, generators, and various equipment, interconnected by a dense and immensely complex web of internal passageways.

At the same time, it commanded Li Qingsong's most ferocious firepower and most formidable defensive capabilities to date.

Its entire outer hull was fabricated from specialized bulletproof steel, with an average thickness of 100 millimeters, backed by a succession of buffer layers, retardation layers, and fiber layers, bringing the total thickness to a staggering 300 millimeters.

Unless bombarded with heavy artillery shells, even continuous machine gun fire would fail to pierce its defenses.

In addition to its thick hull, it was equipped with a diverse array of weaponry.

For high-rate-of-fire machine guns alone, it mounted 1,500 units, alongside 200 autocannons and 200 interstellar missile launch racks.

Furthermore, it was outfitted with 20 of Li Qingsong's newly developed high-precision radars, scanning the surrounding airspace continuously on an all-weather basis.

Moreover, Li Qingsong intended that the moment any combat erupted, he would immediately deploy at least 100 warships around this space base to serve as a protective screen.

---

This entire suite of measures represented the absolute limit of defensive capability that Li Qingsong could achieve.

If even this failed to protect the base, there was simply nothing more to be done.

This was the first task Li Qingsong had accomplished over the past two years.

As for the second task, Li Qingsong had finally assembled his very first fleet of space warships.

With over a million clones working themselves to the bone, and upwards of a thousand massive bases and factories roaring day and night, supported by the abundant resources of Luoshen, Li Qingsong had finally manufactured a full 500 Mercury-class warships!

At this moment, they were docked around the Number One Space Base, guarding it and flying in formation alongside it.

Machine guns, autocannons, missiles, radar, optical observation equipment, optical positioning equipment...

The sheer variety of combat hardware made this fleet look formidable, menacing, and awe-inspiring.

Numerous cargo spacecraft transported supplies and fuel from the base clusters on Luoshen's surface into the space base, allowing the warships to bypass planetary descents and acquire sufficient material replenishment directly from the installation.

Thus, having violently cast off Luoshen's gravitational field, they set course for deep space.

Here, they split into two teams, initiating high-speed maneuvers and tactical coordination time and time again.

A vast quantity of blank rounds was fired, numerous laser pulses simulating interstellar missiles were discharged, and for a time, the entire airspace was ablaze with the simulation of war.

This was an exercise.

At present, Li Qingsong possessed only theoretical knowledge of interstellar combat gleaned from paper calculations; his practical combat experience was virtually zero.

Just as the clones had once faced swarms of strange birds using melee weapons and had to rapidly accumulate close-quarters combat experience, the same principle applied here.

Following the collective combat drills came pursuit exercises, chaotic melee simulations, planetary defense battles, and so on.

Because the deep-space communication network had not yet been completed, Li Qingsong had been forced to temporarily lay down a communication network specifically for this exercise, requiring every single warship to activate coordinate sharing. Without this, the exercise would have descended into utter chaos long ago.

After a full day of drills, the fleet returned once more to the vicinity of the base.

Before he even had time to analyze the takeaways from the day's exercises, Li Qingsong was struck by a single data point.

---

Mere combat exercises alone had caused this fleet to consume 25,000 tons of fuel, along with several thousand tons of blank rounds and simulated munitions. Factoring in the personal consumption of the clones themselves, over 30,000 tons of supplies had simply vanished into thin air.

And to replenish these 30,000-plus tons of materials required 1,000 cargo spacecraft to make two round trips. Accounting for the fuel consumed by the cargo vessels themselves, nearly 50,000 tons of supplies were gone.

"If the number of clones were any lower, I wouldn't even be able to afford the luxury of running these exercises."

Li Qingsong sighed.

After resting briefly and replenishing all categories of supplies, the fleet exercises commenced once more.

There was no help for it; the enemy could arrive at any moment, and failing to seize the present to intensify war preparations might mean it would soon be too late.

While engaging in large-scale production, massive transport of supplies, and extensive military exercises, Li Qingsong was simultaneously directing tens of thousands of clones to tackle the last of the three scheduled tasks: the technological research of a deep-space communication network.

Two years had flown by, and through the painstaking efforts of the clones, this technology had finally yielded a breakthrough.

"Once the communication network is established, I will be able to dispatch probes toward the enemy planet, and the fleet can venture far away into deep space instead of endlessly circling around Luoshen."

Li Qingsong immediately marshaled his mental faculties, drafted the blueprints for the deep-space communication network, and promptly initiated production and construction.

The most critical components of this communication network were 100 large-aperture antennas, each 45 meters in diameter.

Normally, so many would not be necessary; 20 units would suffice. However, to prevent destruction during wartime, Li Qingsong directly multiplied the quantity fivefold.

A portion of these large antennas was arranged according to a specific geometric structure, spread roughly evenly across Luoshen's polar regions, equator, and various other locations, while the remaining portion was deployed in Luoshen's surrounding orbit.

Li Qingsong had fortified each of these large antennas to the absolute maximum extent possible, striving to maximize their survivability.

Beyond these massive antennas, Li Qingsong had manufactured several thousand satellites, scattering them like grains of sand around Luoshen, and even launched additional satellites designed to orbit the sun.

Consequently, centered upon Luoshen, a dense and sprawling communication network was successfully established.

The very instant this communication network was completed, Li Qingsong launched a probe into the void.