Chapter 273: A Fight to the Death

Chapter 273: Chapter 272: A Fight to the Death

After thousands of years on the run, Li Qingsong had long since grown weary.

After painstakingly planning his breakthrough to become a Strong Core Civilization, he had fled with the Flying Star. During the long voyage, he researched Strong Core Level technology bit by bit, finally elevating his technological prowess and combat strength to a considerable height.

In recent years, he had fought a great war against the Harville Civilization in the Lyra G16 Star System. He had even defeated them on the front lines, a civilization that had evolved to become the strongest at their technological tier. This was true proof of his current power.

He still had some time to continue developing his technology. The vast wreckage of warships from the Harville Civilization could also be used for reverse-engineering, which would accelerate his technological development to a certain extent.

‘If that’s the case… then I’ll stay here in the Lyra G16 Star System. I’ll go all out, develop with all my might, and then face the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity in a duel to the death. Either you die, or I die!’

‘It’s fine if you don’t come. But if you do, only one of us will be leaving this star system alive!’

Li Qingsong had well and truly made up his mind.

Now that the great war had subsided, peace had finally returned to the Lyra G16 Star System. Li Qingsong went all out, using his 3.5 billion consciousness links to control his 3.5 billion Clones, which he constantly maintained at that number, and began his technological research and development.

Thrust Device, radar, Super-distance Communication, quantum mathematics, fundamental physics, applied physics, chemical industry, biotechnology, materials science, Energy Shield technology, fusion technology…

And so on and so forth. The entire industrial system, the entire scientific system—whether fundamental or applied—he began researching it all, leaving nothing behind!

At the same time, Li Qingsong did not forget to mass-produce his Clones.

The Unified Force Field, an attack method unique to him, was his greatest trump card at this stage. It had to be strengthened by any means necessary.

Its unique method of attack consumed a vast number of Clones each time it was used, so he had to stockpile a sufficient amount of them.

Li Qingsong’s plan was to increase the number of Clones under his command once more, raising the total to 10 billion!

‘Only 5 billion Clones are in regular use, meaning the other 5 billion would just be freeloaders? They’d even need the other Clones to take care of them, wasting resources?’

‘No problem. I can just put them into hibernation. That way, I would only need to dispatch a small number—no more than 10 million Clones—to handle all the related tasks: caring for them, producing minerals and energy, and maintaining the equipment.’

It wasn’t that Li Qingsong couldn’t stockpile more Clones; it was simply that doing so would be pointless.

Limited by his maximum of 3.5 billion consciousness links, Li Qingsong could deploy at most 3.5 billion Clones for a single Unified Force Field attack.

However, there was no upper limit to the amount of related equipment that could be used for a Unified Force Field attack.

Once the minimum requirement of approximately 1 billion units of Unified Force Field-related equipment was met, any amount above that number would only increase its effectiveness. The more equipment, the greater the energy released, the higher the detection precision, the more accurate the predictions, and ultimately, the greater the destructive power.

This mechanism meant that no matter how many units of Unified Force Field-related equipment Li Qingsong stockpiled, he would use them all at once when he finally launched an attack.

The reason was simple, adhering to the principle that it is better to break one finger than to injure all ten. It was better to destroy 10,000 Warships than to merely damage 100,000.

Li Qingsong couldn’t possibly split his stockpiled Unified Force Field equipment into two batches for two separate attacks. If he did, each attack would likely be too weak, yielding no results in the end.

‘Either don’t attack at all, or unleash the strongest possible offensive you are capable of!’ This was the strategic significance of the Unified Force Field.

Furthermore, the complexity and precision required for the Unified Force Field equipment were both extremely high. Even with his industrial might, Li Qingsong couldn’t mass-produce them in a short period. The combination of these factors ultimately led to a situation where the Unified Force Field could only be used once per war.

Since it could only be used once, stockpiling too many Clones was meaningless.

Beyond the regularly used Clones, he would stockpile 3.5 billion specifically for the Unified Force Field attack, and another 1.5 billion to replenish the regular Clones, bringing the grand total to 10 billion.

So now, while conducting technological R&D, stockpiling Clones, and amassing Unified Force Field equipment, Li Qingsong was also undertaking another, equally crucial task.

In the previous war with the Harville Civilization, the Wukong AI had only performed at a conventional level. Its performance was acceptable, but mediocre.

This was unacceptable to Li Qingsong.

When facing a powerful opponent like the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity, he had to push every single aspect to its absolute limit to have any hope of victory.

‘In that case, it was time to take care of that matter he had been putting off for so long.’

He would conduct live-fire exercises to train the Wukong AI!

And so, the thunder of cannon fire once again erupted in the space that had just returned to peace. On average, over a thousand Unmanned Warships were destroyed every day.

Beyond the Unmanned Warships, the consumption rate of other unmanned combat facilities—Interstellar Cannon Platforms, Landmines, Missiles, artillery shells, satellites, Detectors, and more—climbed to a level that would leave an ordinary Strong Core Civilization utterly dumbfounded.

Li Qingsong unleashed his vast industrial manufacturing capabilities without restraint, wholeheartedly supplying the live-fire exercises and nurturing the Wukong AI’s rapid growth.

Time slipped by quietly amidst Li Qingsong’s flurry of activity. In the blink of an eye, more than a decade had passed.

During this time, the Stellar activity of the Lyra G16 Star had consistently maintained that pattern with biological signatures.

But since it hadn’t caused him any other trouble, Li Qingsong paid it no mind.

Until today, when a high-energy laser beam of unknown origin suddenly struck one of Li Qingsong’s Warships.

This Warship was stationed near the star to guard against the beings of the Electromagnetic Celestial Calamity, preventing them from leaving the star and causing him trouble again.

The laser beam immediately put Li Qingsong on high alert.

A review of all his current combat forces showed that none of his units had fired a laser beam in that direction.

Furthermore, the laser beam had come from the direction of the star.

Li Qingsong’s first reaction was that the Electromagnetic Celestial Calamity beings were acting up again.

But in the next moment, Li Qingsong realized it hadn’t been fired by the Electromagnetic Celestial Calamity beings.

Under normal circumstances, laser beams couldn’t travel very far, as they would rapidly diffuse over distance, causing their energy density to decay.

His detection equipment hadn’t picked up any approaching Celestial Calamity beings. At the same time, the type of Laser was also different from the ones the Celestial Calamity beings had fired before.

Its energy was higher, its destructive power greater, and its radiation signature far more chaotic.

‘It wasn’t fired by me, and it wasn’t fired by the Celestial Calamity beings… So… who could it be?’

A sense of gravity instantly washed over Li Qingsong.