Chapter 311 Explosive Growth

The previous Flying Star from the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity only had a radius of 100 kilometers.

Going from 100 to 150 kilometers might not seem like a huge leap, but assuming an identical density, this new Flying Star’s total mass was nearly 3.4 times that of the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity’s.

Its total mass reached 5,660 trillion tons, whereas the total mass of Earth’s atmosphere is only about 5,150 trillion tons.

On Earth, 5,150 trillion tons of atmosphere create wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, protecting all life as it grows. And now, Li Qingsong had packed up a mass equivalent to more than an entire atmosphere, intending to use it as “provisions” for his journey.

This massive “planetoid” had an orbital velocity of 50 meters per second and an escape velocity of 71 meters per second. Anything moving slower than that would be trapped by its gravity, unable to ever leave.

The pressure at its core, a result of its own mass, was five times Earth’s atmospheric pressure. An ordinary, non-genetically modified human would likely be crushed to death instantly upon arrival.

Now, all preparations were complete.

After destroying all traces of his presence, Li Qingsong took one last, long look at the star system he had briefly visited. Then, he set out on his journey once more.

His heading: 16 degrees off the direction of the Galactic Core, following the path of the Purple Moon Civilization.

Li Qingsong didn’t know if he could catch up to the Purple Moon Civilization. Too much time had passed; in all those years, their main fleet could have easily changed course.

But Li Qingsong knew that he had to try, even if there was only one chance in ten thousand.

‘Of course, with this Flying Star accompanying me, my technological research and development won’t be hindered.’

The star behind them gradually faded as the massive fleet entered the vastness of space once more.

「Several years passed.」

The fleet had completed its acceleration, and its speed was now constant at 55% of the speed of light.

This was an improvement on his previous cruising speed, a result of having partially digested and absorbed some Harville and Intelligent Mechanical Calamity technology. The improvement wasn’t significant, however, because he had only just begun the process of assimilation.

With his current R&D capabilities, it would take Li Qingsong several hundred, if not a thousand, years to fully absorb the technological data, which was as vast as a starry sky.

‘But that’s fine. The journey is long, and I have plenty of time to study it all.’

As the fleet entered an inertial cruise, Li Qingsong immediately dedicated himself completely to the task of researching, digesting, and absorbing the new technological data.

The Blutuk People and the Viller People also joined the effort wholeheartedly.

As for the 19 rescued races, they lacked the ability to participate for now, having been enslaved for too long. But that was fine. Supporting them for the time being wouldn’t consume many resources, and Li Qingsong had time to wait for them to grow.

「More than a hundred years passed quietly.」

Li Qingsong finally achieved his first technological breakthrough.

Even Li Qingsong himself was somewhat surprised that the first major breakthrough was in biotechnology.

The Viller People and Black Mountain People had different body structures from humans, but they were all ultimately carbon-based lifeforms. They were all composed of cells, which in turn were made of microscopic particles, all governed by the same chemical reactions and physical laws.

It wasn’t as if stomach acid could digest food in humans but not in the Black Mountain People.

Based on these similarities, Li Qingsong developed a more optimized genetic modification regimen. After cultivating a new batch of Clones, he eagerly transferred his consciousness into one and immediately discovered that his maximum number of consciousness connections had increased dramatically once again.

He linked his consciousness to all 5 billion Clones that were currently awake, and still hadn’t reached his limit.

Left with no other choice, Li Qingsong had to awaken some of the hibernating Clones. He continued until the number of active Clones reached 7.969 billion, at which point he finally felt his limit.

‘This is just the first batch of new-type Clones. Once their numbers increase in the future, the maximum number of consciousness connections will rise a bit more. I estimate it will eventually stabilize at just over 8 billion.’

Li Qingsong was filled with elation.

From 3.5 billion to 8 billion—more than double the previous limit!

‘A maximum of 8 billion consciousness connections means that the number of regularly active Clones needs to reach 12 billion. Including reserve Clones, the total number of Clones under my command will need to increase to around 30 billion to be sufficient.’

Currently, Li Qingsong only had 10 billion Clones in total, leaving a deficit of 20 billion.

‘But that’s no problem. With this Flying Star, I have plenty of materials. I’ll just have to create more!’

‘With a maximum of 8 billion consciousness connections, my speed of technological digestion and absorption will increase dramatically. A task that would have originally taken a thousand years can now likely be completed in just three or four hundred.’

‘Moreover, my future R&D capabilities will skyrocket.’

‘Also, with the maximum connections increased to 8 billion, it means the next time I use the Unified Force Field, I’ll be able to simultaneously control 8 billion Clones contributing their biological intelligence.’

‘The sheer amount of biological intelligence contributed by 8 billion Clones… If I channel all of that into the Unified Force Field…’

‘How high will its predictive accuracy become? How much more powerful will it be?’

Li Qingsong was filled with anticipation.

After this new surge in his maximum consciousness connections, the pace of all Li Qingsong’s work immediately quickened.

In a mere 50 years, he completed a full analysis of the source code and data for the Red Dog AI and the Harville Civilization Main AI. He also finished a complete restructuring of his own AIs, such as Wukong, Nuwa, Divine Craft, and the Jade Emperor.

This time, Li Qingsong didn’t intend to keep his AIs segregated by specialty. Instead, he planned to adopt the model of the Black Mountain Civilization and merge them all into a single entity.

One AI to rule them all.

This new AI system—based on Li Qingsong’s original framework but having absorbed and integrated the Red Dog AI and the Harville Civilization Main AI—was now being ported to the Supercomputer Mother Ship that Li Qingsong had built especially for it.

This Supercomputer Mother Ship was a retrofitted behemoth, converted from an entire massive Space-Air Carrier. It housed nothing but nuclear fusion power plants and Supercomputing Bases.

Three Space-Air Carriers, loaded with fusion fuel and spare parts, were assigned as dedicated supply ships to service it.

Over 1,000 nuclear fusion plants began operating simultaneously. Powered by this surging energy supply, tens of thousands of Supercomputing Bases entered a full-power operational state.

A calm voice, brimming with intelligence, spoke in Li Qingsong’s ear.

“Honored Master, I have awakened. All systems are nominal.”

After reviewing the new AI’s operational status, Li Qingsong immediately confirmed that its level of intelligence far surpassed that of the Red Dog AI.

Compared to his previous AI system, its performance had skyrocketed by more than a dozen times!

“Excellent. Excellent. First, you need a name. Hmm… From now on, you shall be called… Primordial!”