Industrial Zone

At this moment, the interior of Base Two no longer consisted only of uneven ground piled with rubble. There were also large quantities of cables, Planting Shelves, and other items stacked there.

Construction of the Planting Shelves could not begin just yet. The ground had to be leveled first.

Large amounts of rubble were hauled away in small carts, and the uneven spots were hammered flat. After some rough leveling, the ground was still far from smooth, but at least it was no longer as messy as before.

If he insisted on making it completely level, Li Qingsong could manage it now. He would only need to burn lime and make cement. But there was no need.

Why make it look so nice? As long as it worked, that was enough.

Once the ground had been roughly leveled, the fifteen clones busied themselves laying cables throughout the cave according to the blueprint. Only after that did they begin assembling the Planting Shelves.

Of this enormous cave, with a total area of roughly 11,000 square meters, around 8,000 square meters had been designated as the Planting Area.

In addition, following a standardized development model, Li Qingsong had set aside a 200-square-meter storage area with a total volume of 1,000 cubic meters, as well as a 300-square-meter dormitory.

The dormitory had triple-decker beds, with a total of one hundred beds that could house three hundred people.

There was also a 100-square-meter cafeteria and kitchen, a 100-square-meter warehouse, a 100-square-meter equipment room, and 200 square meters for the Nutrient Solution Preparation Room, Garbage Recycling Station, and the like. In short, the goal was to ensure the clones could survive within the base without ever needing to step outside.

This would reduce both risks and Spacesuit usage.

Even the cheap, low-quality Spacesuits were one less every time one broke at this stage. They had to be used sparingly.

As for issues like crowding and cramped space, Li Qingsong did not consider them at all.

The clones had no self-awareness. Why did they need to be comfortable?

Of the 8,000 square meters of Planting Area, 3,000 square meters would have four levels, giving it 12,000 square meters of planting space. It would still be used to grow sweet potatoes.

Every three months, it could produce around 80,000 kilograms of sweet potatoes.

Another 3,000 square meters would have two levels, creating 6,000 square meters of planting space. Li Qingsong used it to grow wheat.

It also matured once every three months. The wheat harvested every three months could be milled into roughly 4,000 kilograms of flour.

The remaining area was used for peanuts, soybeans, rapeseed, sunflowers, sorghum, cotton, various vegetables, and so on, occupying a total of 2,000 square meters.

For the final remaining 2,000 square meters, Li Qingsong did not plant crops. Instead, he used it to raise livestock and poultry.

For poultry, Li Qingsong chose chickens.

They laid eggs, provided meat, were easy to raise, and took up little space. Not raising chickens would have been absurd.

Then there were pigs, cattle, and sheep.

Not only could these animals provide meat, their hides, fur, bones, and other parts had many industrial uses. They were not needed at this stage, but Li Qingsong still had to make preparations in advance.

For example, animal fat could be made into lubricants, while hides and fur could be used as insulating materials.

All told, if Base Two operated at full capacity, it could support at least four hundred people.

And it would support them with balanced nutrition—carbohydrates, protein, fiber, vitamins, and every other kind of nutrient fully covered, while still taking taste into account—not merely keep them alive on sweet potatoes like before.

Some clones had eaten so many sweet potatoes that even without consciousness, they had reached the point of instinctively feeling sick at the sight of them.

For the sake of long-term use, Li Qingsong had no choice but to consider such matters.

And even without using any automation technology—Li Qingsong did not possess such technology anyway—Base Two would only need around eighty people to operate at full capacity.

In other words, Base Two could support four hundred people with an input of eighty people, for an input-output ratio as high as five to one!

This would free up more manpower for Li Qingsong to develop industry and advance science and technology.

But...

Unfortunately, Base Two was still far from operating at full capacity.

"It's still the population problem. There are too few people. Even counting the batch of clones being cultivated now, I only have thirty-seven people in total. But at least I won't have to worry about food for a long time. I just need to focus on increasing the population."

With a sigh, Li Qingsong controlled the clones and began constructing the Planting Shelves.

In the end, all the shelves were built, but only a small portion of them was put into use.

There was no helping it. There simply were not enough hands.

Base One had already stopped planting. All the film had been recovered, and all the clones had been transferred back to Base Two.

Of the thirty-two clones at this moment, only seven were responsible for planting and livestock raising.

Including the two stationed aboard the Deep Space spacecraft, the two on the Mining Team, and the three fire tenders, eighteen clones remained.

Li Qingsong put all eighteen of those clones into another grand project that filled him with excitement.

Like the standardized Planting Area, Li Qingsong intended to use a standardized construction method to build an Industrial Zone!

Of course, this was not something that could be completed in a short time, nor could it be done with the few people he had now.

Li Qingsong had set a ten-year timeline for this project!

Over ten years, he would build it bit by bit, increase the population bit by bit, and create a comprehensive Industrial Zone!

Li Qingsong did not intend to build this Industrial Zone inside a cave.

The cave was ultimately too cramped, leaving no room to work.

He planned to build this Industrial Zone directly within the canyon.

Anything that did not require atmospheric pressure would be left out in the open. Anything that did would simply be sealed off with steel plates. After all, he now possessed the ability to smelt and process metal.

Within this Industrial Zone, Li Qingsong would make unified, coordinated plans for all future industries, such as the energy industry, metallurgical industry, Metal Processing Industry, machinery industry, chemical industry, and so on.

Of these, the chemical industry was what Li Qingsong valued most.

The reason was simple. The bodies of the clone Culture Pods were easy to manufacture, and the initial cell processing and gene editing could also be completed using the equipment aboard Deep Space.

The only obstacle to rapidly expanding the population lay in preparing the nutrient solution.

And that required the chemical industry to develop to a certain stage.

Once he possessed a certain level of chemical capability, he could prepare nutrient solution himself and cultivate clones on a large scale.

By then, he would no longer have to wait painstakingly for half a year just to gain five clones.

That was only because he had not encountered any accidents and had not lost any clones. If his luck were worse, with such a small replenishment rate, he might not even be replacing them as fast as they died.

Planning such a comprehensive, massive Industrial Zone was extraordinarily difficult. It was not something one person could accomplish.

Even working himself to death would not be enough.

But that was fine. At this moment, Li Qingsong had a full thirty-two brains at his disposal.

And they were thirty-two brains with no barriers to communication, no cost of communication, no misunderstandings, and no Internal Friction.