Base

At this moment, the ten clones wore thin, dark-yellow Spacesuits, each wrapped round and round with tape like interstellar refugees.

This tape was mainly used to hold the plastic-film Spacesuits in shape, preventing them from swelling into balls due to excessive internal pressure.

Yet rings of air still bulged out through the gaps in the tape, like flab.

Inside their Spacesuits, the clones wore heavy clothing, doing everything they could to keep their body heat from escaping.

Battery-heated air flowed from the vents, blowing across the Spacesuits' visors to prevent frosting while also supplying precious oxygen to the inside.

A battery-powered Lighting Lamp, much like a Mining Lamp, was mounted above their heads.

It couldn't be helped. Luoshen Star was far too dark; they couldn't do without lighting.

After sensing the clones' bodies, Li Qingsong found no discomfort.

They were just slightly cold. He did not know whether it was psychological or physiological. But it did not matter. Once they could no longer bear the cold, they could simply return to the Landing Spaceship's cabin to warm up.

The ten clones disembarked and truly stood upon the ground of Luoshen Star, carefully feeling its gravity, only about eight percent of Earth's.

Here, a human weighing 100 kilograms would weigh only around 8 kilograms.

Here, every ordinary person was a strongman.

Four clones drove Planetary Rovers away from the landing site to search the surrounding area for needed minerals. The remaining six went to a Landing Spaceship, removed every piece of equipment that could be dismantled, temporarily placed it on the ground, then worked together to forcibly lift the Landing Spaceship, whose mass had been reduced to five tons.

Of course, though its mass was five tons, it weighed only 400 kilograms here. Six clones could easily lift it.

Beside the landing site lay a deep gorge. The six clones carefully coordinated, carrying the Landing Spaceship down a relatively gentle slope to the bottom of the gorge, where the cave that had long been surveyed awaited.

The cave recessed inward by roughly thirty meters. It was twenty meters wide and about five meters high.

This gave it an interior space of around six hundred square meters, most of it protected on all sides by Luoshen Star's thick rock.

Under the Mining Lamps, Li Qingsong saw uneven, dark-red ground almost identical to the surface outside.

That was Tholin, a peculiar copolymer molecule nonexistent on Earth, found only on distant planets far from the Sun, formed through high-energy interstellar radiation and a series of complex mechanisms.

They could come in many colors, but most were reddish-brown or dark red.

This substance was widespread on distant Dwarf Planets such as Luoshen Star. It was because of them that Luoshen Star appeared dark red.

Like frozen Dry Ice, methane, ethane, Water Ice, oxygen, nitrogen, and Luoshen Star's surface rocks, these Tholins were exceptionally tough—harder than even the toughest steel.

This was where Li Qingsong would build the first Luoshen Star Base.

After directing the six clones through another bout of work, all the supplies and equipment previously removed from the Landing Spaceship were brought here.

Then, an Electric Heating Equipment unit was connected to the Landing Spaceship's small fission reactor and began scorching the ground at high temperatures.

Huge quantities of gas instantly formed and sublimated directly into the vacuum. Some escaped Luoshen Star's gravitational field outright, while others cooled and solidified again after traveling some distance, falling and piling up like flakes of snow.

After clearing an open area of around two hundred square meters, the six clones worked together once more, using simple tools to level the ground.

It took a full three days of work to complete everything.

During that time, because of the extreme cold, the clones had to return to the Landing Spaceship's cabin every few hours to rest briefly, warm themselves, and eat something.

Once warm, they came back out and resumed working.

The plastic film making up the Spacesuits was also damaged several times during the process. Grayish-white gas could often be seen shooting from a clone's body like a jet.

But it was fine. If there was a tear, they simply sealed it with tape. It did not affect the work.

Once the ground had finally been cleared, the six clones took out a large quantity of the same plastic film used to make Spacesuits and carefully spread it out.

It had been processed beforehand into a huge tent.

Of course, with no gas inside it yet, it had not inflated and merely lay piled on the ground.

At this point, the four clones who had gone searching for minerals also returned in their Planetary Rovers.

Their cargo beds were loaded with "ore" of various colors.

Among them, oxygen frozen solid by the extremely low temperatures was pale blue, solid nitrogen was transparent, and Dry Ice was white.

Naturally, because they contained large amounts of impurities, these colors were not pure.

On Luoshen Star, these gases had also become substances like ores, which could be mined chunk by chunk.

The clones carried the ores into the film tent, connected the small Nuclear Fission power station, sealed the tent, and then began carefully heating the ores.

Large quantities of gas rapidly formed, inflating the limp tent as though it were being pumped full of air. It gradually swelled into a structure covering around two hundred square meters and standing two meters tall.

This "house" even had an Airlock at its entrance.

It had two doors, which enclosed a separate chamber. When the clones entered or left the house, they first entered the Airlock, where air could be extracted or released as needed, preventing gas from escaping.

Once the tent had finally inflated, the clones outside busied themselves securing it with tether lines, while those inside connected the power and installed several Lighting Lamps.

The lights switched on, revealing the entire empty two-hundred-square-meter hall.

Because the gases had just been heated, the temperature inside the tent was not low at all. It was over twenty degrees Celsius.

One clone tried opening his Spacesuit and took a breath of the outside air. Slightly pungent air entered his lungs.

"It's a little choking, probably because of impurities. But it won't have much effect."

Looking at the empty hall, Li Qingsong's heart filled with gratification.

He seemed to see rows upon rows of soilless cultivation Planting Shelves, covered in lush green vegetables, golden rice, and wheat.

"This is the first base I've built on Luoshen Star.

Next, it's time to try growing vegetables and crops here. Once I have enough food, I'll create more clones."

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