Chip

Having just acquired new clone bodies and now possessing an abundance of consciousness-link capacity, Li Qingsong was flush with resources. He immediately threw ten thousand clones into chip research and development, determined to achieve a breakthrough in automation in the shortest possible time.

The ten thousand clones were divided into several major teams. One team researched Capacitors and Resistors, another researched Transistors, another studied materials, another worked on chemical processing, and another researched chip architecture—that was, the patterns by which those Transistors were to be assembled.

Those were the hardware divisions. The remaining clones went to research software.

Based on his current manufacturing capabilities, Li Qingsong intended to develop a matching programming language.

Hardware alone was not enough without software. Only with endlessly adaptable, customizable software could these chips suit a wide variety of industrial applications.

Inside the enormous laboratory, more than ten thousand clones were each busy at work. They still followed their previous research model: whenever one clone made progress, it was immediately synchronized to all the others.

Under those conditions, research into such primitive, simple chips progressed at an astonishing pace.

Before long, the first batch of Capacitors and Resistors was produced in the laboratory.

They were about five millimeters long and two millimeters in diameter, as tiny as grains of rice.

The clones carefully removed them and installed them into the equipment, measuring their performance bit by bit before continually adjusting and optimizing the manufacturing process.

After about a month, the first batch of individual components that met Li Qingsong's requirements had been produced.

Then, in one room, the final assembly work finally began.

Several dozen clones stood in a row, each wearing magnifying glasses. With tweezers in one hand and a soldering iron in the other, they soldered the rice-grain-sized components onto boards one by one. Then, using wires as fine as hair, they connected the tiny parts bit by bit according to the predetermined design.

It was an extremely difficult task.

Not only did the clones have to keep their bodies tense and their arm movements exceptionally precise—solder even a little too much and it could cause a short circuit; solder too little and the connection might not hold—but they also had to remain intensely focused.

Each circuit board required the soldering of more than a thousand rice-grain-sized components, with different components needing to be interconnected as well.

Not a single component could be placed incorrectly, nor could a single connection be wrong. One mistake, and the chip would not work.

Li Qingsong had no choice but to transfer the mental capacity of another hundred clones to this task. Only then did the clones responsible for soldering avoid becoming dizzy and mentally exhausted.

After a full day's work, the first batch of several dozen "chips" was finally completed.

Compared to the first-generation chips created in human history, the ones Li Qingsong had made were undoubtedly far more advanced.

At the very least, they did not use paper tape or magnetic tape as storage media. Instead, they stored data using something called a "Magnetic Drum."

It was roughly a cylindrical metal rod coated with magnetic material. Binary data was stored on the surface of the rod in the form of magnetized points.

This meant that even if the chip lost power, the data could remain stored on it for a long time. Once powered on again, the chip could reread the data from it.

A single metal rod could store roughly 1 KB of data. For the current stage, that was enough.

After completing the first batch of thirty "chips" and writing rudimentary programs onto the metal rods, Li Qingsong immediately directed the clones to take the chips to a metal-casting production line.

It was a screw production line. Previously, fifteen clones had needed to remain on duty at all times to ensure its smooth operation.

One clone was responsible for feeding materials, another for adjusting the speed of the conveyor belt, and another for sorting screws of different specifications and sending them to two separate processing stages.

Now, Li Qingsong installed the thirty "chips" at different positions along the production line.

One chip was responsible for counting how many screws passed along the conveyor belt each minute. After tallying them, it read the belt's current speed. Through calculations performed by its internal program, it could determine whether the belt was running too fast or too slow, then automatically issue commands to adjust its speed.

As a result, the clone who had previously spent all day there solely to adjust the conveyor belt's speed could be reassigned to other work.

Another chip could read the Instrument Panel, determine the current temperature of the forging furnace, and automatically adjust the fuel conveyor belt's speed accordingly, increasing or decreasing it as needed.

The clone who had been responsible for monitoring the forging furnace and adding fuel could also be reassigned.

Yet another chip could read a compact weighing device, automatically identify the specifications of the screw that had just passed through, and decide which subsequent process it should be sent to.

The clone previously responsible for sorting screws could likewise be reassigned.

After these several dozen "chips" were installed, the production line started up once more.

Li Qingsong saw that the line, which had previously required fifteen clones to operate, could now run with only four clones—and its efficiency was even higher than before!

After all, even when clones gave it their all, they still needed to sleep, eat, and rest. Chips were different. As long as they had power and did not break, they could work until the end of time, until the universe itself came to an end!

The transformation of the first automated production line was a tremendous success.

Thrilled, Li Qingsong immediately made a decision.

"We need to mechanize and mass-produce Capacitors, Resistors, Transistors, Magnetic Drums, connecting wires, and circuit boards. Then we need to mechanize and mass-assemble them, installing them in every base, every factory, and every production line!"

Thus, the ten thousand clones originally responsible for researching chip technology were immediately reassigned as the workers of Li Qingsong's first Chip Factory.

After more than two months of work, the clones had built several production lines. Components began flowing out in a continuous stream before all being sent to the final production line for packaging.

There, they were encased in iron shells and filled with Argon, protecting them from dust, impacts, and rust while greatly extending their working lifespan.

The most basic chip measured 10 × 8 × 3 cm and could handle the most fundamental tasks, such as reading measurements and performing simple calculations.

But Li Qingsong also produced larger chips.

It was the last day of the year. Please vote with your monthly passes!!!!!

Also, with the new year beginning tomorrow, there will be an extra chapter. All three chapters will be released after midnight tonight, so there will be no update tomorrow at noon.

Wishing everyone a happy New Year's Day and a happy New Year—and please vote with your monthly passes!!!!!