A Good Day

At this stage, Li Qingsong divided his total of twelve bodies into two shifts.

Two bodies remained permanently aboard the Deep Space, preventing them from all being wiped out should something happen on Luoshen Star's surface. At the same time, these two bodies took on the task of studying, constantly searching the Deep Space's database for information and learning without interruption.

The two bodies rested in shifts. Whenever one body fell asleep, Li Qingsong's consciousness transferred to the other, continuing to study and remaining awake.

Of the ten clones on Luoshen Star's surface, two were permanently assigned as stokers, specifically responsible for feeding fuel into the Steam Engine.

Naturally, they rested in shifts as well. Each clone worked twelve hours a day, while the remaining twelve hours were spent sleeping, eating, using the toilet, taking short breaks, and so on.

Two clones were just enough to handle the work.

Of the remaining eight clones, four were tasked with driving Planetary Rovers to search for and mine minerals, continuously bringing back oxygen ore and tholin ore for the Steam Engine. They also took responsibility for piloting the Landing Spaceship between space and the surface, transporting supplies and equipment.

That left only the final four clones—when working in shifts, only two clones at a time were responsible for constructing the internal facilities of Base One.

Li Qingsong could not help but sigh. There are still too few clones. There simply aren't enough.

But there was nothing he could do at this stage. Without sufficient food and energy supplies, rashly increasing the number of clones would only lead to everyone starving to death.

If progress was slow, then so be it. Li Qingsong could only calm himself and take things slowly.

After a full half month of work, the Planting Shelves inside Base One were finally more or less complete. The Sunlight Lamps dismantled from the Deep Space had all been installed on the racks as well.

There were two hundred of them in total, each Sunlight Lamp rated at fifty watts. That meant the lamps alone consumed ten kilowatt-hours of electricity every hour.

Add to that the need to charge the Spacesuit batteries, recharge the Planetary Rovers, and occasionally meet other electrical demands, and they had immediately reached the limit of this Steam Engine.

Even running at full power, this Steam Generator had an installed capacity of only thirteen kilowatts.

"Take it slowly."

Li Qingsong thought, Let's get Base One sorted out first.

Once the Planting Shelves were built, the Sunlight Lamps began shining, and the nutrient solution was prepared using the powders ground by the grinder.

The waste left over from preparing the nutrient solution, such as the small stones, was not discarded. Instead, Li Qingsong spread it evenly across the Planting Shelves to serve as anchoring material for the plants' roots.

The nutrient solution, rich in the substances needed for plant growth, was carefully poured into the trays by one clone, while another just as carefully inserted Sweet Potato Vines into the anchoring material one by one.

Completing this work took another day. Only when a clone's stomach was starving to the limit did Li Qingsong control him to grab something to eat.

Another clone was suffering from stomach cramps and had no choice but to use the toilet first.

As for the feces he produced, they certainly could not be thrown away.

Those feces were highly useful to Li Qingsong.

They were rich in the organic matter and microorganisms needed for plant growth, indispensable materials for preparing nutrient solution.

During this period, Li Qingsong carefully collected every clone's feces, unwilling to waste even a little.

Once all of this was done, Li Qingsong finally breathed a sigh of relief.

All that remained was to tend to the sweet potatoes each day and slowly wait for them to mature.

Base One currently had a total area of two hundred square meters. Aside from necessary functional facilities such as the toilet, the Nutrient Solution Preparation Room, and essential passageways, he had designated the remaining roughly one hundred sixty square meters as the Planting Area.

The Planting Shelves had four levels, bringing the total planting area to six hundred forty square meters, just under one mu.

Of those six hundred forty square meters, Li Qingsong had planted this specially cultivated sweet potato across six hundred square meters.

This sweet potato took only three months to mature and had a relatively high yield.

Earth's experimental data showed that, under ideal conditions, its maximum yield could reach 6,500 kilograms per mu.

But conditions on Luoshen Star were crude, so Li Qingsong naturally could not expect such high yields. By his estimate, achieving seventy percent of the maximum yield—around 4,500 kilograms per mu—would be enough.

That meant each harvest from the six hundred square meters of sweet potatoes was expected to yield around four thousand kilograms of tubers.

With meat currently in short supply, the twelve bodies, including his original body, needed an average of roughly three kilograms of raw sweet potatoes each day as their staple food to maintain their strength.

Of course, eating only sweet potatoes would not do. But there were still reserves of other foods and meat aboard the Deep Space that could provide some additional nutrition. Li Qingsong merely planned to make sweet potatoes their staple food and reduce the consumption of other supplies.

That meant they would consume thirty-six kilograms of sweet potatoes a day, or about three thousand kilograms over three months.

This way, Base One's output would not only fully cover their current consumption but even leave some surplus.

Furthermore, sweet potato leaves could be used to feed pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens, ducks, and geese. People could even eat them as vegetables, providing yet another source of food.

On the remaining forty square meters of planting area, Li Qingsong planted some oil-producing crops such as peanuts and rapeseed. But because the planting area was so small, they would not produce much, serving only as an additional supplement.

Once this batch of sweet potatoes is harvested, my food reserves will be much more ample, and I can cultivate another batch of clones.

Li Qingsong silently considered, *At that time, I'll build more bases, produce more food, and support more clones.

Once there are enough clones, I can try to develop industry, starting from nothing and gradually advancing industry and technology.*

As he looked at the Planting Shelves before him, where no crops had yet grown, all twelve of Li Qingsong's heads were filled with visions of the future.

Time passed as the clones continuously studied, mined, transported supplies, tended plants, and fed fuel into the Steam Engine. In the blink of an eye, three months went by.

During this time, Li Qingsong personally witnessed every stage of the sweet potatoes' growth. He watched tender sprouts unfurl into stems and leaves, watched the sparse Sweet Potato Vines gradually cover the Planting Shelves, and watched sweet potato tubers slowly form at the roots, growing larger and larger.

Today was a good day. Every one of Li Qingsong's bodies was beaming with joy, practically striding on air.

Because three months had passed, and today was the day the sweet potatoes would be harvested!