Harvest

On this day, apart from the two bodies stationed aboard the Deep Space and the one body responsible for fueling the steam turbine, the remaining nine clones all gathered at No. 1 Planting Base.

The nine clones worked together. Some were specifically responsible for harvesting the sweet potatoes, some for transporting them, and some for gathering up the sweet potato vines. The remaining clones sorted out the fixtures and recovered the nutrient solution. Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.

After a full day of work, the sweet potatoes from this plot of less than one mu were all harvested and piled in a corner of No. 1 Planting Base.

Looking at the towering pile of sweet potatoes of all sizes before him, Li Qingsong's heart was filled with joy.

He had already weighed the sweet potatoes. The result was a total weight of 520 kilograms!

Of course, that was due to Luoshen Star's relatively weak gravity. If they were on Earth, this huge pile of sweet potatoes would weigh around 4,160 kilograms.

Li Qingsong had initially estimated only 4,000 kilograms. He had not expected the yield to slightly exceed his expectations, producing an extra 160 kilograms.

"With these sweet potatoes, adding five more clones won't be a problem at all."

Looking at the sweet potatoes, Li Qingsong felt deeply satisfied.

At that moment, five brand-new clone bodies were developing aboard the Deep Space.

The seeds for those five clones had begun cultivation as soon as the first batch of sweet potatoes was planted. The cultivation process was now more than halfway complete. By the time the next batch of sweet potatoes was harvested, they were expected to truly be born and give Li Qingsong another group of helpers.

Besides the sweet potatoes, the small amount of peanuts and rapeseed Li Qingsong had planted had also been harvested, though there was only a little.

The peanut harvest came to about 8 kilograms, while there were only 7 kilograms of rapeseed.

There was not enough to press much oil from it anyway. Li Qingsong simply kept it all as seeds for later use.

He left some sweet potatoes at Base One and used the Landing Spaceship to transport all the rest to the Deep Space for storage.

There were no storage conditions on Luoshen Star, and they would spoil if left too long. At this stage, they could only be stored aboard the spaceship.

Transported to the Deep Space along with the sweet potatoes were over a thousand kilograms of sweet potato vines. The livestock, chickens, ducks, and geese in the spaceship's cultivation room finally got to enjoy a change of flavor.

And it was not just the livestock, chickens, ducks, and geese. Li Qingsong also picked out some tender sweet potato vines, blanched them, and stir-fried a whole pot. The clones, who were used to eating Vitamin Tablets, finally got to eat fresh vegetables alongside the main body. Both mentally and physically, they felt much happier.

After completing the first harvest, the second batch of sweet potatoes was planted right away.

There were no seasonal restrictions in the planting base anyway, so they could begin planting whenever they wanted.

Preparing the nutrient solution was more troublesome. However, with the accumulation of feces over this period, supplemented by crushed discarded plant stalks, the supply of nutrient solution could barely keep up.

For Li Qingsong, no organic matter went to waste—whether it was feces from clones or livestock, livestock hair and bones, or plant stalks. Everything was processed into nourishment for the plants' next growth cycle.

As the new batch of sweet potatoes was planted, all twelve bodies returned to their previous routine for the next three months.

Two clones remained aboard the Deep Space to study, two worked as stokers, four mined, and four tended the plants. They remained busy, with no rest days and no vacations.

Their food consisted mainly of sweet potatoes, supplemented by the small reserves of meat, grains, and Vitamin Tablets aboard the Deep Space. They slept in the aisles between the Planting Shelves in the planting base, where a blanket spread on the floor served as a bed.

The Landing Spaceship, which had had much of its internal equipment removed, did have two beds, but it was cramped and narrow.

Even so, only clones who felt unwell or were excessively exhausted were qualified to sleep there for a night.

Fortunately, these clones had no consciousness of their own and would not complain. If they had been normal humans, they probably would have rebelled long ago.

Time passed for another three months under these circumstances.

On this day, Li Qingsong's spirits rose once again.

The sweet potatoes at No. 1 Planting Base had another bountiful harvest, yielding over 4,000 kilograms of sweet potatoes and a large amount of sweet potato vines.

But that was not the main reason for Li Qingsong's excitement. What made him happiest was the birth of five brand-new clone bodies.

After half a year of careful cultivation, they had finally developed from a few initial cells into humans and could be born.

Under Li Qingsong's control, the two bodies stationed aboard the spaceship carefully operated the Culture Pods, drained and collected the Culture Medium, then opened them. They carried the five clones, still in deep comas, into the observation room and waited for them to awaken.

At the same time, five new cell samples were placed into the Culture Pods, and cultivation began once more.

A few hours later, the five clones opened their eyes one after another. But without self-awareness, they continued lying quietly on their beds without making any movement.

Li Qingsong's thoughts shifted, and his consciousness instantly spread over to connect with their brains. The next moment, the five clones stood up.

At first, their movements were somewhat stiff and unnatural. But after some adaptive training, their bodies quickly returned to normal.

A meal that was easy to digest and rich in nutrition had already been prepared and was waiting for them.

After eating the first meal of their lives, resting briefly, and undergoing some adaptive training, they put on five sets of pre-prepared mismatched spacesuits.

"Get to work."

The Landing Spaceship roared away from the mother ship and landed on Luoshen Star once more.

With the addition of these five clones, Li Qingsong's shortage of manpower was finally alleviated.

But at the same time, a new problem emerged.

"Seventeen clones consume 51 kilograms of fresh sweet potatoes every day. Over three months, that's 4,590 kilograms.

"Once the next batch of five clones is born, we'll consume nearly 6,000 kilograms every three months.

"At that rate, even if No. 1 Planting Base operates at full capacity, there'll still be a shortfall of around 2,000 kilograms every quarter.

"After half a year of consumption, the sweet potatoes produced by No. 1 Planting Base have left less than 2,000 kilograms in reserve, enough for only one quarter.

"After one quarter, we'll have to dip into our reserves. That won't do."

Li Qingsong thought to himself, Now that we have enough manpower, it's time to expand the planting base.