Chapter Summaries

After losing contact with Earth and being told not to return, Li Qingsong gave in to despair and grew a human clone to test his recurring hallucination. He discovered that he could genuinely control both his own body and the clone, leaving him with a second body and a startling new possibility.

• On the 65th day without contact, Li Qingsong reread Earth’s final message, “Don't come back! Don't return!”, and realized he had no way to return without the Earth team’s trajectory plan.
• Li Qingsong’s suppressed hallucination returned as he worried that Earth and human civilization might be gone, while he faced the prospect of dying alone aboard the spacecraft.
• After months of abandoning his routine and losing interest in everything, Li Qingsong decided to use the large cultivation device to grow a clone of himself.
• Six months later, Li Qingsong awakened the adult clone and followed his hallucination by extending his consciousness toward it.
• Li Qingsong discovered that he could think with both brains and control both bodies at once.

After discovering that he could switch between bodies and coordinate their doubled mental and physical abilities, Li Qingsong regained hope of surviving on Luoshen Star. He studied the clone equipment, built four additional large Culture Pods, and turned to the problem of making more spacesuits.

• Li Qingsong realized he could freely switch between his original body and clone, avoid the limits of aging and illness, and multiply his abilities with more bodies.
• Li Qingsong decided to cultivate more clones, then studied the operating principles and engineering of clone equipment using both bodies in parallel.
• Li Qingsong dismantled small Culture Pods and assembled four crude large Culture Pods, bringing the total to five.
• Li Qingsong placed five sample cells into the Culture Pods for cultivation.
• Li Qingsong counted his four spacesuits and decided he needed at least eight more so twelve bodies could land on Luoshen Star.

Li Qingsong made twelve makeshift spacesuits so his clones could explore Luoshen Star, despite the planet’s lethal cold, vacuum, and radiation. With supplies aboard the Deep Space dwindling to a year, he sent ten clones down to the planet while keeping his original body and one clone aboard.

• Li Qingsong decided to build crude spacesuits from emergency sealing film, accepting that they would provide limited protection against the cold and radiation.
• After months of work, Li Qingsong and his clones completed twelve spacesuits and increased their number of bodies to twelve.
• Li Qingsong calculated that the Deep Space’s supplies would last only one more year with twelve bodies aboard.
• Li Qingsong left his original body and one clone on the Deep Space and sent the other ten clones toward Luoshen Star in two landing ships.
• The two landing ships touched down on Luoshen Star, and the clones saw its dark, cold, desolate surface.

Li Qingsong and his clones built the first base on Luoshen Star by clearing a sheltered cave and inflating a plastic-film tent with gases mined from the planet. With the base warm and lit, Li Qingsong planned to grow crops there and use the food to create more clones.

• Ten clones landed on Luoshen Star in taped, battery-heated Spacesuits and began setting up their base.
• Six clones carried the stripped-down Landing Spaceship into a surveyed cave while four others searched the surrounding area for minerals.
• The clones heated the cave floor to clear a two-hundred-square-meter area, then spread out a prepared plastic-film tent.
• The four mineral-searching clones returned with frozen oxygen, nitrogen, Dry Ice, and other ores, which the clones heated to inflate the tent.
• The clones secured and lit the tent, and Li Qingsong planned to grow vegetables and crops there before creating more clones.

Li Qingsong built a Steam Engine on Luoshen Star to power Base One and supply it with heat using Tholin and Solid Oxygen as fuel. After bringing over equipment from the Landing Spaceship, his clones raised Base One's temperature to 30 Celsius and began grinding mineral ores.

• Li Qingsong decided to build a Steam Turbine because the Landing Spaceship's fission reactor had too little fuel to provide Base One with lasting heat and electricity.
• Li Qingsong's clones built a Steam Engine, connected it to the Landing Spaceship's generator, and laid heating pipes across Base One.
• Li Qingsong ignited Tholin and Solid Oxygen in the Steam Engine, producing electricity that lit Base One and heat that warmed its floor and restored its atmosphere.
• Li Qingsong's clones moved equipment from the Landing Spaceship's Planting Area and a grinder to Base One.
• Li Qingsong's clones ran the Steam Engine at full power, raising Base One's temperature to 30 Celsius, while the grinder pulverized ores containing potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorus.

Li Qingsong organized his twelve bodies to build Base One and grow sweet potatoes as a staple food on Luoshen Star. After three months of tending the crop, he and his clones reached harvest day.

• Li Qingsong assigned his bodies to study, fuel the Steam Engine, mine and transport resources, and build Base One while limiting their numbers because food and power were scarce.
• His clones completed the planting shelves, installed two hundred Sunlight Lamps, prepared nutrient solution, and planted sweet potato vines across most of the growing area.
• Li Qingsong calculated that a successful harvest could feed his bodies and leave enough surplus to expand food production and create more clones.
• Over the next three months, Li Qingsong watched the sweet potatoes grow from sprouts into vines with developing tubers.
• Three months after planting, Li Qingsong and his bodies celebrated the arrival of harvest day.

Li Qingsong harvested a large crop of sweet potatoes, replanted the base, and waited as five new clones finished developing. Once they awakened and joined the workforce, he calculated that their growing food needs required him to expand No. 1 Planting Base.

• Li Qingsong harvested 520 kilograms of sweet potatoes, along with small amounts of peanuts and rapeseed, and stored most of the crops aboard the Deep Space.
• Li Qingsong replanted sweet potatoes and put the twelve bodies back to work for three months across the ship, mines, and planting base.
• Li Qingsong harvested more than 4,000 kilograms of sweet potatoes and welcomed five newly developed clones, who awakened and began working.
• Li Qingsong calculated that seventeen clones would consume more sweet potatoes than No. 1 Planting Base could produce, and decided to expand the planting base.

Li Qingsong and his clones expanded Base One into a six-hundred-square-meter planting base, adding a second steam turbine and greatly increasing sweet potato production. After three months, they harvested more than ten thousand kilograms of sweet potatoes and other crops, easing their immediate food crisis while Li Qingsong worried about the base’s fragile infrastructure and lack of an industrial system.

• Li Qingsong assigned clones to build a second steam turbine and clear, seal, and prepare the unused cave space for an expanded planting base.
• Li Qingsong connected the second turbine to a generator, and the clones merged the new space with the original Base One and planted crops across the enlarged shelves.
• Li Qingsong arranged the six-hundred-square-meter base for sweet potatoes, seed crops, storage, and other facilities, while assigning more clones to mining and stoking to meet its increased power demands.
• Three months later, Li Qingsong and the clones harvested more than ten thousand kilograms of sweet potatoes along with other crops.
• Li Qingsong welcomed the food reserves but worried that damage to the base’s film could destroy its atmosphere and crops, and hoped more clones would free workers for other tasks.

Li Qingsong used the equipment aboard Deep Space to build a blast furnace from scratch, hoping to begin industrial steel production on Luoshen Star. Because his generators could not power it and his iron ore supply was inadequate, he left it idle and built a 150-kilowatt Steam Generator instead.

• Li Qingsong decided steel was essential to expanding agriculture and industry, and designed a blast furnace using the basic principles in Deep Space’s knowledge base.
• Five new clones were born, bringing the population to twenty-two, while Li Qingsong completed the blast furnace blueprints.
• Li Qingsong and the clones smelted iron ore into Low Temperature Steel, processed it into parts, and assembled a crude blast furnace capable of producing around two hundred kilograms of steel per day.
• Li Qingsong found that the blast furnace required more power and iron ore than he could currently supply, so he left it unused.
• Li Qingsong built a 150-kilowatt Steam Generator with the help of eight clones.

Li Qingsong built a steam-powered tractor to solve the fuel shortage that kept the high-capacity generator and blast furnace from operating. After testing it with heavy loads, the clones used it to haul oxygen ore back to Base One, and Li Qingsong planned to reduce the Mining Team from five clones to two.

• Li Qingsong decided to build a tractor because the Mining Team could not supply enough fuel for another generator by hauling ore with the Planetary Rover.
• Li Qingsong and his clones studied tractor design, made blueprints, and spent over two months assembling a crude, mechanically powered steam tractor.
• A clone tested the tractor at speeds of up to ten kilometers per hour, then pulled a cargo bed loaded with six or seven tons of ore to confirm it could handle the weight.
• The clones drove the tractor to a distant oxygen ore deposit, cut out Solid Oxygen with Heat Dissipation Pipes, and loaded seven or eight tons of ore.
• The tractor returned to Base One and filled the Fuel Storage Point, allowing Li Qingsong to reduce the Mining Team from five clones to two.

Li Qingsong smelted his first batch of steel using machinery he had built himself, then used it to create seven kinds of metal-processing machines. With his clones nearing the limit of No. 1 Planting Base, he began planning a larger planting base but faced the challenge of producing Sunlight Lamps.

• Li Qingsong collected about ten tons of surface iron ore and hauled it back to his workshop.
• Li Qingsong used his Steam Generator and blast furnace to produce his first batch of steel, then repurposed the Multifunctional Metal Processing Equipment to make Nickel Ore and Chromium Ore.
• Li Qingsong and his clones built seven types of metal-processing machines over more than half a year, giving him basic metal-processing capabilities of his own.
• Li Qingsong decided to build a larger planting base in a nearby cave because No. 1 Planting Base could support only thirty-seven clones.
• Li Qingsong concluded that he needed to make Sunlight Lamps himself and considered producing glass tubes mechanically while crafting electrodes, ballasts, and starters by hand.

Li Qingsong and his clones built fluorescent lamps and the equipment for Planting Base Two, then prepared a vast cave on Luoshen Star as a sealed, heated growing facility. After filling it with a breathable atmosphere, Li Qingsong entered the empty base and declared it a good place.

• Li Qingsong assigned his clones to make glass tubes, fluorescent-lamp components, and planting shelves, and successfully assembled a working lamp.
• Li Qingsong and his clones spent several months completing the equipment for Planting Base Two, including a larger generator.
• Fifteen clones sealed the entrance of a surveyed 11,000-square-meter cave and installed floor-heating pipes.
• Li Qingsong heated the cave to release and vent its frozen gases, then had the clones add oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor.
• Li Qingsong entered Base Two without his Spacesuit, breathed the moist air, and called the cave a good place.

Li Qingsong finished organizing Base Two for future food production and planned a vast canyon Industrial Zone to expand industry and clone production. The project began with only a few of its planned workers available, leaving population growth as his main obstacle.

• Li Qingsong’s clones leveled the ground in Base Two, laid cables, and assembled Planting Shelves according to his plans.
• Li Qingsong designated space for crops, livestock, storage, and living facilities, designing Base Two to support four hundred people with about eighty workers.
• Li Qingsong put only a small portion of the Planting Shelves into use because he had just thirty-seven clones, including a new batch being cultivated.
• Li Qingsong assigned eighteen available clones to begin planning a standardized Industrial Zone in the canyon, with a ten-year timeline.
• Li Qingsong prioritized developing the chemical industry so he could prepare nutrient solution and cultivate clones on a larger scale.

Over ten years, Li Qingsong built an expanding industrial system on the dark-red planet, connecting power supplies and factories through a rudimentary electric grid. As the deadline passed with no further message from Earth, he looked toward the thriving lights on the planet and realized he could finally produce Clone Nutrient Solution.

• Li Qingsong reorganized power generation into an electric grid and established separate industrial zones for energy, metallurgy, metal processing, chemicals, and glass.
• Over the following years, Li Qingsong expanded his factories, tractors, and mining operations as the population under his command grew.
• Two clones died in the seventh year, while Li Qingsong developed chemical production, special-grade steel, and increasingly large industrial facilities.
• By the ten-year deadline, Li Qingsong's 135 clones had built a small but complete industrial foundation, though it had not achieved automation.
• Li Qingsong received no further message from Earth and looked toward the lights of his industrial settlement, pleased that he could now produce Clone Nutrient Solution.

Li Qingsong overcame the shortage of workers by producing his first batch of clones, though many embryos failed to develop. After half a year, 182 new clones awakened, raising his total bodies from 134 to 316.

• Li Qingsong used fifty clones to prepare nutrient solution and build 200 Culture Pods while the remaining clones worked longer hours to keep the facilities running.
• After two months, Li Qingsong filled the Culture Pods with Culture Medium and initial cells from the Deep Space spacecraft.
• Over the next half year, some embryos developed malformed, and Li Qingsong destroyed them.
• A total of 182 clones developed successfully and awakened after Li Qingsong placed them on beds.
• Li Qingsong connected with the new clones and gained 182 brains and bodies, increasing his total to 316.

After 182 clones joined Li Qingsong, he brought the Luoshen Star Base’s farms, mines, and factories to full operation and expanded its basic industries. Two years later, his workforce reached 1,100, and he prepared to build a large, specialized Steel Factory to support his ambitious plans.

• Li Qingsong assigned the new clones to the Planting Base, Chicken Farm, furnaces, metalworking machines, power grid, and mining transport, bringing the facilities into full operation.
• Li Qingsong put more than thirty idle clones to work building factories and planned multiple specialized bases, including a Steel Factory producing at least 100,000 tons annually.
• Li Qingsong continued cultivating clones and adding small-scale factories while waiting for production capacity to grow.
• Over two years, 800 clones joined Li Qingsong, bringing his total workforce to 1,100 after 20 cultivation attempts failed.
• Li Qingsong used the clones’ practical work to develop industrial knowledge and decided to begin planning a large, specialized Steel Factory.

Li Qingsong used his accumulated steel and more than a year of work to build a large, automated Low Temperature Steel factory capable of producing 100,000 tons annually. Since supporting infrastructure was still lacking, he began building a railway between Iron Mine No. 1 and Steel Factory No. 1.

• Li Qingsong spent his stockpiled steel and the year’s production on a new steel factory, while 350 clones worked around the clock to construct it.
• The factory’s seven specialized workshops and automated equipment were completed, creating a facility dedicated to Low Temperature Steel.
• Li Qingsong saw that the factory could produce 270 tons a day, though it could not yet operate at full capacity without supporting facilities.
• Li Qingsong led 800 clones and their machinery out of the Main Base to build a railway connecting Iron Mine No. 1 and Steel Factory No. 1.

Li Qingsong began building a 33-kilometer railway to transport the huge quantities of ore needed by his Steel Factory and dedicated Power Plant. As construction progressed quickly across Luoshen Star, he turned to Mechanical Factory No. 1 to build two electric locomotives.

• Li Qingsong calculated that the Steel Factory and Power Plant needed at least 1,300 tons of materials each day, making tractor transport impractical.
• Li Qingsong planned a 33-kilometer railway connecting the Main Base, Iron Mine No. 1, oxygen mines, and tholin deposits, with four stations.
• Eight hundred clones began construction from multiple locations, blasting a passage through a hill and clearing the rocks.
• Li Qingsong had the clones build a steel-framework bridge across a ravine and lay two tracks across the frozen surface.
• Li Qingsong devoted attention to Mechanical Factory No. 1, where he planned to build two electric locomotives.

Li Qingsong built and tested an electric locomotive, establishing a foundation for electrification and mechanized mining on Luoshen Star. With the railway more than eighty percent complete, he redeployed six hundred clones to establish three Branch Bases at the mining sites.

• Li Qingsong chose to build an electric locomotive and a centralized Power Plant, planning to use superconducting transmission lines to power his bases.
• More than twenty clones developed the locomotive by assembling and testing parts, sharing each discovery through Li Qingsong.
• Li Qingsong tested the completed locomotive, which hauled thirty carriages carrying three thousand tons of cargo at up to forty kilometers per hour.
• Li Qingsong made a lead-acid battery by hand, found its performance was roughly half that of Earth's equivalent, and decided to build a Battery Factory later.
• After another year, railway construction was more than eighty percent complete, and Li Qingsong sent six hundred clones to establish three Branch Bases at the mining sites.

Li Qingsong standardized the three mining Branch Bases, completed a new power plant, and put the Main Base’s industrial expansion into full swing. As factories and agricultural centers rose, he focused on the Clone Cultivation Factory at the heart of the base.

• Li Qingsong sent six hundred clones to build proper dormitories and mechanized extraction facilities at the three mining sites, increasing Oxygen Ore output more than tenfold.
• The railway connected all three Branch Bases to the Main Base, and a new power plant with six generators began supplying electricity to the bases and factories.
• Trains hauled ore to the Main Base, where the Steel Factory produced ingots and plates for new construction projects.
• Li Qingsong built a Battery Factory and expanded the machinery factory, which began producing ten battery packs and ten mechanical vehicles per day on average.
• Li Qingsong established specialized agricultural centers, livestock and poultry centers, and an Aquatic Center as the population and demand for food grew.
• Li Qingsong gave greatest importance to the Clone Cultivation Factory at the core of the base.