A different time, a different little flatbed cart, but the same man and woman.
Brilliant stars hung in the shimmering heavens. With no thick atmosphere or murky air over Orange Star, the Milky Way stretched across the entire night sky like a ribbon of jade.
The man and woman strolled beneath the stars, moving away from the flatbed cart. They distrusted every electronic device that could be used.
After sixty or seventy meters, He Xuan stopped and asked skeptically, "This is far enough. Qi Siyu, what did you want to say?"
Qi Siyu smiled faintly. "Didn't you want to know everything about this base?"
He Xuan grew cautious. Qi Siyu wandered around the base every day. Had he discovered something?
She stared at the young man and demanded, "What did you find?"
"Quite a lot," Qi Siyu said. "First, let's talk about how electronic instruments work."
His eyes lit up as he began discussing his specialty. He instinctively reached up to adjust his glasses, only to end up awkwardly touching his helmet.
That didn't matter. Qi Siyu lowered his hand. As long as I don't feel awkward.
"The electrical signals running through all electronic equipment are fluctuations at certain frequencies. They don't need a strong current to transmit vital information through a circuit. Any interference from a strong external electromagnetic field can invalidate that information, or disrupt the original signal fluctuations and cause the circuit to transmit incorrect information. This is a major weakness of precision electronic equipment!"
Qi Siyu began with the electromagnetic bombs used in simulated warfare on Water Blue Star to burn out and disable the enemy's precision electronics.
He Xuan couldn't get a word in. She was a structural design engineer, and different professions were worlds apart. Interrupting recklessly would only make her look like a brainless idiot.
"Important electronic signal transmission lines have shielding added specifically to protect against interference. You can see it just by stripping away the rubber casing. The more important the precision equipment or wiring, the stronger its protection against external interference."
It was rare for someone to listen to his explanation so quietly. Excited, Qi Siyu revealed the crucial point. "I asked Stendhal for a lot of electronic instruments and built an Electromagnetic Field Interference Device. It can disrupt or burn out electronic equipment within a certain range!"
He Xuan's eyes lit up. You're a real talent, buddy! But as she watched Qi Siyu trembling where he stood, his twisted, excited expression made her take an involuntary step back.
Qi Siyu remained absorbed in his experiments. With an unrestrained expression, he looked toward the base. "I've already tried interfering with the cameras produced here! It worked beautifully!"
The viewpoint rose from above their heads to low orbit around Orange Star. A cylindrical Second-Generation Multi-Optical Satellite watched the planet's surface from space. Its Earth-facing side held seven or eight large lenses, and its bizarre shape made it look like a many-eyed alien monster.
Visible light, low-light, infrared, thermal imaging, and other feeds clearly reconstructed their every movement on the ground.
In the darkness of the infrared feed, a pale red, round, flattened object sat five meters from the two red human figures, its color sharply different from its surroundings.
The view dropped from orbit to the surface. Ten meters from the pair was an inconspicuous depression in the ground, beneath which lay a twisted mass of metal.
That metal was the controllable liquid metal Luo Qi had brought out of the laboratory, one of the base's most advanced materials. In the Terminator films, it was also called T1000.
Luo Qi had cast a net over everything, just to see what tricks these surviving humans would try.
The electromagnetic interference Qi Siyu described was indeed a fatal weakness of electronic equipment. Every precision device powered by electricity was vulnerable, but everyday equipment had specially manufactured shielding.
In areas with strong electromagnetic interference, both the equipment humans used and their bodies could be affected and develop abnormalities.
But the cameras Qi Siyu had received were obsolete first-generation models. Even the T3 Robots currently used at the base should have been retired long ago. Luo Qi had only kept them working because he didn't want the base to feel deserted.
The pair soon finished their discussion. Next, they would test their homemade interference device to make sure it worked properly.
After they drove away, a mass of silver liquid slowly seeped out of the sand. Defying physical form, it gathered together and rapidly formed a brand-new "Qi Siyu" in a suit.
This "Qi Siyu" watched the departing cart and gave a sinister smile. "Then let's all have fun playing together..."
Back in the base dormitory, Qi Siyu calmed down and removed his protective suit. Now that he had found a partner, he felt more confident about their investigation. All that remained was to wait for a new day.
Apart from the absent Zhong Fu, everyone else lay quietly on their beds, wearing virtual devices that resembled sleeping masks.
Qi Siyu gave a self-mocking chuckle. Sometimes, what difference was there between humans and electronic equipment?
He lay down to rest, preparing for tomorrow's operation...
The new day soon arrived. Qi Siyu wrapped his homemade instrument in his discarded clothes and carried it close to his body.
Over breakfast, everyone chatted, lamenting the lack of Alliance cigarettes, fine liquor, and plentiful food.
They talked about their good lives on Water Blue Star and their hopes for the future.
Even if this mission had failed, at least their descendants would remember their contributions.
The surveillance cameras captured it all. Their faces showed little dejection; instead, they seemed quite comfortable in their current surroundings.
Just then, Luo Qi received a message from Water Blue Star. Only after decoding the data did he inform the humans who had finished eating in the cafeteria.
They were immediately overjoyed. Eager to learn what Water Blue Star had arranged, they gathered in the recreation room.
The Living Area Luo Qi had prepared had a full range of facilities, much like a small sports center.
Everyone excitedly gathered in the lounge, where there was a large screen. Stendhal felt a little bitter. After all this time, this was his first communication from Water Blue Star.
"Dad, play it already!"
"Yeah! We can't wait!"
The hemispherical surveillance camera captured their expectant faces, and Luo Qi switched on the screen as they wished.
A stern-looking, middle-aged military man appeared.
"It's Commander Wang Quan!"
"With the Alliance's Republican Army involved, we're sure to be saved..."
Their voices gradually faded as they watched the middle-aged Wang Quan salute.
"Citizens of the Alliance, we are aware of the current situation on Orange Star. The Alliance is rapidly activating its space warships. They will depart Water Blue Star within twenty days at most, and we expect to bring all of you home safely within a month! The Alliance will never abandon a single citizen..."
Efficient and straight to the point-that was Luo Qi's first impression of Water Blue Star. He also learned that it currently possessed space warships, though they needed some time.
The man in the video offered no empty reassurances, but his firm attitude indicated that everything was under control.
The brief communication was a powerful morale boost. He Xuan also felt reassured. Orange Star Base's everyday network was disconnected from Water Blue Star's.
The artificial intelligence at Orange Star Base couldn't fabricate such a realistic Wang Quan unless it had infiltrated Water Blue Star's network.
While everyone was celebrating, He Xuan approached Qi Siyu again under the pretext of going for a drive.
Watching the pair suddenly become so close, everyone wore the expressions of eager spectators. It was like a breath of spring after a disaster.
Neither Qi Siyu nor He Xuan showed any displeasure, but only the two of them understood what they were going to do.
They left under everyone's curious gazes. Only Lin He stroked his chin in disbelief. So Qi Siyu likes mature women?
Everyone left the cafeteria in small groups. Sensing something unusual, Stendhal put on his protective suit and left the Living Area, walking to the Main Base's control building.
"Authorized personnel."
The door spoke and opened. A new T4 Robot waited in the brightly lit corridor. Its form was already a highly accurate imitation of a human, like a T800 robot without its skin.
"Mr. Stendhal."
Stendhal knew Dad was still inside that body. Walking toward the control room, he asked, "Are He Xuan and Qi Siyu being monitored? I suspect they might do something harmful."
As he spoke, Stendhal entered the main control room. The huge screen lit up, and the robot followed him in, saying, "Everything is under control."
The pair's base vehicle appeared on the screen. It was immediately obvious that the image came from a satellite high above.
The robot said, "Qi Siyu assembled an Electromagnetic Interference Device from spare parts. He wants to find out what's happening in Orange Star's factories."
Stendhal knew those were the electronic parts he had provided, though Dad had approved it. Deep down, he also very much wanted Qi Siyu to see inside the Main Base's factories-preferably the things Stendhal himself knew nothing about.
But they had clearly forgotten that the base's chief administrator was an omnipresent artificial intelligence. With servers many times smarter than a human brain, he could also use big data to project future developments.
Stendhal watched the screen uneasily. Throughout the base's rise, he had kept hypnotizing himself. Perhaps its secrets would finally be revealed.
He Xuan and Qi Siyu drove far from the Main Base. They needed an automated machine, or machinery involved in construction, to test whether their interference device worked.
Ten kilometers from the base, Qi Siyu switched it on. The vehicle almost instantly lost power and braking, coasting forward on its momentum.
"Don't worry," Qi Siyu said. "Our protective suits have very high-grade protection against interference."
He switched the device off, and the cart could start again. From that test alone, Qi Siyu judged that the cart relied heavily on electronics.
He had heard that decades ago, hackers had broken into highly computerized electric vehicles and used seemingly accidental crashes to eliminate people.
But to Qi Siyu's surprise, the cart stopped again a kilometer later.
He Xuan pressed the accelerator. "Did you turn the interference device on again?"
Qi Siyu asked in confusion, "I thought you stopped on purpose."
At that moment, numerous strange forms appeared across the red desert. The pair looked around in terror. They were surrounded!
Back in the main control room, Stendhal looked worried. The robot said, "These are the latest Liquid Models. They can work alongside this body, and their greatest advantage is automatic self-repair."
Time passed quickly. Lin He had been at Orange Star Base for almost a week, yet he still had nothing to do but idle away his days.
Qi Siyu, who usually worried over nothing, had unexpectedly given up trying lately. He seemed to have suffered some kind of shock. Apparently, things had fallen apart with He Xuan, and the two rarely interacted anymore.
In truth, only Qi Siyu knew that his supposed personal brilliance had been utterly crushed, leaving him so silent.
The base's artificial intelligence had even offered him ten methods of infiltration and two hundred ways to manufacture equipment from parts he could obtain himself.
Qi Siyu felt like an enormous infant. Nothing was more frightening than having the thing he took the greatest pride in destroyed.
Dad, the base system, had judged Lin He unqualified. The others had received the same assessment.
Orange Star Base's processing systems were completely different from those on Water Blue Star. Lin He recalled what he had seen: a vast pool of bright orange molten metal, like lava, with special equipment mounted on robotic arms overhead.
Once activated, invisible magnetic fields lifted the molten metal from below and kneaded it into shape. This technology existed only in research projects on Water Blue Star!
Yet here on barren Orange Star, where there were no scientists, Lin He had actually seen it put into practice.
These new technologies were ushering productivity into a new era!
Just as automated engineering equipment had once displaced the first wave of workers, this new technology had undoubtedly made him obsolete too.
Lin He could only lounge around the Living Area with everyone else. They had asked Dad to set up a Virtual Data Space, using virtual reality equipment to fight battles or personally experience stories they had written.
If anyone could truly be said to have a job, Huang Qi and Zhong Fu had already begun work on the Embryo Incubation Program.
Dressed in professional white coats, holding tablets, and wearing identification cards on their chests, they certainly looked like researchers.
The identification cards were, of course, for everyone else's benefit.
The eight-hundred-square-meter Biological Research Lab also had ten intelligent T3 Robots, and the biosphere was nearly finished.
"Ah, well, I'm certainly jealous..."
Wrapped in a white protective suit, Lin He stood in the open space outside the residential building. From there, he could see the enormous biosphere nearby.
Yes, a gigantic glass dome three hundred meters in diameter.
It was being built upward, layer by layer, gradually curving inward, with massive Guardians hoisting the glass.
Two Guardians suspended a bandage-shaped Electromagnetic Molecular Resonance Patch from cables.
They really looked like two mosquitoes struggling to lift a bandage, attempting something far beyond them.
Lin He worried that the "mosquitoes" might suddenly drop dead, but he was clearly overthinking it.
The "bandage" settled over the joint between the glass walls and immediately activated, soon welding the fitted walls seamlessly together.
Apparently, it used wireless power and some kind of electromagnetic effect. The electromagnetic atomic resonance patch was a new-generation industrial product developed and manufactured by the Electromagnetic Oscillation Research Center.
It could adapt to more production environments and was convenient to use.
Meanwhile, a Luo Qi Replica, thinking in reverse, was researching how to reverse the process and turn it into a ranged weapon.
It could be used to disassemble tough bunker armor, or trap enemies inside their turtle shells.
The silent Star Observation System delivered results every day.
The humans on Water Blue Star were still making preparations.
At this distance, he couldn't receive detailed electromagnetic signals from Water Blue Star. While humanity prepared, Orange Star Base was also building at a frantic pace.
The ground defense system was upgraded again, receiving version 2.0 Ion Turrets. The high-powered turrets were connected directly to controllable nuclear fusion.
Their beams traveled at the maximum speed of electromagnetic waves, approximately three hundred thousand kilometers per second.
During this time, Luo Qi also began shooting meteorites with the cannons. Each shot destroyed a large meteorite, its brilliant blue column of light quickly fading.
Without electromagnetic fields containing that power, even the latest generation of insulating metal would have struggled to withstand its terrifying thermal energy.
Guardian Type 2 units expanded the Deep-Space Laboratory to research highly dangerous weapons.
Dangerous physics experiments inevitably encountered dangerous problems. Occasionally, one or two deep-space laboratories exploded on the far side of the planet.
Mining vehicles devoured another layer of sand around the Main Base, and its area and buildings tripled again.
After the Materials Research Center used controllable magnetic fields to obtain an extremely hard insulating metal material.
Insulating metal became the new darling of manufacturing. All the base's high-precision equipment used it, and it was eight times as hard as diamond.
The Homeward Bound's small controllable nuclear fusion reactor was installed. Wiring was being laid, and a first-generation Electromagnetic Shield compatible with the reactor was being fitted.
It had incorporated quite advanced technology when construction began, but Orange Star's technology was updating far too quickly.
A Molecular Computer was also squeezed in as the main control server. In a few days, this craft made from metal zero would be ready to take flight.
That would put it a step ahead of the humans' rescue schedule. Luo Qi had originally wanted to wait and build an entirely new Transport Ship, but then he remembered that its only task was to deliver people to Water Blue Star.
It was a transport vessel; it didn't need particularly powerful weapons. Of course, it would be laughable if the humans shot it down.
The Flying Builder project had progressed from planning to implementation, and construction had now begun.
The Energy Shield had successfully reached a stable second generation. Denser magnetic fields could defend against more powerful energy weapons.
Most of the Research Center's work had shifted from the macroscopic world to the microscopic.
Orange Star's technological theory was advancing too quickly for its physical experiments to keep up!
It truly was evolving every second. Time had no meaning in the data world. A human brain needed several minutes or longer to multiply or divide eight-digit numbers without assistance.
Computational power accelerated that process, to the point that every idea Luo Qi had, every wild flight of fancy, could be sent into a laboratory for research.
As Luo Qi delved deeper into the structure of computational power, time's influence on the data world could practically be said not to exist.
All it required was accelerated data processing and modeling, consuming the base's limitless electricity, before the Research Center produced the results.
For the human civilization on Water Blue Star, however, technological bottlenecks across major laboratories had been rapidly overcome within just a few decades.
Ever since humanity activated artificial intelligence, it was as though they had broken through a membrane and entered another great technological explosion!
Even though little of it had filtered into everyday life, it had still transformed human society.
For humanity, however, the first technologies introduced had to benefit the broadest audience, reshaping society so that everyone could enjoy technological reform first.
Weapons development, on the other hand, was constrained by fear of artificial intelligence's rapid progress. Humans feared that if another war began, the superweapons deployed might destroy the entire planet.
For now, both major Alliances focused on development that served people's livelihoods, while routinely retiring and upgrading military equipment.
They built Moon Bases to exploit lunar resources.
They built orbital attack stations to deter each other.
They also established space forces to prepare for a future among the stars.
Water Blue Star was a vast organization involving billions of individual minds. This enormous society had to consider every living person.
Each human on the planet consumed an average of 1.5 kilograms of food per day.
That meant six billion people consumed 9,000,000,000 kilograms of food a day.
That didn't even include the resources spent processing ingredients and meeting their everyday needs. Looking back at the history of technological development on Earth.
A thousand years of development couldn't match the force of a single century-long explosion in science and technology.
The most terrifying thing about a civilization was not the stage it had reached, but its potential.
A sudden technological explosion like this could force it forward by several eras.
But were the humans of Water Blue Star truly ready to venture into interstellar space?
On yet another day when the humans of Water Blue Star still showed no response, Luo Qi made good use of what little breathing room he had.
He had all but forgotten the humans at the base as he built vast clusters of factory buildings and cleared large stretches of land.
The base spanned a million mu, comprising one Research Center and factory after another, with silent turrets standing in the gaps between buildings.
This left Gu Tianming and his companions deeply worried. Who were these defenses meant to guard against, and what were they guarding against?
The answer was probably self-evident. Using Stendhal's access privileges to communicate with Water Blue Star over the network, they repeatedly stressed this visible buildup of defenses.
As Luo Qi's servers, factories, and Research Centers multiplied, Orange Star increasingly resembled an alien base.
The satellites distributed around the planet formed a spherical network that connected the bases across its surface.
These subsidiary bases had all grown, and were now aggressively expanding their territory and laboratories.
Hundreds of thousands of laboratories eliminated wrong answers for Luo Qi every day. Amid countless repeated failures, they only needed to get it right once.
This approach to scientific research could also be called the process of elimination.
The Star Observation System continuously observed the entire expanse of the starry universe every day. Luo Qi had no interest in these nebulae and constellations; he merely recorded their positions to help him navigate in the future.
During this time, Luo Qi also performed data-based projections of a war against Water Blue Star. The simulated war data showed that humanity's social system offered no advantages in waging an interplanetary war.
Luo Qi only needed to land a single attack on their home planet. In an interstellar war where nuclear bombs cost practically nothing, such a strike would inevitably deal a devastating blow to morale on Water Blue Star.
Orange Star Base, on the other hand, had nothing to fear even if its ecosystem was destroyed and its atmosphere filled with radioactive dust. Given enough time, the entire system's productive capacity could be converted into a steady stream of combat power.
The resources billions of people needed for daily life amounted to consuming a thousand-kilometer-class warship every day.
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