The planetary replacement operation was equally massive, requiring tens of millions of Stealth Killer to operate simultaneously. The plan began, with the Stealth Killer divided into two groups and deployed in the airspace surrounding Planet Three and Planet Six respectively. Under the influence of the Stealth Killer, the two planets moved towards the JD3 Star, with Planet Six in front and Planet Three behind, about five million kilometers apart. At a distance of thirty million kilometers from the JD3 Star, all the Stealth Killer simultaneously stopped their warp drives, and space returned to normal. The stellar winds could then directly reach Planet Six, and its atmosphere began to break away under the impact of Planet Six stellar winds. As the stellar winds dispersed, the millennia-old glaciers on its surface began to melt and boil, becoming part of the atmosphere and being blown away.
Three days later, Planet Six lost all its atmosphere and water. Its surface temperature exceeded 1,000 degrees Celsius. Finally, it was transported back to its original orbit by the Stealth Killer and continued to slowly orbit the JD3 Star.
At a distance of 5 million kilometers, Planet Three is already waiting for the stripped atmosphere and water molecules to arrive. It's like a diligent interstellar scavenger, collecting every bit of atmosphere and water molecule from Planet Six. Although it is also constantly being stripped by stellar winds, it is still much farther from its star and retains a lot of atmosphere and water. Moreover, the Stealth Killer will continue to carry it backward, waiting for a second stripping of atmosphere and water molecules in its wake.
After a week of scavenging, Planet Three acquired 70% of the water and atmosphere of Planet Six. This result far exceeded everyone's expectations. The original plan to create more water and atmosphere after the replacement was no longer necessary. Now, it is no longer a bare rocky ball; its entire surface is covered with a thick atmosphere and water. Planet Six has a thin atmosphere because of Planet Six large size. With 70% of its atmosphere concentrated on Planet Three, it seems like a lot. However, this atmosphere is almost entirely composed of nitrogen and carbon dioxide, with less than 1% oxygen. Humans will need to produce enough oxygen to survive.
Planet Three was moved by the Stealth Killer to an optimal orbit, where the sunlight is neither too strong nor too weak, mirroring Earth's. Furthermore, the Stealth Killer created a 65-degree tilt on Planet Three, providing the basis for its seasonal changes. Under the cover of an atmosphere, the temperature difference on Planet Three decreased from over 400 degrees Celsius to less than 100 degrees Celsius. Water molecules in the atmosphere began to condense and fall onto the surface of Planet Three, resulting in continuous heavy rains that would last for several months until the surface temperature of Planet Three completely cooled down.
This ancient rocky planet, without external impact, has a relatively flat surface, and its hydrostatic equilibrium makes it a fairly standard sphere. In order to create a comfortable living environment, Hu Yu ordered the fleet to drop tens of thousands of nuclear bombs of various sizes on Planet Three, forcibly blasting deep craters of different sizes into the Planet Three's surface. Once the rain fills these craters, tens of thousands of lakes will appear before everyone. The fusion-type nuclear bombs will not leave any harmful radiation on the planet's surface.
The water on Planet Six is very little, less than one-third the amount of water on Earth. However, there are no oceans thousands of meters deep on Planet Three, nor is there any saltwater. In fact, the area of water is slightly larger than that on Earth. The planet's rotation causes water to flow and carve out rivers of varying sizes on the surface.
Garbage was useless waste in Earth's era, but in the age of interstellar colonization, it's a treasure, especially the various kinds of household waste generated by humans—leftovers, animal excrement, etc. In the past, apart from a small portion being recycled, most of this waste was compressed and packaged. Every time a fleet passed by a star, a large amount of garbage would be thrown into the star's flames and burned clean. Garbage cannot be carelessly dumped in interstellar space, not because it's a good habit, but because this household waste contains all kinds of human information. If it were tracked by other civilizations, the consequences would be unimaginable. Therefore, all waste needs to be destroyed within stars.
Now, this household waste has finally come in handy. It is rich in microorganisms and all sorts of strange little creatures. More than 90% of the microorganisms that accompany human life can be found in this waste. They will make a huge contribution to the transformation of the planet's ecological environment.
All actions were aimed at transforming Planet Three into a second Earth as much as possible, and everything proceeded very smoothly. In less than two months, the initial terraforming work on Planet Three was completed. The first batch of plant seeds had been sown and carried by rainwater to every corner of the planet. They would take root and sprout in the planet's thin oxygen and undertake the important task of producing oxygen.
The next step is to wait for the plants to grow and produce enough oxygen to improve the planetary environment. This process will take anywhere from five to ten years. The fleet will continue to scatter plant seeds, especially various weed seeds, which are also being cultivated. Weeds were rarely cultivated while the fleet was in operation; only a small portion was grown for ornamental purposes on the Deep Blue.
The Deep Blue also needs many plants to obtain oxygen, but these plants are all selected for their appearance. Although these plants are beautiful, their vitality is far inferior to that of real weeds. Just think about the history of the struggle between humans and weeds to know that weeds are tenacious. Whether it is cutting, burning, or using chemicals and machinery, weeds have never been truly eradicated. Even if we cannot see them this spring due to human efforts, they will always arrive on time next spring.
The seeds of wild grasses will be the second largest force after microorganisms. They will take root, sprout, and grow strong on this strange planet with their tenacious vitality, until humans arrive and fight against them again.
The basic work is complete; now it's just a matter of waiting. Hu Yu has already ventured deep into the territory of the Wind Star Civilization for the second time. This round trip will take 12 to 14 years. To avoid exposing the existence of humanity, the spy mission will continue. People have already begun to move around on Planet Three. They carry simple oxygen tanks and breathe in high-concentration oxygen every few minutes to recover. In 20 years, plants have covered the entire land surface of the planet, and aquatic life has begun to slowly reproduce. However, these are all freshwater fish and aquatic plants; marine life has not been restored.
Compared to the relatively quiet state of Planet Three, the other planets were already bustling with activity. Countless machines were running on the planetary surfaces, and workers in spacesuits could be seen working everywhere. Some of these machines were hundreds of meters tall, and a single shovel could dig up hundreds of tons of ore. Huge factories built of steel plates also stood on the planetary surfaces. In the interstellar age, steel, a cheap and abundant mineral, was the foundation for the development of all technological civilizations.
With steel, sealed bases and factories were built, along with various machines and equipment. Humanity could also use steel to create powerful warships, thus gaining the right to survive in space. This might be the last construction activity that humanity directly participated in. Holographic control technology was already very mature, and related robots had been designed and were already in small-scale production and testing.