Chapter 256: A Drop in the Bucket

After the meeting, Du Qiu directly headed to the command center, which was no longer a desolate place. As operations with the U.S. military intensified, Du Qiu felt the need for professional opinions to assist with decision-making.

Thankfully, not only had Iron Guard Security recruited veterans from the Tanga Federation, but it had also enlisted personnel from all over the world.

With Star Ocean’s formidable intelligence-gathering capabilities, a selection of outstanding military talents had naturally been filtered through.

After further rigorous vetting by Ning Shuangshuang’s security department, the chosen few had their families relocated to the base and joined the security division on site.

Du Qiu selected some suitable individuals from this group to transfer to the command center as staff advisors and coordinators.

While there were highly realistic robotic experts in the command center, Du Qiu believed it couldn’t be robots alone, as those not equipped with advanced artificial intelligence could not match the flexibility and agility of human judgment in emergency situations.

Now, the command center was responsible for the entire armed forces of Dream Technology, encompassing space-based weapons, the Winged Dragon fighter jets, and a network of intelligent drones and simulated fish spread across various regions.

Every commander at their respective stations within the command center was in charge of directing a set of combat forces, holding defensive and offensive responsibilities for certain areas.

With these new personnel, Star Ocean could devote its computational power to broader strategic planning, especially the construction of the Heaven Realm Space City.

Every individual in the command center was performing their duties meticulously. Upon entering, Du Qiu took his seat and immediately inquired about the status of the space city’s construction from Star Ocean.

“How is the construction of the space city coming along?”

Star Ocean promptly projected a 3D image in front of Du Qiu, materializing a massive rectangular shape out of thin air.

“Sir, this is the core module of the space city, or what we call the first tier. It’s 60 kilometers long, 40 kilometers wide, and 10 kilometers high, capable of housing five million people.

The overall structural work is complete; the power module is in place, and the external defense module will be assembled in space.

The installation of the ecosystem is underway, and in about two months, the core module could be launched into space,” explained Star Ocean.

Du Qiu, massaging his temples, said, “Star Ocean, we need to expedite the process. A major disaster is imminent for Earth, and the scale of the Heaven Realm Space City must be substantially increased.

Calculate the fastest possible timeline for mass-producing space city components and sending the core module into orbit. When can we begin moving the population?”

Star Ocean didn’t keep Du Qiu waiting. “Currently, there are ten production lines for the Winged Dragon fighter jets, all operating at full capacity, producing at a rate of 20 jets every five days.

We already have a fleet of 500 jets, which ensures our absolute superiority in aerial combat. We could consider a temporary halt to direct raw materials towards the space city’s defense modules, the power module, and the gravity field module.

This approach may advance our timeline by approximately 15 days, meaning we could launch the core module into orbit by September 8th.

After three days of testing and operational adjustments, we can then begin relocating residents.”

Du Qiu frowned, asking, “Will only three days of testing be too brief?”

“No,” replied Star Ocean. “The test simply replicates scenarios we have already simulated numerous times. Performing it once more in the actual environment should confirm reliability, as we’ve prepared contingencies for all possible situations, making the probability of errors very small.”

“Alright. We must proceed with the utmost caution. After all, the lives of so many people depend on us, and we cannot afford any significant errors.”

“Yes, sir. I will conduct additional tests for unexpected scenarios to ensure the safety of the space city,” Star Ocean assured.

“If we continue mass production of core modules after completing Module 1, what would be the construction cycle?”

Initially, Du Qiu hadn’t planned to build a second core module so soon. However, with the potential for a severe natural disaster on Earth, there was an urgent need to expand Heaven Realm’s size and save more of humanity.

According to Star Ocean, “With the current supply rate of raw materials, we should be able to construct three core modules simultaneously, fixing the construction cycle at five months.”

Du Qiu had initiated the design and development of Heaven Realm Space City’s core module quite some time ago. Despite numerous revisions, many structural components had been underway.

For instance, the variety of buildings and magnetic roads being constructed internally were all completed in a modular form, ready for installation in the designated sections of the core module.

Reaching completion by September 8th took approximately ten months, including the time spent on design modifications.

Subsequent material research led by Du Qiu resulted in stronger structural materials, such as titanium-silicon-aluminum alloys, which were now mass-produced.

This allowed the core module to increase its size to that of a city along the scale of those found in mainland China, comfortably accommodating five million people. If packed tightly, like downtown Shanghai, it could even push capacity to ten million.

Tapping his forehead thoughtfully, Du Qiu remarked, “So every five months, we could complete three cities, each capable of housing ten million people. Yet, for Earth’s billions, it would still be akin to a drop in the bucket.”

Star Ocean suggested, “Then we must expand production comprehensively, including accelerated undersea mining. This means increasing the number of mining robots and industrial robots.

With my current computational power, I can effectively manage no more than one billion robots, and we’re already nearing that limit.

To maintain better control, you will need to replicate additional artificial intelligence to manage the vast robot workforce.

Of course, our undersea mining operation should expand into the Pacific Ocean, where we’ll find many more mineral resources.”

Du Qiu had previously been cautious about the number of mining robots, mindful of the potential to exhaust the Indian Ocean’s resources, which seemed irresponsible for future generations.

Especially since, in his dreams, the resource planet he inhabited had been wastefully exploited, leaving the planet scarred and depleted.

Regarding the creation of an AI for overall management, Du Qiu had already replicated one named Star Nebula—dedicated to providing massive simulation calculations and technical consultations while also managing a batch of research-assisting robots.

Aware of the Eden incident, Du Qiu had since become more cautious about the possibility of artificial intelligence betraying humanity, moving away from his initial optimism.

Thus, he replicated the grading system of extraterrestrial civilizations for Star Ocean, Star Nebula, and a multitude of smart robots, setting it as a fixed standard.

After all, he reasoned, the extraterrestrial civilizations so far ahead—appearing beyond the fourth level of civilization—must have a successful approach by enforcing such grading restrictions on their smart machines and artificial intelligence.

Heeding Star Ocean’s advice, Du Qiu decided, “We needn’t increase mining operations on Earth’s ocean floors. We should harvest resources from space.

The robotic factory module attached to the core module could be sent to space sooner, along with the transport ships I’ve designed to be produced in space.

We’ll dispatch mining robots on these transport ships to the asteroid belt, which should have abundant mineral resources, making mining much more convenient.

I’ll arrange for another AI to be replicated—let’s call it Stardust—to oversee all mining activities and the construction of transport ships and warships in outer space.”

“Sir, are you finally going to start building warships?” inquired Star Ocean, since up until now, Du Qiu hadn’t begun production due to the lack of certain core technologies, like nuclear fusion, from fourth-level civilizations.

As it stood, only space fighters had been constructed thus far. Although metallic hydrogen provided ample energy for a warship, there was a significant difference in scale.

Special thanks to “Still Uncovered” for the 100-coin tip!