"Finally managed to bluff my way through that. Nearly scared me to death." Liu Hai watched as the other party's spacecraft disappeared from the projection before finally letting out a sigh of relief. Having a spaceship hovering overhead was utterly terrifying.
"How much longer until the Biological Factory and Armory are ready? What about the Fighter Factory? We'll need to build several Anti-aircraft Laser Cannons too. Otherwise, if another ship shows up and opens fire—no, even if it just hurls a few asteroids at us—we'd be done for."
After much deliberation, Liu Hai realized this wouldn't do. The lack of anti-air defenses was especially glaring. The Laser Cannons he had ordered built when Igor's ship arrived weren't even halfway done by the time the ship had left. For safety's sake, he needed to deploy at least a dozen of them first.
Learning from Igor's precedent, Liu Hai spent the next few days personally overseeing the deployment of the Laser Cannons. It took a full ten days to install ten High-Energy Laser Cannons within a ten-mile radius. These cannons were low-tier products of an Elementary Interstellar Civilization, only effective up to low Earth orbit—any farther, and the laser beams would disperse too much to be lethal.
The deployed cannons were buried under debris, with Armed Robots patrolling the perimeter to keep scavengers at least fifty miles away.
Fifteen days after Igor's departure, the Biological Factory and Armory were finally completed. Liu Hai immediately descended through the access tunnel to inspect them.
The underground base had been excavated by Engineering Robots into a massive space spanning five square kilometers. Just the alloy used for the base's construction had consumed over 3,000 cubic meters, not to mention the binding materials, which had taken the Pyramid Core more than three days of production time.
Before him stood the Biological Factory—five meters tall, fifteen meters wide, and thirty meters long—alongside the Armory beside it, three times its size. Both structures were built entirely of silver-white metal, powered by internal Fusion Reactors and controlled by a subordinate intelligence core of the Pyramid's Intelligent Nexus.
Stepping into the Biological Factory, Liu Hai was greeted by rows upon rows of Cultivation Pods. As he ventured deeper, he saw machinery for genetic collection, optimization, and modification.
Interspersed among them were devices for knowledge implantation and virtual training, ensuring that every Clone Soldier would emerge with basic skills. However, this was merely theoretical knowledge—to reach their full potential, they would still require real-world training.
"Pity it takes a full month of cultivation and training for Clone Soldiers to become combat-ready. Short-term production yields units with too little control—completely impractical." Liu Hai shook his head regretfully at the orderly array of machinery. He still had a long wait ahead.
At least only one ship had appeared in the past half-month, and it had quickly left the junk town without venturing to this side of the planet.
Liu Hai pulled up the subsequent production schedule: "Metal Smelting Factory, Armory Component Production Line, Fighter Production Line, Component Production Line, Small Frigate Production Line, and Equipment Production Line... The production queue stretches over a year!"
This schedule was the result of calculations between Liu Hai and the Intelligent Nexus. The Metal Smelting Factory, in particular, was crucial—though not a space-based facility, its presence meant the Pyramid Core's production lines would only need to manufacture key components for equipment, significantly reducing both time and costs.
"However, we can start by producing a small squad to scout that trash town. At the very least, we need to obtain access to the local civilization's communication networks."
Liu Hai hadn't been idle during this time. Although he couldn't connect to the local communication networks due to lacking the necessary equipment, he had gathered considerable information from the intermittent electromagnetic waves propagating through space. However, the severe lag of electromagnetic waves and the disorganized, fragmented nature of the data meant the Intelligent Nexus couldn't extract much useful information.
Once he had the idea, Liu Hai ordered the production of a squad of Clone Troopers. Due to the extreme cloning process, virtual training couldn't be used to enhance their control and combat capabilities. Therefore, Liu Hai had to rely on the Intelligent Nexus to control them via Biochips.
With the combat squad ready, corresponding Exoskeleton Armor and Armored Vehicles were also put into production. Additionally, Energy blocks extracted from the salvaged motorcycles and Hover cars used by scavengers entered the production line. Based on the information received, these Energy blocks seemed to be a hard currency in interstellar trade and could likely be used as money.
The Pyramid Core's inherited technology didn't include Energy block usage, but it did possess military-grade emergency energy technology. The principles were similar—both involved compressing energy mixed with special substances for use. However, Energy block technology here appeared to be widely developed and simple to use, though the blocks were unstable. High temperatures or pressure could easily activate their energy, requiring refrigeration for storage.
A week later, Liu Hai's eagerly awaited Clone Troopers finally emerged—a squad of twelve, evenly split between six males and six females. Their genes were derived from two scavengers, though their appearances were altered and their genetics partially optimized for greater physical strength.
Seated in the Control Room, Liu Hai watched as the twelve Clone Troopers marched in, their faces stern and clad in Exoskeleton Armor.
"Reporting, sir. First Squad of the Field Corps reporting for duty," announced the lead trooper, whom Liu Hai had modeled after Stallone's appearance in First Blood. Encased in Exoskeleton Armor, the trooper cut an imposing and heroic figure.
"Squad Leader, your mission is to infiltrate the town, acquire identities, and secure network communication devices. Any questions?" Liu Hai studied his first batch of combat soldiers, already considering how, if they proved effective, he might later use biotechnology to address their genetic limitations, granting them normal lifespans and abilities.
"Reporting, sir. No questions!" Squad Leader snapped to attention and replied.
"Good. You may depart immediately." Liu Hai granted them access to vehicles and weapons, allocating 10,000 simulated Energy blocks for their use.
The Clone Trooper squad set off swiftly, with twelve members piloting three Hovering Armored Vehicles. Ascending to a hundred meters, they adjusted their course and sped away, breaking the sound barrier in under three seconds.
The sonic boom drew the scavengers' curiosity as they looked skyward, wondering who dared to fly so brazenly at supersonic speeds—and whether they needed to prepare for danger.
Traveling at three times the speed of sound, the Clone Trooper squad reached the Smuggling Port's perimeter in just three hours. Under the warning communications from the town's guards, their Hovering Armored Vehicles began decelerating as they approached.
The convoy was stopped at the entrance by guards. A bearded guard stepped forward to question them while several others aimed their weapons at the Clone Soldier convoy.
"Where did this armed convoy come from? What's your business at the port?" The bearded man cautiously inquired, holding his Electromagnetic Gun as he eyed the fully armored combat vehicles.
Clone One emerged from the weapon control hatch and casually tossed two Energy blocks to the bearded guard. "Stellar Sea Merchant Guild, here for some trade business. Who around here can handle identity issues and sell communication equipment?"
The bearded man's eyes lit up as he caught the Energy blocks. Signaling his men to lower their weapons, he recommended, "For identity registration, you can find the Cripple—third shop from the left at the end. As long as you pay enough, you can get any identity except for the capital planet."
"For comms gear, look for that fat bastard Keling. Seventh shop on the right. Just be careful—that fatso loves scamming newcomers."
Clone One chuckled dismissively and tossed two more Energy blocks before waving goodbye to the bearded guard. He then headed straight into the town, making his way to Keling's shop.