At this moment, the ten Clones were clad in thin, dark yellow spacesuits, wrapped in layers of tape, looking like interstellar refugees.
These tapes were primarily used to maintain the shape of the thin film spacesuits, preventing them from bulging into spheres due to excessive internal pressure.
However, air still bulged out in circles from the gaps in the tape, like excess flesh.
Inside their spacesuits, the Clones wore thick clothing, striving to retain their body heat and prevent it from dissipating into the outside environment.
Air heated by batteries exited the vents, blowing over the spacesuits' visors to prevent fogging, while also supplying precious oxygen to the inside of the spacesuits.
Above their heads was a lighting fixture, also battery-powered, resembling a miner's lamp.
There was no other way; it was too dark on Loshen Star, and without illumination, it would be impossible to work.
After checking the Clones' bodies, Tom did not detect any discomfort.
It was just a little cold, but he wasn't sure if it was psychological or physiological. But it didn't matter; when the cold became unbearable, they could just return to the landing craft's cabin to warm up.
The ten Clones disembarked, truly standing on the ground of Loshen Star, carefully experiencing Loshen Star's gravity, which was only about eight percent of Earth's.
Here, a human weighing 100KG would weigh only about 8KG.
Here, every ordinary person was a strongman.
Four Clones rode a planetary rover away from the landing site and began searching for minerals needed in the vicinity, while the remaining six Clones went to a landing craft, dismantling all removable equipment from its interior, temporarily placing them on the ground, and then, working together, they managed to lift the landing craft, whose mass had been reduced to five tons.
Of course, with a mass of five tons, its weight here was only about 400KG, making it entirely possible for six Clones to lift it.
Next to the landing site was a deep, secluded canyon. These six Clones carefully cooperated, carrying the landing craft down a relatively gentle ramp to the bottom of the canyon, to the already explored cave.
This cave extended inward about 30 meters, with a width of 20 meters and a height of about 5 meters.
Thus, its interior provided approximately 600 square meters of space, with most areas protected by Loshen Star's thick rocks.
Under the illumination of the miner's lamps, the uneven, dark red surface, almost identical to the outside, appeared before Tom's eyes.
That was tolin, a peculiar type of copolymer molecule not found on Earth, existing only on distant planets far from the sun, formed through interstellar high-energy radiation and a series of complex mechanisms.
They could be various colors, but most were reddish-brown or dark red.
This substance is common on distant dwarf planets like Loshen Star. It is because of them that Loshen Star appears dark red.
Like the frozen dry ice, methane, ethane, water ice, oxygen, nitrogen, and Loshen Star's surface rocks, these tolin were also extremely hard, harder than the toughest steel.
This was where Tom intended to build his first base on Loshen Star.
After another period of busy work, manipulating the six Clones, all the previously dismantled materials and equipment from the landing craft were brought here.
Afterward, an electric heating device was connected to the small fission reactor inside the landing craft, beginning to scorch the surface with high heat.
Large quantities of gas were instantly generated, sublimating directly into the vacuum, then either escaping Loshen Star's gravity field directly or cooling down after traveling some distance, solidifying again, and falling and accumulating as snowflakes.
After clearing an open space of about 200 square meters, the six Clones worked together again, using simple tools to level the surface.
This series of tasks took a full three days to complete.
During this time, due to the extreme cold, every few hours, the Clones had to return to the landing craft's cabin to rest for a while, warming up and eating something.
Once warm, they would come out again and rejoin the labor.
The plastic film that made up the spacesuits also suffered multiple damages during this process, and it was common to see grayish-white gas, like a plume, injection from the surface of one of the Clones.
But it didn't matter; if there was a tear, they just taped it up, and it didn't affect their work.
Finally, with the surface clearing completed, the six Clones took out a large pile of the same plastic film used for spacesuits and carefully spread it out.
They had been pre-processed into a giant tent.
Of course, because there was no gas at the moment, they did not inflate but were piled on the ground.
At this point, the four Clones who had gone to search for minerals also returned with their planetary rover.
Their vehicle's bed was fully loaded with "ores" of various colors.
Among them, oxygen frozen into a solid by extremely low temperatures was light blue, solid nitrogen was transparent, and dry ice was white.
Of course, due to the presence of many impurities, the colors were not pure.
These gases, on Loshen Star, also became like ores, which could be mined piece by piece.
The Clones transported these ores into the thin film tent, connected the small nuclear fission power station, sealed the tent, and then began to carefully heat these ores.
Large quantities of gas were rapidly generated, inflating the soft tent like a balloon, eventually turning it into a structure covering approximately 200 square meters and standing two meters high.
This "house" even had an airlock at its entrance.
It had two doors, which isolated a separate compartment. When the Clones entered or exited this house, they would first enter the airlock, and depending on the situation, either extract or release air, thus preventing gas from escaping.
Once the tent was finally inflated, the Clones outside busied themselves with securing it with tension ropes, while the Clones inside connected the power and installed multiple lighting fixtures.
At this moment, with the lights on, the 200-square-meter empty hall was fully visible.
Because the gas had just been heated, the temperature inside the tent was not low at all, reaching over 20 degrees Celsius.
One Clone attempted to open his spacesuit and took a breath of the outside air, and a slightly pungent air entered his lungs.
"It's a little choking, probably due to impurities. But the impact isn't significant."
Looking at the spacious hall, Tom was filled with satisfaction.
He seemed to see rows of soilless cultivation racks, covered with lush green vegetables, and golden rice and wheat.
"This is the first base I've built on Loshen Star.
Next, I should try to grow vegetables and grain here. Once I have enough food, I will create more Clones."