Over the past ten years, Tom increasingly felt one particular problem.
This problem severely limited his development speed, preventing him from doing many things he wanted to do and building many facilities and factories he desired.
That problem was population.
Even with a generous count, there were only just over a hundred people in total. How much power could such a small number of people exert, even if there was no internal friction and perfect coordination and cooperation?
In fact, a significant portion of the equipment Tom had built at this stage was not even operational.
Like some generators in the energy industrial zone, they were built and then left untouched.
Like the 16 tractors he built, only 7 were in daily use.
It wasn't that the demand for transport was low; on the contrary, blast furnaces, generators, and planting bases all required a large supply of external ore and resources.
But there was no other way; there weren't enough people to drive them.
For these ten years, Tom suffered greatly from this.
Fortunately, with a focus on chemical engineering and the gradually increasing output from the planting base, he was finally able to formulate the Clone nutrient solution that barely met the standards.
Inside the cave serving as a chemical plant, Tom's heart was filled with excitement as he looked at the light blue liquid in the large glass jar before him.
There was only enough nutrient solution for one person here. And just this small amount took two Clones a week to formulate.
There was no other way; at this stage, almost all work had to be done manually, similar to "customization" in a laboratory, making automated mass production impossible.
But it didn't matter. If two Clones could formulate one person's worth in a week, then if he transferred 50 Clones from other places, couldn't they formulate 25 portions in a week?
Wouldn't that be 200 portions in two months?
Tom's target quantity for this first batch of "self-produced" Clones was 200.
It wasn't that he didn't want to produce more, but not only the nutrient solution, but other aspects also required supporting power supply and culture tank production. Considering the current level, Tom believed that producing 200 portions for the first batch of culture tanks and culture solution was optimal.
Anyway, once the culture tanks were built, they could be reused, and it wouldn't be too late to increase the quantity when more people were available.
Therefore, Tom boldly transferred a total of 50 Clones from the already stretched other factories and facilities, dedicating them entirely to the formulation of the culture solution and the manufacturing of the culture tanks.
Inside the Deep Space Spaceship, the two bodies left behind also began working day and night on the initial cell processing.
As a result, Clones in other areas had no choice but to devote more energy and time to their work.
Their daily working hours also increased from the previous 12 hours to 16 hours, barely managing to maintain the other systems without chaos.
These were truly 16 hours!
The Clones' sleep time was even compressed to 6 hours. Then, all other activities, such as eating, going to the restroom, temporary breaks, and commuting, were all compressed to be completed within two hours.
To ensure the mental and physical well-being of the Clones, Tom was uncharacteristically generous this time.
The vegetables, eggs, and meat produced in the planting base, as well as the most important flour and rice, began to be supplied without restriction.
Every day, the kitchen would stew a large pot of 200 jin of meat and boil hundreds of eggs for the Clones to eat, which barely allowed the Clones to endure.
Originally, Tom didn't want to rush like this, but there was no other way; he had waited for far too long.
It had been over a decade since Earth lost contact with him. He was eager to develop as quickly as possible.
Even if he couldn't change the fate of Human Civilization, he at least wanted to find out what was going on.
Even if not for Human Civilization, but for himself, Tom dared not slack off.
Would the entities or forces that caused Human Civilization to lose contact threaten him one day in the future?
This was a question Tom had to consider.
The entire base, with over a hundred Clones, busied themselves like wound-up clocks.
Under these circumstances, two months finally passed.
All 200 culture tanks were built and arranged in a row in the Clone production factory.
This was a brand new factory. For this factory, Tom specifically searched for a cave that was deep enough, had sufficiently thick rock layers, and had sufficiently low background radiation.
Clone embryos are not like adults; they cannot withstand any radiation, otherwise there is a high probability of developmental failure, or even developing into a monstrosity. They must be placed in a place with sufficient radiation shielding capabilities.
The internal temperature of the factory was also not a comfortable 26 degrees Celsius, but 37 degrees Celsius, the same as the human body temperature.
At this temperature, the embryos could develop comfortably.
200 portions of culture solution were poured into the culture tanks, and then, 200 portions of initial cells from the Deep Space Spaceship were also placed inside.
Like seeds sown in soil, those cells, invisible to the naked eye at this moment, began to slowly grow.
With the withdrawal of 50 Clones from the nutrient solution formulation room, the Clones in other areas could finally relax a little.
They had been exhausted for a while.
Filled with anticipation and yearning, Tom began a wait that, though only half a year, felt incredibly long.
"Grow up quickly, there are so many tractors waiting for you to drive, so many blast furnaces waiting for you to operate, and so many crops waiting for you to take care of..."
As time slowly passed, the initial cells in the culture tanks developed into flesh and lumps of flesh, then gradually into the shape of human bodies.
However, during this process, some embryos did not develop normally and were clearly deformed.
"There's no other way. The nutrient solution I formulated myself and the culture tanks I produced myself are simply not as good as the original ones."
Tom shook his head, manipulating a Clone to step forward and destroy the deformed embryos, discarding the nutrient solution.
Although there were hiccups, overall, only a small portion went wrong. Finally, after waiting for half a year, a full 182 Clones successfully developed.
He carried them out and placed them on beds, and after a moment's wait, these 182 Clones slowly opened their eyes.
Tom's consciousness instantly extended, and the next moment, he felt that he had 182 more brains and 182 more bodies.
Brand new brains and bodies, untouched by any pollution or damage!
His memory, logical thinking ability, learning ability, research ability, and other brain-related capabilities had more than doubled compared to before
Not only his brain, but the bodies he could now utilize also instantly increased from the previous 134 to 316!