Chapter 43: 110,000 Clones
With the construction of the Clone cultivation factory completed, in the future, the entire factory cluster will only need no more than ten thousand Clones to maintain operations.
Tom then invested a large number of surplus Clones into the construction of more peripheral bases, railway lines between bases, power supply networks, and communication networks.
Thus, one mine after another rapidly appeared on the surface of Loshen Star. Furthermore, these newly constructed mines possessed higher technological content, capable of completing initial mineral processing directly at the mining site, and required fewer personnel than before.
Railway lines extended rapidly, and the power grid and network spread in all directions.
However, the current problem was that although there were many mines now, Tom did not have enough personnel to operate them.
After construction, they could only remain idle.
But it didn’t matter; soon, the first batch of newly cultivated Clones would be born.
After about half a year of busy construction, the cultivation of the first batch of Clones was finally completed.
Under Tom’s control, as many as fifty thousand culture tanks were emptied one by one, and the Clones were transported to the resting room for initial inspection.
After a slightly excited wait, these fifty thousand Clones finally awoke. Tom did not hesitate, immediately extending his consciousness link.
In an instant, a surge of mental power extended over, and Tom’s thoughts immediately gained unprecedented ultra-high speed.
Under these circumstances, some problems that had accumulated before, but could not be solved due to limited mental power, were instantly resolved.
It was like a student who, due to limited time, had not yet finished a thick stack of test papers. But at this moment, more students instantly joined in, and in a short while, all the papers were completed.
Feeling this surging mental power, Tom shifted his attention again, beginning to test how many consciousness entities he could connect to at this moment.
The number of consciousness links rapidly increased, from over sixty thousand at first, instantly surging to seventy thousand at this moment.
But this was not the end; the number was still rapidly increasing.
Eighty thousand, ninety thousand, one hundred thousand...
It did not stop even at one hundred thousand, finally surging to 102,200, when Tom felt that all the consciousness link shares were occupied.
Clearly, the current connection limit was 102,200.
But this was only the connection limit of the current body.
Although Monster Birds’ body fluid was also used as a nutritional supplement, this newly cultivated batch of Clones had a more standardized and rigorous cultivation process. Their "quality" should be higher than the Clone he was currently using!
Tom immediately transferred his consciousness to a newly cultivated Clone, but the number of consciousness links did not increase; instead, it decreased by 500.
"Subtle differences lead to subtle differences in quality, which is normal."
Tom thought to himself, and transferred again.
This time, the number of consciousness links increased by another 900, reaching 102,600.
Thus, Tom tested them one by one, eventually trying every Clone body, and selected the Clone that could carry the most connections.
The consciousness link count of this Clone reached 109,800!
It could almost be considered 110,000!
And including these fifty thousand newly cultivated Clones, the total number of Clones he possessed was almost exactly 110,000!
"Very good, very good."
Tom was overjoyed, immediately controlling these fifty thousand Clones to put on clothes, have their first meal, undergo restorative training, and after completion, immediately dispatched them to the various mines, factories, farms, and other facilities that had been built but could not be put into operation due to lack of personnel.
At this moment, a new batch of cell samples had already been placed, and a new round of cultivation began.
At this moment, his consciousness link count had increased to 110,000, but clearly, only 110,000 Clones were not enough.
They also needed rest. To maintain 110,000 Clones working non-stop 24 hours a day, he would need at least 170,000 Clones.
If he didn’t want the Clones to work so hard and to such extremes, and to have a bit more scheduling redundancy, then he would need at least 200,000 Clones.
With some more reserve Clones, and reserving space for future increases in consciousness links, then he would probably need 1,000,000 Clones.
At least for the next ten years, this Clone factory would have to operate at full capacity, without a moment’s rest.
At this moment, Tom owned a total of 269 bases.
Because there was now ample personnel, all 269 bases had been activated for full-power operation.
Countless trains sped on the tracks, countless large trucks drove across the desolate and silent land of Loshen Star, and countless factories and mines roared day and night.
But even at full capacity, Tom could currently control 110,000 Clones, and there were still as many as thirty thousand temporarily idle.
"Finally, there are idle Clones."
Tom sighed secretly: "With these thirty thousand fully dedicated Clones, I can finally establish a dedicated technology development department."
Before, Tom had also been conducting scientific research. But at that time, scientific research was more like encountering a problem and temporarily deploying a group of people to study a solution, more like temporary emergency response, rather than dedicated research and development.
But the situation was different now.
Now, Tom had completely moved beyond the initial stage of striving for survival, self-preservation, and maintaining the normal development of the base.
It was time to actively promote technological development.
After all, building such a large base, so many production lines, and such a complete industrial system, production was not the ultimate goal; enhancing technology and promoting technological development through production was the ultimate goal.
Thus, another massive base rapidly rose from the surface of Loshen Star.
This was a comprehensive scientific research institution.
Its interior was divided by Tom into several large modules, including a materials research and development building, a casting process research and development building, a machinery research and development building, an optics research and development building, a chemistry research building, a computing technology research and development building, and so on.
Each building also had more detailed divisions. For example, the materials research and development building contained a polyethylene research department, a metal research department, a glass research department, a heat-resistant research department, and so on.
The computing building, on the other hand, was divided into photoresist research, silicon purification research, circuit research, and so on.
Its research content covered every aspect of modern technology.
Although still very basic, the overall research framework had now been established.