Chapter 58: I Must Be Crazy
Above Loshen Star, Tom’s heart was chillingly cold.
The probe’s true close-range observation lasted only a very short time. But that brief period of observation was enough for him to understand a lot of information.
His opponent was very strong.
This was not only evident from their ability to build larger spaceships, but also from their propulsion technology.
Human Civilization had already mastered ion propulsion technology and had applied it on a relatively large scale.
The principle of this technology is to first ionize the propellant—that is, the substance ejected to propel the spacecraft through recoil—and then, with the help of an electromagnetic field, accelerate the propellant ions to an extremely high speed before ejecting them from the nozzle.
Because the propellant ions reach extremely high speeds, even up to ten to twenty thousand kilometers per second, far exceeding the few kilometers to tens of kilometers per second ejection speed of chemical fuels, a unit mass of propellant can provide far greater recoil than chemical propulsion, thus contributing to higher propulsion efficiency.
However, this technology has significant limitations. Although its specific impulse is high and propellant utilization is extremely high, the overall thrust per unit time is extremely small.
Simply put, one unit of chemical fuel can accelerate a one-ton object from zero to ten meters per second in one second, but it can only sustain this for three seconds, resulting in a total acceleration of thirty meters.
With ion propulsion, the same mass of propellant, using ion propulsion technology, can at most accelerate a one-ton object from zero to 0.01 millimeters per second in one second, but it can sustain this for a full year, resulting in a total acceleration of 315.36 meters, far exceeding chemical fuel propulsion.
In Human Civilization, ion propulsion technology is basically incapable of meeting the demands for rapid maneuvering of large masses, and is only applied to needs such as satellite orbit maintenance and slow acceleration of long-distance spacecraft.
The advantages and disadvantages of ion propulsion are both very clear. So... what if there was a technology that could solve its disadvantages while retaining the advantages of ion propulsion, that is, solve the problem of its thrust being too small while retaining its advantage of ultra-high specific impulse?
This is the High-Speed Ion Propulsion Technology that Human Civilization has dreamed of!
In people’s imaginations, once High-Speed Ion Propulsion Technology is mastered, it might even be possible to build spaceships capable of interstellar voyages!
But High-Speed Ion Propulsion Technology is too profound, and Human Civilization has never been able to master it. Out of necessity, they could only settle for the next best thing, temporarily developing secondary pressurized ejection technology, which is the propulsion technology currently used by the Deep Space Spaceship, as a transitional solution.
And now... Tom saw the practical application of High-Speed Ion Propulsion Technology on these unknown spaceships!
Based on this alone, Tom could conclude that the opponent’s technological strength far surpassed his own, and also far surpassed Human Civilization before its disappearance.
Coupled with that enormous spaceship, Tom had sufficient reason to believe they came from other star systems.
So, there was a question.
What are you doing in the Solar System?
What is special about the Solar System? After much thought, the only special thing was that the Solar System is a star system with an intelligent civilization.
Other than an intelligent civilization, Tom did not believe the Solar System had anything special.
So, what is your connection to the disappearance of humanity? What role did you play in this event?
Tom’s millions of brains simultaneously pondered this question, but only for a moment before stopping on their own.
Now is not the time to pursue this question. The most important thing now is that they are flying towards him!
From the current situation, their mothership, the large spaceship, seemed to have suffered accidental damage, which is why it had to temporarily dock in God-Enemy Star’s orbit, using God-Enemy Star’s resources to recover itself.
Perhaps they didn’t directly attack him initially, but merely used the Monster Birds swarm to kill him indirectly, because they were in the early stages of repair at the time and temporarily lacked the power to eliminate him.
And now, after decades of recuperation, they have recovered some strength, and so they are eager to embark on an interstellar voyage to eliminate him!
How advanced would the offensive and defensive technologies of a civilization that has mastered High-Speed Ion Propulsion Technology be?
He couldn’t be the opponent! At least, in a head-on confrontation, he definitely couldn’t win!
Tom immediately made this judgment in his mind.
So... what to do?
In the face of this unprecedentedly powerful opponent, Tom still maintained his composure and calmness.
Considering his own advantages, his own technological level, the opponent’s advantages and disadvantages, etc., a plan quickly formed in Tom’s mind.
"I don’t care what your schemes are, what your background is; at least at this stage, the strength you have shown me consists only of these dozens of small spaceships.
In a head-on fight, I probably can’t beat even these dozens of spaceships, but it doesn’t matter, I’d have to be crazy to think of fighting you head-on!"
At this moment, Tom decisively issued commands to the 1.1 million Clones he was simultaneously controlling.
Except for the essential positions required to maintain the base’s operation and the Clones’ survival, all other non-essential positions were shut down.
This immediately freed up as many as 900,000 consciousness link quotas.
The next moment, these 900,000 consciousness link quotas, and their corresponding Clones, were all put into one task.
Making guns! If they couldn’t make more advanced guns, they would make gunpowder guns! Make a large number of gunpowder guns!
As many unrelated factories temporarily ceased operations, all factories related to firearms and bullets plunged into frantic activity.
Numerous mines suddenly began to increase their production rates, and many excavators and crushers roared madly, mining large chunks of ore.
Trains traveled frantically, transporting these ores to the metallurgical plant at unprecedented speeds.
Blast furnaces spewed black smoke, and scorching molten steel flowed out like a flood, cooling and shaping before arriving at the processing plant, where it was transformed into individual parts under the operation of countless machines.
Chemical plants also operated frantically, sending large quantities of gunpowder to the bullet factory, where it was processed into standard-sized bullets, which also flowed down conveyor belts like a flood.
While initiating the frantic process of making guns and bullets, Tom simultaneously ordered all of his only 500 Mercury-class Battleships, which were stationed around the space base, to be recalled to the surface of Loshen Star, and then entered into huge factories.
Not long after, all these battleships reappeared.
But this time, they did not stay in space again; instead, they began a frantic acceleration, rushing madly towards God-Enemy Star with the support of the Deep Space communication network.