Humanity is missing, luckily I have billions of clones.

Chapter 401 Comprehensive upgrade
wreckage?

Li Qingsong's heart sank.

Was I... too late after all?
While deploying numerous probes into the surrounding interstellar space, Li Qingsong's fleet began to decelerate and slowly entered the interior of the galaxy.

Li Qingsong then found more traces of the brutal war.

On a rocky planet, Li Qingsong found a large amount of heavy metal residue amidst the traces of a high-yield hydrogen bomb. The highest concentration of heavy metal residue was found in some of the areas most severely affected by the hydrogen bomb.

In addition, there are numerous traces related to life support systems, such as certain specially made hydrogen, nitrogen, and phosphorus compounds commonly used in air circulation systems, as well as carbon and oxygen compounds commonly used by the Morais as clothing materials.

In some deeper underground areas, Li Qingsong also found traces of organic matter that appeared to be remnants of Morais human flesh.

This should have been a warm planet with an average temperature between 0 and 20 degrees Celsius, and its surface should have had abundant liquid water, perhaps even forming oceans. But now, all the oceans and lakes have dried up, all the water has been vaporized and evaporated, and the surface is covered with molten lava.

This was just one planet. On the other gas giants and moons, Li Qingsong found even more traces of war.

The elemental composition of the gas giant's atmosphere had even been altered. Even the star itself now contained numerous elemental spectral lines that shouldn't have been there.

"Judging from these elemental spectral lines, it should not have been affected by the war alone. If that were the case, the content of heavy metal elements would not be so high."

"It seems a fleet crashed into the star and committed mass suicide..."

Li Qingsong felt a little uneasy.

Looking at the numerous gas dust particles and energy projectiles straying everywhere in space—all of them stray bullets that, having missed their targets, remained in their original orbits, and large and small metal fragments torn from warships, bases, and other structures—Li Qingsong sighed softly.

Even though Li Qingsong didn't witness the horror of that war firsthand, he could fully comprehend its devastation.

Li Qingsong deeply felt the despair of the people of the Morais civilization at that moment, being in that situation.

The Morais civilization was truly a civilization plagued by misfortune...

Looking back on the history of the Morais civilization from its birth to its demise, even Li Qingsong couldn't help but sigh.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't save you. But please rest assured, I... will definitely avenge you. The Grey Worm civilization will be destroyed by me, and you no longer need to worry about those disgusting demon-eyed creatures living in this universe with your appearance, speaking your language, and basking in your culture."

He knew that the reason the Grey Worm Civilization had been relentlessly pursuing the Morais Civilization was because the two civilizations originated from the same source. If the Morais Civilization were absorbed, the Morais people would seamlessly integrate into the Grey Worm Civilization's social structure, like swallowing a powerful tonic, instantly boosting the Grey Worm Civilization's overall strength.

This is why the Grey Worm Civilization was so determined to capture the Morais Civilization, even knowing that this star field had just been attacked by a high-level force—an entire star system had been destroyed and incorporated into the Star Beast Kingdom—they still came here to take a look.

Unexpectedly, they actually captured the Morais civilization, a civilization that only had its core fleet, had lost most of its warships, and had almost no ability to defend itself.

Even though some Morais people have died, been injured, or even committed suicide, Li Qingsong is certain that the vast majority of Morais people have been captured and infected by the Gray Worm civilization.

Before annexing the Morais civilization, Li Qingsong had already roughly determined the technological level of the Grey Worm civilization by examining these traces of war.

The conclusion is that their technology is more advanced than ours.

And now, the Grey Worm civilization's strength has surged once again, which is a reality.

Even so, Li Qingsong had no worries.

It's not like there aren't other civilizations of the same level that have been destroyed by my hand.

I was able to destroy the Purple Moon Civilization during the Strong Core stage, and now, in the Gravity stage, I can destroy your Gray Worm Civilization just as easily!

With this strong confidence, Li Qingsong maneuvered his fleet, which was no longer considered large, and slowly withdrew from the star system.

I was captured by the Star Beast Cataclysm from this very area. Even though the Star Beast Cataclysm is likely extinct, this place is still not safe.

After spending some time leaving the gravitational influence of the star and entering warp drive, it took Li Qingsong about ten years to randomly dock in another star system about 40 light-years away, where he then began large-scale industrial construction.

Factories sprang up one after another, and spaceships and all sorts of basic resources flooded into Li Qingsong's fleet.

In just over a decade, Li Qingsong's fleet size returned to its peak.

More than 3 million warships of various types, including 200 Jupiter-class warships, more than 100 million large, medium and small unmanned warships, as well as countless unmanned combat facilities, and a large number of supercomputing spacecraft, scientific research spacecraft, transport spacecraft, etc.

In addition to these conventional facilities, Li Qingsong also built something he hadn't done in a long time.

Flying Star!

During the strong core stage, flying stars were an essential tool for Li Qingsong's interstellar travel. However, after advancing to the gravity stage, due to the greatly increased travel speed and the ability to find star systems to dock in a short time, Li Qingsong has abandoned flying stars.

But now, the flying star has reappeared, and on a much larger scale.

Its diameter reaches a full 1000 kilometers, and with an average density of 0.5 grams per cubic centimeter, its total mass even reaches 26 trillion tons!
The total mass of Earth's atmosphere is approximately 5000 trillion tons, and at this moment, the mass of this planet is equivalent to about 52 Earth atmospheres!

Its surface gravity reaches 0.07 meters per second squared, about 1/140th of that of Earth, and its escape velocity reaches 230 meters per second. That is, an object must reach this speed to escape its gravitational field.

For a massive celestial body with such a strong macroscopic gravity, it would be extremely difficult to incorporate it into warp space and achieve faster-than-light travel. Fortunately, Li Qingsong is no longer in the early stages of understanding gravity; his technology has advanced significantly compared to that time, and his understanding and control of gravity are much deeper, enabling him to accomplish this.

The reason for creating another flying star at this gravitational stage is quite simple. Through previous exploration within that star system, Li Qingsong has determined the direction the Gray Worm civilization was heading, and the next step will be a long-distance pursuit.

This tracking will inevitably take a long time. This is because the Gray Worm civilization's current level of technology allows for faster-than-light travel at approximately 5.3 times the speed of light, while Li Qingsong's current travel speed is only 4.2 times the speed of light.

The only way to shorten the distance between us is to travel for longer periods and make fewer stops in the star system.

At the same time, during the voyage, Li Qingsong also had to maintain the normal development of technology so that by the time they tracked down the Gray Worm Civilization, the technological gap would be narrowed to an acceptable level.

Therefore, a flying star is very necessary.

Everything is now ready.

So... let's set sail!
The massive fleet, carrying the flying star, began accelerating beyond the star's gravitational field. In just a few months, the once bright star had degenerated into a mere speck of light.

With a flash of light and shadow, the massive fleet and the flying star disappeared together, entering the warp drive phase.

The environment in curvature space is extremely stable, and most residential spacecraft, scientific research spacecraft, experimental spacecraft, as well as spaceships and space carriers are in a relatively static state, making it an ideal time for large-scale personnel movement and scientific research.

Having experienced numerous life-or-death crises and teetering on the brink of annihilation, not only Li Qingsong but also the intelligent life forms under his command have developed a strong desire to further develop technology.

These aspirations ultimately converged on scientists of all races, and were truly embodied in them.

Without any mobilization or encouragement, when Li Qingsong announced the official launch of a new round of large-scale scientific and technological research and development projects, they cheered and jumped for joy as if it were New Year's Day, and rushed to their work posts without waiting.

Transport ships, as numerous as ants, landed on the flying star, took away the supplies one by one, and then transported them to large scientific research ships.

Within the curvature space, various explosions, collisions, high temperatures, high pressures, and other processes, which are intentionally controlled to prevent the release of energy from affecting the overall stability of navigation, emerge one after another, seemingly without end;

Apart from Li Qingsong, scientists from various races made the research ship their home, often not returning home for months or even a year or two.

Within one large habitation spaceship after another, schools responsible for cultivating scientific research talent are bustling with activity. Numerous teachers are working diligently, and countless students are engrossed in their studies, oblivious to the world around them.

In this atmosphere of nationwide calls for technological advancement, schools have acquired an almost sacred status. Even criminals, whose activities are difficult to completely eradicate, will intentionally avoid schools. Ordinary pedestrians will subconsciously lower their voices and walk quietly when passing by schools, for fear of disturbing the students' studies.

Under these circumstances, a surge of promising young talents from various disciplines and fields has emerged, flowing like a mighty river into the vast ocean of scientific research spacecraft, contributing to Li Qingsong's scientific and technological development.

In this atmosphere of unity and concerted effort in scientific and technological development, the first major breakthrough occurred in just a few decades.

Energy technology!

At the gravitational level, the primary energy source is heavy element fusion. That is, not only hydrogen and helium, but also lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, neon, and even magnesium can undergo fusion.

In this way, the energy conversion efficiency of matter is greatly improved, even to the point that 4% of the total mass can be converted into energy, which is more than three times that of the time when only hydrogen-helium fusion could be carried out!
Now, with the further development of gravity technology, Li Qingsong can achieve higher temperatures and pressures in the magnetic confinement chamber, which further reduces the difficulty of fusion. As a result, Li Qingsong has incorporated all four elements—aluminum, silicon, phosphorus, and sulfur—into the fusion chain after magnesium.

In this way, the overall quality conversion efficiency has been increased to about 5.2%, and it is expected to reach about 6% as the technology matures further.

This increases efficiency by about 50% on top of the original level. Fuel that could release only two units of energy before can now release three units!

Energy technology is also a whole series of advancements achieved through the combined progress of multiple technological fields, such as more advanced materials, more precise gravity control, and more precise magnetic confinement systems.

This also opens up possibilities for the development of many other fields.

Thus, in the centuries that followed energy technology, breakthroughs were made in almost every field, including conventional ion propulsion, high-speed scanning radar, space curvature detection, gravitational wave communication, gravity cannon power, and even energy cannons, interstellar mines and missiles.

Just as spring has finally arrived after being suppressed by the harsh winter, the current momentum of technological development can be described as a time of flourishing life and vitality.

The convergence of these technologies finally led Li Qingsong to make a major decision.

All current spacecraft, whether they are space carriers or habitation ships, transport ships or research vessels, whether they are Jupiter-level warships or the smallest unmanned warships with a total mass of only 1.5 tons, which is even smaller than some larger satellites, will be completely rebuilt!
The existence of that flying star provided Li Qingsong with ample confidence to carry out such a large-scale industrial construction in the vast space.

Thus, these numerous spaceships were dismantled in batches, while new spaceships were built in batches. Over a total of more than 50 years, while simultaneously carrying out large-scale scientific research tasks, Li Qingsong finally completed the overall redesign and upgrade of the fleet.

From this moment on, from a tiny bullet to a space carrier, all of Li Qingsong's technological creations were enhanced by technological advancements, gaining more advanced performance.

"At this stage, even if I were to face an attack from the star beasts at their peak of gravity in the Star Beast Kingdom again, I probably wouldn't be in such a sorry state..."

Li Qingsong thought calmly for a moment, then issued another order.

"Escape faster-than-light travel!"

The next moment, the curvature space that had been maintained for hundreds of years vanished instantly, and the vast starry sky was once again presented to Li Qingsong.

The next moment, another order arrived.

"Entering faster-than-light travel!"

Warp space reopened. But this time, the speed of Li Qingsong's fleet increased from 4.2 times the speed of light to 4.6 times.

(End of this chapter)