The 3D printer and a laser beam

"Ella is generating the plan. Plan generation complete...

"The optimal plan can design this shuttle-shaped spaceship, aesthetically pleasing, with entertainment, dining, accommodation, and fitness areas."

"This spaceship is 122.4 meters long, 18.3 meters wide, and 14.9 meters high, with five electromagnetic thrusters. The spaceship's maximum speed can reach 293.4 km/s."

Yan Xia's mouth twitched. There was no way around it; it was too luxurious.

This was practically like a cruise ship, the Titanic in space.

"I need something faster."

"Ella is generating the plan. Plan generation complete..."

"The latest plan prioritizes speed. The spaceship is 332.5 meters long, 67.1 meters wide, and 55 meters high, with eleven electromagnetic thrusters. The spaceship's maximum speed can reach 875.9 km/s."

Even so, it would still take 1,446 years to reach Proxima Centauri.

"It still won't make it."

At this point, Ella responded again, having activated its continuous voice listening mode.

"You can also produce hibernation pods to help you sleep until you reach your destination."

This was the best solution Ella could offer.

As an engineer, Yan Xia knew that to get a better plan, he would need to increase computing power.

But it was impossible. Computing power required massive energy consumption, which this spaceship couldn't provide...

"Wait!"

Yan Xia thought of something.

"Ella, can you create a controlled nuclear fusion device?"

With Ella's current computational power, figuring out controlled nuclear fusion wasn't impossible. After all, by 2037, humanity was not far from achieving controlled nuclear fusion, at most a hundred years away.

Humans had already perfected the plan for controlled nuclear fusion. The only thing preventing them from achieving it was the insulating and superconducting materials.

The high temperatures generated by nuclear fusion could reach tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of degrees Celsius.

Controlled nuclear fusion still involved boiling water, converting thermal energy to kinetic energy, so material manufacturing was the biggest challenge.

"Totally feasible!"

Ella's answer excited Yan Xia immensely. As long as the energy constraint could be overcome, Ella could grow infinitely, and his chances of surviving in space would be greatly enhanced.

"Then let's set sail!

"Head to the asteroid belt and use the resources there to build a controlled nuclear fusion device!"

The spaceship deployed its solar panels and used thrusters to alter its course.

...

100 days.

That was a quantifiable period.

It took Yan Xia 100 days to reach the asteroid belt.

When he saw the asteroid belt, he was so excited he almost cried.

After all, the daily monotony was overwhelming, talking to an AI all day long. Even playing games was limited to single-player, and the avatars on various chat apps on his phone had all turned grey.

Entering the asteroid belt, the spaceship stopped beside a 12-kilometer-diameter asteroid. The asteroid's surface had many impact craters, and a metallic reflection appeared in one of the craters.

"Analyze the composition of the asteroid!"

The spaceship was equipped with several high-resolution cameras, originally prepared for Ella.

It didn't take long.

"Analysis complete. This asteroid is primarily composed of iron, followed by magnesium, and contains small amounts of copper and aluminum."

"Magnesium and aluminum can be used to create lightweight metal alloys, suitable for building large robot shells. Iron, needless to say, steel will dominate our subsequent production."

"Yan Xia, we can build a factory on this asteroid."

Yan Xia had Ella call him by his name to feel more personal and make Ella seem more like a human.

Ella was equipped with ChatGPT version 15.8, and she could sometimes respond like a human.

Iron, magnesium, copper, and aluminum were all relatively abundant elements in the universe.

Yan Xia also felt that this asteroid was quite suitable. Although there were some dwarf planets in the asteroid belt, those were not as easy to develop as these asteroids.

The spaceship, under Ella's control, landed on the asteroid's surface.

During the previous 100 days, Yan Xia had also consolidated the spaceship's supplies.

He rolled out a massive 3D printer from the storage, which weighed at least a ton. Yan Xia glanced at the model.

"C9200, it's actually a flagship 3D printer."

"Extravagant."

This 3D printer was priced around 7 million and had the capability to independently print metal products.

He connected the printer's cables to the spaceship's mainframe.

"Ella, control this 3D printer."

"Start producing mining robots."

During these three months, Yan Xia also thoroughly familiarized himself with the process of creating controlled nuclear fusion.

Although he only had a general understanding, he knew the technological pathway to follow.

He found a few large devices inside the spaceship, which almost occupied half of the ship's space.

One was a greenhouse instrument, and the other was a water-gas conversion device.

These two items served another purpose for something stored in a different compartment.

The seed vault!

The primary mission of this spaceship was to determine the feasibility of Mars colonization, so it carried a large number of seeds.

This was good news for Yan Xia.

Because the food on the spaceship was actually quite limited, mostly consisting of compressed biscuits and the like, he had been living frugally for these three months, hoping to find some material to synthesize nutrient solution once he reached the asteroid belt.

Now, with these plant seeds, the problem was easily solved. Among these seeds, the two most important ones were rice and soybean seeds, both of which were high-yielding staples and sources of carbohydrates and protein.

Yan Xia had some understanding of how to store plant seeds. These seeds hadn't undergone deep processing, and there might still be some insect eggs hidden inside. These dormant insect eggs in the seeds might be the only Earth animals he would see in the future besides himself.

But for now, he couldn't use these things. So he mercilessly dismantled and threw into the 3D printer two pieces of equipment that might determine whether he could eat these plants in the future.

"There's no other way. Right now, controlled nuclear fusion and a real spaceship are more important."

The 3D printer was slow. It took about a week for Yan Xia to get a batch of parts. He assembled the parts and connected them to the wires he had previously dismantled. A small robot about 40 centimeters high was completed. It had a claw on the left side and a drill on the right, with treads for movement, plus a few extended mechanical claws that could grip the surface of an asteroid with almost no gravity.

"Is this thing really useful?" He doubted it because it was so small.

"Don't worry, Yan Xia, although this robot is small, I can control it directly," Ella reassured. "With my intelligence, even a piece of rubble can turn into gold."

For now, let's just trust it.

Due to the scarcity of batteries, this small robot was connected by cables. Yan Xia had to perform some space operations to connect the external power supply to the spaceship. This was his first time performing a spacewalk. He closed the oxygen valve, put on his spacesuit, feeling a bit awkward. Fortunately, he had been to air shows and had some basic knowledge, so he wasn't completely clueless.

After securing the rope, he walked to the hatch, took a deep breath, and then turned the handle to open it. Gas instantly rushed out of the cabin, pushing his body forward, leaving him suspended in space with the rope stretched straight. He hurriedly grabbed the rope and pulled himself back. Only when his hand touched the surface of the spaceship did he feel some relief. This spaceship was his only sanctuary now.

He fumbled around and found the external power port with Ella's guidance. The robot remained in the cabin, but the cable was around his waist. He unplugged it and inserted it into the locked connection. Just as he was about to return to the interior of the spaceship, suddenly his faceplate was hit by a beam of light. 

The next moment, this high-energy beam slightly shifted onto his spacesuit.

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!" 

His spacesuit began to melt.