collection plan

After acquiring the village-level nuclear fusion-powered spaceship, Hope, Xiao Yu truly experienced the convenience brought by technological advancements. Hope was initially designed for both interstellar and near-earth space use, making tasks such as launching satellites or transporting supplies between celestial bodies dozens of times faster and more efficient than before.

Using Hope to launch eighteen satellites orbiting Saturn alone saved Xiao Yu an immense amount of resources that would have otherwise been spent on manufacturing eighteen rockets.

Determined to establish signal coverage across the entire Saturn system, Xiao Yu accelerated the satellite production. Having completed the foundational accumulation, with the exception of the relatively scarce elements titanium and zirconium, the ninety-three bases on Titan were continuously producing a vast array of resources, inexhaustible and abundant. With these resources, Xiao Yu could now focus on developing new technologies with ease.

Countless robots were bustling back and forth, tirelessly working as long as there was sufficient energy. They neither needed rest nor felt fatigue. Under the diligent labor of these efficient workers, one satellite after another was produced, and Hope took on the task of placing these satellites in their designated orbits.

The titanium-zirconium collection plan had officially begun. Besides having basic communication functions, the satellites Xiao Yu created were also equipped with extremely sensitive elemental analyzers to search for titanium and zirconium. Xiao Yu believed that if these elements existed within the Saturn system, they would inevitably be found.

It took Hope a full three months to place nearly eighty satellites into orbit. Since there were no stable Lagrange points within the Saturn system, except for seven satellites orbiting Saturn's moons, the rest revolved around Saturn itself.

With this, the entire Saturn system was completely covered by Xiao Yu's signal network. Within the system, as long as one did not enter the interior of a celestial body, Hope could establish contact with Xiao Yu from anywhere.

Saturn, with its vast system, had been well-documented by humans long before Earth's destruction. The entire Saturn system was known to have at least sixty-two moons. After settling on Titan, Xiao Yu discovered many additional rocks orbiting Saturn, but these were too small to be classified as moons and were instead considered meteoroids.

Among the sixty-two moons, only seven had sufficient mass to reach hydrostatic equilibrium, meaning only seven moons were spherical in shape.

Hydrostatic equilibrium refers to when a celestial body reaches a certain mass, the gravitational forces within it balance out, causing it to form a spherical or near-spherical shape. This is why all large celestial bodies discovered by humans are spherical or nearly spherical, while only smaller bodies, lacking sufficient mass, exhibit irregular shapes.

These seven Saturnian moons became the primary focus of Xiao Yu's search, with seven dedicated satellites placed in orbit around them. As for the remaining smaller moons, Hope embarked on a circuitous journey to visit each one.

However, the results disappointed Xiao Yu. It was as if some divine force had forgotten to include titanium and zirconium when creating the Saturn system. Despite thoroughly searching the entire system, Xiao Yu found no trace of these two elements.

In reality, there were tiny traces of these elements, but they were in quantities too insignificant to warrant extraction—low reserves and difficult to mine, making them virtually nonexistent. After three months of searching, Xiao Yu wisely abandoned the idea.

With this, only two options remained. The first was to venture toward the inner planets, searching on Mars or in the orbit of the former Earth. The second was to move outward, seeking these elements around Uranus and Neptune.

After weighing the pros and cons, Xiao Yu chose the first option. The reasoning was simple: the orbit of Neptune is 1.4 billion kilometers from Saturn, while Earth's orbit is 1.3 billion kilometers away, making Earth's orbit slightly closer. Moreover, Xiao Yu was certain that Earth's orbit contained abundant reserves of titanium and zirconium, as humanity had long since confirmed this. While Neptune's orbit could replenish fusion fuel, whether those elements existed there remained to be explored.

"Very well," Xiao Yu sighed and began planning a return to Earth.

However, this plan posed a significant challenge—distance. The distance was so great that even signals traveling at the speed of light would take over seventy minutes to reach their destination. This meant that if Xiao Yu sent a signal from Titan to Hope in Earth's orbit, it would take more than seventy minutes for Hope to receive it. This delay was unacceptable for Xiao Yu, who demanded absolute control. Additionally, without Hope, everyday tasks such as launching and maintaining satellites within the Saturn system would be impossible.

Yet if Xiao Yu left the main base on Titan to accompany Hope to Earth's orbit, construction on Titan would come to a complete halt without Xiao Yu's supervision. This was also unacceptable to Xiao Yu.

"Long-distance communication... I wonder when it will be developed," Xiao Yu lamented. He was now desperate to acquire long-distance communication technology.

Long-distance communication, as the name suggests, is a form of communication that transcends distance, also known as real-time communication. No matter how far apart two points are, communication between them would occur instantly, with no delay.

Many had already begun researching this technology back on Earth. The most promising breakthrough appeared to be based on the quantum entanglement effect in quantum mechanics, which could potentially realize long-distance communication.

However, this technology was still theoretical, not even achievable in laboratory settings, let alone in practical applications. Xiao Yu had no way of implementing it now. But he had a plan: after reaching the Tanyuan Four star system, he would construct a massive particle collider around it. Once his fundamental physical theories advanced, he would revisit the study of long-distance communication.

In truth, scientific progress had stagnated over the past few decades, primarily building on the foundations of relativity and quantum theory, with little more than incremental advancements. Human society appeared to be thriving, but in reality, it was merely technological development, not theoretical progress.

Long-distance communication, without a doubt, could not be achieved within the current framework of fundamental physical theories.

Xiao Yu shook his head slightly, pushing these thoughts aside, and began considering how to solve the current problems with existing technology.

"Programming is the only solution. At a distance of 1.3 billion kilometers, I can only exercise general control over Hope, leaving the details to pre-written programs. And as for the issue of interstellar transport within the Saturn system after Hope leaves, I'll just have to build another spaceship."

"The radiation strength of the 'Woodling One' is insufficient to build another spaceship, so I'll have to use Hope to capture more Woodlings first. But the distance to Jupiter is also seven hundred million kilometers, and it takes forty minutes for a signal to travel that far. Relying solely on programming to deal with these dangerous creatures makes me uneasy."

Xiao Yu sighed and continued to ponder.

"With Hope's speed, it will take a month to reach Jupiter, and including the time required for capture, the round trip will take approximately two and a half months. Very well, I'll leave the main base and head to Jupiter. Meanwhile, the mining operation in Earth's orbit will have to rely on programming—I can't afford to waste that much time."

After careful consideration, Xiao Yu devised a plan.

With the general framework in place, Xiao Yu began fine-tuning the details, focusing on how to make the most out of the limited resources and time available.

"Since I'm heading to Jupiter, I might as well lay the groundwork for the journey to Earth. I'll place a high-powered communication satellite at the Sun-Saturn Lagrange point, and another at the Sun-Jupiter Lagrange point, which should effectively resolve the communication issue."

With his mind made up, Xiao Yu immediately began constructing the two satellites. Having previously built nearly a hundred satellites, this process went smoothly, and the satellites were completed in just one month.

Once everything was prepared, Xiao Yu loaded the two satellites onto Hope, made proper arrangements for the ninety-three bases on Titan—such as shutting down certain machines, pausing mining operations, and programming some robots to handle the base's routine maintenance—and after all was set, Xiao Yu transferred his consciousness into the photon computer aboard Hope.

Though the main control computer on Hope was also a photon computer, its computational power was vastly inferior to that of the main base. However, Xiao Yu did not plan to perform any complex calculations and intended to use this time to rest.

Maneuvering Hope away from Titan, Xiao Yu first reached the Sun-Saturn Lagrange point. After placing one satellite there, he continued to accelerate, and three minutes later, Hope reached a speed of 350 kilometers per second, swiftly departing the Saturn system and racing toward Jupiter.

The journey lasted a month. Upon seeing the familiar face of Jupiter again, Xiao Yu couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.

"I told you I'd be back! With the latest materials derived from the Black Bug corpses, let's see what you can do this time. Now, obediently become my building materials!"

Arriving at an orbit ten thousand kilometers away from Jupiter, Xiao Yu shouted triumphantly.