Chapter 3: Asteroid Factory, 7 Years Later

Yan Xia hurriedly dodged, startled.

Fortunately, his spacesuit had a multi-layered structure and wasn't completely penetrated.

He returned to the cabin and immediately gave Ella a command.

"Capture the direction of the laser beam; it might be from other survivors."

He had been a bit panicked before, but now he felt excited.

Ella adjusted the camera and analyzed the scene of Yan Xia being hit by the laser beam.

"Yan Xia, the direction of the laser beam has been analyzed."

"The beam originated from the direction of the constellation Centaurus, and its energy density is extremely high, beyond Earth's technological capabilities."

"Data analysis suggests a 100% probability that it's from an alien civilization, and a 97.28% probability that the distance is less than 5 light-years."

This was undoubtedly a cold shower for Yan Xia.

An alien civilization.

Most likely, the gamma-ray burst had caught the attention of an alien civilization, and they had traced the gamma-ray's path to the solar system.

So, 100 days after the gamma-ray burst, the aliens sent a laser beam as a probe, and it arrived 100 days after the gamma rays.

"In other words, this laser beam is a probe. Is it possible for the alien civilization to analyze the spaceship and me through the laser beam's emission?"

Ella didn't even need to calculate this time.

"Yes!"

"This alien civilization's technological level far surpasses that of humanity, and the probability of your speculation is very high, Yan Xia."

Yan Xia felt a sense of crisis.

If this were the case, the aliens would surely venture into the solar system for further exploration.

When that happened, he would come face to face with this alien civilization.

"I've only been here for a short time, and I've already encountered an alien civilization."

"Perhaps life is widespread in the universe, and it was a coincidence that humanity was able to develop without being discovered by aliens."

Thinking about this now was pointless.

He needed to develop his capabilities to have any chance of facing the aliens.

Yan Xia turned on the robot, and it powered up.

It moved around, using its claw and drill, seemingly functioning well.

Then it jumped out of the cabin, using its tiny pinhole-sized vents for positional adjustment, and landed steadily on the asteroid's surface.

The robot didn't have a camera; everything was under Ella's direct control.

It drilled directly into the ground and started mining.

These asteroids were mostly remnants of destroyed planets or had experienced numerous violent collisions, their surfaces scorched by extreme temperatures, and their interiors almost devoid of impurities.

The 3D printer was capable of metal printing and had an inbuilt high-temperature melting device, which could further purify the iron.

For Yan Xia, everything was finally on track.

...

One month later.

The number of robots had increased to four.

Yan Xia decided to expand the number of 3D printers, as a single printer was too slow, and multi-line operation would significantly speed up the printing of parts.

"Ella, calculate the number of 3D printers we need for our plan, to avoid wasting resources and time."

Ella began the calculation and quickly provided the result.

"Yan Xia, we need a total of 4,349 3D printers, not only for manufacturing mining robots but also for printing other mechanical equipment."

"Our first priority is to produce solar panels to ensure a sufficient energy supply."

"Then we need to manufacture furnaces to smelt and refine metals and create alloys."

"After that, we'll need high-precision machine tools, as the precision of the 3D printers is insufficient for the controlled nuclear fusion equipment we aim to build."

"And there's more..."

"Stop, stop, stop!"

Yan Xia had thought this would be a simple task, but as Ella explained, he realized it was more complex than he'd imagined.

He quickly stopped Ella.

"As a mature AI, create a file for these plans, and we'll follow them. There's no need to explain them to me."

"Additionally, prioritize the production of recovery cryogenic sleep capsules at the initial stage."

According to Ella's plans, it would likely take several years to complete.

If he waited that long, he might go insane or simply die of old age.

As the last human, he couldn't afford to fail in his first goal.

"No problem, Yan Xia!"

Ella automatically generated the fastest plan for implementation.

This was the fastest way.

But it still took half a year.

The number of robots exceeded a hundred, and the number of 3D printers expanded to 20, which were then used to produce solar panels.

After constructing a 5,000-square-meter solar panel array, the first asteroid factory was complete.

Using improved new-generation solar panels, the 5,000-square-meter array could generate 130 kilowatts of power, and due to its location in space, it had lower energy loss and higher efficiency than on Earth.

Accounting for losses, the daily power generation reached 28,800 kilowatt-hours.

Being in space, there was no need to consider weather conditions, and the panels could generate electricity continuously for 24 hours.

This was sufficient for the factory's operations.

As Yan Xia had expected, nothing could be achieved overnight, and everything required time.

Fortunately, once everything was on track, progress accelerated.

The number of robots increased from 100 to 1,000, and the number of 3D printers grew from 20 to 300 in just four months.

The factory began smelting large quantities of metal and producing hand-operated lathes.

Then, using the robots to operate these lathes, they produced high-precision components and completed the manufacturing of high-precision machine tools.

...

A year and a half passed.

After the number of high-precision machine tools exceeded ten, they finally began producing other machinery.

Following Yan Xia's instructions, Ella prioritized the production of the recovery cryogenic sleep capsule.

This technology was extremely challenging, requiring ultra-low temperatures and the use of liquid nitrogen for freezing.

Before entering cryogenic sleep, a special anti-freezing agent needed to be injected into the body to prevent blood from freezing and water in the body from forming ice crystals.

Only with this series of technologies could the recovery cryogenic sleep capsule be realized.

This technology had not yet been achieved on Earth, and Yan Xia had to rely on Ella's independently calculated technology.

He had no other choice; he couldn't start from scratch as a computer engineer, could he?

...

Two and a half years had passed.

The factory on the asteroid had transformed into an industrial park.

This was incredibly fast.

Even with the support of Earth's mature industrial system, it would be impressive to build an industrial park from scratch on the ground within four years.

But for Yan Xia, the time it took was terrifyingly long.

Fortunately...

Everything finally came to an end.

In the year 2044, almost seven years after Earth's destruction.

Ella reminded him.

"Yan Xia, the recovery cryogenic sleep capsule you requested has been produced..."