At that moment, facing the wreckage of the destroyed equipment before him, Li Qingsong was filled with excitement.
’What’s one piece of equipment!’
’What matters is that I’ve finally taken this crucial step! I’ve finally managed to get a projectile into a Strong Core Excited State!’
’It’s still not stable enough, of course. The state only lasted for less than a second before it detonated. But what does that matter? If I can maintain it for one second, I’ll be able to maintain it for a hundred, even a thousand seconds in the future!’
’My Strong Core excitation device is extremely inefficient right now. It consumes an unimaginable amount of energy and takes about ten minutes just to get a single projectile into a Strong Core Excited State. That’s nowhere near the rate of fire of a standard Energy Cannon, which can fire tens or even hundreds of rounds per second.’
’But that’s okay. I’ll just keep optimizing it in the future!’
Alongside the Energy Cannon, Li Qingsong’s material science technology had also seen a massive leap.
Based on his deeper understanding of the Strong Core Force, Li Qingsong could now manipulate materials directly at the level of the atomic nucleus.
This went far beyond the chemistry-based materials science of the past; he had truly entered the atomic realm.
This technology led to the rapid emergence of a new series of materials. For instance, a far more resilient, high-strength material perfect for space elevators—its performance was ten times greater, even as its volume and mass were reduced to a tenth of the original.
Another example was a highly heat-resistant material that could withstand temperatures of over ten thousand degrees Celsius. Any ordinary, chemistry-based material would have been vaporized into plasma at that temperature.
This was the origin of the saying, "There is no chemistry on a star."
A star’s temperature is so high that it ionizes all molecules. Chemical reactions, however, occur at the molecular level. If a star has no molecules, how can there be chemistry?
But now, the emergence of this highly heat-resistant material shattered Li Qingsong’s belief that he could never approach a star.
In the future, with further development in material technology, Li Qingsong might even be able to land a ship directly on a star!
There was also a new material with high sensitivity to electromagnetic waves. Used in detection radar, it would cause a massive leap in detection accuracy, speed, and range. Another was a Warship hull material based on the Strong Core Force. According to calculations, it could withstand a direct hit from an Electromagnetic Cannon Projectile without shattering, its strength exceeding previous alloy armor by tens, even hundreds of times...
Li Qingsong felt more and more that the Grand Unification Formula was like a seed.
It appeared to be just a single seed, so small and unassuming.
But once planted and allowed to grow, it could sprout into a towering tree, bearing countless magnificent fruits!
’No wonder the data from the Blutuk Civilization called this stage the Strong Core Civilization.’
’It’s a fitting name... Almost every technological achievement of a civilization at this stage is developed from the foundation of the unified Strong Core Force.’
If the Grand Unification Formula for the unified Strong Core Force was the primary core, then the technologies Li Qingsong had grasped but not yet perfected—like the Energy Cannon, Energy Shield, Super-distance Communication, and High-speed Ion Propulsion—could be considered the secondary core.
At this point, the breakthroughs for the primary and secondary cores were complete. The next step was to build upon the secondary core and conduct further research into more specialized, application-level fields.
At this stage, the research projects would be numerous and the fields highly specialized. The required effort and resources would be just as substantial.
The initial boons from breaking through to a Strong Core Civilization were now all but spent. The era of explosive progress was over. Now came the time for slow, incremental advancement, pushing overall progress forward with thousands, even tens of thousands, of minor technological improvements.
However, it was precisely these thousands upon thousands of minor technological improvements that were directly linked to industrial and military power.
The initial boons from the breakthrough in fundamental theory were spent, but looking at it another way, this meant it was time for industrial and military technology to truly take off—time to really reap the rewards of that breakthrough!
Fueled by the vast resources of the Flying Star—his "emergency rations"—billions of Clones and tens of millions of Blutuk scientists threw themselves into this great and vast technological revolution.
Nearly every day, breakthroughs were made in at least a thousand different specialized fields.
More efficient temperature control devices, more stable sensors, more heat-resistant materials, more durable connectors, and on and on.
Li Qingsong’s overall technological level advanced rapidly, driven by this seemingly endless stream of minor breakthroughs.
Decades flew by in the blink of an eye.
Although the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity Fleet still hadn’t found him, Li Qingsong’s sense of impending crisis only grew stronger.
He knew that with every passing moment, the danger he was in grew.
But now, after such a long period of intensive research, he had accumulated sufficient technology.
’In that case... it’s time to begin the great undertaking.’
A complete overhaul of every single piece of technology he currently possessed. Whether it was massive constructs like Space-Air Carriers, Large Transport Ships, Warships, and Scientific Research Vessels, or small items like satellites, refrigerators, air conditioners, or the communication terminals used by the Clones—everything would be melted down. All materials would be reclaimed, and everything would be rebuilt!
A total upgrade from the technology of an Electroweak Civilization to that of a Strong Core Civilization!
Within an Interstellar System, such an undertaking, though massive, would be considered relatively commonplace.
After all, every civilization goes through such a stage.
But to do it here, in the vast emptiness of space, was extraordinary.
There were no materials or energy to be found in deep space. ’Are you out of your mind, trying a complete overhaul out here?’
But for Li Qingsong, nothing was impossible.
’Because I have the Flying Star! It still has a mass of about 50 trillion tons, more than enough to support a complete overhaul!’
Having completed the initial phase of technological development, Li Qingsong began by upgrading his industrial facilities.
With the existing industrial facilities operating at full capacity, a new generation of factories was rapidly constructed.
As sections of the new-generation factories came online, sections of the old factories were shut down and dismantled, their materials melted down and recycled.
Eventually, all the old factories were replaced by new ones.
Once the industrial system was fully upgraded—especially with the construction of dozens of massive metal recycling and smelting plants—the dismantling of the fleet began at once.
One by one, the massive ships that had not fallen to the enemy were now destroyed by Li Qingsong’s own hand.
Huge Space-Air Carriers, heavy transport ships, and even Warships were all disassembled piece by piece and fed into the smelting factories.
Meanwhile, one by one, brand-new ships were rolling off the production lines.