Although these "unmanned spacecraft" had no one on board, they were still controlled by operators in the rear. Therefore, in the strictest sense, they could still be classified as crewed vessels.
In contrast to these crewed vessels were the truly unmanned spacecraft.
This part was relatively simple, still consisting of the same facilities an Electroweak Civilization would possess: things like mines, satellites, Cannon Platforms, fortresses, ground- and space-based defense systems, Unmanned Warships, and so on. All were devices that required no manual intervention, capable of independently executing combat missions and deploying their combat power under the control of a war AI.
It was just that compared to an Electroweak Civilization, a Strong Core Civilization’s unmanned combat forces were far more powerful, and the performance of its various facilities was much higher.
For example, there were Unmanned Warships equipped with both Energy Shields and Energy Cannons, Interstellar Mines packed with Strong Core Excited State explosives, higher-performance spy satellites, more intelligent war AIs, and Supercomputing Bases with greater processing power.
Thus, the control centers, Supercomputing Bases, war AIs, and logistical support in the rear, combined with the intelligence-gathering systems and the crewed and uncrewed combat platforms on the front lines, constituted the various elements of warfare. They integrated organically, weaving together a vast network that formed the military might of a Strong Core Civilization.
Now that the Warship fleet’s modernization was complete, Li Qingsong—operating through his Clones and with the help of the Wukong AI—took advantage of his still-abundant reserves. He immediately initiated combat exercises in space. His goal was to better integrate this web of war, connect all its nodes, and coordinate its various elements to unleash their maximum combat potential.
Of course, because his reserves were ultimately finite and he needed to avoid creating a large enough disturbance to be detected by distant observers, Li Qingsong did not conduct live-fire exercises. The Warships’ propulsion was also restricted to a low power output.
Even though they were not live-fire drills, Li Qingsong’s understanding of a Strong Core Civilization’s mode of warfare still deepened considerably.
As he felt his combat power grow, Li Qingsong’s heart surged with excitement.
While conducting drills and researching military technology, Li Qingsong continued to carry out massive industrial construction projects.
It wasn’t just the Warships. The civilian, industrial, transport, and research vessels also began their own modernization process.
But Li Qingsong did not dismantle all of the old Space-Air Carriers, transport ships, and the like.
For a portion of the large vessels, Li Qingsong preserved their propulsion systems and overall structures, merely stripping out and recycling their internal components.
Afterwards, these large vessels, now little more than empty husks, became Li Qingsong’s "junkyards."
Over the years, Li Qingsong’s massive industrial activities had produced a tremendous amount of "waste."
This was all waste that Li Qingsong was currently unable to recycle or reuse.
But he couldn’t just dump it directly into space.
There was simply too much of it. Things like waste gases and fine particles, if released into space, could easily form a "trash nebula." This nebula would act as a beacon, marking his fleet’s trajectory and potentially exposing their position.
These hollowed-out husks of large vessels were the perfect solution.
Li Qingsong dumped vast quantities of unrecyclable materials into these empty ships, filling every last one to capacity.
With that, the mission to upgrade Li Qingsong’s non-military fleet was also a complete success.
Whether they were Space-Air Carriers, transport ships, or industrial ships, they were all upgraded to protium fusion power, equipped with high-speed ion thrusters, and fitted with Energy Shield systems suitable for large, non-military vessels.
Starting now, the plastic film Li Qingsong had relied on for thousands of years could finally be retired.
Now that he had Energy Shields, he no longer had to worry about interstellar Particle impacts, even if the fleet’s speed were to increase severalfold!
’In that case... there’s one thing I can do now.’
Increase the fleet’s speed!
Obviously, the higher his speed, the harder it would be for the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity Fleet to catch him, and the more time he would have to develop.
Gazing into the deep, vast expanse of space, a cold smile appeared on Li Qingsong’s lips.
’You all had a grand time back in the Solar System, didn’t you?
Chasing me relentlessly, like a pack of vicious dogs. You really enjoyed the hunt.
Just you wait. It won’t be long before I give you something to be *really* happy about...’
Under Li Qingsong’s command, the main fleet’s thrusters activated in unison once again.
The surging energy from the protium fusion reactors caused the high-speed ion thrusters to spin up rapidly, ejecting vast amounts of ions at high velocity and granting the fleet a continuous supply of kinetic energy.
Meanwhile, the empty ships that had become Li Qingsong’s junkyards did not follow the main fleet.
Laden with the waste Li Qingsong had generated over the years, they also began to accelerate, but flew off in a different direction.
’Let this trash fleet provide one last bit of cover for the main fleet.’
The trash fleet gradually moved away, eventually disappearing from view.
Now, building upon its previous speed of 8% the speed of light, Li Qingsong’s main fleet began to accelerate further.
After a brief period of low-power thrust to create distance from the trash fleet, the fleet’s propulsion immediately switched to full power.
Back then, the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity Fleet’s overall acceleration could reach 0.8 meters per second squared, a figure that had filled Li Qingsong with envy.
And now, while his own fleet’s overall acceleration had not yet reached 0.8 m/s², it had achieved 0.5 m/s². The two were now in the same order of magnitude; the gap was no longer massive.
Thus, after 5 years of continuous thrust, the main fleet’s speed reached approximately 102,800 kilometers per second, breaking the 100,000 kilometers per second barrier for the first time!
After another 3 years or so of continuous thrust, the main fleet finally reached its target speed.
Fifty percent of the speed of light—150,000 kilometers per second!
With Li Qingsong’s current level of technology, considering various factors like fuel efficiency, thruster efficiency, Energy Shield power consumption, and protective strength, 50% of the speed of light was basically the maximum sustainable speed for his fleet.
At this high speed of 50% the speed of light, Li Qingsong observed even more peculiar phenomena.
Li Qingsong saw that the stars in front of the fleet were becoming bluer, while the stars behind it were becoming redder.
Previously, when the fleet’s speed was only 8% the speed of light, the intensity of the blueshift and redshift effects were only about 8.3% and 7.7% respectively. To put it simply, the stars ahead of the fleet appeared 8.3% bluer, while the stars behind appeared 7.7% redder.
But now that the speed had increased to 50% of the speed of light, the blueshift and redshift effects were significantly enhanced in comparison.
After a period of observation, Li Qingsong saw that the stars ahead of the fleet and the stars behind it had become a full 70% bluer and redder, respectively!