Li Qingsong was sick and tired of this life on the run, of constantly fleeing and never having the peace to develop his technology.
And the only way to solve this problem was to break through to the Strong Core Level and gain the power to truly stand against the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity.
Only strength could secure peace.
But there were no shortcuts on the path of technological development.
Never mind that he no longer had the captured technological data from the Blutuk Civilization to study, as he had before. Even if he did, his own research and development would still be indispensable.
It was the same principle: reverse engineering was useful, but not *that* useful. Captured technological data was helpful, but truly learning and mastering it still depended on his own countless experiments, trials, and studies.
This was a path that could only be traversed step by step, through the gradual accumulation of research.
Key data from a particular Particle collision experiment, Particle behavior that defied model predictions, the energy levels of new Particles, unique phenomena in ultra-high-temperature environments, practical manufacturing techniques in engineering—the list went on. A true technological breakthrough depended on the countless small advances accumulated across these many fields.
After leaving this star system, Li Qingsong once again threw himself into an all-out effort of technological research and development.
Compared to the previous phase, the research force Li Qingsong now invested was even more immense. The reason was simple: he had gathered more resources this time, enough to support him in awakening all three billion of his Clones and putting them all to work on scientific research.
Time slowly passed under these circumstances. In the blink of an eye, another 250 years went by, and Li Qingsong had traveled another 20 light-years.
He was now truly more than one hundred light-years away from the Solar System. And in this long, hundred-light-year journey, Li Qingsong had not found any trace of life.
Let alone intelligent life, he had not even found the most basic life forms.
Even the Blutuk Civilization’s birthplace wasn’t the Gliese 625 Star System, as Li Qingsong had initially believed.
They, too, had migrated from the extremely distant depths of the cosmos. As for where their true home star system was, their history was too ancient, and their civilization had suffered too many disasters; even they were no longer certain.
This did not seem to be a good sign.
With the Solar System at the center and a radius of one hundred light-years, including the hard-to-observe red and brown dwarfs, the number of stars in this Star Domain reached about twenty thousand.
Although Li Qingsong had only traveled in one direction without observing every star in this domain, his course was largely random. Therefore, the sample he had taken could be considered objective and reasonably representative.
This was more than enough to highlight the scarcity of life in the Cosmos.
Clearly, the scarcer life was in the Cosmos—especially intelligent life—the more precious it became. This also meant the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity’s desire to capture him would be that much stronger.
’There’s so little intelligent life in this Cosmos. After finally finding one, would they really let me get away?’
’Wouldn’t they search the highest heavens and the deepest hells, chasing me to the ends of the earth just to get their hands on me?’
Despite his worries, Li Qingsong continued his seemingly endless research.
Just then, some of the Cloned Consciousnesses from the star system he had previously visited reconnected to his mind.
The Intelligent Mechanical Calamity had appeared once again, just as Li Qingsong had expected.
What made him even more grim was that this time, only 230 years had passed between his departure from the star system and the Calamity’s arrival!
The interval after he left the Solar System was about 400 years. After the Oriental Star System, it was 267 years. And now, it was 230!
The time was getting shorter and shorter!
Furthermore, he had managed to delay the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity Fleet for at least an extra 30 years in the Oriental Star System with his hydrogen bomb trap!
’So, what about next time?’
’The next time I stop in a star system, will the interval shrink to under 200 years? Or even 150? Or less?’
’My fleet needs about 13 years just to accelerate. With only 150 years, I could travel a little under 13 light-years at most.’
’A distance of 13 light-years... for the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity Fleet, that’s a journey of only about 18 years.’
’The distance is so short. Even if I make multiple random course corrections and rely on the vastness of space to hide my trail, the chances of the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity Fleet finding me would increase dramatically.’
"They’re like maggots on a rotting bone, clinging on and never letting go..."
A cold smile touched Li Qingsong’s lips, and the killing intent in his heart intensified.
This time, the hydrogen bomb trap Li Qingsong had laid was not triggered. The Clones watched as the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity Fleet first cautiously inspected and searched all the larger planets. It then conducted a large-scale screening of the asteroids before the main fleet finally entered the star system.
Li Qingsong wasn’t too disappointed by this.
He had expected as much.
The massive Intelligent Mechanical Calamity Fleet then began a new round of enormous construction atop the ruins of Li Qingsong’s factories. Once again, it took them only about 30 years to finish gathering resources. Then, the fleet departed, disappearing into the vast cosmos, clearly resuming its pursuit.
Li Qingsong refocused his efforts on his research.
「Another 500 years slipped by amid the ceaseless, day-to-day research.」
Li Qingsong gradually realized that his technological development seemed to have hit a bottleneck.
In the field of applied physics, there had been no new theoretical breakthroughs for a long time. Consequently, the performance of all technology based on the current theoretical framework had reached its limit.
Technological development follows a clear progression: first comes fundamental physics, then applied physics, and finally, technological application.
Fundamental physics sets the ceiling for technology.
Just like in the Earth era, only after the development of relativity as a theory of fundamental physics did the creation of atomic and hydrogen bombs become possible.
Now, Li Qingsong’s applied physics and technology had reached the upper limit permitted by his existing theories of fundamental physics.
And the development of fundamental physical theory... had hit a wall.
However, Li Qingsong wasn’t frustrated by this situation at all. On the contrary, he was thrilled.
’This isn’t a bad thing. It’s a great thing! A very good thing!’
’Because this means I’ve completely mastered the scientific theories of the Electroweak stage. I’ve truly reached the threshold of a Strong Core Civilization and am on the verge of unifying the Strong Core Force.’
’At this stage, I can truly be called a peak Electroweak Civilization. As long as I break through this bottleneck, I can ascend to become a Strong Core Civilization!’