Xiao Yu began the meticulous preparations for his mining expedition.

First, anticipating the influx of raw ore from Earth’s orbital debris, Xiao Yu spent two months constructing a new titanium-zirconium processing and smelting facility beside a methane lake confirmed to be free of Black Bugs.

Next, he built thousands of small fusion engines equipped with a certain degree of basic intelligence, all of which were loaded into the Hope. With preparations complete, the Hope smoothly launched toward Earth’s orbital debris, and Xiao Yu shifted his focus to the construction of the Dawn.

The various bases and their mining and refining equipment were already fully operational, requiring no further expansion at the moment. With steady production rates maintained, Xiao Yu allocated only a fixed portion of his computational resources to oversee the bases. The remainder of his focus was devoted to the Dawn.

At the main base, hundreds of flights arrived and departed daily, delivering a continuous stream of materials. Upon landing, robots sorted and transported the raw materials to various workshops. There, the materials underwent refinement or additional processing before being crafted into components. These parts were then moved to the assembly facility, where they were pieced together into larger modules and transported to a massive factory for final assembly.

Like industrious worker ants, the robots labored tirelessly, and under their collective effort, the Dawn gradually took shape.

Meanwhile, after a long two-month journey, the Hope arrived at Earth’s orbital debris field.

Over the years, Earth’s former orbit had transformed into a circumsolar asteroid belt, over a billion kilometers in circumference, about 10,000 kilometers wide, and just 10 kilometers thick. Xiao Yu understood that this structure had formed under the Sun’s gravitational influence. What was once Earth had now become the “Solar Ring,” akin to Saturn’s rings or Jupiter’s.

Observing the remnants of Earth from the Hope, Xiao Yu sighed deeply.

He knew that due to gravitational perturbations from outer planets like Jupiter and Mars and inner planets like Venus, Earth’s former orbit could no longer consolidate into a new planet. Earth was now a relic of the past.

Located 1.3 billion kilometers from Titan, communications between the two locations experienced an 80-minute delay. Consequently, Xiao Yu delegated most of the Hope’s operations to pre-programmed protocols, monitoring its activities remotely.

A steady stream of data was transmitted to a high-powered communications satellite stationed at the Sun-Jupiter Lagrange Point. The satellite relayed the signals to another satellite at the Sun-Saturn Lagrange Point, which then passed them to the satellites orbiting Saturn and eventually to Titan’s network, before reaching Xiao Yu’s mind. When sending commands, Xiao Yu followed the same process in reverse.

Using this data, Xiao Yu tracked the Hope’s activities.

The Hope conducted surveys beneath the Solar Ring. Equipped with highly sensitive titanium and zirconium detection instruments, it scanned for meteoroids rich in these elements. When a suitable candidate was identified—one of manageable size—the Hope prepared to take action.

“Hmm? The Hope found a suitable meteoroid?” Xiao Yu’s excitement grew as he awaited the next transmission.

The meteoroid was nearly cubic in shape, approximately 10 meters on each side, with a volume of about 1,000 cubic meters. Its composition was 30% rock, 69% titanomagnetite, and minor impurities. Weighing approximately 5,000 tons, it was heavier than the Hope itself.

Based on estimates, this single meteoroid could yield nearly 1,000 tons of titanium.

“This is worth the effort,” Xiao Yu decided. According to its programmed protocol, the next step for the Hope was to tow the meteoroid to a quieter location beneath the Solar Ring for processing.

By the time Xiao Yu received this signal, it had already been traveling through space for over an hour, meaning the Hope had acted on this task over an hour ago.

A faint tension lingered in Xiao Yu’s mind.

Practical application was the ultimate test for any program. Though Xiao Yu had conducted hundreds of thousands of tests on the Hope’s software prior to launch, simulations could never fully replicate real-world scenarios. The true measure of the program’s accuracy lay in its performance during this mission.

The stream of signals continued uninterrupted. Xiao Yu observed as the Hope cautiously approached the meteoroid, reducing the distance to 30 meters before deploying a mechanical claw to securely grasp it. Once fixed in place, the engines engaged, dragging the meteoroid away from the Solar Ring.

Everything proceeded exactly as Xiao Yu had anticipated.

Relieved that his pre-programmed protocol had passed its first real test, Xiao Yu focused on monitoring the Hope’s next steps.

The Hope maneuvered the meteoroid closer and used a three-dimensional scanner to calculate its center of mass, density, and other critical properties. Based on this data, it identified the optimal location to install an engine.

This was where Xiao Yu’s fleet of thousands of small fusion engines came into play.

His plan was simple: after identifying suitable meteoroids, the Hope would install engines on them, enabling the meteoroids to propel themselves toward Titan using the engines’ thrust. Given the Hope’s weight limitations, relying solely on it for transport would take over a century to gather sufficient resources.

The small fusion engines provided limited thrust, resulting in modest acceleration. This meant that each meteoroid would take about a year to reach Titan, aided along the way by gravitational assists from planets like Saturn and Jupiter.

Despite the lengthy travel time, this method was far more efficient than having the Hope shuttle back and forth. A single round trip for the Hope would take four months, and even with tow cables, it could only haul up to 100,000 tons of material per trip—a frustratingly slow process.

After bringing the meteoroid into position, the Hope opened its cargo bay. Several robots emerged, installed one of the small fusion engines onto the meteoroid, secured it in place, and returned to the ship. The Hope then departed to locate the next viable target.

Approximately 30 minutes after the Hope left, the fusion engine on the sun-facing side of the meteoroid ignited, releasing a pale blue flame that propelled the rock forward.

Throughout the meteoroid’s year-long journey, high-powered communication satellites scattered through space would guide it, ensuring it safely and accurately reached Titan.

Seeing everything proceed smoothly, Xiao Yu felt reassured and optimistic about his mining strategy.

Three days later, the Hope discovered another promising meteoroid. This one was significantly larger than the first, measuring over 30,000 cubic meters in volume and weighing a staggering 100,000 tons. Even more impressive was its composition: 80% titanomagnetite.

Calculations indicated that this single meteoroid could yield over 30,000 tons of titanium ore.

In Xiao Yu’s program, the Hope was not authorized to decide whether to mine such large targets. Instead, it transmitted the data to Xiao Yu and continued tracking the meteoroid while awaiting his decision.

After some deliberation, Xiao Yu decided to proceed. The sheer volume of titanium made it worth the effort. However, the transport plan required adjustment.

Xiao Yu swiftly developed an optimized transport protocol and transmitted it to the Hope.

Following the updated instructions, the Hope first dragged the meteoroid out of the ecliptic plane. It then installed 15 fusion engines on its surface before resuming its search for more targets.

Over six months, the Hope identified and equipped nearly 300 meteoroids with engines. The meteoroids varied in size and mass, ranging from 2,000 tons to a colossal 300,000 tons. Xiao Yu estimated that these 300 meteoroids could collectively provide approximately 3 million tons of titanium ore and 1 million tons of zirconium ore—sufficient to complete the first phase of his interstellar fleet construction.

Once the engines were installed and the meteoroids dispatched on their year-long journeys, Xiao Yu ordered the Hope to return to Titan.

The Hope’s speed far exceeded that of the meteoroids, but even so, the journey back to Titan would take two months. Meanwhile, the first meteoroids were expected to reach Saturn’s orbit in about four months. At that point, the Hope would need to intercept and guide them to Titan.

Xiao Yu also planned for the reentry phase. He couldn’t afford to lose material due to atmospheric friction during descent, as such losses would be too costly. To prevent this, Xiao Yu devised a meticulous retrieval strategy to ensure the meteoroids arrived safely at the processing facilities with minimal mass loss.

By this time, six months had passed, and the construction of the Dawn was nearing completion. The final finishing touches and post-construction checks were underway. Soon, the Dawn would leave Titan and take its first flight into the vast expanse of space.

Everything was proceeding according to Xiao Yu’s plan.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep