Humanity is missing, luckily I have billions of clones.

Chapter 10 Tractor

The steam generator and steel blast furnace have been built, but they cannot be put into use at the moment.

Because high-capacity thermal generators require more fuel supply.

The current mining team is already doing its best to support the two existing generators. If another generator is added with a demand several times greater than the two existing generators combined, even these clones will be exhausted and unable to supply it.

Even if the five new clones were added to the mining team, it wouldn't work.

The current mining mode of the mining team is to drive a planetary rover, use the power of the planetary rover, use electric heating equipment to heat and cut solid oxygen and solid tolin, and then put them into the truck bed and pull them back.

Because the rover wasn't originally designed for mining, its capacity and cutting power were limited. Furthermore, even on Rosen, with its extremely low gravity, repeatedly transporting solid oxygen and solid tholins for extended periods of time was exhausting, and the clones' efficiency was also low.

It is unrealistic to continue investing manpower in mining. Firstly, there are not enough people, and secondly, even if there were enough people, it would not be a waste of manpower.

Li Qingsong has a better way.

Then... build a tractor!

With a tractor specifically designed for transport, the current difficulties he faces will be easily solved. Whether it is the transportation of iron ore or the fuel demand for high-power generators, it can be solved.

The question now is how to build this tractor.

The two clones who stayed behind in the Deep Space spacecraft began their intensive studies again.

After learning the basic principles, the 22 brains he controlled at the moment began to think together, and he quickly completed the drawings with an efficiency far exceeding that of ordinary people.

So the smelting and processing equipment started running again, producing parts one after another, which were then carefully assembled by the clones.

At first, it was impossible to tell from the outside what the clones were assembling.

It looks like a big iron can, covered with irregular protrusions and connecting holes.

But as time went on, and more and more parts were produced, it gradually took shape.

Finally, a smaller steam engine appeared in front of the clones.

That's right, this tractor is not powered by an internal combustion engine, nor is it powered by electricity like a planetary car, but by a steam engine.

Apart from the steam engine, Li Qingsong can't find any other source of energy at this stage.

Once the "heart" of the tractor was built, the rest of the parts became much easier. Finally, after more than a month, the front of the tractor was finally built.

Looking at the tractor head in front of him with four steel wheels, about 1.5 meters high, 2 meters wide, and about 2.2 meters long, which looked rough overall, Li Qingsong, who had been busy for more than two months, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“It’s finally done…”

This is a tractor head with a fully mechanical structure and no electrical structure.

It uses entirely mechanical mechanisms internally to complete power transmission, fuel regulation, etc. It can be said to be extremely clumsy and backward.

If this thing were thrown onto Earth, it would probably only end up in a museum.

But for Li Qingsong at this moment, it can be of great use.

After providing the initial heat and melting the solid oxygen and solid tolling that supplied the tractor's steam engine, the steam engine finally started.

Li Qingsong waited patiently for the ice to melt and steam to form. This process took about ten minutes. Finally, a slight vibration came from the car body, indicating that the power was ready.

Yes, it takes more than ten minutes to start this tractor each time, and it cannot start from cold, so it must be started with the assistance of an external heat source.

If it breaks down in the wild, it will not be able to start on its own and can only wait for external rescue.

A clone went up, grabbed the gear lever and shifted into gear. Immediately, the steam power was transmitted to two of the four wheels. The two drove the four, and the four wheels rolled at the same time, dragging the car body and slowly moving forward.

As the steam engine's power increased, the locomotive's speed grew faster and faster. Eventually, the engine reached full capacity, and the locomotive's front speed reached its maximum, about ten kilometers per hour, about the same speed as an average person running.

"This speed is fine."

Li Qingsong immediately started the next experiment.

The tractor's bed has been built. It is a steel compartment that is two meters wide, four meters long and half a meter deep.

It has a connection hole in the front, which can be directly connected to the front of the car and can be moved by the front of the car.

Li Qingsong controlled the clones and moved large chunks of tholin ore and oxygen ore onto the truck bed, piling up a total of seven or eight cubic meters, with a total mass of about six or seven tons, and then started the truck again.

This time, the front of the car was obviously struggling a lot.

Large amounts of black smoke came out of the chimney, then quickly dissipated in the vacuum environment on the surface of Luoshen, and turned into black snow falling from afar.

The front of the car was shaking, and the four steel tires were rolling with difficulty, dragging the heavy cargo box forward slowly, with the maximum speed being only about six or seven kilometers per hour.

Li Qingsong stared at it closely until the clone controlled it to walk one or two kilometers along the canyon and then turned back.

A group of clones immediately stepped forward and carefully checked the condition of the front of the car. Only after discovering that the front of the car was in good condition and there were no faults did they truly relax.

After the inspection, the tractor was immediately put into use.

Following a gentle slope leading to the surface of the canyon, the tractor trembled and roared silently as it drove onto the desolate and silent land of Luoshen Star.

It took more than an hour to drive around gullies and ups and downs for more than ten kilometers, and finally we arrived at an oxygen-rich area that had been explored before.

On the surface of Luoshen, Thorin Ore is abundant and can be harvested nearby. Oxygen Ore is relatively rare and requires traveling some distance to find.

Two clones jumped down from the front of the car and each took out a heat pipe - one end of the heat pipe was connected to the steam engine, which was now used as a heating and cutting device.

Underground, the pale blue oxygen mines shone with a strange light under the dim sun and mining lamps in the distance.

Under the heat of the radiator, a large amount of solid oxygen quickly rose and disappeared. A moment later, a large piece of oxygen ore was cut off and directly lifted by the clones and placed in the truck bed.

Soon, a full bucket of materials had been collected, weighing about seven or eight tons. The tractor roared back to Base One, even slower than before.

The fuel storage area, which was originally a little empty, was immediately filled up.

Looking at the full tank of fuel, Li Qingsong breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's great! With this tractor, the mining team not only doesn't need to add more people, but can actually reduce the number of people from the previous five to the current two, freeing up three clones to do other things."

(End of this chapter)