Chapter 694: Industrial Mining Mother Ships
His first instinct was to use it to build an industrial mother hub for the dark energy purification devices.
Functioning similarly to the tier 7 mother core ships, it could produce industrial machines capable of mass-manufacturing purification devices.
However, with the sheer number of tier 7 mother core ships the allied teams already had, Nash quickly shelved that idea.
They already operated over a thousand tier 7 mother core ships, generating approximately 16,000 industrial machines per day.
Within a month at most, with 500,000 industrial machines in operation, their production capacity for purification devices would already be saturated.
"It seems this tier 8 mother core ship is better suited for producing pure technology."
Unlike dark technology, which required individuals to manually engrave additional runic patterns, standard technological production could be fully automated.
Among his options were battleships, defensive systems, and mining technology.
After brief deliberation, the answer was clear.
"It’s time to build industrial mining mother ships."
The very reason he had chosen this location was its wealth of resource zones.
If he let all of that go to waste after everything they had endured against those dark beast swarms, what had the struggle even been for?
Although the income from dark energy purification devices was substantial, it was not a stable long-term foundation.
Sooner or later, he would have to contend with the major-level teams.
If he didn’t want to be at their mercy, he needed to forge his own independent resource and industrial chain.
The industrial mining mother ship was the first step toward that goal.
Similar to a standard mining fleet, it could move between resource zones while continuously expanding itself.
A single industrial mining mother ship was equivalent to a self-sustaining brood, generating endless mining machines to systematically strip a resource cluster bare.
They might not amount to much in small numbers, but once they scale, from thousands to millions to billions, even the resources of this entire domain area might not be sufficient to satisfy them.
"It’s decided."
Having considered all the implications, Nash instructed Aykroyd and the other scientists to configure the tier 8 mother core ship to produce industrial mining mother ships according to an existing blueprint.
The blueprint had been contributed by one of the teams that had joined the alliance before.
While not cutting-edge, it was more than adequate for the task at hand.
In the future, once Nash had accumulated more capital, he could exchange for a top-tier blueprint from the Mechanical Race.
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A few days later, the first industrial mining mother ship rolled out of production.
Like a moon orbiting a star, its sheer size nearly rivaled that of the mother core ship itself.
"Lord Nash, where shall we deploy this one?" Aykroyd asked, barely containing his excitement.
Although they had built various mining machines in the past, those had been temporary and lacked any sophisticated design.
The industrial mining mother ship before them, however, was a marvel of engineering, built as though it could bore through the core of a planet and pluck resources from the void itself.
"Deploy it to the nearest resource zone we’ve already located. We don’t yet have adequate defensive measures to send it out into the wild."
Although the industrial mining mother ship had its own defensive capabilities, in the current frenzy of dark beasts, those defenses would be about as effective as paper walls.
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Soon, as the industrial mining mother ship arrived at the resource zone, its hatches began to open as a swarm of detection probes poured out.
After scanning the entire terrain and cataloguing rare materials, indigenous species, and all other noteworthy resources, it began fabricating specialized mining tools tailored for the job.
Just a few hours later, an endless stream of machines began to emerge.
Like a swarm of worker ants, they blasted through the mining area, collected the debris, and smelted it for transport.
For delicate and precious deposits, a gentler, more methodical approach was adopted to avoid damaging the yield.
With each passing minute, using the materials it had already smelted, more and more mining machines were fabricated as it continued to drive deeper into every resource vein.
Watching from the monitor, Nash and the scientists couldn’t help but grin.
"This industrial mining mother ship is incredibly efficient!"
"Haha, once it’s had time to build up its full arsenal, it’ll be able to strip a planet clean in seconds."
"Truly a magnificent piece of engineering."
Equipped with a massive storage capacity, the industrial mining mother ship could continuously fabricate new mining machines as it worked, switching seamlessly between resource zones without pause.
As long as its computing power held, it could scale its workforce without limit.
"So, Lord Nash, how many more industrial mining mother ships shall we build?"
The material cost alone for each unit ran to 1 quadrillion, and the time investment was substantial, so setting a clear target was important.
"Let’s aim for a thousand industrial mining mother ships to start. In the meantime, experiment and see if you can shorten the production timeline."
Building a single unit took over five days. At this rate, a thousand would take well over ten years.
If individual components could be outsourced to other mother core ships or industrial machines, that would be ideal.
"Understood, Lord Nash. Leave it to us."
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Ten days later, Marcellin returned to the Neon Star Alliance Public Trading Zone with a large delegation from the Azure Heaven Alliance.
This time, not only were their numbers substantial, they were also armed to the teeth, enough to put the guards at every station in the area on high alert.
To anyone who didn’t know better, it would have looked like a raiding party about to attack the Neon Star Public Trading Zone.
However, knowing they were escorting hundreds of quintillions’ worth of materials, the heavy security was entirely understandable.
"Nash! Good to see you again. Time flies when you’re fighting for your life." Marcellin sighed.
With the dark gates now open, he felt time accelerating at a pace he could barely keep up with.
"That’s because we’ve entered the development phase of the cosmic competition. There’s simply too much at stake to ever stop and catch your breath." Nash replied.
From the exploration stage to the development stage, from here on out, it was a race to see who could accumulate strength the fastest.
"I couldn’t agree more. In any case, I’ve brought everything you requested. Have you finished the latest batch of dark energy purification devices?"
Over the past few weeks, in addition to the materials for the dark gate, Nash had also requested materials for defensive modules and the industrial mining mother ships.
Although it was all on credit, they trusted that Nash would be able to settle the bill.
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