After seeing the 300 kg of magical materials settle within his storage space, Keon's thoughts immediately flickered, contemplating countless potential applications for these newly acquired, non-conventional resources.
"I will utilize them," he mused internally, "but only after I have dealt with the more immediate, logistical problem of planetary exploration. Furthermore, I cannot yet risk integrating them into core components until I am absolutely certain of a non-ending supply chain. For now, they can be reserved for one-time-use items, such as specialized weapons or complex defensive tools."
He then assigned a minimal fraction of his newly augmented processing power for theoretical research, allowing countless designs for advanced weaponry and ephemeral single-use tools to appear in his mind's eye.
After an instantaneous process of minimization and prioritization, he decisively redirected his focus to the central objective: the immediate construction of the Geo-Synchronous Array and the Scout Drone Swarm.
The next phase of planetary exploration necessitated the swift deployment of an entirely new, sophisticated infrastructure. Keon closed his internal status panel, concentrating his immense cognitive resources. The full processing capacity of the newly transformed one-millimeter UMPU-X1 chip was now singularly dedicated to one critical, overarching objective: rapid, industrial-scale manufacturing.
The first and most vital bottleneck was the synthesis of the unique materials required for the new control systems. Keon's core initiated a deep analysis of the mountain of raw rare-earth ores previously gathered by his mining machines... a planetary-scale repository of essential elements.
He extended his influence, activating the Material Assimilation and Advanced Synthesis sub-talents in perfect tandem. This action transformed the very ground surrounding his base into a temporary, ultra-pure cold-fusion laboratory. The raw ore was instantly drawn up, processed, purified at the atomic level, and then subjected to precise cold-fusion restructuring. With exacting control, he synthesized the precise crystalline structures of Monazite and Cerium, the key compounds required for the UMPU-X1's optical data pathways and high-density memory components.
The purified, liquid materials flowed directly into a localized Micro Fabrication field. The blueprint for the Multi-Purpose Processing Unit, a marvel of 1nm process technology, was replicated tirelessly. Hundreds of single-millimeter microchips, each pulsing with one exaFLOP of latent processing power, were silently generated and securely cataloged within his internal storage... a vital resource pool of distributed intelligence ready for immediate deployment.
The Geo-Synchronous Array (GSA-1) was designated as the central brain of the exploration network. Keon directed the four autonomous mining units, now functioning as colossal, mobile assembly robots, to transport and shape the Unified Adaptive Composite Alloy at a remote, pre-selected mesa location.
The fabrication of the core Array structure was a spectacle of automated precision and sheer scale. A continuous, shimmering stream of purified titanium, carbon, and specialized rare earths from UHS1 was drawn up and fused into the immense structural lattice. Simultaneously, the gargantuan, six-meter Carbon Fusion Core was meticulously constructed, with layers of carbon-silicon folded and compressed under pressures that could flatten mountains to achieve the required 50 MWh of continuous, functionally limitless power output.
The UMPU-X1 cluster was then seamlessly integrated into the Array's command system, its redundancy ensuring planetary-scale communication resilience. Keon performed a final, comprehensive system scan that lasted a mere fraction of a millisecond.
The GSA-1 was now complete.
With a calculated, silent thrust from temporary ion ports, the massive satellite platform was propelled into the upper atmosphere. It was a fully self-deploying infrastructure, its new core powering its ascent and eventual stabilization into a permanent, high-altitude geosynchronous orbit. It instantly became the undisputed, centralized Neural Nexus hub for the entire planet.
The final step required exponential scale and maximum speed. Keon dedicated his remaining resources and processing bandwidth to the rapid fabrication of the Scout Drone Swift Wing (SW-100) swarm.
A colossal, square-kilometer fabrication field was established across the desolate desert floor. Material Assimilation and Micro Fabrication worked at maximum capacity, generating both the necessary materials and the drone bodies concurrently.
One thousand identical drone bodies, meticulously forged from the ultra-light Dolomite-Carbon polymer and the Unified Adaptive Composite Alloy, materialized. Each one-meter winged vehicle immediately received two miniaturized Carbon Fusion Cores and a dedicated UMPU-X1 chip. The assembly was flawless... a triumph of calculated efficiency over brute force.
This mass fabrication was the operational crux. Keon activated his Neural Nexus talent, extending a fragment of his own consciousness into every newly fabricated chip. The swarm instantly linked, forming a unified, distributed, and highly redundant network... a thousand eyes and a thousand processing nodes, all reporting back through the GSA-1 in orbit.
A thousand SW-100 drones, capable of silent Mach 3 flight and fully autonomous resource mapping, stood poised on the desert floor. The exploration of UHS1 could now be achieved on an exponential scale never before seen. Keon's Level 17 core registered the completion of this preliminary, foundational stage, and a new internal timer instantly began counting down the one-year limit for Task 3: Explore the entire planet.
The GSA-1, powered by its massive six-meter Carbon Fusion Core and its functionally limitless 50 MWh output, had achieved a silent, powerful presence in high-altitude geosynchronous orbit. Keon's core registered its stabilization instantly, marking a profound shift in the planetary data feed from a negligible trickle to an overwhelming, crystal-clear flood.
The highly redundant cluster of UMPU-X1 chips on the Array's multi-layered platform ignited. Its long-range sensors, meticulously engineered for planetary-scale resolution, activated with a silent, all-encompassing pulse. The entire sphere of UHS1 was instantly bathed in a high-resolution, multi-spectral field, initiating a purely observational scan.
The Array commenced its core function: the meticulous, detailed generation of a complete, high-resolution 3D topographical map. Biomes, geological anomalies, and atmospheric disturbances were all instantly tracked and rendered in pristine detail within the Array's dedicated processing cluster. The desolate desert planet, UHS1, was rapidly being stripped of its geographical and geological mystery.
On the desert floor below, the one thousand SW-100 drones received the launch command relayed from the GSA-1 hub. The only sound was a high-pitched, near-inaudible whirr as their twin miniaturized Carbon Fusion Cores engaged silent, continuous ion-thrust propulsion.
The swarm ascended as a single, perfectly synchronized entity. The ultra-light bodies, forged from Dolomite-Carbon polymer and Unified Adaptive Composite Alloy, accelerated toward the upper atmosphere in mere seconds. They then executed a precisely calculated, multi-vector pattern, splitting to ensure complete coverage across the entirety of the planetary surface.
Keon was no longer a mere observer of the deployment; he was the deployment.
His Neural Nexus talent, now centralized and exponentially magnified by the GSA-1 hub, meant that the swarm's thousand exaFLOP UMPU-X1 chips operated as one vast, single, distributed consciousness. The lingering cognitive 'fog' he had felt when remotely piloting the single Exoshell was permanently resolved. The torrent of incoming information was now a crystal-clear, lucid stream of actionable data.
Coverage & Speed: The swarm, capable of silent Mach 3 flight, spread exponentially across the world. The collective network achieved its intended one-thousand-kilometer radius coverage in just under one hour.
Data Acquisition: During the high-speed flight, the integrated drone sensors continuously executed the Material Recognition talent. Their objective was not merely to chart landmasses, but to chart resources. Every major titanium deposit, every rare earth seam, and every complex carbon formation was instantly mapped, categorized, and funneled back through the Neural Nexus to the GSA-1 for aggregation and compression into a complete summary for Keon's Main Frame.
…
In the span of a single earth day cycle, the ruthless efficiency of the integrated system proved utterly staggering. The GSA-1, utilizing the combined and optimized input of the swarm, achieved one percent of planetary coverage in a short time.
[Planetary Status Report]
Topographical Map Generation: 1% Completed
Planetary Resource Index: 0.9% Completed
The high-resolution map of UHS1... a precise geological and topographical atlas... snapped into pristine existence within Keon's core. The sheer volume of raw data, a quantity capable of instantly overwhelming the most advanced supercomputers of old Earth, was processed, analyzed, and filed instantly by the UMPU-X1's immense capacity.
The planet's vast circumference, once a formidable challenge that demanded years of ground travel, was now threading at an alarming rate.
Task 3 had officially transitioned from the planning stage to the relentless execution phase, all orchestrated by a single, perfectly integrated mechanical consciousness. Keon closed the informational overlay, his core utterly satisfied with the flawless efficiency of the system. The grand exploration had truly begun.
…