After nabbing Dublack Quinto and his band of smugglers, things finally settled down for the next week or so. The colony resumed its steady growth, humming along like a well-oiled machine.
Around the gas giant, now officially dubbed Endor, they'd set up four resource extraction stations. These babies pumped out helium-3 like there was no tomorrow—prime fuel for the mothership's fusion reactors. The only problem? That was the limit. The mothership only came loaded with four modular mining platforms. If they wanted more, they'd have to build them from scratch.
Meanwhile, of Endor's nine moons, three were rich in metal ores. The engineering team was practically living on one of them, working overtime to construct a full-on interstellar mining outpost to supply materials for their growing projects in space.
Back on the planet's surface—on what was now called Liming Star—the colony was thriving. They'd finished building a thousand two-story modular residential buildings, and the population had swelled to over 1,700 people. The current setup could house up to 10,000, so they had room to grow.
Daphne Clement, head of the administrative department, was busy handpicking ideal candidates from cryo-sleep to help keep the colony's momentum going.
But two major problems loomed overhead. First, the rapid population growth meant jobs were getting tight. Second, their transportation fleet just couldn't keep up. The mothership had only five small cargo shuttles, each capable of carrying 100 passengers or 50 tons of supplies. It wasn't even close to enough.
And these 30-meter shuttles were basically light frigate-class ships—too complex to manufacture using the mothership's current onboard production line. To get more, they'd need to build a small space dock. Construction had already started, but even with modular parts from the mothership, it'd take at least a week to finish.
To top it off, one of the shuttles had already broken down.
All this had Tang Xiao running himself ragged. Back when the colony was just getting started, things were manageable. But as it grew, the problems multiplied. Lately, he hadn't had a single moment to ponder sci-fi plotlines or "Star Wars" theories. Every day he was flying back and forth between Liming Star and the mothership, making decision after decision.
But hey, there was a silver lining. His head was already stuffed with all sorts of knowledge thanks to his mysterious upload. Now, with some hands-on experience, he was getting the hang of things. Tasks that once seemed overwhelming were starting to feel like second nature.
A week ago, if someone had told him—just a regular college grad—that he'd be managing a budding interstellar colony, he'd have laughed and told them to quit reading so much sci-fi.
But here he was, leading the charge as the colony kept chugging forward. They organized hunting parties so the marines could get combat experience—and also to bring in some fresh meat.
They scouted for mines, extracting limestone, coal, and metal ore...
They planted local crops in open fields and set up enclosed hydroponic farms for rice, wheat, and corn brought from Earth.
They built steel mills, cement factories, sewage treatment plants, power stations, and waterworks.
They laid roads, planned an airstrip, and started running pipes and power lines.
But the hardest part? Waste disposal. On this mostly terrestrial planet, 95% of the surface was solid ground. Most of the water was underground, which made dumping waste a nightmare.
No rivers. No oceans. Nowhere to flush the colony's literal crap. Dump it into the groundwater, and within a year, everything alive would be drinking recycled sewage.
So during a routine inspection, Tang Xiao watched colonists hauling buckets of waste around looking for somewhere—anywhere—to dump it. Offended and grossed out, he marched back to the mothership and sat down with Daphne Clement for a serious talk.
He proposed this: Build a giant crap collector—yes, a poop reservoir—on a mountain near the colony. Then, harness all that... slurry to power a dam and generate electricity.
He wasn't joking. He'd actually done something like that in a game once. And hey, if ships from a game could become real, why not this?
Daphne nearly had a breakdown. She fought off the urge to call the medbay for a psych eval and patiently explained why that idea was insane. First, waste water didn't have enough pressure to spin turbines. Second, it was full of junk that would clog everything up—especially if someone was, well, constipated.
Plus, what about winter? Frozen poop reservoirs needed heaters. That meant more energy, more money.
To drive the point home, she dragged in Guan Yan, the colony's energy expert. Poor Guan was just trying to eat lunch when she got caught in the crossfire. The moment she heard the topic, she puked up her food—but still soldiered on to back Clement up.
When Tang Xiao asked if they could at least purify the sewage into drinking water, Clement brought in even more experts. Qu Xuewen and Feng Yongwang joined the intervention. Together, they finally talked him out of his poop-powered dream, narrowly saving him from becoming the colony's first shot-for-insanity dictator.
Still, something had to be done. So after half a day of heated discussion, they agreed: They'd still build the poop collector—just not on a mountain. One breach and the entire colony would be knee-deep in a literal shitstorm.
Instead of power, the purpose would be storage—until they had large enough interstellar freighters to launch the waste off-world, maybe even toss it into Endor's twin stars.
Tang Xiao then, with a spark in his eye, asked: "So when that happens... won't our solar system basically be orbiting around two giant poop-scented stars?"
No one had an answer.
Thus, the Department of Public Sanitation was born—unaware it would one day become the most terrifying branch in galactic history.
Thankfully, Tang Xiao's attention soon shifted from waste management. At that moment, he was happily scooping spoonfuls of thick chocolate paste from a bowl, slurping it like a kid with pudding. It was one of the few indulgences available on the mothership.
Across from him sat Norris Barry, a freshly awakened sociologist, who was saying something quite serious.
"Administrator, right now, cohesion is the most important issue. We're still small, everyone's orbiting around you personally—but that won't last. We need structure. Take a look at my proposal…"
Just then, Guan Yan passed by with her lunch tray and spotted Tang Xiao.
"Oh hey, there you are! By the way, the infrared laser weapon analysis is progressing well. We might even be able to finish early. First weapon test's this afternoon—wanna come?"
"Sure, I'll be there," Tang Xiao nodded. He figured she deserved a compliment for the quick work, but his brain stalled. So he just held out his bowl of chocolate goo.
"Wanna bite?"
She stared at the brown, spiraled goop he'd been swirling like soft-serve ice cream. Her face darkened. "Uh... no thanks. I'm good…"
"Aww, that's a shame. It's pretty tasty."
Tang Xiao spooned up a big, sticky glob and noisily slurped it down.
Guan Yan's face turned green. She dropped her tray and fled.