The Martian terraforming project spearheaded by the "Star City" finally entered its most critical phase: landing on Mars and applying technology to alter its natural environment. Anqi would remain stationed in the "Star City" to command the entire transformation process.

Following the latest directive issued by Anqi, the interstellar transport vessel, which had been orbiting Mars for a full month, immediately ignited its engines. Propelled by the thrust, its massive hull began its descent toward the Martian surface.

Mars’s atmosphere remained violently turbulent, riddled with hurricanes, yet these harsh climatic conditions presented no difficulty whatsoever for the colossal interstellar transport ship.

Piercing through the raging Martian atmosphere, the transport vessel sighted a vast, level plain carpeted with the crimson regolith of Mars. After confirming the landing coordinates, the ship initiated its descent onto this expansive flatland. With its unobstructed sightlines and lack of surrounding mountains, this location promised to be the optimal site for establishing the Martian base.

As the massive interstellar transport ship settled onto the designated spot, more than a dozen research personnel, clad in spacesuits, emerged from the craft using Martian rovers. They carried an array of scientific instruments onto the ruddy Martian soil. These were the first humans from Earth to set foot on Mars; they were inaugurating the history of humanity conquering extraterrestrial worlds, and their names would be eternally etched in human memory.

However, these scientists were not yet contemplating such grand philosophical milestones. They were focused, driving their rovers to familiarize themselves with the terrain and installing their instruments across the crimson plain. These devices were immediately activated to probe the topography and soil structure of the wide flatland, transmitting the collected data back to the "Star City." There, the "Solar System Simulator," the supercomputer, instantly began complex calculations based on this data, eventually yielding a conclusion: the selected location matched the previously simulated scenarios with high fidelity, making it perfectly suited for constructing humanity's inaugural Martian base.

Upon receiving confirmation, the interstellar transport vessel promptly opened its cargo bay doors. Operators in spacesuits began maneuvering gigantic loading machinery out of the ship. Utilizing these massive tools, they unloaded the various materials stored onboard, stacking them upon the loose Martian soil.

After two full days and nights of loading and unloading by these immense machines, all the provisions prepared aboard the interstellar transport ship had been transferred to the fire-red plain.

The next step called for the construction crews, whose skills had been proven during the lunar base construction, to take the stage. Driving a variety of colossal construction vehicles, they began excavating foundations across the plain, then using the materials stockpiled on the ground to erect the most rudimentary Martian base upon the desolate surface.

A week later, this simple Martian habitat was complete. It was designed to house fifty individuals for over half a year with its stored provisions. With this initial base established, all advance personnel for the Martian base moved in. They would remain here, laying a solid groundwork for the large-scale construction to follow. The interstellar transport vessel, having deposited the personnel, immediately lifted off, departing Mars for its return journey to Earth.

Back on Earth, within the "Star City," Anqi had long ago prepared numerous massive containers—cubical crates measuring nine meters in length—into which she packed most of the supplies destined for Mars. Only items too large for these containers would be transported via the interstellar vessel.

Liu Hui had previously utilized his mysterious power to instantly deposit a billion tons of supplies onto the Moon, allowing the lunar base to be completed in record time. Although Anqi was unaware of the source of Liu Hui’s mysterious ability, as long as it benefited the Martian terraforming project, she certainly wasn't going to press for details. It was precisely this trust in Liu Hui’s secret power that motivated Anqi to prepare over one million of these square containers, holding more than five billion tons of material, which she then tasked Liu Hui with delivering to Mars.

When Liu Hui learned the exact quantity of supplies Anqi had prepared, he was profoundly startled by the sheer scale of her undertaking. Yet, he quickly calmed himself; hadn't he spent years purchasing vast quantities of materials globally precisely for this day? He also felt a surge of relief, realizing that without the spatial transference capabilities of the Planar Trade Device, moving all that material to Mars would have taken an indeterminate number of years.

Although the "Star City" had prepared these large containers well in advance, filling all of them with fifty billion tons of supplies took a full two months. The colossal containers were packed to capacity, and larger pieces of equipment, unable to fit, had to be ferried by the interstellar transport vessel.

Once all the large containers were loaded, Liu Hui immediately contacted Alexander from the magic plane. Alexander, having been alerted by Liu Hui previously, had already returned to the great canyon, cleared all personnel from the area, and increased patrols around the perimeter, determined to prevent any mistake on his part from delaying his Teacher’s monumental task.

With both Liu Hui and Alexander fully prepared, Liu Hui began transferring the large containers to the super-warehouse within the great canyon of the Church of Light in the magic plane, following their numerical sequence. Given the immense quantity—exceeding one million containers—even with Liu Hui and Alexander working rapidly, the transfer to the magic plane’s super-warehouse consumed an entire week. If not for the immense individual strength of both Liu Hui and Alexander, the endeavor would have required significantly more time. Liu Hui's fifty billion tons of supplies not only filled Alexander's super-warehouse completely but also packed every available cavern within the canyon complex.

After transporting this massive shipment to the magic plane’s super-warehouse, Liu Hui, along with construction personnel and scientists totaling over ten thousand individuals, boarded ten large interstellar transport vessels and departed Earth, embarking on the long voyage to Mars.

Before leaving Earth this time, Liu Hui notified his wives and children. His women were visibly reluctant to see him depart for Mars, but they understood that terraforming Mars was the top priority for the "Star City," and certain critical tasks required his personal presence. Thus, they expressed understanding for his absence of several months and simultaneously felt pride that their man was personally involved in such a massive undertaking as Martian terraforming and interstellar colonization.

Anqi did not accompany Liu Hui to Mars this time because the Star Science Research Institute still critically needed her presence, as several key research initiatives had reached crucial junctures. Therefore, Liu Hui arranged for Anqi to remain on Earth to direct operations while he headed to Mars himself.

Liu Hui piloted the ten interstellar transport vessels away from Earth. Their first stop was the orbital space station, where they delivered supplies and picked up several scientists. Next, they proceeded to the Moon base, delivering more provisions and collecting another hundred researchers. Finally, the ten large interstellar transport vessels turned, heading out into the vastness of space.

Upon entering deep space, the vessels drastically accelerated, reaching an ultra-high speed of one hundred kilometers per second. Fortunately, this initial contingent of Mars-landing personnel had all been injected with the Body Evolution Fluid, making their physical constitutions exceptionally robust; thus, even under such high-speed flight, they experienced no discomfort.

At the very beginning of their journey into the cosmos, the ship's occupants were curious about the boundless starscape. However, after observing the same celestial panorama daily, they eventually grew weary of the virtually unchanging view.

Liu Hui also felt a degree of boredom. At this point, he keenly missed Xiaoyaozi from the Cultivation World. If Xiaoyaozi had indeed managed to create that True Virtual Reality game, Liu Hui wouldn't be so listless now; he could at least indulge in some recreation within the virtual environment. Yet, he acknowledged that this thought was perhaps fanciful; even with Xiaoyaozi's supreme abilities in artifact forging and array mastery, creating the necessary equipment was an unknown prospect.

And so, after ten days of traveling through the boundless void, the interstellar transport vessels arrived at Mars’s location. Although the research personnel aboard the ships had been continuously monitoring the changes on Mars, most of them were seeing the planet firsthand for the first time. As they glimpsed Mars in the distance, they were filled with excitement, knowing they would soon personally participate in reshaping this enormous, reddish planet.

While present-day Mars was no longer entirely the uniform fiery red of before—now interspersed with patches of blue and white—it was still far from habitable. Yet, these scientists were utterly convinced that under their stewardship, Mars would evolve into something even more beautiful, a viable and wonderful home for humanity, the most magnificent settlement for the "Star City."

After circling Mars a few times, Liu Hui’s interstellar transport vessel identified the location of the initial base. The ship's engines then fired, guiding the massive vessel toward its destination. Although the landing process encountered an attack by a Martian dust storm, these storms clearly inflicted no damage upon the immense spacecraft.

After flying for a while, Liu Hui’s vessel finally touched down on the Martian surface, while the other nine transport ships remained in orbit, awaiting his further commands.

Once the ship was stable, Liu Hui and his accompanying personnel donned their spacesuits, disembarked, and entered the rudimentary base constructed by the advance team. Over the preceding months, these pioneers had collected highly detailed Martian data, which, upon relaying, allowed the plans for the terraforming project to become increasingly refined.

Liu Hui entered the humble facility, offering praise to the advance team and announcing specific monetary rewards, which instantly delighted the personnel stationed tens of millions of kilometers from Earth, making them feel their hard work had not been in vain.

Next, Liu Hui dismissed both the advance team and the accompanying researchers, instructing Anqi in the "Star City" to shut down all equipment and instruments monitoring the base from space. Anqi immediately understood that Liu Hui intended to deploy his mysterious power. She ordered all monitoring feeds focused on Mars to be disabled to prevent the leakage of his ability.

Confirmed that all surveillance was offline, Liu Hui stepped out of the simple base alone onto a vast, open plain. Mars's gravity, less than Earth's, gave his steps a light, almost floating sensation, which he found moderately unfamiliar. The planet’s violent dust storms constantly lashed the plain; viewed from here, the entire sky was a uniform yellow, allowing only the faint shadow of the sun to be discerned. The current Martian environment was still exceptionally hostile, but this did not impede his ability to communicate with Alexander via the Planar Trade Device.

On the screen of the Trade Device, Alexander saw Liu Hui's peculiar sight in a spacesuit but asked no probing questions, recognizing it as his Teacher's secret, having witnessed it once before on the Moon. After Liu Hui designated the staging area for the large containers, Alexander immediately began transferring materials from the magic plane to the Martian base, following the numerical codes on the crates.

Liu Hui and Alexander’s material transfer process this time lasted an entire day. When the massive material transfer concluded, the Martian ground before Liu Hui was lined with large containers—over 150,000 of them—filled entirely with heavy machinery and construction materials required for building the main base. The living and scientific supplies would only be transferred later, once the base had its own secure warehouses, as these items could not be exposed to the current Martian atmosphere.

When Liu Hui moved the final container, he felt as though his back might break. Yet, looking at the mountain-sized stacks of containers before him filled him with immense satisfaction. Possessing the Planar Trade Device allowed him this shortcut to bring resources to Mars; relying solely on spacecraft, moving all that material would have taken decades.

With the initial 150,000 containers designated for construction delivered to the surface, Liu Hui signaled Anqi to restore normal operations on Mars; the disabled monitoring equipment reactivated. Though prepared, Anqi couldn't help but utter an astonished gasp when she saw the veritable mountain range of containers piled before Liu Hui. The other employees were even more awestruck by Liu Hui’s capabilities, leading to private whispers that their boss might be a deity descended to earth, given his supernatural power.

Seeing that all construction materials were in place, the nine interstellar transport vessels hovering in space began their descent. In a short time, all ten ships had landed on the plain before the Martian base site.

Then, the construction armies aboard the transport vessels mobilized. They located the numbered containers, pried them open, and, using the tools they carried, began assembling the components into functional, large-scale construction machinery.

Simultaneously, the accompanying scientists unpacked the scientific instruments from inside the containers and distributed them widely to monitor every change occurring across Mars. With this array of instruments, any event on Mars would be instantly detected by Anqi in the distant "Star City," allowing her to formulate new plans and provide accurate intelligence for transforming Mars into a habitable, beautiful planet.

Soon, the equipment for the eight thousand construction workers was fully assembled. Under the optimal work assignments generated by the supercomputer, these construction armies commenced their assigned tasks. They operated on a three-shift rotation, resting aboard the interstellar transport ships when fatigued, meaning construction on the Martian base never truly ceased. The efficiency was drastically improved by the supercomputer's optimized task distribution, and the use of special, fast-curing materials in the base's construction resulted in an astonishingly rapid overall progress rate.

One month later, the outline of the immense Martian base had taken shape. Like the lunar base before it, the Martian base was composed of interconnected, circular structures spread across a fifty-kilometer radius plain. These structures were linked by specialized, elongated tunnels, collectively forming this colossal Martian habitat.

Liu Hui felt profoundly moved watching the newly emerging structure. Unlike the modest lunar base, this facility was being built to the scale of a large terrestrial city. Though the external environment remained hostile to life presently, once Martian conditions improved, removing the large dome covering the complex would transform it into a genuine metropolis.

The sheer scope of the Martian base was immense; once complete, it would accommodate at least one million people working, living, and studying within. This was a crucial hub for the "Star City's" terraforming initiative, as the base would serve as the nerve center for the entire Martian transformation.

With the outer shell of the Martian base established, Liu Hui then traded for another 300,000 large containers from the magic plane. These crates held the provisions necessary to sustain the base's long-term development and survival, and they were all stored in the base’s newly built warehouses.

Next, Liu Hui began deploying a colossal energy-focusing array within the Martian base, constructed from eighty-one Divine-grade Magical Beast Cores. Once this massive formation was complete, it would supply an endless stream of power, permanently resolving the base's energy needs.

Following this, Liu Hui laid out a gargantuan gravity array spanning fifty kilometers around the Martian base, encompassing the entire structure. He calibrated the gravitational field within this array to match that of Earth, ensuring that residents would not suffer debilitating adaptation issues upon arrival.

For security purposes, Liu Hui then established a large-scale defensive formation that enveloped the entire Martian base. This defense would draw its power directly from the energy supplied by the super-energy array; as long as the array provided fuel, the defensive formation would be impenetrable, ensuring the absolute safety of the Martian base.

These three super-arrays established by Liu Hui consumed the eighty-one Divine-grade cores and thousands of Eighth-grade cores. However, this significant expenditure guaranteed the Martian base would be exceedingly secure, facing virtually no external threats.

While the consumption of magical cores on Mars was substantial, Alexander subsequently located and traded a vast supply of Eighth-grade and lower cores found across the entirety of the Xiling Kingdom's territory to Liu Hui. Otherwise, continuing to use magical cores at this rate for large arrays would have pained Liu Hui. With Alexander acting as a veritable ATM for these resources, Liu Hui was, for the time being, not concerned about a shortage of magical cores.

When Liu Hui finished setting up these three super-arrays, the entire Martian base was effectively finished. Not just the exterior structure, but also the residential quarters and research laboratories within had been fully assembled. Once all arrays were integrated under the control of the supercomputer, the Martian base immediately became habitable for humans. At this point, Liu Hui could finally shed his spacesuit and walk freely within the Martian facility.

All the supplies from the 300,000 containers Liu Hui had previously stored were now depleted. Thus, Liu Hui contacted Alexander again, spending four more days to complete the trade for the remaining 550,000 large containers, which were then neatly stacked in the Martian base's warehouse.

These remaining supplies represented the logistical lifeline for the Mars base for over a year to come, and they also included the necessary materials to establish the factories slated for Martian terraforming. In essence, with this stockpile, the Mars Base would require absolutely no resupply from Earth for at least the next twelve months.

Following the completion of the Mars Base structure, all the habitation sectors were finished as well—not just the various entertainment venues, but even the sections dedicated to growing vegetables were fully constructed. The Mars Base now commanded an immense supply of energy, and this power would be utilized to accelerate the maturation of the crops, ensuring the sustenance needs of the Martian colony were met. This closed-loop cultivation technology had long been perfected in the vertical farming zones of the "Star City," meaning its transplantation to the Mars Base presented no difficulty whatsoever.

Among the massive cargo containers delivered by Liu Hui, ten thousand of them were filled entirely with ice blocks, sealed using a specialized containment method, thereby guaranteeing the Mars Base would never suffer a shortage of water.

As the Mars Base steadily improved, the research instruments that had been deployed earlier began relaying data collected from the Martian surface. The supercomputer now vividly displayed the current conditions of Mars before Liu Hui’s very eyes.

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