Jiang Cheng invested over tens of billions in Mars, much of which was wasted during the transportation process.

This has greatly reduced the cost of Mars development, allowing Jiang Cheng to use the previously high transportation expenses to expand the scale of Mars development.

Overall, the emergence of the Pioneer has greatly facilitated transportation between Mars and Earth.

With such convenient transportation, everything becomes possible, and large-scale development of Mars becomes realistic.

The previously unattainable distance has now been significantly shortened.

Transportation is the primary element of development, and the appearance of the Pioneer immediately resolved transportation issues.

Previously, there was a saying in the market that convenient transportation brought people from different regions closer together, turning Earth into a global village.

Now, what Jiang Cheng has done is bring the distances within the entire solar system closer together, effectively turning the solar system into a solar system village.

As soon as Jiang Cheng found Xiao Peng, he immediately began discussing with him.

Now that the transportation issue has been resolved, it's time for them to demonstrate their capabilities.

The Pioneer has completed its trial voyage and is ready for deployment. Transportation is no longer a problem, and we can transport as much equipment to Mars as we want.

Since the biggest challenge has been resolved, we can start the Mars colonization plan now. Preparations can already begin in this regard.

The focus of work will be on this area, so let's start preparing what is needed for this plan."

Jiang Cheng instructed Xiao Peng on the key focus of work for the coming period, and had him start preparing relevant supplies and equipment.

The Mars colonization plan Jiang Cheng referred to was a plan that had been drafted a long time ago.

Years ago, Jiang Cheng proposed this plan, hoping to build a city on Mars to accommodate numerous immigrants working and living on Mars.

In Jiang Cheng's plan for Mars colonization, he aimed to construct a large Mars City capable of meeting the needs of tens of thousands of people.

The plan sounds incredibly ambitious; building a city on Mars is no easy feat.

It was because of technical limitations that it had been put on hold.

Now, with the appearance of the Pioneer resolving this issue, Jiang Cheng is preparing to restart the plan.

The Mars colonization plan is something Jiang Cheng has wanted to pursue for a long time, and now that he finally has the conditions for implementation, he is eager to begin, given that Mars is rich in resources, many of which are rare on Earth.

Paladium, an essential material for constructing the Curvature Engine, is scarce on Earth.

Many other types of rare metals are also abundant on Mars.

If these resources can be fully utilized, Jiang Cheng's space plan can accelerate.

Given his current status, Jiang Cheng's limitations are no longer financial issues.

Even Jiang Cheng cannot count how much money he has, as it's an enormous figure.

Perhaps claiming that Jiang Cheng is the wealthiest person in history wouldn't draw any objections.

Therefore, money does not restrict Jiang Cheng; finances are no longer an issue for him.

Other factors aside from money, such as policies and public opinion, are also not problems for Jiang Cheng.

Currently, public opinion among humans is inclined towards developing space exploration.

If anyone were to oppose Jiang Cheng's space plan now, they would naturally be shot down without Jiang Cheng needing to intervene.

Thus, environmental issues cannot affect Jiang Cheng and instead work quite favorably for him.

The only thing limiting Jiang Cheng now is the resource issue, as Earth's resources cannot keep up with Jiang Cheng's pace.

To build more spacecraft or even to manufacture actual Mechas, substantial resources are needed.

It's impossible to create these high-tech products with technology alone without materials; every creation requires basic materials.

Therefore, what Jiang Cheng needs most now is abundant mineral resources to support his ambitious space plan.

Jiang Cheng wants to build a space fleet that can freely roam the universe.

He also wants to establish a genuine Mecha fleet, not just smaller humanoid armors, to defend against the malice of other civilizations.

The universe isn't composed of harmonious atmospheres; wars between different civilizations happen every moment.

Without adequate self-protective forces, humans are mere sheep waiting to be slaughtered in front of other civilizations.

But establishing a space fleet and a real Mecha fleet requires enormous resources; the quantities needed for various types of minerals are astronomical.

Based on the current known deposits on Earth, it simply won't provide all the resources Jiang Cheng needs.

Basic metal resources like iron and copper are abundant on Earth, enough for Jiang Cheng to use extensively for a long time.

However, Jiang Cheng does not need a large amount of these common metal ores. For example, the construction of the Pioneer didn't use much iron and copper at all.

What Jiang Cheng truly needs are those rare minerals, those resources that are extremely limited on Earth.

For instance, palladium is something Jiang Cheng desires greatly, needed in vast quantities for constructing spacecraft.

However, the palladium reserves on Earth are sparse; its content in the crust is only a few tenths of a percent, pitifully low.

The copper needed for building the Pioneer was gathered by Jiang Cheng through great effort.

Just constructing a single spacecraft almost exhausted the available market supply of palladium.

Later, if Jiang Cheng wants to continue building spacecraft, he will have to seek the reserves of the world's major countries.

Though buying palladium from various countries is not difficult for Jiang Cheng now, even if all nations' reserves are cleared out, it's merely a temporary fix because there's only so much on Earth.

Even if Jiang Cheng gathers all the palladium to build spacecraft, not many could be made in total.

Jiang Cheng had calculated how much palladium is on Earth long ago, and how many spacecraft this palladium could produce.

The final number was undoubtedly disappointing for Jiang Cheng; all the palladium on Earth wouldn't be enough to build ten spaceships like the Pioneer.

Ten spacecraft sounds substantial, but it won't be sufficient for Jiang Cheng's use.

A true space civilization has at least several thousand spacecraft.

Only then can a civilization be qualified to be called a space-faring civilization.