Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

three days later.

The White House in the United States.

Albert stood by the window, looking out through the sheer curtains.

Upon seeing the crowds staging a sit-in protest around the White House, Abbott's expression instantly darkened.

"Damn it... why are these people still here?"

Albert growled in a low voice, "Wasn't an announcement already released last night?!"

"...Your Excellency the President."

A soft sigh came from the side: "Our announcement was released too late."

Seeing Albert looking at him, William Blair shrugged and said with a helpless expression, "They don't believe us at all."

"Fxxk!" Albert's face flushed slightly as he muttered a curse under his breath, "Did I do something wrong?"

"The United States no longer has the resources to save lives!"

"I'm doing this for the good of America!"

William Blair didn't speak, but simply looked quietly at Albert in front of him.

"Bang!"

Just as Albert was about to continue his long speech, the door to the president's office was suddenly pushed open.

"Your Excellency, something has happened!"

……

"Chief Morton, I expect a reasonable explanation from you!"

Albert glared at Morton, his voice laced with suppressed rage: "Since when you've been allowed to just push open the door to the President's office?"

Morton's face was filled with panic.

He swallowed hard, ignoring the threat in Albert's words, and handed a document to the president's desk.

"Sir, none of that matters."

"Take a look at this first."

Albert gave Morton a deep look, but didn't reply. He simply reached for the documents on the table.

According to the latest observations, the Sun is entering a phase of rapid aging and is expected to become a red giant within a few years!

Albert was momentarily stunned when he saw the title.

"The sun? Rapid aging?"

"I remember, doesn't the sun have a lifespan of 40 to 50 billion years?"

As he spoke, Albert reached out and opened the file.

"Your Excellency, that is indeed the case according to normal developments," Morton said with a bitter expression, "but according to the latest observational data from NASA, in just one year, the sun seems to have traveled a journey of hundreds of millions of years."

"According to our predictions..." Morton paused slightly, took a deep breath, and said in a low voice, "Within ten years, it will become a red giant, at which point Mercury and Venus will be swallowed up!"

Albert's hand suddenly stopped moving!

"Professor, the United States has discovered an anomaly in the sun."

In the quiet office, the computer screen in front of Lü Yongchang suddenly lit up, displaying a document, and Zero's voice followed.

Lu Yongchang's eyes flickered slightly, and he stopped writing.

Then, with slightly trembling hands, he unscrewed the pen barrel and inserted the nib into the ink bottle beside him.

As Lü Yongchang pushed the lever to draw ink, he asked softly, "What are the US's plans to do?"

"Professor, the United States... seems to be trying to cover up this news."

Lu Yongchang suddenly stopped moving.

"Heh, same as before." Lu Yongchang chuckled, his gaze growing even more profound. "Ling, contact Councilor Li for me."

"yes!"

……

The next day at 12 noon.

Magic City.

Because it was a day off, Zhao Zijie sat in the living room after lunch, watching the TV program in front of him with nothing to do.

"Sigh... TV these days is getting more and more boring."

"What kind of garbage did they even film? The fight scenes are all in slow motion, and the special effects are worse than a video game..."

Zhao Zijie frowned and reached for the remote control, preparing to change the TV channel.

The next moment, the TV program suddenly stopped, and the TV screen went black.

Zhao Zijie stared at the television in front of him in astonishment.

What's going on?

He didn't press the remote control either.

He stood up, walked to the television, and raised his hand, ready to try the oldest method of 45° tapping to fix it.

Just as his right hand was about to touch the television screen, the black screen lit up again.

However, the content played was different.

"Congressman Lee?"

Zhao Zijie looked at the old man on the television and subconsciously let out a soft gasp.

"Good afternoon, fellow countrymen of Xia Kingdom."

The old man's deep gaze was fixed on the camera: "Next, I have some very important things to announce."

"Please, fellow citizens of Xia, be sure to pass this message on to each other."

Zhao Zijie's heart skipped a beat.

problem occurs!

This is absolutely terrible!

He quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened the Penguin app.

The moment the app is launched, a small, inaccessible video window appears on the phone screen.

It was exactly the same as the image on the television!

Zhao Zijie's expression changed slightly.

Such exaggerated promotional tactics...

Before Zhao Zijie could react, the old man's calm voice came from both the phone and the television.

"According to observation data from the Xia Kingdom Observatory, the sun has entered a phase of rapid aging due to unknown reasons."

"It is predicted that within 10 years, the Sun will enter the red giant phase and engulf the planets Mercury and Venus."

"The sun will experience a helium flash within 15 years."

"Earth will be completely destroyed by a helium flash."

"..."

Zhao Zijie stared blankly at the television in front of him.

Are you kidding me?

Without giving any time to process the situation, Representative Lee's voice rang out again.

"I hereby declare that, effective immediately, the Xia Kingdom is entering a state of first-level combat readiness!"

"All supplies will be centrally allocated by the state!"

"A global evacuation operation has been launched immediately. Please contact the embassy in a timely manner to avoid any omissions."

"From this moment forward, the Xia Kingdom is closing all international trade routes!"

"..."

Zhao Zijie's eyes widened suddenly, and he gasped.

Level 1 combat readiness?!

Holy crap, this is a huge mess!

This is the highest level of war preparedness!

After announcing a series of draconian measures, the old man on television gradually softened his expression.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we began preparing for this natural disaster a year ago."

"Currently, we have completed a series of resource reserve plans."

"Next, Xia Kingdom will invest a lot of resources in the aerospace industry. At that time, the quality of life of every citizen may decline."

"I'd like to apologize to everyone here first!"

As he spoke, the old man stood up, faced the screen, and bowed deeply.

A few seconds later, the old man straightened up and said solemnly, "Finally, please trust the country and don't panic excessively."

"I assure you all, the Xia Kingdom will not fall here!"

"The Xia Kingdom will never abandon anyone!"