Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

Faced with Lü Yongchang's request, Shen Siwen's eye twitched again.

A Martian city where 5 million people live together...

This is no easy task!

Putting everything else aside, let's just talk about the former US Mars capsule.

It only accommodated three astronauts and lasted less than a month on Mars before serious problems arose.

According to Lü Yongchang, 500 million people will live in Mars City for several years.

Even with the input of external resources, the project is still extremely difficult to stabilize a Martian city that can support 500 million people.

But... the mission has already been assigned, how could he refuse?

Shen Siwen sighed silently, subconsciously reaching out to touch the few remaining hairs on her head, and whispered, "Professor, I'll try my best."

"But... there's one more thing I need to ask you about."

"Go ahead," Lü Yongchang replied without hesitation.

"Professor, I think it's necessary for us to launch a gene preservation program," Shen Siwen said seriously.

"It's not just livestock for food, but also many essential plant and animal genes, and even a considerable number of microbial populations."

"These creatures will play a crucial role in our future plans for colonization and planet terraforming!"

Lü Yongchang nodded thoughtfully.

That makes sense.

Humans can enter hibernation pods to begin interstellar travel, but we can't possibly provide hibernation pods for these plants and animals, can we?

Transporting live animals is extremely costly and carries very high risks.

Therefore, transport genes became the best choice.

Once they have sufficient genetic samples and their technology reaches the required level, they can completely recreate an "Earth" after reaching a habitable planet.

"Okay," Lü Yongchang said in a deep voice. "Give me a list of organisms in the next few days, and I will arrange for someone to take charge of it."

……

2033.1

Several months have passed in the blink of an eye.

Under Zero's control, the Tower of Babel and the Jianmu tree were already completed.

The perspective shifts to 9.1 kilometers above the Earth's surface.

The Earth at this time was no longer its original azure blue.

The entire surface of the planet was covered by a thick layer of white clouds.

This is because the internal reactions of the sun are becoming increasingly intense, causing the Earth's surface temperature to rise and resulting in the massive evaporation of seawater.

And within this thick, cotton-candy-like white cloud layer, two slender ribbons suddenly emerged!

The ribbon stretched for a full 9.1 kilometers, connecting with two enormous silver-white disks in space.

This is the last technological achievement of humankind in the past year.

Spaceport.

Each spaceport is 10 kilometers in diameter and has 4 "ports".

Around these ports, starships, some as long as 800 meters, rested silently in the vast expanse of space.

These are the Luan Bird Type I starships, tasked with humanity's escape plan.

Dozens of helium-3 fusion reactors provide it with ample energy, and propelled by the latest Hall thrusters, the Luan Niao I starship can reach a top speed of 200 km/s.

……

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Although the global average temperature has been rising continuously over the past six months, the polar ice caps have almost completely melted away.

However, as the roof of the world, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, due to its topography, has not only been spared from seawater erosion, but its temperature is even lower than that of lower-altitude areas.

Even so, at this moment, the temperature on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which is in winter, has reached around 10 degrees Celsius.

This is about 20 degrees Celsius higher than the usual temperature!

With the increasing rainfall, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau now resembles a water town in southern China.

Lush pastures and bushes are everywhere.

The only pity is that the plants and animals that were originally unique to the plateau have also disappeared quickly due to the drastic change in the environment.

The space elevator, Jianmu, is located in a high-altitude area of ​​the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Because the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has a fragile geology, it took a lot of effort to lay this foundation.

A newly constructed complex sits quietly near the foundation of the space elevator.

Due to the gradual deterioration of the environment, the First Laboratory of the Human Resources Federation had to be relocated to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau region.

At this moment, only a few million conscious people remain on Earth. In order to conserve resources, apart from the 38 billion people in the escape plan, the remaining 500 million people on Earth have also entered hibernation pods.

Only when Lü Yongchang and his team leave Earth and arrive on Mars will these 500 million people be awakened again.

Of these 500 million people, apart from researchers, the majority are starship pilots and various types of workers.

At that time, they will not only be responsible for promoting the advancement of basic science, but also for acquiring as many resources as possible for interstellar travel throughout the solar system!

……

Lu Yongchang stood by the office window, silently watching the scenery outside.

A hint of emotion flickered in his eyes.

It must be said that the miracles of life are happening all the time.

Even though the Earth has reached this state, there are still a few "Shangri-Las" in the world.

"Why……"

Thinking of humanity soon to be forced to leave their home planet, he sighed softly and asked in a low voice, "Zero, the escape plan is scheduled to start today, right?"

The holographic projection quietly unfolded.

"Yes, Professor," Zero replied calmly. "Currently, the last group of hibernating humans in the escape plan are heading to the spaceport via the space elevator."

"The last Luan Niao Type I starship is expected to depart from the spaceport in about an hour."

"Professor, would you like to see live video feed?"

Lu Yongchang's eyes flickered slightly as he turned to look at the holographic image behind him.

"good!"

The scene changes rapidly.

Inside the [Jianmu] spaceport, hibernation pods, all silver-white in color and filled with pale yellow deep-sea liquid, continuously flowed along the tracks into the 800-meter-long Luan Bird Type I starship ahead.

In the upper right corner of the screen, a bright red number is quietly ticking.

That's the time it takes for the last starship to be filled with hibernation pods, and also the time it takes for these 38 billion people to set off for the Kuiper Belt!

"Professor, the Speaker of the Parliament has arrived."

As the sound of zero faded, the office door quietly opened.

Seeing the elderly man with a cane at the door, Lü Yongchang quickly went to greet him.

"Speaker, what brings you here?" Lu Yongchang's eyes showed a hint of annoyance. "If you wanted to see me, you could have just notified Zero One."

The old man slowly walked into the office with his cane, waving his hand with a cheerful smile.

"It's alright, it's alright."

"Unlike you, now that everyone else has gone into hibernation, I'm quite free."

At this point, the old man said with a slightly exaggerated expression, "You wouldn't believe it, lately I haven't seen many new documents on my desk in a day."

Upon hearing this, Lü Yongchang immediately burst into laughter.

"Wouldn't it be better to have some free time?" He winked at Su Yutong as he spoke. "You've been working so hard for so long, can't you rest for a bit?"

Su Yutong quietly moved a chair over and placed it next to the old man.

The old man smiled and nodded at Su Yutong: "Thank you."

"I don't want to rest!" The old man's eyes were full of emotion. "If the earth could still be like it used to be, I could work day and night without any problems."

Upon hearing this, the atmosphere in the office fell silent once again.

The old man keenly sensed this, and in an attempt to lighten the mood, he subtly shifted his gaze and said with a teasing expression.

"Speaking of which, Yutong, how is your relationship with Yongchang now?"

Upon hearing this, a hint of shyness flashed in Su Yutong's eyes, but she feigned composure and said, "Speaker, I am just Professor Lü's assistant."

Lu Yongchang looked at the old man with a wry smile: "Speaker, what time is it? You still have the mind to joke around?"

Looking at the two young people in front of him, the old man sat in his chair and burst into laughter.

"Alright, alright, I'm an old man, I won't get involved in your young people's business."

P.S. Dear readers, I had a terrible writer's block today, and this chapter took me a long time to finish, so... there's only one chapter for today. If I'm feeling better tomorrow, I'll add another chapter.

Next time we're changing maps, I need to really go over the plot QAQ