Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

Earth.

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, inside the main laboratory of the First Laboratory of the Human Resources and Social Security Association.

Lu Yongchang stared blankly at the holographic image in front of him, swallowing hard.

"...Zero, what did you say?"

"A signal from the direction of Proxima Centauri? Are you sure?!"

Lu Yongchang felt a surge of confusion.

How could this happen?!

In my previous life, there were no signals coming from Proxima Centauri!

Is the butterfly effect really that powerful?!

"Yes," Zero said with absolute certainty, "The signal is somewhat jumbled due to the transmission distance, but I'm certain it's information transmitted by intelligent beings!"

Upon hearing this, Lü Yongchang's expression changed slightly.

He got it!

In a previous life, perhaps Proxima Centauri also sent a signal!

The signal was just too complex, and with the world in turmoil after the discovery of the solar anomaly, no one noticed it!

Lu Yongchang looked at the regularly fluctuating signal frequency band in front of him with an uncertain expression.

"zero!"

"Immediately notify the Speaker of Parliament to convene a meeting of the People's Alliance."

"Also, have all working radio telescopes pointed at Proxima Centauri and closely monitor their movements!"

……

Inside the meeting room.

The Speaker and the other members of parliament sat solemnly in their seats, silently watching Lu Yongchang standing in front of them.

"Yongchang, is it true that there were zero reports?"

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Councilor Li's eyes showed some worry, and he asked in a low voice.

Lü Yongchang nodded silently.

Then, he turned around and waved to the holographic projector next to him.

A holographic image appeared in front of him.

"This is a signal received by the FAST (Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope) system."

"Currently, the data may be somewhat mixed up," Lü Yongchang said in a deep voice. "Zero, process the data."

The moment the command was given, the chaotic signal bands instantly became regular.

The conference room was deathly silent as people stared at the undulating waveforms in front of them.

Sitting to the side, Albert reached up and scratched his blond hair, then asked in fluent Chinese, "So what does this signal contain?"

"It can't just be a string of ordinary electromagnetic waves, can it?"

Lu Yongchang glanced at Albert and said calmly, "That's exactly what I wanted to say."

"From what we can see, this signal is quite simple."

As Lü Yongchang finished speaking, a string of numbers appeared before everyone's eyes.

2 3 5 7 11 13 17 19 23 2

"This is a signal change pattern obtained from zero statistics."

"A sequence of prime numbers?" The Emperor frowned slightly and asked in a low voice.

Lu Yongchang raised an eyebrow slightly and looked at the Emperor with a surprised expression.

"Yes, it is indeed a sequence of prime numbers."

"The sequence repeats from 2 to 23. So far, this sequence has repeated 30 times, with each iteration taking 1 minute."

"I don't understand." Albert tugged at his blond hair, his eyes filled with confusion. "Why would Proxima Centauri release such a boring string of data?"

Like Albert, many members of parliament also showed some doubt in their eyes.

"I think this is a process of screening the audience," Lü Yongchang replied softly. "Or rather, it's a process of selecting the audience."

"How two civilizations should communicate is a question that has a very romantic feel to it."

"Two civilizations with different cultures, different technologies, and different species certainly cannot communicate normally using only language or images." Lü Yongchang took a deep breath. "In the entire visible universe, at least within our cognitive system, mathematics and the laws of physics are the only tools."

"The combination of prime number sequences and electromagnetic wave transmission can at least filter out civilizations that have not developed modern technology."

"Considering what was found on the moon, I'm certain that this signal from Proxima Centauri is definitely aimed at us."

As soon as he finished speaking, countless questions arose.

"The moon? What was discovered on the moon?"

"What are you looking at me for? The Americans didn't find anything weird when they landed on the moon!"

"..."

Representative Lee frowned and coughed lightly.

"Ahem!"

"Zero, unlock that file."

The next moment, small holographic images appeared in front of each member of parliament.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let me explain," Councilor Li said in a deep voice, picking up the microphone. "These are traces discovered during Xia's first lunar landing."

"Based on our calculations, the burn marks should have come from a more advanced Hall thruster, and the destination of this unidentified flying object is Proxima Centauri."

After a brief silence, gasps of surprise erupted in the conference room!

"Holy crap..." This is the national treasure shouted by Congressman Albert.

"Heavens above!!" This was the emperor's exclamation.

Although he knew the occasion was inappropriate, a hint of a smile still appeared in Lü Yongchang's eyes as he looked at the scene before him.

It seems that the Speaker's plan for cultural unification is being implemented well.

"What, what are they trying to do!" Albert exclaimed, both shocked and furious.

This reaction is normal.

Anyone would react this way upon learning that a civilization is secretly observing humanity.

"Professor, the second message has arrived."

Just as Lü Yongchang was about to answer, Zero's virtual image suddenly appeared above the conference table.

"What content?!" Lu Yongchang asked in a serious voice, his expression turning solemn.

The previously noisy meeting room fell silent in an instant!

"There's a lot of information." Zero's virtual avatar frowned in a human-like manner. "However, they included a dictionary in there."

"A dictionary?" Lü Yongchang asked in confusion.

"Yes, in my opinion, this is a dictionary," Zero replied quickly.

At the same time, the holographic projection image subtly changed.

To the left of the holographic projection are strange and unusual characters.

On the right are some simple patterns.

"I see..." Lu Yongchang's eyes revealed a hint of infatuation.

Everyone looked at the chief scientist of the Human Union, who was deeply involved, with utter bewilderment.

"This..." Albert and the Emperor exchanged a glance and shrugged helplessly.

Even Representative Lee's face was filled with confusion and doubt.

"Yongchang?" Finally, Councilor Li couldn't help but ask, "What does that mean?"

Hearing Councilor Li's call, Lü Yongchang came to his senses.

He glanced at the "dictionary" in front of him with lingering interest, smacked his lips, and then explained.

"The pattern on the right side."

"This is a cesium-133 atom."

"This pattern represents the transition process between the two hyperfine levels of the cesium-133 atom in its ground state."

"As for what it means..."

"One second is the duration of 9192631770 cycles of radiation emitted by the cesium-133 atom during its transition between the two hyperfine levels in its ground state. Therefore, the corresponding text on the left is the meaning of one second and the cesium-133 atom."

Similarly, 1 meter is the distance that light travels in a vacuum in 1/299792458 of a second.

"In this way, through this dictionary, we can gradually recognize their characters and thus understand the content of their information."