Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

2037.8

The plan was finalized half a month later.

Outside the Mars spaceport, a uniquely shaped starship, its stern glowing with a ghostly blue light, slowly sailed into the endless depths of space.

The starship as a whole vaguely resembles the Luan Bird Starship.

This is also thanks to the structural design of the Luan Bird Starship—the fusion reactor is installed at the stern of the starship.

Thus, this oddly shaped starship retained the "rear end" of the Luan Bird Type I.

As for the other parts...

To install the electromagnetic coil gun, many unnecessary facilities were removed.

In addition, the addition of five cannons to the bow of the starship makes its shape appear particularly strange.

It has an indescribable, eerie patchwork style.

Inside the Mars spaceport.

Fang Xu stared at the starship slowly sailing into the distance with a strange expression, and sighed softly, "Yongchang, why does this starship look so different from the simulation diagram you showed me a month ago?"

Lu Yongchang turned his head and glanced at Fang Xu beside him with a helpless expression.

This was the Nth time he had heard this question.

In the past few days, a group of members of parliament and researchers have expressed their curiosity about the appearance of this starship.

"There's no other way... time was a bit tight, so this is already pretty good," Lu Yongchang said, shrugging. "Don't let its unique appearance fool you, I guarantee that all the necessary performance aspects are included!"

Fang Xu stared intently at the significantly dimmer light from the Hall thrusters, and said in a skeptical tone, "...Are you sure?"

"..."

After a moment of silence, Lü Yongchang said somewhat awkwardly, "This is a last resort."

"The reactor power of the Luan Bird Type I starship is still a bit lacking."

"In order to provide sufficient energy for the five electromagnetic coil guns, we had to reduce its power a bit."

"It's not a big problem, it just will be a little slower in flight."

Seeing Fang Xu's suspicious look, Lü Yongchang coughed lightly and changed the subject.

"Zero, retrieve the data for that asteroid."

"Understood, Professor!"

As the holographic image unfolds, a star map of the vicinity of Mars appears on the left.

On the right is that "grotesque" asteroid.

"Professor, as the calculations show, the two are expected to meet at a distance of 100 million kilometers from Mars." As Zero finished speaking, a red dot lit up on the star map on the left.

That is the point where the two meet in the calculation.

……

The interior of the modified Luan Bird I starship.

Due to power limitations, the Luan Bird I modified starship cannot enter the [Advance 4] state.

Therefore, the pilots do not need to enter the deep-sea compartment.

"Captain Zhao Zijie, the main mission of this operation is..."

Lines of Chinese characters slowly appeared on the holographic image.

"...Finally, I wish you good luck."

"Humanity, may your glory endure!"

As the traces of Chinese characters gradually faded, a standard star map appeared before Zhao Zijie's eyes.

On the star chart, a faint dotted line connects the red dot and the green dot.

The red dot indicates the location of the target asteroid.

The green dot indicates the location of the Luan Bird I modified starship.

Sitting in the captain's seat, Zhao Zijie took a deep breath, his expression growing increasingly solemn.

"Gao Yang," Zhao Zijie said to his teammates, gazing at the star map before him, "Cheer up! The continuation of human civilization depends on whether we can intercept this asteroid!"

Upon hearing Zhao Zijie's words, Gao Yang's face flushed slightly, and his eyes revealed a hint of excitement as he nodded vigorously.

At that moment, he felt that he was only half a step away from being remembered in history!

What man could resist the allure of achieving lasting fame, bringing glory to his ancestors, and having his own name as the answer to a fill-in-the-blank question?!

"Beep!" A notification sound rang out in front of Gao Yang.

Upon seeing the Chinese characters, he paused for a moment, then quickly turned to Zhao Zijie and shouted, "Captain! The Mars Spaceport has sent a communication request!"

"Take it." Zhao Zijie's eyes flickered, and he said in a deep voice.

The holographic image on the console subtly changed.

Lu Yongchang's image appeared before him.

"Professor Lü!" Zhao Zijie called out respectfully, "Is there any mission?"

Thanks to quantum long-distance communication technology, there was no delay in communication between the two.

In the video, Lü Yongchang has a faint smile on his face.

"Zhao Zijie, relax."

"Your mission this time is actually to test the power of this weapon."

Zhao Zijie's eyes widened slightly: "Testing weapon power? Isn't it supposed to be intercepting asteroids?"

Lu Yongchang nodded with a smile: "There is a need for that, but don't worry, even if you fail, Mars will be fine."

"The Hummingbird-type starship has arrived at its designated location."

"So be bold, fire when necessary. It's a weapons test, you have to fully demonstrate its performance."

Zhao Zijie stared blankly at the holographic image in front of him.

Is that even possible?!

He subconsciously turned his head to look at Gao Yang beside him, trying to get some feedback from his teammate.

Gao Yang also looked surprised.

"Okay, Professor Lü." Zhao Zijie nodded with a wry smile. "Don't worry, we will definitely test the power of this weapon thoroughly."

In the holographic image, Lü Yongchang nodded in satisfaction.

Communication was cut off.

Zhao Zijie and Gao Yang looked at each other, unsure of what to say.

They vaguely heard a crisp "snap" sound.

That was the sound of dreams shattering.

Not only Zhao Zijie and Gao Yang, but even Fang Xu, who was sitting next to Lü Yongchang, looked at him with a surprised expression.

"Yongchang, is it really okay to say that?"

"Why not?" Lu Yongchang shrugged and said casually, "You're not wrong. The focus of this mission is to test the power of the electromagnetic cannon."

"What if they're too timid to fire? How will we test the effectiveness of the electromagnetic railgun?"

A hint of confusion appeared in Fang Xu's eyes.

I feel there's some truth to what they said.

But he always felt that something was wrong.

"Alright, alright." Lü Yongchang waved his hand and patted Fang Xu's shoulder forcefully. "We should go and get some rest."

"A journey of 100 million kilometers will take some time!"

As he spoke, Lü Yongchang reached out and pulled Fang Xu toward the direction of the [Seeking Wood] space elevator.

……

Ten days later.

One hundred million kilometers from Mars.

A strangely shaped starship gradually slowed down until it came to a stop.

"First, where is the asteroid?"

Looking at the red and green dots that were almost touching on the star map, Zhao Zijie sat in the captain's seat and asked in a deep voice.

The star map subtly shifted.

A line of numbers appears between two points.

5073.8 kilometers.

As time goes on, this number continues to shrink.

"Gao Yang, contact Mars."

Zhao Zijie rubbed his stiff face and perked up, saying, "We should get to work!"