Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

A week flew by.

Inspired by solar storms, Lü Yongchang successfully established his research direction.

This greatly accelerated the development of ion beam weapons.

But is the impact of Mercury's fall to the sun really over just like that?

The answer is obviously no.

As a complex celestial system, dramatic changes in the Sun and Mercury will naturally trigger a series of chain reactions in the solar system.

such as……

Inside the laboratory, Lü Yongchang and Wilson were finalizing the weapon's structural design.

"No, no, no, your plan won't work." Lü Yongchang waved his hands repeatedly. "There's no need for such trouble. Just use two particle accelerators to accelerate the ions with positive and negative charges, and then mix them to keep the ion beam electrically neutral."

Wilson's face flushed slightly as his design was rejected, and he was about to say something.

Zero's voice suddenly rang out from the speaker, interrupting the two's argument.

"Professor, something's happened."

The laboratory suddenly fell silent.

Lu Yongchang frowned, turned his gaze away from the design drawings in front of him, and asked in a deep voice, "What's going on?"

A brand new holographic image quietly unfolded before the two of them.

The image clearly shows two planets etched into human DNA.

Earth and Moon.

The moment he saw the image, Lü Yongchang felt a jolt in his heart, and a bad premonition arose from the bottom of his heart.

"Zero, what happened on Earth?" he asked in a deep voice.

"Professor, it's not Earth, it's the Moon," Zero's voice rang out from the speaker beside him.

"After the solar storm swept across Venus, it rushed towards Earth and the Moon."

"With the protection of the Earth's magnetic field, the damage to the Earth is not significant."

"But the moon..."

The holographic image in front of Lü Yongchang subtly changed.

The cratered surface of the moon is a mess.

The various facilities that were originally neatly arranged on the lunar surface now look as if they have been roasted over a fire, with charred and twisted marks everywhere.

"This..." Wilson stared dumbfounded at the holographic screen before him. "These are our automated mining equipment?"

"How did it get like this?!"

Lu Yongchang didn't speak, but just stared at the scene before him with a solemn expression.

He sighed inwardly.

broken.

My bad feeling came true.

"Yes, Professor Wilson." Zero's voice was completely flat as he answered Wilson's question in a measured tone. "We underestimated the power of this solar storm."

"Even though the moon is at the very edge of a solar storm, that's still not an energy level we can withstand."

"Zero, what is the extent of the damage to the lunar mining base?" Lu Yongchang's heavy voice rang out from the side.

"It's very serious, Professor." Zero paused for a moment before speaking again, "Currently, our helium-3 production is only 10% of what it used to be."

Lü Yongchang's expression changed slightly.

What a big deal!

What does 10% of helium-3 production mean?

This means that humanity will once again be plunged into an energy crisis!

"Zero, how long will the repairs take?!" Lü Yongchang jumped up from his chair. "Immediately dispatch all starship pilots in Mars City to repair it!"

"..."

After a brief calculation, the sound of zero rang out again.

"It will take us at least six months to fully repair the automated mining base on the moon."

"But Professor, I don't recommend doing that."

"As the sun continues to expand, the surface temperature of the moon is constantly rising."

"According to simulations, the helium-3 content in the lunar regolith will decrease significantly after one year, and after one and a half years, the helium-3 resources on the lunar surface will basically lose their exploitability."

Lü Yongchang stood there, stunned.

Yes.

How could he have overlooked that?

If the temperature on the lunar surface exceeds 700 degrees Celsius, helium-3 in the lunar soil will escape and dissipate into space.

This would have been almost impossible before, after all, the highest temperature on the lunar surface is only 127 degrees Celsius.

But as the sun continued to expand, everything changed.

"Professor Lü," Wilson, who was standing to the side, swallowed hard, his eyes flashing with fear, and asked in a low voice, "How much Helium-3 do we have left?"

Before Lü Yongchang could answer, Ling answered the question directly.

"Based on the current usage, it can probably last for a year."

"But if we continue to expand our starship fleet, our helium-3 reserves will probably only last for about nine months."

"..."

The laboratory was completely silent.

One year... nine months...

Wilson felt an unprecedented sense of suffocation coming from all directions.

Energy! Energy!!

For the first time, he personally experienced the importance of energy to a civilization.

"Teach, instruct..."

He opened his mouth slightly and whispered in a dry voice.

A hint of sorrow appeared in Lü Yongchang's eyes, and he sighed deeply.

"Zero, open the solar system star map," he said calmly.

As the holographic image unfolded, the latest star map of the solar system was presented to the two.

The original eight planets have been reduced to seven.

Lu Yongchang stared quietly at the star map in front of him, his gaze drawn to the giant planet.

Wilson looked in the direction Lü Yongchang was looking.

His eyes flickered slightly when he saw the largest planet in the solar system.

"Professor Lü, are you preparing to study Jupiter...?"

Lü Yongchang nodded silently.

"Humanity cannot live without helium-3."

"We can't count on the moon anymore, so we can only pin our hopes on Jupiter!"

Although he had expected this answer, Wilson was still surprised when he heard that Lü Yongchang was planning to mine helium-3 on Jupiter.

He stammered, "But, but our current level of technology..."

As the largest gas giant in the solar system, Jupiter is far more dangerous than the Moon.

Jupiter has a mass 318 times that of Earth, and its gravity is 2.5 times that of Earth!

This poses a significant threat to any object that gets close to it.

Unlike Earth, Jupiter's surface, composed of 86% hydrogen and 14% helium, is filled with ultra-high-speed storms!

In the upper atmosphere, wind speeds reach an astonishing 1 kilometer per second. As for the Great Red Spot of Jupiter, it is filled with huge storms with speeds of over 600 kilometers per hour all year round!

With human technology, even the Luan Bird Starship could never safely enter it!

Lu Yongchang waved his hand, closing the solar system star map in front of him.

"Professor Wilson, calm down."

He smiled and patted Wilson on the shoulder: "I'll handle this problem. All you have to do is perfect the ion beam weapon."

"The rest of the research and development work is now in your hands."

"I hope to see it launched within two months."