Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

"Click..."

The laboratory door slowly closed.

Lü Yongchang leaned against the wall outside the laboratory door and sighed deeply.

The smile on his face vanished instantly, and a deep sense of confusion appeared in his eyes.

The difficulty of piloting a starship into Jupiter's atmosphere to collect helium-3 is clearly beyond the limits of a Type I civilization.

If the Helium-3 problem is not solved, humanity is doomed!

Let alone the solar system, it probably wouldn't even last long on Mars!

How could he possibly know how to solve this problem?!

At least in front of others, as the chief scientist, he must not show any confusion or helplessness.

"Zero, notify Fang Xu and have him call everyone over." Lu Yongchang rubbed his cheeks hard to calm himself down before speaking in a deep voice.

"Without solving the energy problem, building more starships will just result in a pile of scrap metal!"

As he spoke, he walked toward Port No. 1 of Mars City: "If they arrive, you can give them a brief explanation of the situation. I'm going out for a walk to clear my head."

"Yes, Professor." Zero's simulated image vanished instantly, leaving only a faint reply.

……

Port 1 outside.

Wearing a spacesuit, Lü Yongchang sat on the gravelly Martian surface, staring blankly at the ever-expanding "lake".

Perhaps due to changes in the sun, the temperature on the Martian surface has risen again.

The melting of vast amounts of underground ice has brought life to this desolate planet.

At least, the so-called "Martian fungus" has already covered this area.

Bored, Lü Yongchang reached out and patted the thick, purplish-red cap of a "Martian fungus" in front of him, his mind constantly contemplating countermeasures.

His brain seemed rusty; no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't squeeze out a single spark of inspiration.

"Professor, Assistant Su is here."

A soft warning sounded inside the helmet.

Lu Yongchang was slightly taken aback. Just as he was about to turn his head, he found a figure wrapped in a spacesuit sitting to his right.

Through the mask, he could clearly see that familiar face.

"Yutong? What brings you here?" he asked.

Su Yutong pursed her lips, a hint of worry in her eyes: "Ling told me that your condition is dangerous."

Upon hearing this, Lü Yongchang was stunned once again.

"zero?"

He instinctively asked a question in return.

"Professor," Zero's calm voice sounded from inside their helmets, "According to the assessment, your current mental state is extremely poor, which will have a significant impact on your research work."

Lu Yongchang shook his head with a wry smile: "Don't be ridiculous, my mental state is absolutely fine. Zero, you should update your database."

"Professor, since arriving in Mars City, you have been sleeping less than four hours a day on average, and your daily food intake is steadily decreasing. This situation has become particularly serious since you began developing weapons. In addition, you..."

"Zero, shut up," Lü Yongchang said with a gloomy expression.

There was complete silence inside the helmet.

He stared blankly at the shimmering lake in front of him and sighed deeply.

Okay, he admitted that Zero was right.

Since leaving Earth, the pressure on him has been constantly increasing.

The reason is also very simple.

Leaving Earth, humanity becomes a nomadic civilization.

Having no home, he also has to face the Proxima Centauri civilization, whose technology is slightly superior to his own, as well as an advanced civilization whose existence is still unknown!

This is also why he is so obsessed with the power of weapons.

He needs more powerful weapons and more advanced technology to ensure the continuation of human civilization!

"Professor Lü, you..." Su Yutong's voice came through the team radio, "Is there a problem?"

"I'm fine." Lü Yongchang turned to his assistant, looking uneasy, and said, "Zero is making a mountain out of a molehill. Its database definitely needs updating..."

Su Yutong didn't speak, she just looked at him quietly.

After staring at Su Yutong for a few seconds, Lü Yongchang gave in.

He silently looked away.

"Okay, I admit, there is indeed a problem."

"..."

More than ten minutes later.

Su Yutong frowned slightly, deep in thought.

Lü Yongchang didn't say anything, but silently turned his head again to look at the purplish-red mushroom cap in front of him.

"Professor, I have a suggestion."

Su Yutong's serious voice rang out over the radio.

"Suggestions?" Lu Yongchang looked at Su Yutong beside him in surprise, chuckled, and said, "Tell me what you've learned from Lao Cao recently."

"Professor, I think that since starships cannot directly enter the atmosphere to collect helium-3, we can try a different approach."

"We can choose 'vacuuming'!"

"Exhale?" Lu Yongchang's stiff brain slowly began to work, the smile on his face gradually faded, and his expression became serious.

He turned to face Su Yutong and said in a deep voice, "Continue!"

"The so-called 'gas extraction' actually involves keeping the starship in a geosynchronous orbit around Jupiter, using a sufficiently long 'straw' to directly extract Jupiter's atmosphere, and then separating and purifying the extracted gases." Su Yutong paused slightly, "In this way, we can completely avoid contact between the starship and Jupiter's atmosphere, greatly reducing the danger and difficulty of the project."

Lu Yongchang remained silent for a moment, going over the proposal put forward by Su Yutong in his mind.

He was tempted.

This is indeed a clever way to take advantage of the situation.

Although the collection efficiency will be greatly reduced, this may be the most appropriate way for humanity at present!

"It seems you've learned a lot from Lao Cao."

As Lü Yongchang stood up from the ground, he sighed.

Su Yutong smiled faintly: "Professor, it's not just you; we are all striving for the future of humanity."

Lu Yongchang nodded silently, then turned and walked towards Mars City: "Let's go, Brother Xu and Lao Cao are probably getting impatient."

……

Inside the meeting room.

A holographic image quietly unfolds.

Several large characters were clearly written on it.

Jupiter Helium-3 Collection Project

Lu Yongchang stood in front of everyone and exhaled a breath of stale air, as if he wanted to expel all the anxiety in his heart.

"Everyone, you should all be aware of the situation on the moon."

"In order to ensure our energy reserves, I hereby announce that, starting today, all departments will unconditionally cooperate with this plan."

Fang Xu, sitting in the second seat, nodded solemnly.

"Yongchang, do you have a solution?"

"Jupiter isn't as docile as the Moon; if anything goes wrong..."

Lu Yongchang reached out and gestured in the air, opening another holographic image.

In the image, a starship is seen hovering silently in Jupiter's synchronous orbit.

And from its abdomen, a long tube stretching over 100,000 kilometers extended, piercing into Jupiter's atmosphere.

"The acquisition ship itself is not difficult to build; our current technology is sufficient to manufacture starships of this class."

"The key is the helium-3 collection tube."

"I personally prefer carbon nanotube materials."