Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

Titan.

Kraken-Mare Sea coast.

The cabin door of the phoenix, which lay quietly on the shore, slowly opened, and three robots with slightly peculiar shapes walked out from it.

Inside the starship's cockpit, Zhao Zijie and Gao Yang stared solemnly at the holographic screen in front of them.

Watching the three robots gradually enter the methane sea, Gao Yang let out a long sigh of relief: "Now all we need to do is wait, right?"

Zhao Zijie nodded slightly: "It should take a few days for these robots to send the test data back."

The holographic image depicts a scene in a sea of ​​methane.

Due to the density of methane in the sea, these robots can only "walk" along the seabed.

The seabed is very steep and extends straight into the depths.

The robot's walking motion turned the once clear methane sea into a murky mess.

That was fine sand formed by the "water flow" in the methane sea.

The faint searchlight overhead illuminated the path ahead.

To control the temperature, the power of various components inside the robot, which is wrapped in a thick heat insulation layer, has been reduced.

Therefore, the searchlight carried by the robot can only illuminate a small area in front of it, while most of the remaining area remains dark.

Zhao Zijie turned his head and looked at the test data next to him.

[Depth: 50 meters]

A hint of surprise flashed in his eyes: "We've reached a depth of fifty meters so quickly?"

Gao Yang shrugged: "Who knows?"

"After all, this isn't Earth; anything can happen."

As soon as he finished speaking, the surveillance camera started shaking violently.

A few minutes later, four large characters appeared on the holographic image.

[Signal interruption]

Zhao Zijie suddenly turned his head and glared at Gao Yang beside him: "Gao Yang!!"

Gao Yang: "..."

"No, no, it's really not my fault!"

"How was I supposed to know this would happen?!"

Zhao Zijie sighed deeply and withdrew his gaze from Gao Yang: "Yi, what happened?"

"The seawater is too deep, which hinders signal transmission."

"This is impossible!" Zhao Zijie exclaimed in shock.

"The signal transmission devices on these robots are capable of transmitting data at a depth of 300 meters on the seabed of the methane-rich ocean!"

Gao Yang's expression also changed.

If the signal transmission problem is indeed caused by the depth of the seawater, then their understanding of the Kraken-Malay Sea will be refreshed once again!

The holographic image begins to replay various monitoring data from the minutes before the signal disappeared.

In the footage, three robots are seen walking normally on the gravel-covered seabed.

The echo sounder showed that the seabed surface was very flat with almost no large rocks, and the depth was steadily increasing.

Everything seems normal.

But the next moment, in slow motion, the flat seabed beneath the robot's feet suddenly cracked, revealing a large hole!

In those brief few minutes, the echo sounder on the robot transmitted a whole host of alarming data!

"The... ocean trench?"

Zhao Zijie stared blankly at the various data in front of him and asked in a low voice.

"That's not accurate, Captain," came One's reply. "Its width is far greater than the trench; at least the echo sounder didn't detect a clear boundary."

Zhao Zijie took a deep breath.

"How many meters deep is the deepest point?"

One responded: "According to the data from the echo sounder, the total depth exceeds five hundred meters."

Upon hearing this data, Zhao Zijie felt a sharp pain in his head.

Why are there so many accidents?!

He cursed inwardly while casting resentful glances at his teammates.

Gao Yang chuckled awkwardly, scratched his head, and said with an embarrassed expression, "Zijie, should we report the situation to Professor Lü?"

What do you think?!

Zhao Zijie retorted irritably.

……

More than ten minutes later.

The two sat "obediently" in the chairs, facing the holographic image.

In the video, Lü Yongchang sits quietly behind his desk with a furrowed brow, seemingly deep in thought.

Zhao Zijie and Gao Yang looked guilty and frantically exchanged their thoughts with their eyes.

Zhao Zijie: "Holy crap! What do I do? What do I do? Professor Lü won't be angry, will he?"

Gao Yang: "It can't be that bad, can it?"

Zhao Zijie: "How could it not be? Don't you know how seriously Professor Lü takes this? He's been asking about the robot's progress every day for the past few days!"

Gao Yang: "Then what do we do?!"

Zhao Zijie: "Don't ask me, ask your blessed mouth!"

"Ahem!" In the holographic image, Lü Yongchang coughed softly.

Zhao Zijie and Gao Yang trembled slightly and immediately stopped exchanging glances.

"Why are you all so nervous?" Lu Yongchang asked in a low voice, a hint of doubt in his eyes.

"Professor," Zhao Zijie swallowed slightly, "I bear responsibility for this, I..."

Upon hearing this, Lü Yongchang immediately smiled.

"Come on, tell me, what responsibility do you bear?"

As he spoke, he looked at Zhao Zijie with great interest: "Didn't you go into the sea to scout the way for the robot?"

"Or did you collapse this seabed?"

Zhao Zijie stammered for a long time, but couldn't squeeze out a single word.

He can't very well say that it was because he failed to control Gao Yang's jinxed mouth, can he?

"Alright, I'm not blaming you."

Lu Yongchang smiled and waved his hand: "To be honest, I didn't expect this either."

"I've reviewed all the data, and I've also simulated zero."

"Based on a comprehensive analysis of various data, we have discovered that Titan's ocean has a two-layered structure."

"The upper layer is what we usually see, the Kraken-Malay Sea, with a maximum depth of 300 meters."

"The next layer, which we will call the Inner Sea for now, cannot be described in detail due to insufficient data. We can only confirm that its composition is more complex than that of the Krakenmarai Sea and that its water temperature is slightly higher."

"Two layers of ocean, naturally separated by a density difference, with a thin layer of rock structure in between."

"Normally nothing would happen, but that area might be quite vulnerable, and our robot just happened to step on it."

He shrugged: "I have to say we were pretty lucky."

Lu Yongchang's voice paused for a moment before continuing: "However... the only problem is that since those jellyfish can sense changes in sea surface temperature, their living area must be in the Kraken-Marie Sea on the surface."

"Otherwise, no matter how powerful their heat-sensitive organs are, they would not be able to sense changes in sea surface temperature through a layer of rock."

"This raises another question." Lü Yongchang frowned even more deeply. "Since they live in the Kraken-Mare Sea, why can't they survive in the seawater in the aquaculture area?"

"unless……"

Gao Yang's eyes lit up, and he instinctively exclaimed, "Unless the two oceans are connected!"