Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

The countdown has ended.

A solar storm traveling at hundreds of kilometers per second swept across Jupiter's orbit.

Although this solar storm is the most powerful in human history, it is clearly insignificant compared to Jupiter.

Faced with Jupiter's powerful magnetic field, the raging solar storms obediently turned a corner and bypassed Jupiter's massive body.

"A large amount of X-rays were detected at Jupiter's poles."

The zero-mark alert sounded, drawing everyone's attention.

The next moment, the area where the X-rays were produced was marked in a special color in the holographic projection directly in front of them.

That was the aurora borealis under a solar storm.

Unlike the aurora on Earth, Jupiter's aurora exists in the form of high-energy X-rays, containing hundreds of times more energy than Earth's aurora!

An invisible solar storm crossed Jupiter's orbit and headed straight for Saturn behind it.

Like Jupiter, Saturn also has its own magnetic field.

"Speaking of which, if there are jellyfish on Titan, will this solar storm affect them?"

Sitting in the corner, Gao Yang quietly asked his teammates a question.

Zhao Zijie rolled his eyes in annoyance: "Hey, why are you so concerned about those jellyfish?"

"Forget about solar storms, even if it's just a normal development, those jellyfish have already gone extinct."

Gao Yang chuckled awkwardly, a hint of unease flashing in his eyes: "I don't know why, but I just feel like something's not right."

"It's like something fell onto Titan."

Zhao Zijie ignored Gao Yang.

After a moment of silence, Gao Yang clicked his tongue slightly and spoke again:

"Zijie, do you think it's possible that some of the jellyfish have developed consciousness and are deliberately hiding from us?"

Zhao Zijie glanced at Gao Yang with an extremely strange look: "..."

"Wait a minute, I'll take you to Dr. Wen's office."

"I think you need to take a psychological test."

Gao Yang: "..."

"Cough cough cough! Never mind!" Gao Yang waved his hands repeatedly, subconsciously shrinking away from Zhao Zijie. "So, will Titan be affected by this solar storm?"

Zhao Zijie opened his mouth, unsure how to handle his teammate's strange situation.

No, it won't.

A gentle voice came from the side.

"Professor Lü?!" Gao Yang hurriedly stood up from his seat and bowed to Lü Yongchang.

Seeing this, Zhao Zijie also hurriedly tried to stand up from the chair.

"Sit down, sit down." Lü Yongchang chuckled and sat down beside the two. "What's wrong? Still thinking about Titan?"

Gao Yang lowered his head somewhat embarrassed.

As a starship pilot who had received various trainings, he naturally knew that his thoughts were not quite normal.

But for some reason, ever since leaving Titan, he has felt uneasy.

After pondering for a long time without success, he could only ask his teammates for their opinions.

Seeing Gao Yang's expression, Lü Yongchang reached out and gently patted his shoulder: "Don't worry, with Saturn's magnetic field protecting it, solar storms won't threaten Titan."

The worry in Gao Yang's eyes deepened.

He hesitated for a long time before finally asking a question.

Lu Yongchang was stunned, his face full of astonishment.

"Hiss... this problem..."

"Professor, just take it as me talking nonsense!" Gao Yang's eyes showed a hint of regret as he gently tapped his head. "Zijie is right, I probably need to go see Dr. Wen."

"...That's quite interesting." Lü Yongchang said the second half of the sentence, his eyes sparkling with interest.

"Come on, since we're hiding behind Jupiter with nothing to do right now, let me give you a proper analysis."

As he spoke, he reached out and made a gesture in the air.

Zero immediately controlled a holographic projector to display a holographic image in front of him.

Gao Yang and Zhao Zijie stared blankly at the enthusiastic Lü Yongchang.

"Zero, simulate the solar system for the next few years."

In the holographic image, the fireball located at the very center of the solar system emitted a blinding light as it approached Earth.

A helium flash occurred.

The Earth was instantly melted into a lava ball, which then plunged into the ever-expanding interior of the sun.

Subsequently, the power of the solar helium flash propagated into the distance.

Mars, Jupiter, Saturn...

"Zero, where is Titan now?"

When the energy released by the helium flash reached Saturn's orbit, Lü Yongchang asked softly.

The holographic image in front of me instantly magnified.

Titan, quietly orbiting on the far side of Saturn, was extremely lucky to escape this massive damage.

"Wow, not bad luck." Lü Yongchang's eyes lit up, and he turned to Gao Yang, gesturing with his chin. "See that?"

"Titan is much luckier than Earth. With Saturn as its backing, it is not only unaffected by solar storms, but also unharmed by helium flashes."

"If there are still jellyfish in Titan, they have been lucky enough to escape the biggest disaster in recent times."

"Of course, we weren't so lucky. Now, out of the eight planets in our solar system, only four are gas giants."

"Therefore, we can only 'borrow' a habitable solid planet from next door."

As he spoke, Lü Yongchang raised his hand and gently swept it across the holographic projection: "Zero, speed up."

Time is passing by faster than ever.

"Now that the sun has become a white dwarf, it can no longer release as much heat as before. Consequently, the surface temperature of Titan will be even lower." Lü Yongchang shrugged and pointed at Titan in the projection.

"However, there's no need to worry."

"The temperature inside Titan is quite high. This energy mainly comes from the high pressure inside the planet, the decay of radioactive material in its core, and the friction caused by Saturn's gravity on the core material."

Therefore, these jellyfish will most likely survive.

"But who knows what will happen next."

"After Jupiter absorbed a large amount of material ejected by the Sun, it first became a brown dwarf, and then a red dwarf. I won't go into how chaotic the solar system became during this process."

"The key point is that this process is very long, and will last at least tens of thousands of years."

"Even if these jellyfish manage to escape this disaster, they will still have to face Jupiter, which will become a red dwarf star."

"Once Saturn and Titan's new orbits get too close to the red dwarf, these jellyfish will face another catastrophe."

Lu Yongchang looked at Gao Yang with a smile: "Do you understand now?"

Your concerns are most likely unnecessary.

Gao Yang nodded blankly: "Thank you, Professor Lü."

Lu Yongchang waved his hand, turned off the holographic image in front of him, and stood up from his chair: "Alright, I should go too."

"Once the solar storm passes, we'll have to head towards the Kuiper Belt."

(To clarify, a real helium flash only occurs in the Sun's core. Most of the energy from a helium flash is used to drive changes in the core, while a small portion is blocked by the hydrogen layer on the Sun's surface. Simply put, the internal reactions of the Sun are extremely violent, but nothing is visible on the surface.)