Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

Wearing a winter coat, Levi stood alone on the surface of Proxima Centauri, raising his head and silently looking up at the sky.

It was nighttime.

In the cloudless night sky, a few faint flashes of light can be seen here and there.

He knew that it was the flash of light from the interception of electromagnetic cannon projectiles by the planetary defense network.

A rustling sound came from behind, followed by a familiar shout.

"Father."

Livay's expression shifted slightly as he turned to look behind him.

Aquitas, dressed in full-body winter clothing, stepped out of the small house in front of him.

That's the entrance to the underground city.

"What's wrong, Aquitas?" Levi beckoned to his daughter and asked softly.

Aquitas quickly walked to his father's side.

Like her father, she also looked up at the dim firelight that appeared and disappeared in the sky.

After a long silence, she asked softly.

"Father, I heard that the Solar System fleet has launched an attack on us?"

Livay was speechless for a moment.

This news is currently under wraps.

This is to avoid unnecessary panic.

But as his daughter, Aquitas naturally had many ways to find out this information.

Liva opened his breathing hole and exhaled a deep breath of hot air.

The water vapor in the exhaust gas condensed rapidly, forming a thick white fog in the air.

"Yes."

He lowered his eyes slightly and said softly.

"..." Aquitas fell silent.

The atmosphere between the two became tense.

"...So, what should we do?"

After a long silence, Aquitas broke it softly.

Levi subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief. He looked helplessly at the night sky above. Sometime during the night, a dark cloud drifted over and obscured the faint firelight above.

"At least for now, we should stay put in the dungeon."

"We can only pilot our spaceships into the war after we receive news from the Academy of Sciences."

Just as Livay finished speaking, a rough voice came from the small house behind him.

"Why should we listen to the Academy of Sciences' arrangements?!"

Levi turned his head again: "Hicks?"

A male Proxima Centauri, dressed in winter clothing and noticeably larger than the other Proxima Centauri, emerged from the house.

"Brother Levi, you're too timid."

"If you ask me, we should just take our spaceship out and fight those damned invaders to the death!"

Upon hearing this, a complex ripple appeared on the skin at the top of Levi's mind organ.

"and then?"

"We haven't even located the other ship yet. Are you planning to go out and become a sitting duck?"

Hicks' voice suddenly caught in his throat.

But a few seconds later, he muttered softly, "No matter what, we can't just obey the Academy of Sciences' orders, otherwise, what's the difference from before..."

Levi's expression turned slightly serious: "Hicks!"

"I don't want to hear those words again."

"Interstellar war is different from the small skirmishes of the past. Without the leadership of the Academy of Sciences, we alone cannot win it no matter what."

Hicks stared at Levi with surprise, seemingly not expecting him to say such a thing.

"Go back, Hicks." Levi waved to him, then looked up again at the huge dark cloud, trying to see the situation above through it.

"...You've changed, Levi." Hicks's eyes gradually became complicated. "You're no different from those people at the Academy of Sciences now."

After saying that, Hicks turned around and walked towards the small house behind him with a look of disappointment.

Livay didn't speak, but a hint of struggle was visible in his eyes.

Has he changed? Has he become like the people at the Academy of Sciences?

maybe.

Only in this way could he and his family survive.

He opened his mouth, trying to explain something to Hicks.

But just as he was about to speak, a blinding light came from afar, interrupting his actions.

Livay squinted and looked into the distance.

A dazzling sphere of light appeared on the ground in the far distance.

At the same time, a mushroom cloud slowly rose.

In the sky, a few small dots glowing red appeared, rushing rapidly toward the ground!

"Run! The defenses have been breached!" Levi was the first to react. He shouted and scooped up Aquitas beside him, rushing towards the hut.

As I passed by Hicks, she was still standing there, stunned, clearly unaware of what had happened.

Levi turned his head and glanced at it.

A shockwave, visible to the naked eye, was rushing towards them at high speed!

He gritted his teeth, freed one hand, and pulled Hicks forcefully: "Quick! Into the dungeon!!"

……

The shockwave from the miniature nuclear bomb swept across the cabin.

Inside the cabin, the specially designed elevator shook violently, and the interior lights flickered on and off.

Aquitas had clearly never seen anything like this before.

She nestled in her father's arms, her body trembling slightly.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine." Levi gently patted his daughter's shoulder. "This entrance can withstand a little impact."

Waves of impact and roaring sounds came from the outside.

Clearly, more than one projectile breached the planetary defense network.

"Damn it...are these intruders insane?"

"How could they possibly load nuclear weapons into electromagnetic railgun projectiles?!" Levi cursed under his breath.

The sound of the explosion gradually faded away.

The lights were the first to return to normal, and the elevator gradually returned to a stable state.

Aquitas's mood gradually calmed down.

"Thank you," Hicks said stiffly to Levi. "I... I owe you my life."

Levi waved his hand and reached out to press the button in front of him.

The elevator opened again.

The hut was covered in dust.

He glanced at the screen beside him, which displayed the radiation levels from the outside world.

Fortunately, the radiation concentration was not very high.

It's still within their means.

Having lived on a planet 700 million kilometers from their host star for a long time, the Proxima Centauri inhabitants have a high tolerance for radiation.

Thanks to this, the biggest impact of these nuclear bombs on the civilization of our neighboring planet was the destruction of surface structures.

Levi cautiously stepped out of the cabin.

In the distance, the mushroom cloud had not yet dissipated, and the firelight illuminated the entire sky.

A hint of sadness appeared in Aquitas's eyes.

She asked softly, "Father, must war really happen?"

Levi was silent for a moment, then nodded slightly: "Aquitas, there's nothing we can do about it."

"We will not give up our home planet, and they will not give up their spaceships."

……

Central Academy of Sciences.

Augustus is venting his anger in a great deal.

"A vicious intruder!"

"They actually loaded a nuclear weapon inside the projectile!"

"How much have we lost?" He turned to look at Lyle beside him.

"The area hit lost 10% of its electromagnetic guns and laser cannons, while the ground damage was minimal, mostly consisting of ordinary buildings. Our giant land-based laser cannons were undamaged."

Augustus breathed a slight sigh of relief.

But soon, his expression turned grim again.

The observers reported the latest observation results.

"Lord Augustus, no trace of the Solar System Fleet was found in the direction the projectile was launched; they must have changed their position beforehand."

Augustus sat down in his chair with a sense of helplessness.

The scene he feared had finally come to pass.

Initially, due to the reckless linear acceleration of the solar system fleet, they discovered it by sheer chance while observing the sun.

But since the fleet changed course and reduced the Hall thrusters and radio power as much as possible, even their observation equipment has found it difficult to locate them.

the reason is simple.

Although their observation technology is advanced enough to even observe fleets several light-years away, that is the result of checking them one by one with a known direction.

And now...

Space is three-dimensional, and the fleet can hide in any direction.

Investigating in any direction would consume a lot of their time.

By the time they finished checking all the pixels in a certain direction, the Solar System Fleet had already changed its course!