Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

Zhang Zhengqing's voice echoed in the central control center.

"Varied……"

Ren Feng's pupils trembled violently, his Adam's apple bobbed, but he only managed to utter a short, sharp sound.

He took a few deep breaths and asked in a rough voice, "How much time do we have left?"

Zhang Zhengqing glanced at the holographic image in front of him, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

"If no measures are taken..."

"Probably around 24 hours."

Ren Feng: "?!?!"

"Only this much time?!"

Zhang Zhengqing shrugged: "I know you're in a hurry, but don't rush."

"I haven't finished speaking yet."

"There are emergency oxygen supply devices in City No. 4."

Upon hearing this, the anxiety on Ren Feng's face dissipated considerably.

He let out a long sigh of relief: "Hey kid, next time, can you at least say what you mean?"

Zhang Zhengqing was silent for a moment, then nodded: "Including the emergency oxygen supply device, we should be able to last another week."

Ren Feng's lips twitched suddenly.

"A week?"

"What can this possibly do?!"

Faced with Ren Feng's questioning, Zhang Zhengqing shrugged and said in a helpless tone, "I can't do anything."

"We can only hope that the people in City One can repair it, or... contact the human fleet and get Zero to take action."

"What if..."

Zhang Zhengqing interrupted Ren Feng directly: "If neither side succeeds, we can only wait to die."

Ren Feng's breathing became rapid.

He stared blankly at Zhang Zhengqing in front of him, then turned his head and scanned the city's central control center with an utterly bewildered look.

"Is that all?"

Ren Feng muttered to himself.

Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, he abruptly turned his head and stared straight at Zhang Zhengqing.

"Can't you restart the fusion reactor?"

"You've already successfully started the quantum computer, starting a fusion reactor shouldn't be too difficult, right?"

"Right? Right?!!"

As he spoke, he reached out and grabbed Zhang Zhengqing's shoulder tightly.

Looking at Ren Feng's expectant eyes, Zhang Zhengqing's lips curled into a bitter smile.

He shook his head helplessly: "It's a pity."

"That's impossible."

Upon hearing this, Ren Feng immediately became agitated: "Why?!"

"Doesn't that thing come with instructions?!"

As he spoke, Ren Feng pointed to the brick-shaped manual next to him.

Zhang Zhengqing glanced in the direction Ren Feng was pointing, then said with a strange expression, "First of all..."

"I need to correct something."

"This isn't an instruction manual; it's an emergency response guide."

"...Isn't it the same?" Ren Feng's voice weakened slightly.

"Of course they're different." Zhang Zhengqing rubbed his forehead. "Never mind, it's not important."

"The key point is that the fusion reactor is completely enclosed, and all maintenance work is done by robots and Yi."

"Even if there were an instruction manual, let alone one, that big thing is not something an ordinary person like me can handle."

"So, are we just going to wait to die like this?!"

Zhang Zhengqing sighed deeply: "Otherwise what?"

As he spoke, he reached out and patted Ren Feng on the shoulder: "Take it easy, maybe things will take a turn for the better in a few days?"

"The only thing we can do now is to turn on the emergency oxygen supply device."

"Okay, fine..."

Ren Feng lowered his eyes slightly, nodded, and responded softly.

Then, he silently turned and walked toward the ventilation duct.

Seeing Ren Feng's disheartened look, Zhang Zhengqing sighed again.

Just as he was about to turn and leave, a crisp notification sound came from the control panel in front of him.

"drop!"

"Zhang Zhengqing?" Ren Feng, who was squatting in front of the ventilation duct, slowly turned his head. "Did you hear something?"

What came into view was Zhang Zhengqing's extremely excited expression!

"Yes, there has been a response!"

Zhang Zhengqing stammered, "City One...City One has responded!"

……

More than ten minutes later.

Zhang Zhengqing and Ren Feng stood solemnly in front of the control panel.

After a ten-minute communication, they gained a general understanding of the incident.

According to the explanation from the person in charge of City One.

Just a few hours ago.

Proxima Centauri b was suddenly attacked by an unidentified object.

No, it cannot be called an unidentified object.

It's more like... a nuclear bomb.

"A nuclear bomb?!"

Ren Feng stared in disbelief at the holographic projection in front of him: "How is this possible?!"

"Wasn't this thing obsolete a long time ago?"

In the video, the middle-aged person in charge looks extremely anxious.

"That's right, a nuclear bomb."

"I know this answer is outrageous."

"At first, I didn't believe it either."

"But the test report from the explosion site shows that this thing is a nuclear bomb."

Zhang Zhengqing, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up.

"So, you believe that Proxima Centauri b was attacked by another civilization?"

The middle-aged man's expression changed slightly.

After hesitating for a moment, he slowly nodded: "Not bad."

"We can't think of any other possibilities."

Zhang Zhengqing nodded thoughtfully.

Also.

Out of the blue, a nuclear bomb fell from the sky, blasting a huge crater in City One...

Such a scene could only be the result of an alien invasion.

"Besides City One, where else has been attacked?" Zhang Zhengqing stared directly at the middle-aged man in front of him. "If it was just City One that was attacked, it wouldn't have crashed."

"..."

The middle-aged man's eye twitched, and he sighed heavily, saying, "There are still some important satellites."

"What about Zero?" Zhang Zhengqing didn't give anyone a chance to catch their breath, asking again, "Why didn't you ask Zero for help?"

"I remember, long-range communication devices shouldn't be on satellites, right?"

"In this situation, without any intervention, all cities should be able to quickly return to normal."

The middle-aged man's face grew increasingly bitter.

"We've already tried it."

"but……"

"To this day, we have not received a single response from the human fleet."

Ren Feng, who couldn't get a word in edgewise, felt a sinking feeling in his heart.

Could it be... that Grandpa was right?

Has something happened to the human fleet?

Zhang Zhengqing's expression changed slightly, but he still maintained basic composure.

"So, what's your plan now?"

"Our plan..."

"Feel sorry."

The middle-aged man in the video looked guilty: "If we can't contact the human fleet, there's nothing we can do."

"You should know that after the Academy of Sciences left, we were no longer able to take action against Proxima Central Computer."

"Can't even restarting work?" Ren Feng suddenly asked from the side.

Seeing the strange looks they were giving him, he chuckled awkwardly and said, "Ahem, when my computer at home freezes, I just unplug it and restart it..."

The middle-aged man chuckled, shook his head, and continued speaking.

"Next, I suggest you look for emergency oxygen supply equipment in the city."

"If possible, go to some large hospitals, where there are large oxygen stations, which can help you last longer."

"Perhaps we can wait for a response from the human fleet."

The holographic projection slowly faded away.

The communication has ended.