Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

In the holographic projection, the signals detected by the passive detection device are incredibly clear.

Lu Yongchang was almost certain that these detectors had come over brazenly with their full-band active detection radars running!

"How dare they do this..."

Beside him, Fang Xu muttered to himself in disbelief, "Isn't this blatantly telling us that they're here?"

Lü Yongchang's expression dimmed slightly.

"Perhaps the other civilization's technological level is more advanced than I imagined."

"At the very least, they are extremely confident in this operation."

He took a deep breath, calmed his complex emotions, and said in a deep voice, "However, let's look at it from another angle."

"This is precisely our opportunity."

"Zero, have you located the other side's detector?" Lu Yongchang changed the subject and asked.

"Location successfully." Zero replied, projecting the location data onto the holographic projection directly in front of him. "Currently, we are using an optical telescope to search."

A star map unfolds in the holographic projection.

A dozen or so bright white dots appeared in one corner of the star map.

Looking at the direction these small dots were moving, Lü Yongchang was stunned for a moment.

"The other side...hasn't discovered us yet?"

Before Zero could answer, he answered his own question, "Yes."

"It is indeed quite difficult to find a fleet whose engines have all stopped running in such a vast and dark universe."

"However, now that the other side has found this area, it's only a matter of time before they discover it."

"Professor..." Zhao Zijie's voice came from the side.

Lu Yongchang naturally understood what he wanted to say, and slowly shook his head, saying, "Don't make a move yet."

"Let's wait until they get closer before we talk."

"If possible, capture as much probe debris as possible."

"I need to use this to obtain some intelligence about the enemy fleet."

Zhao Zijie's expression hardened, and he nodded slightly.

……

In the holographic projection, a dozen bright white dots instantly dispersed.

They conducted a thorough search of the area.

One of the bright white dots flew straight toward the human fleet.

"Professor, we have successfully obtained optical images of the enemy detector."

As they drew closer, the high-precision optical telescopes deployed in the fleet successfully captured images of the enemy civilization's probes.

When he saw the image presented in the holographic projection, Lü Yongchang was stunned again.

It's another new type of detector.

It was completely different from the probes captured by the Xuan Nu decoy ship.

This detector is ellipsoidal in shape.

Although they look different, their surfaces still bear a strong trace of battle damage.

Deep craters, laser burn marks, and exposed circuit boards.

They looked like they had just come from the front lines.

Lu Yongchang shook his head and said with some helplessness, "I really don't know what kind of civilization we are fighting against."

"Having progressed to this point, surely you can't even scrape together the resources to repair the detector?"

"Or is it... just their aesthetic sense?"

As he spoke, he winked at Zhao Zijie: "We can prepare to move out."

……

Under Zhao Zijie's command, the stern of a [Golden Crow] battleship suddenly lit up with the eerie blue light of Hall thrusters.

It slowly broke away from the formation and silently headed towards the direction from which the ellipsoidal probe had come.

On the holographic projection inside the command center.

The ellipsoidal probe emitted a large amount of electromagnetic waves, recklessly and ostentatiously traversing interstellar space.

Suddenly, it seemed to discover something.

The speed suddenly dropped significantly!

"We've been discovered!"

"attack!"

Zhao Zijie's urgent voice rang out in the command center.

At the same time, a beam of light gleaming with a faint blue glow shot out from the main laser emitter at the bow of the [Golden Crow] battleship, heading straight for the ellipsoidal detector!

One second later.

The pale blue laser precisely illuminated a recess in the armor of the ellipsoidal detector.

Under the observation of the optical telescope, the power of the Type II laser weapon was clearly presented to everyone!

Almost simultaneously, the ellipsoidal detector automatically took evasive action.

For most sustained laser weapons, emergency evasive maneuvers can effectively avoid most of the damage.

The principle is also very simple.

The power of laser weapons will be greatly reduced if the laser beams are not directed onto the same piece of armor.

However, it is clear that this rudimentary avoidance strategy is ineffective against zero.

Under Zero's control, the eerie blue laser beam relentlessly "bite" at the detector, continuously scorching the dent in the armor.

As the detector took evasive action, the intensity of the electromagnetic wave signal it emitted also increased several times in an instant!

Clearly, this probe is "calling out" to its companions and sending news of the attack to the main civilization.

But this does not affect the fate of the probe.

Perhaps it's because the armor strength in the irradiated area is far below normal levels.

In just a moment, a large hole was burned into the surface of the tattered ellipsoidal detector!

Unlike the Type I laser weapon, the Type II laser weapon has a significantly longer duration.

Therefore, after burning through the armor of the ellipsoidal detector, the dark blue beam shot straight into its interior!

Under the high temperature generated by the laser, the light from the Hall thruster at the tail of the ellipsoid flickered a few times and then slowly went out.

However, as the laser weapon blasted into the detector, the various complex internal components melted and produced a thick plume of black smoke!

Black smoke billowed out from the breached hole.

This greatly reduces the lethality of laser weapons.

At this point, the operating time of the Type II laser weapon also reached its limit.

The pale blue beam of light, which had spanned one light-second, slowly dissipated, leaving only the ellipsoidal detector billowing thick smoke, gliding forward by inertia.

After gliding for a while, perhaps because its power device was damaged, a burst of intense flames suddenly erupted from its interior!

explosion!

The fleeting light illuminated a small patch of the dark universe around it, but it was quickly swallowed up by the even denser darkness.

Earth Command Center.

Lu Yongchang shook his head with a regretful expression.

"What a pity."

Zhao Zijie was slightly taken aback, and subconsciously comforted her, "Professor, there are other detectors, we still have a chance."

He recalled that Professor Lü wanted to capture a probe from the opposing civilization in order to make a simple assessment of the enemy civilization's strength.

but!

Hearing Zhao Zijie's words of comfort, Lü Yongchang sighed again.

He shook his head and said, "The thick smoke generated by the combustion inside the detector greatly reduces the lethality of the laser weapon."

"The next generation of laser weapons may need to address this issue."

Zhao Zijie: "...???"

"Professor, we have detected that the remaining 17 probes are changing course."

Zero's voice promptly eased Zhao Zijie's embarrassment.

"cough!"

Zhao Zijie coughed lightly, picked up the microphone beside him, and issued several orders to the fleet in an orderly manner.

This time, we must successfully capture a "high-spec" detector.

Instead of the old kind of counterfeit and shoddy products that were just wrapped in a garbage shell!