Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

Inside the command center of the Earth.

In the holographic projection, the remaining 16 probes circled around once more before launching another "attack" on the human fleet.

The result can be imagined.

With the obstruction of the Golden Crow battleships, these probes were successfully reduced to fragments of space debris.

However, there is one exception.

It luckily "escaped" the fate of becoming space debris—it was successfully captured.

This high-tech-looking probe quietly resides inside the Xuan Nu II module.

With the coordinated efforts of several robots, the communication equipment inside the detector was quickly removed.

Inside the Earth, Lü Yongchang was intently issuing commands to Zero.

As for Zero, he was controlling the robot to perfectly execute Lü Yongchang's orders.

The detector was disassembled piece by piece, and the various devices inside were exposed to everyone.

"this……"

Lu Yongchang was speechless for a moment as he looked at the scene before him.

"How could this happen..."

The detector's internal structure is not complicated; in fact, it is somewhat rudimentary.

The technological sophistication of most of these devices is even less than that of human-made detectors!

Its futuristic design and incredible mobility...

Shouldn't this be an advanced detector manufactured by the opposing civilization?!

But why is there such a shabby thing beneath its glamorous exterior?!

Lu Yongchang sat in the chair with a livid face and took a deep breath.

Although he felt like he was being played by an advanced civilization, he quickly thought about it and his depressed mood immediately eased.

At least, there are some things worth learning from this detector.

power.

Like human civilization, this technologically advanced probe also employs a Hall thruster and a fusion reactor.

Unlike human civilization, their Hall thrusters employ a novel architecture.

In addition, there are more energy-efficient fusion reactors...

Human civilization has made a fortune from these two technologies alone.

However, this also brought new doubts to Lü Yongchang.

"Could it be... that the other side has just entered the third level of civilization?"

Otherwise, he would never be able to find out why the other party did this.

Only fleets that have just entered the third level of civilization would use some old facilities as consumables.

Lu Yongchang's eyes were filled with confusion.

After racking his brains without finding a solution, he shook his head helplessly: "Never mind."

"Instead of thinking about these things, we should prepare for the battle as soon as possible."

……

Little Grey's flagship store.

The alarms blared incessantly.

The little gray man in the first seat had already stood up from his chair.

It was breathing rapidly, its pupils trembling slightly as it looked at the large screen in front of it.

"How were they able to detect our detectors?!"

"Aren't they a Type II civilization?!"

The commander's slightly shrill voice echoed within the flagship.

At the same time, its sinister gaze slowly swept over the crowd.

The technicians who were initially responsible for assessing the other party's level of civilization all lowered their heads.

Embarrassment and confusion flickered on the faces of each little gray person.

"Technician number 126!"

"Tell me, what exactly happened?"

Seeing that no one answered, the commander became somewhat annoyed and directly called out names.

A visible look of bewilderment crossed the face of the technician who was called upon.

It looked up helplessly, only to meet the commander's cold gaze.

Technician No. 126 suddenly shuddered.

"But perhaps our assessment was wrong..."

After carefully considering its words, it cautiously explained, "We have too few data samples, so errors are inevitable..."

"Then what level of civilization do you think the other side belongs to?" The commander's face grew increasingly grim.

The losses caused by the technicians' misjudgments are not important.

If the other party is a true Level 4 civilization, then their previous actions were tantamount to courting death!

"..."

Technician No. 126 did not immediately answer the commander's question.

After pondering for a long time, he gritted his teeth and said decisively, "Level three!"

"At most, only level three!"

"They could never be a Type IV civilization!"

"Otherwise, we would have been caught long ago!"

"I believe no civilization could tolerate this level of provocation!"

The commander did not express his opinion, but simply sat quietly in his chair, staring blankly at the large screen in front of him.

On the screen, the signal from the last detector also disappeared.

a long time.

Thinking of the current state of the fleet, a ruthless glint flashed in the commander's eyes.

"Except for the detector."

"All starships, proceed to the target star system!"

"Our incomplete technological system will be improved!"

"Preparing to enter warp drive mode!"

"Let's go ahead of them!"

……

A month later.

Human fleet.

During this month, everyone's nerves were on edge.

In fact, in order to detect the enemy even a second earlier, the human fleet completely abandoned concealment and directly activated its active detection equipment at maximum power.

but……

A full month of detection and scanning.

Not a single enemy was found.

Not even a single detector was detected!

Sitting in the command center, Lü Yongchang's eyes were full of exhaustion.

He habitually looked up at the holographic projection directly in front of him.

As always, the universe was incredibly empty.

On one side of the star map, the distance between the human fleet and the Gliese 555 system has increased even further.

"I really don't know what they're doing..."

"So what if a few detectors were destroyed? Are they scared away like that?" he muttered to himself, his eyes filled with growing doubt and exhaustion.

Fortunately, this month was not entirely fruitless.

After a month of intensive work, some progress has been made on the next-generation fusion reactor and Hall thruster.

Once a stable development environment is available, the interstellar travel capabilities of human fleets will reach a new level!

At that time, protective shield technology should also be put on the research and development agenda.

Human civilization will also step into the threshold of a Level 3 civilization!

"Beep! Beep! Beep!"

Just as Lü Yongchang's thoughts were drifting away, a piercing alarm sounded and a flashing warning light pulled him back to reality!

He subconsciously looked up at the star map directly in front of him.

Densely packed white dots.

"..."

Lu Yongchang's expression changed drastically, and he subconsciously held his breath!

How could this be...?

How can there be so many starships?!

……

5 AU away from the human fleet.

Countless starships, their surfaces battered and their styles varied, slowed down and began to sail slowly toward their target.

When all the starships reached their target positions, an order from the flagship appeared before all the Greys.

attack!

The moment the command was given, long bursts of light shot from the tail of every starship!

Like pirates, they accelerated wildly, charging toward the human fleet that was 5 AU away!