Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

The conference room doors slowly closed.

Lu Yongchang stood at the door and took a deep breath.

His eyes were filled with exhaustion.

These few hours of meetings felt more tiring than completing a chaotic model of planetary climate.

But as the chief scientist, he couldn't refuse.

Behind me, the conference room door opened again.

"What's wrong?" Hong Qiming's voice came from beside him. "Tired?"

Lü Yongchang gave a bitter smile and remained silent.

Seeing this, Hong Qiming reached out and gently patted his shoulder: "That's how the council is."

You'll get used to it.

"Speaker, if this vote doesn't pass..." Lu Yongchang asked softly.

"Don't worry, with me here, there won't be any problems with the parliament."

Hong Qiming interrupted Lü Yongchang with a calm expression.

The voice was very soft, but it exuded immense confidence!

Lu Yongchang turned to look at Hong Qiming, who was much more composed than before.

At that moment, he seemed to see the figure of the old councilor.

A look of emotion crossed his eyes, and he was about to say something when Zero's virtual image appeared beside him.

"Professor, news from the biology lab."

"Magna's body enhancement hormones are now fully prepared."

"Biological experiments can begin at any time."

A soft laugh came from beside him.

"Go."

"Your time shouldn't be wasted here."

……

Shipborne biological laboratory.

Lü Yongchang stood in front of the experimental table, watching the movements of the robotic arm.

The panicked white mouse was easily caught in the palm of a robotic arm.

Then, a thin needle extended from the robotic arm's finger.

After a brief aiming, the needle was precisely inserted into the mouse's vein.

The prepared Magna body-enhancing hormones were continuously injected into the mice.

More than ten seconds later.

The syringe was slowly withdrawn.

The mice regained their "freedom".

As before, they pawed at their limbs, using the glass cage for leverage, trying to stay as far away from the robotic arm as possible.

"How long does it typically take to see results?"

Lu Yongchang turned to look at Mao Zhengzhi beside him and asked softly.

After a moment's thought, Mao Zhengzhi gave his answer.

"About 10 hours."

"After 10 hours, the physical condition of these mice should show significant changes."

"The muscle fibers throughout their bodies will become thicker, and the blood vessel walls will thicken..." Mao Zhengzhi joked with a relaxed expression, "In general, under the influence of Magna's body-enhancing hormones, these mice will become the first batch of superhuman mice."

Lu Yongchang chuckled lightly: "How long will it take to completely complete the body enhancement?"

"But the approximate timeframe should be around ten days."

He shrugged. "After all, muscle growth takes time, doesn't it?"

Lü Yongchang nodded in understanding.

"Let's rest first."

"We'll check on these mice again in 10 hours."

"Hopefully, they will bring us some surprises."

……

Inside the office.

Lu Yongchang took off his electromagnetic boots, skillfully crawled into the sleeping bag, and reached out to turn on the electromagnetic adsorption switch on the side of the sleeping bag.

"clatter."

A crisp sound rang out.

The sleeping bag was firmly attached to a raised section of the table.

This is his bed.

It's very simple, but very practical.

To ensure the progress of various research projects, not only him, but almost all academicians adopted this sleep pattern.

I had just fallen asleep not long ago.

He was awakened by a piercing alarm.

He opened his eyes reflexively and turned to look at the holographic projection beside the bed: "Zero, what's going on?"

"Professor, the lab mice are showing unusual symptoms!"

Reports using concise and simple language.

Upon hearing this, Lü Yongchang's expression changed slightly, and he struggled to crawl out of his sleeping bag.

"How long did I sleep?"

"4 hours and 31 minutes, Professor."

Lü Yongchang's expression became more serious again.

4 hours and 31 minutes... That means that the mice showed abnormalities only five hours after being injected with Magna body-enhancing hormones.

Although the reason is still unclear, this result, which is clearly beyond expectations, made Lü Yongchang's heart clench.

"Have you notified Mao Zhengzhi?" he asked as he dressed.

Zero: "All academicians have been notified. Academician Mao Zhengzhi has arrived at the biological laboratory."

Lü Yongchang quickened his pace: "Okay, tell Mao Zhengzhi I'm coming right away!"

……

The doors to the biological laboratory are open.

"What happened?"

As soon as he entered the gate, Lü Yongchang grabbed a passing researcher and loudly asked, "Where is Mao Zhengzhi?"

"Academician Mao is over at the lab bench." The young researcher, who had been pulled aside, hurriedly said to Lü Yongchang, "Some of the mice have died, and Academician Mao and his team are looking for the cause."

Lu Yongchang's expression darkened, he released his grip, and strode towards the lab bench.

Deaths have started so quickly...

This is not good news!

At the experimental table, Mao Zhengzhi and several academicians looked solemnly at the holographic projection in front of them.

Hearing footsteps behind him, Mao Zhengzhi quickly turned around and glanced back.

"Professor Lü, you've arrived."

Lu Yongchang asked bluntly, "Have you discovered the reason?"

Mao Zhengzhi nodded with a strange expression: "We just found out the reason."

"Side effects of hormones?" Lu Yongchang strode to the holographic projection and looked at the autopsy report.

"No," Mao Zhengzhi shook his head, hesitatingly saying, "It's extremely severe malnutrition."

"To put it simply, they starved to death."

"...???"

Lü Yongchang abruptly stopped, then looked at Mao Zhengzhi in astonishment: "Starved to death?!"

"Is there a problem with the food supply system?"

"Or did you not prepare enough highly nutritious food?"

When questioned, Mao Zhengzhi repeatedly shook his head: "No, no, no."

"When we first injected the heart-strengthening hormone, we discovered that the mice's appetite would increase rapidly after the hormone was injected."

"Therefore, we specially prepared several times the amount of highly nutritious food before injecting the whole body strengthening hormones."

"But..." Mao Zhengzhi pointed to the observation room not far away, "They didn't finish the highly nutritious food we prepared when the accident happened."

"We even found a large amount of food residue in the stomachs of the dead mice."

"you mean……"

Lu Yongchang suddenly realized the problem: "The mice's digestive system can't keep up with the digestion and absorption?"

"I think this is the only possibility." Mao Zhengzhi shrugged helplessly.

Lü Yongchang walked toward the observation room, feeling both amused and exasperated.

No one could have imagined that the experiment would fail for this reason!

Looking at the dying white mice in the glass cage, he sighed softly.

"Let's prepare for the next experiment."

"This time..." Lu Yongchang paused, "we'll use the medical pod to directly inject high-concentration nutrient solution."