Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

After he finished speaking, the room fell silent.

After staring at each other for a few seconds, Xue Yan suddenly came to his senses.

His eyes gleamed with excitement: "Why don't we give it a try?"

Similar to Xue Yan, Walter also rubbed his hands together eagerly: "Try it...yes! Try it!"

"I've had enough of this kind of life!"

"Look at this exoskeleton armor..."

As he spoke, Walter forcefully tapped the exoskeleton armor attached to his body, then pointed to the family medical pod beside him, saying somewhat incoherently, "And that medical pod, do you know the pain of sleeping in it every night?"

"I know, of course I know..." Xue Yan echoed repeatedly.

Since arriving on Dawn Star, everyone has endured an extremely uncomfortable life.

Every morning, they crawl out of the wet medical pod, clean themselves of the deep-sea fluid, and then have to laboriously put on their exoskeleton armor.

Although the Academy of Sciences has tried its best to increase the comfort of wearing the exoskeleton armor, this powerful "iron frame" still caused dissatisfaction among many people - in peacetime, no one wants to wear a semi-open suit of armor forever.

"I'll register now!" Xue Yan hurriedly reached out and dragged the holographic image to find the registration entrance.

The moment the button is pressed, the holographic image page automatically redirects.

"Instructions for Human Enhancement Programs"

……

"..."

A few minutes later, the atmosphere in the room became tense.

"Perhaps we should wait and see?" Walter said in a low voice, a hint of hesitation in his eyes. "This thing seems to have tampered with our genes..."

"and……"

Looking at the holographic projection of the omentum, Walter's face revealed a visible fear.

"This human enhancement program actually alters a person's original physical characteristics!"

Walter paused for a moment, then spoke again: "I remember, in Earth's time, human genetic modification seemed to be a prohibited experimental project..."

As an older generation from the Earth era, Walter has an extremely strong resistance to genetic modification.

As for Xue Yan, who was born from Proxima Centauri b, he frowned slightly and subconsciously asked, "Is that so?"

"But this law was repealed several years ago."

As he spoke, Xue Yan found the corresponding evidence on his watch.

"Look," he said, pointing to a rather unremarkable news item, "According to joint discussions between Parliament and the Academy of Sciences..."

Walter didn't speak, but just stared silently at the holographic projection in front of him, his eyes filled with struggle.

"I……"

He opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a complete sentence.

"Phew!" After a long while, Walter let out a long sigh of relief, as if he had figured something out.

His lips moved slightly, and he murmured softly, "I... I think... maybe we should just let it go this time."

"Human enhancement technology has just been launched, and no one knows if there will be any side effects."

"just in case……"

"Moreover, I think that compared to genetic modification, mechanical exoskeletons and medical pods are actually acceptable."

Xue Yan shrugged and reached out to turn off the holographic image in front of him.

"Okay, whatever you say."

"Let's wait and see what others choose."

……

The next day.

Headquarters of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"Professor, Academician Mao Zhengzhi has arrived."

Lu Yongchang, who was sitting behind his desk, paused slightly before reaching out and "pushing" the holographic images in front of him aside.

"Let him in."

As soon as he finished speaking, the office door slowly opened.

"Professor, something's happened!"

The person arrived before the voice.

Before the door was fully opened, Mao Zhengzhi's voice reached Lü Yongchang's ears.

Lu Yongchang frowned slightly and stood up from his chair: "What's wrong? Did something go wrong with the human enhancement project?"

"Too many applicants, not enough enhancement chambers?"

Upon hearing this, Mao Zhengzhi, who had just entered the office, immediately turned strange.

He shook his head somewhat awkwardly: "No, it's not."

"However, it is indeed related to registration..."

Lu Yongchang looked at Mao Zhengzhi with a puzzled expression, then turned to the robot beside him and said:

"Zero, how's the project registration going?"

"As of now, there are zero applicants."

Looking at the huge discrepancies in the numbers, Lü Yongchang's lips twitched slightly, and he muttered to himself in a daze.

"How could this happen..."

"Is there a problem with the promotional video?"

Upon hearing Lü Yongchang's question, Mao Zhengzhi sighed softly.

"The problem is not with us."

"After the press release, I sent someone to conduct a brief investigation."

"The survey shows that all the 'elderly' people from Earth rejected this human enhancement modification."

"What's the reason?" Lu Yongchang asked, frowning.

"Genetic modification." Mao Zhengzhi squeezed out the words through gritted teeth. "They have a deep-seated fear of human genetic modification."

"..." Lü Yongchang fell silent.

Even he hadn't considered this situation.

He reached up and pinched his brow, saying wearily, "What about the new generation? Why didn't those born on Proxima Centauri b sign up?"

"Influenced by the older generation, they all chose to wait and see," Mao Zhengzhi said with a wry smile. "Simply put, they are all waiting for others to become so-called 'guinea pigs'."

"And there's even worse news."

"Because no one signed up, people's trust in the project began to decline sharply."

"If this drags on any longer, I'm afraid..."

Lu Yongchang didn't speak, but silently looked at the statistical charts in the holographic projection.

The reasons behind this situation are not hard to understand.

Everyone has a fear of unfamiliar things.

But as long as someone tries it and becomes the "first person to eat crab," then naturally others will choose to follow.

However, the current human enhancement program is stuck at the very first step – apart from Hope and Hansent, no one is willing to be the "first to try something new".

Lu Yongchang pondered for a moment, then slowly raised his head to look at Mao Zhengzhi in front of him: "Get ready."

"I'll be the first volunteer."

Mao Zhengzhi's eyes widened suddenly as he stared in horror at Lü Yongchang behind the desk.

"No, Professor, this won't do!"

He waved his hands repeatedly, stammering, "This, this is too dangerous, and..."

"There's nothing wrong with that."

Lu Yongchang interrupted Mao Zhengzhi: "Besides me, all staff members of the Academy of Sciences will be given priority for human enhancement projects."

"I will also speak with Speaker Hong about the situation in the council."

"Since no one is willing to be the first 'test subject,' then we'll be the ones!"