Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

Faced with his teammate's teasing, Hansent chuckled awkwardly, turned his gaze to the window, and stiffly changed the subject.

"So, where are we now?"

Hope frowned as she looked out the porthole.

The Poseidon is equipped with high-powered searchlights around its hull.

Even so, apart from the area around the ship, the distance remained pitch black.

The "weak" light from the searchlights was clearly insufficient to dispel the endless darkness inside the ice giant.

"I don't know either..."

He shook his head, a hint of hesitation flashing in his eyes: "It seems the clouds outside are quite thick."

As he spoke, he turned his head and glanced at the various data displayed in the holographic projection.

30 standard atmospheres.

"You should now be at the boundary between the ammonia ice cloud and the liquid ammonia ocean."

Suddenly, Lü Yongchang's voice came through the long-range communication device.

After the exploration vessel was out of danger, Lü Yongchang visibly breathed a sigh of relief, and his tone of voice became much more relaxed.

"The boundary?" Hope frowned. "But...it seems we're still inside the clouds?"

He reached out and swiped his hand across the holographic screen a few times.

Looking at the white "clouds" in the camera footage, Hope added, "Furthermore, the cameras on the bottom of the exploration vessel did not capture any images of the so-called liquid ammonia ocean."

"This is normal," Lü Yongchang's voice rang out again.

"Unlike terrestrial planets, based on data returned by the probes and the models we have built, there is no clear boundary between the atmosphere and ocean of ice giants."

"From your perspective..."

"The cloud cover outside must be much denser now."

Hope suddenly understood and nodded repeatedly, asking, "Then how long until we reach the liquid ammonia ocean?"

Lu Yongchang pondered for a moment: "Based on the simulation results from zero, when the external air pressure reaches 60 standard atmospheres, you will truly come into contact with the liquid ammonia ocean."

Hope glanced at the data transmitted back by the sensors.

40 standard atmospheres.

We are not far from the 60 standard atmospheres that Professor Lü mentioned.

He sat up straight instinctively, a hint of unease in his eyes.

An endless ocean of liquid ammonia...

Even just imagining the scene in her mind, Hope felt an extremely complex feeling rising in her heart.

There was a mix of anticipation and fear.

……

The exploration vessel continued its descent.

Driven by the Hall thrusters, the exploration vessel's descent speed had slowed considerably.

Hope and Hansent also truly felt the gravitational pull from this ice giant.

Its gravity of 1.5g is even less than that of the Dawn Star.

This amount of gravity did not have any adverse effects on the two people's newly enhanced bodies.

As time goes by, the surrounding pressure gradually increases.

55 standard atmospheres.

58 standard atmospheres.

59 standard atmospheres...

The exploration vessel was descending at a slower and slower pace.

[Hovering successful]

[Landing environment analysis is underway...]

Poseidon rests silently in the atmosphere of the ice giant, while sophisticated sensors begin to probe below.

"Professor, it seems to be raining outside," Hope said with some surprise, glancing at the porthole directly in front of her.

Large raindrops pattered on the surface of the exploration vessel, producing a crisp and pleasant sound.

"It should be liquid ammonia rain," Lu Yongchang said softly, looking at the footage transmitted from the camera. "If nothing unexpected happens, you're not far from an ocean of liquid ammonia."

"A large amount of liquid was detected beneath the exploration vessel."

Sure enough, the next moment, Zero's synthesized voice rang out simultaneously in the command center and the cockpit.

Lu Yongchang's expression brightened, and a hint of joy appeared in his eyes!

It really is an ocean of liquid ammonia!

This gave him even more confidence in discovering new mineral deposits!

Suppressing his excitement, Lü Yongchang said in a deep voice, "Gentlemen, this is about to begin, so please be careful!"

He then immediately issued the order: "Switch drive mode and prepare for landing!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Lü Yongchang realized the logical problem in his order.

There is no land on an ice giant, so how can there be any landing?

So he quickly added, "No, we're preparing to go to sea!"

Hope chuckled softly, and the previously tense atmosphere in the cockpit dissipated considerably at that moment.

"receive!"

He raised his hand and pressed a few buttons on the holographic projection.

To better carry out mineral exploration missions in the liquid ammonia ocean, the Poseidon exploration vessel is equipped with two sets of propulsion systems.

The first type is the traditional drive method using Hall thruster devices.

The second type is the more traditional propeller propulsion.

After Hope pressed the button, the light from the main Hall thruster at the tail of the Poseidon slowly went out, and the entire ship barely maintained its hovering state thanks to the thrust from the several auxiliary Hall thrusters on the side.

Subsequently, the main thruster retracted into the hull, and a propeller of similar size extended out in sync, taking its place.

"Driver switching complete."

"Ready to go to sea!"

……

As the altitude continued to decrease, the exploration vessel got closer and closer to the sea surface.

The images transmitted by the camera gradually became clearer.

An endless expanse of deep sea came into view for the two of them.

The sea was pitch black, like a bottomless abyss, absorbing all light from the outside world.

Under the illumination of high-powered searchlights, the sea surface was undulating, and even the smallest waves reached several meters in height.

As Hansent watched the holographic projection, his hand controlling the exploration vessel trembled slightly, causing Poseidon to shake a little as well.

He swallowed hard, his pupils dilated slightly, and stared intently at the image transmitted from the camera: "Hope..."

"Do you still have any expectations for this ocean of liquid ammonia...?"

Hope, sitting on the other side, shook her head in fear.

In his imagination, the liquid ammonia ocean on the ice giant should be a vast, boundless blue sea, the kind of beautiful scenery that could bring peace and tranquility with just a glance.

But ever since he joined Ice Giants, he has realized what the problem is.

At this moment, he was just like Lord Ye in the Chinese proverb "Lord Ye loves dragons but is terrified of them."

Facing the deep, dark sea, he was filled with nothing but endless fear!

As for the expectations I had before?

He completely forgot about it!

The scene before him made him deeply aware of the cruelty of nature, or rather, the universe.

Humanity today is as laughable as a toy in its presence.

Hansent took a deep breath and once again controlled the exploration vessel to descend slowly.

"Hope, get ready."

"We're going out to sea."