Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

The secondary propulsion unit on the side of Poseidon has shut down.

Under the influence of gravity, it begins to fall freely.

It traversed a distance of several meters and crashed heavily into the dark, deep ocean of liquid ammonia!

After a violent shudder, the cockpit returned to stability.

Hansent quickly examined the holographic projection in front of him.

After confirming that there were no problems with the ship's hull, he breathed a sigh of relief and said with a hint of excitement, "[Poseidon] calling command center! I have successfully entered the sea!"

As for Hope, who was standing to the side, he had also recovered from the shock at this moment.

He skillfully operated the holographic image on the control panel.

"Power system startup in progress."

"Startup successful."

The moment the words were spoken, a slight recoil came from the seat.

The propeller at the tail of Poseidon began to gradually accelerate, driven by electrical energy.

It stirred up the liquid ammonia seawater, propelling the exploration vessel forward.

"good!"

Through the long-range communication device, Lü Yongchang's energetic shouts could be heard, along with a faint cheer.

One can imagine that the Dawn Star Command Center was filled with jubilation at that moment.

Hope's lips curled up slightly, and the cheers dispelled much of the fear in her heart.

"Prepare to descend!" Lü Yongchang immediately gave the order. "Pay close attention to pressure changes."

"Rise immediately if any abnormal situation occurs!"

……

Half an hour later.

The sensors are continuously transmitting data back to Dawn Star via long-range communication devices.

Meanwhile, researchers on Dawn Star were rapidly analyzing the various data from Poseidon.

As for Lü Yongchang, as the chief scientist, there's no need to elaborate further.

At this point, he was completely busy.

Therefore, after half an hour of dry conversation, the cockpit of Poseidon was silent, with only the sound of the propeller stirring the liquid ammonia and the slight noise of various instruments working.

It was pitch black outside the porthole.

(pps: This is just a rough calculation)

Looking at the numbers on the holographic projection, Hansent swallowed hard and muttered to himself, "It's already ten thousand meters..."

"How much longer until we reach our destination?"

As he spoke, he shifted his body uncomfortably.

The ergonomic chair was comfortable, but he still felt uncomfortable all over.

This discomfort is not due to gravity or any other external factor, but purely psychological.

Outside the porthole, it was pitch black.

The two continued to sink in the cramped space.

The psychological pressure this brings is immense.

If they hadn't both been starship pilots, they probably would have been on the verge of collapse by now.

"It's still early." In response to Hansent's words, Hope slowly shook his head and said in a low voice, "We only have 962 standard atmospheres of pressure at the moment, and we're still a long way from the target area."

"This exploration vessel's pressure tolerance limit is 100,000 standard atmospheres, conservatively speaking... we need to go down to a thousand kilometers below to take a look."

Hansent instinctively held his breath.

1,000 kilometers below the sea surface...

The terrifying number sent a jolt through his heart.

……

Dawn Star.

Lu Yongchang frowned deeply as he looked at a piece of data transmitted back by the probe.

"What is this thing..." he muttered to himself.

After a moment of thought, he turned to look at the holographic image on the side.

The holographic image is playing footage from an external camera.

Looking at the somewhat murky liquid ammonia seawater in the picture, Lü Yongchang frowned.

A terrible premonition arose in his heart.

The holographic imagery changed rapidly.

Current depth: -261.3km.

Current pressure: 23344 atmospheres.

"Make them stop!" Lu Yongchang said bluntly after a moment's thought. "The data from the sensors is faulty if they keep hovering in this position."

……

A few minutes later.

Video call connected.

"Professor, what happened?"

In the holographic projection, Hope and Hansent's mental state was significantly better than at the beginning.

As for why...

Lu Yongchang looked at the pile of playing cards next to the two men, and his lips twitched slightly.

Are you two on vacation?

Perhaps sensing Lü Yongchang's gaze, Hope subtly moved his right hand, shifting the playing cards a little further away.

Hansent, looking embarrassed, pointed to the playing cards: "Professor, would you believe me if I said we've just started playing this?"

Lü Yongchang: "..."

He waved his hand helplessly: "Never mind, let's put this thing away first, something's gone wrong."

The psychological pressure on pilots is immense when venturing into the depths of an ice giant to carry out exploration missions.

Knowing this, Lü Yongchang naturally wouldn't reprimand the two drivers for such a trivial matter.

Upon hearing this, Hope and Hansent's expressions immediately turned serious.

The two exchanged a glance and quickly gathered up the playing cards scattered on the ground.

Several tens of seconds later.

"Professor, please speak," Hope said solemnly from the driver's seat.

After a moment of silence, Lü Yongchang slowly said, "I found some anomalies in the data transmitted back by the sensors."

"You can see that the liquid ammonia seawater around us is significantly more turbid than it was at the beginning."

Hope paused for a moment, then turned her gaze to the porthole.

After observing carefully, he looked at Hansent beside him suspiciously: "Really?"

Hansent shook his head, looking puzzled. "Professor, are you sure?"

Lu Yongchang frowned, then manipulated the holographic projection next to him.

"You've been in an ocean of liquid ammonia all this time, so you probably don't realize it."

"But what if we photographed and observed the liquid ammonia in seawater at different depths..."

The next moment, five images appeared in the holographic projection in front of Hope and Hansent.

"These are images of the seawater taken by cameras every 50km. You can compare them."