Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

suddenly.

In the simulated images provided by Zero, the deep-sea behemoth's originally excited movements slowed down somewhat.

It remained quietly in place, as if it had realized something.

"It's done!"

Mao Zhengzhi's eyes lit up, and he burst into laughter: "It seems that amino life is also a cellular structure."

The scene before them confirmed Mao Zhengzhi's earlier conjecture.

Hope and Hansent took this opportunity to quickly adjust Poseidon's posture and restart the motor.

The propeller at the tail started moving again.

Hope looked up at the narrow porthole ahead.

At this moment, Poseidon had finished adjusting its posture, and the cockpit was facing the deep-sea behemoth.

In their line of sight, in the pitch-black ocean, a flickering orange-red light was slowly swirling in place.

"It didn't chase after us," Hope said softly. "Academician Mao was right; the cesium chloride and rubidium chloride attracted its attention, and we're safe for now."

He was silent for a moment, then murmured again.

"Just like breathing..."

"What?" Hansent was stunned for a moment, and asked Hope with some confusion.

"Look at that orange-red light, it's like our breathing," Hope said softly.

The next moment, before Hansent could reply, the orange-red light quickly disappeared.

"It's spotted the bait!" Lü Yongchang's voice blared from the loudspeaker. "Hurry, follow!"

"Get as close to it as possible."

"I need to see its body structure."

Hope and Hansent exchanged a glance, swallowed hard, and then steeled themselves to control Poseidon as it headed toward the orange-red light.

……

Despite its enormous size, perhaps due to living in a low-density liquid ammonia ocean, the behemoth moved with remarkable agility.

In just over ten seconds, it slid down to the two decoys.

"It's stopped." Hope glanced at the simulation image, then turned her attention back to the sonar device beside her. "It should have found the decoy."

Although the active sonar device has been turned off, the receiving device is still working.

On the holographic interface, ripples flashed one after another, each ripple representing a strong ultrasonic wave.

As for the source of the ultrasound, it is naturally the giant sea monster not far away.

"It seems very excited," Hansen nodded and said softly. "Its cries are more urgent than before."

Under the control of the two, the Poseidon exploration vessel swiftly headed towards the deep-sea behemoth.

"Shut down the power system."

Lu Yongchang's command rang out again, "Use inertia to glide to its side."

"Be careful, retreat immediately if things go wrong."

"receive!"

Upon hearing this, Hope reached out and skillfully shut down the exploration vessel's power system.

After the propellers stopped spinning, the exploration vessel, like a ghost in the deep sea, slowly drifted toward its destination.

……

Inside the Dawn Star Command Center.

As the distance between the two figures in the holographic projection continued to close, both Lü Yongchang and Mao Zhengzhi broke out in a cold sweat.

Fortunately.

At this moment, the deep-sea behemoth was attracted by the cesium chloride and rubidium chloride dissolved in the seawater and did not notice the uninvited guest not far away.

"Front spotlights running at full power!"

Lü Yongchang issued the order in a deep voice.

Snapped!

The most powerful front headlights illuminated.

Two bright beams of light suddenly appeared in the deep, dark sea.

The beam of light shone directly on the giant beast, and the camera faithfully recorded the scene in front of it.

Its rough, cracked, dark brown "skin" and streamlined body exude a wild and untamed aura.

"This should be its back," Mao Zhengzhi said softly. "Let's change direction and look elsewhere."

The camera feed moved slowly.

Gradually, its full appearance was revealed to everyone.

A "fish".

Judging by its appearance, this "fish" looks very similar to a shark on Earth, except that it does not have eyes on its head.

At this moment, the "fish" was opening its mouth wide, constantly swallowing the surrounding liquid ammonia seawater.

Clearly, liquid ammonia seawater mixed with cesium chloride and rubidium chloride has a fatal attraction for it.

"Where's the orange-red light?" Mao Zhengzhi suddenly asked. "Where did the orange-red light we just saw come from?"

"It looks like its abdomen." Just as Hope's voice rang out, the "fish" changed its position, revealing its abdomen.

Like its back, its abdomen is also covered with dark brown, cracked "skin".

Right in the center of the abdomen was a circular area shimmering with an orange-red light.

"This thing..." Mao Zhengzhi's brows furrowed tightly. "It doesn't seem to be a predatory organ."

"Hope, can we get a closer look?"

Looking through the porthole, Hope carefully examined the area before nodding. "It should be fine. Just to be safe, I'll need to launch two more decoys."

"Can."

Lü Yongchang approved Hope's application.

……

With zero precision control, the sealing device thrown by the robotic arm opened on the giant beast's head.

The sudden surge of cesium chloride and rubidium chloride excited it greatly—as evidenced by the ever-increasing ultrasonic signals.

Meanwhile, the Poseidon exploration vessel took this opportunity to quickly close the distance.

"Zero, are there any patterns to be found in these signals?"

Lu Yongchang suddenly asked.

"Insufficient sample size; no clear pattern has been found yet," Zero's synthesized voice sounded from the side.

At the same time, a brand-new holographic image rapidly unfolded before him.

The holographic projection contains thousands of different audio samples.

Lu Yongchang frowned and examined it carefully before slowly shaking his head.

None of these thousands of signals are duplicates.

Moreover, the number of audio signals continues to increase over time.

"That's outrageous..."

Lu Yongchang muttered to himself.

The ultrasonic signals emitted by this thing vary not only in strength and length, but also in frequency.

"It's just like shouting nonsense."

Lü Yongchang gave his evaluation.

He then turned to Mao Zhengzhi and asked, "Academician Mao, do you think it has its own language system?"

Mao Zhengzhi frowned, hesitated, and nodded: "Although there are no repeated syllables at present, we still cannot rule out the possibility of a language system."

"In any case, these signals vary significantly in strength, length, and frequency."

"Even if it's just random shouting... with so many syllables, there should be a few repetitions."

"Let's accumulate samples first. Once the sample size increases, we might discover the hidden secrets."

"Warning: High-intensity magnetic field detected!"

"Warning: Small amount of neutron radiation detected!"

Zero's warning interrupted their discussion.

Lu Yongchang was stunned for a moment, then quickly turned his gaze to the holographic image on the side.

In the scene, the Poseidon exploration vessel has arrived near the orange-red halo.