Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

"Something's not right... something's not right..."

Hope, his face grim, gazed out the porthole at the world, muttering to himself.

Hansent, standing nearby, was as anxious as a big monkey, looking up at the porthole in front of him, trying to find the "something wrong" that Hope had mentioned.

"One line is missing..."

Hope's muttering came from the side.

"Wh-what?" Hansent froze on the spot, quickly turning his gaze to the distance.

The flickering orange-red light stood out vividly against the dark depths of the sea.

One, two, three...

What's the third one?!

Hansent felt a slight tremor in his heart.

What a big deal!

"I said, one giant fish is missing!!"

Hope's tone was somewhat anxious.

He raised his hand and quickly brought up the footage from all the cameras operating around the ship.

Many cameras were damaged in the recent series of impacts. Currently, only those cameras that received special protection are still operational.

This is why, even without the active sonar detection function enabled, some blind spots appeared in the simulated 3D images provided by Zero.

"The first giant fish is gone!"

Hope quickly explained to her teammates, "There are only three giant fish outside now; the one that had eaten its fill is gone!"

At this moment, in the command center of Dawn Star, thousands of miles away, the atmosphere was extremely tense.

Where did that giant fish go?

Just as everyone was wondering, an orange-red light flashed from the camera on the belly of the exploration vessel.

"Be careful!"

Upon witnessing this scene, Lü Yongchang exclaimed, "It hasn't left! It's right here beside you!"

next moment.

"warn!"

"Impact warning!"

A synthesized electronic voice rang in everyone's ears.

Before Hope and Hansent could react, a loud bang was followed by the familiar tremor.

"Damn it...it's back again!!" Hope said with difficulty, fighting off the dizziness. "What does it want?!"

As he spoke, he glanced at the porthole.

Outside the porthole, the orange-red light slowly receded, quietly lingering directly in front of them. The sonar device displayed one rhythmic ultrasonic wave after another.

It appears to be "keeping an eye" on the Poseidon exploration vessel.

The exploration vessel gradually regained its balance, and the propellers started up again.

The orange-red light rapidly approached.

"Bang!"

Another violent impact!

"Zero! Shut down the power system!!"

In a dizzying moment, an unbelievable thought flashed through Hope's mind. Without thinking it through, he shouted it out.

……

The exploration vessel regained its balance.

Hope and Hansent sat in chairs, breathing heavily, trying to regain their remaining strength.

After shutting down its propulsion system, the exploration vessel hovered silently in the ocean of liquid ammonia.

The giant deep-sea fish did not launch a third attack.

Outside the porthole directly ahead, orange-red light flickered slowly in the distance.

Hope reached out and turned up the power of the headlights.

Under the beam of light, the majestic deep-sea giant fish floated silently ahead, staring intently at the Poseidon exploration vessel.

"Hope, why did you stop the power system?"

Lü Yongchang's voice came from the loudspeaker.

"Professor, I think it doesn't seem to want us to leave," Hope explained, swallowing hard and panting.

"As long as the power system is activated, we will be attacked."

Lü Yongchang fell silent.

Clearly, based on the current situation, Hope's judgment is correct.

only……

Why would it prevent the exploration vessel from leaving?

Just as this question arose in Lü Yongchang's mind, the situation changed again.

It personally answered Lü Yongchang's questions.

The sonar device showed that the giant deep-sea fish in front was emitting a series of dense ultrasonic waves.

Just a few dozen seconds later, the three orange-red dots in the distance abandoned the "food" in front of them and quickly approached the exploration ship.

Before long, they arrived near the exploration vessel.

"Teach, Professor..." Hope's voice trembled slightly, "They, they seem to be surrounding us."

As Hope noted, the camera footage showed four giant deep-sea fish slowly circling the exploration vessel.

One after another, extremely similar ultrasonic waves echoed in the seawater.

"Professor..." Hope said the guess that had already surfaced in his mind.

"Do you think they might be using the exploration ship as a feeding machine?"

……

Inside the command center.

Hope's words startled Lü Yongchang.

Then, both Lü Yongchang and Mao Zhengzhi's faces darkened.

Being used as a feeding machine is a minor matter.

The real issue is the truth hidden behind it!

If this giant deep-sea fish can react in such a short time and make a series of judgments and choices, then its intelligence level is definitely not low!

Thinking back to the scene where the giant fish was only focused on devouring cesium chloride and rubidium chloride at the beginning, and then to the scene where the three giant fish decisively abandoned the "delicious food" in front of them and chose to surround them, Lü Yongchang's face became increasingly ugly.

Looking back now, that was definitely a tactic to mislead the enemy!

"It also uses tricks!!"

Mao Zhengzhi, standing nearby, had clearly grasped the key point: "They are highly intelligent life forms!"

"Whether they are highly intelligent life forms is still inconclusive." Lu Yongchang took a deep breath and said after calming himself down, "At least, their level of intelligence is not low."

"Let's do a test first."

"Zero, throw the last bait, as far as possible!"

……

Surrounded by four giant deep-sea fish, the side hatch of the exploration vessel slowly opened, and a mechanical arm emerged from it.

Then, the robotic arm swung forcefully.

The bait was thrown out.

Time passed second by second.

"Activate the decoy."

Just as the decoy was about to leave the controlled area, Lü Yongchang gave the order.

"Snapped!"

The decoy's hatch opened rapidly, and large amounts of cesium chloride and rubidium chloride gushed out.

A few minutes later, one of the giant deep-sea fish detected the presence of cesium chloride and rubidium chloride.

It instinctively swayed its body and swam towards the bait.

The encirclement has developed a loophole.

But the next second, a powerful ultrasonic wave came from the first giant fish!

The giant deep-sea fish that had just left the encirclement stopped moving.

"It's urging its companions on," Mao Zhengzhi said softly. "The first giant fish seems to be their leader."

Seeing that the giant fish that had left had not returned, even more intense and powerful ultrasonic waves were emitted.

Faced with increasingly urgent urging, the giant fish that had left the formation slowly returned to its position.

"Their level of intelligence is not high," Lü Yongchang concluded. "They cannot be considered truly highly intelligent beings."

"That leader must be one of the best, which is why he has mastered basic deception techniques."

P.S.: Thanks to Jiuli乄 for another expert certification... I can't write anymore...