Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

"Holy crap!" *2

Hope and Hansent shouted in unison.

In the image, an unusually large fish is silently suspended in front of the exploration vessel.

The orange-red halo around its abdomen flickered, reflecting the surrounding dark, deep liquid ammonia seawater.

Unlike ordinary giant fish, this giant fish had strange patches on its body surface when illuminated by a searchlight.

The patches are of two colors, one of which is the dark brown armor we saw last time.

Another type is an "unidentified object" with a silvery-white luster.

The image slowly zoomed in, and the details gradually became clearer.

"This...this looks like the wreckage of our Poseidon exploration vessel, doesn't it?" Hansent muttered to himself, staring at the scene before him. "If I'm not mistaken, what's next to its stern should be the Poseidon's propeller?"

Hope swallowed hard. "Not just the propeller, but other parts too..."

The two exchanged a glance and said in unison again:

"Have we... run into an old acquaintance?!"

"No, no, no." Hope shook her head, quickly correcting her mistake, "It should be 'old fish'."

Not bad.

The giant ammonia fish directly in front of the Poseidon II exploration vessel is none other than the leader of the giant fish that has a particular fondness for the wreckage of the exploration vessel!

After half a month, it had clearly completed its own unique "evolution"—it smashed the abandoned Poseidon exploration ship into pieces and used those pieces to weave half a new set of armor for itself!

The long-awaited reunion brought Hope and Hansent not joy, but a deep-seated terror.

"Feed, feed..."

Hansent swallowed hard, muttering to himself, "Don't mess with me... It shouldn't recognize our exploration ship, right?"

Before Hope could speak, Lü Yongchang's voice rang out.

"Theoretically speaking, this shouldn't happen."

"The Poseidon II exploration vessel has eliminated the propeller propulsion system and improved the sonar system. To these giant fish, you should be seen more as a strange fellow creature."

"Professor, are you sure?" Hope swallowed hard, watching the giant fish in the image become noticeably more agitated. "I have a bad feeling about this."

The voice just fell.

The giant fish in the camera suddenly swung its tail and lunged forward, crashing directly into the Poseidon II exploration vessel!

It's that familiar feeling again.

Hope and Hansent instinctively tensed their muscles, gripping the seatbelts tightly with both hands.

"I see!!"

Meng Lu's voice came through the communication device: "Quickly, stop the ultrasonic generator!"

Although he didn't know what the problem was, Hope still managed to raise his hand and shut down the ultrasonic generator that was still transmitting signals.

The ultrasonic signal slowly dissipated.

The giant fish's movements also slowed down.

The Poseidon II-class exploration vessel gradually regained its balance.

"What's going on?" Lu Yongchang asked on behalf of Hope and Hansent, voicing their doubts.

"There's a problem with the translation program." Meng Lu gave a wry smile and shook her head helplessly. "No, to be precise, it's not a problem with the translation program."

"The problem lies in the vocabulary chosen."

"Although both express joy, the third and seventh words that Hope just chose are in the tone of a superior speaking to a subordinate."

"Unfortunately... these words all come from the giant fish in front of us."

"This raises a problem."

"From this giant fish's perspective, we might be clumsily imitating its words, so..."

Lü Yongchang suddenly realized what was going on and continued Meng Lu's words.

"Being enraged out of embarrassment is an option."

Upon hearing Lü Yongchang's concise summary in inverted sentences, Meng Lu's lips twitched violently: "If you insist on saying it that way, then it's acceptable."

"So... what should we do?"

After a violent jolt, Hope and Hansent asked weakly, "Just how many words are still unusable here?"

Meng Lu remained silent for a while.

He then gave a somewhat awkward laugh and lowered his voice, saying, "Our vocabulary is basically all derived from it."

"So... about 50% of the vocabulary is unusable."

Hope: "..."

Hansent: "..."

What is this?

Did the counterfeit products finally meet their rightful owner?

"Stop!" Upon hearing this somewhat familiar sentence structure, Hope's body trembled violently, and he immediately stopped Meng Lu's words, "Researcher Meng, you can just control the translation program directly."

Meng Lu: "???"

Although she was filled with doubt and confusion, she still silently began to operate the holographic projection in front of her.

……

During the time the ultrasonic generator stopped working, the giant fish with black and white patches on its body slowly swam to the front of the exploration vessel.

Under the horrified gazes of Hope and Hansent, it opened its toothless mouth wide, and its streamlined body convulsed violently.

A series of frequent ultrasound waves followed.

Hope and Hansent instinctively looked at the translation program.

However, no Chinese characters appeared on it.

"These are entirely new sentence structures and vocabulary," Meng Lu explained from Dawn Star, while looking down at the translation program on the holographic interface. "Based on the overall assessment, it should fall under the category of deterrence."

"It may think it has encountered the leader of a giant fish from another area."

"We can't stay silent for too long," Mao Zhengzhi's voice followed. "It has begun to show hostility, and if we don't get a response soon, it is very likely to launch another attack."

P.S.: Bonus chapter...