Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

"Level 8 civilization..."

Wang Mingyuan's pupils dilated slightly, and he swallowed hard, muttering to himself.

"It could even be an alliance of several level-eight civilizations," Academician Tang murmured with a sigh. "For humanity to survive in the universe..."

"It's difficult, too difficult!" Academician Tang shook his head repeatedly as he spoke.

"But why would such a powerful being notice humans?" Qin Sheng's face was full of confusion.

Upon hearing this, Academician Tang sighed deeply.

"In Ross 154, humanity was forced into this conflict..."

As he spoke, Academician Tang hesitated and shook his head to correct him, "No, to be more precise, humanity was already involved in it when we were on Earth."

"Forget it, these are matters for the Academy of Sciences to worry about." Academician Tang turned around with a dejected look, waved his hand, and said, "Let's follow the Academy's arrangements."

"Professor Lü, I won't lie to you."

Qin Sheng and Wang Mingyuan watched Academician Tang leave the office.

"..."

They looked at each other in silence.

……

On the other side, the Dawn Starman Academy of Sciences.

"Professor, the hibernation program has been successfully initiated."

A synthesized voice came from a nearby speaker: "Project Dyson Sphere Phase II has been halted, and the Dyson Cloud antimatter fabrication system is operating at full power."

"The ice giant star gold mining project and the gas giant planet collection project are proceeding simultaneously."

As Lü Yongchang looked at the projects underway in the holographic projection, a hint of weariness appeared in his eyes.

"Any news from He Bilin?"

"Not yet," Zero quickly responded. "Academician He is working hard to screen the observation data."

Lu Yongchang was silent for a moment, then slowly stood up from his chair: "Ling, have Fang Xu come to me."

"I'm restarting the two-dimensional fragmentation research project!"

……

"I disagree!"

"This is too dangerous!"

Fang Xu's dissenting voice came from the front: "What if [Hua] isn't dead? If we rush into research, it will inevitably lead to uncontrollable situations!"

"Yongchang, have you forgotten how the [painting] was brought back to life?"

Behind his desk, Lü Yongchang calmly looked at Fang Xu in front of him: "Of course I remember."

"But humanity today has absolutely no hope of survival!"

"According to what the painting says, the pastoral civilization is inhabited by a group of dimensional beings."

"You've seen two-dimensional beings before. If [Hua] hadn't brought this upon himself, humanity wouldn't have survived at all!"

"What if there are four-dimensional, five-dimensional, or even six-dimensional beings?"

"If they receive the message from the [painting], how can humans escape?"

As he spoke, Lü Yongchang sighed softly, "The habitable star systems around us are too far away."

"Even with the antimatter engine, the maximum cruising speed of the human fleet can only be increased to 50% of the speed of light!"

"This is too slow!"

Fang Xu fell silent.

After a long silence, he sighed, "But studying two-dimensional fragments won't bring any change to humanity at present."

"No!" Lü Yongchang stood up from his chair, his eyes fixed intently on Fang Xu, and said in a deep voice, "Things have changed!"

"Remember the gravity shield outside the restraint device?"

"I'm going to unravel the mysteries of gravity from this!"

At this point, Lü Yongchang took a deep breath: "As long as we can master gravity, we can master warp drive technology!"

"This way, humanity can travel to more distant habitable star systems!"

"Instead of trying to survive within a tiny area of ​​fifty light-years!"

"Moreover, I believe that as long as we evade the first round of searching, humanity will have hope for survival!"

"Why?" Fang Xu asked, looking bewildered. "The painting died at our hands, how could the Pastoral Civilization possibly let us go?"

Lu Yongchang's lips curled slightly upward: "Do you still remember the 'civilized cleaner' mentioned in the painting?"

Fang Xu was startled, and a thought vaguely popped into his mind: "You mean...?"

"Not bad." Lü Yongchang's smile widened. "According to the [painting], in order to avoid accidents at the Ring Universe Particle Accelerator, the Cleaner Civilization is constantly searching for traces of the Pastoral Civilization."

What do you think would happen if a pastoral civilization came to the Milky Way?

A hint of excitement flashed in Fang Xu's eyes, and he slowly uttered a single word: "War."

"Yes! It's war!" Lü Yongchang clapped his hands lightly. "This is humanity's chance to survive."

"Even if the pastoral civilization came to our galaxy for us, would the Cleaner civilization believe it?"

"At that time..."

"They probably don't have time to bother with us little shrimps!"

Fang Xu suddenly stood up from his chair, put his hands behind his back, and paced back and forth in the office, muttering something to himself.

Gradually, the light in Fang Xu's eyes grew brighter and brighter!

Suddenly, he looked up and stared intently at Lü Yongchang: "What if there's a hidden mechanism in the restraint device called 'The Painting'?"

"What should we do then?"

Lu Yongchang shrugged, looking nonchalant: "At this point, what else can we do but take a gamble?"

"Things can't get any worse, can they?"

Fang Xu gave a wry smile.

Yes.

The human condition could not get any worse.

Fang Xu took a deep breath to calm his turbulent emotions: "In that case, let's start the research as soon as possible."

"We...humans, don't have much time left!"

……

three days later.

The First Laboratory of the Dawn Star Human Alliance Academy.

Lu Yongchang stared intently at the image projected on the holographic screen.

Having learned from the first "disassembly" experience, the second disassembly process went much more smoothly.

Before long, under Zero's control, several robots easily removed the "concealing devices" surrounding the restraint device, revealing the core area inside.

In the holographic image, the core area is the same black unidentified substance, while the outer perimeter is an absurdly powerful gravity shield.

"really……"

Looking at the familiar scene, Lü Yongchang muttered to himself, "There's no two-dimensional core at all."

"The painting was a lie from the very beginning."

Fang Xu did not reply; he was highly focused, staring intently at the black, unidentified substance in the core area.

Last time, the painting emerged from here!

"Don't worry." Lü Yongchang gently patted Fang Xu's shoulder. "I don't think the painting is hiding in here."

"These two-dimensional fragments belong to weapons and equipment."

"Isn't it afraid of being used as a weapon and launched?"

Fang Xu was stunned for a moment, then chuckled and breathed a sigh of relief.

Once the debugging is complete, various observation instruments will transmit various data back.

The work of Lü Yongchang and his colleagues was to uncover the secrets behind gravity from these incredibly complex data.