Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

"certainly."

Zhu Ziwen waved his hand, turning off the holographic projection in the conference room.

"But, you're an academician, what if..." Xia Zhou suddenly became anxious, "You yourself said that the creatures on this lost planet are very threatening, you're not..."

"Looking for death?" Zhu Ziwen laughed and patted Xia Zhou on the shoulder.

"Do you know who developed that second-generation exoskeleton armor?"

Xia Zhou's eyes flickered slightly, as if he realized something, but he didn't say anything.

"I led the team that developed it!" Zhu Ziwen said with some pride. "Do you know how much user feedback data I collected for it?"

Xia Zhou's lips twitched slightly.

You call this user feedback data?

"This feedback data... while there is a lot of it, not much of it is useful."

At this point, Zhu Ziwen shook his head with some regret: "In addition, I have never seen a real battlefield, so there will always be some flaws in the design."

"In order to refine the design blueprints for the next generation of exoskeleton armor, I need accurate battlefield data."

Looking at Zhu Ziwen's unusually bright eyes, Xia Zhou clicked his tongue in exasperation.

"Academician Zhu..."

"Did Professor Lü agree to this?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Ziwen's smile gradually deepened.

"Of course I agree."

He stared blankly at Zhu Ziwen, who was in a state of heightened excitement.

Are there really any normal people left here?

He took a deep breath and said with an extremely solemn expression.

"Academician Zhu."

Landing on an alien planet is not as easy as you think.

"If you insist on participating in the landing plan, I hope you will comply with our arrangements at that time."

"Otherwise, I may not be able to guarantee your safety."

The excited smile on Zhu Ziwen's face gradually disappeared.

He gazed into Xia Zhou's eyes and nodded earnestly.

"Captain Xia, don't worry."

……

One week later.

As the engineering vessel was deployed, the second-generation exoskeleton armor quickly emerged from the blueprints.

The planetary explorers, who had undergone a week of recovery training in the gravity chamber, also received a notification from Zero.

The second landing operation on the Lost Planet is about to begin!

……

The port hatch of the Earth slowly opened.

One after another, the Xuan Nu II ships, fully loaded with supplies, filed out from among them.

At the same time, the door to the ship's unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) compartment on the other side of the "Earth" also opened.

Countless carrier-based drones, like locusts, swarmed past the Earth, heading towards the Lost Star.

According to the landing plan, these shipborne drones will clear a sufficiently wide landing platform for the Xuan Nu II in the target area.

One of the ships, Xuan Nu II.

Zhu Ziwen was tightly encased in a two-meter-tall second-generation mechanical exoskeleton.

Rather than calling it a mechanical exoskeleton, it's more accurate to say that it already resembles a prototype of a single-soldier mech.

This is precisely the research direction that Zhu Ziwen is pursuing in the third generation of mechanical exoskeletons.

Zhu Ziwen turned his head curiously, and the head of the mechanical exoskeleton turned along with it.

The images transmitted from the camera were displayed in real time on a miniature holographic projection in front of him.

The data provided by Zero is also presented in the image perfectly.

With a slight shift in consciousness, the mechanical exoskeleton's hand clenched into a fist.

Looking at the shiny outer shell, Zhu Ziwen felt a surge of power welling up inside him.

Suddenly, Xia Zhou's video call screen appeared to Zhu Ziwen's side.

Perhaps because it involved his job, Xia Zhou's expression was extremely serious.

Seeing Xia Zhou's expression, Zhu Ziwen subconsciously loosened his clenched fist.

Well-behaved.JPG

"Academician Zhu, let me remind you one more time."

"Once you land on Lost Star, you must obey our orders unconditionally."

"Otherwise, I have the authority to remotely control and deactivate your exoskeleton armor."

Zhu Ziwen's face fell, and he nodded helplessly, saying, "Alright, alright... You're the captain, you're in charge."

Xia Zhou chuckled softly, his tone softening slightly.

"Academician Zhu, this is an order personally issued by Professor Lü."

"For your safety, please bear with this."

Upon hearing that the order came from Lü Yongchang, the last remaining awkwardness on Zhu Ziwen's face vanished instantly.

He nodded with a wry smile: "Don't worry, Captain Xia, I won't cause you any trouble."

The voice just fell.

A slight recoil pressed his body against the lining of the exoskeleton armor.

Mysterious Maiden No. 2 has set off!

……

The journey was not long.

It only took a few hours for Zhu Ziwen to spot the incredibly lucky planet through the porthole next to him.

He gazed silently at the planet, and after a long silence, he sighed quietly.

"Thump, thump thump..."

The slight sound of the exoskeleton armor shells colliding with each other caught his attention.

He looked up and gazed in the direction from which the sound came.

He saw the exoskeleton armor next to him raise its hand and wave at him.

The next second, a big, smiling face appeared in the miniature holographic projection in front of him.

"Dude, what's wrong?"

"You don't seem very happy?"

Zhu Ziwen: "...???"

Who is this person?

"Bang!"

A crisp sound came from beside me.

The next moment, Xia Zhou's reprimand rang out: "Su idiot, you really are an idiot!"

"Get out of the way, don't meddle in other people's business!"

After saying that, Xia Zhou smiled apologetically at Zhu Ziwen: "Academician Zhu, please excuse my poor manners."

"I didn't manage my team well..."

Zhu Ziwen glanced at Su Pengfei, whose face was full of grievance, and understood somewhat.

He waved his hand with a smile: "Hey!"

"It's nothing, and don't call me Academician Zhu anymore, just call me by my name."

Upon hearing this, Su Pengfei's eyes lit up.

"Hey buddy, I knew you were easy to get along with!"

Unlike Su Pengfei, Xia Zhou only felt a sudden darkness before his eyes.

孽 孽!

Zhu Ziwen didn't seem to care much and chatted happily with Su Pengfei.

"Didn't you just ask me why I was unhappy?"

"Do you see this planet?"

"What a wonderful, habitable planet it was, but unfortunately... it's about to die."

Xia Zhou was taken aback, unable to suppress his curiosity, and asked softly, "Why do you say that?"

"It is both lucky and unlucky," Zhu Ziwen explained softly, gazing at the Lost Star through the porthole.

"Its host star was captured by the black hole, but it was lucky enough to survive on the outer edge of the black hole's accretion disk, avoiding being swallowed by the black hole, and was able to maintain life on the surface with the help of the light and heat generated by the accretion disk."

Unfortunately... the accretion disk will gradually disappear over time.

"At that time, this planet will become a dead star that has lost its energy source."