Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

In the cold, empty universe, signal lights and lighting devices outlined the silhouette of a massive fleet.

A small fleet slowly crept closer in the darkness.

As the distance between the two continued to shrink, a colossal object emerged from the darkness, revealing its complete form to the small fleet.

The next moment, this colossal beast opened its magnificent, abyssal maw—the Titan Mothership opened the giant port gate in its abdomen.

An old starship, bearing the marks of gunfire, slowly departed from the small fleet and, under Zero's control, gently and steadily entered the gleaming Titan Mothership.

At that moment, a hundred million kilometers away, a brilliant and bright light appeared, like a ball of fireworks celebrating this historic event.

The firelight shone clearly through the portholes into the interior of this old starship.

But its forward movement did not stop in the slightest, and in the blink of an eye, the old starship disappeared into the belly of the Titan Mothership.

Subsequently, the remaining starships in the small fleet scattered like a swarm of startled shrimp, swimming toward their respective targets in the surrounding area.

The moment all the starships were successfully loaded into the expedition fleet's cabins, thunderous applause erupted throughout the expedition fleet and the Kepler 452 system, nine light-years away.

Bai Yixuan slowly rose from his seat, a faint smile on his face.

"Everyone, let's go."

"We should go and welcome the new members of the Pan-Human Federation."

……

Aldan stood nervously by the starship's porthole, looking at the enormous starship and port outside with a complex expression.

"[Titan Mothership]..."

"That's spectacular!"

It sighed from the bottom of its heart, and a hint of self-consciousness involuntarily rose in its eyes.

Compared to the starships of human civilization, the starships of the Talodan civilization are like small boats from a primitive tribe.

Suddenly, a brilliant flash of light came from the far distance, catching its attention in its round visual organs.

"What's going on...?"

Aldan's eyes revealed a hint of unease and trepidation; it knew that eleven fleets belonging to the Eugene civilization existed in that direction.

Before it could even process the information, the firelight vanished, replaced by endless darkness—the starship had entered the port of the Titan Mothership.

Aldan took a deep breath, suppressing the complex emotions in his heart, and once again considered the next meeting process in his mind.

To prevent any unforeseen circumstances, the entire meeting process had been rehearsed in its mind for two days.

A giant, deep blue holographic image suddenly appeared in the passageway, completely dispelling the darkness within and marking the starship's direction with the simplest symbols.

This amazing scene elicited gasps of surprise from inside the Talodan flagship.

"Aerial projection imaging technology," Milo explained softly, "squeezed against the porthole glass with the help of a stabilizing device. We've studied this technology before."

"It consumes a lot of energy and the imaging conditions are quite demanding."

"These are all secondary issues. The most important thing is that each projection device requires a lot of real-time computing power and needs to be maintained manually in real time."

"Left with no other choice, the Academy of Sciences was forced to abandon this seemingly high-end display technology."

Milo's eyes gleamed with amazement: "How did they manage to create such a large-scale aerial projection?!"

It blinked its large eyes, which were slightly distorted from being squeezed, and said wistfully, "If only... I could see the detailed blueprints and principles."

Milo's words immediately garnered the approval of a group of scientists around him.

Seeing this, Aldan could only shake his head with a wry smile.

This is only the beginning, and the scientists of the Talodan civilization are already showing signs of "rebellion."

These black and white dumplings were like Grandma Liu visiting the Grand View Garden for the first time; any detail outside the porthole could elicit their exclamations and wonder.

Amid exclamations of surprise, the Talodan flagship passed through the initial guided passage and truly entered the interior of the Titan Mothership.

[Attention, we are about to enter an artificial gravity zone.]

Current internal gravity: 9.8 m/s²

A line of smooth Talodan text appeared on the large screen in the command center.

"What?"

Milo remained pressed against the porthole, blinking his big eyes: "What the heck?"

The words had barely left its mouth when a tremendous force came from below, violently pulling its body away from the porthole.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A series of muffled thuds echoed within the Talodan flagship.

Along with these strange noises, Aldan, who was standing on the deck, felt his body sink and sat down on the cold deck.

Milo lay on the deck of the starship, looking completely bewildered, and blinked his big eyes a few more times.

The coolness of the deck seeped through its fine downy fur and onto its skin.

It instinctively shuddered, and its mind gradually came to its senses.

Milo's eyes widened suddenly, and intense excitement burst forth from them!

"Chief, leader!"

It struggled to its feet on the deck and reached out to help Aldan up beside it: "This, this is real artificial gravity!"

As he spoke, Milo raised his short arms and waved them lightly twice.

That familiar feeling instantly awakened its memory and made its excitement rise to another level!

"This isn't the equivalent gravity provided by the rotation of the Earth's axis; this is real, undeniable gravitational force!!!"

"By Zanka..."

"How did they do that?!"

Ever since the flagship entered the Titan Mothership, this phrase has become a mantra for Milo and a group of Talodan scientists.

……

A slight vibration came from the deck beneath my feet.

The starship has successfully landed.

Current ambient temperature: 25℃

[Air pressure: ...]

Atmospheric composition: ...

Looking at the data displayed on the screen, Milo felt a slight sense of surprise.

Perhaps it is a coincidence, or perhaps it is inevitable, but the environment in which human civilization lives seems to be not much different from their home planet.

Apart from significant differences in gravity and air pressure, the deviation in atmospheric composition did not exceed the range of physical adaptation for the Talodan people.

In other words, once the Talodans have adapted to the environment, they can live directly on human starships!

Not only Milo, but everyone in the command center noticed this strange phenomenon.

For a moment, murmurs of discussion came from all corners.

[Given the differences in the microbial populations carried by individuals from both civilizations, please put on life support equipment as soon as possible.]

The hatch will open automatically in ten minutes.

The smooth, rounded Talodan script continued to appear on the screen.

Milo once again felt the power of a Level 5 civilization.

Previously, these tasks would have required manual operation by the Talodan crew.

Wearing a sealed life-sustaining suit, Milo carefully followed Aldan toward the slowly opening hatch.

This marks the first "offline" contact between the two civilizations.

Under the watchful eyes of all the Talodans, Aldan, also dressed in life-sustaining clothing, took a firm step and stepped onto the deck of human civilization.

This is a small step for Aldan, but a giant leap for the civilization of Talodan.