Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

NASA headquarters in the United States.

A researcher wearing gold-rimmed glasses yawned, pushed open the office door, and slowly walked to the coffee machine.

While waiting for his coffee, he glanced at the clock beside him.

8:30 a.m.

No wonder the office was empty...

A hint of annoyance flashed in the researcher's eyes.

If it weren't for that damn alarm clock malfunctioning, he wouldn't have come to the office so early!

"Beep! Beep! Beep!"

Just as the researcher was feeling annoyed, a piercing alarm sounded from the computer next to him.

He paused for a moment, then quickly reached out and turned off the coffee machine, and strode over to the computer that had started the alarm.

His pupils contracted sharply when he saw the bright red alert flashing on the computer screen!

"Jesus... what is the Xia Kingdom planning to do now...?"

Without thinking, he turned around, grabbed the phone next to him, and dialed a number!

A few minutes later, Morton's slightly dazed voice came through the microphone; clearly, Morton hadn't gotten up yet.

"Hello? Who is this?"

The researcher, his face growing increasingly anxious as he watched the alarm light grow brighter, cried out, "Chief Morton, something's happened!"

"Satellite detection indicates that Xia Kingdom's Xuan Nu No. 1 has taken off again!"

"What?!" Upon hearing this, Morton's sleepiness vanished instantly.

He held his phone in one hand and grabbed his clothes from beside the bed with the other: "Damn it, where is it now?!"

"..." The researcher swallowed slightly, his pupils trembling slightly, "...right above our heads."

Morton's breath hitched, and his pupils instantly contracted to the size of pinpoints!

……

Lawrence is an astronomy enthusiast.

To better observe the starry sky, he specially transformed the roof of his villa into an astronomical dome.

At 8:30 a.m., Lawrence was eating breakfast while adjusting the astronomical telescope he had bought at a high price.

Suddenly, a dark shadow flashed across his computer screen.

Lawrence was stunned for a moment.

Did I just film a UFO?!

A guess flashed through his mind.

It is well known that the United States is a place where UFOs are frequently seen.

A hint of excitement slowly surfaced in his eyes.

He put down the bread in his hand and quickly started operating the astronomical telescope next to him.

Whether it's a UFO or not, as long as he gets a full picture of that flying object, he'll make a fortune!

At least, he'll become a minor celebrity in the local newspapers!

As he operated the computer, the astronomical telescope beside him slowly began to move.

"WTF..."

As the image gradually became clearer, Lawrence stared blankly at the unidentified object on the computer screen.

A jet-black, streamlined airplane flew silently in the azure sky.

At the tail of the plane is a dark blue trail of flame that is almost half the length of the fuselage!

As the camera slowly zoomed in, Lawrence even saw the bright red flag printed on the side of the plane!

"Xia Kingdom's... Mysterious Maiden Number One?"

Lawrence muttered to himself and quickly took a high-resolution photo of the Mysterious Maiden No. 1.

Then, with a flick of his finger, he opened his Twitter account and uploaded the photo.

Little did he know that his actions would completely ignite chaos in the United States.

……

The White House, United States.

Albert sat in his office, frowning as he looked at the documents in front of him, occasionally taking a sip of the Coca-Cola beside him.

Suddenly, a noisy shouting came from outside the window.

Albert frowned and whispered to his beautiful secretary beside him, "What's going on? Why is it so noisy outside?"

Upon hearing Albert's words, the secretary quickly swayed to the window, pulled back the curtains, and looked outside.

"Jesus..."

Upon seeing the scene outside the window, the beautiful secretary gently covered her red lips with her hand and murmured to herself, "Your Excellency, I think you might need to come and see for yourself."

Albert's brow furrowed even deeper.

He sighed deeply, put down the documents in his hand, and struggled to stand up from his chair and walk to the window.

Outside the White House, as far as the eye could see, there were Americans holding up banners.

"WTF?!" Albert abruptly pulled down the curtains, his face grim as he peered through the gap at the marching crowd. "What's going on?!"

"Knock knock knock!!"

A series of urgent knocks came at the door.

"Your Excellency, something has happened!"

Morton's voice came from outside the door.

Albert's face grew increasingly grim: "Come in!"

The office door slammed open, and Morton, standing outside, was deathly pale, his forehead covered in large beads of sweat.

"Your Excellency President, the Xia Kingdom's Number One Mystic Maiden is right above us!"

……

Ten minutes later, the presidential office was transformed into a temporary operations command center.

On the big screen, the graceful flight of the Xuan Nu No. 1 was on full display.

"F*** it..." Albert slammed his fist on the table in frustration, hissing, "Where are our troops?"

"Why not send fighter jets to drive it away?!"

Anthony shrugged slightly. "Your Excellency, it's in geosynchronous orbit right now. Our fighter jets can't fly that high."

"At that altitude, the only objects we can manipulate are satellites."

Albert's expression froze.

"If you're thinking of using satellites to crash into this plane, I advise you not to do it," Anthony sighed slightly. "Not to mention whether the satellites can catch up with it, if we provoke it, it could easily shoot down all our satellites."

Albert leaned heavily against the back of the presidential chair.

An unprecedented sense of powerlessness welled up in his heart.

This was the first time he had experienced this feeling since becoming President of the United States.

For the first time, he experienced the despair brought about by the technological gap, just like... the Native Americans back then.

Albert pulled out his phone with a grim expression, his large fingers trembling as he tapped on Twitter.

Albert's lips twitched violently as he looked at the unanimous curses directed at him.

"Dial the national hotline for Xia Kingdom!"

……

"Mr. Congressman, I would like to ask, why is your country's Xuan Nu No. 1 located within the United States?"

Albert's voice traveled through the telephone line to Representative Lee, who was thousands of miles away.

A hint of a smile flashed in Representative Li's eyes, and he asked in a tone of great surprise, "Mr. Albert, you just said that the Mysterious Maiden No. 1 is within your country's territory?"

"When did a geostationary orbit 36000 kilometers away become part of your country's borders?"

Albert's face flushed instantly: "Mr. Speaker... this joke is not funny at all. I strongly condemn this behavior of your country!"

Representative Li's smile deepened: "Mr. Albert, don't worry, Xuan Nu I is just carrying out a mission. You can think of it as a satellite!"

Albert nearly coughed up blood.

satellite?

How could you say something like that!

Do satellites like that exist?!

But soon, his eyes flickered, and he grasped the key point in the previous sentence: "Mission? What mission?"

A few seconds later, Representative Lee's calm voice came through the microphone.

"Manned lunar landing!"