Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

Two years after the start of the voyage, in the year 11502 of the Earth calendar.

For human civilization, which has mastered fourth-degree curvature and possesses a travel speed of 10000c, the Andromeda Galaxy is indeed rather small.

In just two years, human civilization and the silicone ray civilization have traveled more than 10,000 light-years across a star field.

In this process, the new microcosm of human civilization gradually filled up—a total of 1,500 medium-to-large-scale galaxies, which is the foundation for human civilization to cross 54 million light-years in the future.

The long journey has not yet truly begun, and the fleet has not yet left the Andromeda Galaxy, but the research progress of the Human Alliance Academy of Sciences has already made a remarkable breakthrough.

To ensure the stability of the microcosm itself and the dense celestial bodies within it, many research projects within the Academy of Sciences have come to a standstill.

This is not difficult to understand.

Let alone a level 7 civilization, even the advanced technologies of level 5 and 6 civilizations would create quite a stir.

After advancing to the seventh level of civilization, the research on dark matter and spacetime became even more challenging.

Let's just talk about the dark matter cannon.

With the power to destroy a large galaxy at will, how could that thing possibly play around in a small universe?

What's the difference between this and setting off a nuclear bomb at home?

Therefore, according to Lü Yongchang's orders, the research during the voyage mainly focused on some theoretical and branch technologies.

Five hundred years of relentless research has almost illuminated the main trunk of the seventh level of human civilization's technology tree—now the technology tree is like a bare trunk, with hardly any leaves or even branches.

In order to dispel the fog at the top of the seventh-level technology tree and advance to the eighth-level civilization as soon as possible, research on various details has also been put on the agenda.

As the chief scientist, Lü Yongchang is in charge of a fundamental application based on a new spacetime theory.

Application of spacetime stretching technology in the internal space of a starship.

Similar to the concepts of Mount Sumeru and Mustard Seed proposed in the Earth Age.

The idea of ​​containing Mount Sumeru within a single particle can be considered a mythical concept in earlier human civilizations.

But now...

Thanks to the power of technology, it has become a reality!

[Spatiotemporal extension technology].

It is located on the very top branch of the seventh-level technology tree.

Based on the latest four-dimensional spacetime theory—influencing three-dimensional spacetime through higher-dimensional spacetime, causing a certain degree of extension in three-dimensional space.

Although it is a branch technology, its importance is no less than that of the main technology!

Just imagine.

Imagine a miniature starship, only ten meters or even one meter in size, yet containing the volume of an Earth!

While maintaining high mobility and stealth, it also possesses an extremely terrifying capacity for ammunition and supplies!

Of course, the above is merely Lü Yongchang's imagination.

The reality is...

Thanks to Lü Yongchang's efforts, the laboratory has successfully achieved a breakthrough from zero to one—placing an object of 1.0001 cubic meters in a 1 cubic meter space.

The extra 0.0001 cubic meters represents the expanded space.

It was very shabby, but it represented a qualitative breakthrough.

Inside the Earth-class space laboratory, Lü Yongchang frowned slightly, looking thoughtfully at the complex data projected on the holographic projection.

After completing the basic analysis of this technology, a question that had troubled him for many years was also answered.

The Cleaners' civilization has an unusually large warship size.

Whether it was a regular warship or a planetary fortress, the size of the Cleaners civilization's starships was far smaller than expected.

In the previous direct confrontation, despite being an eighth-level civilization, the average size of the Cleaners' warships was only one-third that of the Human Alliance's warships.

In theory, this would significantly reduce the combat performance of the Sweeper warship.

Looking back now...

It was all a misunderstanding.

The Cleaners civilization, having mastered the four-dimensional theory, must have mastered extremely sophisticated spacetime extension technology!

Thinking about this, a guess couldn't help but come to mind for Lü Yongchang.

In the fleet of the Cleaners civilization, an extremely strange scenario may occur—among warships of the same type, the smaller the size, the stronger the combat power!

This is exactly the opposite of what human civilization has come to know!

Due to theoretical limitations, research progress on spacetime extension technology gradually slowed down after the initial breakthrough.

The four-dimensional theory is ultimately a huge hurdle.

Thinking of that insurmountable dimensional barrier, Lü Yongchang's face immediately showed even more worry.

Without truly experiencing four-dimensional space, any imagination that three-dimensional beings have about it is pale and powerless.

"Professor, Academicians Mao Zhengzhi and Lu Siyuan have sent a message. The message priority is Level II. Please check it as soon as possible."

The electronic synthesized voice of Zero suddenly rang out, interrupting Lü Yongchang's thoughts.

He subconsciously looked up at the holographic projection in front of him.

Sure enough, a message appearing in yellow was slowly flashing in the azure projection.

"Mao Zhengzhi..."

Lu Yongchang murmured to himself, pointing at the projector: "Come to think of it, it's been a long time since we've heard anything from the biology lab. I wonder what Mao Zhengzhi and the others are up to..."

The sound stopped abruptly.

"hiss!"

His face showed surprise, and he gasped sharply, "Holy crap!"

next second.

Lu Yongchang, who had previously been calm and collected, quickly stood up from his chair and ran towards the laboratory door.

"zero!"

"Please tell Lin Yongnian and the others that I need to go to the biology lab!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he nimbly jumped onto the robotic arm at the entrance of the laboratory.

Under Zero's control, the robot sped off, carrying Lü Yongchang toward the biological laboratory.

……

A few minutes later.

The doors to the biology lab suddenly opened, and Lü Yongchang rushed into the lab, panting heavily.

"Where is Academician Mao Zhengzhi?"

Lu Yongchang grabbed a passing researcher and asked urgently, "Take me to him quickly!"

"Chief Lü...Chief Lü?!"

The young researcher, who had been conscripted, looked astonished; clearly, he hadn't expected to be able to get so close to the chief scientist of the Academy of Sciences.

The young researcher was both surprised and delighted by Lü Yongchang's arrival. He stammered, "Academician Mao is here, in Experiment 1, I'll take you there right away!"

Seeing Lü Yongchang's anxious expression, the researcher didn't dare to say anything more and jogged towards Experiment Module 1.

Lü Yongchang strode forward and followed directly in the footsteps of the researcher.

Lu Yongchang's expression was solemn, and the atmosphere between the two gradually became heavy.

The young researchers were secretly groaning inwardly.

Suddenly, Lü Yongchang broke the heavy atmosphere between the two and asked in a deep voice:

"What projects has the lab been researching lately?"

"After the research on the consciousness of the Nus civilization hit a bottleneck, Academician Mao Zhengzhi has been trying to study the hive consciousness of the Alcott civilization."

The researcher cautiously replied, "The specifics... I'm not entirely sure either."

Lü Yongchang didn't say anything, but quickened his pace again.

"..."

"Chief Lü, we've arrived."

The hurried footsteps suddenly stopped, and the researcher's slightly panting voice came from the side.

"Thank you for your hard work." Lü Yongchang nodded to him and strode towards the tightly closed door ahead.

"Don't tell anyone about what happened today."

The researcher's expression turned serious, and he nodded hastily.

"Okay, you can go back now."

Upon hearing this, the researcher breathed a sigh of relief and jogged away from Experiment 1 without looking back.