Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

"It's a success!"

Looking at the information projected in the holographic projection, a smile finally appeared on Lü Yongchang's face.

Not only did the performance of the [Suirenshi] experimental machine exceed his expectations, but the latest model of the dark matter cannon also far exceeded his expectations!

Destroy the entire Heng galaxy with a single blow!

Of course, behind this immense power lies a terrifying energy consumption.

Lü Yongchang made a simple estimate.

Without the presence of [Suirenshi], even if the dark matter and antimatter reactors inside the [Chiyou] planet fortress on the white dwarf star system were operating simultaneously, it would still take several hours to recharge and meet the energy requirements of this dark matter cannon.

But in the face of Suirenshi...

The charging time has been reduced to thirty minutes!

Keep in mind, this is just an experimental machine!

It still has a lot of room for improvement!

Once its size is reduced and it is installed on a starship...

The combat power of the human fleet will experience an unprecedented leap forward!

Amidst the cheers around him, Lü Yongchang felt a strange, familiar sensation deep within his mind.

This is a sign that the technology tree is about to advance!

With the successful operation of [Suirenshi], human civilization finally stepped into the threshold of level eight civilization!

Lu Yongchang tried to remain calm, gave a wink to Fang Xu and the others who were celebrating nearby, and then turned and walked towards his office.

……

office.

Lu Yongchang sat in his chair and, with excitement, skillfully entered the technology tree space.

As soon as he entered, his consciousness froze on the spot.

Compared to the previous advancement process, the changes in the tech tree space are enormous!

First, there's the change in the size of the tech tree itself.

In the first seven levels of civilization, the size of the technology tree grows gradually.

But the eighth level of civilization is different.

Its volume increased by dozens of times!

This means that the level eight civilization possesses dozens of times more technology than the former!

Looking at the trunk of the technology tree, which resembled a world tree, Lü Yongchang was shocked and also gained some insight.

No wonder the gap between level eight civilizations is so vast...

Secondly, the change in the size of the tech tree has also increased the size of the tech tree space several times over.

This is a perfectly normal thing.

but……

Its changes also altered the background of the tech tree space—the original mottled background was expanded several times over!

This is a big problem!

Lu Yongchang frowned as he carefully observed the mottled background of the technology tree.

Perhaps because the area has become larger and more details have been revealed, the sense of familiarity in his heart has become stronger.

Suddenly, a thought that horrified him flashed through Lü Yongchang's mind.

"No way..."

Suppressing his shock, Lü Yongchang murmured to himself as he cast his gaze at the dimly lit technology tree ahead.

At the very bottom of the technology tree is a lit-up cursor.

[Endless Energy: Preliminary Understanding of Vacuum Zero-Point Energy]

This is the cornerstone technology of an eighth-level civilization.

Countless fine, luminous white lines extend from it, connecting one after another to cursors of varying brightness.

Annihilation Starburst

Dark Matter Bias Shield

【…】

It's easy to understand that these are all technological applications based on vacuum zero-point energy.

Lü Yongchang continued to look upwards.

Perhaps because the development of human civilization is somewhat "abnormal", there are many cursors in the middle section of the technology tree that are half dim and half bright.

such as……

Wormhole technology

For example, the [Four-Maintenance Shield].

He even saw a cursor that was unexpectedly bright, reaching 30% brightness.

Low-dimensional volume constraint technology

After a brief moment of confusion, Lü Yongchang suddenly realized what was going on.

This should refer to the two-dimensional fragment stabilization device that [Hua] sent out back then!

After a quick glance, Lü Yongchang gradually understood the reason for the massive scale of the eighth-level civilization's technology tree—these were all dimensional technology applications.

Four-dimensional, two-dimensional...

Each dimension has its own corresponding technology.

It would be strange if such a technology tree wasn't complex!

Lü Yongchang did not stay in the technology tree space for too long.

Before leaving, he took one last deep look at the mottled background.

With the help of his quantum state brain, he forcibly memorized every detail of the background.

Then, with a slight shift in his consciousness, he exited the technology tree space without any hesitation.

……

The moment his consciousness returned to his body, Lü Yongchang subconsciously tried to open his eyes and then control his body to stand up from his seat.

Logically speaking, this is a perfectly normal behavior, even an instinctive one.

but……

He failed.

To be precise, he lost all control over his body.

At this moment, Lü Yongchang felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, and his slightly excited mood instantly vanished.

What happened?!

It was a magical feeling, like being in the tech tree space, where his consciousness could observe the entire space without any blind spots.

So... he looked at his own body.

An anomaly occurred at that moment.

hum...

A surge of pure, powerful energy erupted from the depths of his brain!

Unlike before, this energy was far too surging—it pierced directly through Lü Yongchang's body!

This powerful energy formed a luminous green, materialized halo around his body!

If there were instruments on site to observe this energy in real time, he might even get a startling answer—the essence of this energy is vacuum zero-point energy!

The halo contracted rapidly, then expanded just as quickly!

With a single contraction and expansion, his body transformed into countless fluorescent green specks of light, rapidly spreading throughout the entire room.

Holy crap!

At that moment, only two beautiful words remained in Lü Yongchang's mind.

Damn it! My body is gone?!

……

Panic, confusion, bewilderment...

This was Lü Yongchang's first reaction.

Anyone who watches helplessly as their body is blasted into pieces by a burst of energy would probably have a similar reaction.

But thanks to his past experiences, he broke free from that state in the next instant.

Countless thoughts swept through his mind.

He quickly identified the most likely possibility.

This is probably the last time the technology tree space will modify him—starting with his brain becoming a quantum state, now his entire body has been quantumized!

After figuring out the reason behind it, Lü Yongchang's panic instantly lessened.

After calming down, he also noticed the "changes" in himself.

After his body was "shattered," he felt completely free—now, his thought process was at least dozens of times faster than before.

The world, in his eyes, was like a scene in slow motion.

He watched helplessly as the room's security camera flashed red, and alarm signs began flashing in the holographic projection...

[Highest...Level...Warning...]

The words flickered slowly in his field of vision.

Clearly, his sudden disappearance directly triggered Zero's highest alert level.

Seeing that Zero was about to issue the highest level warning, Lü Yongchang was extremely anxious!

Holy crap! No!!

Cancel! Cancel the alarm immediately!!

As his consciousness fluctuated violently, the fluorescent green light spots in the room gradually converged and formed a palm in front of the holographic projection.

Starting from the palm, these fluorescent green light spots gradually solidified and rapidly coalesced into a human figure radiating fluorescent green light.

The moment the light spots solidified, the originally fluorescent green figure transformed back into Lü Yongchang's original appearance!

In the blink of an eye, just as the alarm was about to be issued, Lü Yongchang lightly tapped his finger on the holographic projection.

"Zero, I'm alright!"

[Voiceprint confirmed.]

[Fingerprint confirmation.]

[Portrait comparison complete.]

[Identity confirmed.]

Alert lifted.

Under Lü Yongchang's gaze, the blood-red holographic projection returned to calm once more.