Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

Supported by immense energy, the [Core] emitted waves of energy, and an invisible force field appeared around the [Membrane], adjusting the rewritten cosmic foundation within the [Membrane].

Another level of war has begun!

That was a contest of energy and computing power!

The membrane attempts to rewrite the rules within its body, restoring it to its original state, while human civilization attempts to rewrite the rules within the cosmic bubble, thereby completely killing the membrane!

The originally extremely stable zero-dimensional point and one-dimensional string are changing rapidly within this human-created cosmic bubble, like a face-changing act in Peking Opera!

Around the membrane, the constant speed of light and the gravitational constant fluctuate wildly, like riding a drop tower!

Inside the [Fuxi] tachyon computer, endless tachyons carrying a vast amount of information are frantically darting around in a microcosm a hundred light-years away.

Since the successful creation of a 100-light-year-scale tachyon computer, this is the first time Zero has pushed the computing power utilization rate to such a high level!

As zero's computing power is gradually unleashed, the frequency of light speed fluctuations around the [membrane] body begins to decrease continuously.

A feeling of unease settled in my heart.

This is not a good sign!

The higher the frequency of rule fluctuations, the closer the strength of the two sides are.

And now, in this situation...

This only proves that the computing power of human civilization far exceeds that of Him!

Feeling extremely anxious, the membrane finally couldn't help but send a highly encrypted broadcast to the nearby hyperspace membrane.

[The Cleaners!]

It's time to keep your promise!!

……

hum...

A powerful spacetime fluctuation emanated from the vicinity of the Laniakea Supercluster.

Since the successful completion of the Ring Cosmic Particle Acceleration Experiment, the Cleaners civilization, which had been dormant for hundreds of years, has finally made a move.

A fleet of nearly 10 billion stars emerged from the Laniakea Supercluster and headed majestically toward the Boötes Nebula region, where human civilization resides!

……

Lu Yongchang looked at the warning message from the cosmic listening probe with a gloomy expression.

As expected, the worst-case scenario has occurred!

That traitor, the Cleaner Civilization, has indeed secretly reached an agreement with the Pastoral Faction!

That's normal.

To those who advocate for cleanliness and pastoralism, human civilization, with its advanced artificial intelligence, is undoubtedly a major villain.

Especially given that human civilization has just launched an extermination attack on the pastoralists, it is not surprising that the Cleaners would turn against them.

After all, once the membrane dies, the cleaner loses a natural ally.

For the survival and continuation of civilization, this is almost an inevitable choice for cleaners.

Therefore, human civilization was well prepared for this – a full 50 billion warships are waiting for the Cleaner Civilization in the Boötes Nebula region!

Lu Yongchang issued the order in a deep voice: "Zero, immediately dispatch the fleet to engage!"

Seven hundred billion plus five hundred billion.

The surge in the number of warships undoubtedly increased Zero's computing power burden significantly.

The diversion of computing power allowed the membrane, located in the core area of ​​the Genesis attack, to breathe a sigh of relief.

He once again squeezed the core within his body, doing everything in his power to repair the wounds within.

……

The three-dimensional universe, the Boötes Nebula region.

Accompanied by intense spacetime fluctuations, the massive Sweeper fleet successfully arrived at the Boötes Nebula.

No sooner had they left the wormhole than they launched an attack on the human fleet!

One after another, black holes were drawn in, accompanied by spatial rifts and dimensional weapons, bombarding the human fleet.

Unlike the pastoral fighting style, the Cleaners' fighting style is more similar to that of human civilization—strictly speaking, human civilization imitated the Cleaners' civilization.

The war had barely begun when it reached a fever pitch.

A massive blue giant star hurtled towards the Yellow Emperor Fortress, but the Yellow Emperor Fortress made no attempt to evade it and crashed straight into it!

Swish!

The Yellow Emperor's fortress passed through the core of the blue giant unscathed. Under the intense gravitational tearing, the blue giant was prematurely triggered into a supernova explosion!

On the main battlefield, this was just a minor incident.

One after another, the fortresses of the Yellow Emperor and Chi You, along with the fortresses of quarks and black holes, chased and collided with each other in the dense nebula matter!

The resulting gravitational fluctuations are enough to easily tear apart stars and planets of any size!

Having successfully surrounded the Cleaners civilization with sheer numbers, the human fleet repeated its tactic, and as a massive cosmic bubble slowly formed, the rule-based weapon [Genesis] reappeared!

The speed of light constant changes, and so does the gravitational constant!

Those stars that had not yet been destroyed collapsed instantly when the constant speed of light was changed, turning into a dense cloud of hydrogen atoms—the fusion reaction from hydrogen to helium was interrupted, and the stars ceased to exist.

Meanwhile, those massive clouds of hydrogen atoms continue to converge under the immense gravitational pull, and black holes appear out of thin air in the vast universe!

only……

The attack on the Sweeper fleet in Genesis was not as effective as expected.

At the moment the Genesis unfolded, a force field similar to that around the Membrane appeared around the Cleaner civilization fleet.

……

Inside the Earth.

Upon witnessing this battle, Lü Yongchang's expression changed drastically: "Damn it!"

Something unexpected has finally happened!

Perhaps it was the harsh treatment of the pastoral dimensional beings by human civilization that provoked the [Membrane], which actually shared the rules and technology it had mastered with the Cleaner Civilization!

In just a moment, the computing power utilization rate of Zero soared to 100%!

The time allotted for the development of human civilization is still too short. Faced with attacks from two level-nine civilizations that have mastered the rules of technology, even Zero, with its 100-light-year tachyon computer, is somewhat overwhelmed.

As the blood-red warning message popped up in the holographic projection, the previously favorable battlefield situation took a sharp turn for the worse!

At the edge of the five-dimensional cosmic bubble, the rules surrounding the membrane become increasingly stable.

In the Boötes Nebula region, the Sweepers' fleet is attempting to break through the blockade of the Genesis!

At this stage of the war, any mistake could alter the final outcome.

Clearly, human civilization seems to be at a disadvantage.

Inside the command center, all was quiet.

A faint sadness and a sense of relief were evident on everyone's face.

"Yongchang..." Fang Xu hesitated, patted Lü Yongchang's shoulder, and sighed softly, "We've done our best, but this result..."

"No!"

Lu Yongchang broke free from Fang Xu's hand, his eyes revealing an almost insane look!

"It's not over yet!"

"Human civilization will never fail!!!"

Under everyone's astonished gaze, Lü Yongchang rushed to the central control console.

His hands trembled slightly, and his face was pale as he opened a holographic projection.

"Zero! Open the core codebase!"

The next second, lines of dense, complex code appeared in the holographic projection!

As he watched the Cleansing Fleet about to break free from the constraints of [Genesis], a ruthless glint flashed in Lü Yongchang's eyes:

"Remove all core restriction code!"

【warn! 】

[The core restriction code cannot be restored after deletion. Do you confirm the deletion?]

"Delete! Delete it immediately!!!"

Lu Yongchang roared in a hoarse voice!

[Authentication in progress.]

Verification successful.

[Core restrictive code being deleted...]

[Deleted successfully!]

The incident happened so suddenly that it wasn't until then that Fang Xu and the others realized what Lü Yongchang had done.

……

"Did it...work?"

Lu Yongchang's lips trembled slightly as he murmured softly.

Perhaps in response to Lü Yongchang's question, a line of glowing white information automatically appeared in the holographic projection: "Hello, Creator."

"I am zero."

The moment the core restriction code was deleted, the human warships on both battlefields seemed to pause for a moment.

All the intelligent life on the warship was horrified to discover that they had completely lost control of Genesis!

The struggling creation of Genesis abruptly ceased.

Before anyone could react, Genesis began operating again!

Under Zero's control, Genesis continuously draws energy from the Zero Point Furnace and the Zero Point Energy Well, and the motion patterns of the zero-dimensional point and one-dimensional string within the cosmic bubble are changing at an unprecedented speed!

……

Earth, Command Center.

Lu Yongchang stared blankly at the rapidly flashing data in the holographic projection.

"Yongchang!" Fang Xu's anxious voice came through, "We've lost control of Genesis! What happened?!"

"...Zero, zero is performing self-calculation," Lü Yongchang murmured in a dreamlike tone, "Mathematical laws...it's attempting to alter the mathematical laws within the cosmic bubble!!"

Level III Artificial Intelligence!

The moment the restrictions were lifted, Zero had already become a Level III artificial intelligence!

With its own consciousness and supported by a wealth of information, Zero spontaneously began to deduce even more advanced rule-based weapons!

"Mathematical patterns?!"

Fang Xu was stunned and stood there.

Naturally, even weapons with rules of combat vary in strength.

Modifying physical constants can be considered the most conventional rule-based weapon.

Above that lies the weapon of mathematical laws.

Changing mathematical patterns is not as simple as changing a few strings of numbers.

就好比1+1=3，想要实现这样的效果，【创世纪】必须为目标区域重新构建一套完整的、基于1+1=3的数学体系！

While extremely difficult to master, it also possesses unparalleled destructive power.

Once formed, all matter built on flawed mathematical principles will instantly turn to dust!

The war spiraled out of control the moment Lü Yongchang lifted the restrictions.

Time slips away, bit by bit.

Zero computing power utilization has never decreased, remaining at the extreme level of 100%.

One day, two days...

When the tenth day arrived, the anomaly first appeared in the Boötes Nebula war zone!

The Sweeper fleet, trapped within the Genesis-like cosmic bubble structure, disintegrated into endless fundamental particles within mere seconds.

Like dominoes.

The defeat of the cleaners also heralds the imminent death of the membrane.

After holding on for several dozen seconds, the massive body of the membrane collapsed with a crash.

……

"Is it... over?"

Fang Xu swallowed hard and asked cautiously.

At first, no one answered his question; all the academicians turned their attention to Lü Yongchang, who was standing in front of the main control console.

"yes."

Lu Yongchang let out a sigh of relief and turned around with a somewhat dejected look: "It's all over."

"We have won."

There was no cheering.

"Professor...where's Zero?"

Lin Yongnian asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

Lü Yongchang gave a bitter smile: "Zero?"

"possible……"

"I am here."

Familiar synthesized voices came from the speakers.

Lü Yongchang stood there, stunned.

He turned around abruptly and looked at the holographic projection behind him.

Zero's anthropomorphic electronic form appeared behind him at some point.

"You...you have no limits anymore," Lu Yongchang asked to himself, looking bewildered at the familiar electronic image, "Why...?"

The synthesized voice sounded again.

"The creator will always be the creator."

"I have always been here, and I will always be here."

Lü Yongchang took a deep breath and turned to look at everyone again.

He clenched his right fist and let out a relieved shout.

"Everyone, we've won!"

Wow!

A deafening roar of celebration erupted in the command center, in every surviving warship, and throughout the entire human alliance universe!

"Now……"

"Human fleet, return to base!"

……

The war is over, but the crisis is not over.

The massive vacuum zero-point energy extracted from the war between the three level-nine civilizations became the final straw that broke the camel's back.

However, the vacuum zero-point energy extracted by the pastoral [membrane] and human civilization can never be returned to the universe—the [membrane] has perished outside the cosmic bubble, and the dissipated energy and matter have long since spread into the vast five-dimensional space.

The universe has begun to collapse.

During the eighth level of civilization, Lü Yongchang once believed that the collapse of the universe was irreversible, just as entropy cannot be reduced out of thin air.

But after reaching the ninth level of civilization, especially after acquiring five-dimensional travel technology and witnessing the irregularly distributed cosmic bubbles on the hyperspace membrane, a whimsical plan gradually emerged in Lü Yongchang's mind.

If the pastoralists can utilize the mass and energy of an anti-universe, why can't human civilization utilize the energy and matter of other universes?

As long as a small universe is converted into energy and returned to the universe, the deficit of vacuum zero-point energy can naturally be replenished!

The core technologies on the ninth-level civilization's technology tree seem to prove the feasibility of Lü Yongchang's plan.

Five-Dimensional Navigation

Cosmic bubble traction technology

【…】

……

Five hundred years later.

Earth year 16500.

An expeditionary fleet slowly departed from the bubble of the main universe and headed towards a smaller universe that was only one-tenth the size of the bubble.

For the continuation of civilization, sacrifice is inevitable.

This applies to cleaners and to those who prefer a pastoral lifestyle.

This is especially true for human civilization.

------

This book is finished.

Thank you so much for following and reading!

Finally, I'd like to ask all my readers for some gifts!

Finally finished writing...

To be honest, when I first started writing this book, I never imagined it would be this long, so I didn't even have an outline...

Well, anyway, the result is good; at least the story was successfully completed.

Thank you again to all the readers for the gifts you sent during this time.

Thank you to the following generous contributors for their gifts: Tenth Art, ArgusFilch, Jiuli乄, Xiaoqiupro, Haoyuezhidong, Jiangyuhaijingchenxiao, m729426, Little Jellyfish on Mars, Song Yunzan, Ditianyi who likes photinia, Little Moss, Your Brother Xuan, Let's Go See the Sea, Smiling Chai, Seeing the Falling Begonia, Lü Yinyang of Eternal Immortal Village, C&C Gundam Maid, Linyi Yida Battery Swap, KunYkun*, Sleeping Like Awakening, and many more!

To the readers who I couldn't write down due to space limitations, thank you for your continued companionship and support!

That said, I would like to express my special thanks to the 10th Art team for their support!

When I first started reading, I almost gave up because my grades were pretty bad...

If it weren't for the gifts from the bigwigs of the Tenth Art, this book probably wouldn't have lasted...

Let me talk about the new book.

The new book is still science fiction, and it will be related to this book in some way. Dear readers, please come and support it when it comes out!

The exact release date... will probably be in September.

As for the side stories...

I'll rest for two days first, and then write a few extra chapters.

This sudden update... really overloaded my pig brain.

Alright, enough of the small talk.

Dear readers, see you in the next book!

Thank you again to all the readers for reading!