Age of Cataclysm: I can light up the technology tree

Proxima Centauri star system.

A planet with a mass of about 1.3 times that of the Earth passed by Proxima Centauri at a distance of 0.05 AU.

That is Proxima b, the mother star of the Proxima civilization.

The semi-major axis of the orbit is only 0.05 AU, which is only about 5% of the semi-major axis of the Earth's orbit. Compared with it, even the first planet in the solar system, Mercury, has a semi-major axis of 0.39 AU.

Unlike the solar system, as the main star of the Proxima system, Proxima Centauri has a mass of only one-eighth of the sun.

It is just a red dwarf.

It is precisely because of this that planets so close to Proxima Centauri have the opportunity to breed life.

The surface of Proxima b.

After sending that string of information to the solar system 4.22 light years away, the recipient Atoka returned to his usual pace of life.

There is no way. Due to the transmission efficiency of electromagnetic waves, they will have to wait at least 8.44 years before they can receive a reply from the advanced civilization in the solar system.

Therefore, continuing to check the data sent back by each detector is all his current work.

The workload is not large, and in his spare time, he can even use his position to satisfy his hobbies.

Stargazing.

Observing Proxima Centauri through an optical telescope is his favorite thing to do when he is resting.

Today, as usual, after checking the data of other detectors, he silently operated the optical telescope with a filter and projected it to Proxima Centauri 0.05 AU away.

Atoka stared blankly at the slowly burning fireball displayed in the instrument in front of him.

This is the star on which their civilization depends for survival!

Thinking that the technological development of his civilization has stagnated for hundreds of years, Atoka felt a sense of fear in his brain, and layers of fine bumps appeared on the top of his thinking organ.

It has been so long.

What if... Proxima Centauri goes out one day?

The fine bumps on the top of Atoka's thinking organ became clearer and clearer.

After a long time, he shook his thick forelimbs.

Impossible, absolutely impossible for such a thing to happen.

Although he was just a low-level receiver, he was very clear about these basic common sense.

As a red dwarf star, Proxima Centauri has a very slow and unstable thermonuclear reaction rate, so its estimated lifespan has reached an astonishing 3 trillion to 4 trillion years, while Proxima Centauri at this moment is only about 4.8 billion years old.

Compared with its maximum lifespan, Proxima Centauri at this moment is still a newborn baby.

The skin on the top of Atoka's thinking organ gradually became smooth.

Just as he relaxed his vigilance, a black light appeared on the screen.

The next second, the black light sank into Proxima Centauri.

Atoka was stunned and carefully observed the big fireball on the screen.

There was nothing unusual.

It was as if the black light just now was just an illusion of Atoka.

...

A few days ago.

An artificial object with black light flashing all over its body appeared out of thin air on the outskirts of the Proxima Galaxy.

It was the star-eating device sent by Sweeper 9527.

With the help of curvature navigation, it crossed tens of thousands of light years and successfully reached the target galaxy.

The star-eating device, glowing with black light, quietly stayed in the empty universe.

Curvature navigation is not suitable for flying within the star system.

Next, it needs to enter Proxima Centauri through conventional flight means.

But before that, it needs to report the situation to Sweeper 9527 in the central area of ​​the Milky Way.

A message was sent from it.

After a short wait, the black light on the surface of the star-eating device became stronger.

At that moment, it accelerated directly from static to 90% of the speed of light!

The black light rushed straight towards the red dwarf star in the center of the star system!

One second before it was about to touch Proxima Centauri, its speed suddenly decreased.

This is to prevent a violent impact on the star.

After all, the main purpose of the star-eating device is to absorb stellar energy.

As for destroying low-level civilizations, it is just a "gift" of this process.

...

Atoka blinked.

There was a bit of confusion and puzzlement in his three pairs of narrow visual organs.

Illusion?

No way?

To ensure that everything was foolproof, he stretched out his sturdy forelimbs and pressed a few buttons on the instrument in front of him.

The image began to replay.

Under the slow motion lens, Atoka clearly saw an object with a black glow rushing into Proxima Centauri.

His narrow visual organ suddenly widened a little.

Something happened!

This was the first thought that flashed through his mind.

Although the video was blurry, he was sure that the object with a black glow must be a man-made object!

After all, whether it was a meteorite or a comet, it was impossible for it to maintain its original shape so close to Proxima Centauri!

There was even a strong black glow all over its body!

Atoka's limbs trembled slightly.

He was just a low-level recipient, and he had never faced such a situation!

In just a few seconds, he quickly thought of a solution.

Call someone... no, report it.

Atoka quickly ran to the communication device and pressed the request communication button.

"..."

After a short wait.

A low voice sounded.

"Atoka, has the probe sent back any information?"

Hearing the question from his superior, Atoka's three pairs of narrow visual organs showed some tension.

"No, no."

"Then why did you apply for communication?" The low voice sounded again: "This communication can only be used in emergency situations."

"You have been a recipient for so long, don't you understand this?"

Atoka stammered: "Sir, sir, I found an abnormal phenomenon."

Fearing punishment, Atoka added again: "It is related to our main star."

"... Professionals will go to your place to understand the situation in a while."

A slightly sloppy sentence came out of the communication device and then there was no sound.

Atoka stood in front of the communication device blankly.

In the observation instrument next to it, the huge fireball was still emitting endless light and heat to the surroundings as usual.

But Atoka felt a chill coming from behind.

Although he didn't know what impact the black light he saw would have.

But his intuition told him that the Proxima civilization seemed to have encountered an unprecedented crisis.

...

A week passed in a flash.

During this long wait, Atoka had no appetite. In addition to processing the information sent back by the detector, he stared at the Proxima image in the observation instrument all day.

Just like a week ago, Proxima still looked the same.

It seemed that the black light had never appeared.

The door of the room opened quietly without anyone noticing.

A Proxima man in black clothes swung his short and thick lower limbs and walked into the space where Atoka lived day and night.