Age of Cataclysm: I can light up the technology tree

silence.

A long silence.

The patriarch stared blankly at the stargazer in front of him, and suddenly felt a strong sense of impending death.

The smooth skin on the surface of its body shrank sharply, and while its round body shrank, layers of wrinkles also appeared.

【Why, why...】

[Since the last punishment of world destruction, we have never stopped praying for countless standard days and nights! 】

[Why, why does the god want to punish the world again? ! 】

Faced with the clan leader's repeated questions, the stargazer remained silent for a while and then began to explain again.

【I don’t know the reason. 】

【but……】

[Three hundred standard days ago, the stars changed strangely again. 】

[In the night sky, stars began to disappear without warning. 】

[At first, only one or two stars were abnormal. 】

[But as time goes by, the stars disappear faster and faster. 】

[Today, thousands of stars have disappeared in the night sky. 】

Speaking of this, the stargazer pondered for a while, seeming to be recalling something: [In the history of civilization, there have been such visions before. 】

[After that, the second punishment of annihilation occurred. 】

The patriarch's body trembled slightly, and he asked the stargazer in a low voice: "You mean...the Great Meltdown?" 】

The big meltdown.

Occurred thirty-five thousand standard days ago.

When a stargazer was observing the night sky, he suddenly discovered that the number of stars in an area of ​​the sky had suddenly decreased.

What followed was an unexplained death within the group.

The body of a dead individual will spontaneously dissolve into the sea water.

Only those individuals hiding in the deepest part of the inland sea managed to escape.

【Yes. 】

The stargazer gave a resounding answer.

[Abnormality in the stars, the gradually shrinking outer sea area...]

[All this indicates that the third punishment of annihilation is coming. 】

The patriarch twisted his body irritably, swimming back and forth in the cold water.

Finally, it stopped in front of the stargazer.

[Tell me, what should we do? 】

Facing the clan leader's "gaze", the stargazer didn't hesitate at all and gave the answer straightforwardly.

[Start the big prayer ceremony again to pray for God’s forgiveness. 】

[After completing the prayer, go to the deepest part of the inland sea and wait patiently for God’s response. 】

Big prayer ceremony.

Very different from the standard day and night prayer ritual.

The routine prayer ceremony requires only one prayer person, while the big prayer ceremony requires the participation of all clan members.

Routine prayer rituals can be performed by simply rising to the surface of the sea.

And the big prayer ceremony...

You need to go to the ruins of the gods to proceed!

The relics of the gods are the relics left by the gods after the first punishment of annihilation.

According to legend, it was the mount left by the gods here to awaken the world.

Originally, the ruins of the gods were on the seaside.

However, as the outer sea area continues to shrink, the distance between the gods' ruins and the ocean gradually increases.

To this day, traveling to the ruins of the gods is a difficult challenge in itself for the jellyfish.

Coupled with rising temperatures...

It is foreseeable that this big prayer ceremony will lead to the death of a large number of tribesmen!

Therefore, the patriarch subconsciously wanted to reject the stargazer's request.

But thinking about the two punishments of annihilation recorded in history...

It was still afraid.

…

In order to minimize the casualties among the tribesmen, the start time of the big prayer ceremony was set at the beginning of the next standard night.

Night falls.

All the jellyfish, led by the clan leader and stargazer, left the inland sea and landed on land.

They struggled to twist their limp bodies and move forward slowly on the flat land covered with gravel.

According to plan.

They will arrive at the ruins of the gods in the middle of a standard night.

After completing the Great Prayer Ceremony, they will rush back to the ocean at the beginning of the standard day.

The temperature at this time is not too high, and the tribesmen can still persist.

…

Time passes bit by bit.

The night is getting deeper and deeper.

The temple hanging high in the corner of the sky is very bright, illuminating the surrounding area.

The thick atmosphere and the light from the temple obscured the light of most stars.

Therefore, even under normal circumstances, stargazers can only observe a few stars.

But now...

The patriarch raised his head, looked at the night sky, and sighed deeply.

In the vast night sky, except for the light of the temple, there were almost no stars.

All the stars disappeared - this seemed to indicate the severity of the punishment of annihilation that would follow.

It looked sadly at the shadow of the god's ruins in the distance, with countless distracting thoughts in its heart.

Oh God...what did we do wrong?

It asked from the bottom of its heart.

Apparently, no one responded to its question.

…

finally.

Thus the "expedition" briefly came to an end.

Looking at the ruins of the gods before their eyes, the tired jellyfish began a big prayer ceremony under the guidance of their clan leader.

They are close together, arranged in concentric circles around the ruins of the gods.

then……

They slowly swayed their bodies, and their vocal organs began to vibrate, making a series of low sounds of "gurgling, gurgling, gurgling".

The patriarch prayed devoutly to the ruins of the gods and begged for forgiveness from the gods.

The prayer lasted a long time. If it were changed to human time, it would take a full 20 hours.

…

The prayer was about to end.

The patriarch cast his eyes on the ruins of the gods.

He hoped from the bottom of his heart that the gods would respond.

But… he was disappointed.

The ruins of the gods did not respond at all. It was like a stone, standing quietly on this flat land.

So the patriarch raised his head again and cast his eyes on the temple in the sky.

There was still no change.

Just as he was about to turn his sight back and announce the end of the great prayer ceremony, a vision appeared!

At some point, an unknown object was hovering in the sky.

From the patriarch's point of view, behind this unknown flying object was the temple that released a faint light!

[God, God has descended! ]

It agitated its vocal organs and announced the news to the surroundings with a voice that was so trembling that it could not be more.

Wow...

The prayer ceremony that was about to end came to an abrupt end.

One by one, the jellyfish raised their heads and cast their eyes towards the sky.

The unknown flying object was still suspended in the air, as if the gods were silently watching them.

At this moment.

The jellyfish were boiling!

After years of prayer, they finally got the response from the gods!

While they were looking forward to and excited, they were actually more panicked.

They felt the powerful heat source in the sky, and an inexplicable sense of panic rose up.

[Pray! Keep praying! ]

The hoarse voice of the stargazer sounded, awakening the group of jellyfish that were stunned in place.

So...

They danced their bodies more vigorously, and the prayers were recited louder and louder!