Rebirth: Starting from Lighting Up the Tech Tree

Chapter 215 New Mission

A brand new notification popped up on the system panel.

It wasn't the green notification of a technological breakthrough, nor the golden light of activated branches; it was a deep-space blue that Zuo Cheng had never seen before. The text floated in the starry sky, appearing line by line. He read it three times.

Main quest updated. Quest Name: Finding the Origins. Final Objective: Travel to the Founder's birthplace. Trigger conditions met. The host has completed the seventh knowledge transfer. Civilization Awareness has been unlocked. Seed Resonance strength has reached the activation threshold.

The full picture of the task can be viewed now.

Zuo Cheng leaned back in his chair. It was four in the morning, and he was the only person in the entire building. Outside the window, the silhouette of Hangzhou was still asleep. He dimmed the office lights by half and focused all his attention on the system panel.

The task chain unfolds. It consists of four stages, each with its completion conditions and estimated difficulty.

Step 1: Activate all twelve technology branches. Current progress: 12/8. Estimated difficulty: Extremely high. Task description: Complete the activation of the remaining four branches, including Quantum Technology, Biotechnology, Materials Technology, and Space Technology. After all branches are activated, the entire technology tree will enter the second stage of growth.

Phase Two: Breakthrough in Interstellar Travel Technology. Prerequisites: Quantum technology branch activated, aerospace communication branch at max level. Estimated Difficulty: Cannot be assessed. Mission Description: Develop space propulsion technology capable of traversing interstellar distances. Current human technological level is zero; a breakthrough at the level of fundamental physics is required. Estimated Time: No less than five years.

Step 3: Locating the Origin Location. Prerequisite: Civilization Perception Level 7. Estimated Difficulty: Extremely High. Task Description: Using Civilization Perception, trace the coordinate information left by the founders to pinpoint the precise spatial location of their origin. The coordinates are partially encoded in cave inscriptions; complete analysis requires cross-domain fusion capabilities across all branches.

Step Four: Embark on a Journey to Find the Origins. Prerequisites: Completion of the first three steps. Estimated Difficulty: Unknown. Task Description: Travel to the origin of the Founder by any feasible means. Upon arrival, the seed will enter its final stage.

Zuo Cheng remained silent for a long time after watching all four segments.

He wasn't intimidated by the difficulty. Quantum technology hadn't been activated yet, interstellar travel was still in science fiction, and Chen Xinghe had only translated a third of the coordinate positioning code after seven years. At Earth's current rate of development, just the second stage would take at least a hundred years.

But he has a technology tree.

It's not starting from scratch. It's not about feeling your way across the river. Activating each branch will bring all the fundamental knowledge and core technologies in the corresponding direction. He doesn't need to reinvent quantum computing; he only needs to unlock the quantum computing technology already encoded in the seed. He doesn't need to deduce the physical theory of interstellar travel from scratch; the cross-branch fusion capability in the seed will recombine the knowledge of the three branches—communication, aerospace, and energy—to generate pathways.

Ultimately, these four stages aren't four invention tasks. They're four unlocking tasks. The difficulty lies not in creation, but in completing them.

He continued scrolling down.

Phase One Rewards: Activating each branch grants between 100 and 180 points, a 0.1% increase in technology level, and unlocks the branch's cross-domain fusion capability. Once all branches are activated, the tech tree will unlock its second-stage growth model.

Stage Two Reward: Unlock a blade exclusive to interstellar travel. This blade doesn't belong to any branch; it's an independent growth on the main trunk of the technology tree. Theoretical breakthroughs yield a complete physical model, while engineering implementation unlocks blueprints for a constructable propulsion system.

Phase Three Reward: Unlock the Universal Civilization Sensing Network. Currently, civilization sensing can only monitor Earth. Upon completion of Phase Three, the sensing range will expand to all 177 planets sown by the Founder. He can see whether other intelligent life on each sown planet is heading towards the Origin.

This reward made Zuo Cheng sit up straight.

One hundred and seventy-seven planets. If civilizations elsewhere have also completed several knowledge migrations, or even gone further, then this universe is far more crowded than he imagined. And eerily quiet. Because if someone truly went ahead, why are there no traces? Unless everyone is still on this path, and no one has reached the end.

He shook his head, suppressing the thought for the time being.

Stage Four Reward. The system only displays one line of text: "Complete the entire task chain to unlock the Origin Branch. The Origin Branch is the thirteenth branch of the technology tree, the only one that transcends current understanding of the universe. Its contents cannot be described within the current knowledge framework."

Beyond our current understanding of the universe.

Zuo Cheng repeated this sentence in his mind several times. It wasn't just beyond human understanding, it was beyond the current understanding of the universe. The creators who set up this task chain were no longer in this universe. They had completed their own paths and gone elsewhere. Then they left behind seeds, letting those who came after them find their own way.

He expanded the system panel and placed the quest chain in the center of the main panel. Previously, the main questline was vague; he only knew to activate branches, but didn't know what to do after activation. Now the goal was clear: four stages, twelve branches, and one origin star.

He picked up a pen and began to draw on the whiteboard.

First line: Activate all branches. Quantum technology is the breakthrough point for the next stage, and a clear path has already been seen on the interface of civilization perception.

The second line: Interstellar travel. The commercial space program has already taken off, and the Sky series rockets are still being upgraded. Only then can we move towards permanent interstellar travel. Every step requires the support of quantum computing. Quantum technology is the foundation of interstellar travel; it needs to be laid solidly first.

The third line: Origin Coordinates. He remembered the shape of those coordinates. In the space of consciousness, it was the spatial sensation of the key pressing against his palm. When the perception of civilization rises to a sufficiently high level, that sensation will transform into precise coordinates.

On the fourth line, he thought for a moment and wrote only two words.

Walk outside.

He put down his pen and looked at the four lines of text on the whiteboard. Civilization Sensing scanned Earth. All the beams of light were still there, with 402 being the highest. A new beam had sprouted next to the China Aerospace beam: Quantum Computing.

A new main quest chain has been started. The quest progress is displayed in the upper right corner of the system panel.

The task has been activated.

Daylight broke outside the window. The Hangzhou skyline shifted from gray-blue to pale gold. He stood up and walked to the window. People were starting to appear on the street, and steam rose from the breakfast stalls. The city was functioning as usual; no one knew what had happened last night.

He opened his phone and sent a message to Yu Ying.

Come find me when you wake up. There's something very important I need to discuss with you.

It's not about the seeds. He'd never tell anyone about the seeds. It's about direction. Where should 402 go next? Quantum technology, interstellar travel—these require the strength of the entire team. One person can write down four routes in an office at four in the morning, but to complete those routes requires many people.

Yu Ying replied quickly. She arrived ten minutes later.

Zuo Cheng wiped the whiteboard clean, leaving only the top line: Quantum Technology. He poured two cups of coffee and waited for the door to open.

On the system panel, the four links of the task chain are arranged in a row. The icon for the last link is grayed out, but its shape is already visible. It's not the shape of a branch. It's a door.