Is Unlocking the Stellaris Tech Tree in Star Rail Really Okay? [326]

Act first, report later.

That was exactly what Chen Lin was doing right now.

The cognition data for the L-Gate had been gathered for quite some time. Every piece of information regarding the massive gate, constructed by nanorobots, had been fully extracted by Clara. In fact, the process of activation had already begun discreetly dozens of days ago.

The elimination of the Purity Fanatics was merely an excuse. By leveraging their destruction, Chen Lin had the perfect opportunity to spread the news about proactively opening the L-Gate.

This way, he wouldn’t invite widespread doubt or outside interference. He could handle all matters regarding the L-Gate entirely on his own, without any restrictions.

According to the intelligence reports, the research progress for the L-Gate was expected to reach 100% in two weeks.

To prevent an unwinnable scenario and prepare for any unforeseen complications, acquiring information about the L-Gate in this world had naturally become Chen Lin’s top priority.

A light drizzle fell.

Raindrops slid off the transparent shield surrounding Pela as she walked briskly into the study, where she saw a familiar figure engrossed in reading his terminal.

"Sir, General Jing Yuan says he has time to meet now, but he’d prefer to discuss some things with you in person—"

"In person?"

"Mm!"

"Alright, then I'll go meet him face-to-face."

With those words, Chen Lin’s figure gradually faded from sight. Pela, unfazed by the spectacle, simply turned and left.

She had witnessed similar occurrences too many times to count. She knew her master had once again entered The Shroud, that unfathomable realm she could never quite grasp.

As for how Chen Lin intended to meet Jing Yuan…

That wasn’t something Pela needed to concern herself with.

...

A few minutes later, in a secluded corner of Luofu, Chen Lin stumbled forward as he suddenly materialized. He reached out and touched the thick stone wall before him, his lips twitching in mild annoyance.

"...That was close. Almost phased into a wall again."

Despite his growing familiarity with The Shroud, which allowed him to traverse vast distances with increasing precision, there were still occasional lapses in control. Every now and then, he would reappear inside an inconvenient—and sometimes outright hazardous—obstacle.

Fortunately, with his physically enhanced body maxed out in resilience, the worst that could happen was a few moments of pain. As long as no one saw him, it wasn’t a big deal.

Stepping out of the alley, he found himself in Chang Le Tian's bustling city district. It had been a while since his last visit, yet the place remained unchanged. Or rather, to the long-lived Xianzhou natives, a year without visiting a location likely felt no different than a week's absence to short-lived species.

"Still as lively as ever."

Chen Lin recalled the secret plan he had conspired on with Jing Yuan. By all logic, Luofu’s economy should have experienced a brief period of stagnation. Yet, the thriving activity before him suggested otherwise.

After walking only a short distance, he noticed numerous storefronts displaying "70% Off" banners, advertising various goods sourced from the Interstellar Peace Corporation’s Luofu branch. Surprisingly, a large crowd had gathered, their arms filled with shopping bags as they eagerly made purchases.

Some were stocking up on daily necessities, others were eyeing the latest electronic gadgets, and then there were those indulging in luxury items they had long desired but previously couldn’t afford without emptying their wallets.

The sheer enthusiasm of Luofu’s citizens for spending had seemingly ignited a shopping frenzy.

Thinking it over, Chen Lin realized it made sense.

The Luofu branch of the Interastral Peace Corporation hadn’t collapsed entirely—its market share had merely shrunk drastically. In a desperate bid to reclaim lost ground, they were likely resorting to aggressive low-price promotions, even selling at a loss. Such tactics were nothing unusual in corporate self-rescue operations.

Unfortunately for them, once Chen Lin completed the development of his planned industrial districts and fully launched production, the company wouldn’t even have funds left for marketing gimmicks like this.

When it came to sustaining long-term losses, no corporation could outlast him.

Once the necessary production modules were in place, their output would be virtually cost-free. With zero production costs, every unit sold would be pure profit, and he could even afford to distribute goods for free if needed.

After all, the resource modules he had established in Luofu operated autonomously, requiring no human labor. While their output wasn’t massive, it was more than enough to sustain an entire Xianzhou fleet. At most, they incurred some minor maintenance fees, but even those could be offset through proper planning. Too easy.

As he made his way toward the Divination Commission, Chen Lin carefully observed Chang Le Tian’s evolving landscape. He noted the presence of several newly erected cybernetic billboards, each displaying various policies issued by the Divination Commission. These announcements not only kept citizens informed but also encouraged them to report businesses operating in "non-compliant" ways—offering significant material rewards in return.

Chen Lin paused to read a few of them, raising an eyebrow.

"...That’s one ruthless bounty system."

The so-called "non-compliant operations" mainly referred to businesses refusing to accept Xianzhou’s official currency, the Strale, or engaging in discriminatory pricing against those who used it—favoring credit points instead.

Essentially, some company-affiliated merchants had been marking up their products when customers paid with Strales, while offering better prices to those using credit points.

However, the currency agreement between the Interastral Peace Corporation and Xianzhou explicitly forbade such practices. The Luofu authorities were merely enforcing the terms of the contract, making their actions perfectly reasonable, lawful, and compliant.

If anyone dared to accuse Jing Yuan of misconduct, they’d be slapped with a breach-of-contract charge, which would severely damage their credibility.

This was why the corporation’s Luofu branch hadn’t made much of a fuss—after all, they had written those contract terms in the first place.

If they violated their own agreement, the reputational damage would be far worse than losing a single branch. Businessmen understood the importance of trust, and they knew the real financial losses from a tarnished reputation would far exceed the struggles of one subsidiary.

Thus, the Luofu branch was forced to endure, even as its losses mounted. The Interastral Peace Corporation’s internal performance review system meant that the local executives had no choice but to fight for survival—lest they face demotion and an utterly bleak future.

Upon reaching the Divination Commission, Chen Lin was surprised to find that Jing Yuan and Fu Xuan were already there, waiting for him.

As soon as he appeared, Jing Yuan strode forward with a hearty laugh, Fu Xuan close behind.

"Brother, we’ve been waiting ages for you!"

Chen Lin asked, "Huh? Quite the grand welcome for me. How did you know I was about to arrive?"

"It's not that I'm blaming you," Fu Xuan sighed helplessly, "but appearing so brazenly… Chang Le Tian is crawling with patrolling Cloud Knights. Even if none of them reported your presence, your face is already well known to the citizens of Luofu. It was only natural that word would spread to the Divination Commission."

"Ah… that makes sense."

Pela hadn’t explicitly informed them that Chen Lin would be arriving immediately. However, after receiving Pela’s message relaying the meeting request, Jing Yuan had no doubt that Chen Lin would show up.

Few people in the universe had any interest in something as bizarre and dangerous as the Nano Nebula—Chen Lin was an exception.

So, Jing Yuan had immediately sent word and dragged Fu Xuan from her well-earned rest to work overtime. While Fu Xuan wasn’t exactly thrilled about another meeting, the moment she heard that it was a discussion between Chen Lin and Jing Yuan, she rushed over without hesitation.

Finally, these two are willing to include me in one of their secret meetings…

About ten minutes ago, a Cloud Knight patrol had reported spotting a man strikingly similar to Chen Lin making his way toward the Divination Commission. They had asked if they should go and escort him.

Jing Yuan had simply ordered them to continue their patrol, pretending not to see anything. Then, he had made his way to the entrance, where he had run into the hurriedly arriving Fu Xuan. The two of them had been waiting ever since.

And sure enough—Chen Lin had arrived.

Fu Xuan glanced at the large entrance doors, where the wind howled softly, and reminded, "General."

Jing Yuan nodded. "Brother, let’s head inside and take a seat before discussing business." He stepped aside. "Please."

"Brother, sister, after you."

Since the matter at hand was of great importance, Jing Yuan had dismissed all ordinary Cloud Knight guards. The only one left to assist them inside the vast Divination Commission was the youngest of the group—Yanqing.

Silently, Yanqing busied himself preparing tea while puzzling over why his martial uncle had suddenly traveled all the way from the Empire to Luofu.

The Nano Nebula anomaly was too strange and significant. Jing Yuan hadn’t had the chance to explain it to Yanqing yet, and Yanqing himself had been entirely absorbed in his sword training within the Divination Commission. Apart from occasionally checking live streams or browsing the web, he hadn’t set foot outside in months.

Not that he dared to…

After getting thoroughly humiliated by Chen Lin, the Stellaron Hunters, and Dan Heng, Jing Yuan had issued what was technically a restriction order but was practically a mandate for Yanqing to undergo closed-door training, intended to humble his reckless ambition.

Even without the restriction, Yanqing would have locked himself in anyway. The gap between people… sometimes felt wider than the gap between humans and dogs.

The so-called achievements he had been so proud of were utterly meaningless. What he considered a lifelong honor was, in the eyes of others, not even worth a passing thought.

Especially when it came to his martial uncle—while he had been busy training with his sword, Chen Lin had also been "playing with swords"… except half an hour ago, he had wiped out an entire civilization.
Tens of billions of lives, gone in an instant.
And Yanqing had witnessed it all unfold in real-time through a Luofu live stream.

Jing Yuan, knowing exactly why Chen Lin was here, had already prepared the necessary documents. As soon as Chen Lin and Fu Xuan sat down, he slid a terminal across the table, filled with numerous images and videos.

"I asked Lady Fu to send you a message, but the information in it was incomplete. There were too many sensitive details that I didn’t want leaking out—Interstellar Peace Corporation has already noticed the shifts in Luofu and is monitoring us closely. If this data got out too soon, it would cause unnecessary complications."

"As expected, it's about this matter…"

Hearing Jing Yuan’s words, Fu Xuan immediately confirmed her suspicions. Chen Lin was here for Nano Nebula intelligence. She turned to him and added,

"Some of the retrieved data was already damaged by the time we brought it back. The Ministry of Auguries did their best to restore as much as possible, but certain images and video fragments remain unclear. You’ll have to bear with it."

"That’s fine. This should still provide enough information."

Chen Lin scanned through the terminal, his eyes darting across various images—comparisons of the civilization’s past organic lifeforms and their present state, as well as the drastic transformation of their homeworld.

Originally, it had been a lush tropical planet. But after emerging from the Nano Nebula, it had turned into a half-mechanical world covered in steel.

Chen Lin’s heart sank.

This is wrong…

Completely different from what I know about the consequences of opening an L-Gate!

None of the potential outcomes he had ever seen from an L-Gate breach included something like this—an entire planet being converted into a machine world within half a year!

"What the hell is going on?" Chen Lin’s expression darkened as he pointed to the scattered images on the terminal. "Are these all the robots the Cloud Knights recovered?"

"That's right." Fu Xuan leaned forward, enlarging one of the images. It depicted a scene from the mechanical planet.

"The Cloud Knight who eliminated this target initially thought it was just a rogue machine. But when his blade cut through it, he found fresh flesh beneath the metal."

She paused for a beat.

"He’s still undergoing psychological treatment from the Alchemy Commission—they suspect his Mara-induced psychosis is accelerating."

The image showed a mechanical humanoid with a severed neck, its burnt flesh and muscle fibers peeking through beneath the torn metal plating. Even the arteries and veins, fused together by heat, were clearly visible.

If that had been the only issue, the Cloud Knight probably wouldn’t have suffered such trauma.
But between the blood and charred flesh, there were also strange mechanical structures growing inside the body—an unnatural fusion of organic tissue and machine.

The grotesque sight made even Chen Lin feel a slight wave of disgust.

Jing Yuan sighed. "Some civilizations exist between purely organic and purely mechanical life—they adopt cybernetic augmentation, but it’s always based on replacing damaged parts with metal prosthetics, preserving the biological essence of life. But this… this is something else entirely.

Even the most knowledgeable physicians and bioengineers we consulted couldn’t comprehend it. They all called it beyond the realm of understanding."

You think it’s incomprehensible?
Even I can’t make sense of this…

After a brief silence, Chen Lin muttered, "That’s not the main issue. The important thing is that nothing good comes from being assimilated by the Nano Nebula.

More than that, the real question we need to ask is—why did these victims suddenly die?"

"We’ve already investigated that."

Fu Xuan’s expression turned solemn. She took a breath and explained,

"You must have read the information I sent you. Those individuals—regardless of their varying degrees of mechanical conversion—were infested with countless microscopic nanites… The Empire refers to them as 'Ami'-scale robots, correct?"

"I know them."

"These near-invisible nanites had infiltrated their musculature and nervous system, likely assuming complete control over their actions and thoughts, without the victims even realizing it.

By manipulating their minds and intelligence, the nanites essentially turned them into puppets.

So, when these nanites were destroyed—their hosts died instantly."

"Then what killed the nanites?"

"Uh…"

Fu Xuan froze for a moment, her expression unreadable.

After a long pause, she admitted,

"…We haven’t figured that part out yet."

---

This is a fan translation of 在星穹铁道点群星科技树真的没问题吗? by 杏雨诗韵 All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!