Is Unlocking the Stellaris Tech Tree in Star Rail Really Okay? [323]

Media has always played a crucial role in information dissemination, no matter the era.

Even in the vast expanse of the interstellar sea, where civilizations flourish...

Even when minds are linked through psionic networks, information still requires proper channels to be transmitted and recorded.

The Interastral Peace Corporation was eager to receive updates from the Empire as soon as possible. To this end, Topaz was instructed to establish a specialized news division under the Public Information Department—not a particularly large team, but one dedicated to gathering political and military intelligence from the Empire.

Even domestic civilian news, if available, would be useful. However, the Corporation had no intention of planting spies or covert operatives within the Empire’s media sector, as they didn’t want Chen Lin to misunderstand their motives.

With Topaz overseeing soft filtering and psionic sensitives handling hard filtering, only the most loyal employees were allowed to be stationed in Belobog.

---

Inside the Galactic Community headquarters, the first emergency resolution had passed smoothly. The news of the resolution—along with the substantial evidence submitted by Qingque—was rapidly disseminated by countless media outlets.

All except for Rilu-Ⅰ, which had been completely blacklisted by Chen Lin.

The Corporation was well aware of the situation. They had been traumatized by Emperor Rupert in the past—the devastation wrought by exterminator civilizations had left scars that could never be quantified, an ever-present shadow looming over the upper echelons of the Corporation.

Exterminators must die.

For once, countless civilizations stood in unanimous agreement. This moment marked one of the most unified eras in the past few Amber Epochs.

At that very moment, Chen Lin was holding a press conference. In front of a crowd of reporters, he and Bronya officially signed the Extermination Order, declaring the start of a military operation to eliminate the threat.

Meanwhile, in the background, Pelageya was drowning in back-to-back calls.

"Ah… No, no, really, there’s no need, Lady Herta. Please rest assured, sir has already prepared everything. Not a single Rilu will escape their planet."

"Yes, that’s correct. The Empire will take the most secure approach—Rilu-Ⅰ will be destroyed. You can watch the operation unfold in real-time on the Interastral Peace Corporation’s ‘Universal Military Affairs Report’…"

"Yes, yes, understood."

As soon as Herta’s call ended, another one came through.

"Lady Ruan Mei, hello. This is Pelageya Sergeyevna from the Qlipoth Fort Administration Office…"

"Ah? Assistance in exterminating organics? No need, the Empire has already made full military preparations."

"Yes, exactly…"

Before either Herta or Ruan Mei had reached out, the first person to contact Qlipoth Fort wasn’t any of the local civilization leaders near Jarilo, nor was it a Corporation representative.

It was King Screwgum of the Screwllum System.

The moment news broke that a civilization near Jarilo had allegedly activated an "Anti-Organic Equation", he immediately reached out, offering his assistance.

The scars left by the Imperial War were still fresh in the memories of countless civilizations. Even Screwgum himself detested societies that embraced the ideology of extermination.

The media reports—including extensive footage, images, and supplementary evidence—triggered a galaxy-wide fear of exterminator civilizations. No one wanted to wake up one day and find their species labeled as a "mistake of the universe", to be wiped out by a Rilu resurgence.

Particularly damning was the evidence compiled by Chen Lin using Virtual Domain recordings—detailed transcripts of Morav XIX and his high-ranking officials discussing their plans for extermination.

They never imagined that Chen Lin, located several star systems away, could not only hear their discussions but also record them.

Without these recordings, there was no way such a high-stakes emergency resolution—one that decided the fate of an entire civilization—would have been passed in under two hours.

And now, public opinion was almost entirely in favor of the Galactic Community’s decision.

After handling dozens of calls, even Pelageya’s enhanced constitution was starting to strain. When the last communication line finally went silent, she let out a long sigh of relief.

At that moment, Phantylia waddled into the room like a penguin, bringing Clara along.

Pelageya blinked in surprise.

"Chief Phantylia? You’re back so soon?"

"Not that fast, actually—it’s already been over five hours. I actually feel like we were a bit slow~" Phantylia tilted her head, giggling. "Besides, installing a few detectors isn’t all that difficult."

Pelageya glanced at Clara, who nodded enthusiastically.

"Pelageya, Sister Phantylia is amazing! She carried a 40-ton detector all by herself and installed it directly into orbit!"

Earlier that day, Clara had received orders from Chen Lin to deploy several high-powered surveillance probes into Rilu-Ⅰ’s orbit. These probes were designed to monitor everything happening on the planet, inside and out.

Phantylia had accompanied her as security detail, ensuring Clara’s safety while also helping with the installations.

What the Rilu didn’t know was that their orbit had long been swarming with Imperial destroyers and frigates, maintaining a strict blockade.

After successfully deploying the probes, Clara’s team switched to another ship with a cooled-down psionic engine and jumped back to Belobog.

Thanks to this five-hour operation spanning three star systems, the surveillance system was now fully operational.

Now, authorized media outlets could access these probes through Kleiber Palace’s network, using psionic equipment to observe Rilu-Ⅰ in real-time.

The Psionic Guard Corps managed the camera angles, offering detailed views from as low as 100 meters above the surface—capturing not only geographical changes but also the reactions of the Rilu citizens.

The transmission delay? Less than a second.

"Well, considering the Chief Phantylia even defeated a ‘Lord Ravager,’ I guess this isn’t all that surprising…" Pelageya wiped the sweat from her brow.

She still couldn’t comprehend why someone of Phantylia’s caliber—a psionic entity whose power exceeded most Emanators—would willingly serve as Chen Lin’s personal retainer.

Shouldn’t someone that strong be pursuing absolute freedom?

Pelageya had tried probing for answers multiple times.

However, after extensive investigation, the data all pointed to one conclusion—this seemingly flirtatious, playful Chief Guard was unwaveringly loyal to Chen Lin, without a shred of hesitation or ulterior motive.

In fact, she had even noticed Pelageya’s attempts at digging deeper—and had warned her outright.

"Do anything that harms the master, and I won’t stand for it."

This was what truly unsettled Pelageya.

It wasn’t as if Phantylia had grown up following Chen Lin from childhood.

So… why?

Shaking off her thoughts, Pelageya poured both guests a cup of water.

"I wonder what sir intends to do. Clara’s new weapon already passed its test launch, didn’t it? Is he going to use that… uh, what was it again? Oh! The Planetary Core Torpedo?"

Clara hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.

"Brother said it’s unnecessary. He seems to have secured something from the Empire, specifically designed for extermination orders. It’s safer than my Planetary Core Torpedo… So, I still couldn’t be of any help."

If the Planetary Core Torpedo, capable of obliterating an entire planet, wasn’t enough…

Then next time, I’ll make something even stronger!

Something that can wipe out entire star systems!

"Ah~" Phantylia chuckled, seeing Clara’s determined expression.

She then leaned in with a sly smile.

"The master’s plan isn’t about firepower—it’s about mystique. And that, my dear, is something even I can only glimpse a fraction of~"

Clara’s attention was immediately piqued.

"Wait… does that mean he isn’t going to destroy Rilu-Ⅰ?"

Phantylia placed a finger on her lips, blinking mischievously.

"Oh, my dear Clara, that… is just my guess~"

"Can you tell me what you’re thinking?"

"Oh dear, Miss Clara, please don't flatter me like that. I hardly deserve such a title," Phantylia waved her hands dismissively, dropping the teasing act.

"Actually, if you think about it carefully, it's quite simple. Normally, when a civilization wants to wipe out a planet, they'd either deploy weapons or send in an army, right? But what if the Master possesses a weapon that could destroy a planet without anyone even realizing how it happened? Wouldn't that be even more terrifying? A deterrent that no one can guard against?"

Everyone in the room understood the principle behind Chen Lin’s deterrence strategy—it was the most cost-effective and efficient approach, and they fully supported it.

Of all present, only Phantylia truly knew the extent of Chen Lin’s power, as well as the horrifying nature of that seemingly innocent little girl from The Shroud. However, her instincts warned her not to bring up that entity lightly. The last thing she wanted was to offend that being.

So, Phantylia played it smart. Instead of revealing what she knew, she simply framed everything as speculation.

A little misdirection never hurt. She wasn’t lying—just withholding certain details.

Clara pursed her lips and hesitantly asked, "Sister Phantylia, do you know what kind of weapon it is? Can I study it for reference?"

She wanted to see what kind of "mystery" could surpass the sheer visual impact of an explosion.

Besides, her own research had recently hit a bottleneck. If she didn't get some inspiration from other large-scale weapons, she feared she'd be stuck in a creative rut for a while.

"I wouldn't know…" Phantylia shook her head, then pointed to the projected images on the administrative hall's wall. "But won’t you find out soon enough? As for what the weapon is called… perhaps you should ask the Master himself when the time comes. If he wants to tell you, he will."

---

Across the galaxy, countless civilizations tuned in to the live broadcast from the Rilu star system. Leaders of various nations sat in their conference rooms, silently watching every movement on-screen, while ordinary citizens flooded online forums with speculation about the impending extermination.

In particular, the Xianzhou livestream chat was ablaze with activity. As the countdown timer in the corner of the screen ticked closer to zero, discussions intensified.

[RiverRiverDrinkDrinkMergeMerge]: The countdown’s almost up. Why hasn't Rilusia applied for an appeal? Are they actually planning to fight the Galactic Community head-on?

[Invincible Swordsman123]: Not impossible. Only a lunatic can understand another lunatic. Luofu just joined the Galatic Community, and we’ve already helped wipe out an exterminationist regime. Feels good, man.

[DumplingsOnlySweet]: How long do you think the Interstellar Rift Empire will take to finish them off?

[MassiveLOLGuys]: At least a few weeks, right? I wonder if Rilusia’s as tough to kill as the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus. That one took ages.

[MyChickenIsEightYearsOld]: Agreed. Even if they were just pigs, it’d take forever to round them up, let alone humans.

[Invincible Swordsman123]: Uh… have you guys considered the possibility of a WMD?

[WhoSwitchedMySaltWithSugar]: Does the Empire even have WMDs?

[Invincible Swordsman123]: How the hell would I know?

[RealNameOnline]: @Invincible Swordsman123 go practice your swordsmanship.

"…"

In the official livestream hosted by the Divine Strategy Office, the chat was flying at an insane speed. Some users had even started counting down in sync with the on-screen timer, hyping up the execution.

Finally, the five-hour appeal period expired.

The screen cut to a young man seated at a desk, flanked by the flags of the Interstellar Rift Empire and the Jarilo Sector.

"Rilusia has failed to submit an appeal within the designated time frame. Please ensure that all Interstellar Rift fleets are cleared from the Rilu system."

Chen Lin’s voice remained steady and composed as he delivered the final decree.

"As the Governor of Jarilo and the signatory of the Extermination Order, I hereby declare—

—the extermination of the Rilusian civilization has now begun!"

---

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!