Is Unlocking the Stellaris Tech Tree in Star Rail Really Okay? [308]

With a gentle wave of his hand, it was as if the mist before their eyes had been swept away. The sudden shift in their surroundings caused the three observers to halt in their tracks.

Herta, still irritated by the unexpected disruption, stumbled slightly. Screwllum lifted his head in mild curiosity, scanning his surroundings, while Ruan Mei's usually indifferent gaze showed a flicker of astonishment.

Cold, unfeeling steel had transformed into lush, verdant trees. The hard, metallic flooring beneath their feet gradually shifted from its signature violet sheen into something softer—wood.

A city? A district...?

Cloud-covered ancient towers reached toward the sky, ethereal floating structures extending hundreds of meters in length, interconnected like bridges in the heavens.

It carried the architectural essence of the Xianzhou Alliance, yet blended seamlessly with subtle but reasonable alterations. Interwoven with elements of Belobog’s signature design, the result was unexpectedly harmonious.

A gentle breeze caressed them from above. The sound of wings beating against the air differed from the natural flow of wind.

Screwllum extended a hand, and a vibrantly colored songbird landed lightly on his fingertip. It was about the size of his palm—long-bodied for its species—with a slightly curved beak that bore a distinct notch near the tip.

A soft glow pulsed from Screwllum’s mechanical eye as he scanned the creature.

His database registered a new entry—an organic lifeform previously unrecorded.

Where exactly is this place?

Yet, his confusion remained unresolved.

Herta, for her part, had no fear that Chen Lin might attempt anything malicious—after all, this wasn't even her real body. If this puppet was destroyed, so be it.

"Hey, what is this place? What trick are you playing now?"

Her tone was as blunt as ever, her gaze flitting around in open curiosity.

"This is [The Shroud]. You can think of it as a new world, created by the power of a high-tier Psionic."

Chen Lin paused briefly before continuing, "You can also consider it as my domain. It is linked to every corner of the known universe. Everyone exists at its threshold, but entry requires both the appropriate key and the permission of an authority-holder."

"Interesting…"

Herta nodded thoughtfully, as if deep in contemplation.

"Are these things alive?"

She noticed that Ruan Mei had crouched down, examining an unusual arthropod that scuttled across the ground.

Herta absently brought her fingertip to her mouth, a habitual gesture when lost in thought—though this time, she found no relevant data in her memory banks.

Chen Lin chuckled.

"Of course, they’re alive. To me, everything here is alive…"

"Daddy!!"

A childish voice rang out, instantly drawing the trio’s attention.

Herta turned to Chen Lin, eyes wide in disbelief.

If she had been drinking tea, she would have spat it out then and there.

Or perhaps, somewhere on the other side of the universe, another version of her had just done so.

The voice belonged to a girl around ten years old, her long, straight black hair cascading down her back, past Chen Lin’s arm, all the way to the ground. Her bangs were cut at a diagonal, neatly framing her youthful face.

But that wasn't the most critical detail.

The critical detail was the eerie aura that surrounded her.

She made no effort to mask her thoughts, and in the depths of her gaze lurked an overwhelming greed and hunger—a raw, unfiltered malice far beyond what any child should possess.

Ruan Mei's eyes widened abruptly. The muscles in her face twitched uncontrollably.

Because, for just a split second, she saw—██.

At the same time, Chen Lin’s figure seemed to flicker, turning strangely indistinct, as though it should not be perceived.

"They’re friends, not enemies."

Chen Lin gently ruffled the little girl’s hair, his tone indulgent.

"Mmm…"

The moment he spoke, the oppressive tension in the air dissipated instantly. The strange visions in Ruan Mei’s eyes vanished.

The girl—Little Shi Sha—curled up in Chen Lin’s embrace, shifting slightly until she found a comfortable position.

She nestled her head against his chest, inhaled softly, and let out a quiet, contented purr before drifting into deep sleep.

Chen Lin didn’t react beyond holding her securely.

Instead, he pointed toward an empty patch of space.

A tea shop materialized before them, its wooden sign reading Immortal’s Delight Tea.

At his slightest nod, a vendor appeared behind the counter, ready to serve.

Then, Chen Lin turned to Ruan Mei.

"Miss Ruan Mei, tell me—who, exactly, is life? That person?"

He gestured toward the vendor.

"That house?"

"…"

Ruan Mei tilted her head slightly.

Before she could respond, Chen Lin waved his hand again.

The bustling street vanished without a trace.

The world around them transformed into a desolate, lifeless wasteland of rolling hills, stripped of warmth. The once-gentle light dimmed to a bleak, muted glow.

Even the temperature felt as if it had dropped by dozens of degrees.

Chen Lin sighed.

In the next moment, towering trees and lush greenery sprouted across the barren expanse, restoring vibrancy to the landscape.

"That," he said, "is why I told you that pursuing this question holds no real meaning."

"The answer I give may not satisfy you."

"The answer you seek may not lead you to the truth."

"But at least in my eyes—existence itself is life."

"A grain of sand, a bird in flight, a thinking mind, even a sentient machine like Screwllum—all of them are life."

Ruan Mei asked, "Because you created them?"

Chen Lin corrected her.

"I perceive, therefore I envision; I envision, therefore the myriad forms exist."

"I am a stubborn man."

"If I declare something to be true, I believe it to be true."

"I don’t need a reason to convince myself."

"It’s only others who need to be persuaded."

"Can they be taken out of here?"

"They can."

"But there is a price."

"The cost might be the same… or it might be entirely different."

When something from The Shroud manifested in the physical world, even Chen Lin had no way of determining the exact price in advance.

It all depended on how much psionic energy—how much Zro Dust—had to be expended to make it real.

One thing was certain:

These costs could never be measured through normal logic.

He had pondered before—where is the true limit of psionics?

The concept of will shaping reality should, in theory, apply to any psionic with enough potential.

Yet before he obtained The Shroud, the Psionic Theory model of "I think, therefore it exists" had never been absolute.

There were always limitations—restrictions imposed by the material world.

Psionic energy could only manipulate, alter, and reshape existing matter to align with the psion’s will.

For example, a psion in an absolute vacuum could not simply create a rack of lamb from thin air—because there was no base material to modify.

However, standing beside a Jumpbeast, a psion could convert its flesh into lamb.

As long as they had sufficient knowledge of both organisms, the transformation could be performed at minimal cost, with no errors.

If that was the case, then…

The ultimate path of a Psion should be for each individual to carve out their own illusory realm—and from that realm, manifest their inner thoughts into reality without any external conditions. Only then could the entirety of Psionic Theory be truly connected!

Ruan Mei nodded slightly before pressing on.

"How did you accomplish this? The rigid, conventional understanding of life… and the more fluid, conscious existence of material lifeforms?"

"It’s quite simple," Chen Lin said. "Take a bird, for example. If I understand its habits, its anatomy, its cellular composition… Or a stone—its surface, its luster, its mineral composition, the way it erodes over time… These fundamental aspects mark the beginning of existence."

"Once something has successfully emerged, its development and eventual demise will naturally be dictated by its environment."

"If one focuses only on the end result while ignoring the process, the life they create will always be nothing more than an imitation—never the real thing."

He spread his hands and continued,

"Everything I’ve learned comes from repeated practice—practices based on my own experiences. The results are insights that may be applicable only to me."

"What, then, is perfect life?" Ruan Mei blinked, her curiosity steadily growing.

"And who exactly has the right to define ‘perfect’ life?"

"Mr. Screwllum? That overconfident Herta? You? Me?"

"Because I certainly don’t."

"The only thing I can define is what seems perfect in this moment."

Chen Lin laughed.

"The knowledge available to sentient beings is severely limited by the present."

"Tens of billions of Amber Eras ago, primitive beings hunted with stone tools on their homeworlds. To them, the ‘perfect’ lifeform was simply whatever prey they desired but couldn’t catch."

"Do you think, back then, they could have imagined that sentient life would one day venture beyond their own skies?"

"If you showed one of those early hunters a modern understanding of the cosmos, even a three-year-old today would find their worldview laughably naive."

"So you believe that the essence of life is unknowable?"

"Quite the opposite. It is knowable."

"What I reject is the tendency to overreach—to write grand theories that amount to nothing more than elaborate jokes, to blindly brute-force every possible answer, repeating the same mistakes over and over."

"It’s an incredibly inefficient way to approach the truth."

Chen Lin shook his head lightly.

"Imagine. Hypothesize. Test. Disprove."

"An endless cycle spiraling upward—ascending toward infinity."

"Each iteration is a part of the fundamental truth."

"And once enough knowledge has been accumulated, someone else will come along and continue the cycle, standing on the shoulders of those before them."

"…"

"Just as even the most powerful nation will one day become history, just as even the most masterfully crafted weapon will eventually rust—whether you find the answer now or not, the answer will reveal itself someday."

"It’s an inevitable consequence of causality."

Chen Lin chuckled, spreading his arms.

"So what should we do?"

"Do whatever we want!:

"Live, strive, witness. Wherever we end up, that is where we belong."

"And the result is simply what it is."

"Being open-minded never hurts. Love deeply, but be ready to let go."

"At the end of the day… that’s all the closure we need."

"Open-mindedness…"

Ruan Mei frowned deeply, as if struggling with something.

"Then what is the most efficient approach?"

"Come with me."

"Oh."

Ruan Mei instinctively glanced at him, then followed.

Chen Lin led them toward a massive slope—hundreds of meters wide, blocking their view of what lay beyond.

He altered the terrain behind it and then instructed them, "Only look at the ground."

"This hill has four wooden planks, each 20 centimeters wide, connecting it to another hill."

"Now, if it were just the three of you, how would you find all four planks as quickly as possible without looking up?"

Screwllum immediately asked, "Mr. Chen Lin, may I have the precise data for this hill?"

"Of course."

Chen Lin relayed all the relevant parameters.

Screwllum’s response was instantaneous.

"Miss Herta’s average step length is 32.4 cm."

"Miss Ruan Mei’s average step length is 37.21 cm."

"My own average step length is 42.14 cm."

"Calculating Miss Herta’s visual range from her height…"

"By circling forward from Point A③ on both sides, then shifting 4.317 meters toward the peak of the hill at the endpoint,"

"We can fully scan the entire area in exactly 21 system hours, 17 minutes, and 34 seconds."

He proceeded to recite his full calculations in detail.

Ruan Mei and Herta, both geniuses in their own right, followed along closely.

Even if their computational speed couldn’t quite match Screwllum’s, they weren’t far behind.

In layman’s terms, Screwllum had chosen the most efficient approach—mapping out the entire hill with his maximum field of vision.

Clap, clap, clap!

Chen Lin gently applauded, still holding Xiao Chisha in one arm.

"As expected of Mr. Screwllum! This is the most efficient way—step forward with certainty, never retrace a path, and with that foundation in place, there’s no need to fear missing any of the wooden planks."

Herta immediately caught onto the flaw in the logic.

"But what if we were on the wrong hill?

"Besides, do you really think people will always obediently follow instructions?"

"I would," Chen Lin replied.

"Which is why I said—my practice and experiences may only be applicable to me."

"In the realm of scientific advancement, I have absolute confidence that every step I take will yield results."

"Every experiment will bring a discovery."

"No effort will ever be wasted."

The research systems governing the stars had never concerned themselves with logic.

Scientific progress had never acknowledged the concept of ‘failure.’

So long as enough time was invested, progress was inevitable.

Even if Chen Lin himself had to personally distribute the knowledge he gained, the sheer scale of this process was still terrifying.

Unreasonable?

Perhaps.

Herta frowned. "Why? Explain it."

Chen Lin leaned in, whispering in her ear.

A long pause.

Then he finally spoke.

"…That’s an Imperial secret."

"Then why do you look like you’re about to tell me?!"

"I just wanted to see your reaction."

Herta’s fists clenched.

Without any concern for dignity, she abruptly switched tactics.

With a radiant smile, she sweetly called out, "Daddy~!"

Ruan Mei blinked in astonishment.

Screwllum adjusted his hat and pointedly looked away.

Meanwhile, Little Shi Sha—who had been sound asleep—suddenly snapped awake.

Her large eyes blinked as she stared at Herta in bewilderment, as if confirming something.

A long moment passed.

Then, with a look of sheer disgust, she frantically gestured,

"You’re NOT allowed to call him Daddy! NOT ALLOWED!!"

"Alright, alright."

Chen Lin patted Little Shi Sha’s hand to calm her down and sighed.

"This isn’t the kind of question you can get an answer to just by buttering me up."

"Then forget it."

Herta immediately dropped the act, her expression returning to complete neutrality—

As if she had never just called him that.

Chen Lin gently set Little Shi Sha down, restoring the surrounding dead land into the vibrant landscape they had come from.

After murmuring a few instructions to the girl, he straightened.

In an instant, the surreal sensation of weightlessness returned—

And the next thing they knew, they were back aboard the cruiser.

By now, the ship had fully docked within Skytower Fortress’s lower hangar.

A fleet officer hurried over.

"Governor Chen, the other guests are disembarking. Please proceed to the top observation deck."

"Understood. I’ll be right there."

"Yes, sir!"

The officer turned sharply and jogged away.

As Chen Lin walked, he casually asked,

"Miss Ruan Mei, are you researching life sciences?"

She cast a glance at Herta, who suddenly turned her head away.

"Herta never told you?"

"Her forgetfulness is proportional to her level of interest. I’m used to it."

Chen Lin pinched his nose and mimicked Herta’s voice.

"‘Hey! Where’s today’s Psionic Theory? …Alright, fine. See you later!’"

"That’s the sentence she’s said to me the most."

Screwllum didn’t react, but Herta let out a muffled cough.

Herta: "…"

"My research focuses on cultivating life," Ruan Mei said. "Do you have any thoughts on the matter, Mr. Chen Lin?"

"Not exactly. Jarilo is currently laying the groundwork for biological research, but it’s mostly focused on Jariloans for now."

"The Interstellar Rift Empire hasn’t studied this field?"

"The most we’ve done is offer a hand when needed—helping others walk rather than carrying them straight to the finish line."

"…I see."

Ruan Mei fell silent for a moment, then fixed Chen Lin with a steady gaze.

"I can offer some… insights for Jarilo’s biological studies."

"But in return, I need you to assist me—help me evolve lifeforms within that space."

"Can you do that?"

That was hardly a difficult request.

Chen Lin saw no reason to refuse.

"Alright."

[Ding!]

A notification chimed.

Chen Lin glanced at his intelligence log.

His brow twitched.

Of course.

【Scientist Ruan Mei has joined…】

【Scientist Ruan Mei: Idle.】

---

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!