Is Unlocking the Stellaris Tech Tree in Star Rail Really Okay? [276]

Mid-December. Cold rain fell frequently, yet the city’s usual gloom was dispelled by the glow of countless colorful lights and the joy of establishing its first diplomatic relations.

On the streets of Belobog, streetlamps cast a daylight-like glow through the misty rain, their light refracting off droplets that slid down the blades of green grass in darkened corners.

Cars roared through the downpour without hesitation, while pedestrians along the sidewalks casually dispersed psychic energy, forming invisible barriers to keep the rain at bay. They walked freely through the torrential downpour, unaffected.

Outside a beverage shop near the Administrative Plaza, beneath the curtain of falling rain, a young Foxian girl stood with a gentle smile. Beside her was another girl, her gaze flickering with hesitation. The two of them spoke in hushed voices…

The banquet had concluded. The Xianzhou delegation had been temporarily accommodated at the Imperial Grand Hotel, where they would stay until the official ceremony the next day, marking their formal residence in the newly constructed embassy.

Meanwhile, inside the study of Qlipoth Fort, Chen Lin had wrapped up his work for the day. Yet, Bronya and Pela had not forgotten about their scheduled lessons.

However, today, there was an additional student joining them—Clara.

It seemed she had some research-related questions to discuss with Chen Lin, so she had chosen to stay behind. Since she was already there, she naturally sat in on the lesson as well.

"Management is about managing people, not just tasks. To manage people effectively, one must both motivate and control."

"Therefore, when pursuing administrative and societal goals, it’s essential to implement a structured system for personnel management. Different professions and job roles require different management approaches, tailored to their unique characteristics. By leveraging administrative data algorithms, we can optimize decision-making efficiency and information-sharing across the entire Empire..."

"This is the core philosophy behind the Galactic Bureaucracy and Colonial Bureaucracy systems. Understanding these concepts is crucial for using political, economic, and military influence to integrate foreign civilizations and establish long-term interstellar alliances. Now, let’s start with administrative human resource management. I’ll give you a few examples..."

Chen Lin activated his terminal, projecting a detailed blueprint of interstellar civilization onto the display. Enlarging the view, he began teaching the three students how to simulate and strategize diplomatic and political affairs.

Ever since his return, the lessons that had been put on hold had now resumed. Bronya, as the Supreme Guardian overseeing national administration, and Pela, as the chief political advisor and intelligence officer, both needed to swiftly abandon the outdated one-world, many nations; small countries, few people governance model. They had to master the far more advanced art of interstellar statecraft.

Across the entire Jarilo sector, there were only a handful of people qualified to sit here and receive this kind of education.

When Chen Lin had first arrived on Jarilo-VI, Bronya and Pela had already been his students. But back then, he had only taught them basic political concepts and dialectical thinking. The lessons had never extended to the grand disciplines of planetary governance, colonial administration, or interstellar diplomacy.

Thanks to the plans Chen Lin had left before his departure, the Jarilo sector had managed to establish a temporarily stable administrative system. However, at the time, even the governance techniques he personally employed—the Flexible Institutions model—were only sufficient to manage a single planet’s affairs.

Now, with colonial settlements nearing completion, the Belobog government urgently needed a more advanced statecraft framework to alleviate the mounting administrative burden.

Fortunately, Chen Lin’s governance tech tree had steadily progressed.

From Flexible Institutions to Efficient Bureaucracy, then to Colonial Bureaucracy, and now to Galactic Bureaucracy—

He had mastered governing techniques that could sustain the administration of hundreds of planets without descending into chaos or inefficiency.

Thus, one of his ongoing projects since returning had been to document these statecraft theories and disseminate them for future use.

The superiority of psionics became evident in this context. Bronya and Pela’s learning speed was akin to traveling by spacecraft—blazingly fast. Most of the time, Chen Lin hardly needed to explain further; a few examples were enough for them to extrapolate and apply the knowledge on their own. At this rate, it wouldn’t take long for them to fully grasp these concepts and put them into practice.

The true challenge in governing the Jarilo sector wasn’t about building a framework—it was about structuring long-term planning.

With Chen Lin personally overseeing affairs, Jarilo’s development was far ahead of neighboring civilizations in every aspect—resources, stability, and military strength. Implementing a revised administrative system was not a difficult task.

The second major challenge lay in differing territorial philosophies.

For many civilizations, territorial boundaries were dictated by military strength, economic viability, and administrative efficiency. Their borders often encompassed only a single planet, a space station, or a portion of a star system. The rest of the space remained neutral territory, where anyone could travel freely.

But Chen Lin’s understanding of sovereignty was entirely different.

To him, an entire star system became part of the Empire’s territory the moment an Imperial outpost was established within it.

Once an outpost was constructed, the entire unclaimed star system was, by default, incorporated into the Jarilo sector. His fleets were free to patrol these regions at any time and had the authority to deny entry to neutral or hostile entities. His borders were highly flexible and dynamic.

In essence, while other civilizations focused on land-based governance, Chen Lin’s strategy revolved around space-based control.

This was the foundation of his Fleet Supremacy and Interstellar Border Expansion doctrines—concepts he had introduced to this universe.

"Diplomacy with foreign civilizations generally falls into three categories: official diplomacy, semi-official diplomacy, and civilian diplomacy. Let’s take the Xianzhou as an example."

"As the Empire’s strategic foothold in foreign star systems, our cooperation with Xianzhou serves as a statement of intent. That’s why, for every sector where we gain our first supporter, we must ensure their interests are deeply tied to ours. This is the key to implementing a comprehensive diplomatic strategy—one that fractures potential alliances among civilizations that might oppose us…"

"But for those civilizations unwilling to support or submit to us, our approach can gradually shift from persuasion through reasoning to persuasion through force."

"We can reason with opposition forces within those civilizations—or we can demonstrate our reasoning with physics."

"From this, I introduce a strategic concept called ‘Neighbors as Partners.’ This strategy minimizes the unnecessary effort spent managing relationships with adjacent civilizations and prevents malicious actors from sowing discord between us and our neighbors. If necessary, we must act preemptively to ensure the border security of the Jarilo Sector..."

"When such threats continue to close in, and our warnings fall on deaf ears—when further delays could result in greater casualties—then we must abandon any illusions of a peaceful resolution. A war to safeguard our nation and our people should be put on the agenda as soon as possible!"

Standing by the window, Chen Lin turned his head slightly, gazing at the gray winter rain illuminated by city lights. Sometimes a gentle drizzle, sometimes a torrential downpour—just like Jarilo’s current predicament.

Dark circles lined his eyes, a clear sign of exhaustion from recent sleepless nights. His gaze was deep, contemplative.

"Pela, Bronya, your assignment is next."

"I’ve created a simulated star map and uploaded it to your terminals. Using the methods I’ve taught you, analyze the optimal diplomatic relationships and strategies for handling each civilization. I’ll review your conclusions the night after tomorrow."

Lifting his head, he looked at the two of them.

"That’s all for tonight. Class dismissed."

A soft chime signaled the arrival of the assignment on Bronya and Pela’s terminals.

They nodded in acknowledgment, gathering their notes from the lesson. As soon as they left, they planned to convene in Bronya’s study to discuss their mentor’s latest assignment and prepare for the upcoming administrative reforms.

"Sir… Bronya and I will take our leave now. Please get some rest." Pela shut down her terminal, her expression complicated.

It was obvious.

She had already realized that this so-called simulated star map was actually a lightly modified version of real interstellar relations.

At most, Chen Lin had simplified a few of the more distant diplomatic entanglements, making it easier for the two of them—as beginners—to analyze.

The conclusions they drew from this exercise, the risks they identified, and the policies they proposed would, to a large extent, shape Jarilo’s future stance toward external affairs.

"Pass a message to Seele for me."

Chen Lin turned to Pela, nodding slightly.

"Tomorrow, I’ll be teaching advanced carrier-based special operations tactics. Tell her to review Volume VI of the Imperial Fleet Command Theory and Volume IV of the Empire’s Interstellar Warfare Logistics Manual."

Pela quickly noted it down. "Understood. Anything else, sir?"

"That’s all." Chen Lin nodded again. "The workload has been a bit intense lately—I appreciate your hard work."

"N-no, sir, the one truly overworked is you!" Pela bit her lip, looking up at him.

"Not only are you drafting all these textbooks, but you’re also personally teaching us…"

She had witnessed it firsthand—how Belobog had grown from a fragile newborn into a thriving nation.

She had watched as its expanding administrative system began to strain under the weight of its own success.

Pela had desperately wanted to implement changes to ease the growing pressure, but every proposal she made had been struck down before it even left the drafting table.

So, when Chen Lin returned, she had worked up the courage to tell him about the administrative crisis they faced—hoping he could provide some advice.

What she hadn’t expected was…

Chen Lin had already planned for this.

Departments were restructured, overlapping bureaucracies were consolidated, and powers that should never have been bundled together were swiftly separated under his orders.

In collaboration with Svarog, he had even developed an advanced algorithmic processing system to enhance administrative efficiency across the board.

And in less than a month—challenges that had left them all wracking their brains for over a year were fundamentally resolved.

But from the looks of it, their mentor wasn’t stopping there.

For days, he had buried himself in work, writing textbook after textbook at a breakneck pace.

These books covered every facet of governance—from social and political reform to military and economic restructuring.

Within them, he had laid out three consecutive fifteen-year plans, meticulously designed to guide Jarilo through the next stages of its evolution.

It was only after Pela studied them in depth that she truly grasped the meaning of interlocking systems.

Chen Lin had thought of everything.

If they implemented these strategies and adapted them to real-world conditions, Jarilo would be capable of managing dozens—even hundreds—of additional planets with ease.

Even when he was off conducting diplomatic negotiations, he had never once forgotten the struggles they faced back home.

While they had been scrambling to put out fires, he had already been planning solutions in the shadows—solutions that not only resolved their immediate crises but also laid the groundwork for the next several centuries.

Decades. Centuries. Millennia.

The sheer scale of his vision nearly overwhelmed Pela.

But then she recalled one of her mentor’s teachings—words that rang in her ears like divine scripture.

"One must comprehend things in their entirety—never accept them in fragments. I, too, may be wrong."

"Criticism and debate are the only paths to discovering truth—and the only way to prevent truth from stagnating and rotting into falsehood."

"To govern well, one must be rooted in reality. And to govern a nation, one must personally touch that reality."

"We must walk among the people—not as officials, not as rulers, but unnoticed. Avoid those who would obstruct our view. Only then can we see what the people truly lack—and prevent a government edict from never making it past the city gates."

Remembering these words, she quickly steadied herself.

If she and Bronya couldn’t yet devise a better administrative framework—

Then they simply had to work harder.

They had to become stronger.

They had to grow as quickly as possible—so their mentor wouldn’t have to carry this burden alone.

Which was why, when Chen Lin said, "I appreciate your hard work,"

Pela instantly bristled in defiance.

"Sir, you’re the one working the hardest!"

Chen Lin only chuckled and ruffled her short, round bob of hair.

"Just take it as me thanking you anyway."

Pela wanted to argue further, but in the end, she swallowed her words, her eyes reddening slightly as she left the study.

Chen Lin, of course, had no idea what was going through Pela’s mind.

Nor did he notice the way her expression flickered before she left.

At the moment, his thoughts were elsewhere—carefully considering his next [Tradition] pick.

Economic and political issues on Jarilo could be mitigated using advanced technologies from the greater galactic community.

But the military?

Unless he could mass-produce certain high-power weapons, any improvements in efficiency would be incremental at best.

Real, meaningful advancements would come down to [Traditions] and [Ascension] Perks.

The L-Gate was on the verge of reaching full activation.

And once it opened, whatever was inside…

Would require him to choose his next course of action carefully.

If this were just a game, Chen Lin would simply pick any combat-related [Tradition], amass a massive fleet, and brute force his way through.

But reality wasn’t so forgiving.

Especially not with Saiks looming over everything like an ever-present reminder:

He could not afford to be reckless.

After unlocking the [Psionic Tradition] tree, he had chosen a highly specialized, upgradeable Tradition during his time with Xianzhou.

It had three tiers.

The first of which—his current pick—was [Basic Armaments].

The description wasn’t verbose.

It contained only a single passage.

"The military is the foundation of a nation’s existence, the blade that deters the greedy, and the only truth by which the fire of civilization may endure in times of chaos!"

As he pondered over his next step, a small tug on his sleeve pulled him from his thoughts.

At some point, Clara had silently approached him from behind.

---

T/N: HERE'S CLARA ORTON SLITHERING IN FROM BEHIND- WATCH OUT WATCH OUT WATCH OUT OHHH RKO

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!