Is Unlocking the Stellaris Tech Tree in Star Rail Really Okay? [368]

“The afterglow scatters like embroidered brocade, the sea of clouds sways like rippling silk.”

A breeze from the ancient seas whispered softly through the crowd in Changle Heaven.

On the upper floor ledge of a certain restaurant, strands of black hair fluttered in the wind. The golden afterglow of sunset bathed a cold, proud face—though faintly, there was a trace of helplessness beneath that aloof façade.

"Why did my dear brother choose not to dine at the Divination Commission, and instead come to such a noisy, chaotic place? According to propriety—"

"Don't ask. Ask, and the answer is I'm here to soak up some mortal air. Ask again, and I'm here to stay in touch with the people. Keep asking and it's because I'm bringing the big boss along for a surprise inspection."

"I'm not joking—"

"Heh. But I am."

“……”

Fu Xuan opened her mouth, then closed it again, unable to form even a half-decent retort.

Mainly because—truth be told—she’d never intended to argue in the first place. Her brother teasing her, joking around, even if she couldn’t fully share in the humor, the intent was clear enough: he wanted her to relax.

So—

Her dear brother did care about the general, but he still held a place in his heart for her—even if it was only a little, it was still something!

After a string of flawless, airtight mental gymnastics, the corners of Fu Xuan’s lips curled upward almost unconsciously. After all, it wasn’t easy to coax any surplus expression out of this solemn Master Diviner.

Chen Lin caught the change on Fu Xuan’s face and was immediately puzzled. By all logic, shouldn’t she be silently stewing in annoyance right now? He’d already prepped a whole set of sweet-talking lines to coax her, ready to go. And now she’s suddenly... happy?

The more he thought about it, the more worried he got. Maybe the stress had finally gotten to her? Was this a sign she was cracking…?

Forget it. Maybe I really should lay off teasing her so much.

Zzz—

Sipping slowly from a cup of "Celestial Happiness Tea," Chen Lin mulled over whether the Dessanu Consonance would differ from the one in the game. Maybe that initial friendliness wouldn’t be there. Maybe their civilization's ideology had shifted to something more extreme…

Not long after, a server brought in the dishes they’d ordered. One after another, until the final plate landed on the table—and still, no one had recognized them.

Fu Xuan quietly marveled at just how convenient this ability to distort others’ perception really was.

No rituals, no effort. Just a casual swipe across the face, and done.

They’d walked all the way from the Divination Commission to this restaurant in broad daylight, and everyone they passed simply treated them as random passersby. The only difference was the restaurant treated those passersby like customers—which wasn’t much of a leap anyway.

Chen Lin, clearly preoccupied, barely spoke during the meal.

Fu Xuan, bound by the etiquette of the Xianzhou, followed the tradition of not speaking while eating and remained perfectly silent.

As they neared the end of the meal and the dishes were almost completely cleared—

Fu Xuan delicately dabbed at the corner of her mouth and asked, "Dear brother… I heard you've been involved in some… significant affairs within Jarilo recently. Is something going on?"

Strictly speaking, this concerned Jarilo's internal affairs. Logically, Fu Xuan knew she shouldn’t be asking. But when she and Jing Yuan had arrived and paid a visit, they’d personally overheard high-ranking officials from the Qlipoth Fort submitting reports at the Governor's Mansion—proposals for how to downplay the consequences of violently suppressing protests and executing large numbers of civilians.

Suppression!

Executions!

There weren’t many who could reach the level of Qlipoth Fort. Those who did were surely aware of the weight behind every word. And some words simply shouldn’t be uttered by people in their position—at least not so bluntly.

Yet they had.

Not only said them, but committed them to paper. Filed them directly to Chen Lin!

But Jarilo was supposed to be stable. So why would the Governor’s Mansion and Qlipoth Fort jointly approve suppressing a protest? For that matter, who was even protesting? Who dared to?

After all, Jarilo was, at its core, an imperial monarchy. In theory, every citizen of the Starsea Empire was private property of the sovereign. The very fact that Jarilo allowed slavery made it clear that its monarch was far from benevolent.

Protests? Demonstrations? In most modern civilizations, that would be laughable enough—let alone pressuring the imperial government. Even in the Xianzhou, such acts would be swiftly dispersed by the Cloud Knights, monitored to oblivion, and leave not a single ripple behind.

The Xianzhou leadership didn't fear protest. Only feared having their names entered into the Register of Evil Officials. Short of that, no one gave a damn.

Still, these questions had gnawed at Fu Xuan’s mind like a feather brushing endlessly against her skin. She’d kept silent for a long time—but now, she couldn’t hold it in any longer.

She didn’t really expect Chen Lin to answer. She just… wanted to ask. Wanted to better understand the state of governance in Jarilo. And if possible, she wouldn’t mind offering a few suggestions.

At the very least, this kind of thing shouldn’t be happening in a land governed by her brother. He shouldn’t be squandering the trust the people placed in him—not like this.

There had to be better ways.

Chen Lin paused, visibly caught off guard. There was confusion in his eyes, as though wondering why Fu Xuan would suddenly bring this up.

Seeing how flustered she was, he couldn’t help but chuckle.

"A small matter," he said, brushing it off. "Just… helping future citizens weed out those unfit for survival ahead of time."

[Gene Ascension] could save the foolish. But not the brainless.

Fu Xuan let out a barely audible sigh. Just as she’d expected, he was brushing her off.

"Forget it," she said, her voice soft. "I won’t say more. I only want to remind you, dear brother, to consider the impact. Why put yourself out there to catch the brunt of the backlash?"

She worried that the public image her brother had built as a leader would shatter. She didn’t care about most things, but this mattered deeply to her.

Chen Lin said nothing, eyes drifting toward the endless sea of clouds in the distance, gaze gentle.

Then suddenly, Fu Xuan remembered something—something about how well she knew him. By all rights, he wouldn’t react so harshly to protests. If he’d chosen such a ruthless approach, it could only mean those protesters were not what they appeared to be.

They might not even be citizens of Jarilo at all.

Realizing this, Fu Xuan’s heart seized. She shrank back slightly, a look of guilt flashing across her face.

“I didn’t mean it like that… I’m sorry, dear brother…”

Chen Lin blinked. “Why are you apologizing, Fu-jie?”

Fu Xuan pursed her lips and lowered her head slightly.

"I wasn’t criticizing you earlier… truly!"

"I know. Fu-jie must be thinking that anyone who could push me to such extremes must be no ordinary citizen—possibly spies from outside, right?"

"...?!"

Fu Xuan hadn’t expected Chen Lin to read her thoughts so clearly—and to be almost spot on.

Chen Lin shook his head. "They’re all Jarilo natives. No sugarcoating it. Many of them didn’t deserve death—some even had long-term, thoughtful ideals. But I wanted the Praetorian Guard to execute them."

“What?”

Fu Xuan’s eyes widened—this was far worse than she’d imagined.

"The point was to make an example. Whoever steps out of line first gets the axe."

Chen Lin set down his milk tea with a faint smile. "Fu-jie, do you know what else they were demanding besides an end to the war?"

"What?"

"Equal rights for the Sterbians."

"……"

"They wanted me to strip the Sterbians of their ‘contract citizen’ status and grant them full citizenship. They demanded the Qlipoth Fort and the Governor’s Mansion treat all peoples under imperial rule equally. Most of them were highly educated—university types, elite scholars."

"This…"

Fu Xuan snuck a glance at him. Deep down, she thought the demand didn’t sound all that unreasonable. But her tone stayed calm as she asked softly, "And you believe there’s something wrong with that?"

"Oh, there’s plenty wrong."

Chen Lin walked to the window, letting the wind tousle his hair. His tone was weary. "The Jarilo Sector of the Empire is still young. Barely a newborn, really. Right now, some people here are rich in knowledge, steeped in culture. They know how to use that to fight for dignity for themselves..."

He paused.

"...But they lack empathy for others in more vulnerable positions. They want to fast-track this illusion of equality—force it into place—without realizing that for the newly integrated who haven’t awakened psychic abilities, this will be a disaster. Mentally. Physically. Socially."

"If I turn a blind eye, it’ll only escalate into open civil strife."

Ah... come to think of it, there’s been no word of the Sterbians awakening psychic abilities.

From what the embassies reported, Qlipoth Fort had been actively investing in supporting psychic education among the Sterbians. But unlike Jarilo-VI, which saw a sudden, near-universal psychic awakening, this process was far slower—something seemed to be holding it back.

Still, it made sense. Jarilo’s rapid psychic evolution had been unnerving enough. No one expected that kind of miracle to repeat itself.

Fu Xuan silently reflected. If there's one thing I’ve truly learned these past two years, it’s to never speak in absolutes—or I’ll end up eating my own words...

For a Diviner who lives to put on airs, being proven publicly wrong is worse than death!

"I’ve spent time in the Sterbian zone," Chen Lin continued. "Sometimes I visit personally. More often, I see through the eyes of our embedded agents—people who live among the locals, disguised as civilians. What the Sterbians need is stability, one solid step at a time. They need time to adapt."

"Dropping 'equal rights' on their heads like a pie from the sky would only knock them senseless."

"It looks like fairness, doesn’t it? But in truth, there’s nothing fair about it."

Fu Xuan furrowed her brow, slipping into deep thought.

"Back on Jarilo’s core world, there are many who are educated, who master science and technology. I respect their rigor in those fields. But when it comes to integrating other ethnicities into the broader collective, that rigor means little."

"What matters is understanding what these people really need—knowing how much pressure they can withstand. That’s what deserves careful thought.

"Besides, I’ve already made our war plans against the L-Gate public. Nobody objected then. Their lives haven’t changed. Everything’s running smoothly. And now, with victory reports pouring in from the front, they suddenly crawl out of the woodwork to preach pacifism and demand unconditional equality?"

"They're either stupid—or malicious."

Chen Lin said the final line slowly, word by word.

This was factional struggle—plain and simple. If he gave in to the demands of this peace-loving, hyper-equality faction, there’d be no end to their expectations.

Would the Klippe Palace still function? Would the frontline troops keep fighting? Would their grand civilizational strategy to survive the next catastrophe still proceed?

Today they demand peace during wartime. Tomorrow they'll stir up the masses to gut the military.

Utopias always breed idealists—and in times like this, idealism was a liability.

If someone wanted equality, Chen Lin might listen. But if someone demanded peace, Chen Lin would kill them. This time, he’d simply found a legitimate excuse to purge the peace-and-equality faction that had finally stuck a foot in the door.

He’d always hated being a one-man militarist surrounded by internal opposition pulling in the opposite direction.

Once, while playing at high speed, he hadn’t noticed that an extreme pacifist ideology had crept into his empire. By the time he realized, it had wormed its way into everything. He was so pissed, he rage-quit and started a new save.

Sure, some things in this world worked just like Stellaris UI theory—demographic shifts, infrastructure growth... but suppressing factions wasn’t as easy as clicking a button and watching it vanish.

He had to actually issue kill orders to the Praetorian Guard and the Special Task Office—otherwise the suppression wouldn’t stick. He’d tried the soft approach before. It never worked.

Struggle means bloodshed.

Ah, but those armchair idealists? They’d never bleed. The second they smelled danger, they’d renounce their values and beliefs on the spot, play the traitor, or just bolt.

In just a few months, he’d crushed the pacifist faction from 27% down to a pitiful fraction of a percent. Over 95% of them, after "serious reflection," had rejoined more acceptable camps—like authoritarianism or militarism.

Now that she thought about it, Fu Xuan couldn’t really find fault in his reasoning. Suddenly, it made sense why Chen Lin had chosen to kill over what seemed like a minor provocation.

It was like the Xianzhou Alliance cracking down on the Abundance faction—only for a group of Xianzhou citizens to show up protesting in the streets, chanting “Stop the violence!”

Would the Six Commissions just stand by and listen?

Not likely. They’d probably come down even harder than Chen Lin.

Fu Xuan exhaled.

"Very well. If this is part of your greater plan, I’ll say no more. Should you need anything, feel free to contact me anytime."

Chen Lin smiled. "Of course."

After settling the bill, the two strolled through the streets at Chen Lin’s suggestion, giving him a chance to observe the current state of Luofu.

Naturally, everything was in perfect order. Jing Yuan held the general strategic framework that he and Chen Lin had devised together—if anything had gone wrong under his command, that would’ve been the real anomaly.

Which meant the inspection effortlessly turned into a proper shopping trip.

For Fu Xuan—who usually didn’t go out unless she needed to buy something, and even then made it a grab-and-go situation—this was pure torment.

By the time they returned to the Divination Commission, it was already late at night.

As the head of one of the Six Commissions, Fu Xuan’s residence was far from the general lodging area. Just as Chen Lin was about to head off and gaze at the sea...

She caught his sleeve.

"Dear brother, it’s still early. Why don’t you come by my place and have a friendly game of chess?"

She said it so casually—but never gave him a chance to refuse. Before she even finished her sentence, she was already pulling him by the sleeve toward her quarters.

Chen Lin: “…”

---

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!