Is Unlocking the Stellaris Tech Tree in Star Rail Really Okay? [366]

In ground warfare—or even interstellar battles—the commander of an army can’t possibly monitor the combat status of every single unit at all times, let alone micromanage every soldier and weapon that's about to or already engaged in combat.

That is, unless you’re dealing with a hive mind.

Thus, it’s more effective to delegate some command authority to those in charge of individual combat units. Naturally, fleets adopt the same approach.

As commanders, Seele and the others usually only need to develop practical battle plans based on the strategic objectives provided by Chen Lin while taking current conditions into account. They step in personally only when it’s time to seize the key to victory during the heat of battle.

As the three-way war erupted into full chaos, Commander Fia was the first to establish a clear objective: hold the line and do not advance. All warships were ordered to cluster as tightly as possible to ensure mutual support.

They weren’t to engage any L-Drakes unless attacked. Even their patrol zones were strictly designated.

Yet despite all these precautions, the sheer number of L-Drakes still exerted heavy pressure on both fleets. Not because the ships were taking damage—Seele had already pulled the entire fleet into phase-space, only allowing them to briefly phase in when firing weapons.

No, the pressure came from how the drakes swarmed and darted through space, scattering the fleet’s firepower. Time and again, they’d maim a drake but fail to finish it off, helplessly watching it escape, severely wounded.

“Commander, Commander Fia wants to know how much longer we can maintain this cloaking mode. If it becomes unsustainable, she suggests a temporary strategic retreat.”

The adjutant, attending a projection meeting in the command room, turned to Seele—whose forehead was beaded with sweat—and asked with concern.

Maintaining a phase-space field required direct psychic input from the commander herself, consuming an immense amount of psionic energy. For an ordinary psionic user, their mindscape would’ve been drained dry the moment they activated it.

Clearly, this wasn’t a battle that could be wrapped up quickly. And with those distant fleets of unknown allegiance looming, blindly absorbing more pressure could easily backfire.

Fia’s concern about being stabbed in the back was entirely justified.

Still seated calmly with her eyes closed, Seele paused briefly before shaking her head without even opening them.

“The Governor just contacted me. He’s already ordered the Chief Guard to bring the Third Fleet to reinforce us. The battle line is not to retreat or contract.”

As First Fleet Commander, Seele knew proper decorum. During official duties—especially with outsiders present—she always referred to others by title, never giving anyone ammunition for gossip.

“...Understood.”

The adjutant visibly began to sweat. Outsiders might not understand the makeup of the Third Fleet, but high-ranking officers like her knew it all too well.

The Third Fleet was composed of 90% frigates and 10% destroyers. In the language of fleet doctrine, that meant a force made up almost entirely of support units—totally unsuited for large-scale direct engagements. They were more than adequate for patrols or harassment missions, but this battlefield? This wasn’t a stage where that kind of force could shift the tide.

The adjutant had been recruited by Seele herself from the military academy. Much like Seele’s past, her own psychic potential was average at best, but her grasp of military strategy was exceptional—and most importantly, she was fiercely loyal, a quality Seele valued above all.

An assistant didn’t need to be strong in every field. But loyalty? That was non-negotiable.

Unlike elite psionics like Seele, the adjutant was still in the process of learning and honing her skills. There were plenty of things she wasn’t cleared to know.

For instance, she had no idea what level the Third Fleet’s nominal commander—someone who always looked gentle and innocent, spoke in flowery pleasantries, and was inexplicably popular—actually operated on. All she knew was that the palace had someone called the Chief Guard.

Much of what she’d heard from the media sounded far too exaggerated, and she took it with a grain of salt. In her studies, she’d learned that public perception was a tool in itself, capable of boosting morale and strategic strength.

They said the Chief Guard had driven off the Lord Ravager on Sterbe—a claim that sounded wildly impressive—but since she had no concept of how powerful that entity actually was, it meant little to her. To her, it just sounded like someone who’d led troops to defeat some external foe. Nothing more.

Besides, when clearing out L-Drake remnants in recently seized systems, the Third Fleet’s performance had been middling at best. On several occasions, tactical missteps by their command had even caused serious damage to multiple ships.

This gave the adjutant the firm impression that the Chief Guard lacked any real military command ability, and that all those rumors were likely exaggerated tenfold by propaganda.

So when she heard the Third Fleet was being sent in as reinforcements, the reason for her cold sweat was easy to guess—she was already praying that they wouldn’t mess things up too badly. If they could just not cause trouble, that alone would be a massive contribution.

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll notify the Second Fleet Command immediately.”

Once the adjutant returned to her station, Seele slowly opened her eyes and sighed inwardly. A memory surfaced in her mind: Phantylia, beaming as she followed behind Seele, chirping out “Young Madam” every few steps, with that ever-smiling face that never seemed to show a hint of anger.

What a brilliant mask...

In all of Jarilo’s upper echelons, you could probably count on one hand the people who actually understood the strength hidden behind that smooth-talking, sweet-faced foxfolk Chief Guard.

In past combat drills, Phantylia had never even revealed her true form, yet managed to crush fleet after fleet. The soldiers only knew they’d been up against someone from the imperial core worlds—and they couldn’t stop talking about that powerful figure, cloaked in psionic winds, marveling at the Empire’s terrifying individual combat capabilities.

But only Seele knew the truth: that “enemy” they’d faced in the exercises was none other than the Chief Guard herself—the same delicate-looking woman who was constantly getting her ears pulled by Chen Lin.

After finding that out, Seele finally understood the meaning of don’t judge a book by its cover. Otherwise, one day you might witness something like this:

The frail, pitiful Chief Guard pulls out a little fan, smiles sweetly, murmurs something like, “Oh, I’m just a weak little lady,” and then—bam!—slaps an enemy into paste with a single hand.

That’s the kind of scene you’d expect in a horror story, right?

Before long, as Seele continued maintaining the phase-space field, the adjutant reported in again: the Third Fleet’s warp signature had been detected. The warships were expected to begin arriving at the battle coordinates within the next three minutes.

In the hollow expanse of the distant starlanes, faint lights began to shimmer.

And in the space of a breath, a cascade of brilliant light-trails unfurled across the void!

The light-trails were the result of friction between the warships’ shields and various particles during warp travel. At first, they appeared as faint, narrow streaks—but as the warp acceleration increased, they grew more radiant, more dazzling.

In an instant—

The vanguard of the Third Fleet arrived at the battlefield, and Seele, dragging her weary body, sent out a synchronous comm signal.

Immediately, that familiar smiling face appeared on the projection platform. Upon seeing the state Seele was in, the woman’s eyes flickered with a brief moment of surprise before her smile turned slightly troubled.

“Young Madam, wouldn’t you say the Lord is being far too unreasonable? I’m just a humble civil official—how could I possibly handle such a military operation? If this delays our response and costs us the battle, even if I lay down my life, I wouldn’t be able to shoulder the blame!”

Seele stood with her hands behind her back, ignoring Phantylia’s complaints, her face pale as she asked, “What… instructions did the Lord give you?”

There was no doubt who “the Lord” referred to—Chen Lin. Despite the sweet, familiar way Phantylia addressed him, she only obeyed his orders, and acted solely on his command.

Bronya couldn’t make her move. Seele herself certainly couldn’t either.

And as for whether Phantylia was truly afraid… well, the smile she’d worn when the call connected had already answered that.

Phantylia raised her folding fan to half-hide her face, her expression full of mock sorrow as she muttered, eyes downcast, “You know I’m just a placeholder, here to fill a quota. All I can really do is cower in a corner and cheer from the sidelines, no? Please, Young Madam, have mercy on this poor little fox~”

The adjutant standing nearby practically had the words “Just as I thought” written all over her face. Still, out of professional discipline, she didn’t show a hint of her thoughts, continuing to busy herself with compiling real-time combat reports and analyzing the data.

“……”

Seele didn’t reply. She simply watched in silence as the fox-eared girl on the screen put on her pitiful act.

Mid-performance, Phantylia’s eyes flicked across her surroundings—and her expression shifted. The sorrowful look gave way to a serene smile, one that radiated a calming reassurance.

“Buuuut, well, with this number of enemies going berserk, it is true that the fleet could suffer significant losses. I can see now why the Lord was so worried. So…”

“So?”

“So, I ask that everyone be patient for a moment—and make sure you’re mentally prepared.”

“I’m already prepared. Deputy Commander—pass down the order. All ships are to cease fire and remain in phase space. Also, send the Chief Guards message to the Second Fleet. Commander Fia will know what to do.”

The adjutant’s tall ears perked up when she heard this, instinctively thinking she’d misheard. But the clear command from her superior left no doubt, and her mind swirled with a thousand questions.

Had the Commander brought some kind of secret weapon from the Governor?

And then came Phantylia’s next line—one that nearly made the adjutant’s jaw hit the floor.

“Everyone, be sure to close your eyes, okay~? The next scene might be a little… unladylike. I recently received the Lord’s command to ‘preserve as much living strength as possible’…”

Phantylia’s crescent-shaped eyes opened just a sliver. Her tone, still soft and sweet, carried a bone-chilling edge.

“And so… this little lady is about to go on a rampage~!”

The moment her words landed, the transmission cut out.

Seele immediately cloaked the Third Fleet’s warships within the pre-prepared phase-space barrier.

Command headquarters’ orders were instantly relayed to each frontline unit. The ability to swiftly execute commands was essential to any competent military force. In an instant, the once-blazing starlit battlefield was extinguished—like a flame snuffed out with a pinch of fingers.

Once the adjutant confirmed all ships had complied, she was about to tentatively ask for clarification when something outside the observation window caught her attention: the darkened void was filling with a strange, misty haze—eerily similar to psionic energy.

The moment she recognized the sight, her mind went blank.

This time, Phantylia hadn’t bothered masking her actions from her own fleet’s sensors. Holding her open fan in one hand, she stepped out into the void, ripples of energy spreading beneath her feet. Her form was clearly visible to every ship in the fleet.

Everyone present—aside from the two commanders—was utterly stunned.

In their minds, Commander Seele could roam the stars alone because she was a unique psionic. But the low-profile Third Fleet commander? The Governor’s Chief Guard? How was she doing this?

Could she be a powerful psionic too…?

Phantylia calmly watched as the L-Drakes, each many times larger than herself, weaved through the dark. Back then, she too had thought that the larger one’s physical body, the better. But ever since she’d gained unrestricted access to the Ambrosial Arbor, her perspective had shifted.

Her colossal body had been refined down to a human scale. And within that seemingly limited shell, she now housed four distinct powers.

She had never relinquished the blessing of Destruction. When she fused with the body of the Arbor, she also inherited its boon of Abundance. One glance from that being had granted her the power of Elation. And now, her Lord had bestowed upon her the divine authority of psionic Spirit...

To be honest, Phantylia had never dreamed that something so wondrous would ever happen to her.

With a playful crouch, she stepped toward a massive L-Drake that hadn’t even noticed the “ant” approaching. Her stride was no more than a meter or so—but in the instant her foot touched down, she appeared directly beside the beast.

“My, what a violent smell. Let’s calm down a little, hmm~?”

Lowering the delicate finger pressed to her lips, she snapped shut the fan behind her back. Her right hand clenched as if grasping something unseen.

The massive L-Drake abruptly felt as though it had teleported—now surrounded by a completely different space. Even stranger, it sensed its own body had become much smaller?

Before it could process anything, two gigantic planets suddenly appeared on either side, pinning it in place. As they began hurtling toward each other, the drake flapped its wings frantically, trying to flee.

But no matter how hard it struggled, it couldn’t escape the crushing pull of gravity.

Boom~

At the exact moment the two planets collided, an odd sound echoed—no one knew where it came from. Agony from both crushing force and scorching heat flooded the drake’s mind and body.

But for the others watching, the scene had played out differently.

From their perspective, two enormous celestial bodies had materialized out of nowhere and slammed together, catching the L-Drake between them. The instant the impact was over, the two planets crumbled into stardust and vanished.

By the time the drake reappeared in its original space, it was battered from head to toe, grievously wounded—but not defeated.

The damage it had taken from that one strike was equivalent to being hit simultaneously from every angle by over twenty particle beam cannons. Unfortunately, while Phantylia’s attack packed a punch, it lacked penetrating force. The drake’s nano-scale scales had absorbed just enough of the impact to keep it from being obliterated on the spot.

Phantylia blinked in mild surprise.

This thing’s way tougher than I expected…

Meanwhile, eyes quietly clinging to the hull of a science vessel—now pulled into phase space—were also watching with interest. But rather than shock, their gaze brimmed with curiosity.

“Huh? What kind of new tech is that? It might not be as fun as quasi-stellar meteoric weaponry, but as a solo combat unit, that’s pretty damn impressive~”

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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!