Is Unlocking the Stellaris Tech Tree in Star Rail Really Okay? [122]

Overnight, a dense, visible psionic energy engulfed the skies above Jarilo-VI, flowing in from all directions.

The people on the planet remained unaware, deep in their post-celebration slumber. After the grand festivities, a flood of vacant jobs emerged, and many residents, tempted by generous wages, eagerly took on double or even triple shifts.

Not only did this allow them to amass significant savings, but it also dramatically improved their families’ living conditions.

While the populace remained oblivious, the psionic energy, like playful sprites, began surging into their minds in torrents of varying intensity, dictated by the strength of their individual mental capacities.

Suddenly, anomalies erupted across Jarilo-VI. Radiant halos and tremendous energy fluctuations spread instantaneously throughout the universe.

On the Astral Express, the violent surge naturally triggered alarms. Initially, the crew thought the train itself had encountered trouble during transit. Even Dan Heng, who rarely left his quarters, emerged from his room to appear in the main hall.

But they soon heard Pom-Pom report that the disturbance originated from a room in the rear carriages. Almost everyone immediately realized—wasn’t that Chen Lin’s room?

“I’m going to check!” Stelle’s feet moved faster than their words, bolting toward the rear carriages before finishing their sentence.

March 7th followed in hot pursuit, shouting, “Wait for me!”

Dan Heng, silent as ever, broke into a jog as well. The main hall was left momentarily quiet, with only Himeko and Welt exchanging glances before nodding in understanding.

Before long, the two of them joined the group already gathered outside Chen Lin’s room.

“Uncle Yang, look inside! Chen Lin is floating!” March 7th exclaimed in a panicked tone.

“What?!” Welt stepped forward, halting Stelle mid-charge into the room. His brow furrowed. “Don’t go in yet. That energy is incredibly volatile. Entering recklessly might cause him to misinterpret us as a threat.”

“This is…”

Himeko’s eyes fixed on the room, which emitted a dense, radiant violet light. At its center, a figure hovered—Chen Lin. Sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed and arms slightly extended, he seemed to absorb the cascading purple energy into a vortex around him.

The hem of his casual clothes fluttered unnaturally, as though caught in an upward gust. His longer strands of hair swayed as if blasted by a fan from below, lending an eerie aura to the scene.

Objects in the room floated and swirled through the air chaotically, scattering in every direction.

Welt reached out experimentally, trying to push his hand into the room, only to discover that a barrier of violet energy enveloped the entire space. To enter, they would have to forcibly break through the barrier, which looked overwhelmingly dense and impenetrable.

“Let’s leave it for now.” Welt closed the door, pausing to think. “This is likely the power awakening Chen Lin mentioned. He probably isn’t even aware of our presence. And unless we employ drastic measures, there’s no way to get inside.”

Hearing this, March 7th chimed in, “Oh! It’s just like in those movies where the hero unleashes their inner cosmos during a fight with the villain, right?”

“Don’t worry. Chen Lin will be fine. In fact, we should be cheering for him,” Himeko said, resting a comforting hand on Stelle’s shoulder. “Chen Lin told me and Uncle Yang that his awakening might cause a commotion, but he promised to prepare as best he could to minimize the impact on us.”

“I don’t sense any danger either. He seems stable,” Dan Heng added with his arms crossed. “His expression is calm, and he’s clearly in control—no different from usual.”

“We don’t know how long it’ll last, though,” Himeko concluded. “All we can do is wish him success and avoid disturbing him in the meantime.”

Welt nodded. “Exactly. From my limited study of energy patterns, this energy may look chaotic, but it’s being absorbed into Chen Lin without any harmful effects. Conversely, it resists any attempts to enter—when I touched the barrier, it actively pushed me away.”

“Alright…” Stelle slumped their shoulders in disappointment. “Chen Lin promised to relax with me today.”

“Wait, what?!” March 7th gasped. “When did this happen?”

“It’s a secret. I was planning to sneak in and give him a little lick while he was napping, but I guess not today.”

“You’re a pervert!”

“Yep. Chen Lin smells amazing.”

“You actually admitted it?!”

Stelle, completely serious, replied, “Of course. Chen Lin even praises my thick skin.”

“Unbelievable. You’re proud of that?!” March’s face was a mix of disbelief and exasperation.

Despite their reassurances that Chen Lin wouldn’t be harmed, Welt and Himeko still decided to check on him periodically. If anything did go wrong, they’d be ready to intervene.

Naturally, Chen Lin, deep in his awakened state, was unaware of the commotion he had caused. Instead, he found himself immersed in a long, vivid dream.

In it, he relived his entire life—from birth through kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, high school, and even university.

Carrying all his memories, he lived another life. Complex problems that would stump his peers for days became solvable in moments with little effort.

Chen Lin knew these events were drawn from his memories, and he wasn’t actually back on Earth. It was all an illusion.

As time passed, the dreamscape grew increasingly detailed, as if patches were being applied to fix and complete it, creating an entirely new if world. Yet, Chen Lin remained acutely aware that it was all an illusion. He continued searching through the vastness of space for his way home.

With a go-with-the-flow attitude, Chen Lin approached the unfolding events with calm understanding, altering the trajectory of many past outcomes, even improving his family’s financial situation.

But one question lingered: Can I truly change something that matters?

The setting shifted to the second semester of his first year at university. It was summer, yet the weather was erratic, swinging between unseasonal heat and cold.

That morning, the sun blazed down, turning the campus into a furnace. Thinking little of it, Chen Lin threw on a thin shirt and went to class. After enduring a packed schedule of biochemistry and cellular biology lectures in the morning, he attended an elective PE class in the afternoon before heading to pick up his girlfriend, who was preparing for her university entrance exams at a nearby institute.

They had been together for eight years, having met in elementary school. She was a few months younger and had missed the enrollment deadline, placing her a grade behind him.

Their friendship began in a less-than-ordinary way. At the time, their elementary school was often frequented by petty troublemakers—dropouts or delinquent middle schoolers who loitered around, intimidating younger kids for pocket money.

Chen Lin himself wasn’t all that different back then. His days were spent either fighting or heading off to fight. His charm and adaptability earned him the favor of many local gang members.

It was during one of these encounters, when she was cornered and harassed, that Chen Lin stepped in and changed the course of their lives.

Of course, that was just a coincidence. The real reason Chen Lin intervened was that the group harassing her had already been on his bad side, and he simply wanted an excuse to fight them. Unexpectedly, it led to something that changed the trajectory of his life—not only encouraging him to take his studies seriously but also leaving him with a shadow of despair that lingered throughout his life.

2:00 PM

When Chen Lin woke up from a nap, his entire body felt weak, as if his head was being yanked apart by invisible strings tugging at his nerves. The pain was excruciating.

“Hey, Old Chen, time for Sanda class!”

His roommate, who had also signed up for the martial arts elective, pulled aside the blackout curtain on Chen Lin's bed, urging him to hurry up.

“I’m not feeling well, Old Tan. You go ahead. I’ll call Ms. Bai to request a leave.”

“Are you serious? Let me check… Damn, you’re burning up! You’ve got a fever. I’ll skip class and take you to the hospital for an IV drip.”

“No need, no need. I’ve got plans at four, so there’s no time for IVs. Some meds will do. The finals are coming up, and you’ve already skipped too many classes. Go, or you’ll end up failing.”

After much persuasion, his roommate finally left.

The real reason Chen Lin didn’t want to go to the hospital was that he vividly remembered this scene and what would happen afterward. The only difference was that, in his original life, the issue had been a fractured leg during Sanda class, whereas now it was a fever.

Back then, his broken leg had landed him in the hospital, preventing him from attending his girlfriend’s last review session at her cram school, which led to a cascade of unforeseen events.

The incident left him deeply disillusioned about relationships. Before he transmigrated, Chen Lin approached romantic connections with extreme cynicism.

Why bother with romance? Just be friends. At most, treat it like a brotherly bond.

From the incident to his eventual transmigration, seven years had passed. At nearly 27 years old, he still couldn’t muster any feelings of attraction toward the opposite sex.

But now, he wanted to see if, by planning ahead and making changes, he could avoid the disaster that had left him so scarred.

After taking some medication and resting for a couple of hours, Chen Lin felt his headache subside slightly. He followed through with his plans, picking up his girlfriend from her cram school and accompanying her to the celebratory banquet organized by the institution.

A few days earlier, her college entrance exam results had been released, and she had performed spectacularly, ranking at the very top of this elite provincial training program. She truly deserved the praise for her diligence in retaking the exam.

To celebrate her achievement, Chen Lin had once spent his entire savings from part-time jobs on the most expensive meal of his life—a dinner that cost nearly 30,000 yuan.

This time, while the restaurant and expenses remained unchanged, the meal no longer carried the same weight for him.

Half a year ago, she had casually mentioned that a teacher from her institution was pursuing her—a postgraduate student from a prestigious university working at the cram school as part of his internship.

At the time, she had dismissed the teacher with disdain, often mocking his antics to Chen Lin. This had raised red flags for him, prompting him to pick her up from class whenever he had free time.

After the banquet, she suddenly said she wanted to talk. Chen Lin knew what was coming.

In the past, she had described their relationship as a mistake born of youthful immaturity. While she cherished the memories, she believed it was time for Chen Lin to focus on studying, earning money, and building a financially stable future with someone else.

Under Chen Lin’s desperate questioning, she had admitted that she had changed after seeing the stark contrast between him and the teacher pursuing her.

He has a car, money, connections, and can even help me with recommendations for graduate school. What do you have?

This time, however, Chen Lin simply listened to her calmly. She mentioned that she had enrolled at the teacher’s university and handed him a marriage certificate, her face beaming with happiness.

In the past, her words had been harsher: He has wealth, connections, and stability. Here’s our marriage certificate. Have a nice life.

Years later, through mutual acquaintances, Chen Lin learned that she had graduated, found a job to support herself and her child, and that the man had long since disappeared from her life.

Chen Lin could have warned her or even prevented this outcome, but he didn’t bother.

Adults should take responsibility for their actions.

There was no need to tell her anything. Their connection was severed, and she would no longer be a part of his life.

Chen Lin had gone along with it this far only to see if he could truly change the outcome.

It seemed he couldn’t.

“Well, if you’re happy, that’s all that matters.”

He glanced at the red marriage certificate, feeling no anger or despair this time—just a faint sense of futility.

Chen Lin realized that effort and preparation had no bearing on this situation. Her excuses were merely convenient fabrications, custom-tailored for the moment.

In the end, nothing changes. All my precautions and efforts were just a joke.

People are living, breathing beings, and their words are equally flexible, shaped by circumstance.

Watching her walk away, Chen Lin knew she would soon delete all contact information and block his number.

His experience could be summarized by a now-popular online phrase: The first sword upon making it ashore cuts the one who loved you most.

Perhaps it was his fate to encounter abstract people and abstract events, leading to abstract pains he couldn’t let go of.

If I could change reality, I’d pry open that man’s mouth and ask what tricks he used to steal my girlfriend of eight years. How could my years of love and care lose to a few months of empty promises? Ridiculous.

If I could change reality, I’d summon a neutron torrent right here to show everyone how blind I truly was.

If…

As Chen Lin spiraled into these thoughts, the blazing sun overhead was suddenly obscured by an enormous shadow.

And then, the neutron torrent actually came.

Darkness enveloped his vision. When Chen Lin opened his eyes again, the familiar cityscape was gone. He was back in his room aboard the Astral Express, slowly descending onto his disheveled bed.

It was as though the universe had answered his internal frustrations. The once-calm psionic energy around him surged violently into his body, radically transforming his psionic attributes.

Awakened from his dream, Chen Lin sensed that the psionic energy within him had undergone a qualitative shift.

Previously, his psionic energy had been vast, like an ocean of gas. But now, it had taken on a liquid form, becoming more concentrated and tangible.

As the memories of his dream and the theoretical principles of psionic energy came flooding back, Chen Lin realized that his awakening wasn’t just significant—it was monumental. His power had advanced far beyond expectations.

Being a psionic scholar himself, he quickly deduced the extent of his newfound abilities.

No longer was he limited to basic probing of his surroundings, forming telepathic links, or manipulating objects. Gone were the days of using psionic constructs for menial tasks.

His energy had evolved to the point where he could tap into the memories of living beings—possibly even...

Chen Lin closed his eyes and imagined. A moment later, the glass on the floor transformed into fragments of quartz and limestone.

He could now modify the material world to a certain extent.

Just as he prepared to test the limits of his abilities, a lethargic voice sounded from the corner of his room.

“You’ve been playing for so long. Haven’t you had enough?”

Chen Lin: "?"

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T/N: No wonder he's so unaffected by the women around him :( hopefully someone heals him!

also Sanda classes is basically boxing classes, just like chinese kickboxing? I think

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!