Is Unlocking the Stellaris Tech Tree in Star Rail Really Okay? [118]

The moment Chen Lin’s fingers touched the anchor and he chose his destination, a peculiar sense of familiarity washed over him.

It felt as if his feet had slipped into thin air. A blinding white light flooded his vision, making it impossible to open his eyes—much like when he was back in college, sleeping on the upper bunk, only to have his roommate below suddenly use a flashbang in a game, lighting up their pitch-dark dormitory.

Isn’t this exactly how I inexplicably ended up at the Herta Space Station the last time?!

Before Chen Lin could fully register his surprise, he started to fall. But unlike before, he was now much more adept at controlling his body, even if he still wasn’t particularly skilled in combat.

Without the benefit of sight, he managed to stabilize himself mid-air and landed with a loud thud.

“Ahh!! Mr. Chen?!”

A startled yet familiar voice reached his ears, though the shock quickly gave way to joy.

Since the Doomsday Beast incident, the Herta Space Station had developed a fan club called the “Mr. Chen Lin Support Association.” Its members were all devoted fans of Chen Lin, making it the third group—after Asta and Herta—to receive an almost unanimous positive reception.

Once his vision returned, Chen Lin realized he had indeed arrived at the Herta Space Station. Standing before him was a young woman who looked vaguely familiar—wasn’t she the one who had once gifted him an item meant for her boyfriend?

I wonder how her boyfriend’s doing now? Still eating instant noodles and trying to win her back with gifts, I hope.

“Long time no see,” Chen Lin said sheepishly, helping the girl up. “Is Asta around?”

The girl, clearly ecstatic, allowed him to pull her to her feet, her face beaming. “I’ll report to the supervisor right away, Mr. Chen. Please wait a moment!”

As she turned to leave, she quickly pulled a glove from her pocket and slipped it over the hand he had just touched. Whispering to herself, she mumbled, “Mr. Chen shook my hand. I’m never washing it again.”

Chen Lin: “...?”

Kid, there’s no need to be this extreme…

He resisted the urge to ask whether she was part of some idol fan culture and watched her leave the room.

Only then did Chen Lin notice something strange: there was no zone anchor nearby. Instead, he was in a cluttered room filled with stacks of random parts and components piled haphazardly.

“This is weird. Dan Heng and March both said you always appear near a zone anchor after using one. Why is it different for me?” Chen Lin muttered, confused.

What kind of backwater, nowhere place is this?!

Surveying the room, he found a peculiar sight tucked in one corner—a toilet surrounded by a chaotic jumble of spare parts.

“Pretty sure the space station’s bathrooms weren’t designed to look this... unconventional,” Chen Lin remarked, scratching his head.

There were no curtains for privacy, nor any walls to separate the toilet from the rest of the room. If anyone used it, they’d be fully visible to anyone passing by.

This is insane!

“What’s this?” He noticed a note stuck to the side of the toilet and picked it up. “Unauthorized use of the toilet or flushing the button may result in consequences this department will not be held accountable for.”

Reading the note only fueled his curiosity.

With a mischievous grin, Chen Lin placed the note back and sat down. Ignoring the warning, he pressed the flush button.

In an instant, he felt a bizarre suction beneath him—not a physical pull, but a collapse of some unseen energy that even seemed to resonate with the psionics within him.

“Crap!”

Realizing he might have gone too far, Chen Lin activated his psionics, propelling himself upward. But it was too late.

He was swept into an invisible tunnel, hurtling through the station at breakneck speed. The world around him turned into a surreal negative of deep shadows and distorted light. He passed through several staff members, their forms flickering like ghosts, though none seemed aware of his presence.

The psionic propulsion from earlier had altered the tunnel’s trajectory, accelerating his already chaotic ride. The violent jolts and sharp turns were far more intense than any water park slide he had ever experienced.

By the time dizziness began to set in, the tunnel suddenly shattered. Color returned to his vision, and Chen Lin found himself hurtling straight toward Asta, who was striding quickly through the halls with her clipboard.

In her stunned expression, Chen Lin collided with her head-on.

“Eek!”

Fortunately, Chen Lin still had enough sense to activate a psionic barrier just before impact. A soft, purple glow enveloped them, cushioning the collision.

The two tumbled several times across the ground before coming to a stop, drawing the attention of nearby staff. Curious onlookers began to gather, snapping photos of the spectacle with their phones.

Thanks to the barrier, neither of them was hurt. Asta, however, seemed utterly shocked, frozen in place until Chen Lin gently shook her.

Finally snapping out of her daze, she heard him mutter: “Asta, your space station’s toilets are something else.”

---

In Asta’s office, Chen Lin sat casually with a drink in hand, explaining the sequence of events that led him to her.

When Asta heard that Chen Lin had ended up in a quasi-phase space because of a malfunctioning toilet, she gave a half-hearted nod.

“That device was just a prototype,” she said thoughtfully. “But you should’ve been teleported to a fixed location. How did you get thrown out mid-way? …Forget it. I’ll have someone seal up those units later. Quite a few staff members have triggered them by accident already.”

Accident? Chen Lin rolled his eyes. No way. They definitely did it on purpose. Without that warning note, probably no one would have even triggered it.

“I don’t understand it, but I’m thoroughly impressed.”

Chen Lin wore an exasperated expression. “For a moment there, I really thought I was going to die.”

“I was the one scared to death!” Asta said, patting her chest in relief. “When I heard you were back on the station, I was surprised you showed up so far away. I was heading over to find you, but instead, you suddenly appeared in my face! Oh, that faintly translucent barrier—did you make it?”

“Spot on.” Chen Lin snapped his fingers. In Asta’s astonished gaze, every object in the room began to levitate. “Pretty cool, huh? Psionics.”

“That’s incredible!”

Asta looked down at her chair as it gently returned to the floor. She exclaimed, “By the way, how’s your expedition progressing?”

“Glad you asked!” Chen Lin perked up. “I ate the Stellaron. Gotta say, it didn’t taste half bad.”

“Wait, what?”

Under Asta’s curious gaze, Chen Lin began recounting their adventure: the train’s sudden stop due to interference, the discovery of Stellaron activity on Jarilo-VI, and their subsequent investigation of Belobog.

He described the Silvermane Guards, Qlipoth Fort, the Supreme Guardian, and the Wildfire faction.

His storytelling skills, reminiscent of an engaging narrator, captivated Asta, who rarely ventured outside the station. She was entirely drawn into the tale, her emotions rising and falling with the events.

When she heard about the Trailblazers being hunted by Belobog’s entire city, her eyes filled with worry. But when he mentioned the Underworld rallying under his guidance to defy the oppressive Overworld, her fists clenched in righteous anger.

“That Supreme Guardian was so ungrateful! But her daughter Bronya sounds wonderful—just and appreciative.”

Chen Lin finished by explaining how he defeated the corrupted leader, drained the Stellaron of its energy, and even repurposed its shell into a psionic energy container.

“Today, Belobog held a coronation ceremony. Bronya successfully ascended, signed the unification agreement with me, and pledged allegiance.”

Seeing the eagerness on Asta’s face, Chen Lin delivered the punchline: “So now, Jarilo-VI is mine.”

“That’s amazing…”

Asta’s mouth fell slightly open in awe, her earlier frustrations forgotten. Truthfully, she hadn’t been upset—just a little embarrassed by her earlier blunder. Now, her attention was fully captivated by Chen Lin’s exploits.

“When I’m done with my current tasks, can I visit the planet?”

“You’re more than welcome.”

Chen Lin pulled out a file from his bag and handed it to Asta. “This is a report from my research ship on the celestial bodies in Jarilo’s star system. We’ve found some intriguing phenomena over the past few days, with more discoveries likely to come. I figured you’d be interested in this sort of thing. Here, it’s a little gift to kill time with—I hope you don’t mind.”

“How could I?!” Asta hugged the folder like a treasure. “You’re so busy, yet you still remembered to bring me a gift. Meanwhile, I didn’t prepare anything for you…”

“Come on, no need to be formal. We’re good friends, aren’t we?”

“No, it won’t do. Next time, I’ll make sure to have something prepared for you.”

Asta glanced down at the folder in her arms, her eyes lighting up. “By the way, Chen Lin, you’ve been out of touch with the wider galaxy for so long—you probably don’t know. There’s this planet called Lamata where they’ve discovered strange little bugs. The native inhabitants have a symbiotic relationship with these insects, which greatly enhance their intelligence…”

Once she got started, Asta couldn’t stop talking. She rarely had anyone to share her thoughts with, and Chen Lin—who not only braved danger but also brought her gifts—was the perfect listener.

Before meeting Chen Lin, Asta often felt that people only cared about her wealth and status. Loaned money was never repaid, and insincerity was written all over their faces. But Chen Lin was different. Even after learning about her background, he treated her the same.

As Asta spoke, her excitement grew. Chen Lin listened attentively, sipping his drink, genuinely intrigued by her updates on the galaxy. From small-scale colonial revolts to groundbreaking new technologies, Asta’s knowledge seemed endless.

At some point, Asta moved from her seat across the table to sit beside Chen Lin. Somewhere in the middle of their conversation, she fell asleep.

“Hey, wake up, little miss billionaire.”

No matter how much Chen Lin tried, Asta didn’t stir. The dark circles under her eyes betrayed how much she’d been overworking.

With no other choice, Chen Lin asked the staff outside her office where she usually rested. Learning that her room was right next door, he carefully carried the sleeping girl into her bedroom, laid her on the bed, and tucked her in.

As he stepped out of her room, Chen Lin glanced at his phone, noting the lack of a response from Herta. He decided to find someone familiar to deliver the Psionic Theories to her.

Just then, a nearby rest pod hissed, releasing a plume of steam. The metallic doors creaked open, and a doll-like figure stepped out, her face full of resentment as she locked eyes with him.

“You finally decided to come back? I thought you were never returning—never even messaging me again… I was this close to cracking the psionic energy framework! Just one step away!”

Her voice was so pitiful that anyone overhearing might think Chen Lin was a scoundrel who had abandoned her for months.

“Not welcome, huh? Guess I’ll leave.”

Chen Lin knew better than to show weakness to Herta. He turned and started walking toward the central anchor point.

Before he could take more than a step, Herta grabbed his wrist.

“You ghosted me for four months and 24 days. You owe me 144 chapters. Hand over the book.”

“Why should I? I already repaid the favor you owed me.” Without looking back, Chen Lin kept walking, dragging the doll-like Herta several meters before she let out a dramatic cry.

“It’s me who owes you!” Herta grit her teeth.

Chen Lin stopped in his tracks. “Ms. Herta, is that how you ask for something?”

No ulterior motives—Chen Lin just wanted to hear her call him “teacher.” He figured that once she got used to it, he could leverage that for favors in the future.

To his shock, Herta immediately turned toward the nearby staff and shouted:

“Daddy! Please, I’m begging you! Just give it to me, and I’ll agree to anything!”

The staff: “!!!”

Chen Lin’s face twitched violently.

He had completely forgotten one crucial thing—Herta had no concept of shame.

---

T/N: D-Daddy?!

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!