Is Unlocking the Stellaris Tech Tree in Star Rail Really Okay? [240]

The vast expanse of space stretched endlessly, dotted with faintly flickering stars.

Dim and distant, they did little to pierce the overwhelming darkness—more a symbol of isolation than of light.

Deep within an asteroid belt, an abandoned armed merchant ship drifted along its perilous course.

Its outdated hull, though antiquated in design, was encased in a series of energy barriers.

Even if it collided with stray asteroids, the barriers would effortlessly repel them, ensuring the ship’s continued safety.

Inside the vessel, the contrast was stark.

The interior was vibrant, illuminated by flashing neon lights in a dazzling array of colors.

Countless holographic projections—ranging from floating cities to entire rotating planets—drifted lazily in the air.

A small army of robots bustled about.

Some cleaned the corridors.

Others tinkered with synthesizers, using stored elemental data to fabricate an assortment of organic compounds.

More still transported these compounds to processing stations for further refinement.

Despite the futuristic, cybernetic atmosphere, the presence of these machines did not seem out of place.

If anything, they blended in perfectly.

One such robotic butler, clad in a sleek uniform, carefully carried a silver tray into the depths of the ship.

Stopping before a large capsule, it gently set the tray down before the sealed chamber.

Raising its mechanical arm, a built-in communication device pulsed with a soft glow as it transmitted a brief message.

A few seconds later, a response was received.

With that, the robot bowed slightly, then turned and departed.

A long silence followed.

Then—

A furious roar exploded from within the capsule.

“What the hell was that?!”

“I lose one match, and you dare say I’m a sore loser?! KDA 7 makes you think you’re hot shit?! Mine’s 921, you scrub—”

“…Huh?! ‘Box players’ aren’t allowed in this game? The company doesn’t permit it?! The company can kiss my ass! I’ve banned hundreds of their admins before—you can enjoy a nice vacation in the shadow realm, too!”

BANG!

A violent crash echoed through the room, followed by a rapid series of clattering noises.

Then—

Silence.

A few moments later, the capsule door slowly slid open.

A dazed, ethereal-looking girl stumbled out, rubbing her eyes.

Grabbing the tray of drinks left at the entrance, she sluggishly dragged it back inside before shutting the door again.

She flopped onto the oversized floor bed, arms sprawled across a mess of tangled blankets.

With one hand, she snatched up a bottle of carbonated soda from the tray.

Gulp, gulp, gulp…

She downed half the drink in one go.

Then—

She slammed the bottle down.

“Ugh… I’m so pissed!”

“I need to record a rage video and send it straight to that clown’s inbox.”

She grabbed a nearby plushie headpiece, slapped it onto her head, and activated a hovering camera from the ceiling.

The lens adjusted, locking onto her figure.

Taking a deep breath, she launched into her rant.

“Somebody lost their account today! Not saying who, but…

“Here’s the deal—if you suck, just practice. If you can’t handle losing, don’t play.

“Listen, back in the day, things were different. But now? Now we got corporate clowns trying to gatekeep the game—"

Halfway through, she abruptly lost interest.

Even mocking people in a recording felt pointless.

Sighing heavily, she shut off the camera and collapsed motionless onto the bed.

Her eyes were dull, blank, empty.

A lifeless stare.

Like a soulless husk of a gamer who had just been forced to touch grass.

This place was one of her many secret hideouts—a long-abandoned merchant vessel from thousands of years ago.

She had stumbled upon it by chance, restored the hibernating maintenance bots, and upgraded its systems to suit her needs.

And just like that—

It became her personal sanctuary.

A few months ago, after risking her life to buy a full set of games from Pierpoint, she had immediately fled to this hidden corner of the universe.

She had barely begun enjoying her new collection when—

Bam!

A mission order.

Elio had given her a task:

She was to infiltrate and disrupt Jarilo-VI’s network infrastructure—but only to the extent of causing temporary paralysis.

More severe damage was strictly forbidden.

When she asked for further instructions, Elio simply replied:

"Figure it out yourself."

“…Damn, this is too easy.”

She hadn’t thought twice about it.

Jarilo-VI was nothing to her.

The only reason she had ever been intimidated was because of Chen Lin—the guy with the mystery box weapon.

But an underdeveloped planet, still recovering from recent warfare?

Hah.

Like they had the tech to defend against her.

So, she wrote up a few scripts, launched some automated attacks, and…

Went back to gaming.

Newly networked planets were always easy targets.

Even low-level script kiddies could crash their systems.

For her—the infamous Silver Wolf, a hacker feared across every major system in the universe—this wasn’t even a challenge.

Galactic Peace Corporation?

Yeah, I’ve waltzed through their servers like it was my own damn house.

She had no clue why Elio assigned her such a low-tier mission.

But since it was an order, she had no choice but to follow through.

And, as expected—

Jarilo-VI’s local networks crumbled instantly.

Not only couldn’t they trace her…

They couldn’t even fight back.

At first, she barely paid attention to her own attacks.

She only checked in occasionally, whenever she got bored of gaming.

But then—

She noticed something strange.

Her malware had been neutralized.

Her scripts had stopped running.

After investigating, she found the cause—

Someone had rewritten Jarilo-VI’s firewall.

And the new defensive measures were designed specifically to counter her attacks.

But come on.

Did she look like someone who’d give up that easily?

She made minor adjustments to her tools.

Within moments, Jarilo-VI’s network collapsed again.

But this time—

They recovered within two days.

Oh? You wanna play this game?

Fine.

She improved her hacking tools.

They upgraded their defenses.

She attacked again.

They repaired the damage even faster.

Before she knew it—

Her "casual mission" had turned into a full-on cyberwar.

And her opponent?

Not human engineers.

Not a team of professionals.

But a single old-school AI—

Svarog.

Silver Wolf’s hands clenched into fists.

Lying in bed, she stared at her palm, whispering,

“It’s gotta be him.”

“That bastard must’ve been helping from the shadows.”

“…Otherwise, I would’ve won easily.”

She still couldn’t figure out how Chen Lin had tracked her down so quickly.

Even corporate giants needed time to locate her.

She had never been caught this fast.

The thought haunted her.

Her fingers twitched.

Her accounts, her passwords—exposed.

At some point, her exhaustion finally won out.

She drifted into sleep.

And as she slept—

She dreamed.

A dream that was long, long, long…

In her dream, she had finally won.

Every personal leaderboard in every game across the universe had her name at the top.

She had utterly crushed every opponent.

The entire galactic gaming scene had bowed before her.

Even her longtime rival, Screwllum, had admitted defeat—humbly acknowledging that he would never surpass her.

At last, Silver Wolf had become the undisputed champion.

The Hacker Emperor.

A living legend.

Just as she was basking in her triumph, a message popped up on her screen.

[Silver Wolf, you’re gaming again in Pierpoint, Cangwu Avenue, Neosteel Residential Zone, F402 Block C, Apartment 701, huh?]
[Wouldn’t it be more fun to hack a few corporate accounts instead?]
[Oh, by the way, didn’t you just pick up a package? Tracking number BX19274…]
[Think carefully. You wouldn’t want the company to catch you, right? Now, log in and let me wipe you off the leaderboards.]

“AAAHHHHHHH—!!!”

Silver Wolf woke up with a scream.

She was drenched in sweat, her body exhausted, limbs weak.

Turning her head, she checked the time.

She had been asleep for three days straight.

Collapsing back onto the bed, she curled into a tight ball.

Her teeth dug into her thumbnail, her small frame trembling in frustration.

“Even in my dreams, he’s still messing with me…”

“This is too much… way too much!!”

Ding.

Her communicator flashed.

A message request—from Elio.

Silver Wolf wiped her eyes, took a deep breath, and accepted the call.

“…What?”

Her voice was weak, unenthusiastic.

“What do you want?”

The voice on the other end was heavily processed, completely devoid of emotion.

“You done crying?”

“…Excuse me?”

“No—what I meant was, Silver Wolf, you have a new mission.

“It involves Jarilo-VI. And Chen Lin.”

At first, she had almost ended the call right there.

But the moment she heard that name—

Her energy returned instantly.

“Oh? What kind of involvement?”

“Does it mean I get to watch that bastard suffer?”

“If that’s how you want to see it, sure.”

“I’M IN.”

She immediately accepted the mission, her previous gloominess vanishing on the spot.

On the other end, Elio chuckled.

“This time, there’s no script.

“Just a set of conditions.

“Once you meet them, you can do whatever you want.”

Silver Wolf’s excitement froze.

“…Again?”

She groaned.

“No script? Elio, are you getting lazy?”

She sighed.

“Fine, whatever. Who else is on this job?”

“Kafka will be assisting you.

“But she’ll stay in the shadows.

“She has her own script—which is different from yours.

“So don’t bother asking her for details.

“She won’t tell you.”

Silver Wolf scratched her cheek.

She got up from the bed and tossed her cold, untouched food onto a conveyor belt, letting the automated system dispose of it.

In return, a freshly baked piece of bread arrived in its place.

She grabbed it absently.

“…Any special instructions?”

“Just one.”

Elio’s voice was calm, almost amused.

“Stay alive.”

Plop.

The bread slipped from her hands and hit the floor.

Her face froze in shock.

“Wait… Kafka’s involved, too?”

Her pupils shrank.

She swallowed.

“You’re not asking me to—”

“Relax.

“We’re not telling you to stage a coup or start a rebellion on Jarilo-VI.”

Elio sounded almost bored.

“Besides—”

“Do you really think you’d be capable of that?”

Silver Wolf puffed out her cheeks in frustration.

“Hey! That’s—”

“Anyway.”

Elio cut her off.

“One more thing.

“Once you arrive, we won’t be contacting you again.

“The only person who will reach out to you…

“…is Kafka.”

“That’s fine.”

Silver Wolf picked up the fallen bread and took a small bite.

“So, what do I have to do?”

Elio chuckled again.

Then, after a long pause, he finally answered—

“It’s simple.

“Find a job in the Belobog government.

“The higher the position, the better.”

Plop.

The bread dropped from her hands again.

This time, she didn’t bother picking it up.

She simply stared at her communicator.

A few moments later—

A scream erupted from the capsule chamber.

“AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

THIS IS A DEATH SENTENCE!!!

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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!