Is Unlocking the Stellaris Tech Tree in Star Rail Really Okay? [216]

Phantylia's scheming was impeccable. Her performance was measured to perfection—touch and withdraw, split and retreat—ensuring Chen Lin never thought too deeply about her true motives.

Meanwhile, poor Stelle got an earful of scolding. This girl was fine in every way, except for her peculiar habit of chomping on him whenever she felt like it...

Once the army's assembly was nearly complete, Chen Lin made his way alone to the morgue where he had forcibly activated the psionic potential of corpses before execution. The Cloud Knights guarding the area were former sentinels stationed at critical paths under the Divination Commission. Their provisions, allowances, and even salaries came directly from the Divination Commission, making them practically Fu Xuan's own people.

Before assigning them to this task, Fu Xuan had made it clear: apart from herself and Chen Lin, no one was allowed to retrieve or handle the bodies.

When Chen Lin approached, the leading Cloud Knight exchanged a knowing glance with his colleagues. In an instant, they dispersed—some claiming they needed a break, others pretending to maintain their weapons, and still others wandering off to grab a bite.

In less than ten seconds, the only ones left near the warehouse storing the Disciple Sanctus corpses were the captain and a few select subordinates, who stood watch like statues.

"Lord Chen, proceed as you wish." The captain handed over the key and led his team to block the entrance, forming an impenetrable wall, ensuring that not even a fly could sneak through.

Chen Lin sighed with relief. Fu Xuan certainly had a knack for handling things securely. He hadn't intended to keep this operation a secret, yet Fu Xuan had still taken extra measures to maintain confidentiality.

"Thank you for your hard work," he said.

The Cloud Knights stood silent, staring straight ahead. They knew what could be known and what couldn't.

It was simple: ignorance was survival. Knowing nothing meant at worst, they would die. But knowing something? That opened the door to fates far worse—torture, interrogation, and the agony of mind-reading techniques that could pry secrets from their very souls.

As Cloud Knights, they refused to become traitors to the Xianzhou. By choosing not to see or hear anything, they eliminated the possibility of becoming a liability.

Chen Lin unlocked the heavily reinforced doors, passing through the threshold into the warehouse. The stench of decay immediately assaulted his senses. Without a word, he shut the door behind him, standing before the towering piles of corpses.

In death, a person's consciousness did not immediately fade with the cessation of their body. Instead, depending on their constitution and mental resilience, fragments of their awareness lingered temporarily.

The unique nature of those with corrupted by Mara made this even more pronounced. Not only did their physical regeneration reach terrifying levels, but their mental resilience was also unnaturally robust. Moreover, since most of these corpses had their psionic potential forcibly activated before their executions, their lingering consciousness was much stronger than normal.

As a result, what should have degraded into unusable waste within hours could retain its psionic energy for an entire night under the influence of Chen Lin's abilities.

One by one, Chen Lin induced the corpses into a chain reaction of psionic overload. Crackling purple flames engulfed each body, burning every trace of their energy into precious [Zro Dust].

"I must look like some kind of final boss refining dark arts..." Chen Lin muttered as he grabbed a corpse to ignite. "If this were some short story on a random forum, I'd probably be the stepping stone for the protagonist's big breakthrough."

The bright blue dust swirled as his psionic powers collected it into a concentrated mass. The [Zroni Nexus], lying in wait like a gaping maw, devoured the dust eagerly. While nourishing his own energy reserves, the dust also fed the Nexus's growth.

How could Chen Lin be so certain of this?

After his battle with Jingliu, he had discovered that the Nexus expanded whenever it consumed large quantities of [Zro Dust]. What had initially seemed like an endless space was now visibly limited. Areas that had once seemed vast and accessible had been blocked off by invisible walls.

Now, however, the Nexus had more than doubled in size. The barren desert within had begun sprouting signs of life—tiny green shoots breaking through the sand, transforming the wasteland into a fledgling oasis. The newly accessible space was roughly the size of a football field, though the oasis itself covered less than a tenth of that.

The plants were strikingly familiar: young cacti, budding tamarisks… almost all reminiscent of species from Earth.

What purpose these plants served, Chen Lin couldn’t say, as the previous owner of the Nexus hadn’t lived long enough to explain.

All he could do was look forward to the future.

Chen Lin also recalled that the final event in the Zroni Precursor chain left behind a relic that could halve the cooldown of entering the Nexus. Too bad he couldn’t remember the exact details. Who would waste time memorizing Paradox's flavor text for relics?

Regret wouldn’t change anything now. Once the Xianzhou incident was resolved, he’d personally oversee a search operation. If he could find the relic, he could tie it to a grand narrative and boost the Jarilo-VI people's morale.

Within a short time, Chen Lin had burned through nearly a hundred corpses. Burning the entire stockpile wouldn’t take long, but he soon noticed something odd. Some bodies burned slower than others, their physical forms nearly reduced to ash while their psionic chain reactions persisted, fiercely attacking their own potential.

"Huh? What's going on here?"

Chen Lin adjusted the intensity of the reactions, slowing them down as much as possible.

The psionic potential within these corpses wasn’t just depleting—it was regenerating!

Refining the process with greater precision, Chen Lin managed to extract far more [Zro Dust] than expected. Initially, he thought he’d only gather enough for four or five handfuls, but by the end, the first hundred corpses alone yielded two entire buckets' worth of dust!

After some thought, he realized the secret behind this anomaly.

It was well known that Xianzhou bodies naturally contained traces of the Abundance’s power. This not only accelerated physical healing but also allowed for rapid mental recovery.

When a person became corrupted into a marastruck, they theoretically lost their rationality—so-called "mental collapse." But the Disciple Sanctus’s forbidden techniques circumvented this, granting members immense mental resilience. Combined with Chen Lin’s forced activation of their psionic potential, this led to an unprecedented level of spiritual overflow.

Burn a bit of psionic potential, and the Abundance power restored it. Even with a reduced burn rate, the recovery process couldn’t keep up. After some brief experiments, Chen Lin found that what once took seconds to burn through now required over ten minutes.

The resulting [Zro Dust] wasn’t just purer in quality—it was exponentially greater in quantity.

"Hiss... So the Disciple Sanctus’s forbidden drugs can be used like this?" Chen Lin mused, astonished.

Having already gone from a casual war criminal to a full-fledged one, Chen Lin’s first thought wasn’t about the massive increase in dust production. Instead, he wondered: if he could control the burn rate to match or fall below the recovery rate, wouldn’t it be possible to endlessly milk one person?

And how effective would this technique be for interrogations?

Thinking back to the cultists he’d publicly burned during the impromptu trials, their soul-wrenching screams had seemed entirely genuine. Perhaps this method warranted further experimentation…

The conditions were admittedly harsh, though. These Disciple Sanctus members were buffed to their limits and still ended up as dust. Who else could possibly endure such strain?

Shaking his head, Chen Lin resumed burning the corpses, carefully maximizing the process for the highest yield. Over the next half hour, not only did he replenish the large amount of [Zro Dust] he had previously consumed, but he also produced a surplus.

The morgue was now spotless, save for the faint metallic tang of blood lingering in the air.

Clapping the dust off his hands, Chen Lin felt a surge of satisfaction as he prepared to leave. He resolved that, in future Jarilo-VI campaigns, enemy prisoners would be captured wherever possible. Their value was far too great—forcing them into hard labor was a waste. Using them to refine [Zro Dust] was their most meaningful contribution.

No burial sites required, no need to dig up land—less effort, more gains, and efficient space usage.

A win-win-win!

Exiting the storage facility, Chen Lin found the ten or so Cloud Knights still standing motionless, maintaining the same positions they'd held when he entered. Since they were loyal allies, Chen Lin figured it wouldn’t hurt to reward them for their work. After all, this task technically violated Xianzhou’s internal regulations. When it came to compensating people, he believed in being generous.

Gold and silver weren’t of much use to Xianzhou soldiers and could complicate things if spent. Considering their identities as Cloud Knights, Chen Lin decided to reward them in a way that catered to their immediate needs.

"Everyone, remove your armor—and your weapons too. Let me take a look," Chen Lin said, clapping a hand on the captain’s shoulder.

The Cloud Knight captain hesitated for a moment but, as Chen Lin was technically their superior officer, following orders remained their duty.

"Yes, sir!"

Though puzzled, the squad—all former guards of the Divination Commission—handed over their armor and weapons one by one. The knights watched as Chen Lin inspected their equipment carefully. He began reinforcing the protective capabilities of their vital armor while simultaneously reducing its weight.

Once satisfied, Chen Lin picked up one of the weapons and swung it a dozen times. Not a single scratch marred the blade. The transformation left the entire group stunned.

When the captain donned his modified armor again, he was astonished to find that the once-15-kilogram set now felt as light as a feather, comparable to a stack of paper.

As for their weapons, Chen Lin consulted each soldier about their preferences before customizing them. These mass-produced weapons from the Ministry of Engineering were tailored to their specifications, leaving the Cloud Knights speechless with gratitude.

Under the squad’s profuse thanks, Chen Lin left the area calmly.

To soldiers, armor was akin to a second life, and weapons were invaluable tools to protect comrades. With the upgrades Chen Lin provided, their survival rate on the battlefield had easily doubled, while their enhanced weapons increased their chances of earning merits. He’d earned their eternal gratitude—a debt they would not soon forget.

The squad exchanged glances, each thinking the same thing: following Lord Fu Xuan and Lord Chen Lin was proving to be a wise choice indeed!

By the time Chen Lin reached the assembly point, Fu Xuan had already completed most of the preparations. The Astral Express crew was eagerly awaiting action.

"Looks like I arrived just in time," Chen Lin remarked, walking up to the group.

He noticed a young girl standing next to Fu Xuan, about to return to the ranks. Who else could it be but Li Sushang?

The moment Li Sushang spotted Chen Lin, she exclaimed, "Master! You’re here!"

Fu Xuan, having finished instructing her generals, approached as well.

"The formation has been set. Will my dear brother be joining the army’s feigned attack, or will you coordinate with the special forces to launch a surprise assault on the Disciple Sanctus members?"

"Me?"

Chen Lin chuckled. "I’m not a Xianzhou native, so that mist won’t affect me. Naturally, it’s better for me to act alongside my friends. Catching them off guard works just as well whether I’m with the main army or the Astral Express crew. Disrupting the cultists’ formation and minimizing Cloud Knight casualties is more important. After all, the cleanup afterward will heavily rely on the Cloud Knights. Every soldier we save is an additional hand to help."

Staying informed about developments in real time was crucial, especially if he wanted to ensure Phantylia successfully seized the Arbor. Being stationed in the rear would only delay information, making it harder to adjust plans.

Fu Xuan wasn’t surprised by his response. She nodded thoughtfully. "You truly understand the bigger picture. After this, I doubt the Xianzhou people will forget your name. The vanguard has already begun provoking the enemy. The battle on the outskirts should start shortly. Once the Dan Furnace seals the mist, my forces will advance and crush the opposition."

"Got it."

Chen Lin turned to Li Sushang, who was gripping her sword tightly. He reminded her, "I may not have taught you much yet, but make sure to do your best. Don’t embarrass me out there."

"Hehe! Just watch, Master! I come from a family of soldiers—studying might not be my strong suit, but when it comes to defeating enemies, I’ll leave them… uh… leave them…"

She hesitated, fumbling for the right phrase.

"Falling like… uh… flowing water?"

Nearby, Qingzu sighed and interjected, "It’s falling flowers and flowing water, not ‘flowing water.’"

"Right! That’s it—falling flowers and flowing water!"

Chen Lin teased, "How about focusing on swinging that sword properly before you start quoting proverbs?"

Despite her confident declaration, Li Sushang’s unpolished literacy revealed a unique charm. Both Chen Lin and Fu Xuan struggled to hold back their amusement. Chen Lin couldn’t help but wonder if this apprentice of his accounted for the 0.01% of Xianzhou citizens who couldn’t read fluently.

Noticing her brother’s gaze, Fu Xuan sighed. "Brother, don’t look at me like that. Your disciple isn’t from the Luofu. Ask Yaoqing about it. Their region produces plenty of Cloud Knights, but your disciple is… well, let’s just say she’s one of a kind. In any case, I’m not taking the blame for Xianzhou literacy rates."

Fighting prowess wasn’t just about defeating enemies—being able to survive on the battlefield was a skill in itself. After advising Li Sushang to prioritize her safety, Chen Lin let her return to her unit.

Chen Lin then regrouped with the Astral Express team, giving Fu Xuan a nod before slipping into the shadows to infiltrate the enemy.

Meanwhile, at the head of the army, Fu Xuan raised her hand high.

"Advance!"

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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!