Is Unlocking the Stellaris Tech Tree in Star Rail Really Okay? [200]

The Zroni race—an ancient civilization believed by many scientists to trace back to the primordial era—was the first to fully awaken psionic abilities, elevating these powers to a level embraced by their entire species.

As with all civilizations, they should have experienced a cycle of rise and decline. However, based on Chen Lin's understanding, the Zroni race never truly fell into decline—not until their ultimate extinction.

Conflicting? Not entirely.

According to what Chen Lin knew, after awakening their psionic powers, the Zroni race discovered a way to project their physical bodies into the Virtual Realm, a psionic dimension without an owner. In this space, individuals with psionic power could create anything they desired, essentially becoming gods.

At the height of their power, the Zroni were omnipotent, capable of creating life or destroying it with a mere gesture.

But from the moment the Zroni mastered the Virtual Realm, the cosmos outside grew desolate and barren. In the Virtual Realm, the Zroni could live lives akin to deities with ease.

However... they soon realized that their dreamlike existence in the Virtual Realm wasn’t without cost. Every creation and alteration required immense energy from the material world.

Where did this energy come from?

Their initial modifications had already caused the black hole at the center of the galaxy to expand several times its original size. Once someone recognized the problem, the Zroni began investigating the energy expenditure required for their Virtual Realm transformations.

It didn’t take long for the Zroni scientists to pinpoint the source: all signs pointed to the black hole.

As the Virtual Realm was modified, the black hole's event horizon gradually expanded. Like the edge of a bottomless abyss, it consumed all matter and information, inexorably growing, devouring everything in its vicinity.

No matter how the Zroni optimized the Virtual Realm, the energy demands remained insatiable, and the black hole's menacing presence left the entire Zroni race unsettled. They held endless meetings, conducted experiments, and debated tirelessly, trying to find safer energy sources. Should the development of the Virtual Realm be restricted? Could they strike a balance between their energy needs and the ever-expanding black hole?

If it were simple, the Zroni would not have reached such a dire impasse.

Discussions devolved into arguments, arguments into confrontations, and confrontations escalated into outright conflict, splintering the Zroni into two major factions and sealing their collective fate.

One faction,The Divine, embraced an unprecedented level of hedonism and self-interest. At a time when the universe harbored relatively few civilizations, they proclaimed themselves superior, indifferent to the lives they sacrificed to feed their Virtual Realm’s energy demands—even if it meant letting black holes swallow entire star systems.

The universe, vast and indifferent, would never exhaust its energy reserves within their lifetimes. To them, the stars existed for their exploitation. All other life forms were insignificant ants, unworthy of consideration.

Gods are not bound by mortal empathy, after all.

The other faction, The Saviors, stood in stark opposition. They disdained the Divine' selfishness and chose to halt energy extraction and withdraw from the Virtual Realm to preserve harmony in the universe.

We must live, but so must others.

These two factions embodied irreconcilable philosophies, and their ideological clash inevitably escalated into war. Words failed, leaving fists and weapons to determine the victor.

And in the end, the Zroni race was utterly annihilated. Beyond this, Chen Lin remembered little of the story.

“Eh?!”

A disembodied voice, filled with curiosity, rang out before breaking into gleeful laughter. “Did you uncover all this information from your archives? Have modern technologies advanced so far? Truly impressive! The path of psionics has grown so robust... Excellent! Simply excellent!”

Chen Lin hesitated for a moment before asking, “May I ask your name, Senior?”

“You’re quite the polite little one.” The voice chuckled. “You don’t need to fear us. We mean you no harm. As for my name, it should be in your archives. I am the last warrior of the Saviors—the sinner who destroyed it all with my own hands.”

The voice laughed heartily. “Those selfish fools never imagined we’d have such a trump card! Their fear, their curses... they brought it upon themselves! Ah, in the end, our destruction was nothing more than a case of playing with fire.”

Chen Lin was stunned.

The spirit before him smiled faintly and continued, “Your understanding is incomplete. Our extinction wasn’t merely fate; it was the Saviors' ultimate choice: either the Zroni race perishes, or the entire universe is destroyed.”

As he finished speaking, the spirit waved his hand, and a vision from countless years ago unfolded before Chen Lin’s eyes.

In the vision, neither faction achieved final victory. A radical scientist among the Saviors had developed a method to trigger a chain reaction within psionic entities, consuming their life force to unleash massive bursts of energy. This phenomenon, known in psionic theory as Soul Overdraft, left behind a gelatinous substance containing the psionic essence of the overdrafted individual. This essence could then be absorbed and utilized by others.

Using this self-destructive technique, the Saviors gained the means to challenge the Divine.

With countless comrades sacrificing themselves, the Saviors launched their final assault, carrying the collective will of their fallen allies.

But the Divine were not without their own desperate measures. They initiated a plan called End of Rebirth, recklessly siphoning cosmic energy at unprecedented speeds through psionic siphons and signal beacons, further expanding the black holes. Their intention was to consume the universe’s lifespan to fuel their war machines.

The Saviors, determined to stop them, paid a devastating price. In the end, the Saviors made their final decision: the complete eradication of their race, so the universe could live on.

The last Savior warrior muttered, The only one who can defeat a god is another god.

Reality and energy vibrated in tandem. Blades and psionic projections clashed, tearing through spacetime. Deep purple shadows filled the void as monstrous, godlike entities emerged, bringing the cosmos to an eerie, frozen silence.

When time resumed its flow, the battle had already ended.

The Zroni race was erased from existence. The divine war stretched across eons yet ended in an instant. Rain drizzled down on the remnants of gods who fell across every corner of the battlefield. Time buried all traces of their conflict.

After witnessing the vision, Chen Lin realized that the spirit had implanted the entire memory of the divine war into his mind.

“You wonder why you see us. We, on the other hand, are relieved that it’s us you’ve found…”

The Savior warrior smiled bitterly. “Had it been the Divine who reached you, they might have seduced or threatened you into fulfilling their twisted dreams. Their methods know no bounds—even if only remnants of their malicious intent remain.”

“D-Does that mean I could still encounter the Divine?” Chen Lin stammered.

The warrior shook his head. “Not anymore. This space has scattered their remnants beyond recovery. It was a gamble—a final wager between us and them.”

With those words, the Savior warrior broke into triumphant laughter, unashamed of his joy. It was a mix of bitterness over the Zroni’s self-destruction and hope that their psionic legacy might one day be carried forward.

A teacher searching for a student.

After a long pause, the warrior grew solemn and turned back to Chen Lin.

“The Virtual Realm, developed through the Zroni’s sacrifices, requires a successor. And that successor must lean toward the Saviors’ ideals. Only then do we appear. If their heart leans toward madness, the Divine manifest instead. Little one, I’m relieved it’s you who came here. Otherwise, all our efforts would have been for nothing.”

Chen Lin understood. He fully understood.

This explained why Kafka’s prophecy, which foresaw his ascent despite his apparent lack of power, might have been tied to encountering the Divine instead of the Saviors.

“But why am I here?” he asked, voicing his deepest question.

The Savior warrior froze, his gaze softening with paternal warmth.

“Your race triggered a mechanism within the psionic archives we left behind. As for why only you appeared here… that, I cannot answer. By all rights, your entire race should have arrived.”

The warrior paused briefly, his voice trailing off.

“You seem... different. Can you come closer? Your psionic energy feels rather unusual.”

“Your words are making me nervous… but alright.”

Chen Lin couldn’t help but complain inwardly. In typical cultivation novels, anyone who says something like this is bound to be an old monster trying to possess the protagonist's body.

Still, he wasn’t worried. If the other party wanted to possess him, they could have acted earlier, especially when they were at their closest. Moreover, even as a lingering psionic consciousness, this “senior” before him was a vast ocean compared to Chen Lin’s mere drop of water. Resistance was futile if they had ill intentions.

The Savior warrior extended a wisp of psionic energy toward Chen Lin, enveloping him in a soft glow that made him shimmer as if coated in fluorescent dust.

As Chen Lin suspected, there was no malice in the action. On the contrary, the warrior was cautious, ensuring every step avoided even the slightest harm to him.

“This is… a collective consciousness? No, not quite.” The Savior warrior muttered as he withdrew the psionic energy. The sensation was akin to a gentle elder patting a child’s head. Once the energy dissipated, he explained, “Child, within you, I see the same collective energy unique to my people, yet it coexists with your individual presence. It’s remarkable. Forgive me... I couldn’t help much, but in my experience, this energy should be harmless. It may even signify the deep trust your entire species has placed in you.”

“I think I understand what might be going on.”

“Oh?”

“Well, most of the people in my nation right now are ones I... grew from the ground.”

“...What?”

The Savior warrior’s expression was one of pure confusion. Still, he didn’t press for details—after all, understanding the younger generation’s mysteries wasn’t his priority. “It is heartening to see someone walking a path we once tread. Though the Zroni failed to reach the pinnacle of psionics, I hope you can continue exploring it with humility. The cultivation of psionics doesn’t need to come at the expense of others’ destruction. In this Virtual Realm, we’ve left behind our experiences—may you heed the lessons of our history."

“Our time here is running out. Do you have any questions about psionics, child?”

Chen Lin’s heart ached at the warrior’s earnestness. Even on the verge of fading away, they wanted to guide their "student."

After a moment’s thought, Chen Lin asked, “Is there only one Virtual Realm?”

“There isn’t just one. Or rather, every Virtual Realm is independent, yet interconnected.”

The warrior gestured to the space around them. “For instance, this Virtual Realm was created by the Zroni. But before this, we first entered a more complete and expansive Virtual Realm, which was controlled by the Divine. This space was an accidental byproduct of our final battle.”

Chen Lin found the complexity of the Virtual Realms difficult to grasp, so he asked about their purpose instead.

“The Virtual Realm links every corner of the universe. If you fully master its power, you can use it to appear anywhere in the cosmos. Beyond that…”

Here, the Savior warrior’s expression grew grave. “This specific Virtual Realm has only admitted you, child. Your psionic energy isn’t limited. In this space, if you supply it with enough energy, you could become akin to a god—capable of creating anything. But I trust you won’t abuse this power, nor will you follow the path of those insects.”

Chen Lin continued asking about various psionic concepts. But after just a few minutes, the warrior’s explanations abruptly ceased. He smiled apologetically, his form beginning to dissipate like wind-blown dust. Only a chorus of countless voices remained behind.

“We have written our chapter in this world. Now, it is this world’s turn to write ours.”

[Technology Discovered: Zroni Distillation (50%) (Psionic Theory)]
[Acquired Technology: Zroni Reaction Generation (Psionic Theory), Harmless Psionic Modification (Psionic Theory)]
[Artifact Gained: Zroni Virtual Realm]
[Governor Chen Lin Gains Trait: Psionic Root Touched]

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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!