Is Unlocking the Stellaris Tech Tree in Star Rail Really Okay? [89]

Evening had fallen.

The Underworld, separated from the sky by layers of earth, left many of its younger inhabitants with no real concept of what the sky looked like. For them, it existed only in the stories passed down by the older generations who had lived through the days before the surface was sealed off.

Within and beyond Boulder Town, a kaleidoscope of lights illuminated the night. The glow extended so far that even from several kilometers away, the town seemed alive with energy.

On the outskirts, in a workshop hastily constructed from scrap materials, a small crowd watched nervously as Chen Lin tinkered under a dimly lit canopy. No one dared to speak, let alone disturb him.

Chen Lin had explicitly warned them that his work required absolute precision and silence. Otherwise, this makeshift workshop might become a smoking crater in an instant.

His warning wasn’t taken lightly—another workshop nearby had recently collapsed in a fiery explosion that left Chen Lin groaning on the ground for over an hour before he could get back on his feet.

Suddenly, Chen Lin’s excited voice broke the tense silence.

“It’s done! I’ve got it!” He strode toward the crowd, holding a small cup in his hand. “The optimal ratio will need clinical testing, but this is ready for use.”

Seele instinctively stepped back, her voice laced with suspicion. “It’s not going to blow up, is it?”

“I diluted it already; no chance of that.” Chen Lin waved off her concerns with full confidence.

As a former pharmaceutical researcher, even under these harsh conditions, Chen Lin was confident in the efficacy of his concoction. While achieving peak efficiency in dosage and treatment might require Belobog to rebuild its technological capabilities, the current product was more than sufficient.

Reassured by Chen Lin’s confidence, Seele finally approached, leading a visibly anxious Clara. The two stared at the strange paste in the cup Chen Lin was holding.

“Let’s step outside,” Chen Lin urged, giving Clara a gentle nudge on the back. “When I was making the paracetamol and aspirin, I might’ve released some toxic fumes. If you stand here too long, you might pass out.”

Once outside, Chen Lin carefully sealed the paste and a transparent liquid into containers and handed them to Clara, who held them with a puzzled expression. He then turned to Natasha, explaining the detailed preparation process.

The paste’s main ingredients included diluted nitroglycerin, salicylic acid, glycerin, and petroleum jelly. The most hazardous step was synthesizing the nitroglycerin; the other components were relatively straightforward to produce.

Natasha took meticulous notes, recording every step of Chen Lin’s explanation. The others stood to the side, utterly lost in the sea of technical jargon.

In the group, only Natasha had the academic background to understand Chen Lin’s instructions. The rest couldn’t even grasp the individual terms, let alone the processes being described.

Clara glanced back at Boulder Town, now bustling with life, then looked down at the paste in her hands. “I should head back now. Mr. Svarog will be worried if I’m gone too long.”

She carefully tucked the containers away and bowed slightly. “Thank you, everyone. And thank you, Big Brother.”

“Apply the paste to frostbite wounds once daily,” Chen Lin instructed, “and if the pain becomes unbearable, follow the dosage instructions for aspirin…”

Concerned Clara might forget, Chen Lin wrote down detailed instructions, including the maximum and minimum dosages, on a piece of paper. He trusted the robot Svarog’s reputed capabilities to determine whether the medicine was safe for use.

After seeing Clara off, Chen Lin shifted his focus to scaling up production. He spearheaded the synthesis and dilution of nitroglycerin while Natasha trained workers to handle the other three key substances. With a steady supply of raw materials already gathered and purchased, their production could meet the Underworld’s needs.

As Chen Lin’s personal bodyguard, Seele was kept busy hauling raw materials and occasionally assisting Natasha with simple preparations under her guidance. It kept her from slacking off.

Ten days later, in a guest room on the third floor of the Goethe Hotel, Chen Lin lay motionless on a modest bed.

The room was sparsely furnished, with simple, unaltered furniture. A few thick books lay on the desk, marked with bookmarks to indicate his reading progress. The room was spotless, with no litter or crumbs on the floor—a testament to daily, meticulous cleaning.

Despite his stillness, Chen Lin’s mind was sharp, attuned to everything happening around him.

Thanks to his unconventional psionic training, which prioritized absorption over discipline, his powers had grown significantly after draining energy from the massive flaming creature. The microcosm within his mind had become even clearer and more vivid.

Within the Jarilo system, the massive border outpost he had built was rapidly expanding. Although it had slowed its growth a week ago, its underbelly now buzzed with activity, as though preparing something monumental.

Even if Himeko and the others orbiting Jarilo-VI couldn’t understand what was happening, Chen Lin knew exactly what his outpost was working on.

Destroyers.

Chen Lin had poured his entire reserve of over 700 alloys into crafting a single destroyer-class ship, the latest in his line of designs.

Additionally, he had spent nearly all his energy credits buying more alloys from the “P-Paradox Mysterious Galactic Market,” which he then used to design and build eight frigates. The frigates, queued behind the destroyer, would begin construction as soon as the shipyard was free.

Chen Lin stayed up late, monitoring the progress of his shipyard. The destroyer was nearly finished, and he wanted to witness the birth of his first warship—a vessel entirely designed and constructed by his own hands.

Even if it appeared as nothing more than a tiny black speck at this distance, it was the culmination of his resources, efforts, and creativity.

“This is it! The big one’s coming!” Chen Lin thought excitedly, straining to zoom in on the emerging ship.

Unfortunately, the resolution didn’t allow for detailed observation. All he could see was a small black dot slowly drifting out of the shipyard.

How were the point defenses? No idea.
Were the missiles effective? No clue.
Did the laser cannons look cool? Still unknown.

Chen Lin: "…"

His initial excitement deflated instantly.

The destroyer’s construction had drained his reserves and taken an excruciatingly long time. Had this been a game, waiting hundreds of days for a single ship would have driven him mad.

With a resigned sigh, Chen Lin sent orders to the destroyer to proceed to its assigned orbit around Jarilo-VI. He wouldn’t get a closer look anytime soon.

However, one thing was certain: the destroyer wasn’t empty.

He had heard a response from the ship’s crew.

“Hmm?”

---

After completing everything, Chen Lin was about to begin his daily psionic training. However, as he opened his eyes, his phone lit up briefly, revealing unread messages.

Upon checking, he discovered multiple messages from Pela, sent while he had been engrossed in watching his new ship.

Pela: "Sir, there’s been another large-scale protest in the Overworld today. Some civilian groups even staged a sit-in demonstration in front of Qlipoth Fort, but the Supreme Guardian’s personal guards drove them away."

Pela: "Somehow, news of the Young Lady’s house arrest has reached the public, causing widespread outrage. Organizations loyal to her are staging daily protests, turning the situation into chaos. Many businesses have shut down, and the remaining merchants have gone on strike. Bloodshed occurs almost daily."

Pela: "Farming operations have come to a complete halt. This month, the populace has been surviving solely on grain reserves from the Ministry of Food Storage. Prices have reached unprecedented levels. Several new ministers appointed by the Supreme Guardian are profiting from the price disparity, but the general populace is living in fear, with unrest and crime rates soaring."

Pela: "I’ve been stripped of my position as Intelligence Officer and reassigned to the barracks under Captain Gepard. However, I’ve seen officials delivering orders to Silvermane Guards, demanding they enter the city to maintain order and arrest troublemakers. Captain Gepard has refused all such orders, even detaining several officials who attempted to enforce them. A few non-compliant officials were killed on the spot by enraged soldiers. The relationship between the military and Qlipoth Fort is now extremely tense."

Pela: "I’m worried that the Overworld will spiral out of control. Whenever I oversee Silvermane Guard training, I overhear soldiers reminiscing about how prosperous and abundant life was when you were in the Overworld. They say it was the best and cheapest food they’d ever had. Sir, when will you return? Everyone misses you. Even Captain Gepard, though he hasn’t said anything, doesn’t stop people from talking about you. That says a lot..."

Chen Lin scanned the messages, then glanced at the progress bar for his espionage mission. The "sabotage facilities" task wasn’t even complete yet, and the Overworld was already in such disarray.

If this keeps up, by the time the sabotage mission finishes and critical infrastructure starts failing, won’t the Overworld grind to a complete halt?

Cocolia, are you even capable of holding it together?

Chen Lin sat up, his phone still in hand, tapping a reply.

Chen Lin: "I can’t return for now. We’re still under the highest-level bounty. If I show up in the Overworld, a conflict with the Silvermane Guards is inevitable, and that’s not ideal."

Given that it was late at night and Pela’s messages were over half an hour old, Chen Lin assumed she was already asleep.

He planned to take a bath in the hotel’s bathhouse before returning to train. But before he could leave, his phone buzzed again with Pela’s reply.

Pela: "I can bring people to escort you! Don’t worry, everyone in the barracks is loyal to us and won’t leak any information."

Chen Lin: "That’s still a bad idea. If word gets out, the Silvermane Guards will be accused of treason. You’d all face a purge, and it’s not worth the risk. Besides, even if I return, my movements would be restricted, making it difficult to improve the situation."

Of course, Chen Lin planned to return—but not yet.

Pela and her group were critical assets as both informants and stabilizers. Their presence maintained the morale and ideological integrity of the Silvermane Guard’s frontline troops. Losing them would be catastrophic.

As Supreme Guardian, Cocolia would undoubtedly eradicate anyone leading a rebellion within her ranks if she discovered her military was riddled with spies. Chen Lin couldn’t afford to let that happen.

Chen Lin: "Development in the Underworld is slow, but I’m making progress here. Remember, the people of the Underworld are also Belobog’s people. Building the Underworld is building Belobog as a whole."

Chen Lin then shared details of Boulder Town’s transformation, sending photos of its past and present states. Inadvertently, he also dropped a tidbit of unexpected information.

Chen Lin: "While in the Underworld, I encountered a strange Fragmentum creature. After defeating it, I recovered a pearl-like object. Analyzing it revealed memories from the current Supreme Guardian’s childhood in the Underworld, as well as scenes from the Overworld. Among them, I saw Serval and the head of the current research department, who was then the Overworld Institute’s director. Do you have any insight into this? (photo of the pearl)"

Pela’s next message came immediately.

Pela: "?!!!! (shocked emoji)"

---

In her barracks dormitory, Pela jumped out of bed, clutching her phone in disbelief.

Cocolia’s memories? And they involve Serval?

What’s this about a Stellaron?

Pela’s instincts as a former Intelligence Officer screamed that something was very wrong. She was aware that certain Fragmentum creatures could retain fragments of the deceased’s memories, but only if the person had already died.

Back when Belobog’s research capabilities were more advanced, genius scientists had discovered and documented this phenomenon. The relevant literature was still preserved in the research department’s archives. Pela had read those papers and knew their contents well.

But Cocolia was still alive and actively issuing orders from Qlipoth Fort. So how could a Fragmentum creature possess her memories?

Pela’s trust and admiration for Chen Lin were unwavering. Even though she didn’t know how he had extracted the pearl’s contents, she was certain he wouldn’t fabricate something like this to deceive her.

Sir is the kind of person who, despite being hunted and exiled from the Overworld, is still selflessly working to improve the Underworld. A true hero of Belobog!

Why would he lie?

Even if he did, Pela believed he must have a good reason—something for the greater good of Belobog.

Pela: "At dawn, I’ll summon Serval. She must know something. Thank you so much for this information, sir—it’s invaluable to us!"

Pela: "I won’t disturb your rest any further. However, I do have a favor to ask. If you have the time, could you speak with the Young Lady? She’s confined to her chambers and can only pace around the palace. I’m worried about her mental state. Recently, she’s been asking me some very extreme questions…"

Chen Lin: "How extreme?"

Pela: "She asked me for a detailed map of Qlipoth Fort and if there was a way to secretly transport large quantities of armor and weapons inside..."

Chen Lin: "That does seem… uncharacteristically extreme for her."

Chen Lin was caught off guard. For someone as calm and gentle as Bronya to be driven to such lengths was surprising.

You’re itching for a rebellion, huh, kid? Planning to crown yourself already?

---

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!