Is Unlocking the Stellaris Tech Tree in Star Rail Really Okay? [86]

Traversing the scorched, blackened ground of the mine, Chen Lin and Seele heard the sounds of battle from up ahead.

Seele quickened her pace, her tone heavy. "It's just ahead!"

"Got it!"

The poor ventilation within the mine caused the temperature to rise significantly.

Just as Chen Lin stepped forward, his psionics picked up a distress signal.

Whoever’s there… please, save me…!

"Whoa, big trouble ahead!"

With a shout, Chen Lin twisted his body, launching himself forward like an arrow. His cloth shoes shredded to pieces under the pressure of his movements as he dashed forward at an alarming speed.

Mid-air, Chen Lin flipped several times, planting his foot against the side of the mine wall.

With a powerful push—
Boom!

"I see her!"

Ahead, Clara was frozen in place as a fireball hurtled toward her. The immense heat seemed to dull her sense of pain, and her surroundings appeared to move in slow motion.

Her memory was patchy. All she recalled was awakening to find Mr. Svarog standing in front of her.

She had watched many old videos of a technology called "movies," where humans pretended to live out imaginative scenarios. She found them amusing.

Svarog often struggled to understand human habits. Clara had explained countless times how oversleeping was a perfectly normal human behavior, but the robot never seemed to grasp it.

Leaning against Svarog's massive arms, feeling warm air blowing from his hands to dry her hair—it was so fun.

But those moments would never return now, would they?

Thinking of this, Clara felt a wave of sadness.

"Eh… Eh!?"

Just as she resigned herself to despair, Clara felt an invisible force grab her by the neck and fling her backward. Her eyes widened as she was thrown into the air, the fireball retreating into the distance. She couldn’t process what had just happened.

Boom!

Still mid-air, Clara curled up like a frightened rabbit, squeezing her eyes shut as the explosion’s shockwave brushed her bangs.

Where will I land?

Her mind raced. Would she hit a solid dirt wall? A steep rock pile? Or roll out of the mine and fall into the abyss outside?

Her thoughts grew chaotic, paralyzing her ability to reason.

Just then, Clara felt a warm arm wrap around her waist, slowing her fall in a graceful arc and absorbing the impact.

Her hand brushed against the arm holding her—warm and strong.

Clara struggled to open her eyes and look up, meeting the serious face of a stranger.

She had never seen him before. Having lived in the Underworld for over a decade, Clara had never encountered someone so poised and refined. His presence and striking features were unforgettable, yet entirely unfamiliar to her.

Who is this cool big brother? Clara wondered.

"Don't move. If you're scared, close your eyes," the young man instructed, his voice steady but tinged with nervousness.

Only then did Clara realize they were still six or seven meters off the ground! From this height, the massive rocks below appeared no larger than her fist.

Terror froze Clara, but she willed herself to stop struggling, her body going stiff with fear.

Chen Lin, on the other hand, was panicking internally. He rarely engaged in physical activity, relying instead on weapons crafted in his personal dockyard. Combatants rarely got close to him, so he had never truly tested his physical limits.

In the heat of the moment, driven by Seele’s warning not to let Clara get hurt, Chen Lin had pushed his body to its utmost. His shoes and the ground beneath him had shattered from the force, launching him into the air.

Now that Clara was safe, Chen Lin became keenly aware of their altitude and worried about how they would land.

Am I going to sprain my ankle?

The thought crossed his mind, but he quickly recalled how he had once smashed through a cliffside unharmed.

Still, if word got out that he sprained an ankle landing, he’d never live it down.

Using the jagged rocks on the wall as footholds, Chen Lin twisted mid-air and landed backward with Clara in his arms, absorbing most of the impact himself.

"Safe… Oh crap!"

Thud!

"Ow…"

Chen Lin’s landing was less than graceful—his feet slipped, and he fell flat on his back, his head striking a rock hard enough to send shards flying. Miraculously, there was no blood.

Clara, now on the ground, watched the entire spectacle unfold, her eyes wide.

"His head is so hard… Wait!" She quickly knelt to help the young man who had cushioned her fall. "Big brother, are you okay?"

Chen Lin rubbed the back of his head. "I’m fine. Just a bit of a headache."

It felt like an ant had bitten him—barely a sting. His enhanced psionics had grown significantly recently. What once felt like a puddle was now a steady stream of energy coursing through him.

Clara noticed grease stains on Chen Lin’s hand and felt a flicker of surprise.

Clang!

The sound of metal clashing against armor echoed as Seele fought the Interdimensional Flame nearby. The shockwaves of their battle sent waves of heat toward them.

Thankfully, Chen Lin’s modified deflection shield absorbed most of the residual flames, keeping Clara safe.

Pulling two small, box-like devices from his coat, Chen Lin adjusted them and handed one to Clara.

"Take this and stick close to me. Don’t lose it."

With a flick of his wrist, Chen Lin materialized a rifle-like ultraviolet laser emitter and fired.

A beam of violet energy shot from the barrel, instantly melting the armor of the Interdimensional Flame and piercing through it.

"ROAR—!!!"

The monstrous entity recoiled, its flames intensifying as it howled.

Seele, hearing Chen Lin’s warning, pivoted instantly, as if ripping through space itself. In a flash, she was at his side. Moments later, the area where she had stood erupted in an inferno, the heat melting nearby stones into liquid.

"Seele!" Clara shouted, overjoyed to see her familiar ally.

But Seele didn’t have time to chat. She nodded at Clara and refocused on the massive creature ahead.

"This thing is far stronger than the ice creatures we’ve faced before," Seele remarked coldly. "It must’ve absorbed enormous amounts of energy over the years. What’s the plan? Fight or retreat?"

Chen Lin fired another laser, piercing the creature again. "It’s strong, but not invincible. We’ll have to deal with it sooner or later. Better to handle it now than risk more casualties later."

Seele grinned, the thrill of the hunt gleaming in her eyes. "Fine by me. But when we’re done, you owe me some serious training. Your earlier moves were embarrassing."

"…I’m just a scholar, you know. Don’t expect too much," Chen Lin muttered, exasperated.

Without another word, the two split up, Seele closing in while Chen Lin waited for a shameless sneak attack.

Seele darted forward like a streak of lightning, her movements erratic and impossible to predict. As she closed the distance to the monstrous Interdimensional Flame, her figure flickered, vanishing into thin air.

In an instant, she reappeared above the creature's head, her scythe slicing downward in a sharp arc. The blade cleaved through its flaming armor, severing chunks of what seemed to be its body—a collection of smoldering, rock-like fragments.

What’s that?

Seele’s sharp eyes caught sight of a glowing red crystal spinning slowly within the creature’s exposed core. It was rectangular, and its brilliance was captivating. She felt a vague sense of familiarity, as though she had seen it somewhere before.

“ROAR!!”

The Interdimensional Flame howled, its massive hand conjuring a fireball as it raised its arm to strike. The fireball surged toward Seele with terrifying speed, leaving her no room to evade.

Just as the fireball was about to hit, a translucent barrier appeared before her, shimmering faintly.

Bang!

Even with Chen Lin’s modified deflection shield absorbing most of the impact, the force sent Seele flying. She tumbled over ten meters before skidding to a stop, coughing as she shook off the dust. The blow hadn’t left her unscathed—though most of the damage was deflected, the landing left her battered and covered in dirt.

“You bastard…” Seele snarled through clenched teeth, her fury igniting anew. “Go to hell!”

Before she could charge again, a sudden tug on her body pulled her back.

From a distance, Chen Lin shouted, “Stop! That thing’s wounds are already healing!”

Pulled back by Chen Lin’s psionic power, Seele paused and glanced at the creature. As Chen Lin had said, the parts she had just destroyed were already regenerating, its fiery armor restored.

“What the hell?” Seele muttered, frowning deeply.

“If we can’t kill it now, we should retreat and come back later with a better plan,” Chen Lin said, unbothered by the idea of a temporary retreat. “No point dying here.”

But Seele’s eyes widened as a thought struck her. “I remember now!”

“Huh?” Chen Lin turned to her in surprise.

“There’s something in its core,” Seele explained rapidly. “When I was learning to read and write with Natasha, she told me about an ancient text she read once. It described creatures like this. When certain Interdimensional Beings absorb energy for long enough, some of them mutate. Among those, a small number develop the ability to compress the energy inside their bodies into crystalline forms. If that happens, they might even gain rudimentary intelligence. But—” Seele’s eyes gleamed with determination—“if the core isn’t destroyed, the creature can’t die!”

“A core made of compressed energy, huh?” Chen Lin murmured, his mind racing. As someone eager to learn, he found this revelation fascinating. But now wasn’t the time for academic curiosity.

“Well, if that’s the case, Seele, keep it busy. I’ll take care of the core. Clara, stay close to me and watch carefully.”

“Okay! Got it…” Clara nodded hesitantly, still catching her breath.

With a determined glint in her eye, Seele darted back toward the Interdimensional Flame. Her movements were a blur as she engaged the creature, her scythe cutting deep into its flaming body.

Meanwhile, Chen Lin knelt beside Clara, preparing for his next move.

High-concentration energy from the crystal core? Perfect.

Most psionic users trained hard to refine their abilities. Chen Lin’s method, however, was different—he stole power.

As Seele clashed with the creature, Clara suddenly saw Chen Lin collapse as if lifeless, startling her.

“Big brother?!” she exclaimed, rushing to his side.

From afar, Seele’s voice called out, “Relax! Normal procedure. Just make sure he doesn’t hurt himself.”

“O-okay…” Clara hesitated, unsure what to make of the situation.

In his psionic form, Chen Lin was invisible to the naked eye. He zipped toward the creature’s core, homing in on the fiery crystal.

The core pulsed with an overwhelming energy that Chen Lin began siphoning greedily, absorbing its power at an alarming rate. It was like a feast, and Chen Lin ate his fill.

As the core’s energy drained rapidly, the Interdimensional Flame went berserk. It flailed and roared, lashing out with fiery attacks. Yet every time it tried to flee, Seele would block its path, keeping it contained.

The creature’s rage escalated as it noticed its energy being stolen. Following the flow, it spotted Chen Lin’s unconscious body on the ground. Realizing the human was the source of its suffering, the creature hurled a massive fireball toward him.

But Seele was faster, severing its hand before the attack could land. As the hand regenerated, the creature grew more desperate, its attempts to escape growing frantic.

The battle dragged on, Seele growing more confident as the creature weakened. Its movements became sluggish, and Seele realized she could now handle it easily.

But as she intercepted the creature’s twenty-ninth attempt to flee, its behavior suddenly shifted. Its flames erupted violently, burning brighter than ever before. It stopped attacking, standing motionless as Seele struck it repeatedly to no avail.

What’s it planning?

Back in his psionic form, Chen Lin noticed the core’s energy becoming erratic. At first, he thought nothing of it, but as he continued to siphon, he realized the truth.

Oh crap—it’s going to self-destruct!

Snapping back into his body, Chen Lin shouted at the top of his lungs, “Get out of here! It’s gonna blow!”

BOOM!!!

The explosion rocked the entire mine, sending massive chunks of earth and stone crashing down.

Dust filled the air, choking out the light as the ground trembled violently.

When the chaos subsided, the once-vast mine was reduced to a massive crater, plunging into the depths of the Earth.

An unfathomable explosion had just occurred.

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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!