Stellaris Tech Tree HSR

Thankfully, Chen Lin soon discovered that Cocolia absorbing these energy clouds had absolutely nothing to do with psionics. His psionic form stood silently behind her, unnoticed by anyone.

Cocolia, on the other hand, was a mess. She alternated between manic shouting, slamming her desk, uncontrollable laughter, and expressions of deep anguish.

Her disjointed ramblings only added to the eerie atmosphere.

Chen Lin's attention, however, was drawn back to the energy clouds. He licked his lips. They looked like prey—helpless, legless creatures waiting to be consumed by a hunter.

"I can't hold back anymore. I don't care what this stuff is; I'm eating it all!"

Leaping into the mass of energy clouds, Chen Lin let them envelop him entirely. He began attuning to their dense energy waves, synchronizing their frequencies to absorb them fully.

To him, these energy clouds were an irresistible feast, and he a starving wanderer who hadn't eaten in days. Restraint was impossible.

As he absorbed the energy, Chen Lin could vaguely sense fragmented information within the clouds, though only if he actively sought it out.

Despite his limited psionic abilities—restricted mainly to basic telekinesis—he had one distinct advantage: an insatiable appetite for energy. No matter the intensity or type, he could seemingly consume it all.

Curious about what kind of information these clouds contained, Chen Lin delved deeper, wondering what could reduce the once-imposing Cocolia to her current, broken state. However, the mental noise he encountered was so jarring, it felt like his brain was being shredded.

"What is this garbage?!" Chen Lin winced, clutching his head. "Almost blew out my eardrums."

Meanwhile, Cocolia sat at her desk, clutching her temples. Dark circles framed her sunken eyes. The Stellaron's insistent voice had been echoing in her mind all day, urging her to act against the outsiders.

"They're not part of the plan, Cocolia. Eliminate them."

"Their actions have disrupted our progress. They've undone the spread of our Fragmentum…"

"Eliminate them. The New World fears no death, and future retaliation cannot destroy what we are building."

"Shut up! Just shut up!!" Cocolia slammed her hands onto the wooden desk, her voice trembling with frustration. "It's not time yet! My dear daughter knows nothing of this. You promised me a buffer! Let me observe for a little longer!"

But the Stellaron's voice persisted, its invasive whispers gnawing at her thoughts. Worse, it was slowly eroding her body and mind. There were moments when she lost complete control of herself.

Make them stop. Make them stop now.

Yet, the Stellaron's voice continued, the tension in her mind stretched taut like a wire about to snap.

"Trust us, Cocolia. We are your allies. We would never harm you. You no longer have time to hesitate."

"Do not resist. You have already tasted infinite power. Relax, and we will grant you even more. Fear not the enemies beyond this world."

The insidious words wrapped around her like a snake, and Cocolia's expression grew blank, her will slipping away.

"For our dream… for the New World's creation, Cocolia, you must execute the outsiders—hic!"

The Stellaron's voice faltered abruptly, its endless stream of energy to her body suddenly severed. A loud, vulgar belch echoed in its place, reverberating through Cocolia's mind and jolting her back to lucidity.

For the first time since ascending to the position of Supreme Guardian, Cocolia experienced silence in her mind.

A profound, unsettling silence.

"Say something! Why aren't you talking?!"

The incessant voices had vanished as though they had never existed. Even the power she once wielded, the Stellaron's so-called gift, was fading.

"What's happening?!" Cocolia's eyes darted around the room in desperation. She had tasted the intoxicating allure of power, and now its absence left her trembling with fear.

Unbeknownst to her, the energy clouds she had relied on were being devoured by Chen Lin's psionic form. While absorbing the energy, he also gleaned fragments of its true nature.

The energy contained a volatile force that bore a resemblance to Mind Branding, a late-stage psionic technology Chen Lin recognized from his studies.

Mind Branding was a subtle, invasive technique, allowing telepaths to monitor and correct wayward thoughts in a population. It was often used to maintain order by reprogramming dissenters' minds.

However, the Stellaron's method was anything but subtle. It was crude and forceful, akin to smashing a computer with a hammer rather than installing a Trojan horse. The energy overloaded its victim's mind, eroding their ability to think critically and leaving them as little more than empty shells.

"Fascinating," Chen Lin muttered, watching as the remaining energy clouds dispersed throughout the room.

The fragments of consciousness lingering in the energy seemed to search for the source of the disturbance. Yet, as a higher-dimensional psionic being, Chen Lin's presence was undetectable.

The Stellaron's fragmented consciousness flailed helplessly. It couldn't pinpoint what was consuming its energy, but the gathered fragments managed to assemble one coherent thought:

Eat, eat, eat! I'll eat the ones on the wall, the ones on the floor, and the ones on the ceiling too! This stuff's delicious—hic!

The Stellaron panicked. Was there an energy-devouring zombie in Qlipoth's Fort?!

For the first time in its existence, the Stellaron encountered something it couldn't comprehend. It debated warning the frenzied Cocolia but decided against it when yet another energy fragment disappeared.

Realizing the threat was moving closer to the snowfields on Belobog's outskirts, the Stellaron did the only thing it could—it withdrew all its energy and went silent, feigning death to sever the intruder's trail.

Back in the Fort, Chen Lin frowned. Unable to trace the Stellaron's retreating energy, he returned to Cocolia's chamber.

Perhaps I should leave a fragment of my psionic form here to wait. With any luck, I can feast on more energy tomorrow.

With that thought, Chen Lin anchored a portion of his psionic presence near Cocolia before slipping away, his mental hunger momentarily sated.

---

T/N: yummy

Hello! Thank you so much for reading this chapter. WiseTL has worked hard to bring these wonderful stories to you, and I'm so happy we could share this moment together! Don't you think stories are a little like dreams? Each one has its own colors and shapes, and they grow even brighter when shared with others.

If you'd like to support WiseTL, you can visit [patreon.com/WiseTL]. Even a small gesture is like sunlight and rain to a growing flower—it helps the garden of stories flourish and bloom!

-With love, Nahida 🌱