The Strongest Brain in the Interstellar

Zhou Xiuwen, who was responsible for opening the chest, slammed the lid shut with a “pop” and looked at the others, his eyelids twitching. “I didn’t see that wrong, did I?”

“It should be fine,” Han Xian replied calmly. “If what you saw is the same as what I saw.”

“Are you guys alright? Starting to mumble now?”

Only Jiang Hui was unaffected by the situation. She had indeed seen the large item inside the chest, but the problem was that she didn’t recognize it and there was nothing in her memory to compare it to. So, based on their reaction, was it something really valuable?

She didn’t know what it was, but her mind was still clear, and she immediately reminded the two of them that the item inside the chest could only be retrieved within a set time limit, or it would be lost.

The two of them quickly realized they had been foolish, and hurriedly reopened the chest to grab the item.

Among the three, only Han Xian had the largest-sized military backpack. After some discussion, they decided to place the item inside his pack for him to carry. After all, he was the most powerful among them, and anyone who tried to steal it would have to get past him.

As they took the item out, the chest slammed shut with a “pop” and then a “click,” as if something was locked into place.

“Hey, hey, Jiang Hui, what… what are you doing?” Zhou Xiuwen, who was still waiting to continue their previous conversation, saw Jiang Hui strangely studying the chest, before she placed her hands flat on the lid and sat down on it.

Zhou Xiuwen: ??

After sitting down, Jiang Hui looked quite satisfied and said, “I’m just seeing if I can catch a ride… Unless you want to walk there? With just over one star hour left, how far do you think we can make it?”

How big was this cave? Not only could they not see the end with a single glance, but just the water pond they could spot from afar seemed to be several miles, even tens of miles away. They could make it there on foot, but by the time they did, they would have wasted too much time, and there would be no resources left to fight for. Clearly, they had to find a way to take advantage of the situation.

She had been puzzled earlier by the numerous rail-like structures spread throughout the area, unable to figure out their purpose. But now, after seeing the chest and how it appeared, Jiang Hui suddenly had a realization about the purpose of these railways scattered across the mountain.

Since these tracks were able to bring the chest here, there must be a way to send it back. Didn’t the electronic screen display a countdown?

There was just one problem with the setup… Jiang Hui’s thoughts wandered to an item in the military backpack, something that had been gathering dust for a while. She wondered if it could be of use.

Seeing that the two hadn’t made a move yet, and with the countdown almost running out on the electronic screen, Jiang Hui urged, “Did you guys damage the energy of the simulated chest gear during the fight earlier? How much did you lose? Should we go back to recharge?”

The two quickly shook their heads. They hadn’t needed any energy to deal with the clueless bunch they had fought earlier—they were just having trouble following Jiang Hui’s train of thought. But now… it seemed to make sense.

“Then hurry up. It looks like there are only a few seconds left. Get on and try it,” Jiang Hui urged. They had already taken the item from the chest, and it even had an automatic locking mechanism. There was no way she would believe it didn’t have an automatic return function.

At any rate, she’d sit on it for now and see what happened. If something went wrong, she could jump off. It wasn’t like she’d get flung out of a chest that was half her height.

Han Xian was the first to react. A playful smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he used one hand to push himself onto the other side of the chest, sitting down with his back to Jiang Hui.

Finally, under Jiang Hui’s urging, Zhou Xiuwen hurriedly climbed onto the chest.

The moment he sat down, the chest began to move. It suddenly gained quite a bit of mobility, and the three of them, though prepared, lost their balance for a moment.

Fortunately, Jiang Hui had anticipated this and taken out some ropes from the backpack to secure them. Thanks to her quick thinking, they didn’t end up falling off the chest.

“Ah, this… it’s really moving. Is it a bit slow?” After the initial confusion, Zhou Xiuwen quickly regained his composure and began observing the situation around them.

“Slow?” Jiang Hui, who was busy tying several rolls of rope, asked in confusion.

“What are you doing with a portable operating frame?” Zhou Xiuwen asked, slightly puzzled.

Jiang Hui set the base in place, pressed the auto-adjust mode, and immediately, a 3D frame rose out of the middle of the chest.

She then connected the newly formed triangular frame, instantly creating a temporary fixed space where the three of them were positioned, with their waists aligned against the box’s surface and their bodies secured by the horizontal bar.

Now, even the most clueless person could see that Jiang Hui’s actions were meant to keep them from falling off the chest easily.

The structure was actually quite simple. It used a rigid triangular frame to encircle their bodies and the box surface, and then a large frame enclosed all three of them together, integrating them into one unit with the chest.

As for how effective the fixating mechanism was, it wasn’t perfect. They could easily free themselves if they wanted to, by simply pressing the reset mode or wriggling out through the gaps.

However, they had never considered using the portable operating frame this way. It was like they couldn’t fathom how Jiang Hui had managed to think of using the chest’s ride as a shortcut and immediately made all the necessary preparations without hesitation.

The so-called portable operating frame was a common tool widely used in the interstellar world.

Even though interstellar humans had altered their genes to enhance their physical strength, pushing the limits that previous generations of humans could never achieve, they were still, at the end of the day, human. Without mixing in genes from other species, they couldn’t fly or evolve abilities and organs like animals.

Therefore, to survive in the vast expanse of space, humans focused most of their energy on developing high-tech tools, in addition to optimizing their genes and expanding their mental and psychic powers.

This portable operating frame is one of those tools, utilizing high-energy nano-fission technology and possessing strong malleability.

Its primary functions include structural fixation, immediate shaping, and simple connection assembly, which can assist people in performing dozens of types of aerial work.

In the past, if people wanted to perform aerial work, they had to rely on professionals or large aerial machinery. With this, everything becomes much easier.

In the original memories, her father even used this frame to suspend himself while repairing the outer walls of a building over ten meters high. So, using it now as a safety support frame shouldn’t be a problem… right?

As it turns out, the effect was a little too good.

At first, the chest moved at a normal speed, but as time passed, its speed grew exponentially. Once the operating frame was fully set up, Jiang Hui and the others even started hearing the sound of wind rushing past their ears.

“Still saying it’s slow, but now it’s much faster… a slope?!!” The last two words Jiang Hui spoke were instantly swallowed up by the rushing wind and the screams.

“Ahhhhhh—” Zhou Xiuwen, who was on the chest, was half-screaming in terror… “Quick, quick, get me down, hic!”