The Strongest Brain in the Interstellar

They were really lucky to have made it through such an intense and thrilling experience.

Jiang Hui quickly glanced at the time in the corner of her electronic screen. There were indeed about 30 star minutes remaining, and the simulated vest was showing that it was rapidly charging. Everything seemed to be functioning normally.

This meant that, no matter where they were, as long as they could endure the next 30 minutes, they would eventually be teleported out of the supply point, and the competition would have no further impact on them. After all the chaos they had just been through and preparing for the worst, this was actually very good news.

But…

“Where exactly are we?” Jiang Hui’s eyes widened as she stared into the seemingly endless darkness.

After a brief discussion, the three of them finally figured out their current situation.

They were still on the same resource vehicle as before, but for some reason, the device holding them in place was no longer the simple and convenient control frame from earlier. Instead, it was a strange outer shell, fitting closely to their skin. They couldn’t tell what material it was made of, nor could they figure out where it came from.

Could this vehicle have built-in emergency measures? Jiang Hui was confused, unsure how to free herself from their current predicament, especially since they didn’t even know what the device restricting their movements was.

Their military bags were trapped underneath this shell. While they could still move their arms freely, they couldn’t reach under the shell to grab their bags, let alone retrieve the lighting tools inside.

If there was no other way, they would just have to remain like this, sitting until they were eventually teleported out… or so Jiang Hui hoped, though she wasn’t entirely sure.

“Actually, sitting here for a while isn’t so bad,” Zhou Xiuwen said with a dry laugh. “That last part was fun, but it was also pretty intense. I’m still recovering from it.”

“Look… this resource vehicle is still moving forward. So where exactly is it taking us?” Huan Xian suddenly said.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Hui also realized something. Since waking up, they had been hearing the continuous sound of the wheels rolling, nonstop, even up until now. They hadn’t paid attention to it earlier because they were too preoccupied with the situation.

It seemed that the vehicle hadn’t stopped at all. Even after they had lost consciousness for a moment, it continued to move them through the darkness. But where was it taking them?

They had followed this resource vehicle here without any clear destination, and now they were connected to a previously unnoticed energy block. This situation seemed increasingly suspicious.

The three of them wanted to investigate, but reality held them back. They couldn’t move at all—

Just as they were pondering how to free themselves, there was a sudden crisp sound, like someone pressing a button, followed by a “click.”

Jiang Hui instantly felt the restriction around her upper body and waist vanish. Whatever had been holding them in place was gone. They were free to move again.

She tentatively shifted her upper body, moved her legs, and twisted her waist… then realized that the control frame she had previously set up was still there. She had simply overlooked it because the force restricting them had been so overwhelming that it masked the presence of the control frame.

But now that the restriction was gone, dealing with the control frame was easy. Jiang Hui quickly found the adjustment button, and within moments, she had dismantled and retracted the entire frame.

The moment they regained their freedom, the three of them, without saying a word, took out their individual lighting tools from their nano-military packs. Even though it was still difficult to see in the pitch-black environment, it wasn’t a major issue.

Soon, the pitch-black surroundings, devoid of even the faintest light, began to glow faintly with a few soft yellow lights.

Jiang Hui tried using the wide-angle lamp to survey the environment ahead, but the path seemed too deep. Even with the long-range lighting from the wide-angle lamp, she couldn’t reach the end of the path.

After shining the light for a while and seeing nothing but an endless mountain path and tracks, Jiang Hui gave up. She decided to turn around and check what the environment was like behind them.

“Wow!”

Who would have thought that as soon as she turned her head, she was met with what appeared to be a floating human head, eyes wide open and staring upward. The dim light illuminated the pale face, contrasting with the surrounding darkness, making the entire atmosphere feel somewhat eerie.

Jiang Hui was startled. It took her a moment to realize that it was Zhou Xiuwen.

The guy was tilting his head upward, and with the light shining on him, it inadvertently created a slightly terrifying optical illusion from the angle. It was honestly pretty frightening.

Zhou Xiuwen, hearing Jiang Hui’s sudden shout, was a bit confused. He withdrew his gaze and looked at Jiang Hui, a puzzled expression on his face, clearly questioning what had happened.

What… should Jiang Hui say now? Should she admit that she got scared? That would be overreacting.

She even felt a bit embarrassed thinking about it herself, so she decided not to make a big deal out of it. Instead, she awkwardly changed the subject. “Did you find anything?”

Zhou Xiuwen shook his head.

Huan Xian, holding a small particle beam light, skillfully shone it up, down, and around the rock walls, carefully inspecting. “Uh… this seems to be a cave,” he said, though with some uncertainty. There was really very little information they had to go on.

The three of them had considered jumping off the resource vehicle and exploring the area around them. However, after taking a closer look at the tunnel, they abandoned the idea. This passage was completely different from the tunnels they’d passed through earlier—it was a single, one-way corridor.

The resource vehicle they were on continued along the only track within this corridor, moving forward.

So, the most logical, though risky, approach now was simply to follow the resource vehicle and see where it would take them.

But… how much longer would this take? It must have been at least ten minutes by now! In the endless wait, the three of them were getting more and more frustrated.

Perhaps it was due to the darkness, but after being awake for more than ten hours, the rhythmic sound of the wheels rolling seemed to lull their minds. Gradually, their consciousness began to drift and blur, slipping into a kind of dazed state.

They were exhausted…

“Guruguru—clink!” A sharp, crisp sound, completely different from the noise of the rolling wheels, suddenly jolted the three of them awake from their drowsy state.

“Huh…? Are we there?” Zhou Xiuwen mumbled, still groggy.

Jiang Hui quickly turned on the wide-angle light again and shone it around. She realized that the environment had changed.

Behind them, the long, endless tunnel remained, but ahead, things were different. The resource box had come to a stop, and just a few steps ahead, the space suddenly opened up. With the light shining in, the three of them, with their sharp vision, quickly scanned the area and noticed something unusual.

In a moment of inspiration, they almost simultaneously jumped off the resource box and headed toward the pile of indistinct objects.