The Strongest Brain in the Interstellar

“Heh, well, looks can be deceiving. They may seem like obedient kids, but they sure know what they’re doing—seems like they’ve swiped more than a few supplies in their time,” Dennis muttered, having just returned to the screen after a rather “gentle” warning from that important figure.

After the two close calls just now, Dennis fully realized he’d unintentionally tangled with quite a troublesome group. Fortunately, that figure didn’t seem interested in interfering with the competition, just urging him to keep an eye on safety—most likely alarmed by the earlier “roller coaster” scare.

So, as soon as he ended the call, Dennis immediately checked back on the trio’s status on his monitor.

“Alright, alright. I really can’t afford to mess with this group,” he thought, planning to swiftly transport them out once the timer hit zero so they could continue the competition on their own terms. But instead, he found them raiding the supplies.

Admittedly, as a strategy, they were spot on. Despite the sheer amount of supplies, only a few items would genuinely be useful to them, while most of it would just take up space.

They’d quickly figured this out, proving they were sharp thinkers. But maybe a bit ‘too’ sharp?

The resource pile they were digging into was actually the backup cache for the supply point, kept on hand to handle emergencies and fully stocked for that reason. If it hadn’t been used, it would normally be shifted to the next supply point as reserve inventory.

Yet here these three were, having already taken close to a third of the essential supplies like bullets and supplements. Impressive.

“Well, I guess that’s what this ‘gift package’ was meant for.” Dennis chuckled, seeing them make the most of his surprise bundle. Watching them hauling away the big bag of firearms on the screen, he smiled slightly as he pressed the transfer button, teleporting everyone in that supply point—including the three of them—out to continue the match.

“But isn’t this leaving too few people in the game?” he muttered to himself. “There are still over twenty star hours left in the competition.”

—

Jiang Hui and her two teammates suddenly felt the ground drop from under them. In the blink of an eye, they found themselves surrounded by dense shrubbery in a forest.

Outside, it was still pitch dark.

Jiang Hui held onto her heavy bag of firearms, feeling the chill of the night breeze. Under the dark sky, she suddenly noticed how drastic the temperature difference was between day and night on Planet No. 732.

It was still night outside, so it seemed that dawn was yet to come.

Jiang Hui felt a bit disoriented. They’d entered the arena at 9 a.m. the previous morning, and without realizing it, they’d already made it to the early hours of the next day. This journey had certainly been exhausting.

The bundle she was carrying was heavy, so she quickly dropped it onto the ground.

“We… finally made it out!” Jiang Hui could practically picture every muscle in Zhou Xiuwen’s body, without any light needed, expressing the pure relief of finally being free.

But were they truly free?

The reality was that they were still in the training arena, with the match only eighteen star hours in. This meant that, unless they were eliminated, they still had eighteen more star hours to go.

That was eighteen more hours—almost a full day. They hadn’t even slept for a single minute yet. Would they even make it to the end of the competition, or would they simply collapse from exhaustion first?

Jiang Hui checked the electronic display, which showed the time as 02:53. She thought it was definitely possible that fatigue would catch up with them soon.

Huan Xian returned from scouting the area and confirmed there was no one nearby—it was safe for now.

Now that Jiang Hui and Zhou Xiuwen were aware of Huan Xian’s special abilities, they trusted his judgment completely. Taking advantage of the empty surroundings, Jiang Hui opened up the bag of firearms, setting up a dim light beside them.

The three of them gathered around the pile of guns and started… choosing their weapons.

None of them had particularly good luck with gear so far, as most of their resources had been pieced together from whatever they’d managed to scavenge or snatch from others. Even their enemies hadn’t been lucky, so the gear they’d acquired was limited, and they’d been making do with only a few basic firearms.

Back in the supply area, there hadn’t been time to pick carefully. If they’d spent more time selecting, they wouldn’t have had time to grab anything else.

So, Jiang Hui finally managed to bring back this large bundle. This way, it wouldn’t take up too much space and could be useful. After all, with firearms, only accurate aim makes them truly effective. Even the best rifle is just decoration if you can’t aim well.

Since the three of them had decent shooting skills, they naturally wanted to exchange a few better-suited weapons while they had the chance.

Of course, they couldn’t carry all the guns, so they had to take a bit of time to carefully choose. As for what to do with the leftovers… Jiang Hui wasn’t worried about it. She wasn’t thinking that far ahead.

To everyone’s surprise, Zhou Xiuwen quickly selected a handgun—a short pistol, which is known to be hard to handle. But he seemed to know exactly what he wanted and chose it without hesitation, becoming the quickest among them to decide.

Huan Xian opted for a compact, slim assault rifle, even smaller than the standard rifles they usually trained with. He seemed very pleased with this choice, immediately swapping out the two rifles he had slung over his back for the new one.

Jiang Hui wasn’t too picky. She was used to standard rifles and wasn’t particularly eager to switch, but new ones are usually better than old, and the feel of each rifle varies. Since she had options now, she chose two that felt right in her hands.

Once they’d each selected a weapon, they swiftly packed a few backups into their storage bags. Finally, they were all set.

Perfect—everyone was quick. It was only just after three in the morning, with around three hours left until dawn. There wasn’t much else they could do, so… why not catch some sleep?

This idea was immediately met with unanimous approval. Even Huan Xian showed a hint of relief on his face.

It seemed that the intense activities had exhausted everyone, though they hadn’t shown it due to the previous lack of opportunity. Now, with the prospect of sleep, all their eyes practically lit up.

Time was limited, and if they delayed any longer, it would be morning. They quickly set up a high-ground tent, picking a sturdy, towering tree as their base.

The setup process was nerve-wracking, to say the least. Despite the tree’s thick trunk and wide branches—so large that a person couldn’t wrap their arms around it—the high-altitude setup required some real nerve. Jiang Hui, for one, hadn’t realized until now that she had a slight fear of heights.

Thankfully, this elevated tent was almost fully automatic. They just needed to secure it to the main trunk, find the right anchor points, and the tent would pop open, forming a compact resting space.

With three of them, they could take turns keeping watch. Each person would get around two hours of sleep, which should be enough. If it wasn’t, well… they’d just have to wait until after the competition to catch up on rest. After all, this place wasn’t exactly ideal for sleeping.