The Strongest Brain in the Interstellar

“What… What are you doing here? Don’t come any closer! Can you go back to your position? This area is not open to anyone other than the administrators. Don’t, don’t force me to complain to the principal, or else you…” The person in the control room, looking terrified by the sudden appearance of a ghost-like figure, couldn’t help but tremble. But, trying to maintain some dignity, he straightened his back and tried to show he wasn’t afraid.

Stark glanced at him, then took another step closer to the control desk.

Seeing that Stark was clearly about to interfere, Dennis instinctively tried to stop him but was frozen in place by Stark’s cold, piercing gaze. So terrifying… This man…

No, no, he’s the lead designer; this is his domain. How could he be intimidated by this man? He had to think of a way to get him out of here quickly.

“You—”

“This screen… zoom in and take a look.” Stark ignored Dennis’s threatening words and, without hesitation, pinpointed the screen he wanted from the hundreds of split screens. He spoke suddenly.

Dennis was left stunned by the unexpected question.

Stark patiently repeated the request but showed no intention of getting any closer to the control desk. Dennis finally realized that Stark’s earlier approach had only been to find the screen he wanted more quickly.

Who is this person? He’s not even watching from outside; he came to the control desk to threaten the lead designer, and doesn’t even care about my complaints to the school?

Hmm, looking at his uniform, it’s obvious he’s from the Tactical Soldier Department. I’ll definitely report him to the first-year team. And where’s the chief commander? Didn’t they send someone to guard this area? How is it that this man can come and go freely, as if he’s in an unguarded zone?

But in the end, Dennis relented. Fine, fine, if he wants to look, let him look. These soldiers always have their quirks. As long as they don’t break the rules, what’s the harm in letting him watch for a while?

Dennis watched Stark’s movements like a hawk, wary of any sudden moves to touch the buttons on the control panel. But his concern was probably in vain, as once Stark saw the wide-angle screen slightly zoomed in on the top left corner, he became completely absorbed in it, not even sparing a glance for the control desk.

Dennis suddenly felt the cold, suffocating pressure that had surrounded him earlier vanish as if it had never existed, leaving him feeling completely relieved.

He was a person who didn’t hold grudges. Though he felt fear towards this man, he couldn’t help but feel a bit of curiosity. He wondered what exactly the man had come here for. Was it just to ask to have the screen zoomed in for him?

Dennis: …

Now he finally understood why he had been cornered by this person earlier. It turned out it was because he had upset the man’s prized student.

The man had actually come by earlier, and Dennis recognized him. And due to his mysterious actions at the supply point, the man had given him a harsh scolding.

Dennis knew the man had come for one of the kids in that team, but he wasn’t sure which one. It definitely wasn’t the one with the surname Zhou. Now, it seemed he knew who it was.

“Are you Captain Stark from the Eighth Legion?” Dennis quickly made the connection and correctly identified him.

Stark did not deny it.

So, it was this person. Well, after all the commotion, it had somehow circled back to his own colleague. What a coincidence.

The Beska Intermediate Academy was backed by the Eighth Legion, and most of the teachers in the school came from that legion. Only a few were sent for special reasons or assignments.

However, even such a large legion had its factions, and not everyone within it knew each other or worked together. That depended on their direct superiors. As it turned out, Stark, Nie Erqi, and Dennis all had the same superior, and so they were all part of the same faction. They were true colleagues.

However, Dennis was a civilian, and since he didn’t officially have a position, he had almost no opportunities to meet Stark, so he naturally couldn’t recognize him. But he knew that there was a Captain Stark who served as a class advisor in the first year of Beska Intermediate Academy, and thinking back to the information about the top student, he was able to make the connection and recognize him.

It seemed his plan to complain to the principal was going to fall through. Dennis wouldn’t dare provoke this man. Besides, they were all from the same side—fighting among themselves would be absurd…

“Did you come for this child?” Dennis could tell from Stark’s gaze that he was assessing something. “Don’t worry. Her leg should not have injured the bones. As long as she doesn’t worsen the injury, she should recover quickly once she gets out of here.”

Stark’s gaze silently fell on the awkwardly smiling Dennis. Without saying anything, it made Dennis break out in a cold sweat, and he couldn’t help but think… ‘This guy is even more terrifying than the rumors say.’

He quickly changed the subject: “These kids really know how to stir things up. They can make something out of nothing. Just looking at their little team, it’s enough… I swear, I won’t do any more little tricks. I—I just wanted to train them, don’t focus on me anymore.”

“Hey, hey, hey, are you done watching? Aren’t you going to watch a bit longer? Actually, you could…” But before Dennis could finish, Stark vanished like a gust of wind, not even looking back, giving Dennis no chance to get closer or try to flatter him.

“…Looks like he just came to check on the injury.” Dennis murmured thoughtfully.

The control room’s screen was different from the outside wide-angle view, with much higher clarity. Stark probably didn’t trust the external feed and came backstage to take a look himself.

“Did he just calculate that I wouldn’t complain about him? As expected of someone close to that person. Really sharp.” Dennis couldn’t help but mutter, “I was going to warn him, see if I should make things easier for him. Anyway, the Mace family is secretly backing him. Now, he’s gone so quickly. Who should I talk to about this? Forget it, I’ll just stick to the original plan. He can’t blame me for being ruthless.”

He stared at the four-person team still resting and recovering, as if thinking of something, he smiled slightly and then returned the screen to its original size.

After confirming the status of each participant, he looked at the data panel in the lower-right corner.

——There were still ten hours and three minutes left until the end of the competition, with only 332 participants remaining in the military category. There were 51 formal teams, 21 temporary teams of varying sizes, and 27 scattered individual participants.

The current top three on the leaderboard were:
1. Jiang Hui from the Combat Infantry Department, with a total score of 492 points, currently part of the temporary team T186.
2. Huo Qi from the Combat Infantry Department, with 342 points, part of the formal team R256.
3. Clarens from the Combat Infantry Department, with 296 points, no team affiliation.

These were the top three in the current points standings. The situation was clear, and the results were nearly set, since there were not many participants left in the field, and there wasn’t much room for maneuvering.

But Dennis wouldn’t let the results settle so easily. The competition was only a third of the way through—how could it end so quickly? That would be a disgrace to his genius reputation!

The next phase was about to begin.