The Strongest Brain in the Interstellar

So, what are Jiang Hui and the others planning to do now?

It turns out that they had a small disagreement at this moment.

Actually, it wasn’t exactly a disagreement, but rather that they each had different ideas about the next steps.

According to Huan Xian’s plan, the best option was to split up immediately. They should send someone to test which energy source number is currently in their location to confirm if they are at L3. If that’s the case, another person should immediately take Jiang Hui to L11, which is currently unoccupied, in order to slow down Huo Qi and the others.

This was the fastest and most direct approach. In Huan Xian’s mind, there was no need to think twice about it—just test it right away. Otherwise, once Huo Qi and the others finish recharging and arrive, they would truly lose both the battle and the opportunity.

However, as soon as he suggested this, Jiang Hui refused. She understood the others’ concerns—they were worried that, given her current situation, she had no chance of winning in close proximity to Huo Qi. So, they were eager to buy her more time and space, at least to increase her score and secure her spot at the top of the rankings.

This plan did indeed seem reasonable, but the problem was, who exactly would benefit from it? Clearly, it wouldn’t be Huan Xian, Zhou Xiuwen, or even Xierman. It would only be her—Jiang Hui—alone.

The four of them hadn’t even formed a formal team yet. They didn’t have the advantages of a proper squad. The only benefit they had was the small portion of resources they had received together at the supply point, but that was the result of their collective effort, not individual ability.

So, apart from the resources they had already obtained, the four of them were more like companions traveling together. Their coordination was limited since everyone was working on their own tasks, shooting separately, and scoring individually.

And because they hadn’t formed a formal team, they could split up at any time. Aside from not being able to join other teams, there was no direct connection between being eliminated from the competition and how the others scored. To put it bluntly, if Jiang Hui were to be taken out and eliminated, it wouldn’t affect the remaining members from continuing to compete and striving for their individual rankings.

But they chose to give Jiang Hui the best chance of winning by acting as bait themselves, even positioning themselves as tools to help her secure the first place. Jiang Hui appreciated their efforts but completely disagreed.

There is no such thing as sacrificing oneself for another’s future. It’s not a matter of national duty or selfless sacrifice for glory… it’s unreasonable and shouldn’t be the case.

Jiang Hui had always believed in walking her own path. Everyone has their own way of dealing with things, and there’s no need to force anything.

She insisted that they should just directly head to the charging point, as they had the advantage of knowing that Huo Qi was at L3. If Huo Qi arrived, they could face off directly. The winner would be determined by skill—whoever is better, that’s the result.

This was a last resort because they couldn’t be sure where the charging point was located. Without knowing the energy point’s number, they couldn’t confirm their current position, and the information they had would be useless. So they had to take a chance. If it was L11, they could hold their ground; if it was L3, they would be exposed. In this case, it was all a gamble.

Jiang Hui and Huan Xian had different opinions, and neither could convince the other.

Zhou Xiuwen, caught in the middle of their awkward disagreement, was feeling awkward himself. He had no idea what to do, his face full of indecision. Xierman was completely unaware of the situation and could only cautiously keep an eye on their surroundings.

“What should we do? The three star minutes are gone. If we keep arguing like this, the time will only get shorter, and we won’t be able to carry out either plan.” Huan Xian said stubbornly.

“…Stop thinking about it.” Jiang Hui replied, “Let’s just go into the charging point. We’ve already encountered enemies before; there’s no need to be so cautious. Besides, if they really want to come after me, they’ll catch up no matter where I go. As for my leg… it’s my own issue. You don’t need to bear the responsibility.”

“You—”

“Why don’t I give it a try?” Xierman suddenly suggested, standing off to the side, looking somewhat at a loss.

Seeing both Jiang Hui and Huan Xian looking at him, he continued, “My ranking is very low, so even if I go, it will take some effort. The people ahead of me have inflated egos, so if I enter the energy point and scan the energy block’s ID number, they might not immediately realize that I belong to the same team as Jiang Hui. If I quickly exit, no one might notice.”

It was actually a valid point. In their team, the most noticeable members were Jiang Hui and Huan Xian—one was in first place, the other in eighth. As soon as they appeared, they would be immediately identified.

Zhou Xiuwen and Xierman were both further down the rankings. Especially Xierman, who was already in the lower half of the list. The team numbers were displayed behind individual scores on the overall leaderboard, not on the map itself, so it would be a bit difficult to make the connection. After all, not many people would think Jiang Hui and the others would choose someone ranked around 200 to be part of their team.

Xierman’s suggestion had some merit, but…

“What if someone has been watching us the whole time?” At this moment, countless pairs of eyes could be analyzing her situation on the leaderboard, scanning the map to find her likely position—if that’s the case, there would be no way they wouldn’t realize Xierman was part of her T186 team. In that case, trying this would be pointless.

“…”

For a moment, everyone fell silent, and even Huan Xian seemed to have lost his argument.

Almost at the same time, the four who had been arguing just moments ago moved to hide behind the tall tree trunks, pulling out the weapons they had been holding behind their backs for a long time, all pointing in the same direction.

One shot, two shots, three shots, four shots… After one round, there was another. Several rounds of shots were fired in quick succession, spraying bullets without any concern for ammunition.

Of course, if it were anyone else, they might have been worried about running low on ammo. But for Jiang Hui and her team, there was no such concern—they had more than enough to spare. If they didn’t use up all the ammo to kill the little rats who had been eavesdropping and planning to attack them, that would be a waste of the time they’d spent earning those points. After all, those were valuable points, enough to charge three to five percent of their energy.

Whoever had the guts to come after all four of them alone—were they overly confident in their own abilities?

As it turned out, the enemy might indeed have some skills.

Huan Xian kicked Xierman next to him. Xierman instinctively tilted his head to dodge the strike. Meanwhile, Jiang Hui elbowed Zhou Xiuwen in the same way, signaling him to stay clear of the bullet trajectory coming from the opposite side, while simultaneously returning fire in that direction.