The Strongest Brain in the Interstellar

As for Clarens, despite his rather stifling predicament, he continued to show an impressive level of combat prowess. Unfortunately, he, too, wasn’t one of Captain Lin Qi’s students.

“Damn it—all the talent seems to go to Class One or Class Two. Even the Command Division gets their pick, and logistics too. But not a single one ends up in Class Three,” Lin Qi muttered to himself.

Sure, the Lava siblings were skilled, and his class had its share of promising students. But witnessing such outstanding recruits, Lin couldn’t help but feel a pang of envy. Had he known that Captain Stark would refuse Class One, he would’ve fought for it himself, even if it meant going up against someone like the powerful Major Zou Yi. Class One had not only Huo Qi but also Xiao Li and Mu Kun… If only he’d known sooner.

“What are they doing? Why did they tie him up?” Lieutenant Fang from Class Seven asked, puzzled.

“It’s likely to avoid exposing their location,” explained Lieutenant Zap from Class Five. “Although the total points ranking only updates every hour, a close look reveals that team statuses and individual information are updated in real-time.”

The coordinates of others appeared on the map only when they had entered a designated power recharge area. Because the team hadn’t yet entered one of these zones, their current location was still concealed. However, if they wanted to pinpoint their exact location, at least one of them would need to go inside. This was the cause of their earlier argument.

Huan Xian had initially proposed, without hesitation, to split up. His idea was to act as a decoy in the L3 recharge zone, luring the other teams to believe Jiang Hui was nearby. Being a high-ranking member, Huan Xian knew the enemy would likely come looking for him if they couldn’t locate Jiang Hui, giving him a chance to use his wits to escape. This plan would buy the team some time and provide them with more options.

However, Jiang Hui disagreed, recognizing Huan Xian’s intention to divert the danger away from her. She knew that Huo Qi and the others wouldn’t be so easily misled. If they couldn’t find her, they would surely go after Huan Xian first.

So while he spoke casually about splitting up, Jiang Hui suspected that Huan Xian intended to confront Huo Qi’s group head-on, effectively taking on the risk alone to give her more time to maneuver.

As they traveled together, Jiang Hui had come to realize that Huan Xian wasn’t truly focused on winning the competition. Unlike others, he didn’t have a burning desire for victory. That was likely why he saw using himself as a decoy for Jiang Hui’s benefit as a logical solution, and he was willing to do it without a second thought.

On the surface, it might seem reasonable—since Huan Xian didn’t care about the competition, he could use himself as bait to help Jiang Hui, who did want to win. It seemed that everyone’s interests were being looked after. But Jiang Hui was certain this thinking was flawed—a big mistake, in fact.

She believed this mindset was wrong and should not be encouraged. A team might sometimes make sacrifices to maximize its success, but those sacrifices should be made for the collective good, for shared honor. Only then is sacrifice meaningful and worthwhile.

In this case, was there truly a shared benefit for everyone? The reality was that only her interests were being considered.

Jiang Hui couldn’t just accept this arrangement because it favored her while Huan Xian seemed indifferent. Rather than winning by sacrificing her teammate’s well-being, she wanted to unite everyone’s strengths and win fair and square. Even if they lost, she’d be happier and at peace with that outcome. Since they had formed this team together, she felt responsible for everyone involved.

Maybe her drive for absolute victory wasn’t as strong as she thought.

More importantly, Jiang Hui felt deeply that Huan Xian’s mindset needed a change. Even if he wasn’t interested in winning or invested in the competition, that didn’t justify sacrificing himself to give others peace of mind.

If she accepted his special “help” now, it would only reinforce his belief in self-sacrifice. Huan Xian might come to view this as normal, possibly even using himself to achieve others’ success in the future—no matter who benefited.

Why should he treat himself this way? He wasn’t a tool.

He was a person. Though Jiang Hui was still a student who hadn’t yet formally trained as a soldier and didn’t fully understand the role, she was certain that collective honor should never be won like this.

Huan Xian should value himself more, trust in their team, and believe that his inclusion didn’t require self-sacrifice.

Sensing that Huan Xian might have a streak of self-neglect, Jiang Hui instinctively and firmly rejected his plan. Up until now, they’d cooperated without a single argument, but this time, neither was willing to compromise.

Luckily, Clarens’s arrival provided just the solution they needed for their current predicament.

The group quickly packed up, taking their newly “recruited” teammate and fleeing towards the L11 point.

— About eight star minutes had passed since the total charge energy block arrived at the training ground.

Some participants were stationed at energy points with lower charging limits, and their charging had already reached about half of their limit. These people would likely soon head out to search for another total charge energy block, so Jiang Hui and the others had to hurry.

Hmm… hurry to do what? Of course, hurry up and hunt a few waves along the way.

They ran from L3 to L11, and in between, the straight-line distance was at least two energy points. On both the left and right sides, there were near and far energy points, totaling four total charge energy block points. The map indicated that about fifty to sixty people would be in these areas. They couldn’t just wander blindly, pretending they didn’t see them, could they?

These people didn’t seem to have any intention of leaving the total charge energy block range. Their identifiers were visible on the map. But they didn’t know Jiang Hui and the others were heading in their direction, making this the perfect moment to strike.

Additionally, there was a full-map guide provided, and the total score only updated every hour, so if they didn’t act, it would be a waste of the perfect timing, location, and circumstances.

Given Jiang Hui and Huan Xian’s personalities, they would certainly not let such an opportunity slip by.

So, they needed to quickly rack up more points before others started moving around. Wouldn’t it be better than directly confronting Huo Qi and the others from the start? After all, in battle, it wasn’t just about brute strength. Sometimes, strategy was just as important, wasn’t it?

Jiang Hui was lying on Huan Xian’s back, gripping a standard rifle, occasionally glancing at the map in the sky as she analyzed the overall situation in the training ground.

Suddenly, Huan Xian, who had been carrying her in silence for a long time, asked, “Why didn’t you agree back then?” His tone seemed puzzled.

He hadn’t said much about why, but judging by his awkward attitude, he was probably still angry about the earlier disagreement.

Why, indeed?

A lot of thoughts, deep and shallow, passed through Jiang Hui’s mind, some logical, others not so much. She had plenty of reasons to say, but when the words reached her lips, nothing came out… Because from what position should she try to persuade him?

How could she know that what she thought wasn’t wrong?

“Because I’m not your general, and you’re not my soldiers.” Therefore, there shouldn’t be such an unequal sacrifice.

———————————-

PS: Those principles should have been the normal concepts that human society would have given to Huan Xian, but the strange experiences forced upon him caused him to lack the personality that a person should have. Deep down, he felt as though he existed only as a weapon.

Jiang Hui wanted to persuade him but felt unqualified to do so, as she herself hadn’t fully figured out this path. So in the end, these words came from her as a companion and friend, not as advice, but as an invitation to form a bond.