The Strongest Brain in the Interstellar

Jiang Hui felt it was highly likely that Huo Qi’s team would choose L6, which meant heading toward their current position.

Although L10 seemed slightly closer in terms of distance, L6 was to the right, and Clarens had briefly appeared near L3.

From the perspective of habitual thinking, most people would likely pick L6. If Jiang Hui were in their position, she figured she would make the same choice. So… they needed to pick up the pace!

“Let’s head straight to L11,” Jiang Hui said to the group.

“We’re skipping L6?” one of them asked. That had been part of their initial plan—passing by L1 and L6 to scout the area and possibly pick off some points if they found any teams off guard.

Even though L6 currently housed two teams, their members weren’t highly ranked or particularly strong—opponents they could handle. It felt like a waste to skip it now that they were so close.

“Our remaining energy reserves are limited. While we could barely make it to L6, it would leave us with very little margin for error. I’m worried something unexpected might happen, so let’s focus on securing the simulated energy supply first. It’s only a matter of a few more star minutes of travel,” Jiang Hui explained.

“Besides—” Her expression turned slightly more serious. “I think there’s a chance Huo Qi’s team might head this way.”

It was better not to alarm the enemy unnecessarily.

The others thought it over and, without further argument, quickly adjusted their route toward L11.

—

The team acted decisively, unaware that shortly after they altered their course and moved a few miles, an “unexpected guest” arrived near energy point L6.

The group that had just arrived was the R87 team from L4, led by their captain, Lin Maowu.

The energy point they initially secured at L4 didn’t have a high recharge capacity either—just like L7, it was capped at 40%. However, they didn’t stay there long, leaving over ten star minutes early and making their way toward L6. They had almost crossed paths with Jiang Hui’s team just moments ago.

Their ultimate target wasn’t L6, though, but energy point L10. Passing through L6 was merely an opportunity to scout the area, hunt down a few competitors, and then head toward L10.

Their route happened to overlap with part of Huo Qi’s team’s path. Whether or not the two teams would coincidentally run into each other later remained to be seen.

This was something Jiang Hui and her team couldn’t know.

Focused on their journey, they traveled in silence, barely speaking a word, their only goal to reach their destination as quickly as possible.

None of them had the bandwidth to consider the possibility that L11’s recharge capacity might be far lower than anticipated. They had no choice but to push forward and complete this phase of their mission.

Time slipped away, and an unspoken “race against the clock” began.

—

“Where is Jiang Hui? I swear, I need to meet this fascinating person if I ever get the chance,” muttered Mu Kun, squinting at the map. Despite his efforts, he still couldn’t locate the number “1,” representing her ranking.

“It is strange, though. The recharge phase started over forty star minutes ago, and yet she hasn’t shown up at any energy point for recharging. Did something happen to her team along the way?”

By all accounts, everyone’s simulated energy vests should have the same specifications. Take their team, for instance—by the time they reached L7, every vest’s energy levels were almost down to single digits. They found it hard to believe that Jiang Hui’s team would be any exception, and yet she seemed to have enough surplus energy to wander leisurely without a care.

Why were they not rushing to recharge their simulated vests? What could they possibly be waiting for? It was hard to understand their reasoning.

“Captain, should we head into L3 to check it out?” Xiao Li pushed aside these aimless thoughts and asked Huo Qi, who was gazing into the distance.

This situation revealed the limitations of the Antimony Navigation Map. While it could estimate locations and travel times, its accuracy was far from perfect. The problem stemmed from missing a crucial input during data entry: the terrain and environmental conditions.

In such a vast area, everyone was exploring and improvising. Nobody could know what the actual terrain between L7 and L3 looked like, so they calculated based on flat ground.

What Jiang Hui and her team didn’t realize was that the stretch between L7 and L3 included a rare sloped terrain. Moving downhill allowed Huo Qi’s team to traverse the distance much faster than anticipated. Instead of taking the estimated twenty star minutes, they reached L3 in just over ten.

L3 was the second energy point they encountered after L7. The team hesitated, debating whether to enter and investigate. Even though no other teams had occupied L3 so far, it was still an energy point, and their curiosity was piqued.

What was L3’s recharge capacity, they wondered?

Ultimately, the decision was up to Huo Qi. Xiao Li knew their captain well enough to guess that the answer would likely be no.

As expected, Huo Qi immediately dismissed the idea. “No need. Stick to the original plan.”

Xiao Li wasn’t surprised by the response. Without argument, he nodded and followed the team toward their designated destination.

The choice to skip L3 was a calculated one. Clarens had entered L3 earlier, only to leave shortly after, which indicated the recharge capacity must be abysmally low. Huo Qi saw no reason to expose their position again for such an insignificant gain.

Their destination this time was L6.

Initially, they had debated between L6 and L10.

However, an event ten star minutes earlier solidified their decision. The two teams previously occupying L6 had disappeared from the map, with one of them eliminated entirely.

The new occupants of L6 were the members of Team R86, led by Lin Maowu, who ranked fourth in the standings.

Their choice of L6 revealed quite a bit. Using that as a reference point, Huo Qi and the others naturally decided on L6 and gave up on L10.

As for whether they could take down Lin Maowu’s team and replace them at L6, that wasn’t something they even considered. In their eyes, there weren’t many enemies in the arena worth worrying about.

“She… she appeared!” Mu Kun, who had been glancing at the sky screen from time to time, suddenly stopped in his tracks. Her eyes widened as she stared at the map above in astonishment.

“She appeared? Who?”

“That Jiang Hui finally showed up. She’s at L11… Wait, what?! When did they form an official team? And the last member is Clarens?! That guy?!” Mu Kun’s voice took on a tone of disbelief.

“Captain!” Xiao Li’s expression changed drastically as he turned to look at the map on the sky screen and the total score rankings.

Sure enough, near the energy point L11—quite far from their location—several familiar rankings appeared: “1,” “3,” “8,” “129,” and “187.” They all lit up in the same region.

The formal team ID R186 now flashed next to these individuals’ scores, indicating they had just officially formed a team.

How did these people end up working together? There had been no signs of this beforehand—they completely ignored conventional logic.

The other teams were dumbfounded.