The Strongest Brain in the Interstellar

When the cockpit was violently pried open, revealing the bloody scene inside, Jiang Hui was startled. She had considered many possible outcomes, but she hadn’t expected this. Unlike the person beside her, whose legs gave out and let out a scream, her first reaction was to stand in a daze, feeling as though it wasn’t real.

Going back to about an hour earlier, Jiang Hui had smelled a strong acidic odor at the base camp, but no matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t find the source.

She didn’t dare stay in the tent, fearing she’d be suffocated by the fumes, nor did she dare to stand out in the wild. It was pitch black, and if a wild beast suddenly appeared and grabbed her, she would disappear without a sound.

It was a situation where neither moving forward nor staying still seemed safe.

The acidic smell in the air was growing stronger. Even in this wide-open space, she could feel the concentration of the fumes intensifying and spreading.

Jiang Hui felt uneasy, as though sensing something nearby was making her anxious. A thin layer of cold sweat formed on her back.

When would the school rescue her? If earlier she was just somewhat regretting not thickening her skin and following the group, now she was filled with regret—this wasn’t what they had agreed upon at all.

Even if the school couldn’t find her, surely the instructor wouldn’t forget to check on her situation. The end point wasn’t far from here, and they should have arrived by now.

She endured the unpleasant smell and returned to the relatively well-lit temporary tent, rummaging through the contents of her pack.

The pack was quite primitive, containing items that seemed out of place in the current high-tech era. Things like bedding, a heavy metal water bottle that was purely decorative, and a raincoat took up half the space in the pack. These items were not useful for their journey and seemed more like historical memorabilia.

The remaining half of the space held the items they could actually use, such as the temporary tent she had already set up, compressed food packs, a medical kit, a small bag filled with miscellaneous tools, and a coil of long rope. Jiang Hui pulled on the rope, finding it quite elastic and sturdy, but it wasn’t what she was looking for.

Jiang Hui genuinely thought the contents of the pack were poorly planned. Didn’t the school consider the possibility of them getting lost? Why weren’t there items like flashlights or flares?

Or was the school simply confident in its ability to monitor every corner? Based on her current situation, the school didn’t seem capable of such detailed monitoring… After all, it had been dark for a long time, and she, a full-grown person, had been left out in the wilderness for so long. If she were to be killed by a wild animal under unknown circumstances, Beska Intermediate Academy probably wouldn’t be able to continue operating.

Jiang Hui felt that the situation was very unusual, but she didn’t dare act recklessly and was unsure of what to do.

Fortunately, it seemed she wouldn’t have to wait much longer—

The acidic smell lingering in the air hadn’t dissipated, but the earlier sense of agitation in the atmosphere had faded significantly. The eerie sense of danger that Jiang Hui had instinctively felt also eased suddenly, leaving her a bit confused.

What on earth had just happened?

Rustle, rustle—

The sound was faint at first, small and fragmented, like something crawling on the ground and slowly moving.

Jiang Hui immediately became highly alert. Up until now, apart from the strange acidic smell drifting in the air and the natural sounds from the wilderness, this was the first unusual noise she had heard.

The only thing that could produce such a sound was something conscious and capable of movement.

—Something was approaching her.

This was the first signal Jiang Hui interpreted.

Instinctively, she controlled her breathing and sharpened her focus, cautiously sending out a small wave of her mental energy to probe the surroundings. Meanwhile, she tightly gripped the sharp end of her hiking stick.

In the pitch-black night, no one noticed the brief, faint gleam that flashed across Jiang Hui’s eyes, briefly illuminating them in the dark.

It was getting closer—heading in her direction.

Jiang Hui tightened her grip on the serrated edge of the hiking stick, raising it slightly, preparing to strike at the approaching figure. Just then, she heard a voice:

“…Help…”

“…Help… us…”

Jiang Hui:?

She wasn’t mistaken. That was definitely a human voice, and the figure seemed to be—human.

However, she didn’t immediately relax. Her sense of smell was still sharp, and she could clearly detect the strong acidic scent coming from this dark, unclear figure—exactly the same as the one she had been smelling all night. It seemed like this person had come straight from the source of the incident…

The figure mumbled again, weakly calling for help.

Now certain it was a person, Jiang Hui took a moment to observe. She couldn’t help but brush aside the tangled hair on their head. But as soon as her hand touched it, she felt something wet and slippery, cold in a way that sent a shiver down her spine, and she instinctively pulled her hand back.

Suddenly, the figure grabbed her hand tightly. Yet, the skin where they touched was noticeably warm, with the pulse of a living person faintly detectable.

“You…” Jiang Hui tentatively shook her hand, which was now being held even tighter. With a hint of exasperation, she said, “Classmate, can you let go of my hand first? If you want me to help, you need to tell me how. But if you keep holding on like this, I can’t do anything.”

Hearing this, the person seemed to loosen their grip slightly. Seeing an opportunity, Jiang Hui quickly tried to free her hand. However, to her surprise, the person grabbed her ankle with their other hand.

Jiang Hui: …

At this point, she was sure this wasn’t some deceitful creature or an elaborate trap.

No monster would be this foolish, and no scam would start off like this.

Given that her hand and leg were both “locked down,” Jiang Hui simply took a small step back and squatted slightly. Then, she reached out and pulled away the tangled mess of hair from the person’s head.

A completely unfamiliar face, but clearly human, and most importantly, the person was wearing their school’s training uniform.

As light filtered in, the individual weakly half-opened their eyes and stared intently at Jiang Hui, making her feel a bit uneasy as she asked, “Classmate, are you a new student in this training exercise? May I ask what happened… Is there anything I can help you with?”

Of course, there were some things she really couldn’t assist with, especially since she felt completely powerless herself.

“Help… teach…” The latter part of their words was somewhat muffled. Jiang Hui had to listen closely, breaking it down word by word, but it was still hard to make out, and the person’s breath was growing weaker, as if they were about to faint.

With no other choice, Jiang Hui furrowed her brow and asked again, “What’s wrong with you?” She deliberately raised her voice, fearing the person wouldn’t be able to respond clearly.

“Food… fast…” Well, whatever it was could wait until they had more strength; they were about to starve to death.