The Strongest Brain in the Interstellar

Aside from the temporarily questionable closed brain domain, the wear and tear caused by mental power depletion is equally significant; there were indeed quite a few issues left behind by both the original body and Jiang Hui.

This consultation was too lengthy; even after she had taken a nap in the testing room and had circled around in her mental space, it still wasn’t over.

As expected, by the time Jiang Hui, Stark, and Nie Erqi finished the consultation, it was already deep into the night, or rather, it was almost the next day. In another hour or two, the sky would likely lighten.

Jiang Hui initially thought that Stark would take her back to school directly so she could rest in her dormitory.

Of course, they needed to rest as well. The round trip had already taken nearly ten hours, and even for someone with a strong military constitution, it wasn’t something they could endure easily. Jiang Hui felt a bit embarrassed dragging them along for her own matters just to stay up all night.

Unexpectedly, Stark didn’t immediately turn the ship back to school. Instead, he led them to a nearby restaurant that served meals late at night, seemingly finally remembering that they needed to fill their stomachs.

Jiang Hui suddenly realized that they had been in such a rush to attend Michael’s consultation that they hadn’t stopped to eat dinner at all. They had all just made do with nutrient solutions on the spaceship.

However, for young people and soldiers accustomed to maintaining peak physical condition, the nutrient solution was a bit too sparse. Jiang Hui had been on the go all night, and what she needed most was a warm and nutritious meal to replenish her energy.

Yet being sandwiched between two tall elders while looking at the menu made Jiang Hui feel quite peculiar. It was as if she were a child brought out by her parents to eat a kids’ meal.

But never mind that; she was about to starve. So, she decided to eat first; after all, today someone else was treating.

Seeing that Jiang Hui seemed to have finished looking at the menu, Stark called someone over and let her place her order first. He then, like Nie Erqi, ordered Japanese cuisine.

Jiang Hui took several bites of the flamingo meat, and her slightly stalled brain finally managed to get back into gear.

She thought it was quite strange that she could so naturally be sitting with the notoriously strict instructor from school, calmly ordering her favorite food… Jiang Hui found herself quite admirable, feeling a certain psychological strength.

Clearly, the two of them didn’t see anything wrong with the situation and treated her as if she were one of their own, chatting away without concern. No, it should be said that one person was chatting away unilaterally, while Stark just responded occasionally, observing with a relaxed demeanor.

Jiang Hui was originally enjoying her late-night snack—or should she say breakfast?—in a daze when, for some reason, the two of them began discussing her.

“Little Jiang, uh… is it okay if I call you that? It’s been about a month since school started. How do you feel?” Nie Erqi asked, as casually as if he were talking about daily life.

Suddenly, the memories of her past surged back to her. “Little Jiang” — what a down-to-earth way to address someone; it seemed she hadn’t heard anyone call her that since coming to the stars.

As for how she felt about it… it was just okay. The military training felt more or less the same; it didn’t really feel real.

That was the truth. After all, the life of a soldier was too distant from her own experiences. Even though she underwent similar specialized training, it didn’t give her the same sense of reality. Perhaps only when she truly chose to walk that path, engaging in these trainings out of necessity for survival, would she genuinely understand their meaning.

But for now, Jiang Hui was really just experiencing it. Naturally, the instructor told her what to do; if there was a project, she practiced hard. It was a bit tough and tiring, but there was nothing worth reflecting on or discussing.

However, Jiang Hui chose a relatively moderate response: “Hmm, it’s okay. I feel like I’ve learned a lot.” Well, that was the truth.

But perhaps noticing his indifference, Nie Erqi sighed, “Forget it. You don’t seem to care about this. I was overthinking it; at your age, there’s really no need to worry about these things. Just follow your Uncle Tang, and he’ll teach you well.”

He had forgotten that he previously found her calm and somewhat eccentric when he didn’t know her identity. Now, she really did resemble her mother in some ways; both were quite determined.

People like this often had their own set of ideas, and interfering too much could be counterproductive. It was better to let her focus on her current life. Everything would become clear in the future.

Jiang Hui: ???

Didn’t you ask me? I hadn’t answered yet, and now you’re answering yourself. Jiang Hui was full of question marks, but as mentioned earlier, she really didn’t have any feelings to express, so she was happy to leave it at that.

He continued, “I heard that tomorrow is the last military training event, the orienteering course. I wonder what kind of method they will use…”

Stark glanced at Nie Erqi with annoyance upon hearing this. What other surprises could there be for orienteering? It was just a formal exercise to let the kids have some experience.

If nothing unexpected happened, this guy would probably be able to collect his task in the afternoon and wouldn’t even stay until the orienteering was over. So why bring it up now?

Nie Erqi rubbed his nose and answered automatically, “I was supposed to leave, but I received orders a couple of days ago saying I need to stay on this planet for a few more days to wait for arrangements. You… well, you should be able to go see it tomorrow.”

Hearing the word “orders,” Stark’s fingers, which were clasped behind his back, trembled slightly, but his face showed no sign of abnormality.

The other person smiled at Jiang Hui and said, “So you need to perform well. If you can get into the top three, I’ll give you a nice gift. How about that?”

Top three… You think too highly of me, don’t you? Jiang Hui was internally shocked.

This was a large group project involving outstanding students from various specialties. If she could even make it into the top three of her class, she would be impressed with her own abilities, let alone the top three of the project.

Of course, she couldn’t say that out loud. First, it seemed like rejecting someone’s goodwill, and second, it would make her seem unambitious. Although she felt she was just being realistic—

Stark frowned upon hearing this, a bit displeased, and interrupted Nie Erqi, saying, “What are you talking about? You’re just giving the child unnecessary pressure.” He then seemed to reassure the uncertain-looking Jiang Hui, saying, “You don’t have to listen to him; just do your best.”

Do my best… Yes, doing my best is all I can do. Jiang Hui silently nodded in agreement.

Stark felt a bit of a headache and changed the subject to distract someone who wouldn’t talk at all, hoping Jiang Hui could focus on finishing her food. This annoying guy wasn’t really trying to help the child eat well; he just kept trying to attract attention with his clumsy communication skills.

After that, things seemed to calm down, and nothing else happened. Stark first dropped Jiang Hui back at school and then took off with Nie Erqi in the spaceship, not knowing where they were headed.