The Strongest Brain in the Interstellar

“Captain Stark, your student, Jiang, has truly stood out in this competition. If she manages to secure a spot in the top three, you can’t back out—you’ll have to treat everyone to a drink,” Instructor Tan said with a cheerful smile.

“Mm.” Stark surprisingly agreed! He then added, “But… one shouldn’t take children’s antics seriously; she’s just had a bit of luck, that’s all. It’s amusing, really.”

Stark actually responded… Instructor Tan was somewhat taken aback. He had prepared for a simple, dismissive one-syllable reply, but Stark had given a thoughtful, lengthy response. What was with that tone of a senior? Could that kid really be a relative of his?

Instructor Lin Qi, overhearing this, shook his head and said, “What are you talking about? Captain Stark is being too modest. Your student isn’t just playing around; if my students had that kind of skill, I’d be shouting about it so that half the arena could hear. The problem is, none of them are capable. At this point, only a few have made it onto the leaderboard. Sigh, just wait until I deal with them later.”

In truth, he was being modest too; his class had two students who scored 59 points in individual competition, and they were siblings. One of them, currently at a second awakening, only had a B-level mental strength. Their achievements were entirely due to solid shooting skills and adaptability.

However, among the most impressive students in the grade, two were in Stark’s Class 2, which made the other class instructors envious. If Captain Zou was present, he would have certainly made a fuss by now.

Stark had no way to respond; he wasn’t one for jokes, so he could only say, “You’re overestimating it.”

Fortunately, everyone understood his nature, and no one felt his attitude was overly arrogant. This prompted a lively discussion on the topic.

With someone starting the conversation, they began to comment on the standout performers on the leaderboard: Jiang, Clarens, Huo Qi from Class 1, the Lava siblings from Class 3, and some other impressive newcomers from various departments.

People marveled at how enthusiastic the students were this year, making the competition more engaging than in previous years.

“That’s true! I heard the Mace family invested quite a bit in the school this time and even allocated extra funds specifically for the orienteering competition. Aside from expanding the scale and upgrading expenses, most of it went into the prizes. It’s quite a generous move—I’m even a bit envious,” Lieutenant Zap from Class 5 couldn’t help but laugh.

His words immediately garnered agreement from many instructors.

This was the instructor’s section for the military department, and most of the class leaders came from the same military background, so they understood what would attract students focused on a military career.

The Mace family was indeed generous, offering three slots for custom mechs, including one for a renowned high-level mech engineer in the capital.

What does this mean? Mechs are essential tools of war in the future world and are generally accessible, but the barriers to owning one are anything but low.

As restrictive weapons in everyday life, ordinary people find it difficult to access them. Even if someone wants to buy a decorative mech as a luxury item, they must submit a simple application, and regular usage requires installing regulatory devices for inspections to prevent misuse and chaos.

Acquiring military-grade mechs is even more restricted. Unless you have sufficient family background and financial support to access the masters who build these mechs individually, and they agree to manufacture a non-official mech for you, you must purchase or customize mechs through military-designated vendors and mech engineers.

The standard mechs available for direct purchase from manufacturers are the easiest to obtain, costing only about half of what custom mechs do. However, even that half still ranges in the hundreds of thousands to millions of interstellar coins.

As for custom mechs, the pricing can vary widely based on the specifics of the order, with costs ranging from tens of millions to even hundreds of millions of interstellar coins—some truly outrageous figures.

Given Jiang Hui’s current substantial wealth, she might only be able to afford a standard mech. Custom mechs would likely require her to spend her entire fortune; if that’s the case for her, it’s even more so for others. Despite the advanced interstellar world, it ultimately remains tied to the reality of human existence, where everyday necessities still need to be earned. Only a small number of people can present hundreds of millions of interstellar coins.

Most interstellar soldiers need personal mechs to carry out tasks and participate in wars. Therefore, many military academy students or enlisted soldiers, whose family situations don’t allow for such expenditures, opt for contract purchasing through the military or certain third-party social organizations.

This method is similar to a contract loan for purchasing mechs. The first party provides the funds and purchasing channels, while the second party is responsible for fulfilling certain requirements set by the first party.

The military usually offers this type of assistance hoping that the second party will serve a particular military faction for a period, which can be seen as an alternative recruitment method. Meanwhile, third-party organizations hope that the second party will succeed and, once financially stable, provide returns to the first party.

Of course, some genuinely charitable organizations provide support for impoverished military academy students and soldiers, so it’s important for people to discern wisely when choosing, or they might fall into traps without realizing it.

Now you understand how rare the opportunity to acquire a custom mech is, right? Securing this chance is almost equivalent to having a mech built for you for free, with only a small labor fee required, and you won’t have to worry about future military service.

While those ranked below the top three won’t receive mechs, the rewards are still substantial.

For instance, the fourth to tenth places will receive a complete set of military-grade Beta ray weaponry. This standard weapon is so highly sought after that even active-duty soldiers have to pay a hefty price to acquire it. Although the weapons won’t be immediately accessible—they’re only issued once officially entering the military—they are high-risk, restricted items that ordinary people definitely can’t just carry around. Even if they can’t formally join the military later, they can still resell them at a high price for a significant amount of interstellar coins.

Then there are rewards for the eleventh to twentieth places and the twenty-first to thirtieth places, which include a ten-year membership to a military club and eight experience vouchers for a renowned military summer camp, respectively. These two rewards are also included as additional benefits for the top three, just at a reduced rate, since they can’t take all the benefits for themselves.

There are generous rewards down to the top one hundred, with consolation prizes and participation subsidies also provided. Such scale truly makes this event a grand occasion.

No wonder so many media outlets are here to cover it. Tomorrow’s planetary newspapers will likely be filled with stories about this event.