The Strongest Brain in the Interstellar

“Hey, how did things get this far?”

Stark was quietly watching the large screen displaying the students’ performances when a familiar voice—one he couldn’t mistake—suddenly spoke up beside him.

Of course, it was that loudmouth.

Without even glancing over, Stark replied calmly, “Weren’t you heading back?”

“Back where… After yesterday’s chaos, not only am I not going back, but they’re sending people over to investigate. There’s no need for me at the hospital now, and I’d just be in the way, so I figured I’d come out and take a look around.” Although Nie Erqi spoke nonchalantly, Stark picked up on some important details hidden in his words.

It seemed that yesterday’s incident was no small matter—it had stirred up the highest levels, and things were now chaotic at the hospital. The situation had escalated to such a poor outcome that even the capital would likely be feeling the ripple effects.

In that brief moment, a slew of thoughts passed through Stark’s mind, though his expression remained unchanging.

Nie Erqi, seemingly unwilling to dwell on the topic further, looked up at the central screen. His eyes scanned it from bottom to top, finally landing on the name at the top of the leaderboard. His eyebrows twitched. “What on earth happened while I was gone? Has this kid always been this fierce?”

Nie Erqi had taught Class 2 for an entire week, so he was familiar with Jiang Hui’s abilities. From what he knew, she indeed had some talent and a calm temperament—a kid capable of achieving great things. However, her abilities and overall skills still had limitations; aside from being decent in marksmanship, she was fairly average.

But after missing only one day, somehow, she had pulled far ahead of everyone else? This was starting to look a bit unreasonable. Even as someone who had high hopes for Jiang Hui, he still felt the situation needed to develop according to the normal progression!

342.3333… points, first in the military track, more than a hundred points ahead of the second-place contender with 231 points.

Even though Nie Erqi didn’t fully understand the school’s grading criteria or the specifics of this competition, the score alone spoke for itself—it was an overwhelming victory. Even if Jiang Hui didn’t push further for first place, this score almost guaranteed her a top spot.

“Well, of course. Isn’t she practically the pre-determined champion already? It’s unprecedented for someone to start the term with nearly 200 extra points.” A voice rang out from behind, intentionally dripping with sarcasm, giving an unsettling tone to the remark.

Stark didn’t even need to turn around to know who was speaking. It seemed that the recent injuries hadn’t stopped this guy, who apparently still had time to come over and snark at the younger generation.

“Oh, who do we have here? Captain Zou, isn’t it? My apologies… but your tone sounds like someone who just swallowed a whole bottle of vinegar. A bit bitter, isn’t it? Are you upset that the 200 compensatory points didn’t go to one of ‘your’ students?”

Stark wasn’t one for petty quarrels and often avoided unnecessary conflicts, but Nie Erqi was not one to be provoked lightly. Though he’d mellowed out over the years, developing a calm, composed image that gave strangers the wrong impression, his fiery spirit hadn’t dimmed in the slightest.

Seeing Captain Zou’s expression, paired with the passive-aggressive jab, was too much. It was as though Captain Zou thought his rank entitled him to act superior, even insulting a young student without restraint. Stark could brush it off, but Nie Erqi? He was going to make sure he got his retort in.

“And who are you, exactly? Even if my rank may not be impressive, I am still a captain. And just who are you to address me this way?” Captain Zou replied, glaring back with a sneer, assuming Nie Erqi and Stark must be close allies.

“Oh, it seems you still remember what kind of identity you have sitting here. Jiang Hui may not be your student, but you don’t need to make such disparaging remarks. Your heart must be dark,” Nie Erqi said, getting increasingly agitated. Why was this guy so insufferable? If someone with ulterior motives caught wind of this, things could get complicated.

He had only just learned about the compensatory points. Even though he didn’t know exactly what had happened, the school clearly had its reasons for awarding Jiang Hui those 200 personal points. Regardless of the circumstances, what was displayed on that big screen represented the school’s official stance.

Jiang Hui’s so-called 200 compensatory points, or rather the glaring score of 342.3333… displayed on the screen, rightfully belonged to her and contained no embellishments.

What was Captain Zou’s intention in openly saying such things?

Instructor Tan rubbed his forehead. Great, they were arguing again. He had just been wondering why Captain Zou was absent, and now he was causing trouble as soon as he arrived, specifically targeting Captain Stark’s student. Why did he have such a deep obsession with Stark?

If he were to follow his usual balanced strategy, he would have let Captain Zou argue a bit longer before stepping in to resolve things. However, Nie Erqi’s comments snapped him back to reality, and he immediately interrupted the conversation with a stern tone, saying to Captain Zou, “Captain Zou, please choose your words carefully. Every personal point awarded to a student has undergone the school’s review process. You know very well what these compensatory points entail; I recall you voted in favor of them. Why do you now have a different stance?”

They all knew the facts, but Captain Zou’s comments completely twisted the narrative. If word got out and stirred up trouble, what would happen to that child? Even someone as good-natured as Instructor Tan couldn’t help but feel a bit of anger rise.

He knew that Jiang Hui’s performance had likely stepped on Captain Zou’s toes; after all, without those compensatory points, the top spot would currently belong to someone from his class.

The reason the other party didn’t voice any objections at the time was probably because they didn’t expect Jiang Hui to be quite so capable. They thought that even if she received nearly 200 compensatory points, she would likely fall behind later due to her overall score.

Now, with the result showing an increase of nearly 200 points, Jiang Hui continued to score. Even if Huo Qi was impressive, it would be difficult for her to catch up given such a significant point gap. How could Zou Yi, who came here with injuries, swallow that frustration?

Seeing that the other party didn’t immediately refute him, Instructor Tan was about to say something when he noticed that Zou Yi’s face was flushed, yet pale as paper. There was a deep scar running across his right cheek, as if it had been cut through by a very sharp object. Even after being treated with special equipment for an entire night, there remained a very noticeable red mark.

Was he injured… or was he just under a lot of stress?

Instructor Tan found that he couldn’t speak the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

The muscles on Zou Yi’s face twitched a few times, and it was unclear if he even heard what had been said. In the end, he said nothing more and simply found a place to sit down and watch the competition.

Thus, the storm subsided without drawing more attention.

However, the teaching team for the 89983 cohort of first-year combat unit students was now fully assembled, and it was time to see how the students would showcase their abilities.