The Strongest Brain in the Interstellar

“Ugh…”

Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Jiang Hui, Huan Xian suddenly let out a muffled groan, instinctively covering his eyes with his palm.

Jiang Hui immediately noticed something was off. “What’s wrong?”

“That kid… he cut off my mark,” Huan Xian said, voice tinged with frustration.

Jiang Hui blinked in surprise. “He detected you?”

Huan Xian nodded. “That guy is incredibly sharp. I don’t know how he did it—he didn’t release even a hint of psychic energy. I could only sense the psychic fields of his companions, but they’re too far away, so the data I can gather is too weak.”

In short, “No mark, no lock.”

This was going to be a problem.

“Don’t worry, can they hide their psychic energy forever?” Huan Xian sneered.

Psychic energy, far more sensitive than vision, was undoubtedly the best weapon for self-protection in chaotic combat. Invisible opponents and soundless movements could all be detected as long as there was sufficient psychic power. Huan Xian understood this deeply.

To put it bluntly, without psychic energy, how could they even fight?!

“Don’t use your psychic energy for now. Avoid letting him detect your presence,” Huan Xian instructed Jiang Hui.

Hearing this, Jiang Hui nodded without further comment, watching as Huan Xian turned his focus back, peering through the void at the enemy concealed behind layers of underbrush.

He seemed to be getting a bit riled up, Jiang Hui thought to herself.

—

After severing that faint psychic thread, Huo Qi’s expression darkened. “Everyone, pull back your psychic energy, now!”

The others were baffled. Some, like Xiao Li, complied without question, while others were less inclined, wanting an explanation.

In this small squad of five frontline fighters, Huo Qi was unquestionably at the top of the food chain. However, the second in command wasn’t the apparent deputy, Xiao Li, but Mu Kun.

Mu Kun’s psychic level was on par with Huo Qi’s, perhaps even slightly superior. Coming from a military family, she had far more exposure and experience than the average student. Her physique, combat skills, and marksmanship were exceptional, almost equal to Huo Qi’s capabilities.

However, Huo Qi had a broader strategic perspective and the full support of Xiao Li, allowing him to remain in command of the team.

In terms of raw strength, however, Mu Kun was leagues ahead of Xiao Li.

Mu Kun had been discontent with their current predicament for a while now. Initially, their shared skills and drive for victory had brought the group together. Acknowledging that she couldn’t beat Huo Qi, she willingly took a step back.

For a long time, under Huo Qi’s leadership, they had maintained the upper hand. It was far more efficient than fighting solo, and they quickly climbed to the top ranks.

However, things seemed to change after encountering Team R186. Their dominant position took a sudden nosedive.

They were no longer as confident as before. Huo Qi appeared somewhat flustered, and even the previously benign arena now seemed to be working against them. Who knew how many people in the competition were waiting to see them fail?

This shift made Mu Kun extremely uncomfortable, teetering on the edge of an outburst.

Finally, she couldn’t hold back anymore. “Huo Qi, what do you mean by this?! Withdrawing our psychic energy is just asking for death! If someone is lying in ambush, wouldn’t pulling back our psychic energy be equivalent to surrendering outright?”

“…”

“What exactly are you trying to do? You’ve been completely off-kilter since earlier! I remember when we first met, you weren’t like this at all. Now you encounter a slightly tougher opponent, and this is how you react? What happened to your arrogance? Your confidence?” Mu Kun couldn’t stand Huo Qi’s current demeanor—it was indecisive and weak.

“Say something! I’m not even accusing you of anything. Since you’re the team captain, you should take responsibility and lead properly. You’re just muttering to yourself, not explaining anything. How are we supposed to know what’s going on? Honestly, I must’ve been out of my mind to let you be captain. And now you’re slacking off—can I still back out of this team?”

“What are you talking about?”

A voice suddenly interrupted her as someone grabbed her wrist. Huo Qi stood above her, looking down coldly, his tone as icy as ever.

“… Oh, so you finally remembered how to respond. I thought you’d gone mute.”

“Huo Qi, let me tell you something. Xiao Li might be afraid of you, but I’m not. Everyone here is racing against time, trying to maximize their chances of winning. And you? You’re just standing there, who knows thinking about what, wasting time on melodrama. Wake up! Pull yourself together and get to work! I didn’t follow you to be treated like a fool in this competition,” Mu Kun said boldly, letting her frustration pour out.

She thought, ‘Finally, I’ve let it out.’ If she had kept bottling it up any longer, she might have suffocated before the competition even ended. Mu Kun had never endured such frustration in her life.

As for whether Huo Qi would settle the score with her later, that wasn’t something she cared about. After all, there wasn’t much he could do to her. At most, he might expel her from the team and leave her to be eliminated. But it was just a competition, wasn’t it? If he ‘really: dared to treat her like that, she’d make sure he regretted it later. She silently vowed to herself.

“There’s something unusual about the ambusher’s psychic energy,” Huo Qi said in a low voice. “They’ve marked our vicinity. If you expand your psychic field, their psychic links will grow stronger, allowing them to easily pinpoint our location.”

He lowered his head slightly, his disheveled hair covering half his face, making it hard to discern his expression. Only the tension in his clenched wrists betrayed a glimpse of his inner turmoil.

‘A psychic marker…?’ Mu Kun froze. She had never heard of someone capable of leaving a marker in another’s psychic field. What kind of person could do that? And one whose connection could adapt to changes in psychic energy… what kind of monster was this?

No wonder Huo Qi had been acting so strange. Now, just hearing about such a creature lurking nearby—a monster that could mark psychic energy—made her skin crawl. She didn’t even question whether Huo Qi’s claim was true; she simply felt an instinctive, overwhelming sense of unease.

For people like them, psychic energy was more than just a sixth sense—it was something they trusted even more than their own eyes, ears, or instincts. Losing that ability to perceive left even the strongest warrior feeling vulnerable.

“So… so what do we do now?” Mu Kun stammered, her voice tinged with reluctant frustration. Beside her, Xiao Li’s face was equally grim as he scanned their surroundings with growing vigilance, as if expecting this unseen, terrifying enemy to strike at any moment.

“…Let me think a little longer,” Huo Qi murmured, his expression shifting to something strangely unreadable.