The Strongest Brain in the Interstellar

“Did they stop too?” Xiao Li cautiously looked towards the direction where gunfire had been continuous just a moment ago, but now it was eerily silent, as if death had fallen over it.

“Could they have chased after them?” Mu Kun also speculated.

The two of them instinctively turned to the core of the team for answers. However, they had slightly misjudged the distance, as they hadn’t seen Huo Qi yet, but the two of them had already crossed paths.

Of course, the result was mutual disdain, and they both quickly looked away.

One normally silent team member suddenly spoke up, “Their situation is a bit strange…”

This statement immediately attracted the attention of the others, including Huo Qi, who also glanced at the person speaking.

Strange… how could it not be?

In general, higher-level marksmen tend to have superior sensory abilities, or at least their senses are more developed. While this team member wasn’t as gifted as Huo Qi, a marksman with exceptional sensory talent, he had particularly sharp hearing. When shooting, he often relied on his excellent hearing.

Through constant training, he had developed the ability to pinpoint the source of sounds. Although it wasn’t fully refined yet, he could use his ears to capture a wealth of information scattered around him.

Earlier, he had felt something was off. It seemed like the R186 team only had two or three guns firing, rather than the expected activity of a five-person team working together.

Although it was possible they were taking turns shooting, that would only happen when they had a comfortable advantage, to avoid wasting manpower. But even in the most critical moments, the R186 team continued this way, and for a period of time, it even seemed like they were one man short.

Even though the shooting efficiency of the remaining members hadn’t decreased much, the difference between five people shooting, three people shooting, and two people shooting was still noticeable — the frequency was different.

In the chaos of the battle, where both sides were in disarray and mixed together, it wasn’t so obvious.

But this didn’t escape the notice of the observers who had been watching since earlier.

This team member had been observing for a while, and the more he watched, the more something seemed wrong. He couldn’t help but speak up. He wondered if the so-called R186 team was actually incomplete… or perhaps their members had been scattered.

Before he could say more, Huo Qi raised his hand, signaling for silence.

He understood what the other person meant. Indeed, he too was curious — why was the R186 team down to only three people? But how did that relate to his upcoming confrontation with them?

He was more interested in seeing what kind of trick these people were up to.

——————————————

“Sigh, it’s really a shame about Nancy.” Captain Nordby lamented as he watched his only top-ten student get eliminated.

“Clearly, she and her team leader were both a bit too impatient,” Min Hao honestly commented.

They were watching from the outside, clearly aware that everything had been part of Huo Qi and the others’ scheme. Like Huan Xian and the others, they too felt that this kind of provocation was a bit too crude. However, for the somewhat impatient and eager-to-win Tader team, the effect was immediate — the fish had bitten the hook right away.

R117 was not Huo Qi and the others’ first choice, but they were the first team to reveal themselves. Thus, amidst the struggles between several parties, the fight ended in a dramatic fashion.

In fact, Tader team’s commander, a combat specialist, handled things pretty well. As a solo fighter, he also had a good overall sense of the situation, much better than many others in his class. However, he was still lacking a bit of luck and was somewhat too impatient, which ultimately led to his downfall.

Tader’s defeat also meant Nancy’s defeat. Seeing the other side fall short at this point, Captain Nordby wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved or disappointed.

But the kids had done quite well to make it this far.

As a veteran of many battles, Captain Nordby was very satisfied with the performance of this batch of students. This competition had shown him many promising younger fighters. Their appearance in such an event and their efforts to fight for their future were indeed a blessing for the empire.

He then turned his gaze to the new footage on the broadcast, where the focus once again fell on the two most watched teams in the training arena.

— They had crossed paths again.

“I say… why does it feel like every time these two teams meet, the situation becomes weird?” Min Hao muttered, a bit confused.

R186 and R256 were already familiar to the spectators, having witnessed their direct or indirect encounters several times. Undoubtedly, the top members of these teams were exceptional marksmen, and the battle process was as thrilling and unconventional as expected.

But perhaps because each team had such outstanding abilities, their battles often felt like a puzzle game. You guess what I’ll do, and I guess what you’ll do. You plot against me, and I plot against you. It’s a game of cat and mouse that sometimes left the onlookers completely baffled. Then, without any warning, the winner would be decided in an instant, making the process incredibly suspenseful — it was a love-hate situation for the spectators.

Last time it was Jiang Hui and Huo Qi, facing off with empty guns, playing a game of “empty city strategy,” and both sides temporarily withdrew from the fight.

This time, when Huan Xian and the others faced off with Huo Qi, the scene was again like something out of a fog, a situation where “you guess what I’ll do, and I’ll guess what you’ll do,” with neither side willing to make the first move. Watching them, the onlookers couldn’t help but feel like they wanted to jump in and fire the first shot to kick off the battle.

“Just enjoy it. Huan Xian is also your student, right? He’s got this kind of skill, so I guess you’re secretly pleased,” Captain Nordby teased, unable to stand the way the younger officer kept overthinking things.

“No… that’s not what I mean,” Min Hao said, truly helpless this time.

Huan Xian was indeed outstanding, but Min Hao knew that most of it was due to Huan Xian’s own abilities, and not because of him. Although he felt somewhat happy for him, Huan Xian also caused some concerns. That was why he couldn’t help but pay a bit more attention to him, not expecting to be misunderstood by this senior.

If he were pleased, he wouldn’t show it in front of this senior… He had always respected the senior officer a lot.

“I was just saying it casually, you’re taking it too seriously,” Captain Nordby said with some helplessness, before hesitating for a moment, clearly wanting to say something else but holding back. “Though—”

“This isn’t something we should be teaching, but don’t blame me for saying this. I’ve spent most of my life on the battlefield, and now that I’m retired, I’m just enjoying my later years. Things haven’t gone too well for me, but I still have some experience.”

“One of your students who ranks in the top five… his temperament… is too arrogant. Sure, young people all have that kind of habit, but his is a bit excessive. He doesn’t see anyone else at all. If you get the chance, you should teach him a bit more. Young kids like that aren’t bad at heart, but they need some guidance,” Captain Nordby added thoughtfully.