The Strongest Brain in the Interstellar

However, Jiang Hui had overestimated herself.

She may not have fully understood the key to piloting a mecha. It wasn’t about synchronizing movements, but about sensory synchronization. It wasn’t about using her body to control the mecha, but rather using mental power to control it.

The mental resonance technique, also known as the “Tridimensional Neuron Splitting Project,” was one of the earliest biological engineering projects developed during humanity’s early entry into the interstellar age. It was originally created to study the potential of human brain neurons. Later, people discovered the principles of human neural resonance, which were directly incorporated into mecha research. Within less than a century, it became one of the core technologies for interstellar mechas.

Thanks to this technology, humanity transitioned from traditional mechas using human neural intervention to the modern-day mechas, which use mental power as a medium for mental resonance. This breakthrough enabled full mental control of mechas, liberating and overcoming the limitations of the human body and ushering in an era of infinite potential in the realm of the mind.

However, the use of full mental control still presents some issues. The connection between the pilot’s physical senses and the mecha becomes weaker, and the body, mind, and mecha are almost severed, each operating independently. Even if there is some connection, it is not strong enough, making it difficult to achieve integrated attacks.

To provide mecha pilots with a more practical sense of balance and orientation, and to enable more precise operations, early engineers spent a lot of time incorporating human biological engineering, strengthening the connection between the human body, the mental power, and the mecha.

Over the course of nearly two star epochs, mental resonance mechas have now successfully integrated human neural sensations into mecha operation as a crucial auxiliary function. The latest generation of the mental resonance infinity string system allows all mecha pilots to experience real-time synchronization of the mecha’s changes, making it easier for them to accurately assess the next step to take.

Thus, neural sensory synchronization serves as a feedback mechanism from the mecha to the pilot, who can also use sensory memories from their bodily nerves to enhance the application of mental power to the mecha. However, the regulation of bodily nerves is not a necessary condition for piloting a mecha.

Jiang Hui’s understanding of mechas probably still stems from the science fiction films of Blue Star era, like ‘Mech Robot’, ‘Giant Robot’, and ‘American Giant Mechas’, where the mecha designs required the pilot to wear heavy connection tools inside the cockpit for synchronized movements and assistance.

When Jiang Hui first connected with the mecha, the sensation she received led her to misunderstand its operation slightly, and she tried to use her bodily senses to make the mecha straighten up.

But piloting a mecha isn’t that simple. If piloting a mecha required the pilot to use their hands and feet inside the cockpit, it would be no different than wearing an outer layer of iron armor as a weapon. There would be no need to involve mental power. The most important factor in piloting a mecha is, of course, the pilot’s source of mental power.

Using her instinctive neural senses and a thin layer of mental power, Jiang Hui attempted to straighten the mecha’s back. As expected, she failed.

Outside the combat arena, everyone only heard the “crackling” sound of her trying to move the mecha, but what followed was an even faster collapse than before.

“Hey? Did it stop?”

“That’s not right, it’s falling again. Failed? I told you, it’s not that easy. Even the first person has to go step by step to succeed.” Some people sighed in relief, finally feeling like the pressure wasn’t as intense.

“Forget it, no need to watch others. I still haven’t connected yet…” Some people looked around but couldn’t figure it out, so they turned back to their own auxiliary cabins to keep trying.

“Sigh, this is so boring. When is the instructor going to continue with the next step? I don’t want to keep watching others show off…”

Jiang Hui had indeed encountered some problems. She had connected to the mecha and could clearly feel its presence, so she tried to lift the mecha’s body. But she hadn’t expected that the first step would fail so dramatically.

Although it failed, it didn’t feel like a complete failure, because the mecha’s body did lift slightly, but after rising less than a third of the way, it fell back down. Could it be that her mental energy wasn’t enough?

Jiang Hui was thinking about releasing more mental energy to cover the area around the mecha’s waist and try again when she suddenly heard Instructor Stark’s voice: “Stop overthinking it… The control panel in the front cabin is not just for show.”

Upon hearing that, Jiang Hui immediately lost the urge to continue experimenting. So, if she wanted to control the mecha, it wasn’t just about sensory nerves and mental energy—she also needed the control panel’s assistance? That was much more complicated than what she’d been trying. She had no knowledge in that area, and it wasn’t something she could figure out on her own. No wonder she had failed.

And this was the second time Stark had specifically reminded her. Suddenly, Jiang Hui remembered that she was still in the main class. Had she been distracted for so long that she had already fallen behind the rest of the group?

She seemed to have gotten too absorbed in the idea of being alone with the mecha and had completely forgotten that she was part of a collective class. She didn’t want to be the kind of person Stark had criticized before—someone who wasted everyone’s time.

Thinking this, Jiang Hui felt a bit uneasy and quickly pulled her attention back to the view through the mecha’s front window. Unfortunately, the mecha she had chosen was positioned right at the front and close to the edge, so her field of vision was limited, and she couldn’t see anything. Naturally, she didn’t realize that behind her, a row of students, unable to access the auxiliary cabins, were pressed up against the front cabin’s windows, observing her first mecha experience.

Stark, however, observed all this silently without intervening. This was the time and opportunity he had given everyone, not to offer unnecessary encouragement, nor to rush into unhelpful criticism. He wouldn’t guide them through every single detail by hand, but he allowed them to stop, think, try, and even interact and observe.

Of course, among the group, there were students like Jiang Hui and Clarens who quickly got the hang of things, but there were also those whose natural talent or insight made it hard for them to get started. For these students, Stark wouldn’t immediately dismiss them, but neither would he let them coast through easily.

The path to becoming strong has always been about walking it out on your own. No one can truly help you in that journey. This was something they had to experience for themselves to understand fully.

However, Stark hadn’t expected that the first person to disrupt his pace would be Jiang Hui. He hadn’t planned to offer any special attention to her in class, but who could have known that she was someone who didn’t play by the rules and often did things that were entirely unexpected?