The Strongest Brain in the Interstellar

Stark remained as composed and imposing as ever. His presence changed the entire atmosphere of the room, and the air seemed to carry a hint of tension.

Although he was their class advisor, after the military training and the comprehensive review lecture, the time he spent with Class 2 was no more than with any other subject’s teacher. It was probably just the monthly summary meetings that added to the time.

…Actually, that’s not entirely accurate. Now that they think about it, they did have more direct interaction with their class advisor. That would be during the official military training and the first two weeks of the school year, when he would analyze each student’s performance frame by frame from the playback videos, offering either praise or criticism.

Of course, the former was almost nonexistent. Throughout the entire time, he only praised two people, twice.

The first time was when Jiang Hui injured her leg while trying to rescue Huan Xian. He briefly praised her for the excessive chain reaction in that moment. However, the main focus was a harsh reprimand, telling her she was overestimating herself, causing more harm than good, and being reckless, among other things. Compared to the criticism that followed, those two compliments felt like an afterthought, and the praise seemed reluctant.

The other time he praised Clarens was for a nearly perfect ambush he carried out while working alone. Although he inevitably pointed out and criticized some shortcomings, the praise was more abundant.

Aside from these two individuals’ specific moments of performance, almost everyone else was criticized. Even Jiang Hui, whose performance seemed flawless to others, had entire segments of her actions singled out for targeted criticism.

The problem was that he wasn’t nitpicking; what he said was reasonable, so everyone naturally accepted it without objection.

After the comprehensive review, they hadn’t seen their class advisor much during the two-month period. After giving them a lecture on strategy theory, he disappeared again. However, it was said that all future practical training sessions would be taught by him.

The profile of this instructor, posted on the school’s official website, was enough to catch anyone’s attention, with just a glimpse of his background.

The idea of him conducting their mecha training left everyone unsure whether to be happy or worried.

Those who were happy looked forward to having such a skilled mecha instructor teaching the course, knowing they would learn more. The worried ones feared once again facing his relentless criticism. The mental blow… No, he didn’t exactly attack mentally; he just focused on the issues and made you feel ashamed of yourself. Either way, it was very demoralizing.

He scanned the room of students, all wearing serious expressions. His slightly cold gaze swept across the top of each person’s head. The students, who had been filled with excitement just moments ago, suddenly felt a chill and calmed down.

“Have you all calmed down?” Stark asked lightly.

“Yes,” the students reflexively responded loudly, almost as if they were still in military training.

“Good. Since you’re all calm now, we can start the class.”

“Follow me,” Stark motioned for the students to follow.

So they weren’t having mecha lessons here.

Class 2 followed Stark toward a circular building. It wasn’t tall—compared to the large buildings commonly seen in the star systems, it appeared quite low, possibly just over a hundred meters high. The top seemed unfinished, as it looked flat from the ground.

Despite the building’s unassuming appearance, the group was visibly excited. They recognized it immediately as the mecha combat arena the school had specially constructed.

If Captain Stark hadn’t been leading them, they might have resumed their excited chatter from earlier, because through the open door, they could see several pairs of massive metal frames, over ten meters tall. From the structure, it seemed to belong to the legs of mechas, with an outer sheen of polished silver-steel, typical of high-grade materials.

Once they passed through the specially designed gate, they could see the mechas more clearly.

Dozens of identical humanoid mechas stood silently in the expansive combat arena. Though they were all crouching in some strange posture, their overall height still exceeded twenty meters. They couldn’t help but wonder how tall they would be if fully upright.

Even though these were just basic military-grade mechas, and though they hadn’t yet been powered with their “souls,” the sight of them, lined up quietly together as if waiting for someone, still struck a deep emotional chord with the group of students who hadn’t yet undergone formal training.

This was the mecha, the potential future partner that might one day accompany them. Perhaps one day, they would ride such powerful, awe-inspiring machines across the battlefield, fighting to protect their homeland, despite how insignificant they might feel as individuals.

Many of those present would remember this scene for years to come.

“What are you standing there for? Hurry up and get moving. Do you need me to assign you?” Stark called out to the students who were still standing there in a daze.

Directly choose, no need for arrangements? The students of Class 2 were a bit stunned.

Previously, when they had shooting lessons, they had to hand out teaching guns to each student one by one, making sure everything was properly distributed. Now, for selecting mechas, they were just expected to choose on their own?

Well, alright… since they all looked the same, there wasn’t really much to choose from, considering it was a standard model.

Jiang Hui glanced around and quickly concluded that Xierman’s information was likely correct. These were all D-grade standard mechas, matching the official specifications exactly, with no discrepancies. They were indeed mass-produced items from military factories.

However, for most of the students, who were still unsure, these mechas seemed to be different. Once they received the instructions, everyone quickly realized they needed to choose fast and get the one that looked the most suitable, not wanting to fall behind.

Then, a group of students surged toward the mechas as if they were sprinting in a 100-meter dash, disappearing in an instant.

Stark, the class advisor, didn’t interfere with the chaotic crowd. He simply stood with his arms crossed, observing them, while giving a cool reminder to choose in an orderly manner, or else they would never see his lessons again.

As a result, no one dared to overdo it. It wasn’t exactly a competition, but more like a playful scramble for the best spot.

Those who didn’t understand much about mechas either clung to the legs of the machines or stood in front of them to claim their spots. A few students with better physical strength quickly climbed onto the mechas, looking down on the frantic crowd below to assert their claim.

But most students were still unsure, grouping together to argue that “this mecha was the one I saw first.”

As for Jiang Hui, it wasn’t really a matter of urgency, though she did approach with a sense of seriousness.

She didn’t fight for a spot, just calmly followed the group, eventually selecting a mecha in the corner of the front row.

Once she confirmed no one else around her was interested in the mecha she had chosen, Jiang Hui stood in front of it, recalling how the back hatch of the mecha, in its initial unconfigured state, had opened in the book…

She extended a strand of her mental power and lightly prodded a small opening on the back of the mecha. Yes, she used her mental power to tap that spot.

With a “click”—

The rear hatch automatically popped open.