The Real Daughter Just Wants to Pilot Mechas - Chapter 10

Jiang Momo clearly looked at E Mingjun with much warmer eyes and for the first time in his life, Ling Yelin felt a sense of defeat.

He’d seen enough fawning and flattering expressions and being ignored like this actually piqued his interest.

He mentally replayed their entire conversation. “Do you need Capital Star Residency? I can get it for you.”

Jiang Momo’s eyes lit up instantly and she stepped forward. “Really?!”

Ling Yelin didn’t rush to answer. He first checked the distance between her and the two of them and only after confirming she was closer to him did he finally respond, “Yes.”

“But that’s hard to apply for, right? I heard it takes a long time.” Jiang Momo’s excitement faded into hesitation.

Ling Yelin curled his lips into a dismissive smirk. “Within 24 hours, I’ll personally deliver the permit to you. Just tell me your address.”

E Mingjun tugged at Jiang Momo but couldn’t move her.

“Floating Island 76, Unit 0056, Jiang Family Villa,” Jiang Momo blurted out the address.

“Wait for me,” Ling Yelin said, then turned, and left.

Watching him walk away, E Mingjun complained indignantly, “Once the residency is processed, you can check them on the light brain. There’s no need to deliver them in person. He’s clearly up to something.”

“It’s fine. There are a lot of people in that villa,” Jiang Momo, surprisingly unconcerned, comforted E Mingjun instead. She placed a hand on his back and gently pushed him toward the entrance of the maintenance center. “I’ve never been to the maintenance center before. I want to see what it’s like. Weren’t you going to work? Go on, don’t worry about me.”

“No rush for work.” E Mingjun stopped. “Didn’t you want to buy a light brain? I’ll lend you another three thousand. That should be enough for a basic model.”

“Thanks, big bro! I’ll pay you back.” She quickly pulled out her bank card, eyes shining and handed it over.

E Mingjun took it, secretly thrilled.

Jiang Momo didn’t like owing favors but she’d accepted his loan.

“256987935, that’s my light brain ID. Add me once you buy it,” E Mingjun said as he transferred the money and handed back her card.

“Got it, I’ll add you right away!” Jiang Momo replied. “Now go back to work.”

“I’m off then.” E Mingjun walked toward the testing room, glancing back every few steps.

Only after his figure completely disappeared did Jiang Momo turn to leave.

Then, a furious voice shouted from behind her, “It’s just a small issue and it’ll take three months to fix?! I’ve got a match next week! This efficiency is ridiculous! You promised warranty service when I bought it and this is your attitude after the sale? It’s not like I’m not paying. I’ll even pay extra if that’s what it takes!”

Drama!

Jiang Momo quickly turned and walked over. She was fast enough to secure a front-row spot before a crowd gathered.

In the middle of the gathering, a massive mecha stood about ten meters tall.

Jiang Momo recognized it. Based on the size, it had to be a B-grade mecha.

Next to the mecha, a casually dressed young man was angrily slamming the front desk.

Behind the desk, the receptionist looked helpless and kept explaining, “It’s really not possible. All of our senior mechanics are fully booked and apprentices can’t handle a high-grade mecha like this.”

“And you dare call yourselves the most professional mecha maintenance center in the Federation? You should’ve told me a month ago that you couldn’t fix it!” Yan Chang snapped.

The receptionist kept bowing. “Maybe you can try another shop. We’ll reimburse the price difference.”

As Jiang Momo watched the scene, her gaze drifted to the mecha and her brow furrowed.

From the outside, it looked like only the casing near the lower leg and wrist area was dented, with no other visible damage. That meant the issue was internal.

“Internal damage is harder to fix,” Jiang Momo mumbled. “If it’s serious, it’s even harder than building a new one. The problem is those energy pathway interfaces are already set, which makes it tricky.”

“Building a new one also requires identifying every energy pathway interface. Isn’t that more work than repairing?” someone beside her said.

Jiang Momo turned to the voice.

Next to her stood a slim middle-aged man with gold-rimmed glasses, scholarly air, and long white hair flowing to his waist.

Sensing her gaze, he lowered his head slightly. “Did I say something wrong? Your expression says you disagree.”

Jiang Momo blinked and thought for a moment. She didn’t bother explaining the complexities. “No, you’re right.”

According to the Federation’s mainstream mecha manufacturing methods, it really was a big job.

Energy pathways couldn’t be carved in advance.

If the materials with energy pathways weren’t assembled into a mecha and used within three months, the entire piece would be wasted.

And marking the materials would change their internal structure and make the pathways fail, no matter what method was used.

So both manufacturing and repair required identifying the energy pathways on the spot every time.

And their method for finding the energy pathways differed from Jiang Momo’s. Trained by Little Eight, she didn’t need to follow the optimal path. Just match the interfaces and it would work. But most people could only use the optimal solution.

Seeing Jiang Momo didn’t refute him, the man looked thoughtful. “You can repair mechas?”

“Sort of. But I prefer the process of building them from scratch,” Jiang Momo answered casually.

“Then can you fix this one?” he asked.

Jiang Momo nodded. “I probably can. But I don’t know how badly it’s damaged. If it’s serious, I might not have enough time.”

She needed to be back at the Jiang family before dinner.

At that moment, Yan Chang, seeing the argument going nowhere, retrieved his mecha and stormed off.

The crowd began to disperse.

Then, Jiang Momo was suddenly shoved forward.

She stumbled a few steps, bewildered.

Why is this guy so strong?

The receptionist noticed the commotion, turned his head, and froze in shock when he saw who was behind Jiang Momo. His expression lit up like he’d seen a savior. “Professor Ge! You’re here!”

Then he looked at Jiang Momo, standing half a step ahead of Ge Qing. “Is this your new student?”

“Not quite,” Ge Qing replied. “She said she wants to try repairing that mecha.”

“Which mecha? Mine?!” Yan Chang rushed back and summoned his mecha.

Seeing that the show wasn’t over, the crowd gathered again.

Everyone stared intently at Jiang Momo in the center.

Jiang Momo wasn’t bothered by the attention, only confused. “When did I say I wanted to fix it?” She hated being pressured into doing things.

“Didn’t you just say you could repair it? We can provide materials,” Ge Qing said.

“I don’t have time,” Jiang Momo declined.

“But from the look in your eyes, you love mechas,” Ge Qing said.

“No, I don’t,” Jiang Momo denied.

Yan Chang ignored the back-and-forth. Seeing hope for his mecha, he rushed forward. “If you can fix it this week, I’ll pay you ten thousand for rush service—no, twenty thousand!”

Jiang Momo pulled a screwdriver from her bag. “What’s broken?”

“This shell part. The energy pathway is broken. It needs a new one,” Yan Chang pointed to the dent she’d noticed earlier.

“That’s it?” Jiang Momo asked.

“That’s it,” Yan Chang confirmed.

Jiang Momo was stunned.

She looked at the mecha, then at Yan Chang, then at the receptionist walking away, and finally at Ge Qing.

“That’s it?”

It would take three months to fix?

Muttering internally, Jiang Momo swiftly removed the dented shell section.

Because of the mecha’s massive size, the shell wasn’t a single piece but made of several half-meter panels.

The dent was where the four panels met, so all four had to be replaced.

By the time she tossed the four pieces aside, a robot had arrived and dumped a large pile of metal panels at her feet.

Four damaged parts, 500 total replacement parts.

Normally, mecha repairs were done in a dedicated room but since the client clearly wanted it done there and Professor Ge didn’t object, the materials were dragged into the main hall.

“You can start looking. If you don’t find suitable materials, we’ll check the warehouse. These assistant repair robots are yours to use…” The receptionist followed the robot, then turned, and spotted the removed shell parts. He was stunned. “Were there idle repair robots earlier?”

“She pried it off with a screwdriver,” Ge Qing said softly.

Even he had been shocked by that scene.

Mecha shells were undoubtedly tough and removing or installing them always required assistance from robots. It was the first time he’d seen someone just pry it off.

Ah, youth, endless strength. Ge Qing sighed.

‘Is that even something you can pry off?!’ the receptionist screamed internally.

Jiang Momo ignored the noise around her and reached into the mecha to confirm the energy pathways carvings inside.

Once she had a rough idea, she squatted by the pile of materials and began examining them.

Her method of inspection was different from most and the receptionist immediately took notice.

In a short time, she tapped five or six different spots along the edge of a panel, each time in a different place.

The crowd didn’t know much about repairs but leaned in enthusiastically to watch the spectacle.

Ge Qing noticed the receptionist’s expression. “You think there’s something wrong with her method?”

The receptionist shook her head. “Can she really do it? I don’t understand what she’s doing.”

Other mechanics usually used hand gestures and drew lines on the materials. No one had ever directly marked so many points at once.

Ge Qing smiled. “Don’t worry, just watch. She’ll finish soon.”

Just as he said, Jiang Momo quickly selected four panels, and then placed them into the gaps one by one, adjusting their orientation.

After confirming, she took out a carving knife and began etching.

At that moment, even the onlookers sensed something was off and someone voiced their doubts.

“Why are her energy pathways all crooked?”

“That can’t be right. The mechanic I’ve seen carved the pathways in nearly straight lines. I’ve never seen anyone twist and loop around like that.”

“Hey, kid, don’t let her fix it. You’d better go find someone else. Isn’t this just a waste of time?”

Jiang Momo actually wasn’t carving slowly. Instead, her movements were swift and smooth.

Within just a few comments, she had already finished carving the four panels.

Ge Qing’s eyes showed admiration and he nodded in satisfaction.

It had been a long time since he’d seen someone so talented.

Jiang Momo handed the four panels to the assistant repair robot and watched as it installed them one by one in the correct positions. Then she turned to Yan Chang and said, “Okay, try it out.”

“No rush, we have professional test pilots for that,” the receptionist said politely, stopping the customer from boarding the mecha.

Piloting a damaged mecha could harm the pilot’s mental state. The stronger the mental power, the less the damage. SSS-rank mental power users were almost immune.

For the client’s safety, the center specially hired mecha test pilots, which was one of their key selling points.

Unfortunately, although the Capital Star had many SSS-rank mental power users, few were short on money. So the center only had two test pilots and even they were rarely present.

As everyone watched, E Mingjun walked out dressed in black. He instantly locked eyes on Jiang Momo in the crowd.

Jiang Momo saw him too and waved happily.

E Mingjun had been testing another mecha earlier and hadn’t noticed what was happening. Seeing Jiang Momo in the crowd, he just thought her love of excitement was kind of cute and turned to board the mecha.

Soon, the mecha powered up.

The maintenance hall was very tall and reinforced for better mecha demonstrations.

Jiang Momo looked up, watching as the mecha completed the basic moves of raising its arm, lifting a leg, turning, and jumping.

The crowd erupted.

“It’s really fixed?!”

“That fast? What were my previous mechanics even doing?!”

“I thought repairs took at least seven days! Can she fix my mecha? I’ll pay extra!”

Amid the noise, Jiang Momo held out her hand to Yan Chang.

Yan Chang immediately grabbed it and shook it hard, visibly excited. “Master! You’re truly a master! It’s my great fortune to have met you! Now I have hope for my upcoming matches!”

Jiang Momo: “…Please transfer the 20,000 star coins to my card. Thanks.”

Yan Chang finally noticed the bank card in her hand, took it quickly, and transferred the money. “Master, can I get your contact info? I’d like to come to you again.”

“Not right now. Maybe next time if there’s a chance.”

Reminded of something, Jiang Momo immediately remembered she needed to buy a light brain.

She quickly said goodbye to Ge Qing and waved toward E Mingjun. Seeing the mecha wave back, she left with peace of mind.