The Real Daughter Just Wants to Pilot Mechas - Chapter 102

“It still has something to do with me.”

[No, this has nothing to do with you. You had no idea what the Jiang family was doing!] Little Eight jumped out to object.

“Even if I don’t want to admit it, I am, objectively speaking, related to the Jiang family by blood. They stole the treasure and the one who conveniently delayed E Mingjun just happened to be me. Do you think, if E Mingjun finds out I’m the interstellar pirate hunter, he’ll believe me?” Jiang Momo’s lips trembled. “If anyone else had done the stealing, I could say it had nothing to do with me. But it just had to be a Jiang family member. The coincidence is too hard to explain.”

Little Eight stalled for a moment. [Maybe he would?]

Now everything had circled back to the very beginning, to when it first orchestrated Jiang Momo and E Mingjun’s encounter. It still believed that human emotions could affect their ability to make rational judgments.

“I can’t bet on that ‘maybe,’” Jiang Momo said through clenched teeth. “E Mingjun must not find out my identity.”

Seeing Jiang Momo deep in thought, E Mingjun assumed she was pondering the mecha’s construction. He said, “Because of the current technological limitations, even if we use a larger core material, the power output won’t increase much. So this small piece is enough for now.”

Jiang Momo nodded silently, crouched down, and began reassembling the mecha while trying to keep her expression under control.

Although her heart was heavy with worry, her hands didn’t falter. Every motion was smooth and practiced.

E Mingjun raised an eyebrow. “Not bad, your skills are comparable to a master craftsman.”

Jiang Momo responded reflexively, “I was a bona fide star instructor in the Federation, you know? Never mind repairing, I could build a super S-grade mecha from scratch.”

The moment she finished speaking, Jiang Momo froze, and then immediately shut her mouth.

E Mingjun assumed she was joking and chuckled lightly.

Jiang Momo ignored him, her mind beginning to race. Although the current mecha was very different in user experience from the one she had modified herself before, in the end, there was only one way to produce a super S-grade mecha, and that was by replacing the existing materials with ones of higher grade.

She silently kept that conclusion in mind but still felt that something was off. That strange disjointed sensation she’d felt while piloting resurfaced.

When she piloted E Mingjun’s mecha, she clearly sensed her energy trying to flow from the core into the limbs of the mecha, but it was being blocked and forced to recirculate.

According to what Major General Lu Feng had said before, that group of interstellar pirates had created the lab specifically to replicate legendary-grade mechas. Maybe those ‘blockages’ were actually the key to crafting the legendary mecha.

Jiang Momo placed the final panel back in place, then used her mental power to embed the metal neural fibers to the outer shell, patted her hands clean, and stood up.

She still hadn’t figured out the exact technique for the key component, so her expression remained distant, eyes unfocused.

E Mingjun waved a hand in front of her face.

Jiang Momo blinked, clarity returning to her eyes. “What is it?”

“I should be the one asking that. What’s with you?” E Mingjun crossed his arms and studied her.

“I’m fine,” Jiang Momo said, touching her face with one hand and joking, “Maybe I skipped breakfast and got low blood sugar?”

They both knew she was joking. With her physical condition, she could easily go two days without food or water without any issues.

Still, E Mingjun followed up smoothly, “What do you want to eat?”

“Anything’s fine,” Jiang Momo replied immediately.

E Mingjun sent a message to his vice-captain. Just after, he turned to her and asked, “Do your friends want to eat too?”

“No need.” Jiang Momo shook her head. “Just pack two portions, I’ll bring them back.”

With how poorly E Mingjun faked things, there was no way he could fool Wu Yue who could still recognize him in one glance even after years of drastic changes. And if Wu Yue found out that Jiang Momo lied about skipping breakfast, Wu Yue would definitely think the breakfast she prepared, consisting of half a bucket of soy milk and a whole kilo of fried dough sticks, had gone to waste.

***

After a long while, Jiang Momo sat down to have a meal again with E Mingjun. She wiped her mouth and casually asked, “I heard you’re about to reclaim the entire Chaos Star System?”

“I’m just consolidating the interstellar pirate groups,” E Mingjun said vaguely after a quick mental calculation. “It’s mostly done and what’s left is administrative work.”

Jiang Momo nodded, about to probe further, when the vice-captain burst in, shoved two meal boxes into her hands, and said anxiously, “You better come quickly! Your friends found out you were missing and stormed the Mecha Arena!”

“They went straight there? There are only two of them! Isn’t that dangerous?” Jiang Momo shot to her feet. “Do you have a ship?”

“We’ve got a light aircraft. I’ll take you,” the vice-captain said, turning to lead her downstairs. “Actually, they’re not the ones in danger. We’ve already told the arena not to use force. But your friends, damn, they’re intense. They hired a whole mercenary team and it looks like they’re about to tear the arena doors down.”

“Huh?” Jiang Momo paused mid-step, turned to glance at E Mingjun still sitting at the table, and then sat back down. “In that case, there’s no rush.”

E Mingjun paused mid-bite. “They’re worried about you.”

“I know. But running over there isn’t exactly efficient,” Jiang Momo said as she opened her light brain and sent Wu Yue a video call request, quickly disabling the background display before the call connected.

The ringtone barely rang twice before it was picked up. Wu Yue’s image was projected in front of her, her face full of anxiety as she scanned Jiang Momo up and down. “Where are you?”

Jiang Momo subtly waved to the vice-captain beside her, who stayed out of frame, and calmly replied, “I’m just out for a stroll and picked up some lunch.”

For once, the vice-captain read the room and quickly handed over the takeout box.

Jiang Momo held it up to show Wu Yue. “I’m already at the door but it looks like you’re not home.”

Wu Yue visibly relaxed, said something to someone off-screen, and quickly ended the call with a “Wait for us, we’ll be right back.”

Watching the projection vanish and seeing the vice-captain’s nervous look, Jiang Momo thought for a moment and then asked E Mingjun, “This arena isn’t your group’s property, is it? Only I saw you take that guy away and judging by my friends’ attitude, they’re determined to get revenge personally.”

“It is,” the vice-captain cut in.

And it was a pretty valuable asset. The person tailing them yesterday was too low in rank to have ever seen Jiang Momo’s photo. So when she got cornered, the guy hesitated instead of stepping in. Honestly, if all the higher-ups hadn’t been out yesterday and they hadn’t sent a grunt of a grunt, the whole mess wouldn’t have happened. It looks like the whole group needs an emergency training session.

But before he could finish that thought, E Mingjun’s voice cut in decisively, “It’s not. It has nothing to do with the group. Let them tear it down.”

The vice-captain’s gaze toward Jiang Momo shifted instantly.

This wasn’t the captain’s sweetheart. This was a seductress straight out of legend! The Mecha Arena brought in nearly a third of their revenue and the captain just casually gave the okay to destroy it?

His reaction was so strong, Jiang Momo couldn’t ignore it even if she tried. She immediately got it and asked, “Is the guy you brought back still here?”

“He is.” The vice-captain signaled to someone at the door.

As the person was brought in again, Jiang Momo dialed Wu Yue once more.

Twenty minutes later, Wu Yue and Ling Yelin rushed back. Wu Yue grabbed the arena manager who’d troubled them yesterday from Jiang Momo, while Ling Yelin took the meal boxes.

“Momo, I can’t believe you did something this big without saying a word! If we hadn’t barged into the arena, you weren’t even going to tell us, were you?” Wu Yue bumped her shoulder with a grin. “So sneaky.”

Then she happily ordered the mercenaries to drag the guy off toward a nearby alley.

Ling Yelin raised the food boxes. “Shall we eat first?”

“Sure.” Jiang Momo followed him into Wu Yue’s place.

Soon after, Wu Yue returned, refreshed and satisfied. She clapped the dust from her hands, sat beside Jiang Momo, and naturally took the chopsticks from her to dig in.

Meanwhile, Jiang Momo ate slowly and with rare grace, for no other reason than she really couldn’t eat anymore. It wasn’t even noon yet and it was already her third meal.

As she chewed with effort, her light brain flashed.

Jiang Momo immediately opened it.

It was a message from Yan Chang.

[No. 1 Fan of the Mecha Queen]: Master! Aren’t you at the academy today? The mecha simulation battle officially launched on the Federation gaming platform this morning! In less than three hours, it hit a million downloads!

Jiang Momo didn’t overthink it and checked her account balance. Sure enough, there was a noticeable increase in star coins.

[Jiang Momo]: ??? That fast?

[No. 1 Fan of the Mecha Queen]: Yeah! It’s all thanks to that amazing mecha pilot I met before. So many combat fans are hyping her up online. Most downloads are from people wanting to see that battle video!

[No. 1 Fan of the Mecha Queen]: With that kind of influence, she should totally appear in person and be a spokesperson! The results would be instant!

[Jiang Momo]: I’ll check with the official channels.

Yan Chang made his move.

[Mecha Queen’s Number One Fan]: So, Master, you really could track her down!

[Jiang Momo]: …Tsk.