The Real Daughter Just Wants to Pilot Mechas - Chapter 104

Yan Chang leaned against the wall with arms crossed and raised an eyebrow as if waiting for Jiang Momo to share her opinion.

“Ah.” Jiang Momo blinked. “You’re right. Since she was the first to perfectly clear the game and she didn’t plan to upload it, I went ahead and uploaded it for her without her permission. That money should go to her.”

Satisfied, Yan Chang straightened up and said casually, “When you give it to her, could you maybe mention the whole story? It’s important to me.”

“Alright.” Jiang Momo nodded and quietly sent a message to Little Eight, signaling it to find out how Yan Chang got her account info.

Yan Chang turned and walked toward the academy gates, clearing his throat. “Also, could you ask if we can maybe… have a meal together?”

Jiang Momo stopped in her tracks.

“Oh, that’s right. I guess inviting her for a meal so suddenly is a bit abrupt. I’ll take it slow.” Yan Chang scratched his head, a little embarrassed.

Jiang Momo had never seen this ‘respectful’ version of Yan Chang and instinctively felt uneasy, taking a sharp breath of cold air.

From the looks of it, he might really be falling for her.

“Have you checked out her info?” Jiang Momo asked tentatively.

“I have.” Yan Chang nodded. “But since the tech is from the military side, I could only trace the simulation pod ID, not the person.”

Crisis temporarily averted.

Jiang Momo relaxed. “Go home and get some sleep. I’ll take care of it.”

Yan Chang always trusted Jiang Momo’s ability. After hearing her confirmation, he nodded and sent her to the teacher’s dormitory.

***

At 7 AM the next morning, Jiang Momo shot up in bed.

“No, I still don’t get it. How did he find my account?”

Little Eight appeared in front of her. [Based on analysis, it’s likely he accessed it through the light brain he gave you. I modified the data last night, so it shouldn’t be a problem anymore.]

Jiang Momo nodded. She quickly got ready, changed into clean clothes, and left for class.

As soon as she got downstairs, she saw Yan Chang sitting on a bench outside the dorm.

Seeing her appear, he immediately stood and walked over. “Master, let’s have breakfast?”

“You didn’t go home all night, did you?” Jiang Momo asked suspiciously.

Yan Chang smiled. “Of course not. I just got here.”

“That’s good. By the way, I transferred the money over,” Jiang Momo said cautiously.

“I know.” Yan Chang nodded.

He had seen the account activity and came over to wait for her.

Little Eight really came through.

Jiang Momo was completely at ease now and followed him to the cafeteria for breakfast.

Recently, probably due to the popularity of the simulation battle, the students she met along the way were talking about it everywhere. Almost every few steps, she could hear people mentioning the Mecha Queen.

Even in her theory class, the top students attending were discussing the game. Some even nervously tried to ask about her ranking.

Jiang Momo glanced at Yan Chang waiting at the door and brushed the students off before finishing class. After that, she went to have lunch with him.

In the cafeteria, Jiang Momo looked at Yan Chang who was seriously picking dishes across from her and couldn’t help but ask, “You’re not joining the simulation battles lately?”

Yan Chang didn’t even look up at Jiang Momo. He merely glanced at his wrist and replied calmly, “No rush. The Mecha Queen hasn’t logged in yet.”

Jiang Momo: “?”

“You won’t play unless she logs in?” she asked.

Yan Chang nodded as if it were obvious. “Matchmaking team is based on entry time. What if I’m in a battle while she logs in, won’t I miss her?”

Jiang Momo, who had already decided not to log in again: “…What if she never logs in again?”

“That doesn’t matter. I’ll find her another way,” Yan Chang replied lightly.

***

In the afternoon, Jiang Momo arrived at the Mecha Arena with Yan Chang escorting her.

At the entrance, she looked at Yan Chang who was about to walk in with her and hesitated. “Wait, I just remember something. If she logs in suddenly and you can’t get back in time, won’t you miss her anyway?”

Yan Chang raised a finger smugly. With his eyebrows raised, he said proudly, “I was waiting for you to ask! I spent a fortune modifying my simulation pod. Now I can use it anywhere, anytime.”

As he spoke, he pulled the customized pod out of his space button.

Jiang Momo looked down at the simulation pod that landed at her feet, then back at Yan Chang’s smug face. She sucked in a breath and patted his shoulder. “…You really went all out.”

“Of course!” Yan Chang put the pod away again. “Go on to class. I’ll go chat with the manager for a bit.”

With that, he pushed open the door and his figure disappeared inside the hall.

Jiang Momo felt a mix of emotions and headed toward the mecha manufacturing area with a heavy heart.

Inside, the remaining nine students and the assistant teacher Shi Qin were standing in a row in the middle of the manufacturing area. Nearby, a heap of A-grade mecha materials lay scattered.

Jiang Momo scanned the material pile, then looked at Shi Qin, and gestured with her chin. She asked, “What’s going on?”

“As you can see, we’re building an A-grade mecha,” Shi Qin answered, standing straight.

Jiang Momo felt the situation was strange. The last time she came, they’d already assembled the lower leg of a new A-grade mecha.

She thought for a moment and said to the group, “Keep working on it. Shi Qin, come here.”

After she spoke, the students followed Xiang Jiuming’s direction and headed for the material warehouse. Soon, only Jiang Momo and Shi Qin remained in the manufacturing area.

She glanced around and asked in a low voice, “Didn’t you already assemble part of it a few days ago? Why dismantle it?”

“We weren’t satisfied.” Shi Qin clenched his fists. Ever since the last interview, strange thoughts had been swirling in his head. Sometimes he thought Jiang Momo’s words had hidden meanings. Other times he felt he was overthinking. After all, if she had been hinting at something, the conclusion he drew from those hints was just too far-fetched.

Now that he finally had a chance to see her again, he couldn’t help but ask, “Teacher, isn’t three months a bit too long?”

Jiang Momo’s eyes lit up instantly. She thought for a moment and shared, “If you have something important to do and want time to pass faster, I have equipment that can help. One day inside feels like three months outside.”

“Does the reverse work too?” Shi Qin watched her expression carefully, confirming his suspicions, and grinned. “Can I make it so that three months inside equals one day outside?”

Jiang Momo knew what he was getting at. She nodded firmly and patted his shoulder. “Of course.”

As she spoke, she took out the key that Ling Yelin had previously given her and handed it to Shi Qin. “I’m lending this to you. Just return it before the class after next.”

Jiang Momo calculated that three days should be enough for him.

“The class after next? That would be next Thursday,” Shi Qin figured.

“Huh? Isn’t it this Thursday?” Jiang Momo didn’t understand.

“The day after tomorrow is the Alien Beast War Victory Memorial Day. There’ll be an 8-day holiday,” Shi Qin explained.

Jiang Momo searched her memory. It seemed like Little Eight had mentioned this holiday before.

“Then next Thursday it is,” Jiang Momo said. “Are you planning to leave the Capital Star during the holiday?”

Shi Qin shook his head. “I’ll be staying here.”

“Alright. If I need the key again, I’ll contact you,” Jiang Momo said.

However, she probably wouldn’t need it for now. Unless the military had missions for her, she wasn’t planning to go back anytime soon. Lately, she’d been thinking about retrieving some of the stolen energy core materials from the Jiang family to study them.

Jiang Momo lowered her gaze slightly as her mind subconsciously started to work. If she played the emotional card or revealed her identity to claim shares, would it be easier to get what she wanted?

Shi Qin saw Jiang Momo deep in thought and didn’t disturb her. He put the key away and began moving toward the corner of the room.

The moment he moved, Jiang Momo remembered that others were still around. She immediately snapped out of her thoughts and called out to him, continuing her inquiry, “Do the other students know your idea?”

Shi Qin turned around and came back. “I tried to explain it but no one understood.”

“They don’t need to. As long as you know what’s important,” Jiang Momo said.

As long as one person understands what’s going on, the others could serve as tools. That’s enough to make up an S-grade mecha manufacturing team.

Shi Qin lowered his head. “I understand. Teacher Momo, are there other technical obstacles in mecha manufacturing?”

Jiang Momo was impressed by his perceptiveness and nodded. “Not exactly. The most important thing in mecha manufacturing is something you’ve all been using.”

Shi Qin noticed the contradiction in her movements and words, and cautiously asked, “Is it mental power?”

Jiang Momo didn’t answer. Instead, she picked up a material panel by her foot and ran her fingernail through the gap in the energy pathway. “Have you seen metal neural fibers? They sell them at the mecha trading center, so you can go take a look. But standard materials are a bit thick, while the higher-grade ones are finer.”

Shi Qin watched her motion, eyes shifting slightly.

Judging from Jiang Momo’s action, it was obvious that metal neural fibers were supposed to be embedded into the energy pathways. The metal neural fibers varied in thickness but the energy pathway width they engraved was fixed.

That implied that during manufacturing, it was very likely mental power was needed to help the metal neural fibers align with the energy pathways.

“I understand now, Teacher Momo,” Shi Qin said.

E/N: Hmm???????? I remember Jiang Momo (inwardly) thanking Ling Yelin for not causing her to misunderstand that the embedding goes into the energy pathways… So the cracks were ALONG the pathways, and yet here I was, misguided, thinking that the cracks and the pathways run in different directions.