The Real Daughter Just Wants to Pilot Mechas - Chapter 111

Jiang Momo looked dissatisfied.

If she hadn’t seen the mental state of those students on the tourist planet before, she might have been fooled. But now, no matter how she looked at it, the workers’ conditions were no different from those students.

Jiang He pretended not to notice Jiang Momo’s frown and turned his face away, saying, “Don’t worry. The Jiang family has the Federation’s support. Any problem will be suppressed immediately.”

“But the effect doesn’t seem that good. I saw that complaint video myself,” Jiang Momo countered.

“That’s because we’ve been too busy recently to communicate and connect with them on an ideological level,” Jiang He replied, somewhat guilty.

Jiang Momo keenly noticed the inconsistency. “So, you’re saying this has happened before but the workers were brainwashed into not causing trouble?”

Jiang He was stunned. “Huh? That’s not it.”

Jiang Zhang stepped forward to explain. “Actually, we conduct annual health checks and the employee turnover rate is very high, so it rarely happens. The few recent incidents are probably the entirety of it and we suspect someone stirred things up.”

“Then, isn’t it risky for me to take over now?” Jiang Momo said bluntly. “If someone investigates and it turns out the factory owner is me, wouldn’t I be taking the blame?”

Jiang Zhang gave a dry laugh. “Momo, you’re still so straightforward.”

A three-second silence followed.

“So, I need more time to inspect the place,” Jiang Momo stated. “I’ll stay here for two days. Is there any accommodation?”

“Of course! I’ll take you there in a moment,” Jiang Zhang replied immediately, glancing at Jiang He’s face. As they prepared to move to the living quarters, they noticed someone missing. “Where’s Yingying?”

“Eldest Brother, I’m here.” Jiang Yingying hurriedly ran over from a small door not far away, standing beside them and gasping. “I checked the spaceship’s dashboard before leaving and it showed that the energy is not enough for the return trip. We’ll need to refill.”

“Not enough? How can that be? I just replaced the energy core yesterday, enough for four round trips!” Jiang He exclaimed in shock.

Jiang Momo’s eyes flickered and she subconsciously clenched her powerful fists, already having an idea in mind.

“Does this factory produce energy cores?”

Jiang He abruptly turned to Jiang Momo and smiled. “It seems you did your homework. Even without me introducing it, you know about our business. But the energy core production line was just shut down.”

“Why shut it down?” Jiang Momo asked.

“Overproduction. The energy is quite special, with limited uses and a few dedicated channels. Based on the current energy reserves and average annual consumption, it would last for about a hundred years. We couldn’t use it up, so we started using it in spaceships. Honestly, using it in the wrong places damages the engine and isn’t cost-effective. An energy core manufactured at the same price could make ten trips but ours could only last three or four.”

“I see, that does sound a bit impractical.” Jiang Momo nodded, pretending to be disappointed. “Shutting it down was the right choice.”

“Right.” Jiang Zhang nodded, feeling oddly relieved. Jiang Momo finally said something pleasing to the ears.

“But as far as I know, the Jiang family’s main industry is energy. Why does this factory only have one energy line?” Jiang Momo asked.

Jiang He’s face stiffened for a moment. “Because this is just one factory.”

“Is this the only factory caught in the controversy?” Jiang Momo pressed.

Jiang He gritted his teeth and nodded.

He’d just wanted to transfer the factory to Jiang Momo and find an excuse to slow down the production in other factories. Unexpectedly, Jiang Momo was so sharp.

“Then let’s not investigate the others. I’ll focus on this one first.” Jiang Momo glanced at the workers in the room again and turned to Jiang He. “Do you have a map of the factory layout? Give me one.”

“I’ll send it to you.” Jiang Zhang reached out and tapped Jiang Momo’s wrist, sending a holographic map without adding her as a contact.

Jiang Yingying observed them as they stood there and timidly asked, “Should we refuel the spaceship now?”

“No rush. Momo plans to stay for two days, so we have time to refuel later,” Jiang He said casually, patting Jiang Yingying.

“Dad, after I take over the factory, can I keep those overproduced energy cores?” Jiang Momo suddenly asked.

“Of course not! They’re contracted to the Federation and will be delivered in batches every year,” Jiang He was startled by her address and replied instinctively.

“But didn’t you say it would take a hundred years to use them up?” Jiang Momo continued asking.

Jiang He clicked his tongue. “The problem is that you can’t use them. You as a mecha manufacturer can’t use them in mechas anyway.”

“They’re not usable in mechas?” Jiang Momo was visibly surprised.

Jiang He said irritably, “If it could be used in mecha, the research institute would have taken it all by now. How could there be any left?”

Jiang Momo blinked.

That makes sense. It looks like I still need to get the original energy core.

***

Late at night, a figure swiftly moved through the factory.

Jiang Momo avoided the dense cameras and skillfully made her way to a room not marked on the map Jiang Zhang had given her earlier. She crawled in through the ventilation duct.

It was pitch black inside but the darkness didn’t affect Jiang Momo. She lifted the black eye patch covering her right eye and the outlines of the objects in front of her became clearly visible.

She felt around for a moment, carefully avoiding obstacles, and headed toward the safe in the corner.

Just as she squatted down to examine the safe, there was a sound at the door.

Jiang Momo’s heart pounded twice and she quickly moved to the blind spot near the door, lying low.

A few seconds later, a sneaky figure slipped inside and quietly closed the door.

The figure seemed familiar. Jiang Momo squinted and asked, “E Mingjun?”

E Mingjun followed the sound and swiftly moved to Jiang Momo’s side. “How’s it going?”

“What are you doing here?” Jiang Momo asked.

“I got your location from Yan Chang,” E Mingjun replied.

“You’re not just here to find me,” Jiang Momo stated confidently.

E Mingjun was silent for a moment. “You’re right. I found out the person who stole that treasure from the interstellar pirate group. It was the Jiang family. Recently, I exchanged my mecha for some money and information. I just got the intel and immediately thought of your changed attitude toward the Jiang family, so I rushed over.”

“The item is in the safe,” Jiang Momo said helplessly. Her eyes clearly stated, ‘Keep acting,’ although E Mingjun couldn’t see them.

“I got it.” E Mingjun quickly moved to the safe and half a minute later, he came back. “Done. Let’s go.”

The two of them hurried back the way they came.

Back in Jiang Momo’s room, she turned to look at E Mingjun who had followed her without showing any intention of leaving. She reminded him, “You should go. If they find something missing tomorrow and see an outsider like you here, they’ll get suspicious.”

“They won’t notice. I replaced it with a similar fake,” E Mingjun explained. “It’s an earlier failed experiment. If they test it, the data matches the real one but it doesn’t have the same function.”

“Oh,” Jiang Momo replied nonchalantly.

E Mingjun took out a box specifically designed to hold energy core and handed it to her. “I have no use for this, so you can take it.”

“Huh?” Jiang Momo was surprised and took the box reflexively. “Then why did you go through all this trouble?”

“To give you a way out,” E Mingjun said. “The Jiang family is backed by the Federation. Recently, the blackmail videos we leaked disappeared within two or three seconds on average. Only officials could do that.”

Also, the Jiang family’s spacecraft was unusually resistant to collisions, nothing like a civilian-grade ship.

“That was your doing?” Jiang Momo was momentarily shocked and then realized it made sense. She immediately composed herself and happily put the box into her bag. “This is a suite. You can sleep in the next room.”

The next morning, Jiang Xian came to bring breakfast. After setting the food on the dining table in the living room, she sat down to wait. Soon, Jiang Momo and E Mingjun came out of separate bedrooms at the same time.

Jiang Xian’s eyes widened in shock as she stood up. “Momo, did you break up with that guy from the Yan family?”

“No,” Jiang Momo calmly replied, wondering why Jiang Xian was there.

“Then who is this?” Jiang Xian moved closer to Jiang Momo, eyeing E Mingjun.

Jiang Momo patted E Mingjun’s shoulder and introduced him, “A friend. Last night, he suddenly messaged saying he wanted to hang out with me. I figured there’s nothing here to hide, so I let him in.”

Jiang Xian smiled politely at E Mingjun and then pulled Jiang Momo aside to whisper. “Momo, even though we’re far from the Capital Star and you’re free to make friends, Mom must remind you not to get too close to other men. That guy from the Yan family even helped you to get a noble status. If—”

Jiang Momo cut Jiang Xian off directly and stated, “The noble status has nothing to do with Yan Chang. It was Ling Yelin who helped me apply for it.”

Jiang Xian froze. “You’re still in contact with Director Ling?”

“What do you mean ‘still’? We’ve always been friends,” Jiang Momo replied.

Jiang Xian looked at Jiang Momo with a changed expression, scrutinizing her as if trying to figure out how the seemingly ordinary girl managed to pull it off.

“Impressive,” Jiang Xian sighed.

“What kind of look is that? Don’t overthink it. We’re just friends,” Jiang Momo said, taking a step back from Jiang Xian.