The Real Daughter Just Wants to Pilot Mechas - Chapter 120

“No way,” Jiang Momo was fully awake now and refused outright. “Shi Qin is my student. My priority is to protect him, not use him.

“Besides, it was under my guidance that he researched the S-grade mecha.” Jiang Momo lowered her eyes, her long lashes covering the emotions within.

[Don’t blame yourself.]

“I’m not blaming myself. I just need to take responsibility for my actions.” Jiang Momo’s eyes were firm. “Illegally manufacturing an S-grade mecha is a capital offense. The reason I didn’t stop Shi Qin immediately is that the Federation’s confidentiality monitoring system is so rigorous that there’s still room for legal maneuvering later.”

Given the system’s standard of immediately reporting any similar actions, it would be hard for the prosecution to directly prove Shi Qin’s guilt in court.

[I thought you didn’t stop him because you believed Yan Chang could handle it.]

“That was part of the reason.” Jiang Momo stared at her toes. “But I didn’t expect him to make progress so quickly. I thought it would take at least until the right opportunity came.”

With the increasing frequency of alien beasts appearing in the Central Star System, it was only a matter of time before the Federation’s forces were overwhelmed. At that point, recruiting external mecha manufacturers would be inevitable.

Most students who had just entered the research institute had not passed the A-Grade Mecha Certification Exam. It would take them a while to pass the exam and start learning the production of S-grade mecha.

Jiang Momo had planned for Shi Qin and the other students, who already had a solid foundation, to show a remarkable growth rate and gain recognition as externally hired mecha manufacturers, but now it seemed that the plan had failed before it could even begin.

While Jiang Momo was contemplating, Little Eight, monitoring the campus surveillance, saw Yan Chang hurrying over and informed her.

[Yan Chang is almost downstairs.]

Jiang Momo immediately left her room upon getting the reminder.

At the entrance of the teachers’ dormitory, Yan Chang had just rushed to the door and was about to message Jiang Momo when the elevator doors suddenly opened, and Jiang Momo walked out.

“What a coincidence.” Yan Chang paused for a moment. “When I first heard the news about Shi Qin, I thought the name sounded familiar. Then I got your message. Hasn’t it only been a few days since we last met?”

“He’s very talented.” Jiang Momo also found Shi Qin’s speed unusually fast. “Can I borrow your legal team?”

“I’ve already sent them to meet and review the case.” Yan Chang waved his hand. “We’ll know more when they return.”

Jiang Momo nodded silently.

Suddenly, her light brain lit up.

It was Li Yu, the maintenance technician from the Military Research Institute who had accompanied them during a field study trip to the tourist planet.

[Military Research Institute Maintenance Department, Level 6 Technician Li Yu]: Did you see the news? Your protégé got caught for privately building an S-grade mecha.

[Jiang Momo]: I saw it.

[Military Research Institute Maintenance Department, Level 6 Technician Li Yu]: I heard from an insider that the research institute wants to recruit him but he refused. As his teacher, you should find a chance to persuade him. Isn’t life more important than anything else?

[Jiang Momo]: Did the research institute ask you to contact me? Did something happen inside the research institute?

Jiang Momo tapped the screen lightly. She didn’t believe that Li Yu would remember Shi Qin’s name or offer advice out of the blue without some external reason.

[Military Research Institute Maintenance Department, Level 6 Technician Li Yu]: I don’t know. I was just assigned this at the last minute. Professor Ge and Shi Qin both refused to cooperate, and they were both equally stubborn.

“It looks like the situation is even more urgent than expected.” Jiang Momo clicked her tongue.

“What situation?” Yan Chang leaned closer, curious.

Jiang Momo’s expression turned serious. “It’s classified.”

The appearance of alien beasts in the Central Star System was unpredictable and only the research institute’s specialized equipment could detect it in advance. Judging from the research institute’s attitude toward Shi Qin, the alien beast wave in a few days would likely be much larger than anticipated, possibly comparable to a small-scale alien beast tide.

‘It seems Shi Qin’s mecha manufacturing skills have practically matured,’ Jiang Momo thought with a heavy heart.

Sure enough, an hour later, the lawyers came back with news. Before being caught, Shi Qin had manually built an entire S-grade mecha model.

Calling it a model wasn’t entirely accurate. Although the parts were made from ordinary materials, the energy pathways he etched had no real function, and the size was about one-tenth of a regular mecha at just over a meter tall, however, the metallic neural fiber was fully embedded and his home contained a large number of components, enough to assemble a full S-grade mecha. In other words, he was just one step away from building a real S-grade mecha.

“The alarm was triggered when he picked up a scrapped material panel to start assembly. The police initially thought it was another false alarm from the confidentiality monitoring system and just planned to issue a warning and have him sign a confidentiality agreement. However, the inspector from the research institute who came along found the one-meter-tall mini-mecha,” the lawyer reported, frowning at the notes.

“The charge of illegally manufacturing an S-grade mecha is practically set in stone. We’ll likely have to defend him from a different angle.”

Jiang Momo scratched her head in frustration. It turned out a student being too skilled could be a problem. Now it seemed the only way out was for him to join the research institute.

“Oh, by the way, he asked me to pass on a message. He said he’s determined to fight it head-on.” The lawyer looked at Jiang Momo.

“Thanks, I got it.” Jiang Momo took a deep breath and opened her light brain again. “I’ll ask Lu Feng.”

She sent a call request but it was declined.

[Lu Feng]: In a meeting.

[Lu Feng]: Have you figured out how to boost your influence? How can I help you?

[Jiang Momo]: It’s not about that. It’s about my student.

[Lu Feng]: Your student isn’t in serious trouble. Don’t worry, the research institute wants to recruit him.

[Jiang Momo]: That’s the problem. He doesn’t want to join the research institute.

Jiang Momo looked up at the sky. She didn’t know why, but if Shi Qin wanted to join the research institute, he wouldn’t have stayed on as a teacher assistant in the first place.

[Lu Feng]: Then we’ll have to take a long-term approach. Normally, it takes at least a month from arrest to trial. The best I can do is to use my authority to have him transferred to a research team as a ‘test subject’ after he’s sentenced to a suspended death penalty. You’ll need to find your own way to work things out before that.

[Jiang Momo]: Thanks, I’ll think about it.