The Real Daughter Just Wants to Pilot Mechas - Chapter 121

“What’s going on?” Yan Chang asked after the lawyer left. When Jiang Momo’s eyes regained focus, he leaned closer to inquire.

Jiang Momo shook her head. “It’s not looking good.”

Yan Chang frowned. “So if he doesn’t join the research institute, they have to kill him? That’s unnecessary.”

“You know about the research institute?” Jiang Momo looked up sharply.

Because of the confidentiality agreement she signed with the military regarding the alien beasts in the Central Star System, she hadn’t told Yan Chang anything about her conversation with Li Yu.

“Of course. I have friends in the research institute’s upper ranks. I don’t know the details but they’ve been talking about expanding recruitment lately. I don’t know what Shi Qin had against the research institute that made him so dead set against joining. If he agreed, none of this would be happening.”

As Jiang Momo listened to his complaints, a thought flashed through her mind. “Has the research institute developed a super S-grade mecha recently?”

“No,” Yan Chang replied.

Jiang Momo immediately messaged Lu Feng, confirming that the research institute hadn’t developed a super S-grade mecha and that manufacturing one herself wasn’t classified or illegal. She then logged into the school’s official website and updated her online course profile.

[Mecha Manufacturing Teacher, Sole Developer and Manufacturer of the Federation’s Super S-Grade Mecha]

She took a screenshot and shared it on the Star Network, submitting it to the media as well.

“What are you doing?” Yan Chang saw the determined look in Jiang Momo’s eyes and couldn’t help but feel fired up as well. “Is there anything I can help with?”

“Check the trending topics,” Jiang Momo said, opening the Star Network’s trending list.

Yan Chang also opened it and then looked up blankly. “It doesn’t look any different from before.”

“Wait a bit longer.” Jiang Momo kept her eyes fixed on the trending page.

A few minutes later, just as Little Eight predicted, because of the hype generated by Shi Qin’s illegal S-grade mecha creation, Jiang Momo’s newly released news also drew significant attention.

Following Jiang Momo’s advice, Yan Chang kept refreshing the trending list. When he saw the rapidly climbing topic, he was shocked. “Another major story? What does that mean?”

He clicked into it and glanced at Jiang Momo, hesitating to speak.

“I asked Lu Feng and he said it’s not classified,” Jiang Momo said.

“Posting this will both divert attention and make the Military Research Institute start targeting you,” Yan Chang said worriedly.

“It’s fine. It’s just a super S-grade mecha, not enough for them to take extreme measures against me,” Jiang Momo replied. “The military and research institute already know my ‘improvements’ to the mechas aren’t anything special, or they would’ve come after me by now.”

“But haven’t you already made…” Yan Chang trailed off, suddenly realizing what Jiang Momo was planning. If the Federation found out about her creating a legendary mecha, she’d be in serious trouble.

Therefore, before being discovered, Jiang Momo needed to gather enough public attention to avoid being quietly taken down. The same logic applied to Shi Qin. If he had enough public support before the authorities could silence him, the streets would be full of people protesting for him.

Right now, since the authorities had already censored related topics on the Star Network, nobody could freely speak up for Shi Qin. Any posts mentioning his name were quickly deleted. To gather a protest force, they needed a new trending keyword or a ‘channel’ to rally people.

That day, the Federation’s Star Network was unprecedentedly lively, with two major trending topics about super high-grade mechas appearing in one day. Although the first topic had been thoroughly suppressed, the second one remained unrestricted, drawing everyone in and causing a surge of attention.

The explosion happened when a student from the Central Mecha Academy posted a photo under the trending topic.

[[Photo] I just ran into Teacher Momo sunbathing at the teacher’s dorm entrance. So cool!]

In the photo, Jiang Momo sat alone on a bench in front of the teacher’s dorm, slightly lowering her head, with her shoulder-length hair resting on her shoulders. She supported her forehead with one hand as if lost in thought. The area around her was empty, giving off a slightly lonely vibe.

However, the key point wasn’t the atmosphere but the photo’s timestamp. It was just ten minutes after the media announced her as the creator of the super S-grade mecha. The comments section immediately blew up.

[What? Why? They both work at the Central Mecha Academy, they both made super high-grade mechas, and Jiang Momo’s is even a higher grade. Why arrest only that one?] (Comment removed for violation.)

[So, was the news about her making a super S-grade mecha wrong or is there a problem with the arrest?] (Comment removed for violation.)

[The news is accurate. The military’s official website confirmed it. So why? Is there something wrong with the law? Professor Ge once said in an interview that the lack of top mecha manufacturers is mainly due to the Federation’s excessive protection!] (Comment removed for violation.)

[Excessive protection? That’s putting it mildly. It’s more like monopolizing mecha manufacturing knowledge and suppressing talented manufacturers! I have a friend who joined the research institute out of love for mechas. He passed the A-Grade Mecha Certification Exam before joining, but after two years of bootlicking superiors and doing pointless tasks, he hasn’t even touched an S-grade mecha!] (Comment removed for violation.)

[Forget it, they’ll just delete everything. Let’s protest instead!]

In the teacher’s dormitory basement, Yan Chang and Jiang Momo huddled together, admiring their handiwork.

“My photo skills are impressive, all the key points are there. Truly remarkable,” Yan Chang praised, looking at the artistic vibe of his photo.

Jiang Momo wasn’t focused on the photo. She was busy instructing Little Eight to use heavily encrypted anonymous accounts to fan the flames in the comment section, a faint smile forming on her lips.

This move killed two birds with one stone. One was putting pressure on the Federation’s court to consider public opinion during sentencing and the other was laying the groundwork for the legendary mecha’s debut the next day.

She had figured it out. There was no need for her own fame to be particularly high. What mattered was planting the idea of the Federation’s malicious monopolization of mecha manufacturing and oppression of senior mecha manufacturers into the public consciousness.