The Real Daughter Just Wants to Pilot Mechas - Chapter 133

Jiang Momo and Tang You exchanged a glance. Seeing that the others were still discussing things and seemingly hadn’t noticed what just happened, Jiang Momo quickly walked to him and they moved to a corner.

During the few seconds it took to walk there, Jiang Momo mentally prepared for several possibilities, like the researchers being forced under some perverse system to remember only their ID numbers and not dare respond to their actual names…

However, the truth was not quite what Jiang Momo had imagined.

“Li Yu’s video call time is up this round. Next time—”

“Please, let there not be a next time,” whispered Tang You as he stretched out his hand and tugged at Jiang Momo’s sleeve.

Jiang Momo stepped back slightly and drew her sleeve from his grip. “Why?”

“Leader, those videos are monitored. He definitely didn’t request it just to see me.” Tang You suddenly looked up as he spoke.

Under his shoulder-length hair, Tang You’s blue eyes were as clear as the sea. They were so transparent, it was hard to imagine he was anything but upright.

Jiang Momo blinked. “I thought you two got along. Li Yu said you’re his cousin.”

“I’m in this situation because of him, so there’s no way he used his favor just to see me,” Tang You said. “He’s likely trying to use your influence for his own gain or has other motives. You need to be careful.”

“Thanks for the warning.” Jiang Momo took another half-step back. “So what exactly did he do? Can you tell me?”

“I entered the research institute later than him, but because of my family background, I didn’t feel much pressure. Later, I found a group of people bullying my roommate. I recorded a video and rushed over, but I found my roommate already dead.

“The research institute told his family and us that it was a sudden death due to physical causes. They paid some compensation and that was it,” Tang You said. Ever since being backstabbed, he had rarely talked about this, but strangely, when he looked at Jiang Momo, he didn’t feel wary. He even thought she might be a good person.

Jiang Momo pondered briefly. “Was Li Yu among that group?”

Tang You was startled by her sharpness. “Yes, I only saw him after I rushed in. He was hiding in a corner.”

“So you reported them and he tried to silence you?” Jiang Momo pieced it together from what Tang You had said about ending up in his current situation because of Li Yu.

Tang You shook his head. “My roommate’s family was poor. The compensation was a huge sum for them and helped them through a crisis.”

That ambiguous statement made Jiang Momo frown.

“When his family came to take his body, I secretly copied the video onto a portable hard drive I had smuggled in and gave it to them,” Tang You sighed. “We couldn’t access the internet at the research institute, but I thought if the video made it out, it might get my roommate some justice.”

Seeing he wasn’t planning to continue, Jiang Momo pressed, “Then they handed the video to the research institute?”

“Li Yu saw me talking with the family and immediately applied for leave to follow them,” Tang You said with a deep breath. “Later, the light brain I had smuggled in was taken and destroyed by Li Yu. The research institute then violated the rules and failed me in an evaluation unfairly, and then from there, things went downhill.”

Jiang Momo thought for a moment. “Got it. There won’t be any more video calls. You can get back to work.”

She felt something didn’t quite add up in all this, so she’d need to observe a bit longer before drawing conclusions.

Tang You looked like he wanted to say more but ended up leaving in a hurry.

***

The following week, as expected, the protests and sit-ins on the streets gradually died down. Most people returned to their normal routines. Outside of Central Mecha Academy, where there was still some discussion about the Shi Qin incident, the topic rarely came up anymore.

Midweek, Jiang Yingying came to see her once, reluctantly delivering a lunch allegedly made by Jiang Xian herself. She said nothing and left right after.

Jiang Momo stared at the lunch, emotions mixed, and eventually tossed it, container and all, into a nearby trash bin before walking away.

But what surprised Jiang Momo most were the researchers. Although she had already set work hours for them, every time she came by, they were all at their posts, working tirelessly. The research lab was piled with failed materials and their faces were shadowed with dark circles. Yet no one rested. Jiang Momo even started to question whether her own usual work ethic was too slack in comparison.

However, after confirming they were working voluntarily, she didn’t enforce a new schedule. After all, they were willing, and the Federation truly didn’t have much time. Once the energy core was produced, they could begin mass-producing legendary mechas. Making B-grade mechas was nearly as simple as breathing for regular manufacturers, massively improving efficiency.

The high productivity continued until the day Jiang Momo walked into the research lab and found a researcher collapsed on the ground.

It was Friday. Jiang Momo was doing her usual inspection. After several days of testing, they determined that the failure was due to a missing key material, so she requested another batch from Lu Feng to continue.

But as soon as she arrived, she saw through a gap in a mountain of material crates a white lab coat lying on the floor, completely unnoticed by the other researchers still engrossed in their experiments.

“What’s going on?” Jiang Momo rushed over and lifted the collapsed person. It was Tang You. She quickly checked for breath under his nose and was relieved to find it steady.

Only then did the others realize she was there and gathered around.

“How long has he been unconscious?” Jiang Momo looked up and asked.

Everyone looked dazed, their eyes unfocused. “No idea.”

“Stop working. Everyone, go rest,” Jiang Momo ordered.

No one moved. Finally, just as she was about to leave, someone said, “Leader, we want to keep researching.”

Jiang Momo, supporting the unconscious Tang You on her shoulder, sharply turned back at those words. “Do you have a death wish?! This time it was just a fainting spell. What if someone actually dies next time? Weren’t you all eager to take leave and go home?”

Of course, Jiang Momo knew what they were working so hard for, that was why she had made those promises in the first place. But she hadn’t expected them to go so far!

She ordered Black Tiger and Scarface to escort everyone out to rest, then left to coordinate with Lu Feng to transfer Tang You to the military’s Medical Center.

After a round of tests, the medic handed her a report and said, “Long-term lack of rest. Cerebral hypoperfusion. He fell asleep after fainting. One injection will fix it.” |8|

“Thanks.” Jiang Momo saw the medic take out the syringe and medication, then turned to leave, but was stopped.

“Wait. Since he’s unconscious, I need to inform you something. This recovery serum is made from alien beast extracts. If that’s a concern, we can use a different one, but it comes with greater side effects,” the medic said.

Seeing Jiang Momo silent, he thought she shared the usual aversion to such sources and tried to reassure her, “Our military treatments are a bit more rough and direct, but we can’t just dismiss all the value of alien beasts just because they are enemies. Plenty of current technologies are modeled on their traits, like our spatial tech, right?”

“Right, alien beast extracts. Why didn’t I think of that?!”

Jiang Momo suddenly clapped both hands and silently spoke to Little Eight, “Little Eight, I remember there was an alien beast on the desolate planet that absorbed human energy, right? I even suffered a big loss from one like it before!”