The Real Daughter Just Wants to Pilot Mechas - Chapter 137

“You got a height enhancement surgery? I thought you were past your growing years?”

Yan Chang felt as if an arrow had hit his knee. He gave a light cough and defended himself, saying, “I’m only a few years older than you.”

Jiang Momo: “?”

“So you really got a surgery?” Jiang Momo circled Yan Chang counterclockwise again. “Did it hurt? I saw those height enhancement surgery ads and they seem pretty brutal.”

The ads claimed that to grow taller, they had to break the leg bones and insert artificial bone segments to let them heal naturally. Just hearing about it sounded painful.

“I didn’t get surgery,” Yan Chang replied.

“Then what did you take? Share some with me, I want to grow taller too.” Jiang Momo took two steps back and gave Yan Chang a full once-over. His body proportions hadn’t changed significantly, which indeed didn’t look like the result of height surgery.

“I didn’t take anything either.” Yan Chang thought for a moment. “You know the day of Lu Feng’s livestream, I separated from you guys, right? After I came out of the simulation pod, my vision felt off. I thought there was something wrong with my eyes, so I went to Yan Yunkui for a checkup and found out I’d grown ten centimeters taller. Over the past week, my height’s been gradually increasing.”

He looked a little embarrassed, as if it was hard to talk about.

Jiang Momo felt something was off and tilted her head slightly. “You didn’t come today just to show off that you grew taller, did you?”

Yan Chang took a deep breath. “You’re sharp. The truth is, after I left your planet, I started feeling sore all over. I thought it was some after-effect of having my mental power drained, so I went to Yan Yunkui for a checkup. Nothing showed up, so I didn’t think much of it.”

Jiang Momo blinked. “So your height change is because…”

“According to Yan Yunkui’s theory, my body was affected by a large amount of unknown special substance in a short period. I measured my mental power level today and it’s gone up too.” Yan Chang looked embarrassed again.

He and Yan Yunkui immediately recalled how Jiang Momo once absorbed the small animals’ energy in reverse at the hospital basement. Yan Chang moved in and stayed there for a week, but the results were negligible.

Jiang Momo understood. “It’s because of that energy core.”

She spoke as a statement, her tone calm, making Yan Chang feel even more awkward. “I know you already gave the mecha to the military. I didn’t even know how to bring it up.”

His body had stopped growing at sixteen and that was six years ago. He’d completely retained that physical state since and his mental power hadn’t developed either. Now, according to Yan Yunkui, only about one-third of his body functions had recovered, but his mental power was already near S-rank. He needed more opportunities to come into contact with the energy core.

Jiang Momo looked troubled, hands in her pockets. Then she paused. This thing…

“There’s no way to get that specific one back, but if we replace it with another, I don’t know if the effect would be the same.”

Her hand was unconsciously rubbing the isolation box in her pocket. It was the strongest energy core she’d swapped out right before the President’s inspection, the one that knocked out all the researchers in one second. Things had been so chaotic during the visit that she hadn’t even realized she’d taken it with her.

“I know it’s asking a lot. If it’s not possible, forget it. Honestly, I’m used to this body already. If I suddenly went back to normal, I might not even be able to adjust.” Yan Chang exhaled softly and smiled.

“It’s not impossible.” Jiang Momo grabbed Yan Chang’s arm with one hand and pushed him toward a corner.

Yan Chang stumbled and looked confused.

“Did Yan Yunkui say there were any specific requirements? Does it have to be exactly the same core?” Jiang Momo asked in a low voice.

Yan Chang shook his head. “Yan Yunkui said even if we got the original one back, the best outcome would be a slight improvement over now.”

He didn’t want to make things hard for her, so he made it sound worse. What Yan Yunkui actually said was that his body would adapt, so even if the energy was delivered at the same intensity as before, it would probably only recover up to about two-thirds of normal.

He tried to sound relaxed, “I mainly came today just to show off. I didn’t expect I’d even have a chance to recover. I’m really grateful to you. If you ever need anything, just let me know.”

“I don’t need help right now.” Jiang Momo gripped his hand a little tighter, making up her mind.

Yan Chang winced and yanked his arm back from her grip. “Ouch! Hey, talk to me properly, there’s no need to torture me.”

“Let’s go.” Jiang Momo walked ahead a few steps. Seeing that Yan Chang hadn’t followed, she turned and urged him on.

***

Hospital basement.

Yan Yunkui had both hands in his lab coat’s pockets, leaning lazily against the operating table as he greeted Jiang Momo, “Long time no see. Are you here for treatment again?”

Jiang Momo turned to Yan Chang. “You didn’t tell him where the substance came from?”

“I wanted to keep it secret, you know? I can’t sell you out.” Yan Chang rubbed his nose.

Watching their interaction, Yan Yunkui suddenly straightened up, leaned in slightly, and looked incredulous. “So the genius who mastered some divine-level tech just by glancing at our family’s heirloom and figured out how to build a legendary mecha was you?”

“Heirloom?” Jiang Momo froze. “What heirloom?”

“I only found out that day when Yan Chang mentioned it,” Yan Yunkui whispered with a grin. “Apparently, our ancestor left behind a treasure set meant only for the head of the family. And supposedly, only the family head’s partner is allowed to see it~”

Like a bolt from the blue.

Jiang Momo suddenly didn’t dare to look at Yan Chang.

“There’s no such rule,” Yan Chang said, glancing at Jiang Momo’s frozen profile to ease the awkwardness. “I even lent one of the books to the Central Mecha Academy before. If you go by that logic, then at least a thousand people have seen it. The Yan family couldn’t possibly hold that many.”

Yan Yunkui muttered under his breath, “Who says we couldn’t? The old mansion is huge.”

“Cut it out. We’re here for business,” Yan Chang said seriously, turning to Jiang Momo. “Yan Yunkui is always like this, he says all kinds of nonsense. Don’t take it to heart.”

Yan Yunkui’s gaze darted back and forth between Yan Chang and Jiang Momo.

It was already the second time Yan Chang had denied their relationship in front of him. But based on his understanding of Yan Chang, he rarely showed such serious concern and respect for someone unless that person had something truly significant in his eyes.

Yan Yunkui suddenly understood. “So you brought that thing with you today? But wasn’t the mecha already handed over?”

“This is the latest research result.” Jiang Momo took the isolation box out of her pocket and solemnly placed it in Yan Yunkui’s hand, then abruptly pressed down on his hand just as he tried to open the lid. “This is the only piece of core I have right now. It’s much stronger than the one Yan Chang used before and it could be life-threatening.”

Yan Yunkui didn’t need to look to know the back of his hand was definitely red. He gritted his teeth and held back a cry of pain. “Got it. I’ll be careful when using it on the family head.”

That slap was definitely on purpose! All he did was crack a little joke! Was that really necessary?!

Jiang Momo had indeed done it on purpose. She released his hand and said, “It needs to be returned before the military notices it’s missing, so hurry. I’ll stay and keep watch.”

***

By the time the military noticed a missing energy core during their inventory check, Yan Chang had already completed treatment and entered a healing sleep. After Jiang Momo and Yan Yunkui confirmed the entire procedure had been completed and he only needed to wake up, she rushed back to the military base to return the energy core.

At that moment, inside the research lab in the First Military District’s base, over twenty high-ranking officials stood at the center of the room alongside Lu Feng, exuding an oppressive atmosphere like a storm on the horizon. Twenty researchers huddled nervously in the corners like quails.

That was the scene Jiang Momo walked into.

“Momo, you came just in time. This round of experimental data doesn’t match the product results. The higher-ups suspect data falsification and are investigating thoroughly,” Lu Feng said immediately upon seeing her.

“Is it because an energy core is missing?” Jiang Momo pulled the isolation box from her pocket. “During the President’s inspection, I did some maintenance on the mecha and accidentally left this in my pocket. My apologies.”

She adopted a sincere, remorseful attitude. “It was my oversight. If you need to fine me or—”

Lu Feng, faster than any of the top brass could react, snatched the isolation box and quickly cut her off, “The contract we signed earlier didn’t include clauses about confidentiality or restrictions on taking experimental products out. That’s our oversight.

“We didn’t anticipate this kind of situation, so we’ll need to draft an additional agreement going forward.” Lu Feng glanced discreetly at the expressions of the higher-ups around them and, braving the pressure, added, “Comrade Jiang Momo, I have to seriously criticize you. Even though you’re not a formal member of the military, and even though the President mentioned that low-level mechas will eventually be made public, you still can’t take experimental products out of the base at will. Do you understand how serious the consequences could be? Write a reflection letter and hand it in tomorrow.”

In just a few lines, he blocked off anything the rest of the leadership might have said.

Jiang Momo would have been a fool not to realize Lu Feng was helping her. She immediately lowered her head. “I’m so sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“Lu Feng, come with us. Everyone else, back to work,” the Marshal said in a low voice. A group of people turned and left the research lab.

As Lu Feng passed by Jiang Momo, he whispered to her, “Don’t worry about the reflection letter. I’ll write it. I’ve got tons of templates.”