The Real Daughter Just Wants to Pilot Mechas - Chapter 150

Jiang Momo was ejected from the livestream but the screen in front of her remained fixed on the trending topics list she had just been browsing. At that moment, the contents of the list had undergone an earth-shattering change.

The first headline was [Alien Beast Invasion on Planet Z2].

The comments underneath were unprecedented in volume. If previous hot topics only represented issues within specific fields, then the alien beast invasion concerned the survival of the entire Federation. Moreover, Planet Z2 was the closest planet to the Capital Star.

Jiang Momo was about to take a closer look when a message appeared on her light brain.

[Federation Military Department: Comrade Jiang Momo, greetings. Due to special circumstances, all confidentiality agreements you previously signed with the military regarding the alien beast invasion are now void. You no longer need to keep any information secret. Thank you for your contributions to the Federation’s confidentiality efforts.]

Upon reading the message, Jiang Momo’s brows furrowed sharply. A jumble of thoughts flashed through her mind.

“Momo, what’s wrong?” Ge Qing looked at her worriedly.

Jiang Momo shook her head. “Nothing.”

She had a strange suspicion but it was so bizarre that she didn’t think it was worth voicing; she suspected the alien beasts weren’t originally supposed to appear on Planet Z2 but had been deliberately led there.

It was like the message she’d just received. The President seemed to be intentionally amplifying the discussion around the alien beast invasion, likely trying to stir public panic to drown out certain controversies. But it would cause new problems, like voiding all confidentiality agreements.

If eyewitnesses started piecing together the alien beast sightings over the years, the trajectory would clearly show them moving closer and closer to the Capital Star. Of course, the officials knew the alien beasts appeared out of nowhere, but would the public believe it once they saw the trajectory themselves? Or would they assume the Federation was once again whitewashing a dire situation that had spiraled out of control?

Seeing that Jiang Momo didn’t want to talk, Ge Qing didn’t press further and instead continued scrolling through the trending list. After a while, he said, “Public sentiment has completely collapsed.”

At that point, no one was talking about anything else. Everyone’s attention was locked on one issue; did the President suddenly publicize the alien beast invasion because the situation was now utterly uncontainable and he wanted them to die knowing the truth? How did the alien beasts bypass all the defenses of the Border Star System and reach the planet right next to the Capital Star?

Based on accounts from survivors, the frequency of the alien beast’s appearances was increasing. Would a full-scale invasion like the one a century ago happen again? Could they still evacuate the entire population to other star systems before the alien beasts attacked?

“It’s getting out of control.” Jiang Momo looked at how quickly the trending keywords were being replaced, her expression dark.

The impact of the revelation might have far surpassed the President’s original intent. Like a mudslide, it buried all other recent hot topics. Not even the military’s freshly issued announcement got any attention.

Yes, the military had issued a statement right after the President ended the livestream. They announced plans to purchase a large number of B-grade mecha at prices above market value and that starting every July, they would jointly recruit B-grade or higher mecha manufacturers and repair technicians with the research institute. The attached image showed the pay and benefits, which looked comparable to those offered by the research institute.

It was obvious that they intended to compete with the research institute using salary differences to break the public’s support for the Congress’ proposal.

***

The President had truly not expected the situation to spiral like so. He paced back and forth in his office, hands behind his back.

“Too rash, far too rash. These ignorant fools panic over anything, they’re impossible to control. Damn, if I’d known, I would’ve gone with another plan. What do we do now? I just sent my secretary to check and rice prices have already shot up. Damn it, don’t just sit there. Think of something!”

E Mingjun sat on the sofa, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and his hands supporting his chin. “I told you not to do it.”

He was reflecting as well on the fact that he had been coming to the Presidential Palace a little too often lately. What started as a mutually beneficial relationship had turned into him becoming the President’s de facto advisor.

E Mingjun’s eyes flicked subtly. He began to consider the possibility of finding a new presidential candidate to cooperate with. Just then, his light brain lit up.

The President, still unaware of E Mingjun’s thoughts, kept ranting, “Wasn’t it all forced by the situation? If they accuse me of interfering in the judiciary and a scandal erupted, I’d be ousted in minutes!”

“Wasn’t it about the Population Purge Plan?” E Mingjun suddenly asked.

The President’s expression froze and then he suddenly laughed. “Of course not. Why would you think that of me? You know me, don’t you? I… fine, that was part of it too.”

He lowered his head in frustration, bracing for E Mingjun’s contemptuous gaze.

“I was young and foolish back then. I really regret it,” the President mumbled, his voice growing quieter and more unconvincing by the second.

“You’re not doing it anymore? Then why are you still protecting the Jiang family?” E Mingjun asked, casually fiddling with the wristband on his light brain.

The President’s head snapped up. “How did you know I was protecting them? That video…”

E Mingjun didn’t answer directly. “I have a way to stabilize public sentiment to some extent.”

“The Jiang family is yours to handle. I won’t interfere anymore,” the President said quickly, plopping down next to E Mingjun. “What’s your plan?”

“I have a friend with a list of people across the Federation who are suitable to pilot mid-to-high-level legendary mecha. Right now, most of the public’s fear comes from their distrust in our military strength. We can have some ‘ordinary’ citizens pilot these mecha and kill the alien beasts to boost public confidence. The best ones could even be temporarily conscripted. That would triple our forces at least,” E Mingjun said, recalling the message Jiang Momo had just sent him.

“But I’ve already done several livestreams. Didn’t that prove how powerful the legendary mechas are? And that combat simulation game has similar mechas too, right?” the President asked, confused.

“Because in the public’s eyes, a game is just a game, while the military livestream might be staged. If it doesn’t come from among the people, they’ll suspect it’s faked or exaggerated,” E Mingjun said. “After all, we have such powerful weapons, yet the alien beasts still ‘reached’ the planet right next to the Capital Star, didn’t they?”

“They didn’t reach it, they literally appeared out of nowhere!” the President said, then paused. “Now that I think about it, based on the timeline, it does seem like they’ve been getting closer to the Capital Star. It’s no wonder the public is suspicious.

“Once this crisis passes, you can have whatever you want. Give me the list,” the President said, reaching out.

“Hold on, it’s not with me right now,” E Mingjun replied as he messaged Jiang Momo.

The President was surprised. “You really do have a friend?”

Usually when someone says they have a ‘friend,’ don’t they mean themselves?

***

As soon as Jiang Momo received E Mingjun’s meeting request, she immediately took a shared air shuttle over.

“Sorry, the list contains personal data, so it can’t be transmitted online. I saved it to a hard drive.”

In the private room of the restaurant, Jiang Momo pushed the door open and suddenly met the President’s stern gaze from the head seat. She immediately halted and cautiously closed the door behind her.

“This girl looks familiar.” The President scrutinized her and dug through his memory. “Jiang Momo, right?”

“Hello, Mr. President.” Jiang Momo greeted him and then looked at E Mingjun in confusion.

“He insisted on meeting you.” E Mingjun came over and out of the President’s sight, mouthed to her, ‘Don’t worry, it’s fine.’

He pulled out a chair and gestured for her to sit, then sat beside her.

“Where did the list come from?” the President leaned back in his chair, tapping a finger on the table leisurely.

Jiang Momo accepted the tea E Mingjun handed her, set it on the table, and looked the President directly in the eye, her tone neither arrogant nor humble, “I’m one of the developers of the combat simulation system. After we added data for the low-level legendary mecha, we found that due to the simulation pod’s protection mechanism, if a user experiences mental stress, the pod will automatically eject them. We tested it and those who can operate for over seven minutes without being affected are fully capable of piloting mid-to-high-level legendary mecha in real combat.”

She had originally planned to report the finding through Lu Feng but after seeing the livestream and asking about the progress, Lu Feng said the report had been submitted up the chain with no results yet. If it was still in processing, then she didn’t know how long it would take. So Jiang Momo changed her approach and went directly to E Mingjun.

“Ordinary developers don’t typically collect user data during system development,” the President said, eyes lowered as he took the hard drive from her.

“But this system’s co-developer is the research institute, which naturally has that privilege,” Jiang Momo replied.

E/N: Have I said the President is dumb? Because he is.