The Real Daughter Just Wants to Pilot Mechas - Chapter 161

Public opinion on the StarNet had shifted as if natural in the direction the President had hoped. Although some still questioned the Population Purge Plan, most people’s attention had been successfully diverted to the proposal still being promoted.

In the Presidential Palace, the President looked at the words questioning him, wedged between the condemnation of the proposal’s continuation, and curled his lips in displeasure.

“These unruly citizens aren’t as easy to fool as before.”

“Don’t pay attention to that. You can’t shut everyone up. It’s better to divert than block. If their emotions are channeled elsewhere, then it’s already a success for you.” E Mingjun sat in the corner of the sofa, resting his head on one hand.

“You’re quite the excellent strategist,” the President praised him perfunctorily.

Anyone could see he wasn’t satisfied with the current outcome.

E Mingjun acted like he didn’t notice.

“Jiang Momo also rejected my recruitment. Her vote count’s long since unstoppable. She’s already in first place.” The President sighed. “Can you help me convince her to join us? If not… make her have a little ‘accident,’ something that would fail her political vetting.”

Hearing the President’s matter-of-fact suggestion, E Mingjun couldn’t suppress his anger. His brows knit briefly and then he quickly adjusted, responding naturally, “I’ll try to persuade her. But I don’t know where she is right now.”

The President caught the fleeting expression on E Mingjun’s face, as if he had discovered something. He suddenly asked, “Say… if I completely sever ties with the Jiang family, would public opinion quiet down? I recently saw some news about your friend Jiang Momo and the Jiang family.”

E Mingjun understood the hidden message. On one hand, there was a hint of veiled threat. On the other, the President was asking if he gave up on the Jiang family, would E Mingjun really help him? And… was the unsatisfying outcome this time because he suspected E Mingjun was protecting Jiang Momo?

“Most likely not. Besides, Jiang Momo and I aren’t that close.” E Mingjun looked the President straight in the eye and said calmly, “The current problem is that we don’t have evidence proving you didn’t do it.”

The President realized that E Mingjun hadn’t actually helped him this time, but couldn’t figure out why. “What do you need?”

E Mingjun replied, “I need some standard civilian identities.”

The President’s face darkened. “What are you planning?”

E Mingjun: “To find ‘evidence.’”

The President stared at him for a while, unable to read any emotion from E Mingjun’s face. Suddenly, a thought came to mind. It seemed the balance of power between them was beginning to shift.

Because E Mingjun had unclear origins, impure power, obvious weaknesses, and no soft spots, the President had entrusted him with certain matters. E Mingjun had always executed them perfectly.
Before the recent explosion in public opinion, they were still partners, but the President had clearly held the upper hand. He could summon E Mingjun at will. But now, it struck him that he had become too reliant on E Mingjun for certain matters recently, almost as if E Mingjun had him in his grasp.

Countless thoughts flashed through the President’s mind and finally, he forced a warm smile. “Of course. How many do you need?”

“Three thousand,” E Mingjun said directly.

The President was shocked. “How many people are you trying to bring in?! I can only give you eight hundred for now.”

E Mingjun nodded easily. “Fine.”

The President: “……”

He agreed too fast. I think I said too much.

“Then let’s leave it at that. It’ll take some time. I’ll contact you when it’s ready.” The President waved, looking a bit tired.

“How long will it take?” E Mingjun didn’t leave.

“Two days,” the President replied.

“See you in two days.” E Mingjun left.

After confirming that E Mingjun’s figure had disappeared, the President dialed a number.

“Find a batch of civilian identities with problematic records. Ones that’ll be arrested the moment they show their faces.”

“Are you planning to plant undercover agents in the Chaos Star System?!” the person on the other end blurted, then immediately quieted, “Sorry, I got too excited. I shouldn’t be asking about this.”

“I’m not asking for people. I’m asking for identities that can be given to others. Keep your mouth shut,” the President warned.

“Understood. I’ll get it done immediately.”

***

E Mingjun climbed out a window and contacted the Third Vice-Captain.

“Third, find some brothers who have taken lives before and send them to me.”

E Mingjun scaled the wall out of the Presidential Palace in a surveillance blind zone. He looked once toward the president’s office from beyond the wall and then turned off his light brain.

The President might sometimes seem foolish but his core nature was strong-willed, suspicious, and prideful. Given the President’s behavior today, he wouldn’t cut ties directly, but it would be easy for the President to punish him by slipping in some criminal identities and causing E Mingjun to lose people.

Perfect. During the recent campaign against the interstellar pirates, he hadn’t had a chance to eliminate the most vicious ones. Now was a good opportunity to clean them out.

After that, he could use it as a reason to cut off cooperation with the President or plan something else, depending on the timing.

***

After watching the President’s livestream, Jiang Momo didn’t pay much attention to the follow-up developments. While netizens were clamoring to terminate the proposal, she was engrossed in reading the new edition of the mecha manufacturing textbook sent by the academy.

Why? Because the textbook, compiled by the Central Mecha Academy, had given her a whole chapter to herself.

Even though most of it was about legendary mechas, the text frequently slipped in subtle praises of her role as a Central Mecha Academy’s instructor.

Jiang Momo highlighted all the exquisite lines and had Little Eight scan and save them, then happily went back to studying every word and phrase.

“‘Light of the Federation,’ ‘jewel of the mecha manufacturing world,’ ‘worthy of having a mecha manufacturer ranking named after her’… how can they word things so well?” Jiang Momo cupped her face, her smile wide and gleaming.

Little Eight was equally proud, holding its head high. But its tail suddenly paused and its voice turned somber. [Momo, the President changed the textbook.]

Still basking in joy, Jiang Momo didn’t react right away. “I already refused to work with him and he still praised me like that. That’s actually pretty generous of him.”

[No, I mean he just changed it.]

Jiang Momo sat up with a jolt. “What happened?”

A familiar delivery access request was pinged. Three seconds after she accepted, a drone-delivered package dropped into her lap.

Another textbook.

Jiang Momo took a deep breath and opened the table of contents.

As expected, it had changed. The original chapter titled [Legendary Mecha Replicator] had been renamed [Legendary Mecha Research Team] and the content had been slashed from 30 pages to just two and a half.

Jiang Momo carefully combed through the two and a half pages. After confirming that her name didn’t appear once, she slammed the book down in frustration.

“He’s way too petty!” Jiang Momo fumed. Then a thought struck her. “Could he be trying to subtly erase my name and reputation over time, then pull some trick and substitute someone else in my place?”

[Very likely,] replied Little Eight who had just intercepted the full conversation between E Mingjun and the President, feeling very conflicted.

“I’d better not go out for a while,” Jiang Momo said, crossing her legs and sitting down.