The Real Daughter Just Wants to Pilot Mechas - Chapter 164

The Third Vice-Captain scratched his head, face full of confusion. While keeping an eye on the mission progress in front of him, he fumbled through an explanation, “Wasn’t there an official popup just now? It was a live broadcast of Madam taking office as the new director of the research institute. Then somehow, the people sent to pick her up suddenly attacked her and she fought back…”

“And the result of that fight?” E Mingjun reopened the recent backend records on his light brain to confirm he hadn’t received any stream notifications. He frowned.

“Not sure if anyone got killed,” the Third Vice-Captain said cautiously, choosing his words carefully.

E Mingjun: “?”

He glanced at the Third Vice-Captain’s clueless expression and, seeing no trace of real anxiety, quickly realized who the ‘got killed’ referred to. He let out a long breath, ruffled the vice-captain’s hair, and said, “Be clearer next time when you talk.”

The Third Vice-Captain stumbled, clutching his head with a face full of question marks.

How was that not clear?! That was totally clear!

He shook his head and said, “Captain, I’ve pulled all the target data. Should I push it now?”

“Do it,” E Mingjun replied.

***

Aboard the air shuttle, Jiang Momo sat calmly in the center of the sofa, leisurely wiping the blood from between her fingers with a tissue. Not far from her, a pile of bodies lay slumped and barely breathing, all unconscious.

She had paused the live stream herself during the fight. Jiang Momo believed showing such graphic scenes to the public might stir up negative emotions and put her in a bad position, so midway through the combat, she had Little Eight shut down the stream.

[So what are you planning to do with them now?]

Little Eight popped up, looking at the heap of barely alive attackers. With the Federation’s current level of medical technology, timely treatment might just save them. Once again, it regretted not having a physical body.

It understood Jiang Momo’s perspective. The attackers were merely tools the President used to assassinate her. The true culprit was the President himself.

Still, Little Eight firmly believed in eliminating threats at the root. If it could operate weapons, the would-be assassins wouldn’t live to see the next sunrise.

“I’m heading to the research institute. These guys can go report to the President’s front gate,” Jiang Momo said nonchalantly. “The live stream just ended, so there should be protestors camped outside the Presidential Palace right about now.”

[You’re going to let the protestors question them until they expose the President as the mastermind?]

Little Eight understood. Although it still didn’t fully agree, it said nothing. It always supported Jiang Momo’s decisions unconditionally.

Jiang Momo nodded slightly after a moment of thought and turned to the cockpit to manually adjust the destination coordinates.

***

When Jiang Momo arrived at the entrance of the research institute, she was met with a full welcoming party.

Leading the group were two vice directors. As they stepped forward to greet her, their expressions were a bit complicated.

Due to recent events, the research institute had undergone a major internal purge. The two vice directors were newly promoted and still unfamiliar with their roles. As they led Jiang Momo inside and explained the institute’s functions, their tone was awkward and rehearsed, like they’d stayed up memorizing a script.

“Our research institute is divided into several departments, with various specialized sub-units. The Military Research Department is dedicated to developing and maintaining mecha for the military, you’ve probably encountered them before. There’s been a lot of controversy in the news recently.

“With the spread of legendary mecha, their role has diminished significantly. We’ve discussed the possibility of merging them directly into the military. What do you think, Director?” Vice Director Liu asked politely, dressed in a pristine white research uniform. A strand of hair fell as she bowed slightly, which she quickly tucked behind her ear.

“If we transfer that department out, how much work remains under our purview?” Jiang Momo asked directly.

The two vice directors exchanged a glance, unsure of her stance.

Vice Director Liu responded quickly, “Our institute handles all research and development for the Federation, both online and offline, virtual and physical. Most people don’t realize it, but nearly everything in the Federation originates from our research institute.”

Before Jiang Momo arrived, the two vice directors had quickly decided that Vice Director Liu, being the same gender, would do most of the talking, with Vice Director Zhang chiming in as needed. They still didn’t know Jiang Momo’s temperament, especially after the earlier incident.

“Including the StarNet?” Jiang Momo asked, turning to her.

“Including the StarNet,” Vice Director Liu confirmed.

Just then, Vice Director Liu’s light brain flickered. Her gaze froze and her expression stiffened.

“What is it?” Jiang Momo asked.

Vice Director Liu hesitated. “The President’s office contacted us, requesting an immediate audit of the StarNet firewall.”

Under normal circumstances, she could’ve handled it herself as the vice director, but since Jiang Momo asked, she answered honestly.

Jiang Momo inwardly thought, ‘Just as expected,’ although her tone remained even. “Something wrong with the firewall?”

It must’ve been the live stream Little Eight launched that caught the President’s attention.

Vice Director Liu thought for a moment and then said plainly, “Some internal data was cracked and leaked, causing a massive public uproar.”

“Hm?” That wasn’t what Jiang Momo had expected. She opened the trending list on her light brain, but strangely, the top searches were still the same as a few days ago with [Population Purge Plan] at number one and [Port Attack] just below.

“What uproar? It’s not on the trending list? Was it suppressed?”

They had arrived at the office area. Vice Director Liu glanced around and gestured for the others to leave, then ushered Jiang Momo into the director’s office. She lowered her voice. “During the port attack, the news revealed part of the attackers’ identities for the sake of transparency,” Vice Director Liu said.

“I saw that.” Jiang Momo nodded.

“Yes, but just now, a new narrative surfaced online. A dataset from the citizen info system shows that the ‘fugitives’ who were killed didn’t match the photos associated with their IDs. Meaning, they weren’t using their own light brains.

“There’s an online theory claiming this is all part of the Population Purge Plan where regular citizens who opposed the President were given fugitive identities and ‘righteously eliminated.’ Meanwhile, the real fugitives snuck onto the Capital Star and targeted the nation’s key figures,” Vice Director Liu said with a click of her tongue. “People are too easily brainwashed. The holes in this story are obvious, but no one cares.”

“What holes?” Jiang Momo asked.

“There’s no evidence proving those individuals were unaware of their false identities. But if we had footage of them immediately denying their ID info or hesitating to resist before being killed, that could create a solid chain of evidence,” Vice Director Liu explained.

Jiang Momo nodded. “Got it.”

E/N: Any idea why Momo and E Mingjun didn’t get the push notifications?