The Real Daughter Just Wants to Pilot Mechas - Chapter 176

Ling Yelin looked up. “Output-based pay? The research institute is planning to sign contract workers?”

He had naturally assumed the talents trained by Jiang Momo would serve the research institute. After all, politics dictated priorities and she was the current director. If not for profit, who would bother training every registered mecha manufacturer? He knew he wouldn’t.

Jiang Momo shook her head. “It has nothing to do with the research institute. They belong to independent research teams, directly hired by the military.”

Ling Yelin didn’t understand. “Why?”

“The current research institute’s system doesn’t really support mecha manufacturers’ growth. At first, I thought centralizing everyone under me would make management easier. But after studying the structure for a few days, I realized overhauling it would be too complex. We’re out of time. The research institute’s detection data is showing more and more alien beast activity every day…”

“Yes, the situation’s getting dire,” Yan Chang interjected. “Because of the alien beasts, both the military and research institute upper management are drowning in work.” Then, sensing something odd, he turned to Jiang Momo and asked, “So when exactly do you have time to do all this?”

“I haven’t done that much. Plus, I only work during the day. I’ve got my evenings free,” Jiang Momo replied with a straight face.

“How many hours do you sleep a day?” Yan Chang pressed.

Jiang Momo rubbed her nose. Her mind flashed back to that time when Yan Chang had shadowed her to make sure she slept and she muttered, a bit guilty, “Not much.”

The new president glanced at her face, his eyes briefly became sharp, and then smiled. “I saw one of your interviews. You mentioned undergoing physical modification to allow your left and right brain hemispheres to rest alternately.”

“Oh, I was joking back then,” Jiang Momo answered calmly, although alarms blared in her mind. “That reporter was annoying.”

When she’d just arrived on the Capital Star, she hadn’t known the Federation had long since abandoned that kind of technology.

Considering how Vice Director Liu had recently asked her about weapons from the Alien Beast War era, whether the President’s remark was deliberate or not, Jiang Momo had mentally moved him out of the ‘trusted allies’ category.

Yan Chang gave the President a sidelong look, his fingers lightly tapping the rim of his teacup.

E Mingjun subtly slid his stool forward half a step to block the faint suspicion in Jiang Momo’s expression from view.

Wu Yue, sensing the tension, quickly changed the subject, “So that was a joke, huh? I was just thinking how great it’d be if that kind of technology existed. We’d get so much more done.”

“That kind of technology’s never existed,” Ling Yelin said, reaching out to pull Wu Yue, who had leaned forward, back into position. “Even if someone invented it, it’d take years to put into use. Don’t get your hopes up.”

“Haha, I’ve been buried in official duties lately and constantly feel short on time. I was even considering getting the modification myself if it were real. What a shame it’s just a joke,” the President said, rubbing the back of his head with a grin. “Back when you became a star teacher, I followed your rise closely. I watched your lectures and interviews over and over…”

Mid-sentence, his gaze fell on Yan Chang, sitting beside Jiang Momo with a stern face, and he immediately shut up.

At that moment, Jiang Momo and Little Eight were rapidly reviewing all her old recordings to check for any inconsistencies. The sudden silence made her lift her head and peer around E Mingjun’s shoulder.

Yan Chang said, “Don’t you have a meeting soon?”

The President froze for a second and then quickly responded, “Yes, I have a meeting. I’ll take my leave.”

[The President doesn’t have a meeting,]Little Eight popped up and informed Jiang Momo.

Jiang Momo nodded subtly and replied in silence behind E Mingjun’s back, “Got it.” Then she looked up and turned toward Yan Chang.

He looked at her, puzzled. “What?”

“Nothing.” Jiang Momo looked away.

***

After that, the alien beast invasion escalated rapidly. One standout feature was the massive increase in population movement toward the Capital Star.

For unknown reasons, the alien beasts were appearing out of thin air in patterned bursts within the same time periods. So whenever a major planet in the Central Star System was hit with large-scale alien beast attacks, the military would evacuate civilians to other, safer planets. The Capital Star, by default, was the last resort for relocation.

Therefore, when the Central Plaza of the Capital Star was filled with refugees, the entire Federation quickly realized that a new alien beast war was likely about to erupt on a massive scale.

“It’s just so strange. The alien beasts suddenly increased in number all at once. Based on previous scans, there’s no way there should be so many,” the President spoke anxiously to Jiang Momo.

Jiang Momo looked toward Vice Director Liu. “Is there something wrong with our data?”

Earlier, she had provided the performance data of the legendary mecha for war forecasts. The results were optimistic. Even though the number of detected alien beasts had been rapidly increasing recently, it was still within controllable limits. That’s the data they had disclosed to the public. And now they’re saying the scan data was wrong?

Vice Director Liu wiped her sweat. “This scanner is an old relic from the Alien Beast War a hundred years ago. Its functional data can’t be updated. With the sheer number of alien beasts recently, it’s probably already hit its detection limit.”

“How do we deal with this issue?” the new president asked her.

Vice Director Liu hesitated. “…There’s no way to deal with it.”

E/N: Will this new president become another problem??