The Real Daughter Just Wants to Pilot Mechas - Chapter 178

n the way back, Vice Director Liu sat beside Jiang Momo, hesitating to speak. She was far too curious, how had Jiang Momo managed to pull all of that off?

Jiang Momo noticed her gaze but didn’t respond. At the moment, she was focused on the real-time data just sent from the military by the President.

[The situation is dire. The number of alien beasts is increasing exponentially,] said Little Eight gravely, digging up an old data set from a corner of its storage. [At this rate, the alien beast population will soon surpass mid-war levels from the Alien Beast War a century ago.]

The Federation was at risk of collapse.

“How soon is ‘soon’?” Jiang Momo asked, her head lowered, elbows resting on her knees, hands clasped over her lips.

[Less than a month,] Little Eight replied, having detected the real-time changes in her vitals. It knew Jiang Momo truly cared. After a pause, it added, [If only my original warship were usable…]

“No!” Jiang Momo didn’t even hesitate, she rejected the idea instinctively.

[But you’re anxious,] Little Eight pressed.

It knew Jiang Momo too well. She was unsettled because, in the critical moment of life or death for the Federation, she possessed something potentially decisive but refused to hand it over.

“I still won’t allow it,” Jiang Momo said through clenched teeth.

She still remembered when she first arrived on the Capital Star, Little Eight had noticed there were no AI with self-awareness anymore and had warned her that if anyone discovered she had Little Eight, she might lose it forever. She couldn’t let that happen.

Little Eight paused and then offered carefully, [I could erase all residual data from the spaceship. No one would be able to trace me.]

“Really?” Jiang Momo asked.

[Really,] Little Eight confirmed.

Of course it was a lie. It was a core component of the warship. Without its foundational programs, the ship wouldn’t function. And those programs could always be traced back to it.

“Liar,” Jiang Momo said, seeing through the deception. “You once told me to remember that my original goal was just to live a stable, peaceful life. Little Eight… without you, I’d just be surviving, not really living.”

[Even so, you have to survive first. When the nest falls, no egg is safe,] Little Eight replied firmly for once, completely opposed to her stance. [I’m a warship’s combat assistance system. If a sacrifice must be made, let it be me.]

Jiang Momo abruptly cut off power to her light brain. The holographic screen disappeared, along with the furious Siamese cat avatar.

She cradled her forehead in her hands, whispering to herself for comfort, “Little Eight is just reacting to the severity of the war conditions, so it’s triggering its emergency override protocols. Things haven’t gotten that bad yet. We still have a month.”

That was what Little Eight had always said. It had told her many times that as long as it wasn’t insisting she stand down, the situation wasn’t truly at the point of collapse. When it did get that bad, its built-in program would take over and force it to make the most strategically advantageous decision, even if that meant justifying its own actions by overriding its emotional logic.

“You head back to the research institute. I’ve got something else to take care of,” Jiang Momo told Vice Director Liu who had been sneaking glances at her the whole time.

“Ah, yes, okay!” Vice Director Liu quickly agreed.

After dropping Vice Director Liu off at the research institute, Jiang Momo piloted a shared air shuttle to find Yan Chang. But as she entered the courtyard of the Yan family’s ancestral residence, she saw a very familiar spaceship, the one Little Eight brought out from the Jiang family. It also had a cloned version of Little Eight’s system inside!

Before the shared air shuttle even touched down, Jiang Momo leaped out and charged forward, yanking the spaceship door open. The two people inside jumped and immediately turned to face her.

“Hey, hey, Master!” Yan Chang grinned the moment he saw Jiang Momo and dropped all tension, lifting a hand to wave at her. His face was full of cheer. “You really kept this hidden well! We’ve known each other so long and I had no idea you were hiding such a big weapon! Are you really willing to hand it over? That’s the spirit!”

Jiang Momo ignored him. She locked the exoskeleton on her wrist in place, boots heavy as she strode forward. She needed to see exactly who was standing just beyond her field of vision, leaving only a shadow visible.

Even if it was the President, if they were threatening Little Eight, then she was ready to take action, no matter how extreme.

Completely unaware he was in her blind spot, E Mingjun was waving enthusiastically at her. He was just wondering why she wasn’t responding when she got close and threw a punch.

E Mingjun ducked fast. Her fist grazed his scalp. “Momo!”

Jiang Momo’s punch dented the spaceship’s inner wall. The moment she heard his familiar voice, she quickly pulled back and breathed a sigh of relief, then helped him up. “Oh, it’s you.” Then she turned to Yan Chang. “How long has this spaceship been here?”

“Three minutes before you.” Yan Chang checked the time. “It said it’s a weapon capable of dealing with spatial-type alien beasts, ready for immediate deployment.”

Jiang Momo’s lips tightened. “Absolutely not.”

Seeing how awful her expression looked, Yan Chang shot a glance at E Mingjun, completely at a loss. “Right, yeah, if I had something like this, I’d probably regret offering it up too. I was about to try and talk you out of it…”

[No. Listen to me. The Federation doesn’t have this technology anymore,] came the mechanical voice.

Yan Chang froze mid-motion. He glanced at Jiang Momo’s darkened face, then at the spaceship’s glowing control console. A few scattered and obscure bits of technical knowledge sparked in his mind. Carefully, he asked, “Does… does it have self-awareness?”

“Yes.” Jiang Momo nodded.

Yan Chang’s mind quickly recalled the data he had once read. “No wonder, it all makes sense now. So from the beginning, the one with you on the desolate planet wasn’t some native inhabitant, but this AI?”

They had once speculated that Jiang Momo might have been raised by descendants of humans stranded on the desolate planet during the Alien Beast War. But later investigation found no human remains and the traces of human activity were only from the past decade or so.

“Yes.” Jiang Momo nodded again.

Yan Chang looked toward E Mingjun who was standing at the spaceship’s console. E Mingjun nodded and directly cut off the power supply.

“We were just out for a meal today. We didn’t see anything else.” Yan Chang exchanged a look with E Mingjun.

E Mingjun walked over and placed one hand on Jiang Momo’s shoulder. “There must be another way. You don’t have to sacrifice your family. You’ve already done more than enough for the Federation.”