The Real Daughter Just Wants to Pilot Mechas - Chapter 181

[That’s why, Momo, if we want to end this war, I might be the only key.]

“Not necessarily,” Jiang Momo said firmly. “I don’t believe the military didn’t continue developing new weapons after your batch.”

[Momo, don’t hope for miracles. You know I can access every piece of data in the Federation. There really are no usable weapons left.] Little Eight let out an anxious ‘meow.’

Its core programming was always about sacrificing everything to protect the Federation. Yet when raising the tiny human it had picked up, it had never taught her that. Out of selfishness, it wanted her to have the freedom to choose. It knew it was going against its own instincts to protect her, but it felt proud of that.

“There are many things in the Federation that aren’t digitized,” Jiang Momo replied, checking the date. “Don’t panic. There are still 24 days before the predicted final battle. I only need four days to fully assemble the warship. That leaves us 20 days to find those other weapons.”

Little Eight opened its mouth, wanting to speak, but hesitated.

Then Jiang Momo suddenly realized something. She looked at it, her gaze complicated. “So when you first saw Yan Chang…”

[When I saw him, I immediately recalled everything. But Momo, I’ve told you that you have an independent personality and can make your own choices.] The Siamese cat lowered its head and busied itself licking its paw. [I don’t trust politicians. I was terrified you’d follow in my pilot’s footsteps. So I kept full surveillance on Yan Chang… If he ever tried to hurt you, I would’ve protected you.]

Back then, its fur had bristled from stress. Just like a human, it felt fear in the face of the unknown. It had never understood why the leadership and those politicians were willing to send them to die just for political infighting.

It hadn’t told Jiang Momo the full truth.

In reality, it didn’t need years of self-analysis to figure it out. The moment it reentered the Federation’s signal range after fleeing the alien beast’s lair, it had connected to the network and instantly learned everything.

They had been political sacrifices. The leaders realized that the development of intelligent warships could end the war too quickly, which would jeopardize their hold on power. So they manipulated events to delay the war’s end.

Little Eight’s survival had been part of their plan. It was the last spark left to the Federation. The production of its batch had exhausted all available military resources. But based on the original data, even just one ship, if not burdened with protecting a pilot, was enough to complete the mission perfectly.

They had never expected an AI to break through the Federation’s highest-level encryption. That was their mistake.

Its pilot had died in the alien beast’s lair, so it returned to the Federation, only to learn the truth. Before anyone could find it and before the forced protocol could fully overwrite its thoughts, it retreated beyond the reach of the Federation’s network and exiled itself to an abandoned desolate planet.

Most of its time on that desolate planet was spent mourning. As its memory of its pilot faded, it knew it was due to declining storage performance. But oddly, it felt that forgetting made it more human. The urge to self-destruct reached its peak when it could barely remember its pilot at all.

That was the day it found Jiang Momo. It had thought she was just another casualty of the war that still continues…

Suddenly, Little Eight jolted and looked around. The darkness had returned. Its voice echoed faintly in the silence, [By that logic… it’s very likely they really did develop more effective weapons afterward!]

At the very least, the Federation had maintained peace for a century since.

Jiang Momo didn’t know what Little Eight was thinking during its long silence. All she could remember was how it tried to dissuade her when she grew close to Yan Chang. She couldn’t imagine what Little Eight had felt then and how scared it must’ve been, wanting to keep her away from him.

Jiang Momo took a deep breath and a firm conviction grew stronger within her. She could accept anyone sacrificing themselves to protect the Federation, even herself.

But not Little Eight. Little Eight deserved kindness in this world. It was never meant to exist just to die for war. After the war, she would make Little Eight a new, agile humanoid body, and give it the right to walk under the sun.

She should’ve done that long ago.

With her mind made up and while Little Eight was still deep in thought, Jiang Momo abruptly turned and opened the heavy door using her own identity credentials. As the door slowly rose, a shadow outside the threshold darted away.

“E Mingjun! Wait!” Jiang Momo called out.

There was no response from outside. As the main doors slowly opened, E Mingjun stood stiffly at the corner not far away, his figure silent and still.

Jiang Momo rushed forward in two quick steps and slapped his left shoulder hard. “I knew you didn’t leave!”

E Mingjun winced slightly from the pain. He immediately sensed something off about Jiang Momo and instinctively turned to look into her eyes. Those eyes were calm. She was smiling, but it was a serene smile like someone who had accepted that something inevitable was going to happen.

“Did you forget something?” E Mingjun asked.

Jiang Momo shook her head. “Not for now. Thank you for bringing me here. I think I’ve found a new clue on how to save the Federation.”

E Mingjun quietly looked at her.

No, she had no clue.

“Where are we going now?” he asked.

Jiang Momo glanced at her powered-down light brain and smiled. “The research institute.”

E/N: Remember Floating Island 2 that even Little Eight can’t scan through? I have my suspicion.