The Real Daughter Just Wants to Pilot Mechas - Chapter 187

“Pull the camera back and get the full body shot,” Lu Feng ordered decisively.

The director, as if rescued from artistic torment, rushed to comply.

Jiang Momo finished her final system check on the mecha’s neural pathway and looked up, catching sight of the camera no longer shoved into her face. She turned her head toward the three people gathered below. The mecha mirrored her motion, turning its head as well.

Vice Director Liu quickly waved. “Don’t worry, Director, everything’s ready.”

Jiang Momo nodded and then launched forward into the raging battle.

“So cool,” Vice Director Liu said with eyes full of admiration. Then she tilted her head slightly and spoke into her comm, voice low and firm, “Prepare to guide public sentiment.”

The director fumbled with his equipment. “She moved too fast, the tracking cam can’t keep up!”

“Which device controls the camera?” Lu Feng stood nearby, voice casual.

The director looked up, confused. “Huh?”

Standing behind him, Lu Feng adjusted the director’s head position with both hands and whispered in his ear, “Pull back the camera that can’t keep up and point it over there.”

Beyond the crowd, the President was clinking glasses with military top brass.

The camera silently drifted over.

At that moment, all the skeptical comments about Jiang Momo faking it vanished from the live feed.

[First, it was the interstellar pirates, now Jiang Momo? Enough with the theatrics already. Trying to send us commoners to our deaths? Why doesn’t the President go fight himself—wait, what???]

[The President’s there? I thought he ran?!]

[No way the President didn’t run. Then what the hell did I just spend my life savings on, buying a ticket from the black market for a spaceship supposedly taking the same route as him?! The seller just messaged me saying he already left and I should pack!]

[Wow. So that’s why I could afford a ticket like that. Total scam.]

[Spaceship tickets? What are you people talking about? So you already planned to escape while we stayed behind to rot?!]

[No wonder! I always wondered why StarNet was suddenly full of people telling us to not enlist because the law won’t punish us all. Turns out it was a cover. You rich bastards didn’t want us to notice the missing names. You really thought we wouldn’t figure things out and sabotage your escape? Well, you guessed right. You bloodsucking elites!]

The director stood stunned, mind clearly short-circuited by the flood of information. He muttered blankly, “The tickets were fake? That can’t be… that was all my money…”

Lu Feng lifted his head and exchanged a glance with Vice Director Liu.

“Mission perfectly accomplished,” Vice Director Liu mouthed silently to Lu Feng.

At the same moment, the President, in mid-toast, suddenly felt a chill on the back of his head. Instinctively, he reached up to touch it, only to turn and find a hovering camera staring right at him.

“…”

He gave a friendly wave to the lens and then turned back around, signaling someone to move the camera away, fast.

***

By the time Jiang Momo returned from battle, the President was gone.

She took one look at Vice Director Liu who was flushed with excitement and the director collapsed in a chair looking like all life had drained from him. Instantly, she knew that right now, there must be a storm raging on the Star Network.

“Where’s the President?” Jiang Momo jumped down from the mecha and asked Lu Feng. Then she opened the light brain gifted to her by Yan Chang. Countless news notifications flooded her screen. She skimmed none of them and sent a quick message instead.

[Jiang Momo]: The plan went perfectly.

Jiang Momo had reached out to Yan Chang the moment she heard the President talking about escaping the star systems early. After hearing Yan Chang’s detailed explanation, everything about the strange current situation clicked into place.

The upper echelon, after relocating to external star systems, still wanted to maintain their elite status. But some work still had to be done. So they handed out limited migration slots to the middle ranks. And the middle ranks, not wanting to be cannon fodder either, roped in some of the lower class; those who’d take little luggage and free up space for more bodies on the escape ships.

As for how public opinion turned against military enlistment, it started when the military accidentally included the names of the elites in the conscription list. Since they didn’t think the Federation had much chance of winning and because they were used to living in luxury, they refused to become mere infantry grunts.

Their escape was imminent, but if the common folk found out some names were missing from the conscription list, suspicion would arise, possibly even protests. It could ruin everything.

Lu Feng didn’t really know where the President had gone. He looked uncertain. “I’m not sure. Maybe he’s resting?”

Vice Director Liu leaned in with a triumphant grin. “Director, I saw him. He headed toward the ship hangar…”

Jiang Momo’s expression froze. She immediately broke into a run, asking, “When did he leave?”

“He just left not long ago!” Vice Director Liu called out to Jiang Momo’s retreating figure.

At that moment, Qin Chu, who had been waiting nearby for a while, approached her, looking slightly awkward. “Teacher Momo.”

“Sorry, we’ll talk later, I have something urgent,” Jiang Momo said without slowing down, dashing off in the direction Vice Director Liu had pointed. However, even though she sprinted the whole way, she was still one step too late.

The President had already launched the spaceship, the one carrying Little Eight.

“A self-aware AI… must be a relic from the Alien Beast War era, right?” The President heard her footsteps and turned around with a mocking smile. “Jiang Momo, I always thought you genuinely cared about the Federation, just like you act.”

He’d changed his mind. Wandering off to another star system wasn’t nearly as good as becoming a savior in their current star system. If Jiang Momo possessed something that could turn the tide of war, then as long as she handed it over, he’d reluctantly share some glory with her before victory. And if things didn’t work out, he still had his escape plan.

The President trusted his silver tongue. He’d managed to convince even the difficult Yan Chang, so why not Jiang Momo?

“What nonsense are you spouting?” Jiang Momo strode forward quickly.

“Whether it’s nonsense or not, you—”

The President’s sentence cut off abruptly.

Lu Feng had followed behind Jiang Momo, arriving just in time to witness her strike the President unconscious with a single blow and forcibly remove the light brain from his wrist. At that moment, the spaceship’s system was shut down again.

Lu Feng immediately turned and walked back. “Huh, strange. I could’ve sworn I saw her running this way… Maybe we should go look over there.”

Jiang Momo waited until Lu Feng and the panting Vice Director Liu left before continuing to fiddle with the President’s light brain.

“Don’t bother. He didn’t get the chance to record anything.” Yan Chang stepped out from behind a seat.

Jiang Momo turned to look at him. His flaming red hair was just as she remembered. “You were here the whole time?” she asked, frowning. She hadn’t sensed another person in that space at all.

“I was waiting here for you,” Yan Chang replied. Seeing her puzzled expression, he added, “I figured you wouldn’t be able to let this go and would come back after the battle. I saw the President sneaking around and breaking in, so I followed him.”

Jiang Momo stayed silent, still gripping the light brain in her hand.

“I didn’t record anything either.” Yan Chang raised both hands. “If you don’t believe me, you can check my light brain.”

Jiang Momo held out her palm, upward.

“Being cautious is smart. In critical moments, you shouldn’t trust anyone. Keep that vigilance,” Yan Chang removed the light brain from his wrist and placed it in her hand, muttering under his breath. It was unclear whether he was praising her or comforting himself.

Jiang Momo carefully examined his light brain from every angle, letting silence fill the narrow space. After a long pause, she returned it to him. “Can I trust you?”

“If it’s something truly important, don’t trust anyone. Not even me,” Yan Chang said.

“Got it.” Jiang Momo nodded.

***

When the President finally came to, he was surrounded by darkness. He blinked hard, but still couldn’t see anything. His neck felt like it was about to snap and his limbs were bound until he couldn’t move at all.

He had to think for a while before his groggy brain recalled the moment before he passed out. “Jiang Momo! Jiang Momo! I know you’re there! Do you realize what kind of crime it is to kidnap the president?!”

“I assumed you were trying to flee, which meant you didn’t want to be president anymore,” a calm female voice echoed from all directions in the darkness.

“But I’m still within Federation borders. As long as I’m in the Federation, I’m the President. And as long as my light brain goes unused for over 12 hours, it will automatically send an alert. You’re finished! And that self-aware relic from the Alien Beast War era—”

He didn’t get to finish the threat. A sudden burst of blinding light flashed before his eyes. He squinted for several seconds and realized what he was seeing. It was the interface of his own light brain.

In the corner, the words [No Signal Connection] flashed in bright red.

“Don’t blame me, I didn’t take your light brain. Oh, by the way, while you were asleep, I took some screenshots for you. Take a look.” Her voice rang out again, followed by the sound of footsteps fading into the distance… then vanishing completely.

The President stared at the livestream page on the screen. His eyes widened, blood vessels bulging. “Jiang Momo!!! You’ve ruined everything!!!”

The live stream showed him holding a wine glass, caught in a luxurious moment. The bottom left corner was filled with furious scrolling comments; some viewers cursed those selling fake escape ship tickets while others threatened to destroy the ships outright.

They wrote, [Those scamming bastards, I’ll see them locked up!]

They also wrote, [Who cares if it’s real or not?! If we can’t all leave, then no one should be allowed to!]