The Real Daughter Just Wants to Pilot Mechas - Chapter 190

In the days that followed, the frequency of alien beasts appearing in the Central Star System rose to unprecedented levels. Fortunately, thanks to the timely reinforcement of troops, the losses remained minimal.

“Those alien beasts don’t seem all that smart. If they ever gathered all their strength and attacked a single planet, they might have already broken through by now,” a streamer joked during a live broadcast.

Jiang Momo was sitting beside the frontline mecha maintenance factory of the military headquarters, watching Shi Qin and the others assemble new units while scrolling through various live feeds from war zones. Hearing that remark, her fingers paused and the feed froze on the screen.

Most pilots struggled to control a legendary-grade mecha in battle and few could chat so casually while fighting. But just as the feed stopped, a sudden shout erupted from the broadcast.

“Why won’t this alien beast die?!”

The next moment, the screen filled with a monstrous face; huge, snarling, horrifying. The live chat instantly flooded with messages like [Watch out!] and [Help!] In the following second, several beams of light flashed past the edge of the screen and the alien beast plummeted. It had been struck by another mecha.

“That’s a super S-grade mecha,” the streamer gasped, recovering from the scare. “I’m fine! We’ve got professional soldiers here. It’s just strange. Lately, more and more alien beasts seem immune to legendary-grade mechas.”

Jiang Momo frowned.

“Teacher Jiang, we’ve finished this one. Could you check it over?” Shi Qin walked over, bent slightly, and spoke softly near her ear.

Jiang Momo stood up. “I just heard on a live feed that the frontline reports say more alien beasts are becoming immune to legendary-grade mechas. Can our production keep up?”

The military had discovered the issue a week earlier, on the night of the massive alien beast assault on the Capital Star. The alien beast army had changed tactics. Now, more and more of them could resist the mental attacks of legendary-grade mechas: the same type that absorbed energy and could even be used as materials for such mechas. Because their functions shared the same source, only S-grade mechas could defeat them. As a result, the S-grade mechas production line had been operating at full capacity ever since.

“Madam! I knew you’d be here!” The third vice-captain of the interstellar pirate strode in with booming laughter. “Boss says he’s finished the task you gave him and he wants you to check it yourself!”

Shi Qin and the others were long used to the interstellar pirate’ rough humor, but the nickname ‘Madam’ still made them twitch.

“Watch your mouth,” Shi Qin scolded sternly. “Just because your boss fancies someone doesn’t mean she has to be with him.”

“Kid, don’t butt in when grown-ups are talking.” The third vice-captain waved him off impatiently.

Jiang Momo had just finished inspecting the newly built S-grade and super S-grade mechas. After confirming there were no issues, she gave a few final instructions under the awed gazes of the engineers. Then she pulled the third vice-captain aside, asking quietly, “Does your crew have a private communication channel?”

The third vice-captain grinned. “Of course. We’ve got our own comms system, but we didn’t bring it along. The boss just contacts me directly through his light brain now. We’re working for the Federation these days, so there’s no need to sneak around anymore.”

“He asked you to deliver his message in person?”

“Yeah. He said he sent you a message but you didn’t reply, so he told me to find you.”

Jiang Momo frowned, feeling something was off. “What else did he say?”

“Nothing else.” Then, leaning closer, he asked with exaggerated curiosity, “What secret mission are you two up to? Need a hand?”

“No, thanks.”

Something felt wrong. She’d been online all day, watching warzone feeds and communicating with the military and the research institute. The network was perfectly fine, yet she hadn’t received any message from E Mingjun.

“Where is he now?”

The third vice-captain scratched his head. “No idea. He just said ‘the usual place’ and you’d know what that means.”

The usual place? Was E Mingjun still in the Chaos Star System?

After the interstellar pirate defected to the Federation, the government had evacuated all civilians from that region, unwilling to divide their forces to hold it. The Chaos Star System should have long since fallen completely to the alien beasts. Was E Mingjun really there alone?

Without hesitation, Jiang Momo grabbed a spatial compression capsule containing a legendary and a super S-grade mecha, boarded the spatial jump ship Yan Chang had sent her days ago, and set off.

E Mingjun was indeed waiting in the same cavern he’d once taken her to.

“Why is there no lights?”

As the heavy stone gate rumbled open, Jiang Momo squinted into the pitch-black space. In the shadows, she caught sight of E Mingjun’s back and a massive shape looming before him.

The day the new president discovered Little Eight’s true identity, after much hesitation, Jiang Momo finally decided to hand the warship over to E Mingjun, asking him to find a place undetectable by scanners and repair it in full.

“Momo, you’re the interstellar pirate hunter, aren’t you?” E Mingjun’s voice echoed dully in the cavern.

Jiang Momo, who had been trying to activate her light brain’s illumination mode despite the lack of a network signal, froze.

The memory of E Mingjun’s expression when he’d once spoken of his old grudge against the interstellar pirate hunter flashed through her mind. Her heart tightened and her breath became shallow.

That shouldn’t be possible. Before handing him the warship, she had replaced all of its distinctive patterned armor plates and even swapped out several key exterior components. She was certain that the reassembled ship looked entirely different from the one that had once appeared in the Chaos Star System.

So why was he asking that now? Was that why he hadn’t contacted her directly and instead sent the third vice-captain to deliver a message?

Jiang Momo’s mind raced. Without showing it, she took half a step back and, with her fingers, quietly felt for the spatial compression capsule that stored her mechas; her gaze cautious and alert.

“I once obtained a small piece of material taken from the interstellar pirate hunter’s ship,” E Mingjun went on in a calm, deliberate tone. “I tried to use it to trace the factory that built their vessels. Unfortunately, after professional testing, one of the key elements in it was found to have vanished. It was that element that gave the metal’s cross-section its unique luster.”

As he spoke, goosebumps crept up Jiang Momo’s back from her tailbone to her neck. She silently prepared herself for the possibility of losing E Mingjun as a friend forever.

“That element reacts to anomalies in spatial fluctuations. When stored too long inside a spatial compression container, its structure changes and it becomes fragile and easy to fracture. I accidentally broke one of those plates and was going to ask you to replace it. But look…”

He lifted the cracked panel in his hand. In the darkness, faint specks of phosphorescence shimmered across its surface.

“So tell me, could this stuff be used to track spatial disturbances? Maybe even predict where spatial-type alien beasts will transmit their armies next? Isn’t that how your institute’s detection system works?” His voice brightened with enthusiasm. But when he turned around, what he saw was Jiang Momo gripping the spatial compression capsule in her hand, standing ready for combat.

E Mingjun: ?

“Are there enemies around?” he asked, bewildered.

“No.” Jiang Momo straightened, tucked the capsule back into her pocket, and cleared her throat. “Your guess is right. It was once used to detect spatial-type alien beasts.”

“No wonder you were on edge,” E Mingjun said, nodding.

“I thought…” Jiang Momo stepped closer, hesitating.

“You thought what? That I’d blow up once I learned who you really are? That I’d think you were in league with the Jiang family? That I’d come for revenge, ready to fight you to the death?”

She said nothing.

E Mingjun turned to glance at the newly restored warship and then spoke rapidly, “When I first figured it out, that thought did cross my mind, but I dismissed it right away. I know what really happened. It wasn’t your doing. You weren’t part of it. The people responsible have already been brought to justice. Isn’t that enough?”

Jiang Momo remained silent. She tried to find the right words, but none came. The next moment, she felt a firm weight on her shoulder as E Mingjun pulled her gently toward the warship’s entrance.

“Come check if everything inside looks all right,” he said softly.

However, instead of stepping in, Jiang Momo asked something that had been troubling her since the journey over, “Aren’t there alien beasts in the Chaos Star System?”

“Sure there are,” E Mingjun said. “Always have been.”

“I mean recently. Since the massive alien beast invasions began, why hasn’t the Chaos Star System been attacked?”

E Mingjun thought for a moment. “Now that you mention it, you’re right. Most of the alien beasts here are old ones, the offspring of those that were already around. I don’t recall seeing any newly ‘dropped in’ alien beasts like the ones in the Central Star System.”

No new arrivals?

Jiang Momo suddenly remembered what Yan Chang had said earlier.

‘I just think the timing is too coincidental. It feels man-made.’

It was unlikely to be deliberate, although possible, but maybe the spatial-type alien beasts did need some kind of channel to transmit their armies through.

Jiang Momo pondered.