The Real Daughter Just Wants to Pilot Mechas - Chapter 29

“But those were basic pathways! She’s too confident. Anyone can make mistakes. I’d wager even Dean Ge couldn’t maintain a perfect success rate with complex energy pathways. Dean Ge, can you do it?”

“I can,” said Ge Qing.

After hearing Ge Qing’s words, the invigilators all fell silent.

Since invigilating the exam that year, they had been forced into silence more times than in the entire past year.

“Forget I said anything,” the teacher who had just questioned the situation turned away and continued watching Jiang Momo’s actions.

Jiang Momo still had no idea that she was being watched by a group of people. She vaguely felt a tingling pressure at her forehead and instinctively reached out to touch the center of her brow.

The invigilators immediately noticed something strange. “Is that reaction because she’s using her mental power right now?”

“Then why didn’t she use it when she was engraving the energy pathways earlier?”

“Maybe she just awakened. I looked up her file and she only just turned eighteen recently.”

“After the second test? That’s possible…”

As the teachers discussed this, they suddenly realized something and all turned to look at Ge Qing.

“Dean Ge, is that why you went to find Jiang Momo?!”

They had always thought Jiang Momo was Ge Qing’s personal disciple but after looking into it, they found there had been no previous connection between the two.

Ge Qing nodded. “Yes, that’s why. But unfortunately, by the time I arrived, she had already sensed it on her own.”

All the invigilators sighed in unison.

Outside the screen, the tall, skinny teacher crossed his arms and placed one hand on the control panel button. “Let’s turn on the mental power visualization device. Her mental power should be pretty strong.”

The few people observing inside didn’t know what was happening outside. They just saw the screen suddenly become obscured by something unknown and they were quickly ejected from the view.

The invigilators looked at each other in confusion.

Ge Qing wiped his face, still feeling the lingering sensation of being brushed by strands of mental power.

Once mental power threads are visualized, they feel soft like spider webs. They’re not very noticeable and barely affect movement. It was the first time they had been forced out of the observation room like that.

“The projection equipment for Jiang Momo’s exam room is broken,” Ge Qing quickly concluded before the others could figure things out. Then he gave the tall teacher a warning look, signaling him not to speak carelessly.

The tall teacher immediately raised his hand. “I didn’t touch anything! I swear I didn’t break it!”

Ge Qing rolled his eyes and looked away.

He had forgotten that the guy was never particularly smart.

***

This time, Jiang Momo had carried back parts for the cockpit. After engraving the energy pathways, she leaned against the wall and started directing the assistant manufacturing robot to assemble the remaining parts.

She had noticed from the robot’s first assembly attempt that it didn’t have the precise assembly function of those in the maintenance center. It couldn’t even align the energy pathway ports properly. The mechas it assembled couldn’t function at all.

But even so, it was highly enthusiastic. As soon as it saw engraved parts, it would start assembling them automatically, meaning if you took your eyes off it for one second, it would mess everything up.

After issuing all the instructions at once, Jiang Momo sat against the wall acting as a supervisor.

During this time, Peng Ji had already made a second trip to the materials warehouse. Passing by Jiang Momo, he saw her sitting idly by the wall and let out a cold snort.

Jiang Momo looked up, confused. “?”

What’s with this guy again?

“Don’t rely on the robots. Their data has been tampered with,” Peng Ji said, standing beside her and speaking in a voice only the two of them could hear. “Even if assembly is your weakness, you still need to get moving.”

After speaking, he glanced at Jiang Momo. “Now we’re even.”

Showing off like a savior in front of others felt amazing!

After the last round ended, before his mind had fully calmed down, he had gone out of his way to ask around. He was worried that because of him, Jiang Momo might miss the top twenty and never get a chance to make amends.

It turned out someone said Jiang Momo’s D-grade mecha only had a 60% appearance completion rate, barely two-thirds of completion.

That meant that at her manufacturing speed, she’d only barely pass if she tried for a Level D mecha certification. It also explained why she had focused so much on engraving energy pathways. She was compensating for her slow assembly speed. After all, assistant robots weren’t allowed during the final evaluation.

He had honestly thought she was a big shot and had sincerely admired her for a long time. When she failed to finish assembling because of him, he even felt guilty and performed dramatically. Thinking back, it was so embarrassing.

But it didn’t matter. They probably wouldn’t meet again in the future.

Peng Ji glanced at the time in the top-right corner. According to what he told the paid online trolls, StarNet discussions should be heating up around now.

Jiang Momo blinked. What did he just say? Even? Even about what?

“You mean, you figured out the robots—” Jiang Momo tried to make sense of his words.

“Yes!” Peng Ji interrupted. “Don’t talk to me anymore. This is an exam.”

Jiang Momo: “???”

She regretted it. She should never have acknowledged him from the start.

Seriously, don’t be like Peng Ji.

***

In the evaluation room, the invigilators frowned at the blank white screen of Jiang Momo’s exam room.

Unlike the examinees who saw more information, the invigilators could only see the candidate in each exam room. That meant that except for Jiang Momo’s screen, none of the other screens showed her.

“What do we do now, Dean Ge? We’ve restarted everything but it’s no use. We suspect the sensor in her room is broken,” the chubby teacher said, frowning. “Should I go to her exam room and replace the sensor?”

Ge Qing, standing tall and looking at the white screen, stopped them. “No. If an invigilator suddenly shows up in a candidate’s room and the review board sees it later, we can’t explain it. Is her room’s data normal?”

If they rushed in and found that the equipment wasn’t actually broken, her mental power would be exposed. The Federation had devices that could see exactly what others were seeing through their eyes.

“The data’s normal,” the chubby teacher replied after checking the panel.

“Then leave it be. Have the candidates exchange their points for time. Get ready to adjust the time flow in the exam rooms. This exam must end within five standard federal days,” Ge Qing said, checking the time. “That way the new hires can invigilate the incoming freshman exams.”

The chubby teacher opened the broadcast system to inform the candidates to exchange points. Once exchanged, time in the exam room would be adjusted proportionally.

So, those who had 30 days of exam time would appear at 6x speed on the invigilator screens, those with 25 days would be shown at 5x speed, and so on.

As long as an invigilator entered the monitoring zone through the screen, the scene would appear at normal speed.

“Did everyone use all their points?” Ge Qing asked.

“Jiang Momo kept one point and Wu Yue from Room 3 still has one too,” the chubby teacher replied.

“I get Wu Yue but why Jiang Momo? She only had two points in total, so why keep one?” the tall teacher complained. “We supply food and water for the first fifteen days.”

“Because she doesn’t have god-view. From her perspective, the notice only said she’d get one chance to exchange, so she stayed cautious,” the chubby teacher explained. “She’s sharp. Such a shame.”

“Over the next five days, we’ll all take turns keeping watch here. Pang Pan, when the exam ends, slow the exam room time to the minimum. After we finish scoring, then let them leave,” Ge Qing instructed.

***

Five days passed quickly.

Jiang Momo’s screen had remained a white blur the entire time.

All the invigilators were now present, waiting outside early.

“This year’s batch of candidates is pretty good.”

“In such a tight schedule, almost a fifth of them finished their mechas!”

“That Peng Ji’s actually not bad. Though he’s kind of scheming, his skills are solid.”

“Hey? Jiang Momo’s sensor seems to be working again. We can see half the room now. Is she sleeping? Did she finish her mecha?”

Ge Qing stood at the edge of the group, gazing at the screen. He couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

Ah, youth. To work nonstop for fifteen days without rest.

Sleeping meant losing control of mental power. Since her room had been completely blank, it meant she never slept at all. After all, humans couldn’t rest one brain hemisphere at a time like some alien beasts. That’s why the invigilators were so convinced the equipment was faulty.

“Pang Pan, slow down the time flow,” Ge Qing ordered.

“Got it!” Pang Pan tapped on his control panel, recalled all completed mechas, and then slowed the exam room flow to the minimum.

“Have the robots eliminate any mechas with less than 100% completion, then test performance, and compare overall time. Pick the best few and bring them to the evaluation room,” Ge Qing instructed.

Top-tier B-grade mecha manufacturers tend to produce similar quality. Most years, multiple mechas tie for first place, requiring manual re-evaluation.

“Did Jiang Momo finish hers? If she did, her short completion time might give her a slight advantage,” Pang Pan said, holding his panel.

“No way. If she hadn’t kept that one point, maybe she’d have had a chance,” the tall teacher said gleefully. “She’s too clever for her own good.”

Under the teachers’ watchful eyes, one mecha was brought into the evaluation room.

“Only one? Is it Wu Yue’s or Peng Ji’s?” the tall teacher asked, surprised. “Why’s the robot suddenly acting smart?”

“It’s Jiang Momo’s,” Pang Pan said after checking the details.

“She finished already?!”

“No way.”

“God, what kind of genius is she?”

“She’s not that amazing,” the tall teacher muttered. “Someone once finished a B-grade mecha in twelve days.”

“Super B-grade,” Pang Pan corrected.

“What super B-grade? I’m pretty sure that twelve-day one was just B-grade.”

“I mean this one is super B-grade. Both its arms have A-grade mecha specs,” Pang Pan said, pointing at the mecha. “Both arms!”

“You’re crazy. Don’t joke like that.”

Then, after seeing all the other invigilators crowd around and exclaim in awe, his expression visibly panicked. “No way? Is it really a super B-grade? Can we cut my earlier comments from the highlight reel?”

“Highlight reel?” Pang Pan poked his head out of the crowd. “What highlight reel?”

“The academy decided to boost its publicity. This year’s recruitment is a pilot program. Three days after recruitment ends, they’ll post an edited version of the exam on the official website. Since only Shou Tao knows video editing, he’s handling it for now,” Ge Qing explained. Then he turned to the tall teacher, “Just edit it however you want and send it to me for review.”

“Got it, Dean Ge! I’ll make it great and redeem myself!” Shou Tao raised his hand solemnly. He was definitely going to include all of Jiang Momo’s best moments and unleash them on the world.

Let the world share the pain of being crushed by a genius!