The Real Daughter Just Wants to Pilot Mechas - Chapter 48

[Ahhh, our Teacher Momo looks so cute when she smiles! Kisses!]

[So where is it streaming? I want to set a reminder!]

[Does the course include mecha manufacturing? I didn’t even get to see how she repaired that mecha. What a loss~]

[Teacher Momo, don’t go yet! Chat with us a bit more! Who designed this dumb system with no interactions allowed?!]

Jiang Momo returned to the waiting area and sat down. The screen lit up in front of her again.

She first glanced at the repair room display.

The screen showed only a few rooms in use and aside from Ning Ge’s mecha, the others didn’t seem badly damaged.

Jiang Momo had a general idea now. Maniacs like Ning Ge weren’t very common in matches.

At that moment, Yan Chang had already returned to the arena and was facing off against a mecha that had remained after the last round.

Exclamations rang out from Arena One’s audience.

They couldn’t see the live stream, so to them, it looked like Yan Chang’s battered mecha had somehow returned completely restored in the blink of an eye.

He had just stepped off the field and only one match had happened since!

The two mechas quickly clashed.

Jiang Momo watched the battle footage from Arena One and rubbed her forehead in mild frustration.

Now it seemed the mecha’s damage wasn’t entirely Ning Ge’s fault. With the way Yan Chang fought, that thing would need repairs again in five rounds tops.

At the judges’ panel…

Peng Ji rested his chin on one hand, slightly tilting his head to show his best angle to the camera. Then he smiled and said, “Teacher Momo sure is lucky.”

“She’s simply very skilled.” E Mingjun shot him a glance.

“You wouldn’t know, E Mingjun, you’re not a mecha manufacturer. Each material panel only has one energy pathway and every panel’s pathway is in a different location. Finding the right one out of 50 is already lucky. And she did that 30 times.” Peng Ji held up three slender fingers and waved them. “In our repair circles, people would laugh at you for dreaming that big. If that’s not luck, what is?”

“Luck is just part of her strength,” E Mingjun replied.

Peng Ji didn’t listen and kept talking, “It’s really a pity we didn’t see that miracle with our own eyes. Such a shame. I admire Teacher Momo so much, she even taught me how to engrave energy pathways once. She was amazing.”

Watching the chat now flooded with people echoing Peng Ji’s praise and talking about how lucky she was, Jiang Momo felt something was wrong.

‘What is Peng Ji up to?’

“I’ve always admired Teacher Momo. She’s really progressed fast,” Peng Ji suddenly sighed with chin in hand and then fell silent again.

The notary sitting next to Peng Ji asked curiously, “Improved so quickly? Did you two know each other before the recruitment exam? When I saw the news back then, I thought you didn’t get along.”

“At the time of the D-grade mecha manufacturing exam, she didn’t complete it within 36 hours and didn’t rank in the top 50. But when it came to the B-grade mecha manufacturing later, she finished it in just 15 days. It’s the same this time. When I was paired with Teacher Momo to engrave energy pathways, she could find seven in a minute. At that speed, in 20 minutes, she could only examine 140 materials. Which means…” Peng Ji counted on his fingers, full of admiration, “on average, she had to find the right one within looking at five materials…”

The notary immediately understood. “That’s an impossible task!”

E Mingjun spoke up, “Speaking of the D-grade mecha manufacture, I heard a little story…”

Peng Ji quickly grabbed E Mingjun’s arm and interrupted him in a panic, “What I meant was that she must have improved her efficiency during that time! She’s really amazing!”

After speaking, Peng Ji shut up and took a big sip of water.

The notary seemed thoughtful.

Meanwhile, bullet comments scrolled rapidly across the live stream.

[What a pity, the live stream system suddenly malfunctioned. Otherwise, I could’ve witnessed the expert’s repair process.]

[So Peng Ji also admires Teacher Momo. I knew it. Teacher Momo has a super magnetic personality!]

[Why do I feel like Peng Ji’s words are implying something? I just rewatched the video from Central Mecha Academy and realized they didn’t show the process of Jiang Momo making the B-grade mecha. What’s he trying to say?]

[No way, isn’t he just expressing admiration? He didn’t say anything else.]

[He’s clearly trying to smear Teacher Momo before the academy releases the video! Just like a dog can’t stop eating shit. He’s not clean himself but keeps throwing mud on others.]

[Even if your point stands, your language is way too crude.]

[Comrades, don’t rush to scold Peng Ji. The vice director of the Military Research Institute just posted again, confirming Peng Ji’s statement and insisting there was something shady about the repair just now.]

[The vice director never used to post much. I thought he was old-fashioned. Who knew he liked watching livestreams? Two posts in such a short time, what a rare sight. I’m going to check it out.]

[I think the vice director has a point. Even if she’s some miracle genius with all the buffs, fixing a mecha that broken in such a short time is still an impossible task.]

[God, could there really be a cover-up? This isn’t the entertainment industry. Why does it feel like my fave is about to be exposed? And now I’m cringing at my dark history of marching for Peng Ji. Ugh!]

[This is why the academy shouldn’t be pushing the whole ‘star teacher’ concept. Look what fame-hungry teachers turn into!]

[Comrades, I found Teacher Momo’s class livestream! It was hidden in a super obscure spot on the school’s website! Wait, what happened? I was only gone a moment and the comment section turned into this mess? What’s going on?]

***

In the Mecha Competition Arena’s manager’s office, the manager paced back and forth anxiously as he watched the barrage of toxic comments flying across the live stream.

“This is bad. We just found a cash cow and now she’s suddenly on the verge of ruin? I was counting on using her to advertise our venue and boost our rep so I could keep managing the Mecha Arena next year! I already paid the ad fees!” The manager muttered nonstop. “What do we do now? I was going to release the recorded footage to clear things up but the feed cut for twenty whole minutes. Not a second got recorded!”

“She’ll have to fix another mecha eventually, right? Won’t that naturally clear her name then?” the assistant suggested.

“The problem is, we still don’t know why the feed cut. What if it happens again during the next repair?!” The manager even suspected Jiang Momo cut the feed herself but the idea was too far-fetched to voice. “No, I have to go ask her!”

He suddenly stopped and ordered, “You’re coming with me. We’ll pretend to be doing random interviews. That way, if anything leaks after the competition, we won’t stir up more trouble.”

***

Soon, two ‘reporters’ carrying professional equipment rushed into the waiting area and started randomly interviewing the mecha technicians seated and waiting.

While conducting the interviews, the manager kept sneaking glances toward Jiang Momo’s spot.

Then he saw her leaning back in her chair, completely at ease.

The manager’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. ‘Good lord, what time does she think it is?! How can she be so calm?!’

He quickly wrapped up the interview in front of him and marched over to Jiang Momo who was sitting alone in a corner away from the crowd.

He had just opened his mouth to speak when Jiang Momo beat him to it, “Finally, I’ve been waiting for you. I need a favor.”

The moment she saw the manager appear, the heavy stone in her heart dropped.

“We’ll talk about the favor later. Just answer me this, can you recreate the god-tier repair scene from earlier?” the manager asked quickly.

“Not at the moment,” Jiang Momo said directly. “I can’t repair mechas while being watched.”

The manager immediately understood. “So as long as no one is directly watching you, it’s fine?”

“Right.” Jiang Momo nodded.

“No problem. What do you need from me?” he asked.

Avoiding the feeling of being watched was simple, just switch the live stream to a slight delay. A 0.5-second delay between recording and broadcast would make the attention feel indirect, effectively canceling out the pressure.

“That’s the favor,” Jiang Momo said.

“Got it. I’ll take care of it right away. Oh, by the way, I’m just curious, how did you cut the livestream feed earlier?” the manager bent down slightly and asked in a low voice.

Jiang Momo looked up but didn’t answer.

The manager laughed awkwardly. “Got it, it’s a secret. I won’t ask anymore.”

“Thanks for your help.” Jiang Momo nodded.

The manager left and Jiang Momo’s gaze returned to Arena One where Yan Chang was. It had already been an hour and a half since he re-entered the match. The fifth round had ended and the mecha was visibly falling apart again, its damage was even worse than after the fight with Ning Ge. Fortunately, Yan Chang had protected his left arm well and there was no damage to it.

“I request to repair the mecha!” Yan Chang raised his hand.

Jiang Momo immediately stood up and walked straight to the repair room.

Inside, the camera still maintained its face-focused style. Jiang Momo waved at it and tentatively released her mental power. Sure enough, the feeling of being watched was gone.

Jiang Momo couldn’t see the live stream chat and had no idea that, in a short time, tens of billions had flooded into her stream.

The entire chat was chaotic, with comments flying by so fast they became a blur.

[I came here from the trending search. I wanted to see the so-called bad apple the vice director mentioned.]

[Unbelievable. Just days ago I was wondering why the Central Mecha Academy hadn’t released the second part of the video. It turns out they didn’t have much footage to work with. They didn’t want to risk exposing anything.]

[Let’s be real, I already thought something was fishy when the academy released the first video. Their official account hadn’t posted anything before that!]

[Anyone know what kind of background she has?]

[How would we nobodies know? I just know there’s bound to be another twist soon.]

Very quickly, Yan Chang’s mecha was brought in.

An assistant robot stayed behind, walked over to Jiang Momo, and began its scripted lines, the exact same scene as before.

Once again, Jiang Momo paid no attention to what the robot was saying and immediately began dismantling the damaged outer shell panels.

Soon, another fifty material panels were brought in.

After removing the outer shell, Jiang Momo looked up and scanned the lineup of material panels, then quickly picked one out.

The chat exploded.

[Ah yes, back to the familiar scene. So, is it going to black out again? Or maybe… black out again?]

[Oh look, new development. The material panels are censored.]

[See! I knew it! Something’s definitely off. I’ve never seen anyone censor material panels during a live repair.]

[I’m done. What are they hiding at this point?]

[What the? Her background must be really powerful. The vice director already deleted his post!]

Jiang Momo couldn’t see the chat, so she had no idea what they were saying. As she carved a curved energy pathway into the material in her hand, she explained her quick selection out loud, “My mental power level may not be high but it has a wide range. I can scan multiple energy panels at once, so I find the right materials faster than most people.”

‘That should be enough to clear things up, right?’ she thought.

She remembered that, back at the Mecha Maintenance Center, she had carved complex energy pathways in full view of everyone. Since she hadn’t received any warnings this time either, she assumed people could still see her work.

Twenty minutes later, Jiang Momo clapped her hands, stepped back two steps, and looked over her completed work with satisfaction. Then she signaled the assistant robot to carry it out and leisurely followed it back to the waiting area.

As soon as she pushed the door open, Jiang Momo could feel the complex stares coming her way. Without thinking much of it, she went to sit in the corner.

A light screen appeared in front of her.

“What’s going on? Why are they still arguing?”

Once Jiang Momo left the repair room, the chat there was disabled, so now nearly everyone had crowded into the judges’ stream instead.

“What do they mean by ‘censored’?” Jiang Momo stared at the screen for a while, picking key info out of the wall of nonsense. “They can’t see the pathways I’m carving?!”

At the judges’ panel, Peng Ji looked at the barrage of comments scrolling below and almost burst out laughing. He turned to E Mingjun with an apologetic face. “This sudden public backlash… I do bear some responsibility.”

“You do,” E Mingjun replied, without even looking at him.

Peng Ji choked for a moment but kept his expression steady. “It’s just a shame no one could see Teacher Momo’s carved pathways before. Otherwise, they’d know her true skill. Strange though, why couldn’t they see them?”

[Who says we can’t see? I’ve said it several times already, I can see them! Are you trying to force me to pay up or something?!]

Amid the barrage of scrolling messages, a line of golden text floated at the top.

[Everyone else can’t see and only you can? Emperor’s new clothes much? You trying to stand out or what?] |3|

[Wait hold up, the guy’s not just showing off. He’s one of the few active A-grade mecha manufacturers on the Star Network!]

[What???]

Another golden message appeared.

[Everyone calm down and listen. The online stream has strict filters. High-level carving techniques are invisible to the general public. Judging by Jiang Momo’s precision, she’s at least a Level A mecha manufacturer, possibly top-tier. No doubt about it.]

[What??? A-grade??? Top-tier???]

[The expert is right. I just passed the Level B Mecha Certification Exam two days ago. I can see her carved pathways. Here’s my certificate. [Image]]

[I can see them too!]

[Wait a sec, I already trashed her earlier. Why didn’t you guys speak up sooner…?]

[No wonder the vice director deleted his post right when she started the repair. He must’ve realized it and didn’t say anything. He left us here to play the clowns!]

[He was fast to delete but our posts can’t be taken back! We’re doomed. Do you think Teacher Momo can see what we wrote?]

[I think… she probably can…]

[Hahahahahaha, good thing I didn’t join in the hate! Finally, I can talk freely again!]

[After the match, Jiang Momo rewatching the livestream on her light brain: Block. Block. Block all of you.]