The Real Daughter Just Wants to Pilot Mechas - Chapter 49

E Mingjun also saw that bullet comment. He turned his head and looked at Peng Ji. “You’re a Level B mecha manufacturer, so you can see it too, right? Why aren’t you explaining?”

Peng Ji’s smile didn’t change. “Aren’t I explaining now?”

“But you could see it from the beginning,” E Mingjun said.

“But I only saw someone questioning it in the bullet comments just now! As soon as I saw it, I explained right away!” Peng Ji spread his hands and then looked sincerely into the camera. “But I do need to apologize. I brought up this topic and I’m very sorry to Teacher Jiang Momo. I should’ve been more cautious with my words. I’ll make sure not to speak recklessly again.”

[Actually, it’s not all Peng Ji’s fault. Even the vice director of the Military Research Institute thinks this way. It just proves that, in the eyes of the professionals, this was truly an impossible task. It only goes to show how amazing our Teacher Momo is!]

Another golden bullet comment was pinned to the top, sent by someone else.

When Peng Ji saw it, his smile clearly grew even brighter.

Yan Chang sat in the waiting area of Arena One, lifted his head from the bullet comment screen, and stared deeply at Peng Ji’s innocent-looking face.

“Jiang Momo has the kind of strength that makes even the vice director of the research institute question her directly,” Yan Chang muttered expressionlessly. “It looks like I can’t just let this guy keep running around.”

At that moment, the previous match on Arena One hadn’t ended yet. Yan Chang leaned against the chair with half of his face shrouded in shadow, tapping his finger lightly on the armrest, eyes thoughtful.

After a while, he turned to the staff beside him. “Can you call my repair technician over? I think there’s still something wrong with my mecha.”

“Please wait a moment.” The staff turned and left.

Soon, Jiang Momo followed the staff to Arena One.

It was a spot not visible to the live stream camera. Jiang Momo greeted Yan Chang, then looked up at the mecha beside him, and asked doubtfully, “What’s wrong with the mecha?”

“Nothing’s wrong.” Yan Chang leaned back in the chair. “I just saw the bullet comments and thought you might be upset. I couldn’t leave, so I asked someone to bring you here.”

“I’m not upset.” Jiang Momo looked up at the mecha with a calm expression.

Although the current tone of the bullet comments still felt inexplicable to her, at least her reputation had completely turned around.

Yan Chang lifted his chin. “True. You’ve already proven yourself. Now all you have to do is enjoy the praise.”

Jiang Momo thought his words sounded a little strange. She looked down at him and noticed that his expression was off too. His usually cheerful eyes seemed to be holding something heavy.

Jiang Momo asked, “Do you mean…”

“You don’t need to worry about Peng Ji anymore. After the match, I’ll handle it,” Yan Chang said, patting her shoulder. “Don’t feel any guilt about it.”

Now Jiang Momo definitely felt guilty. She suddenly remembered the initial evaluation Little Eight gave her about Yan Chang. She tentatively asked, “You’re not planning to throw a black sack over his head and feed him to the alien beasts in the Chaos Star System, are you?”

Yan Chang grinned but the corners of his eyes didn’t move. He rubbed his middle finger and bowed his head slightly, muttering, as if trying to convince someone, “Our Capital Star has a complete legal system.”

Jiang Momo looked at him. Although Yan Chang always showed a carefree and friendly side in front of her, it wasn’t until now that it felt like he was seriously considering taking her under his wing.

But why the sudden change?

“Don’t look at me like that. Do I really come across as that ruthless to you? Do I look like I have that much power?” Yan Chang joked.

Jiang Momo blurted out, “Huh? No, I just thought you looked kind of upset and might do something rash.”

From his perspective, she shouldn’t know his real identity.

“What if I really do have that kind of power?” Yan Chang’s smile faded.

“No wonder you were able to chase off the Jiang family people that day! I’ve been thinking about that for days! There’s no information about you on the Star Network, so you’re a noble, right? A really powerful one?” Jiang Momo’s brain kicked into high gear. She sat down beside him and asked in a low whisper, full of curiosity.

“Something like that.” Yan Chang leaned back and relaxed. He turned his head and looked at her, his tone casual, “Anyway, it’s no big deal. This match runs nonstop for 60 hours. If you get tired later, just go rest. Don’t worry about me.”

“That won’t do. I got paid to fix your stuff. I can’t let you lose money,” Jiang Momo replied.

Yan Chang laughed. “Up to you.”

At that moment, the match on Arena One ended. Yan Chang glanced at the stage, said goodbye to Jiang Momo, and smoothly jumped onto his mecha to begin his match.

Jiang Momo was escorted back to the waiting area.

***

The Mecha Competition lasted a full 60 hours, finally ending at midnight on Sunday.

Within that time, Jiang Momo repaired Yan Chang’s battle-damaged mecha approximately every two hours. It was clear to the naked eye that Yan Chang’s piloting skills improved rapidly, even earning a few direct praises from E Mingjun later on.

Aside from being initially quiet, E Mingjun maintained a high standard of commentary throughout the event and gained quite a few new fans.

Even Peng Ji managed to use the competition to salvage his recently abysmal reputation.

After all matches concluded, the host returned to the judging panel with dark circles under his eyes but he was trying to look full of energy as he began to announce the results.

“Dear viewers and contestants, it’s time to reveal the final winners of this competition! As you all know, the top three from our Mecha Competition will stay on the Elite Mecha Pilot List for a whole year! It’s a prestigious stepping stone! Our very own judge E Mingjun first joined the elite list through this competition! Now, let’s give a big round of applause to congratulate the winners, Ning Ge, Wei Zhao, and Yan Chang!”

“I’m only third?!” Yan Chang shot up from his seat in the waiting area and turned to Jiang Momo. “Master, be honest. Was my performance worse than Ning Ge’s?!”

Jiang Momo looked up at him. “Ning Ge finished each match really fast.”

And his mecha didn’t need repairs even once, dragging that beat-up thing through the whole competition. He even saved the time he would’ve lost by re-queuing after losing the first round.

Yan Chang reluctantly sat back down. “Hmph. Still, he lost to me once!”

“This year’s Mecha Competition is now officially over! Thank you to all our participants! See you next year!” The host waved at the camera as ribbons and glitter rained from the ceiling.

Staff members poured in through the doors to return the contestants’ light brains.

Jiang Momo wore both light brains and followed Yan Chang toward the exit.

At the door, Jiang Momo looked up and saw E Mingjun walking toward them against the crowd with Peng Ji following behind.

Peng Ji’s eyes lit up when he saw her. He stretched his hand high to wave, subtly signaling the reporter he brought to snap photos. But the next second, his vision went dark as a group of people in black surrounded him and promptly escorted him onto a nearby ship.

Jiang Momo watched Peng Ji being taken away and then turned to Yan Chang. “Didn’t you say you weren’t feeding him to the alien beasts?”

Yan Chang spread his hands. “They’re not my people.”

He really didn’t know. He’d only just started contacting the president of the Energy Association.

The two stared at each other. Then, the group of black-clad individuals came back down the ship, pulled out their credentials, showed them to both of them and invited Jiang Momo on board as well.

Jiang Momo was taken into a room on the ship.

“Hello, Miss Jiang Momo. We’re from the Federal Security Department. Due to your involvement in a serious information leak, we need you to come with us,” the man in black at the front said, showing his credentials again.

Jiang Momo didn’t look at the ID. Instead, she saw a message from Yan Chang flash across her light brain.

[Federation Mecha Champion Candidate]: They’re from the Federal Security Department. Don’t panic. No matter what happens, I can bail you out.

“Sorry, we also need to confiscate your light brains,” the black-clad man said, raising his hand. The other two quickly removed her light brains and put a blindfold over her eyes.

When she saw light again, she was in a different room.

It was much more luxurious than the small room the military officer had taken her to before and it actually had signs of interior decoration.

“Don’t be nervous. This is just a routine statement,” a middle-aged man in a Security Department uniform sat across from Jiang Momo, speaking gently.

He looked utterly ordinary. At first glance, he reminded you of many people and then you’d be surprised to realize you couldn’t remember his face at all.

“Okay.” The man’s tone was kind, so Jiang Momo didn’t feel threatened and nodded in cooperation.

“In the previous match, the pilot you were responsible for used a super B-grade mecha and you possess the ability to build A-grade mechas, correct?” he asked.

Jiang Momo nodded. “Yes.”

“So, Peng Ji who had advance knowledge of all contestants and mecha info, requesting a live broadcast system in the arena was an obvious violation. The moment you repaired any A-grade mecha components, it would result in a breach,” the man said.

Jiang Momo froze. “Huh? So I’m not being questioned because I leaked something?”

“Of course not. Your actions allowed us to discover the information leak in the competition ahead of time. Because of you, the organizers switched from live streaming to recorded broadcasts, making it easier for us to monitor the situation. Otherwise, if you had unknowingly taken apart an A-grade mecha component, it would’ve caused a major leak,” the man explained as he stood, retrieved a round object from beneath the desk, and approached Jiang Momo.

“Thank you for your contribution to federal security! Here is the medal we’ve prepared for you!”

Jiang Momo was completely stunned, blankly accepting the medal. “I have a question.”

“Peng Ji will be detained for seven days,” the man answered.

“That’s not what I was going to ask,” Jiang Momo said.

The man gestured. “Go ahead.”

“If I had really leaked information without knowing, would I be held responsible?” she asked.

The man smiled. “No. You were unaware and had no criminal intent. So even if a leak had occurred, Peng Ji would be the direct offender. You’d merely be a tool used in his crime.”

Jiang Momo gave an unsure ‘Oh.’ Then she asked, “So I can leave now?”

“Of course.” The man extended a hand. “Please give my regards to Major General Lu. I heard he’s about to be promoted to lieutenant general.”

Jiang Momo froze mid-handshake.

Major General Lu? Wasn’t that the officer who interrogated her for half a night after she scared off the alien beast on Yan Chang’s island?

So the guy was being so polite because of Lu Feng?

“I’m Luo Yanghong,” he said, shaking her hand. “Just take the east elevator down, it leads to the aircraft dock.”

Jiang Momo silently nodded and headed to the elevator under Luo Yanghong’s gaze.

Downstairs, right in front of her, a military aircraft was waiting.

She walked straight over.

Lu Feng was sitting inside wearing his military uniform. His tall frame made the cockpit feel cramped.

“Luo Yanghong told me to give you his regards,” Jiang Momo said, sitting across from him.

Lu Feng ignored her words, smiling faintly. “You were so guarded with me before. Why were you so cooperative just now?”

Jiang Momo didn’t bother answering and asked directly, “Do you need something from me?”

“Of course.” Lu Feng pulled a set of combat gear from beneath his seat. “On behalf of the First Military District, I invite you to join as an honorary member of the Special Forces.”