The Real Daughter Just Wants to Pilot Mechas - Chapter 54

Jiang Momo quietly felt excited for a while. When she saw Shi Qin still looking at her, she cleared her throat and asked with a smile she couldn’t suppress, “Did you find the interference points when your mental power reached its limit for the fifth time? What time was that?”

“Two-thirty in the morning.” Shi Qin could tell from Jiang Momo’s expression that she was happy and a smile unconsciously appeared on his face too.

Jiang Momo asked, “What about the other students?”

“About five or six in the morning,” Shi Qin answered.

Jiang Momo thought for a moment and felt that the time difference was very subtle. “So, the half-dead state they’re in now is the result of your constant training?”

Shi Qin felt a little embarrassed and lowered his head. “I needed to verify my guess.”

He thought Jiang Momo would criticize him, especially after hearing what she said when she was angry earlier. She was obviously a ‘humanitarian’.

To his surprise, Jiang Momo just patted his shoulder appreciatively. “Well done! Sharing is a very beautiful quality. I made the right choice picking you as the class monitor! You’re amazing! My first batch of students is so outstanding!”

Shi Qin clenched his fist in secret.

That was a very high evaluation. Since that was the case, he would definitely not disappoint Jiang Momo!

After Jiang Momo finished speaking, her gaze turned back to the students lying on the ground in a state that resembled a crime scene. “It looks like this class isn’t going to happen.”

Those students couldn’t even crawl. Jiang Momo and Shi Qin had been talking for a while and no one could lift their head.

“Don’t worry, Teacher. Before the next class, I’ll make sure to help the students complete the goals of sensing all the materials’ energy pathways and drafting a rough design.”

Jiang Momo fell silent for a second.

Given their current state, it would be a miracle if they could complete it before Thursday’s afternoon class. Shi Qin’s ‘goal’ clearly referred to something else, like getting everyone to sense the other pathways.

“Have you fully controlled your mental power after using it for so long?” Jiang Momo asked Shi Qin.

“Yes,” Shi Qin answered. “I only need about half a minute to get into the right state and then maintain it until the inspection is complete.”

“The method of using mental power is to sense the resonance in the material. If you have spare energy, try out a few different frequencies,” Jiang Momo said after thinking for a moment.

Although she wasn’t sure if other frequencies would help Shi Qin, trying more could only be beneficial since he was so talented.

Shi Qin carefully remembered every word Jiang Momo said and then asked, “Teacher, even though they can’t get up for the class, I can teach them after I learn. Could you please teach me the material for this lesson first?”

Jiang Momo scratched her nose.

She had planned to explain the lesson using the designs drawn by the students and hadn’t prepared other materials.

She stared at Shi Qin for two seconds, thought carefully about what would be the most suitable teaching content for him, and then said, “Give me a material panel you’ve previously inspected.”

Shi Qin turned around and grabbed a material panel from the shelf behind him, handing it to Jiang Momo.

She took it and waved at him. “Come stand next to me.”

Shi Qin stepped over.

At that moment, the students who had been lying on the ground for a long time finally started to move. Soon, the ‘success guru’ crawled to a position where he could see the actions of the two.

Jiang Momo glanced at him and then tilted the material panel at an angle he could see.

“Do you remember where the energy pathways are on this material panel?” Jiang Momo asked.

Shi Qin gestured in the air over the material panel.

“Right, now don’t use mental power. Observe the differences between this position and others. The pattern on the panel’s surface will reflect the internal structure,” Jiang Momo said.

Shi Qin stared at the material panel, looking serious.

…He couldn’t figure it out.

To him, the material panel just looked like an ordinary flat surface with no pattern.

Beside him, the ‘success guru’ tilted his head. “Teacher, is it my problem? I can see several strange patterns, some of them quite messy.”

Shi Qin’s mind trembled.

Several?!

Now, without Jiang Momo needing to confirm it, he knew that what Xiang Jiuming saw was correct.

Xiang Jiuming wasn’t one of the seven people who could sense other energy pathways. He shouldn’t know about the existence of other vague pathways.

Jiang Momo was very surprised. “Yes, the most obvious continuous one is the energy pathway you saw with your mental power earlier! Class monitor, did you see it?”

Shi Qin shook his head. “Is it an angle issue? Let me try from Xiang Jiuming’s position.”

Jiang Momo watched Shi Qin crawl over to Xiang Jiuming’s side and then, still confused, stare at the material for nearly ten minutes. She knew that the method probably wasn’t suitable for him.

Within that time, Xiang Jiuming kept explaining to Shi Qin, “Don’t look directly at the panel’s surface, you won’t be able to see anything. First, find the port, and then imagine the extension position of the port inside the material. After that, you’ll see that the pattern along the extension port is slightly different from other places…”

In the end, Shi Qin couldn’t find it. He stood up with his face already pale from mental power depletion, looking as if he had suffered a great blow.

“Everyone has different strengths, don’t be discouraged,” Jiang Momo comforted Shi Qin. “When you teach the other students later, you’ll also find that some will immediately spot it and some won’t be able to see it at all. It’s normal.”

Shi Qin didn’t speak, his lips pale.

Jiang Momo thought for a moment and then said, “If you really can’t see it, just practice more with your mental power.”

“I can feel it with mental power,” Shi Qin said. “But not being able to see it doesn’t give me much sense of security.”

Jiang Momo took a moment to understand what he meant. “You can’t see it? You used to be able to see the energy pathways directly?”

“Yes.” Shi Qin weakly nodded. “But with other interference points, I can only sense the general location.”

“How strong is your mental power?” Jiang Momo asked.

Ge Qing had mentioned that only people with extremely strong mental power could directly see the pathways.

“SSS-rank,” Shi Qin replied.

So he had always thought he was exceptionally talented in mecha manufacturing but now he was humbled.

“SSS-rank?” Jiang Momo’s face was calm.

So there’s an SSS-rank for mental power?

Earlier, Ge Qing had said her mental power was very high but when the physical exam was done, she only tested at S-rank. She thought the S-rank was the highest.

Jiang Momo raised her head and happened to meet Shi Qin’s bloodshot eyes. After a moment of thinking, she offered some encouragement, “Right now, not only is your mental power exhausted, but your body is also under high fatigue. That will affect your perception. After you rest, you might be surprised.”

Shi Qin knew Jiang Momo was comforting him. After all, Xiang Jiuming, despite not being in a good state, could still see things, but he didn’t speak. He only nodded to accept the comfort.

“Should we just leave these students lying here?” Jiang Momo scratched her head. “Should I call a moving company to take them back?”

“No need,” Shi Qin said. “They’ll recover in about two hours.”

Jiang Momo nodded. “Then I really won’t worry about them.”

“Don’t worry, go ahead and do your work,” Shi Qin said.

Jiang Momo heard his reassurance and walked straight to the shelf, continuing to pick out materials for her A-grade mecha.

Shi Qin watched for a while, confirming his previous guess.

The materials Jiang Momo brought out were obviously going to be assembled together but he had used his mental power. According to their established theory of one energy pathway per panel, those materials couldn’t be assembled. Instead, the newly discovered pathways lined up perfectly.

As Jiang Momo passed by him, she noticed he was deep in thought while staring at the material panels in her hand. Only then did she feel reassured enough to walk out the door.

***

Time quickly arrived at eleven o’clock and Jiang Momo stood once again at the entrance of the Special Forces training base, swiping her card expertly.

The soldier on duty was the same as yesterday. She glanced at him for a moment and then walked straight over to him, crouching in his shadow.

There was no other place to seek shade because of the direction of the sun.

About fifteen minutes later, a serious-looking old soldier opened the door from the inside.

He looked younger than Old Jiang but had a stern expression, his eyes full of doubt as he sized up Jiang Momo. “Are you Jiang Momo?”

Jiang Momo immediately stood up. “Yes!”

“Follow me,” the old soldier said, skipping introductions and turning to walk inside.

Jiang Momo followed.

“You seem to be in a bad mood. Is it because of me?” Jiang Momo asked, walking half a step behind him and tilting her head.

The old soldier glanced at her. “If you were pulled back to babysit during your vacation, you wouldn’t be in a good mood either.”

He was fed up. Every time some ‘royals’ came over, Major General Lu would have him and Old Jiang handle it, as if his face had ‘nanny’ written on it. He must have owed him in his last life!

“I heard you made Old Jiang leave yesterday?” the old soldier asked.

“It was an accident,” Jiang Momo explained somewhat awkwardly and then looked at the road ahead, which was starting to look familiar. “Is the canteen in the same direction as the training ground?”

“No,” the old soldier replied.

“I haven’t eaten yet.” Jiang Momo stopped. “Can you take me to the canteen first?”

“Isn’t your purpose here to train? Why not eat before coming?” The old soldier continued walking without stopping.

Jiang Momo was suddenly annoyed by his tone but she took a deep breath and held it in, following behind him.

As they reached the edge of the training ground, the old soldier reached into a large bag on the side of the field and handed Jiang Momo a bottle of nutrient solution. “Here, take it.”

Jiang Momo took it, drank it in one go, and was pleasantly surprised. “This tastes good.”

It was the best-tasting nutrient solution she’d ever had!

The previously rising anger disappeared in an instant.

“It’s much better than the canteen.” The old soldier nodded and then began pulling out more things from the bag.

“Take this electrolyte water, you’ll get dehydrated after long hours in the mecha. Also, this sweatband goes on your forehead to prevent sweat from getting into your eyes and from leaving marks from the helmet. Take the stabilizer too, it helps reduce joint injuries… What are you doing coming to training without preparing anything? Piloting mechas is no joke, it’s easy to get hurt.”

Jiang Momo was bombarded with instructions for a while but didn’t feel annoyed. She stood there, fully equipped, and only then got the old soldier’s approval to board the mecha.

“Warm-up exercises, prepare,” the old soldier’s voice came through the mecha’s intercom.

Jiang Momo immediately started compressing her mental power.

The mecha quickly started moving.

“Not bad!” The old soldier’s voice sounded slightly surprised on the intercom. “With this kind of ability, what was Major General Lu thinking? He told me not to talk too much, just correct your movements and don’t provoke you, force you to use strength, or something like that, saying it might distort your movements and cause injury. I thought I was getting another rookie!

“What’s there to worry about with your strength? I’ve never heard of a professional mecha pilot getting injured from using too much force. Where would it hurt?!”

Jiang Momo kept moving, then paused and said, “…Maybe it’s the heart?”

“Do you have heart disease? Haven’t you treated it? It’s not a big deal now, don’t hide it,” the old soldier said.

Jiang Momo kept moving. “It’s not a heart issue.”

“Then is it just heartbreak? You’re that fragile?” The old soldier was confused.

Jiang Momo stopped and turned to look at the old soldier. The mecha also turned its head.

“What are you looking at? It can’t be that I’m heartbroken, right?”

The old soldier stared up at the mecha’s unfeeling eyes for a moment and then his expression suddenly went blank. “Wait, no, you only started training yesterday. Yesterday, someone broke our force measurement wall that had been in use for over ten years…”

His voice grew smaller and smaller, and in the end, he muttered, “No wonder Major General Lu came back looking like a zombie yesterday. How great. He sent a big Buddha my way and now she’s my responsibility???”