The Real Daughter Just Wants to Pilot Mechas - Chapter 55

The old soldier’s face changed countless times in just a few seconds. He pinched his chin with one hand and muttered to himself, “What? What should I do? What can I teach her?”

“Should I keep practicing then?” Jiang Momo’s voice came from the walkie-talkie. It sounded normal but for some reason, the old soldier felt there was a hint of mockery in her tone.

He scratched his head. “My attitude earlier should’ve been okay, right?”

“It was fine!” Jiang Momo’s voice came again from the walkie-talkie.

The old soldier was stunned for a moment and then realized that in his shock, he had forgotten to turn off the walkie-talkie. He quickly turned it off, then felt something was wrong and fumbled to turn it back on.

He took a deep breath and tried to calm down, before asking about Jiang Momo’s basics seriously. “How old were you when you started learning mecha piloting? Who was your previous teacher? What’s your tactical style like?”

Jiang Momo paused her actions and thought for a moment. “Well… I started practicing yesterday. My teacher is Major General Lu. As for the style… One-hit kill?”

The old soldier was dumbfounded. “Huh?”

Jiang Momo nodded with confidence. “Yes, that’s right!”

Major General Lu had told her yesterday to treat that punch as a killing move.

“Yesterday… you piloted a mecha for the first time?!” The old soldier blinked his eyes wide, the biggest they’d ever been in his life and stammered, “And then you used an S-grade mecha to destroy the force measurement wall we’ve been using for decades?!”

Jiang Momo felt a little embarrassed. “I didn’t expect it either.”

The old soldier’s eyes were blank. “Alright, I get it.”

He dejectedly turned around and squatted down, taking a few seconds to calm himself. Then he turned back and started thinking about what to teach her, his mind a mess. “Have you ever done any combat training?”

“I’ve done some.” Jiang Momo thought for a moment.

She fought with alien beasts every day on the desolate planet.

“Then your hand-to-hand combat should be pretty good? Are you more of a practical fighter or…?” the old soldier asked.

“Probably, a practical fighter?”

Jiang Momo wasn’t quite sure what the professional terms meant but she was definitely a practical fighter, considering she had been in real combat every day on the desolate planet.

“I got it. I’ll call someone for you.” The old soldier closed his eyes, thought for a moment, and started calling people from the nearest training ground.

He was done for. He needed to find someone else to share the burden of the shocking news!

Five minutes later, a small squad rushed over, with the leader being Old Jiang who had been chased away yesterday.

Old Jiang looked at the old soldier whose face was full of defeat and gloated, “We were just doing battle training when we heard you shouting and came right over. What’s up? You can’t teach this little princess anymore?”

The squad behind them burst into laughter.

The old soldier sighed, “She wants combat training.”

Old Jiang gave a thumbs up. “You’re the best. You want to crush her confidence, make her so mad she runs off, and then you don’t have to babysit anymore! Why didn’t I think of that? I spent the whole night writing self-reflections yesterday for nothing.”

The old soldier chuckled awkwardly.

It was still uncertain whose confidence would be crushed.

“Your squad hasn’t used up your repair quota for this year, right?”

“No, why? You guys used yours up?” Old Jiang looked at the old soldier suspiciously. “I know we still haven’t returned the repair payments we borrowed last time but…”

The old soldier didn’t let him continue defending himself and spoke into the walkie-talkie, “Did you hear that? Let’s go!”

“Roger!” Jiang Momo’s firm voice came from the walkie-talkie.

Old Jiang was confused. “This is a bit too thorough, isn’t it? You really think she can break our mechas?”

“Don’t worry about it.” The old soldier raised his hand. “Who’s going first?”

“Report! I’ll go!” A burly soldier shouted from the lineup.

“Go ahead.” Old Jiang waved his hand, then leaned in towards the old soldier and spoke into the walkie-talkie, “Little Li’s a bit reckless in battle and doesn’t like backing off. If he offends you in any way, just bear with it.”

“It’s fine,” Jiang Momo’s polite voice came through the walkie-talkie.

Soon, two mechas stood facing each other in the training ground.

The two mechas looked identical in terms of design, color, and specifications, but there were some subtle differences.

One stood perfectly straight while the other was more casual.

The casual one was clearly Jiang Momo.

Jiang Momo looked at the mecha in front of her, which was ready to attack, her eyes scanning up and down. Her mind quickly listed the opponent’s weaknesses and fatal points.

Old Jiang looked at the two mechas and elbowed the old soldier. “You really are bad! She doesn’t know anything yet and you already threw her into a battle!”

“You’ll regret it later,” the old soldier said lightly.

“What? You think she’s some kind of prodigy, able to turn from not knowing anything to being unbeatable in just one night?” Old Jiang didn’t take his words seriously, chuckling.

Soon, the two mechas started moving.

At that point, Old Jiang still didn’t realize the severity of the situation. “See, I told you, her movements are still not standard!”

As soon as Jiang Momo entered the battle, her adrenaline spiked and her movements became a little erratic. Realizing her movements were starting to deform, she immediately gave up on the idea of a prolonged battle.

She had watched Yan Chang participate in the Mecha Competition before and everyone was playing a long game. She thought that the longer she practiced, the better she’d control the mecha! But seeing how aggressive her opponent was, she knew that the other side was aiming for a quick decision!

Then, let’s end it quickly!

Under everyone’s watchful gaze, just as the two mechas were about to collide, the one with the deformed movements twisted its waist at a sharp angle, narrowly dodging the attack, then sidestepped half a pace and slammed its arm toward the back of the opposing mecha with full force.

Old Jiang mocked, “The back? That’s just grasping at straws. That’s where the energy core is and the outer casing is the strongest part. If this hit doesn’t work, there won’t be another chance.”

Before he could finish his sentence, a loud bang rang out. The struck mecha crashed to the ground, skidding several meters before coming to a stop.

One hit kill!

The combat style Jiang Momo had mentioned popped into the old soldier’s head.

He had thought she was just a little young and dramatic when she said it. He didn’t expect it to be so accurate!

“The energy core’s been damaged.”

Little Li climbed out of the cockpit, face flushed, and quietly put his mecha back into its storage key before returning to the line with his head down.

“Next, Little Zhang, step out!” Old Jiang called, instructing him, “She wins with brute strength but she’s not fast. Little Li lost because of too many openings. Don’t let her get close, hit and run. Go for a long fight.”

Xiao Zhang nodded and got into his mecha.

Then got flattened by Jiang Momo in one punch.

Old Jiang: “…”

The old soldier ignored his grim expression and started calling for the others to step up.

Old Jiang gritted his teeth. “So that’s why you didn’t call your own squad. You didn’t want to see them get wrecked!”

“No worries. It looks like this round will be over soon.” The old soldier checked the time. “I’ll call in some more after that.”

Old Jiang stopped him. “I’ll call for you!”

Soon, more squads had gathered around the training ground.

The squad leaders stood up front, watching the brutal fight unfold, and started asking questions.

“Who’s in that mecha? That technique is so brutal.”

“Is that sloppy movement a new kind of tactic? Why is it so powerful?”

“Which squad did you bring that ace from? Doing this to your own guys isn’t humane. When this round ends, let my squad take the next beating for you.”

“Why your squad? Mine should go first!”

“What’s there to fight over? Just wait. At this pace, she’ll finish a full round before it gets dark.”

Old Jiang’s mindset had gone from shock to numbness to proud resignation. He looked up at the mecha and murmured, “Is it just me or is the princess’s movement getting smoother?”

He wasn’t wrong. Jiang Momo’s combat experience was subtly shifting.

She had finally found the balance!

Excessive mental power and physical strength affected her movement but massively boosted the impact of punches, elbow strikes, and kicks. As long as she controlled the distance, left no room to dodge, and timed her power properly, then even deformed movements wouldn’t hinder her. Instead, they became an advantage.

The crowd was noisy. The old soldier stood with arms crossed, watching the fight with a sigh.

Old Jiang noticed. “What’s wrong?” he asked quietly.

“She hasn’t been hit even once so far.” The old soldier sighed again.

Old Jiang was confused. “Isn’t that a good thing?”

The old soldier shook his head. “Haven’t you noticed? Her dodging is all instinctive. Even when a fist’s already about to hit her, she manages to deflect and dodge. That means the opponents she’s faced before were terrifyingly strong, so strong that she couldn’t afford to take even a single hit. That kind of opponent doesn’t exist in the Federation, not that we’ve heard of.”

“You’re suspecting her origins? Are you okay? She’s Major General Lu’s hand-picked little princess. Quit overthinking.” Old Jiang patted his shoulder. “I’ve been beaten down so thoroughly, nothing can shake me anymore.”

The old soldier turned. “You don’t know how that wall broke yesterday, do you?”

“They said it was Major General Lu, right?” Old Jiang met his eyes for a moment. Under the old soldier’s half-smiling stare, his hair stood on end. He gave a dry laugh. “Wasn’t it?”

The old soldier smiled. “What do you think?”

“Huh???” Old Jiang was completely numb. He couldn’t even speak.

The fight continued until nightfall, ending only when all the mechas were taken to the Military Research Institute’s Maintenance Department.

Once everyone had left, Jiang Momo jumped down from the cockpit, took the towel the old soldier handed her, and wiped the sweat from her forehead, before thanking him cheerfully, “Thank you so much! Thanks to you, I finally know how to pilot a mecha!”

The old soldier took the towel and handed her an electrolyte water bottle from his bag. “You’re way too modest. That’s far beyond just piloting.”

But she still felt she had room to grow. She hadn’t even fully tapped into her strength yet.

Jiang Momo considered saying that but held back and started gulping down the water.

Afterward, a nutrient solution was handed to her.

“What time will you come tomorrow?” the old soldier asked.

“Around seven in the evening,” Jiang Momo replied after thinking.

The old soldier nodded. “I’ll find people ahead of time for you.”

The soldiers of the First Military District had been stationed in a peaceful zone for too long and had grown complacent. It was a perfect opportunity to wake them up.