The Real Daughter Just Wants to Pilot Mechas - Chapter 57

“Multiple pathways?”

Ge Qing took a while to find his voice. He swallowed hard, his throat suddenly dry. “I remember your students were just C-grade mecha manufacturers and only last week could they barely sense a single pathway.”

How did they evolve again in just a few days?!

Jiang Momo nodded repeatedly. “They’re quite talented.”

“Even with talent, it’s rare for a whole class to learn beyond their level, especially with the Federation’s strict controls. How did you teach them? If your teaching methods are reproducible, we could consider promoting it on a small scale.”

Ge Qing knew he probably wouldn’t be sleeping the next few nights but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that Jiang Momo had completed the mission he’d never been able to by breaking through the Federation’s restrictive mecha education framework and letting more people walk the path she did without detours!

Jiang Momo thought for a moment, then picked out the key points of her teaching process and concisely explained everything to Ge Qing, including how she subtly guided the students and how, with the help of the ‘success guru’ and Shi Qin, the students managed to reach the milestones of everyone perceiving an energy pathway, and then multiple energy pathways.

Ge Qing was silent for a long time after hearing all that.

He asked instinctively, “It was that simple?”

Then immediately corrected himself, “No, I misspoke. It’s not simple at all.”

Jiang Momo had removed all existing federal theories that might lead students to jump to incorrect conclusions due to preconceived notions.

Unlike other teachers who started their classes by telling students ‘There is only one pathway, all others are interference, do not try them,’ she subtly encouraged students to question, think, explore, and ultimately find the answers themselves.

The power of ‘authority’ is terrifying. If she, as the authority, had initially limited their thinking, the students wouldn’t have explored beyond that boundary.

“You’re really cut out to be a teacher,” Ge Qing said with envy in his tone. “You have an excellent sense of balance in your teaching.”

“But I really don’t know how to teach them. What should I do about the ones who still can’t see the patterns?” Jiang Momo looked at Ge Qing, full of curiosity.

Ge Qing thought for a moment. “When’s your next practical class?”

“Tomorrow afternoon,” Jiang Momo replied with an eager expression.

“I’ll teach it for you,” Ge Qing said.

He wasn’t currently leading a class but after hearing Jiang Momo’s description, he felt inspired with new teaching ideas and wanted to give it another go.

Jiang Momo’s eyes lit up instantly. “Thank you so much, Professor Ge!”

***

With Ge Qing’s promise secured, Jiang Momo was in a great mood as she spent some time prepping for class in her office. Then she went to the cafeteria for lunch and without pause, headed straight to the teaching building to give her theory lecture.

As soon as she opened the classroom door, a wave of heat rolled out.

Jiang Momo looked at the students tangled up in physically impossible positions, packed so tightly into the classroom that there wasn’t an inch of space left, and didn’t know what to say for a moment.

Now it was really impossible to even step inside. Why had the theory class suddenly become so wildly popular again?

“Everyone, this is an online class, right?” Jiang Momo walked into the room under all their gazes, cleared her throat, and raised her voice. “You can watch through your light brain, it’s basically like being here in person.”

A student in the front row, squeezed so hard they were almost off the ground, turned their head with effort. “Teacher! The light brain distorts things a little!”

“But last time’s interactive module is already over. This class will go back to the original slides. It’s not that interesting, so don’t crowd in here. Go back for now,” Jiang Momo said. Yet no one moved a muscle.

Soon, a student raised their hand.

“Teacher! It’s not that we don’t want to move. We really can’t!”

Jiang Momo scratched her head. Was this about to become a teaching incident?

She quickly messaged Ge Qing.

He replied quickly and told her not to worry as emergency robots were waiting outside.

Jiang Momo: “…”

If we’re at the point of needing emergency robots, isn’t that already too late?

Just as she was fretting, her light brain received another message.

She thought it was a solution from Ge Qing but it turned out to be from Ling Yelin.

[010]: [Introduction to Mecha Manufacturing (Advanced Version 2.0)]

Jiang Momo scratched her head in confusion.

[Jiang Momo]: Thanks but I really don’t have anything to give you right now.

[010]: It’s not for that. I heard from Wu Yue you’re going to the Border Star System this weekend. I’m going too, same ship, so I’m just giving you a heads-up.

[Jiang Momo]: Yan Chang is going too.

After that message, Ling Yelin didn’t respond again.

Jiang Momo waited a bit. When it was time for class to begin, she opened the file he had sent.

The next second, everyone was standing in a primeval forest.

A massive alien beast leaped out nearby, let out a deafening roar at the crowd, and then tilted its head in visible shock when it saw the mass of students squished together.

“It’s a sentient program!” a student shouted excitedly. “It’s totally worth it! This kind is super expensive!”

As soon as the student finished, a mecha dropped from the sky and kicked the alien beast over, only to be immediately surrounded by more alien beasts bursting out from every direction.

The following battle was best described as a massacre. In no time, the mecha was torn apart and completely destroyed into a pile of scrap.

Jiang Momo frowned, her fists clenching.

What the hell was the scene trying to teach the students?

That they work their asses off building a mecha, only for it to be this weak?!

[Introduction to Mecha Manufacturing: Mecha Structure]

Large words floated up from the wreckage and froze in the air.

Then the relatively intact cockpit floated up under everyone’s gaze.

[The cockpit is divided into the front and rear compartments: the operations room and the core energy chamber, respectively.]

With a blank face, Jiang Momo read the floating text out loud, at least half-participating in the lesson.

The class ended quickly but Jiang Momo felt both mentally and physically drained.

In two whole hours, more than twenty mechas got shredded by alien beasts right before her eyes! The piloting was so bad it made her heart hurt! And several times she was forced to sit inside the cockpit and watch from the pilot’s view. It was immersive but also incredibly annoying!

***

At 6 PM, when the old soldier picked her up at the base gate, he was surprised. “You’re here this early?!”

“I didn’t have much appetite this afternoon, so I skipped my mealtime,” Jiang Momo said with a smile but her eyes lacked any light, as if something had seriously pissed her off. Her brows furrowed unconsciously.

The old soldier looked at her expression, realized something was wrong, and pulled a candy out of his pocket to hand to her.

“I’ve already found the people for you. I just didn’t expect you to come this early, so you might have to wait a bit longer.”

Jiang Momo took the candy, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth.

“Are you in a bad mood because you’re trending online? But at least there doesn’t seem to be any negative comments right now.” The old soldier tried to comfort her.

Jiang Momo: “Trending?”

The old soldier was stunned, then opened his light brain, switched to sharing mode, and showed her the page. “This one.”

The number one trending topic stood out.

[Shocking! The most densely populated place in the Federation appears! Not for the claustrophobic!]

The second trending topic followed.

[The most ergonomically efficient posture.]

Clicking on either topic showed clips from her class, mainly the scene of students stacking themselves like sardines to fit into the classroom, and below was a link directly to her online classroom.

“The number of live viewers for your class is almost 10 billion. At first, I thought you paid for the trending spot yourself,” the old soldier said, looking at her with genuine honesty.

Jiang Momo got curious.

She immediately opened the chat with the HR lady and started asking about performance bonus calculation.

[Ox Horse Little Wang]: Here’s how it works. If the average viewership exceeds 100,000, you get a bonus of 0.01% of that number. Over 1 million, it’s 0.02%. Over 10 million, it’s 0.03%. The cap is 500,000 star coins and it’s paid with your end-of-month salary.

As she walked with the old soldier toward the training ground, Jiang Momo did some quick mental math and confirmed she’d be getting the full bonus. Her mood instantly lifted.

The salary was better than building mechas!

Just as she broke into a smile, a bottle of nutrient solution was shoved in front of her.

Jiang Momo took it and downed it in two gulps.

“Major General Lu will be here soon to observe,” the old soldier reminded her. “Do you want to warm up in advance?”

“Of course!” Jiang Momo only heard the second part and quickly nodded. Then she looked around the familiar environment and asked, “Weren’t we switching to a larger venue?”

“It’s already been expanded. According to Major General Lu’s instructions, the spectator area can now accommodate half a division,” the old soldier said, pointing to the side. “I borrowed a spatial expansion device from the research institute.”

The old soldier didn’t tell her that the other military districts would be observing that day and Major General Lu had specifically requested her training as part of a military capability demonstration.

Of course, to avoid the First Military District losing face entirely, it wasn’t going to be a one-on-one battle. Instead, their elite members would gang up on Jiang Momo.

Jiang Momo glanced at the packed spectator stands. “How many people were invited this time?”

“Around six or seven thousand,” the old soldier cautiously replied. “But don’t worry, not all of them will be on the field. Just ten people at a time, seven or eight rounds should do it.”

He hesitated, unsure how to explain to Jiang Momo that she’d be fighting one against nine. Despite her incredible talent in piloting with strength, awareness, and quick reflexes, it could still be a huge psychological blow if she got beaten up. It might affect her future performance.

“Ten per round? Only seven or eight rounds? Is there room to negotiate on the number of people or rounds?” Jiang Momo asked with a bit of regret.

She didn’t come all that way just to fight for under an hour and go home, right?

“The number of people per round will be adjusted based on post-battle evaluations,” the old soldier explained. “The main thing is, we have another event at ten that the entire military must attend, so we only have three hours.”

“I get it!” Jiang Momo raised her hand. “So no matter how many per round or how many rounds total, as long as the whole thing fits within three hours, we’re good, right?”

The old soldier felt something was off with that statement but couldn’t quite figure out what. He nodded. “Yes, that’s right.”

Jiang Momo rolled her neck and wrists and then patted the old soldier on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, I won’t embarrass you as my mentor.”