The Real Daughter Just Wants to Pilot Mechas - Chapter 64

Shi Qin couldn’t feel happy at all.

He hesitated for a moment and said, “Teacher, what if the mecha can’t be successfully activated after it’s completed? That would waste a lot of materials. Can we really not consider using an assistant robot?”

He had asked Jiang Momo the same question before but she hadn’t directly answered why they weren’t allowed to use assistant robots. Back then, they hadn’t thought it was a big deal. After all, Jiang Momo looked like she had full confidence in them.

But over the past couple of days, the more they worked on the mecha, the more uneasy they became. Before attaching every single part, they couldn’t help but wonder if it might be the final straw that caused the whole thing to fail. The psychological pressure was intense.

When Jiang Momo heard him, she looked around and saw that the other students all wore expressions of agreement. After thinking for a moment, she said, “Most mecha manufacturers start with easy tasks and gradually move to harder ones, that’s the traditional path. However, I believe that learning from hard to easy builds a stronger foundation.

“If you encounter all the possible problems during your studies, the actual manufacturing process later will go much more smoothly. Think about it, when you’re assembling the mecha now, don’t you all check and double-check the pathway engravings before installing a part to make sure there’s no issue?”

Shi Qin nodded. “But there can still be differences between what we see with the naked eye and what a robot-assisted test would show.”

“That doesn’t matter. This process is a kind of training for your abilities. Think about it, aren’t most mecha manufacturers in the Federation nowadays heavily reliant on assistant robots to get their work done?” Jiang Momo said. “But you aren’t. That’s exactly where the gap in skill lies.”

Shi Qin hesitated, wanting to say more.

With current Federation tech booming, he really couldn’t imagine a situation where he could stand out from other mecha manufacturers by not relying on assistant robots.

Jiang Momo saw what he was thinking, patted him on the shoulder, and said, “You’re learning for yourself. The difference in foundations will show in all kinds of ways.”

After all, when Little Eight taught her, it was always shouting things like ‘a weak foundation will shake the mountain.’ She thought it made a lot of sense.

Jiang Momo looked around again. Seeing that the students looked thoughtful, she added fuel to the fire. “You’re the first batch of students I’ve taught. I hope to train you all based on what I’ve learned. But that’s just my ideal plan. If you really think this is too difficult, I can still buy assistant robots for you.”

Shi Qin immediately responded, “No need, Teacher. We were just curious about why our learning process is different from everyone else’s. That’s all.”

Stress is stress but it’s better than disappointing the teacher!

Jiang Momo looked into Shi Qin’s eyes and saw a strong fighting spirit there. Only then did she relax.

“You don’t need to worry too much. I’m here. For this class, continue with the manufacturing. I’ll watch over everything and if there are any issues, I’ll let you know.”

Upon hearing her, the students felt relieved and went back to their work.

Jiang Momo stood by and observed. She found that their division of labor was very efficient. Everyone was positioned according to their strengths and their coordination was smooth.

The material panels were passed between students. The first one identified the right port, the second located the general path for the energy pathway and handed it to the third who engraved it and passed it to the next person for installation; a basic prototype of an assembly line.

Jiang Momo held her chin in thought, considering the possibility of having them rotate positions for the next mecha.

Originally, the plan was to let them cooperate on a single mecha first and then start working solo. But now it seemed like they needed to run several rounds of collaborative work.

Jiang Momo quickly tossed out the few nasty ideas she’d had that could damage their unity.

For example: updating the rules so only the assembler gets credit and prize money with no sharing allowed.

Just before class ended, Shi Qin walked over to Jiang Momo. “Teacher, do we have any issues in the manufacturing process?”

“Nothing obvious for now. Who organized your current workflow?” Jiang Momo asked.

Shi Qin replied, “No one did, it formed naturally. Everyone tried each part of the process and settled into the one they were best at.”

As he spoke, Shi Qin suddenly felt something was off. Wasn’t that exactly against Jiang Momo’s philosophy of learning from hard to easy?

Teacher Momo was hinting at something!

He quickly added, “Don’t worry, Teacher. I’ll have them rotate positions every day from now on.”

Jiang Momo’s eyes lit up. “But the students might not understand this approach.”

Shi Qin paused for a second.

“I’ll tell them only those who participate in assembly get the prize money.”

Now that’s the right mindset! Talking with smart people really saves effort! Even though she hadn’t meant it that way with her earlier question.

Jiang Momo looked at Shi Qin with admiration.

Shi Qin kept his head down and asked, “Teacher, do you think this idea undermines fairness?”

“Of course not. Your thinking is flexible,” Jiang Momo said, patting his shoulder.

Shi Qin let out a breath of relief.

Jiang Momo was about to praise him further when she suddenly got a message from Ling Yelin.

[010]: The Golden Crow ore you sold was bought by someone from the Military Research Institute. They asked if there was more available.

[Jiang Momo]: There’s none left.

[010]: Alright. They said it’s the highest quality raw material they’ve received in recent years. As thanks, they sent us a coil of the finished metal neural fibers. I don’t need it, so I’ll give it to you. [Image]

Jiang Momo had just been wondering how much to pay Ling Yelin for the metal neural fibers but the moment she saw the image, her mind dropped that entirely and shifted focus.

Those are metal neural fibers? Those were fibers? By sight, it’s got to be three millimeters thick. The pathway engraving would only be as thin as two strands of hair. How the hell is that supposed to fit?! Or is it just the photo size distorting the dimensions?

[Jiang Momo]: I’ll take it. Deduct it from the balance I still owe you.

[010]: No need. It’s a gift. I’ll have Wu Yue bring it over to you.

[Jiang Momo]: Thanks.

***

After class, Jiang Momo said goodbye to the students and didn’t continue to work on her A-grade mecha. Instead, she went to the school library.

Last time, on her way there, she’d been stopped by Wu Yue, and with everything that happened afterward, she figured she’d build her mecha step by step instead, so she hadn’t given much more thought to those books.

But now, after seeing the real metal neural fibers, her curiosity was once again ignited! Especially after recalling the recent seemingly suggestive words from Professor Ge, she had to figure out the manufacturing principle that very day!

Very quickly, Jiang Momo found those books in the library.

“That Winter, Bedtime Stories, Alien Beast War Chronicles, Ye Fei’s Diary 2, and Wandering on the Unknown Planet. I remember it’s those few books, right?”

Those were the books Professor Ge had read during a certain time period, which she had asked Little Eight to find after he hinted she should study ancient scripts when they first discussed S-grade mecha production.

[Correct,] Little Eight replied.

Jiang Momo opened the books one by one.

That Winter was a love story set about 200 years before the Alien Beast War. The language was simple and the content was completely ordinary.

Bedtime Stories was, as the name suggested, a collection of small bedtime tales. It was quite fun and Little Eight had it in its database already, so Jiang Momo didn’t continue after glancing at the first page.

The one that seemed most relevant to mechas, Alien Beast War Chronicles, was published seventy years before the actual Alien Beast War. It was a sci-fi novel. The mechas in it were still operated manually, completely different from the current ones.

Jiang Momo sighed and opened Ye Fei’s Diary 2.

She paused the moment she opened it.

The first page was already diary entries. There was no preface or table of contents.

Star Year 6112? Jiang Momo glanced at the date and roughly calculated it.

The switch from manual to sensory mechas happened 135 years ago. The dates in the diary were from 145 years ago. If it was indeed related to mechas, it could be content from the very early days of sensory mechas.

She continued reading.

[Star Year 6112, July 9, Tuesday, Cloudy]
Damn weather. I hate overcast days. Everything about this border planet is fine except it’s too humid. I shouldn’t have come with my father. He’s fighting a war, so what does he bring me along for? It’s not like I can’t support myself. He won’t let me go to the battlefield but insists on bringing me. So annoying.

[Star Year 6112, July 11, Thursday, Cloudy]
Bored. Went out to play cards with some people.

[Star Year 6112, July 12, Friday, Cloudy]
Still bored. Played cards. Tried the new wine brewed by Ergou. I didn’t even do anything but he insisted on treating me. Guess I’m just too amazing.

[Star Year 6112, July 14, Sunday, Cloudy]
Why are so many people trying to get me to drink? I don’t even like drinking. I haven’t even finished my work. I hate working. The pay’s terrible. These people are even trying to guilt-trip me. So annoying.

[Star Year 6112, July 17, Wednesday, Cloudy]
Went out to play cards again. Lost all the money I earned. So mad. I’ll go back to work tomorrow.

[Star Year 6112, July 18, Thursday, Cloudy]
Don’t feel like working today.

Jiang Momo kept flipping. There were just a bunch of aimless, boring ramblings. That was how she knew she was on the right track.

No publisher would release a meaningless book and keep it in circulation for so long. There had to be something hidden in it.

Jiang Momo continued flipping. As expected, she found something.

[Star Year 6112, October 18, Friday, Sunny]
Damn. I messed everything up. They all cracked. I’m about to crack too. This is going to cost me a fortune.
I’m such a useless piece of trash.

[Star Year 6112, November 20, Wednesday, Sunny]
I didn’t dare go out for a whole month. But today I need to show off a little. I knew it. I’m a genius.
Who’s a genius? I am!

[Star Year 6112, November 21, Thursday, Sunny]
Went out to play cards. My luck’s turning. I’m starting to win.

Jiang Momo folded a few diary pages with actual content, then repeatedly compared them and confirmed her theory.

From July 18 to October 18, that was exactly three months. It was enough time for a mecha material panel to be carved with pathways and left to naturally degrade. Based on the diary, the panel would crack a bit after degradation but likely not completely. It would crack just enough to embed a three-millimeter-thick metal neural fibers!

It all matched up!

Jiang Momo immediately messaged Wu Yue to ask where to meet. With no reply, she continued flipping through the diary.

The rest of the content was like the beginning. He wrote about everything, yet said nothing. Just that he often played cards and often lost.

While browsing, Jiang Momo kept checking for Wu Yue’s message. Wu Yue was clearly very busy and only replied two hours later.

[AAA Galaxy-Wide Shopper Sister Wu]: I left the stuff at your dorm’s delivery point. Once you’re back, a robot will deliver it to you. I’ve got some things going on, so I will contact you later.

As soon as Jiang Momo saw the message, she stood up, returned all the books, and headed for her dorm.

When she received the delivery, she didn’t wait even a second before opening it. Inside the box, a large bundle of yarn-like metal neural fibers lay silently.

No wonder such a crucial thing like metal neural fibers could be sold openly. No normal person would ever think to intentionally degrade and crack a material panel to embed metal neural fibers.

Considering the Federation’s bizarre confidentiality detection systems, Jiang Momo picked up the metal neural fibers and muttered to herself, “The carved pathways are so fine and the metal neural fibers are nearly three millimeters thick, so how is it supposed to fit? Mecha manufacturing is really too complicated.”