The Real Daughter Just Wants to Pilot Mechas - Chapter 66

Jiang Momo took a deep breath. “Let’s move. The alien beast’s nearly in the city.”

Not far off, a massive alien beast loomed at the edge of a hastily raised defense wall, pacing menacingly. Soldiers aimed thermal weapons at it, locked in a standoff.

Seeing the scene, Lu Feng gave the command and everyone boarded their mechas.

A dozen S-grade mechas appeared in the clearing.

Jiang Momo tilted her head back.

Those mechas looked truly imposing. She didn’t even come up to their calves when standing beside them.

The next second, under her gaze, Lu Feng’s mecha cockpit door opened and a walkie-talkie was tossed down, landing squarely in Jiang Momo’s hands.

Lu Feng’s voice came from inside. “Stand about ten meters away later. I’ll explain the key points to note during combat and the proper way to attack the alien beast. I hope you’ll be able to join us soon. Stay safe.”

Inside the mecha, Lu Feng turned off the walkie-talkie, very satisfied with his performance.

He had tried his best to come across as friendly and gentlemanly. Surely that would help restore his image in Jiang Momo’s eyes! In Lu Feng’s opinion, aside from a misunderstanding the first time they met, things had gone pretty smoothly after that. He just didn’t understand why Jiang Momo always treated him with such indifference. It was strange.

“You’re the ones who need to be careful,” Jiang Momo said.

She didn’t want to end up having to rescue them.

Lu Feng said nothing more and gave orders via the team communicator. Over a dozen mechas powered up and quickly headed in the direction of the alien beast.

Jiang Momo activated her exoskeleton thrusters and followed.

Soon, the mechas reached the city’s edge and surrounded the alien beast. Their formation was unique, positioned such that they couldn’t hit the alien beast’s vital points nor stop it from escaping.

Jiang Momo stopped about ten meters away.

At that moment, the local soldiers on the wall were cheering their arrival.

The cheers didn’t catch Jiang Momo’s attention because her eyes were fixed on the alien beast in the center.

It was an enormous creature, much larger than most she had seen on the desolate planet. To put it simply, it resembled an alien beast king.

From her experience on the desolate planet, alien beast kings were mutated from ordinary alien beasts. They had greater strength and speed and, more importantly, some level of intelligence. But at the same time, their instinctive sense of danger was dulled.

Later on, after she drove all the alien beasts to the far side of the planet, there were always new alien beast kings bringing their underlings back to try and reclaim territory. They were tough to deal with.

It was the first time she had encountered a lone alien beast king.

Jiang Momo’s eyes instinctively scanned the creature, searching for its weak points.

Lu Feng’s voice came through the walkie-talkie again.

“This is a mutated terrestrial alien beast. Its skin is very tough, so most thermal and kinetic weapons can’t penetrate it. Its speed is unknown for now. It likely has some intelligence. Based on past encounters, weak points are the eyes, abdomen, and similar areas.

“Before attacking, always observe the alien beast’s movement. Attacks will send it into a frenzy, so the first strike must be carefully calculated. Everyone needs to position themselves where the alien beast can’t reach once it goes berserk.”

He was seriously trying to teach her something.

Jiang Momo looked toward Lu Feng with a complicated expression and then picked up the walkie-talkie.

“You sure you don’t want me to help? This one’s weak spot is at the back of the head. You might want to adjust your formation.”

She was hoping to wrap things up quickly and get back. If she didn’t hurry, the banquet would be over.

“No need. Go behind the wall and stay with the soldiers. It’s safer there,” Lu Feng said, ignoring the second half of her comment. “You’ll still be paid as if you participated, so don’t worry. It’ll be over soon.”

Hearing that, Jiang Momo immediately activated her thrusters and flew to the top of the wall.

Only then did the soldiers notice that the team included someone like her, looking slightly surprised.

“You’re not fighting? Why don’t you have a mecha?”

“I don’t have one yet,” Jiang Momo said, settling into the middle of the group and glancing at the squad members already engaging the beast.

To be fair, they were very well coordinated. Some were distracting and others attacking, some harassing, while others sneaking in hits. Dozens of mechas darted around the alien beast whose movements were becoming more frantic, its wounds increasing.

Jiang Momo frowned.

How long was it going to take?

“They’re amazing. As expected of the Federal Army.”

Beside her, a soldier looked on with admiration.

“Yeah, I wanted to join the Federal Army too but I didn’t pass the test.”

“The alien beast’s too close to the city. Otherwise, the Federal Army could’ve just used large-scale destructive weapons to eliminate it.”

Jiang Momo pursed her lips and stayed silent.

It wasn’t the right place for her to share her opinion.

Lu Feng’s voice came through the walkie-talkie again.

“When battling alien beasts, we need to guide them away from populated areas to prevent them from strengthening by consuming intelligent life.

“Combat against alien beasts is all about swift, decisive action…”

Jiang Momo: “…”

She didn’t get it. Why did Lu Feng, a soldier, sound more like a teacher than she did?

“Thanks, Teacher Lu, but I know all this.”

“Momo, alien beast combat is a comprehensive operation. It’s not something you can just jump into because you understand it on paper.”

Lu Feng’s voice continued to come through the walkie-talkie. The soldiers around Jiang Momo were listening attentively but she was still watching the alien beast’s movements closely.

“Watch out!” Jiang Momo suddenly called out.

The next second, the alien beast abruptly changed its path, drawing in a mecha attempting a sneak attack. It lured the mecha to a spot where others couldn’t provide backup and struck with its claw.

The mecha crashed to the ground.

Where it landed, a sharp rock protruded noticeably. When the alien beast stomped down again, it wedged into the cockpit door’s seam.

The door was pried open and the alien beast was ready to eat the pilot like cracking open a can.

Lu Feng immediately raised his arm to aim and the squad accelerated their attacks.

At that moment, a black figure suddenly darted out.

It wasn’t large, not even as tall as a mecha’s shin, but it was incredibly fast. It bounded across the alien beast’s back and reached its neck in a few leaps, three times faster than a thruster at full power.

“Jiang Momo! That’s too dangerous!” Lu Feng shouted. “Retreat! Follow orders!”

He was the one who invited her into the team. He was also the one who brought her along on their first mission. If she died just like that, how would he have the face to invite anyone else in the future?

Lu Feng cursed silently, immediately shifted his battle strategy, and charged toward Jiang Momo’s location.

Before he even reached her, the alien beast had already collapsed with a thunderous crash. Its eyes were closed and its claws were still clutching the dinner it hadn’t had a chance to eat.

The change happened so suddenly that not only did the soldiers on the wall fail to react but even the squad members and the alien beast itself were caught off guard.

The squad was silent for a moment until someone suddenly spoke up. “Major General Lu, I thought what you said earlier was for her but turns out you were teaching us! You’ve got such a powerful backup, you should’ve just let her take over from the start!”

Someone else quickly cut in, “What are you saying?! That was Major General Lu trying to train us! Get some awareness!”

Cheerful chatter rang out from the comm system. Lu Feng looked at Jiang Momo who was currently trying to pry a soldier free from the alien beast’s claws and suddenly wasn’t sure how to face her.

“Let’s go. We’re heading back.” Jiang Momo slung the still-shaken squad member she had rescued over her shoulder and headed straight for the warship.

The others quickly followed.

Lu Feng brought up the rear. By the time he stepped in, Jiang Momo was already surrounded by a group of excited officers and soldiers.

“How did that alien beast suddenly go down? I didn’t even catch it.”

“Yeah, I thought we were going to lose a brother. Our missions are always so dangerous. I can’t believe this one went so smoothly.”

“That was incredible. If only I were that strong…”

Jiang Momo was surrounded, compliments echoing in her ears, making her feel a bit flattered.

Back on the desolate planet, she fought alien beasts every day and no one ever praised her like that. The Capital Star really was better!

“It’s nothing special. Every alien beast has a fatal weak point but it’s usually not obvious and hidden beneath tough flesh, so it’s hard to find.”

As she spoke, she admired the exoskeleton material wrapped around her fingers. It was far better than the one she had brought herself. It was lightweight and had a great boost. If she had used her own equipment, it would’ve taken at least three strikes to kill an alien beast of a similar level. And realistically, if the first strike failed, the difficulty of the fight would increase exponentially.

“So how did you spot it?”

“Because when it adjusted its position to defend against your attacks, it made sure to keep that part out of your attack range first,” Jiang Momo explained seriously.

That was how she always fought alien beasts on the desolate planet. First, intimidate them with a stare and then observe the area they instinctively protected the most when cowering. That spot was the weak point.

“Then why didn’t you tell us where it was?” the officer asked halfway and then suddenly realized, “Ah—it was part of the training, right? We’ve never had proper field training before. No one could cover for us. This is amazing. No wonder Major General Lu brought you in!”

Major General Lu turned slightly red at the ears and silently moved to a corner to reduce his presence.

So embarrassing. In all his years in the military, he’d never felt so ashamed.

The journey afterward was quite pleasant for Jiang Momo.

Aside from the praise-filled team, Lu Feng barely said two sentences to her.

One was, “You were the main force on this mission. Having no casualties against an alien beast of that level awards a third-class merit. Since you’re not a military member, we’ll convert it to cash of about two million.”

The other was, “Where are you headed next? We’ll drop you off.”

***

At that moment, the Xie family’s banquet had already been going on for three hours, nearly wrapping up.

The Jiang family was mingling with the nobles, offering toasts with practiced ease.

“Jiang Momo probably won’t show up today,” Jiang Yuan said, holding a wine glass as he walked behind Jiang Yingying.

Jiang Yingying ignored him and picked up a small piece of cake.

“Did you not eat enough at home?” Jiang Xian walked over and poked her. “Your father and brother are still working the crowd for the family. Don’t you two have anything to do?”

Jiang Yingying put the cake down, looking a bit wronged.

She had been doing a lot of physical training lately and was burning energy fast. The leafy greens at home just didn’t cut it. She could barely hold out the three hours in the banquet and finally grabbed a cake, only to be caught by her mom.

“Why isn’t Jiang Momo coming?” Jiang Yingying blurted out.

“What? Do you think if she comes, you’ll avoid getting scolded? If she’s unpresentable, does that mean you are too?” Jiang Xian shot her a look and scolded them in a low voice.

Jiang Yingying’s eyes instantly reddened. She wanted to explain but thinking of how stubborn her mom usually was, she closed her mouth.

Jiang Xian was about to say more when a sudden commotion rose nearby.

“What’s that? A warship?!”

The group immediately looked up as a warship was rapidly approaching and soon landed in the front yard.

By now, nearly everyone at the banquet had gathered, having seen the warship earlier.

“Mr. Xie, is your family now connected with the military? You kept that quiet, how impressive,” someone besides the Xie family teased. “Judging by the warship’s specs, there’s at least a general on board.”

The Xie family didn’t dare respond. They had no idea what was going on themselves.

Logically speaking, all the guests they had invited had already arrived.

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, more than a dozen soldiers marched out of the warship in formation, their boots striking the ground with a dull, powerful rhythm that carried an oppressive authority.

The soldiers quickly took positions on either side of the entrance. Then, a figure walked out from inside.

“Major General Lu!” someone in the crowd recognized Lu Feng and gasped.

The crowd stirred.

Major General Lu was the youngest major general in the Federation’s history! If not for the age restriction, his military merits would’ve qualified him as a lieutenant general long ago! He was always on missions and harder to meet than some marshals.

But clearly, Major General Lu wasn’t the main character that day. He took a step to the side and turned slightly to face the doorway.

From within, a person dressed in ordinary clothes stepped out.

Major General Lu reached out his gloved hand that she took.

A sharp intake of breath sounded.

Of course, someone had recognized Jiang Momo. In recent days, the Star Network has been buzzing with debate over whether Jiang Momo was truly part of the Jiang family. Some were still skeptical but after seeing the scene, all doubts vanished.

She was someone even Major General Lu treated with such respect! Not just in action but in demeanor, too! No way was she a fake!

And the Jiang family was trying to claim her now? Wasn’t that just blatantly riding coattails?! Those nouveau riche people were shameless in their thirst for attention!