The Real Daughter Just Wants to Pilot Mechas - Chapter 70

The three walked toward the academy.

Jiang Momo fell half a step behind, walking just behind the two. Her eyes subtly swept over E Mingjun.

He noticed her gaze and turned his head slightly, long lashes shading his eyes. He asked softly, “What is it?”

Jiang Momo shook her head. “Nothing. I’m just wondering where you’ve been these past few days.”

She had examined him carefully just now. Aside from a slight change in his hair color, there were no noticeable differences in his facial or body structure. The person standing in front of them was indeed E Mingjun himself.

“I was looking for a buyer for my mecha,” E Mingjun said quietly. “I had a skirmish with the interstellar pirate hunter once and I figured we’d run into each other again, so I trained hard in piloting. But turns out I had the wrong target. The mecha ended up being useless and expensive to maintain, so I sold it.”

He sounded relieved, like he had let go of some heavy burden. Light sparkled in his eyes, making him seem full of life all of a sudden.

Jiang Momo blinked. “You fought the interstellar pirate hunter?”

E Mingjun was quiet for a moment. “Yeah.”

It was during that battle that the interstellar pirate group lost their treasure and his father and older brothers died.

He had secretly snuck aboard the spaceship with his father and hid in the storage room, going unnoticed. When the lights went out completely, he realized something was wrong.

Since the storage room was already dark, he hadn’t noticed at first. But he found one of his older brothers unconscious from the attack and retrieved the mecha’s key from his neck. He then engaged in combat.

“You fought using a mecha?” Jiang Momo asked.

E Mingjun nodded.

Suddenly Jiang Momo lit up. “So that right hand they were auctioning off before was from you?”

“Yeah.” E Mingjun nodded again.

He clearly remembered severing the wrist of the interstellar pirate hunter’s mecha exoskeleton. At the time, he hadn’t paid it much attention. The one put up for auction was just a replica, something he auctioned off every year as bait to follow the buyers’ trails. Then he’d refund the money and retrieve the item. That was how he had met Yan Chang, though Yan Chang didn’t know it.

Hearing his words, Jiang Momo grabbed his arm. “Can you teach me how to pilot a mecha?!”

The mecha she had fought back then was definitely more powerful than a standard super A-grade. Its performance surpassed her S-grade mecha operation while deformed. She remembered that even when she tried to cushion the blow, she still couldn’t avoid her exoskeleton being damaged by him.

Yan Chang laughed. “That’s like using a sledgehammer to kill a fly. You trip just walking in a mecha. I could teach you, no problem.”

His impression of Jiang Momo’s mecha skills was still based on when she tried to pilot E Mingjun’s super A-grade mecha and flopped. For once, he felt proud.

Finally, there was something he could do that Jiang Momo couldn’t! So it was not that he was no good. It was just that I hadn’t found his lane! Yan Chang’s thought was smug.

Jiang Momo scratched her face, unsure how to explain her current piloting abilities, and forced a laugh. She looked past Yan Chang and locked eyes with E Mingjun. “Well?”

“Sure.” E Mingjun met her gaze and nodded before realizing it, then added, “But I don’t have a mecha right now.”

“I do. Come with me tomorrow.” Jiang Momo’s eyes swept over his hair again.

He noticed the stare as it wasn’t subtle but he couldn’t explain. After destroying the interstellar pirate group, every other interstellar pirate group in the Chaos Star System had him on their wanted list. He changed his identity and returned to the Central Star System to keep hunting the interstellar pirate hunter. The hair dye he brought with him had run out and he found out on the trip that the brand was discontinued.

The new dye had a slight color difference but it was not noticeable to most. The first time they met, he’d said his hair color was natural and Jiang Momo seemed to really like it. He knew he didn’t have Yan Chang’s authority, Ling Yelin’s wealth, or Peng Ji’s good looks. If even his hair color was fake, he wasn’t sure what else he had that Jiang Momo would like.

Especially now that they were meeting in person again, he didn’t dare tell the truth. He feared disappointment in her eyes.

Wu Yue had sworn that the difference wasn’t visible to the average person. Jiang Momo… probably wouldn’t notice either, right?

E Mingjun subconsciously touched his hair.

“Don’t move.” Jiang Momo had clearly noticed something but judging from his expression, she realized she wasn’t supposed to. She reached out and brushed his hand with hers. “There was a leaf.”

“What leaf?” Yan Chang asked automatically. Then under Jiang Momo’s pointed look, quickly corrected himself, “Oh—yeah, I didn’t see clearly. There really was. I can’t believe you walked around with that on your head, Tutor E. Haha.”

E Mingjun didn’t hear what Yan Chang said. Once Jiang Momo’s eyes moved away, he let out a quiet breath. “If it’s a B-grade mecha, there’s really no need for specialized training. The upper limit isn’t high.”

“It’s not B-grade.” Jiang Momo shook her head.

“You made an A-grade?!” Yan Chang pushed E Mingjun aside, grabbing Jiang Momo’s hands with stars in his eyes.

“Not yet,” she said.

Yan Chang’s face immediately fell. “Oh. Never mind then. You two carry on.”

“Are you free tomorrow?” Jiang Momo asked.

E Mingjun nodded.

Yan Chang refused right away. “Not going.”

He already had a super B-grade mecha. No big deal.

“Alright.” Jiang Momo didn’t push. “Then I’ll be off. I’ve got something to do.”

She said her goodbyes and left the academy again, boarding a spaceship toward the First Military District’s training base.

She had to ask if she could bring someone to the base before she could decide where to have tomorrow’s training.

Lu Feng had mentioned they’d notify her through official channels if there were missions. So far, she still didn’t have his or the old soldiers’ direct contact.

***

The next afternoon, Jiang Momo brought E Mingjun to the base gate, scanned her card, and squatted down in a shady spot.

She waved him over while he was still taking in the surroundings. “Someone will come get us in a bit. Come here, it’s shady over here.”

E Mingjun tore his gaze away from the soldier standing guard beside her and walked over.

Jiang Momo squatted, secretly watching him.

She didn’t know if it was because his aura had changed but she thought E Mingjun looked even better now. He was already the kind of person who grew on you. His features were well-defined and though he rarely showed much expression, his brows and eyes had a calm, non-aggressive quality. Now, even though he seemed more cheerful, his eyes had gotten sharper, which made his presence more striking.

The moment the old soldier stepped outside, his gaze was instantly drawn to the unfamiliar figure standing next to Jiang Momo.

“A mecha pilot?”

“Good eye!” Jiang Momo stood up and walked over. “Let me introduce you. This is my good friend I mentioned yesterday, E Mingjun.”

Then she turned to E Mingjun. “This is the mecha pilot instructor I’ve been working with…”

She paused mid-sentence. After all that time, she realized she didn’t even know the old soldier’s name.

The soldier filled in, “Old Chen.”

“Captain Chen,” Jiang Momo continued without missing a beat.

“Nice to meet you, Captain Chen,” E Mingjun said with a smile and extended his hand.

The old soldier shook it and instantly his face twisted slightly as veins bulged on his arm.

Jiang Momo looked around and saw E Mingjun’s usual warm, breezy expression. She reached out and patted his arm. “Let go.”

“I didn’t mean to.” E Mingjun let go innocently.

The old soldier sighed. “I was the one who used too much force.”

He had just wanted to test what kind of skill level the guy had since Jiang Momo had recommended him.

From the looks of it now, he wasn’t an easy one.

“Let’s head in. Are the squad members coming today?” Jiang Momo asked curiously as they walked toward the training area.

“They can’t make it. The mechas aren’t fully repaired yet, so they’re still training hard,” the old soldier replied.

“Oh.” Jiang Momo nodded.

He pulled out two space buttons and handed them to her. “I prepared a mecha for your friend too.”

“I don’t need a mecha, thanks,” E Mingjun said with a polite nod.

Jiang Momo turned to him. “Not even when you’re teaching others?”

“No need. I’ll just watch your body movements from the side,” E Mingjun said.

The old soldier leaned in and whispered to Jiang Momo, “Have you seen him pilot before? Are you sure he’s that skilled?”

The main problem was that he didn’t think anyone besides Major General Lu could teach Jiang Momo anything when it came to the piloting technique.

“Rankings don’t lie. He’s number one on the Elite Mecha Pilot List,” Jiang Momo said.

The soldier wasn’t impressed. “A lot of our squad members were ranked first before joining too.”

E Mingjun didn’t react to the comment, which the old soldier took as guilt.

This guy was clearly strong but didn’t even have the confidence to pilot an S-grade mecha. He’d better report it to Major General Lu.

Jiang Momo didn’t notice the old soldier’s subtle reaction and walked with E Mingjun, chatting casually until they reached the edge of the training ground. She released her mecha from the space button and jumped in.

E Mingjun followed closely. Once Jiang Momo had all her sensors and equipment in place, he said, “Do a few moves for me to observe.”

Jiang Momo immediately performed a standard warm-up sequence.

E Mingjun frowned. “Why aren’t you using any force?”

“Because the moves would get deformed,” she answered instantly.

“It doesn’t matter. Use your full strength and let me see it.” His tone turned strict in an instant, fully stepping into the role of a stern instructor.

“They really will deform,” Jiang Momo explained as she repeated the movement. As soon as she used strength, the moves did warp, and before she could even finish the first warm-up, the mecha had already flopped onto the ground.

“Does the mecha feel too slow for you?” E Mingjun asked as she got it to stand up again.

Jiang Momo nodded rapidly. “Yes. My mental power exceeds the mecha’s capacity. It overloads easily.”

E Mingjun raised a hand. “There’s no such thing as overload. Your power is simply being limited by the mecha.”

“Then what should I do?” Jiang Momo was confused.

E Mingjun went silent.

He stayed quiet for a while, as if deciding whether or not to teach her.

Seconds passed and finally, he spoke, “Try using your mental power to guide the mecha.”

He paused again and then continued, “Mental power isn’t just for initiating and controlling a mecha from the inside. With S-grade mechas, due to how they’re made, your mental power can act on the exterior too. So when the mecha can’t keep up with your speed, you can forcibly push it to match you.

“Remember, you pilot the mecha, not the other way around.”

Jiang Momo instantly recalled the time she used mental power to wrap around the material panel’s cracks to repair the damaged metal neural fibers and realized E Mingjun’s suggestion made total sense.

Very reasonable. Totally workable!

“I got it!”

Once she understood the principle, everything became clearer.

She wrapped part of her mental power around the exterior of the mecha and then cautiously tried her first movement with the aid of an external push.

From the ground, the old soldier watched the previously motionless mecha move again.

This time it was noticeably faster. Though still a bit sloppy, there was real power behind each movement.

For the next three hours, the mecha repeated the same motion.

Raise the arm, then lower it.

Faster and faster, sharper and sharper, slicing through the air with a fierce whoosh.

The old soldier stood expressionless as the mecha’s arm left afterimages. He bent down to grab a water bottle from his bag. Just as he touched it, a loud crash rang out.

He turned his head, only to see the entire right arm of the S-grade mecha torn clean off, flung across the ground. Jiang Momo had already jumped out of the cockpit, running over with repair tools in hand.