The Real Daughter Just Wants to Pilot Mechas - Chapter 89

“Alas, the heavens are really unfair.” Yan Chang took the chopsticks from the delivery robot and listlessly poked at the meat that had just been set down in front of him, letting out a long sigh.

Jiang Momo ignored him and kept her head down as she ate furiously.

Yan Chang glanced at the swirl of hair on top of Jiang Momo’s head and sighed again. “What have you been busy with lately? I haven’t seen you for several days.”

Without even looking up, Jiang Momo stuffed more meat into her mouth and mumbled, “Making your mecha. It’s almost done.”

“Really?!” Yan Chang perked up immediately upon hearing what he wanted. “How long will it take?”

“A week, maybe?” Jiang Momo thought for a moment and said.

Over the past few days, she had only gone back to the dorm every two days or so to sleep three hours, so the mecha she was making for Yan Chang was nearly finished. But now she had other work on her hands and judging by the frequency of notifications, the next alien beast extermination mission was coming soon. It would delay things, so she didn’t have the time to go all out on the mecha anymore.

“Master Momo! You’re my idol!” Yan Chang was so excited he reached for Jiang Momo’s hand but she dodged.

“Don’t get excited. I’m just lending it to you, so you can’t use it in any competitions.” Jiang Momo forced down the last bite of food and stopped once she felt about seventy percent full. At least her stomach didn’t have that acid-burning sensation anymore.

Yan Chang said, “Master Momo, if you ever need anything from me, just say the word! I’d give my all without hesitation!”

“That won’t be necessary,” Jiang Momo refused. “But can we go back to that hospital you took me to last time? I feel like my body’s going back to how it was in the beginning.”

Yan Chang froze. “Are you okay? Are you overworked again?”

That top-grade treatment agent should’ve kept even terminal patients energetic for two or three years before losing effectiveness. Why was it failing on Jiang Momo so soon?

Jiang Momo scratched her head. “No, I’ve been much more restrained lately. I’m getting way more sleep too.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Yan Chang said, puzzled. “As long as you’re getting six hours of sleep a day, you shouldn’t be burning out this fast.”

Jiang Momo asked cautiously, “Do normal people need six hours a day?”

“Most people sleep eight.” Yan Chang suddenly realized something and widened his eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re not even getting four?! Your insomnia is that bad?”

“But I don’t have insomnia. I fall asleep the moment I hit the pillow.” Jiang Momo scratched her cheek, feeling a little guilty.

Yan Chang furrowed his brow. “That doesn’t sound right.”

Could it be she’s developed some kind of underlying illness lately?

“I’ll take you right after lunch!” Yan Chang decided.

“Can we go a bit later? I have class this afternoon and want to nap first,” Jiang Momo asked.

Yan Chang had already filled his head with diseases that would drain someone’s energy. He wanted to drag Jiang Momo straight to the hospital but seeing the determined look on her face, he took a deep breath and said, “Fine. I’ll go to class with you this afternoon.”

***

In the afternoon, at the Mecha Arena, Jiang Momo looked at the now nearly empty manufacturing area with only ten people left since last week and suddenly felt the area was too spacious.

At the center of the area stood the A-grade mecha she had disassembled after building a quarter of it. After a week of student effort, only the upper body remained unfinished.

“That’s my mecha?!” Yan Chang had planned to wait outside but he saw the A-grade mecha and scattered parts through a crack in the door. He couldn’t help but shove the door open and rush in, reaching out to touch it.

“It’s not yours. It belongs to the arena,” Jiang Momo said.

The A-grade mecha had been handed over to the remaining nine students after most others had left and declared they weren’t staying. Jiang Momo had assumed it would take a while for them to begin work even after being freed from the confidentiality restrictions but surprisingly, they caught on quickly and their manufacturing speed increased steadily.

Jiang Momo swept a satisfied gaze over her outstanding students and her eyes gleamed with approval.

The remaining students were all top performers who had correctly identified the energy pathway in their very first class. In other words, her best students had chosen to stay, which comforted her a lot. As for Shi Qin, he had already graduated but hadn’t yet taken his recruitment exams, so he stayed on as a helper.

Yan Chang hugged the mecha’s leg and spent a good while seriously feeling it before finally letting go. “You’re building two mechas at once? That’s insane.”

No wonder her energy was draining so fast. She was pushing herself way too hard.

“The students are working on this one. I’m making yours,” Jiang Momo said.

It was a light sentence but it brought tears to Yan Chang’s eyes.

“You mean they learned to build an A-grade mecha without even entering the research institute?!”

Jiang Momo nodded. “They’re very insightful and they figured it out on their own.”

Yan Chang nearly ground his teeth. He didn’t believe her at all. He said in anger, “Why couldn’t I have a teacher like you?!”

“E Mingjun didn’t teach you well?” Jiang Momo joked.

“Tutor E is too busy. He barely has time for me. We’ve known each other for years but I’ve probably spent less time with him than I have with you in just this short period,” Yan Chang said gloomily.

He learned piloting from scratch under Tutor E but their time together was always fragmented. To this day, he hasn’t even won a single competition.

Jiang Momo patted his shoulder. “You’re already amazing.”

Yan Chang sighed. “I know my own limits. I won’t bother your class anymore. I’ll wait outside.”

As Jiang Momo watched his figure disappear through the door, she turned back to speak to her students, only to find them staring at her with sparkling eyes and gossip written all over their faces.

“Teacher Momo, who was that?”

“A friend,” Jiang Momo replied.

Shi Qin studied Jiang Momo’s expression and immediately knew she was telling the truth. She had looked perfectly calm and open when she said it. Before the students could start teasing her, he cut them off, “Quiet. Listen to Teacher Momo’s instructions.”

Since Shi Qin spoke up, Xiang Jiuming and the others understood right away and kept quiet.

With the gossip ringleader silenced, everyone else followed suit.

Jiang Momo shifted her gaze from them and pulled out a schematic.

“This is a cross-sectional diagram of an A-grade mecha’s leg. Your task today is to find materials to assemble a complete lower leg, including the skeleton and outer shell.”

She shamelessly put her students to work while mentally calculating how much to raise their pay.

Yes, the schematic was of the missing leg from the S-grade mecha. She already had a plan.

Find the right materials during class, deliver them to the warehouse where the time-manipulation equipment was housed near the military base provided by Ling Yelin for degrading, go to the hospital with Yan Chang to soak in the treatment agent, and then pick up the degraded materials to repair the mecha at the military base.

Even though Lu Feng had given her the mecha space button directly and she was grateful for his trust, there were surveillance cameras everywhere outside the military base. One careless move and it could be a leak. It was safer to repair it inside.

Her mental calculations crackled like firecrackers. Just as she happily prepared to chat with Yan Chang, her plans were upended. Before she could leave the manufacturing area, she received a notice from the military.

“Again?” Jiang Momo clicked her tongue at the word ‘alien beast’ in the message. She sent Shi Qin a message to keep the students on task, told Yan Chang she had an emergency and headed straight to the Mecha Arena’s entrance.

In less than two minutes, the military ship landed.

The area had already been cleared and no spectators were around. Jiang Momo quickly boarded the warship.

Inside was the same familiar squad from her first mission, the comrades who had gone with her to the Xie family’s banquet to back her up.

Lu Feng sat in the center chair and waved her over. “This one’s a bit trickier.”

Jiang Momo: “Trickier again?”

“This time it’s different. There are too many alien beasts, about twenty. Two of them are king-level. Luckily, the planet they landed on isn’t densely populated and evacuations are already underway,” Lu Feng gave her a quick briefing.

Jiang Momo sat across from him. “So, we’re handling that many alien beasts with just this few people?”

“Of course not. The selected 100-person squad already departed. They’ll arrive about ten minutes before us,” Lu Feng said.

***

The military ship sped through space using multiple continuous spatial jumps. When they reached the invaded planet, Jiang Momo noticed the 100-person squad already there was doing much better than last time. They no longer looked panicked or overwhelmed when facing the alien beasts.

The only problem was…

“They’re not coordinating,” Jiang Momo muttered as she watched the mechas weaving through the alien beast horde. “It looks like we need to implement team battles in our next simulation drills.”

As she leaned on the window thinking, someone poked her shoulder.

“You’ll be piloting this super S-grade mecha,” Lu Feng’s voice came from just behind her.

Jiang Momo turned to look at him and he quickly shoved a space button into her hand.

“Eh? Wait a minute, isn’t this way too risky?” Jiang Momo held the space button with her face full of confusion. “I’ve never trained in piloting a super S-grade mecha in battle.”

And it was the first super S-grade mecha in the entire Federation. Wouldn’t the mecha enthusiasts want to worship it like a shrine?

Lu Feng laughed. “Why does that sound so strange coming from you? I remember you as the type who charges in at the slightest provocation.”

“?” Jiang Momo quickly recalled how she had once tried to charge forward, only to be stopped by Lu Feng. “I have a pretty clear understanding of my own limits, okay?”

Past experience has taught her that she should only fight when she’s confident. Otherwise, it’s just throwing her life away.

“So you’re not going to pilot this mecha?” Lu Feng asked. “This latest-grade mecha is something everyone else on the team has tried but no one can really handle it.”

Jiang Momo: “…Isn’t it possible we just don’t use it in this battle?”

The quality of S-grade mechas had already left a deep impression on her. They broke way too easily! She was worried the super S-grade one might be the same. If it broke, she’d have to fix it herself and she didn’t have any spare metal neural fibers left!