Arcane: Twin Cities Mechanic

"Open the door, hurry! What's happening in there?"

Li Lin and Jayce had barely celebrated their success when the workshop's door was vigorously knocked.

Outside, the voice of Caitlyn's father, Tobias, echoed.

Li Lin opened the door, with Jayce following closely behind.

Standing outside were not only Mr. Tobias but also Mrs. Cassandra, Caitlyn, the butler, and several servants.

Upon seeing the two, Mrs. Cassandra frowned, her tone stern, "Li Lin, Jayce, what exactly are you doing? The entire house heard the commotion!"

"Just a small experiment, madam," Jayce's face beamed with a brilliant smile. "But for the specifics, let Li Lin explain to you."

Mrs. Cassandra scrutinized Li Lin.

"Cough... I believe we've developed a new technology that could usher in a new era," Li Lin said.

Caitlyn blinked her beautiful eyes, puzzled, "A new era? Didn't you just invent the generator?"

Li Lin shook his head with a smile, "No, the generator merely changes the current reliance on steam and hex crystals as power sources. The result of our recent experiment can elevate Piltover to a new level, an era where technology controls magic."

Magic...

The air fell silent for a few seconds.

"Using technology to control magic?!" Mr. Tobias widened his eyes. "Are you out of your minds?"

Not only him, but even Caitlyn and the servants behind them wore expressions of shock.

In contrast, Mrs. Cassandra appeared more composed. "Did you succeed?"

"Of course." Li Lin extended his right hand.

In the palm of his hand lay a dull hextech crystal, seemingly no different from one depleted of energy.

But no one in the room questioned it.

Both Li Lin and Jayce were recognized top artisans by Cassandra Kiramman, and they approached science with a serious and rigorous attitude.

They had no reason to lie.

"You two are secretly researching hex crystals!?"

Although there was a hint of anger in Cassandra's tone, Li Lin did not sense any anger on her face.

Moreover, researching Hex crystals was something she tacitly approved of, just left unspoken.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have allowed Li Lin to continue researching the hextech revolver last time.

Ignoring Cassandra's questioning, Li Lin extended his right hand to her.

"I've named it Hextech Energy Crystal. It's made from hex crystal as the raw material. In simple terms, it's an advanced version of hex crystal."

Li Lin explained, "Compared to regular hex crystals, the energy crystal is not only more stable, preventing explosions from intense collisions, but it can also provide several times more energy than ordinary crystals."

"Most importantly, unlike regular crystals that need to be recovered and recharged after energy depletion, it can self-recharge by absorbing magical elements from the air at any time."

Cassandra took the energy crystal, examined it carefully, found nothing unusual, and then returned it to Li Lin.

"How is this possible?" Mr. Tobias still found this technology very unrealistic. "The most important thing for casting magic is talent, an innate ability of a mage..."

Before Mr. Tobias could finish, Cassandra interrupted, "Words alone are not enough, Li Lin, as a craftsman, I believe you should know this."

She was well aware that the hex crystal technology was monopolized by the Ferros family, with Lady Grey as a hidden threat.

Although on the surface, major families dared not touch the Ferros family's interests, secretly, each family wanted a piece of the their cake.

If Li Lin's "Hextech Theory" were proven, the Kiramman family would become the second most powerful family in Piltover after the Medarda family, at least.

As for Lady Grey...

She pursued stability in Piltover and Zaun, dealing only with the threat posed to Stevan Ferros, the current family head.

Cassandra's expression remained unchanged, and a peculiar light flickered in her blue eyes.

"Please follow me," Li Lin invited her into his workshop.

"You can withdraw."

Cassandra dismissed the butler and servants, walking into the messy room with Caitlyn and Tobias.

"Oh my, your place looks like it's been robbed," Caitlyn exclaimed, covering her mouth in shock.

Don't say that, you actually guessed right. I did encounter a thief not long ago.

Li Lin replied in his mind.

He walked to a corner of the room, next to the shelf, introducing to the three individuals, "This is the Exoskeletal Mechanical Power Arm... its part of the device I invented in the past few days. It requires Hex crystals as its energy source."

Mr. Elro expressed disdain, "Kid, have you been secretly studying Hex crystals all this time?"

"Dear, don't interrupt Li Lin. Let him finish," his wife spoke up.

Even his own wife had spoken; Mr. Elro shook his head, having nothing much to say.

Li Lin opened the cover of the power arm to load the energy core, inserting the energy crystal into the slot.

With several faint blue arcs flickering, the power arm emitted a white steam, and numerous mechanical gears rapidly engaged and expanded.

Li Lin aimed his right arm at the power arm, slowly inserting it into the expanded mechanical parts.

As five fingers gently clenched into a fist, the gaps between the power arm components once again emitted white steam, quickly converging together, closely adhering to his arm.

At the same time, the information provided by the system panel in Li Lin's mind had undergone significant changes compared to the last time:

[Exoskeletal Mechanical Power Right Arm (Fine): A mechanical device composed of a steel frame that can be worn, providing additional strength beyond what the body can achieve.]

[Attributes (Mechanical): 1000 Health Points, 500 Energy, 8 Combat Power]

[Ability Effects]

[Passive·Reinforced Alloy: Constructed from high-quality alloy, providing an additional 150 health points.]

[Passive·Energy Crystal Core: Using the energy crystal as the core, providing an additional 1000 energy.]

[Passive·Charge: The energy core can absorb magical elements from the air for self-recharging, recovering 3% of the maximum energy per second.]

[Active·Overcharge: Consumes 15% of the current energy core for 3 seconds of overload charging. The next attack can cause lethal damage to the target while also impacting a fan-shaped area 2 meters behind the target.]

[Active·Overdrive Operation: The energy core operates in overload, temporarily giving the current mechanical creation an additional 500 health points and energy, with the maximum energy recovery per second increased to 10% (the energy crystal will be scrapped after 3 uses).]

After reading the information provided by the system, Li Lin almost sucked in a breath of cold air.

With the addition of Hextech energy crystals, not only did the quality of the power arm increase by two levels, but various attributes also received a significant boost.

Overall, the energy crystal and power arm provided a total of 1150 health points and 1500 energy.

Moreover, the power arm's Overcharge ability became similar to Vi's E ability in the game, delivering a punch to the enemy while also causing damage behind the target.

Li Lin was briefly stunned, then looked at Mrs. Cassandra, "This place isn't suitable for a demonstration. Can we change locations?"

"Let's go to the secure explosion-proof room underground."

Almost every craftsman family would have a room for experimenting with dangerous substances, and the Kiramman family was no exception.

A few minutes later, Li Lin, Jayce, Caitlyn, and Mr. and Mrs. Kiramman arrived at a vast underground space.

At Cassandra's signal, Mr. Tobias pressed a button on the wall.

Not far from Li Lin, a door in the ground slowly slid open, and a huge granite block at least three meters high and wide slowly rose.

"Can we use this?" Mrs. Kiramman asked.

"That's good enough." Li Lin nodded, walking slowly to the granite block.

He raised his right arm covered by the power arm, took a stance, and manipulated the power arm into the "Overcharge" state.

Suddenly, numerous mechanical parts rapidly reassembled, the entire arm covered in a dazzling blue light, spewing out a large amount of steam.

after few seconds passed.

When the power arm finished charging, Li Lin's eyes lit up, fiercely punching forward.

—Boom!

Accompanied by the deafening sound of metal fist contacting granite, an invisible shockwave spread all over the giant stone, then shot backward through it.

The entire granite, centered on Li Lin's fist, showed a network of cracks, rapidly extending to other areas.

In just two or three seconds, the granite shattered like fragile glass, breaking into countless small pieces, scattered all over the ground.

Jayce, Caitlyn, and the Kiramman couple were all stunned.

Li Lin retracted his right hand, a curve appearing at the corner of his mouth, "This is the power of combining technology and magic. "

"The power of Hextech."