CHAPTER 227 - Flight Test, Breaking Through the Sky!

Playing with fire indoors was dangerous, and there was too much clutter in the top-floor studio.

Li Lin sneaked out through the back door into the yard, avoiding all the servants, and made his way back to his workshop in a roundabout manner.

Only after seeing the bedsheets completely burned to ashes did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

At this hour, Kai'Sa was studying with her language teacher, and Caitlyn, being unable to move around easily, should not be disturbed in her room anymore.

After re-equipping his protective gear, Li Lin spent over half an hour completing the Infinite Armor Mark III.

Then, he shut down the intelligent mechanical arms and controlled the armor to unfold and fit snugly against his body.

As the helmet closed, a loading progress bar appeared on the overall blue holographic display.

[Loading data...]

[Data loading complete!]

[Intelligent system activated!]

[Iris and fingerprint recognition in progress...]

[Identity confirmed: Li Lin.]

[Welcome back, my master.]

[Armor current damage level: 0%.]

[Armor current energy remaining: 100%.]

[Armor status: Excellent.]

[Weapon system check complete.]

[Auxiliary system check complete.]

[Armor has no abnormalities.]

The neutral mechanical voice echoed inside the armor as Li Lin silently stared at the new UI interface on the display screen.

In the top left corner of the interface was a mini-icon of the Infinite Armor as a whole, with current status data labeled next to it.

Since it was not the system's "Data Mind" display, the armor's data only showed the current damage level and energy percentage.

The circular frame in the top right corner was a map display, which could be scanned and generated into terrain by drones, and could also be switched to 3D mode.

The bottom left corner displayed various environmental values and the current status of Li Lin's body under the intelligent system scan, which could be switched to other data aspects as his thoughts changed.

The bottom right corner showed various weapon systems and auxiliary module conditions, as well as the remaining ammunition for consumables and mechanical device.

Of course, this data was usually hidden and only appeared when Li Lin wanted to see it.

In addition, there was still no developed internet at the moment, and the learning materials for artificial intelligence were limited, mostly relying on scanning books or his voice and manual input.

The physical identification aspect of the intelligent system still had room for improvement.

As Li Lin's thoughts shifted, the interface in front of him temporarily switched to the weapon module.

[Plasma Palm Cannon: Individual—20 meters.]

[Plasma Dual Shoulder Cannon: 3 meters—50 meters.]

[Mini Plasma Cannon Array (Back): 50 meters—100 meters.]

[High-energy Ultraviolet Laser Beams (Arms, Fingers): Maximum range 80 meters, maximum power increase in overheat state by 30%.]

[Power level: Annihilation.]

[...]

"Wow, with just this set of armor, I can destroy the Twin Cities right now..."

Li Lin's mind raced as the holographic display screen switched to a full-body simulation of the armor.

He equipped plasma thrusters all over the armor's body.

Plus, with the experience of the aerial mech Storm and Dawn flight modules, with the assistance of artificial intelligence, at least flying was not a problem.

However, with the energy supply of the Hextech core, the energy consumption of the upgraded energy weapons had greatly increased.

Despite the recovery of energy still exceeding the consumption rate, the total recovery amount has been greatly reduced, and continuous weapon usage would lead to energy recovery falling behind consumption speed.

Hence, Li Lin deliberately added a flight mode to the battle suit.

In this mode, all weapon energy consumption would be significantly reduced.

However, their power would certainly be lower compared to their usage on the ground, except for kinetic weapons.

Li Lin slowly stepped out of the workshop's gate and into the courtyard.

To test the flying ability, he needed to be outside.

He double-checked the functions of the battle suit, especially the plasma propulsion device, even opening up the "Data Mind" to check.

After ensuring everything was in order, he took a deep breath, legs together, palms facing down, tightly pressed against the sides of his thighs, mimicking the way Tony Stark tested the flight mode of the Iron Man suit for the first time, first activating the minimal power of the particle thrusters.

At the same time, armor on the calves and thighs unfolded, revealing miniature jet devices, emitting a faint blue flame along with the thrusters on the palms, emitting a faint buzzing sound of energy.

Li Lin felt a slight push from behind, and a vague sense of weightlessness, but it was far from enough to lift off.

He shifted his focus, and the interface in front of him displayed the current activation status of the plasma thrusters in various parts of his body.

[Current power in hands: 19%]

[Current power in back: 12%]

[Current power in legs: 23%]

[Current power in feet: 15%]

[Current mode of the battle suit: Ground mode]

He switched to flight mode, increasing the power of the plasma thrusters.

Li Lin thought to himself.

[Current mode switched to: Flight mode]

[Flight smart assist function activated.]

[Dynamic simulation data loaded.]

[Data for aerial combat machines, Storm and Dawn flight, loaded.]

[Adjusting power coefficients for each thruster...]

[Adjustment completed!]

With the continuous infusion of energy, the pushing sensation from all over his body became stronger.

Fortunately, with the assistance of the smart system, Li Lin's hands and feet remained fixed without needing to control them himself.

Otherwise, he would have definitely lost balance and fallen to the ground on his first takeoff.

After getting slightly used to the feeling, Li Lin increased the power again, and the buzzing of energy became more pronounced, even attracting some servants who were cleaning in the main mansion corridor.

Two or three seconds later, Li Lin suddenly felt his feet lift off the ground, only to touch down again the next second.

"I just... did I just float for a moment?"

He suppressed his excitement, increasing the power once again.

This time, Li Lin floated up to a height of three to four meters above the ground, stayed there for two to three seconds, and then descended heavily.

In the main mansion corridor, many servants were already so shocked that they couldn't close their mouths.

"Oh my God! Mr. Li Lin seems to have learned magic?!"

"He went to Shurima and even met the warriors of the heavens, and was summoned by the Desert Emperor... Could he have learned some ancient magic?"

"You guys are fools. What jokes are you making? Haven't you seen the powered armor that Mr. Li Lin often wears? This is his great invention!"

"Gears turning! Mr. Li Lin's inventions have reached such a level..."

"Others need hot air balloons or airships to fly, but Mr. Li Lin can float on his own?!"

"If only I could have a lover like Mr. Li Lin..."

"Don't daydream. Miss Kiramman's man would be the one, wouldn't she? If Miss knew about your thoughts, she'd fire you!"

Li Lin naturally had no idea that he had already caused quite a stir among a significant portion of the servants in the Kiramman household.

Of course, what would astonish them even more was yet to come.

"Increase power again!"

As Li Lin continued to command the plasma thrusters to inject energy, under the influence of the Hextech core, a deep blue light appeared on the surface of the entire battle suit, enveloping him completely.

He floated up again, reaching a height of seven to eight meters above the ground this time. The intelligent system of the battle suit began rapidly adjusting the power and angle of each plasma thruster based on various data.

And this time, he didn't descend back to the ground.

Li Lin laughed heartily with excitement, "I'm flying... I'm flying, damn it!"

[Current status of the battle suit flight: Good]

[Current weather conditions: Clear to partly cloudy]

[Flight conditions: Excellent]

Once the battle suit's intelligent system recorded the current flight status and all related data, and performed calculations and analysis, the plasma engines reached almost full load.

Piltover had no air traffic control.

The most advanced flight devices were a few aristocratic families' airships, jointly developed a few years ago based on hot air balloons.

Before taking off, all that was required was to register with the Piltover Guard.

However, Li Lin's completely individual flying device had no corresponding laws in Piltover, naturally not restricting him.

Moreover, even if there were legal restrictions, as a craftsman of the Kiramman family, who had invented such a mechanical device that would astonish the world, he would not be sanctioned, let alone by the council, which would be more likely to flatter him.

Li Lin didn't think too much about it. Controlling the battle suit like a shooting star, he soared into the sky, leaving a long trail of blue and white behind him, akin to a comet streaking through the heavens. 

Because of the lessons from Tony Stark, Li Lin had already incorporated functions for anti-freeze and heat insulation into the battle suit.

Moreover, although this third-generation Infinite Battle Armor was not a completely technological product, its technological content was still much higher than that of Mark 2.

He wanted to see how high he could fly with just this battle suit.

[Current altitude continuously increasing...]

[100 meters...]

[800 meters...]

[2000

 meters...]

[5000 meters...]

[...]

In just a few dozen seconds, he broke through the troposphere of Runeterra's atmosphere, reaching the stratosphere.

[Current altitude: 30 kilometers]

"Wow~~ I remember Iron Man's first extreme flight was only close to thirty thousand meters..."

Li Lin controlled the battle suit to continue climbing until it reached the top of the stratosphere, suspended in mid-air.

The third-generation Infinite Battle Armor was far from reaching its flying limit.

At this point, he could no longer see the trace of Piltover beneath his feet, covered by layers of clouds like a white ocean.

In this place, other than the sound of the wind, all was silent.

Li Lin looked up at the sky, suppressing the desire to continue ascending the battle suit.

Runeterra was a planet that attracted the interest of the titanic celestial beings.

He was afraid that if he continued like this, not only would he not reach the limit of the battle suit, but he might also attract the attention of those celestial beings from the heavens, which would not be a good thing.

After a brief thought, Li Lin controlled the battle suit to begin descending.

He hadn't concealed his traces before takeoff, and he believed that most people had witnessed his takeoff.

He had already started imagining what the focus of the next issue of the Piltover Daily would be.

And those big families, after learning about his flight experiment, would definitely rush to visit and seek cooperation.

But Li Lin would definitely not hand over this technology to outsiders, not even to the Kiramman family.

Lady Cassandra would not complain about this; she could only advise him kindly. After all, their initial agreement was as such.

A smirk formed on Li Lin's lips. "These days are going to be fun..."

(End of this chapter)