-110- Watch Shield and Soft Ice Ball

A week after returning to Zaun, Linwin gradually adapted to living in Zaun and began actively planning his affairs. Having spent too much time idling, he found himself somewhat rusty as he restarted the planning process.

Silco and Vander expressed their opinions—just do it, do it vigorously, doing more will make you adept. 

Vander himself had come a long way; otherwise, could you expect a former gangster to effortlessly become a perfect mayor?

Linwin had two main tasks at hand.

First, he needed to bring back some people from the upper city, like Viktor and Zevi, individuals aligned with his faction. The war between Piltover and Zaun was imminent, and despite Linwin's request to minimize casualties, avoiding them entirely was impossible.

Second, Linwin had to inspect the latest weapons developed in Zaun's arsenal, including those to be used in the upcoming battle—weapons and armor that would ensure the safety of Zaunites when they showed restraint, preventing harm from the people of Piltover.

After all, Linwin cared more about the lives of Zaunites than the lives of Piltover residents.

In these days, Linwin either visited Silco and Vander or headed to the Zaun Academy in the middle of Zaun. To accomplish his plan, Ekko and Powder were crucial components.

Today, Linwin arrived at the Zaun Academy once again. Familiar with the path, he walked to Powder's dedicated laboratory, a place that others dared not approach. Linwin, however, boldly pushed the door open.

Powder's lab didn't resemble a typical laboratory; instead, it felt more like a noisy night market bar. The room echoed with lively music and the constant sound of clattering experiments. There was even someone humming tunes loudly.

Linwin stood behind Powder, watching as she sat cross-legged on a stool, wielding a large wrench and banging away enthusiastically.

Her two blue braids almost touched the ground, and her body swayed dramatically. Linwin observed, feeling a bit of a headache.

Compared to Viktor and Jayce's labs, Powder's seemed more like a place for inventive experiments.

"Powder!" Linwin called out from behind.

"Daladala, daladala," the banging and singing continued.

"Powder!"

"Powder!"

"Dudududu!"

"!"

Seeing this, Linwin decisively walked forward and unplugged the power. The room immediately quieted down, and Powder quickly turned her head.

Upon realizing it was Linwin, she happily took off her copper goggles and greeted him, "Are you here to supervise me again today?"

Linwin approached, still holding the plug, and said with a smile to Powder, "How's the progress? Where's Ekko? Why isn't he with you?"

"It's already done. Ekko is conducting experiments now!" Powder replied promptly, "But, Linwin, this thing will still cause harm to people."

"You and Ekko have done well, Powder. Some harm is inevitable," Linwin responded. Then he asked, "What about you? Since the soft ice ball has been researched, what are you currently developing?" 

Linwin leaned in to see what Powder was working on. 

On the table, amidst the previous pounding, was an incredibly precise pocket watch. Linwin also saw Hextech gems split into quarters and inserted into the stopwatch.

It emitted a beautiful indigo glow.

"This is the super armor device I created!" Powder jumped up, landed on the floor, picked up the stopwatch, and showed it off in front of Linwin with a proud smile. "Inspired by Camille and Ekko."

Camille and Ekko?

Wait, what does Camille have to do with this? 

Is she willing to surrender? 

But that's impossible; Camille has always been steadfast. Silco has been trying to brainwash her every day, but now it seems like she's the one doing the brainwashing.

After all, in terms of age, Camille could almost be considered Silco's grandmother.

Without waiting for Linwin to inquire, Powder volunteered an explanation, "Ekko and I went to see Camille. Although she still refused to tell me the principles of Hextech shields, we conducted experiments on her."

"Then Ekko discovered the principles of the Hextech shield, which are actually super simple!"

"Why haven't I heard about this?" Linwin blinked. He had been quite busy lately, overseeing Kaisa's daily life, sending people to the upper city to bring Viktor and Zevi down, attending meetings with Vander and Silco, and keeping an eye on Powder and Ekko's inventions.

However, Linwin had completely given up on pursuing the path of a scientist. Compared to Ekko and Powder, he was inherently clumsy. While he could handle minor inventions, creating groundbreaking things was beyond his capability.

"I did tell you; maybe you forgot," Powder casually replied. Then she grabbed Linwin's hand, hung the stopwatch around his neck, and said with a grin, "And now, even though this device is still unfinished, it's already usable."

Pouting, Powder pulled out a small laser gun strapped to her waist, aimed it at Linwin, and when Linwin instinctively raised his hand to shield himself, Powder immediately scolded, "Don't move, you won't get hurt anyway."

"Besides, you're not afraid of this."

Saying that, Powder's small hand pulled the trigger, firing directly at Linwin.

It seemed as if she had been planning to shoot Linwin for a long time. Linwin, with his head lowered, watched the electric light sprayed out from the laser gun.

At this moment, the world in Linwin's eyes gradually slowed down.

The blue arc resembled a swimming snake, constantly enlarging and swimming into Linwin's eyes. 

Then, slowly, it collided with his body.

At the moment of contact, yellow and blue clashed, splashing a strange light.

Yellow light appeared on Linwin's chest – the bright yellow light emitted by the stopwatch Powder had hung on him.

Then, a shield with a diameter of about half a meter appeared in front of Linwin's chest.

The sizzling sound continued as the snake continuously drilled into the yellow barrier, but even after the blue light was exhausted, it couldn't break the shield. It only made the gloss of the yellow shield dim a bit.

Linwin's eyes lit up.

Isn't this thing Camille's passive?

"This is good stuff."

"Not quite there yet. Compared to what Camille has, Linwin, what I made is far inferior," Powder sighed, then said, "The energy source for hers is probably hundreds of times more than mine."

"Isn't that exaggerating?" Linwin asked.

Powder nodded, "Your shield, at most, can withstand three of my attacks. But Ekko and I experimented. Camille's can handle a few hundred attacks without any issue."

"But it's still a work in progress. If it's a finished product, I'm confident that the shield's energy will be enough to withstand eight attacks?"

Despite Powder expressing confidence, her tone gradually weakened, and towards the end, she forcefully patted Linwin's shoulder, made a noise, and said, "Well, anyway, yeah, it'll work!"

Linwin, holding the stopwatch, looked at Powder and recalled her earlier words. So, with a strange expression, he asked her, "Powder, I'm more curious about what you and Ekko did to Camille... How did you know that Camille's shield can withstand attack hundreds of times? How did you two get this experimental data?"

"Haha."

Powder laughed, and then, there was no continuation.

Linwin: ".."

At the same time, while Linwin and Powder were talking, in the Sump of Zaun.

In Zaun's most secure meeting building, inside a room used to temporarily detain criminals.

Inside, seeing the iron door being opened and looking at the incoming person, Camille's pair of deep blue eyes flashed with a trace of speechlessness.

She looked at the white-haired boy approaching and softly said, "What experiment do you want to conduct on me this time?"

"Don't worry, this time it's not to attack you."

Ekko awkwardly scratched his head, holding a small purple soft ball in his hand. He looked at Camille and said, "This is our latest development, a Soft Ice Ball used for control."

"I want to try it on you to see how long it can maintain control."

Camille closed her eyes upon hearing this.

A gesture of go ahead and do it.

After hesitating for a moment, Ekko also threw the small ball towards Camille.

"Crack!"

When Camille opened her eyes again, a pile of pale blue ice crystals had appeared on her body.

Her chin instinctively lifted, and her arm involuntarily changed its posture. Looking at the blue ice crystals covering her body, Camille expressed some surprise, "This is truly a good invention, young one."

Ekko nodded, touched his face, "Thank you for your praise."

"Madam."