CHAPTER 24 - We Pave the Way for a New Era

Li Lin and Powder exited through a side gate of Kiramman's estate, encountering no trouble along the way. Everything proceeded smoothly without any unexpected incidents.

Aware that these kids usually traversed between Zaun and Piltover by leaping onto the tops of Screaming Yips, Powder's injured foot made the journey challenging. After personally handing her over to Vi, Li Lin provided them with a pouch containing dozens of silver discs to ensure they could take the lift back without any issues.

Finally bidding farewell to the four little troublemakers, Li Lin hurried back to his own workshop.

He had agreed with Jayce to study the Hex crystals together after dinner tonight, and it was about time.

Upon returning to the studio, Li Lin found Jayce standing in front of his door, holding a small box and appearing as if he had been waiting for a while.

"Where did you run off to? I almost thought you stood me up."

As soon as Jayce saw Li Lin, excitement immediately lit up his face. He quickly stepped behind Li Lin, pushing him towards the door.

"Hurry, open the door!"

Li Lin was perplexed, "Why are you more excited than me..."

"Of course! Any scientist would be impatient in a situation like this, right?"

After entering the room, Jayce locked the door behind them, then went straight to the workbench. "Huh? Healing salves? Are you injured?"

Oops, forgot to put those away...

Li Lin's breath caught as he swiftly ran to tidy up the miscellaneous items on the table, explaining, "I've been training with Caitlyn a lot recently. It's normal for me to have some bruises."

"Well, as a craftsman, having a robust physique is quite beneficial." Jayce smiled, not dwelling on the topic for too long.

He gently placed the small box he was holding on the table and opened the lid.

A dazzling azure light, as if confined in the small box for a long time, suddenly illuminated the entire room.

Jayce picked up a Hex crystal, placing it in the central groove of another device on the workbench.

Blue static electricity reacted with the metal, and following the energy supply, the resonance device around the crystal's groove emitted a blue light identical to that of the crystal.

Jayce turned to Li Lin, "Are you ready?"

"Of course."

Li Lin nodded, taking out more than ten pre-made metal discs from a drawer. Each one bore rune inscriptions and was inserted into designated positions on the resonance device.

Then, he took a deep breath, unhesitatingly pressed the start button, and turned the power knob to the maximum.

The mechanical gears of the resonance device meshed, producing a slightly discordant metallic friction sound.

The ring-shaped support frame around the base began to rotate slowly under the effect of crystal energy, gradually increasing in speed.

Simultaneously, the crystal, emitting an even more dazzling light, violently trembled and spun in resonance, as if it would fall apart at any moment.

At the same time, the Hex crystal emitted a powerful force, pushing the two of them outward.

For a moment, the entire room was in chaos.

A hint of panic flashed across Jayce's face. "Look at the support frame! I think it can't hold up!"

"Don't worry; everything is under control."

Calmly, Li Lin stared at the highly unstable Hex crystal, focusing on the progress bar displayed in his mind's system prompt.

[Hextech Energy Crystal Manufacturing in Progress...]

[Current Progress: 17%]

As the progress neared 30%, the crystal floated in mid-air, and electric lights radiated from it, almost filling the entire area inside the support frame.

Not only that, but numerous densely packed blue light spots separated from the crystal in a spherical shape, rapidly merging and eventually forming a circle of floating runic symbols.

It's time!

Seizing the opportunity, Li Lin rapidly turned the knob controlling the metal discs imprinted with runes.

Under his not-so-proficient yet meticulous operation, the runes on the metal discs were successively imprinted into the Hex crystal through energy resonance.

With each rotation, the progress bar in his mind jumped forward significantly.

[49%...]

[63%...]

[81%...]

[Current Progress: 100%!]

Finally, when the progress bar reached one hundred percent, the Hex crystal shot out a beam of energy, nearly sending both of them flying.

Meanwhile, a massive and runic circular magic array manifested on the ceiling.

Time seemed to pause for a second.

Then, in an instant, all leaked energy returned to the crystal.

[Congratulations! You have successfully crafted a Hextech Energy Crystal!]

[Rewards (First-time crafting): Level Up +2, Skill Points ×3]

[You have now reached Level 5, unlocking the Mechanist Skill Panel.]

[Name: Li Lin]

[Level: 5]

[Health Points: 765/765]

[Mana Points: 113/113]

[Combat Power: 8]

[Skill Points: 7]

[...]

A series of prompts flooded Li Lin's mind, but his attention was completely elsewhere.

He stared fixedly at the "small stones" floating in mid-air, which had lost the original deep blue luster the Hex crystal should possess.

[Hextech Energy Crystal (Normal): A stable core energy device, the small crystal contains immense power.]

[Attributes (for machinery): 500 Health Points, 500 Energy]

[Ability Effects]

[Passive · Energy Core: When used as a core energy supply device, provides an additional 1000 energy bonus (for machinery).]

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

[Active · Overdrive: By overloading the energy crystal, temporarily grants machinery an additional 500 Health Points and Energy, with 10% of maximum energy restored per second; it will be scrapped after 3 uses.]

Jayce looked at the crystal floating in the resonance device with lingering fear. "Did we...succeed?" He asked Li Lin uncertainly.

He wasn't entirely sure because the "new Hextech crystal" in front of him looked slightly different from what he had imagined. Besides becoming a bit rounder and completely losing its gloss, it seemed to have no other changes and appeared even more ordinary.

If it weren't still floating in the air, Jayce would have thought their experiment, undertaken at great risk, had failed.

"Of course, you doubt my abilities?" Li Lin forcibly suppressed his excitement, reaching out to grasp the crystal in his palm.

"The crystal is completely stable now. Even if it's dropped from this height, it won't explode."

"No, please don't, it's better not to do that even if it's stable," Jayce hurriedly dissuaded him, fearing Li Lin might demonstrate by tossing the crystal to the ground.

After a brief pause, Jayce, who had been observing Li Lin's crystal in his hand without looking away, heaved a sigh of relief.

"I didn't expect that we would really succeed! I can imagine it, your name will go down in the history of Piltover!"

"The Pioneer of the Future, Li Lin, a renowned inventor who not only ushered in the era of electronics but also pioneered a new era of using technology to control magic!"

Jayce was excited, almost dancing with joy.

"It's us, Jayce, not just me alone," Li Lin smiled faintly, and his deep brown eyes sparkled with a unique brilliance.

"We have ushered in a new era."

[End of this chapter]