Li Lin chatted with Cassiopeia and Sivir for a while, confirming the departure time three days later. He then bid farewell, accompanied by Kassadin.
As he stepped outside, Li Lin's attention was drawn to a yordle, a short figure with shining eyes, examining floating robots. The yordle wore slightly worn goggles on his head, and gray fur covered his entire body, with only his mouth and chest in deep yellow.
Li Lin raised an eyebrow; the yordle's peculiar behavior felt strangely familiar. It wasn't until he checked the "Data Mind" that he realized.
[Name: Rumble]
[Race: Yordle]
[Occupation: Inventor]
Rumble, without his mech, was almost unrecognizable.
Before his transmigration, Li Lin hadn't paid much attention to yordles like him. Besides Heimerdinger, Ziggs, Teemo, and Veigar, he only vaguely knew the backgrounds of other champions.
After some contemplation, Li Lin remembered Rumble as the yordle who scavenged in a city in Shurima and built his large mech, Tristy.
Surprisingly, it happened to be Nashramae.
Kassadin noticed Li Lin stopping and staring at Rumble. Assuming Li Lin was surprised by the presence of a yordle, he explained, "Shurima has many non-human races. Yordles and Vastaya are common here; they have adapted to human life."
As if hearing someone discussing him, Rumble's fur bristled, and he turned to the source of the voices. Seeing Li Lin and Kassadin in their powered armors, his eyes first showed surprise, then enthusiasm.
"What exquisite mechanical armor!"
Rumble, full of excitement, hopped over to them, paying no heed to Li Lin and Kassadin's feelings. He extended his furry hand and gently rubbed their legs.
The fervent gaze resembled meeting a long-lost love, unwilling to let go.
Li Lin understood Rumble's behavior, finding it amusing. However, for Kassadin, who had roamed the golden sand sea since childhood, the situation was genuinely awkward.
"Cough... This yordle is an exception."
Kassadin calmly pulled Li Lin back a step, but Rumble continued to stick to them like a shadow.
Li Lin couldn't help but chuckle, greeting Rumble, "I offer you water and shade, little..."
The words "little guy" almost slipped out. Suddenly, he remembered Rumble didn't like being called "short."
"I'm Li Lin. May I know how to address you?" Li Lin quickly changed his wording.
"Your mechanical armor is amazing!" Rumble exclaimed excitedly, then looked up at Li Lin with serious eyes. "Did you invent these devices?"
"Yes, and also the floating mechanical devices here," Li Lin pointed to Storm and Dawn beside him, smiling.
Seeing that Li Lin wasn't angered by the yordle's rudeness, Kassadin remained silent.
Rumble, with a reluctant expression, stared at the powered armor, took a few steps back, then focused his eyes on Li Lin.
"I see traces of Hextech technology in your devices."
He paused and changed the subject, "Do you know Heimerdinger?"
"Yes, I have some acquaintance with Professor Heimerdinger..."
Before Li Lin could finish, Rumble, like an agitated cat, hissed at him.
"I knew it! That traitor sold Bandle City's technology to you humans again!"
"Ugh…" Li Lin was bewildered by Rumble's sudden change in attitude.
This little guy seems to have a strained relationship with Heimerdinger…
It's probably because Heimerdinger and other yordle scientists moved the technology from Bandle City to Piltover?
"You seem to have misunderstood something," Li Lin didn't give Rumble a chance to continue berating, "These two sets of power armor on my friends, including these levitating devices, are all my own designs. It has nothing to do with Professor Heimerdinger."
Except for the semi-intelligent assistant chips inside them, but those were improvements Heimerdinger made on my chip foundation. It can also be considered my achievement...
Li Lin added in his mind without a blush.
"Hmm?"
Rumble furrowed his brows, scratching his head in confusion.
"Really? I find it hard to believe…"
"Let it go, Li Lin, don't get entangled with him anymore," Kassadin advised, "These little yordles are too stubborn. Once they set their minds on something, it's hard to pull them back."
"Who are you calling a little guy?! In terms of my age, I'm old enough to be your father!"
Rumble accurately caught a word in Kassadin's statement, completely ignoring the rest, clenching his fists and waving them in the air a few times in anger.
But considering Kassadin was wearing power armor, he still maintained composure and didn't dare to rush forward to "compete" with him.
Li Lin gestured for Kassadin not to get involved with this yordle.
He also didn't want to confront this stubborn yordle, more bull-headed than a Freljordian mammoth. With a light snort, Li Lin walked to the side.
Li Lin then walked to Rumble and crouched down in front of him, looking straight into his eyes. "I see you're an inventor too, right?"
Rumble's eyes still shimmered with hostility. "What's it to you?"
"Do you have your own studio, lab, or workshop?" Li Lin ignored him, continuing his inquiry.
"Of course!"
Speaking of this, Rumble put his hands on his waist, a proud expression on his face.
"In my little shack, I have the most outstanding and greatest work ever created in history!"
He must be referring to that makeshift mech assembled from junk and scrap metal, right? Li Lin nodded thoughtfully.
"Well... Can I visit your little workshop?" Li Lin asked.
Noticing the intensified hostility in Rumble's eyes, he quickly explained, "Don't get me wrong. I just want to prove that these mechanical devices aren't my inventions. I just want to show that, to be a mechanic, you need tools and materials, right?"
Li Lin raised his hands and shrugged. "I just want to prove I'm a mechanic, at least. Can I?"
Rumble rubbed his furry chin, lowering his head into contemplation.
After a long consideration, he reluctantly nodded.
"Fine... I'll allow you to visit my little shack. You can also use the mechanical parts inside that I don't use, but!"
Rumble stared at Li Lin with a serious expression. "Inside, there's something, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely... you cannot touch!"
Important matters must be repeated several times. Rumble danced and shouted at Li Lin.
Li Lin naturally understood what this little guy was referring to and nodded in agreement. "Sure, your items, your rules."
"Alright, follow me…"
Rumble had just turned around to leave when he suddenly remembered something. He turned back with an angry look on his face, his voice sharp:
"One more thing... this guy can't come with us!"
(End of the Chapter)
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