The Kiramman couple had been busy with social engagements lately.
It wasn't until after dinner, after they had had a few drinks, that they returned home.
Upon hearing the news of Li Lin's return, Lady Cassandra's mood, which had been somewhat sour due to dealing with those old hands, improved considerably.
Even before Li Lin could report on his work, Caitlyn introduced Kai'Sa to her parents.
However, the Kiramman couple were unfamiliar with the Void and had always been conservative about those who wielded magic.
With Li Lin's explanation, Caitlyn knew that the Void was not magic, but the Kiramman couple might not necessarily see it that way.
Therefore, Caitlyn deliberately avoided mentioning the Void and merely described the scales on Kai'Sa as a "parasitic species," explaining that she had come to Piltover seeking treatment.
With her daughter's deliberate defense, Kai'Sa was quickly accepted by the Kiramman couple, who even arranged for a language teacher to teach her Piltoverian.
Later, Caitlyn took Kai'Sa to tour Piltover, while Li Lin stayed behind to report on his work to Lady Cassandra.
He deliberately skipped over the construction of the Hex Gates, in which he had played no part, and instead focused on the return of the Desert Emperor in his ascended form, preparing to reclaim lost territory, as well as the issue of high-energy radioactive minerals in the Valley of Songs underground.
Lady Cassandra and Tobias looked serious, attaching great importance to these two matters.
One was the return of a demigod, which required them to adjust their strategy towards Shurima.
As rulers who sat at the top of the power hierarchy, they naturally understood a little bit, but it was not included in their books or daily education.
Since the Shuriman Empire was rising again, it was highly possible that Piltover and Zaun would once again be included in Shurima's territory. They needed to convene a council meeting to consider how to respond.
Li Lin wanted to remind them that they didn't need to worry about this issue at all.
In the original timeline, Azir had spent years without dealing with domestic affairs, so naturally he wouldn't pay attention to the distant twin cities across the strait.
They only needed to consider future commercial cooperation contracts with the Shuriman Empire.
However, after some thought, Li Lin chose to remain silent.
He needed to let these councilors worry for a bit. If they could relax restrictions on weapon development policies, it would be even better for him to manufacture mechanical armies openly in the future.
In addition, Lady Cassandra was very interested in the radioactive minerals that could provide massive amounts of energy, and she immediately arranged related matters.
Radiation-proof suits and transport crates, exploration teams, and experienced mining teams were all put on the agenda.
After discussing the main issues, Lady Cassandra also told Li Lin about the wealth brought by his recent inventions, laughing so much that her mouth couldn't close.
The cooperation with the Ferros family had already put the crystal factory for energy crystals on track.
In less than three months, the overall income of the Kiramman family had increased by ten percent, even under the condition of only ten percent profit.
The sales of bicycles were booming, and the deluxe version of the mechanical wristwatch was popular among the upper class. The Kiramman family had already produced a batch of standard versions for the general market, which were also in high demand and short supply.
Not to mention the equipment used in the military field, such as powered armor, auxiliary chips, radios, energy weapons, and so on, which allowed the Kiramman family to gain a foothold in completely new fields they had not ventured into before.
Lady Cassandra was particularly satisfied with her initial investment, realizing that Li Lin's promise to her and her husband was not just empty talk, but that he truly had the potential to make the Kiramman family the number one family in Piltover!
They talked late into the night, not only imagining the future development but also discussing the situations among various countries and cities in the world.
Mobile phones, computers, the internet, and other things that seemed far-fetched and even "fanciful," as well as Li Lin's concept of the "Runeterra Village," left the Kiramman couple astonished.
Although it was unbelievable, with the changes in the past six months, they actually felt that this young man could really do it...
Until the moon hung high and the night grew deep.
Even Caitlyn and Kai'Sa returned with a dozen bags of purchases, washed up, and went to bed, only then did they end their conversation.
Watching the Kiramman couple disappear into the corridor, Li Lin returned to his room without disturbing Caitlyn.
Tonight was still a sleepless night.
There were still many variables in the future, and he had just begun, so he couldn't slack off.
Li Lin's thoughts shifted, and the interface of the "Skill Panel" appeared in his mind.
He first raised his previously learned skills, which were currently at level 7, "Mechanical Mastery," "Mechanical Affinity," and "Mechanical Armor," all to level 11, and raised "Auxiliary Chips" to the maximum level of 10, spending a total of 15 skill points.
Li Lin advanced to level 8 in the "Steel Barrier" skill after his career advancement, which was now categorized under "Combat." Li Lin temporarily increased it to level 10, spending 4 skill points.
Glancing at the remaining 41 skill points on the panel, Li Lin first opened the "Inventor" route.
The Inventor path offered many advanced technologies, such as computers, signals, network base stations, and intelligent AI, all of which were fundamental.
Electromagnetic theory, self-evolution logic of intelligent AI, particle control technology, high-strength compression materials... even rune technology theory, nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, quantum theory, and more would be unlocked in the future.
However, unlocking these technologies required prerequisite levels, and some also needed theoretical prerequisites.
For example, to learn nuclear fusion technology, one must first invest in nuclear fission technology, and material compression technology required learning high-strength compression materials, mass-energy storage technology, and the combat-oriented Steel Barrier.
Although Li Lin already possessed the design and some theoretical knowledge of the "Miniature Nuclear Fusion Reactor," he still lacked overall technical theoretical knowledge.
Moreover, these technologies served as prerequisites for even more powerful technologies, so he still needed to spend skill points to learn them.
Fortunately, learning such scientific technologies only required adding a single point to max out, unlike some probabilistic or consumable skills that required continuous investment.
Li Lin first spent 5 skill points to learn "Local Area Network Connectivity," "Mechanical Principles Analysis," "Intelligent AI," "Intelligent Chips," and "Electromagnetics."
In an instant, a plethora of knowledge flooded Li Lin's brain, and the overwhelming sensation made him almost fall from the sofa due to the headache.
After a while, he regained his composure and tremblingly reached out his hand, picking up the teacup on the coffee table to take a sip of water.
"Whew—almost blew my mind..."
Setting down the teacup, Li Lin rubbed his still slightly throbbing temples with a feeling of lingering discomfort.
Having learned from this experience, he dared not add points simultaneously anymore, opting for a slower approach.
The Inventor path also had a skill called "Rapid Assembly," which required adding a point every 5 levels starting from level 15. It allowed the rapid assembly of mechanical parts into desired shapes by consuming mana—a godsend skill for a mechanic!
In situations where it was inconvenient to wear powered armor or carry storm robots, he could simply bring along enough parts.
In case of emergencies, he could quickly assemble the mechanical device he needed with this skill.
He was currently at level 35 and could upgrade it to level 5, costing a total of 5 skill points.
Similarly, the basic skill "Soul of Mechanics" in this category had been leveled up to level 5, costing 4 skill points.
His speed and quality in crafting mechanical devices had greatly improved.
There were many more fascinating technologies in the Inventor path that caught Li Lin's eye, but with his current level, he could only satisfy his curiosity for now.
"These skill points are not enough! It took so much effort to save up 60, and now I only have 27 left. Just the Inventor path alone consumed 29..."
Shaking his head in resignation, Li Lin sighed and switched the control panel to the "Combat" branch.
The fundamental skill "Battlefield Dominator" was a must-have, as it could enhance the production speed of war machines, the radiation control range, and the power of accompanying combat machines, and this core skill did not consume extra skill points.
Li Lin suddenly realized that this skill also provided a bonus to the Inventor path's "Rapid Assembly."
At level 5, Battlefield Dominator had a control range of 200 meters for mechanical devices, and the skill range of Rapid Assembly also increased accordingly. However, the farther the distance, the more mana it consumed.
He was very fortunate that he had chosen the Ascension Talisman in the treasure trove of the Sun City.
With his current 6722 mana and a maximum mana recovery rate of 5% per second, assembling mechanical devices over long distances was completely feasible.
Feeling a slight sense of satisfaction, Li Lin's attention returned to the skill panel.
The skills in the "Combat" branch were mostly related to heavy industry and dangerous technology and weapons used in battlefield operations.
[Modular Engineering: Optimize the construction process of mechanical devices, using modular design to reduce current construction costs and time (prerequisite: Level 15).]
[Assembly Algorithm Lv1: Increase the speed of pipeline module assembly and construction by 20% (prerequisite: Level 15, Intelligent AI, Intelligent Chip Technology, Modular Engineering).]
[Fine Manufacturing Lv1: Pipeline mechanical device production is guaranteed to be of fine quality, with a 30% chance of rarity and a 1% chance of artifacts (prerequisite: Level 15, Assembly Algorithm).]
[Extreme Overload Lv1: Consumes 500 mana, forcefully puts mechanical devices into an overloaded state, greatly enhancing mechanical attributes (prerequisite: Level 20, Mechanical Mastery, Mechanical Affinity).]
[Mechanical Network Sharing: Establish a shared network for all mechanical devices equipped with Intelligent AI or Intelligent Chips, the range depending on the level of Battlefield Dominator skill (prerequisite: Level 25, Local Area Network Connectivity, Intelligent AI, Intelligent Chips).]
[Ultra Long-range Control: Temporarily overload shared network devices, extending the radiation control range to three times, lasting for 2 hours; shared network devices will be damaged after use (prerequisite: Level 25, Mechanical Network Sharing).]
[Intelligent Mechanized Engineer Corps: Create engineer corps to produce mechanical devices, mine minerals, reduce mechanical construction costs, and increase durability (prerequisite: Level 30, Mechanical Network Sharing).]
[Unmanned Combat Drone Swarm: Short-range cooperative combat drones, fast, small in size, with strong breakthrough survival capabilities (prerequisite: Level 30, Mechanical Network Sharing).]
[Force Field Shield: Consumes 30% of maximum energy to generate a force field shield, immune to all damage types, lasting for 20 seconds, with a cooldown of 30 minutes (prerequisite: Level 35, Electromagnetics).]
[Gauss Electromagnetic Machine Gun: Electromagnetic projectile accelerator uses magnets to spiral armor-piercing projectiles to extremely high speeds (prerequisite: Level 35, Electromagnetics).]
[Synchronized Firing Mode: Interleaved volley fired by cross-linked weapon systems can greatly increase the damage of mechanical devices (prerequisite: Level 35, Electromagnetics, Mechanical Network Sharing).]
Li Lin was stunned to see the combat system's skills.
Even though he had learned Steel Barrier and Battlefield Dominator in advance, his remaining 27 skill points were not enough to learn all these skills, but he was extremely eager for these technologies.
Whether it was improving the speed and quality of pipeline mechanical device production or the mechanical network and unmanned intelligent mechanical devices, they were all essential.
In desperation, Li Lin spent 22 skill points to learn these skills and technologies one by one. He only put one point into "Assembly Algorithm," "Fine Manufacturing," and "Mechanical Overload," using up all his skill points.
Then, his attention shifted to the Individual Enhancement branch.
This skill tree category was almost all related to mechanical and genetic modification, and besides the core basic skills, each skill required the consumption of 3 skill points.
With his current shortage of skill points, Li Lin could only temporarily give up.
Returning to reality, he glanced at the corner of the room where the mantel clock stood, sighing deeply:
"Phew—first time manufacturing a mechanical device with skill point rewards... I need to develop new technologies quickly."
(End of the Chapter)
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