Caitlyn had many cases to attend to and no time to accompany Li Lin and Kai'Sa to Piltover University.
Li Lin put on his power armor and took Kai'Sa to the academy near the Celestial Avenue.
Today, in addition to studying the issue of Kai'Sa's Void skin, he had other plans.
The technology tree for Li Lin's smart chip had already been developed.
Over the past six months, he didn't know if Heimerdinger had researched alternative smart chip designs.
Furthermore, he planned to use the advanced equipment in the academy's laboratory to figure out how to install propulsion devices on the power armor.
The blueprints were ready, drawn up by Li Lin when he was in the Shurima Desert.
But theory was just theory after all, especially since this technology was derived from his own interpretation of Iron Man's Mark 3 Armor. It wasn't certain whether it would work in reality.
Even if it didn't work temporarily, he wasn't too disappointed; it just required more time.
In the "Combat" category of the skill panel, there was the "Ion Propulsion" technology, but he needed to reach level 45 and unlock the "Particle Control" theory in the inventor category first.
Li Lin was currently at level 39. If he managed to create all the devices he hadn't made yet, which were of high quality and could earn skill points, he estimated that he could level up to around 42 or 43.
There were no channels for leveling up through battles in Twin Cities.
If it really came to this, he would either continue to come up with new designs or wait until next year to go to Demacia to help Prince Jarvan escape from Noxus' pursuit in order to unlock the "Flight" technology.
With curious and questioning glances from passersby along the way, Li Lin and Kai'Sa soon arrived at the academy.
Heimerdinger was a tech enthusiast who practically lived at the school, except when he had to convene council meetings.
Li Lin learned last night that Lady Cassandra was planning to convene a council meeting this weekend, so Heimerdinger would definitely be at the school today; the question was where specifically.
Fortunately, a student he stopped knew that Heimerdinger had just gone to the laboratory, saving him some time.
Arriving at the laboratory door, since their previous passes had been confiscated, they could only ask the staff to inform Heimerdinger.
Li Lin and Kai'Sa waited in the waiting room for a few minutes, and with a light click of the door, before they could see anyone come in, a familiar sharp voice penetrated the room.
"Oh ho~~ Look who's back?"
Following the voice, a Yordle with yellow fur that wasn't even half the height of the door walked in.
Behind him was a young man with a center-parted hairstyle, a very thin body, a pale complexion, and a cane in his hand.
"May gears turn smoothly, Professor Heimerdinger, Viktor." Li Lin immediately stood up, removed his mask, and greeted them.
Heimerdinger waved his hand, "Ah, no need to be so polite with me."
"You're finally back, Li Lin." Viktor responded with a smile.
Li Lin walked up and shook hands with Heimerdinger, then hugged Viktor.
Kai'Sa didn't understand what they were saying, she just stood up from the chair, her hands covered in scales, tangled together in front of her.
Both Heimerdinger and Viktor noticed this obvious non-Piltovan girl who was covered in strange purple armor.
Viktor's gaze passed over Li Lin and fell on Kai'Sa, unable to help but ask, "Who is this?"
And Heimerdinger's brow furrowed deeply, he blew on the corner of his mustache and a hint of doubt and seriousness flashed in his eyes, "This color, and the energy aura... could it be the Void?!"
"Void? It sounds familiar, I should have seen it in which book... What is it?" Viktor raised an eyebrow, rare for him not to know something.
Li Lin was also very surprised by this, "You... also know about the Void?"
"How could I not know about such things?" Heimerdinger blew on his mustache and his voice became deep, "For thousands of years, when I visited the former Shuriman Empire as a scholar from Bandle City, the Void War hadn't ended yet!"
Speaking of this, Viktor remembered that the main reason for the decline of the former peak Shuriman Empire was the Void.
However, a new question arose in his mind.
"...Uh?" Viktor scratched his cheek, his tone somewhat uncertain, "But didn't you say before that you were only over two hundred years old?"
"Oh, that." Heimerdinger looked up at him, "Actually, that's according to Bandle City's years. Converted to your human age, I should be several thousand... uh, it's been too long, let me calculate it properly."
With that, Heimerdinger took out a small notebook and a hard-shell pen from his pocket.
"Cough, Professor, let me introduce her situation first."
Li Lin gestured to Kai'Sa to come to his side and introduced the two:
"This is Professor Heimerdinger, and this is my friend Viktor. He's an outstanding scientist. They can help you with the issue of your skin."
"May, may gears turn smoothly..." She greeted them in somewhat broken Piltover language.
"Please forgive Kai'Sa, she's new here and doesn't quite understand Piltover language yet."
Li Lin's gaze returned to Heimerdinger, who had stopped his movements, and Viktor, introducing them: "Her name is Kai'Sa, from the Valley of Songs in the southeast of the Shuriman continent."
"Valley of Songs? I've heard about it from one of my... uh, students before," Heimerdinger's eyes flashed with regret.
"He said there are radioactive minerals there that can provide huge amounts of energy, even surpassing the energy crystals you've invented."
"New energy?" Viktor's eyes lit up at this.
"That's right." Li Lin nodded, "And the energy released by these minerals is very different from energy crystals; it's physical in nature and contains no magic whatsoever."
"What! Not relying on magic?" Viktor became even more excited, "Is there really such an energy source in this world?"
"Calm down, Viktor." Professor Heimerdinger straightened his beard and chuckled, "Even scientists from Bandle City who have lived for thousands of years haven't fully explored the nature of this world. There are still many things we haven't discovered or understood."
"You're right, Professor Heimerdinger."
Viktor humbly accepted Heimerdinger's teachings and quickly calmed his excitement.
After a pause of two seconds, he asked again, "You said this girl is from Valley of Songs, so you must have visited there, right?"
"I did go, but..."
As soon as they heard this turn, both Viktor and Heimerdinger's hearts sank.
"That place was swallowed by the Void three years ago," Li Lin shook his head with a sigh, "Most of the radioactive minerals were completely consumed by it."
Viktor and Heimerdinger fell silent at the same time.
"But, at that time, Ascended beings from Shurima came and completely resolved the Void problem there. Some of the radioactive minerals are still left, and Lady Cassandra has arranged for people to start excavating."
"..."
Wow, can't you say it all at once? Both Viktor and Heimerdinger breathed a sigh of relief at the same time. Their heart that had just plummeted to the bottom rose again.
Li Lin's words piqued their interest, mentioning the Void again, as well as Ascended beings, and now radioactive minerals.
Viktor understood that Li Lin came to them today to solve Kai'Sa's problem, so he temporarily suppressed his questions.
Having been with Heimerdinger for a long time, he knew that the professor rarely cared about things outside of science. He was likely focused entirely on the radioactive minerals and had overlooked Kai'Sa.
Therefore, Viktor preemptively redirected the conversation back on track before Heimerdinger, "Right, you said Valley of Songs was swallowed by the Void, and Kai'Sa is from there, and Professor just said the energy aura on her armor is very similar to the Void..."
Connecting all the information together, his pupils slightly contracted, "Then could her armor be a product of the Void?"
"Yes, that's also the most important reason I came to you today."
Li Lin nodded solemnly.
"Kai'Sa... is currently in a symbiotic relationship with this layer of Void skin. I want to help her solve this problem."
(End of this chapter)