November had arrived, and Piltover was about to host its annual Progress Day celebration.
The narrow streets were filled with the festive atmosphere. People were bustling about, clad in the latest fashionable attire, proudly displaying their wristwatches as they rode bicycles.
As the festival approached, orphans from the Undercity would engage in cunning maneuvers with the Sheriffs in the north and south districts, taking advantage of the crowded streets to cut open bags containing wallets with small knives.
Not only had there been a recent surge in cases for the Piltover Enforcers, with reports pouring in by the hundreds every day, but Caitlyn was also busier than ever, hardly having any leisure time.
Meanwhile, Kai'Sa spent her days learning the common language of both cities from her tutor, along with the essential knowledge and etiquette required for the children of the Piltover nobility.
Moreover, Li Lin had Caitlyn hire a retired elite Sheriff who had previously taught her combat skills to train Kai'Sa in martial arts. Thus, her days were quite fulfilling.
During this time, Li Lin first applied for patents for technologies such as intelligent chips and computers, and then arranged for Lady Cassandra to allocate new cutting-edge equipment and production lines to the auxiliary chip manufacturing factory to produce intelligent chips.
He didn't forget about Zaun's arsenal either.
Once all the materials prepared by Silco had been delivered to the factory, Li Lin spent two days immediately upgrading all the equipment.
Since the assembly plant had not yet been constructed, he could only temporarily convert some of the production equipment into assembly equipment.
Now, by simply inputting materials into the machines, a large number of intelligent mechanical combat robots could be quickly produced, laying the foundation for future development.
The factory was currently under the responsibility of Mundo, who promised Li Lin that he would do his best to maintain its normal operation.
In addition, through the relationship between the Kiramman family and Grayson, Li Lin obtained ownership of the Oswell Sanatorium.
He had already arranged for manpower to renovate it and planned to transform it into a mechanical parts production plant.
Li Lin duly reported to the Piltover Enforcers and obtained approval, naming it the "Oswell Mechanical Factory," with no intention of concealing anything.
He wanted the factory to produce parts normally, sell most of the ordinary parts, and use the remaining precision parts himself.
This way, it would not only bring him additional income besides the Kiramman family's patent and sales profit sharing, but also provide employment for the citizens of Zaun.
The owners of the Old Tin Factory on the outskirts of the Lanes controlled by Vander and the Wells Brewery on the northwest side of the Midway Plaza had both passed away, leaving no heirs.
As long as Chem-Barons controlling this area agreed and paid a sum of money, anyone could take ownership.
The Old Tin Factory was under the jurisdiction of Vander in the Lanes, while the Wells Brewery belonged to Chem-Baron Lenare's territory.
Li Lin didn't even spend a penny. He just told Vander and sent a messaging tube to Lenare, and after receiving affirmative replies, he obtained ownership of these two abandoned factories.
He renamed the Wells Brewery the "Wells Mechanical Parts Processing and Assembly Factory" and reached a cooperation agreement with Lenare.
Half of the factory's production line was used to produce mechanical parts, while the other part was used to assemble robots. It had also obtained approval from the Piltover Enforcers.
However, this was the place Li Lin used to deal with his work robot sources on the surface, but he would also recruit some workers to work here.
Meanwhile, the Old Tin Factory in the Lanes was another place where Li Lin planned to build a Black Factory.
He arranged two production lines here as well. One was used to produce ammunition and micro-missiles required for the Infinite Armor, Aerial Combat Mech Storm, and Unmanned Combat Drone squadrons.
The other part was a module assembly line, mainly used to assemble Storm robots and combat drones with parts produced by other factories.
After handling the Zaun matters, Li Lin stayed in his workshop all the time.
The steward had already purchased various cutting-edge equipment as per his request, added several tools to the workshop, and prepared the experimental materials he needed.
The next-generation flying Project Genesis Infinite Armor, Biomech Armor, and Colossal Mech could wait for now.
Li Lin wanted to showcase his new achievements at the Progress Day convention, and with two weeks until the event, he had plenty of time.
His first task was to develop the "Genetic Enhancement Potion."
Relying solely on the combat armor was not reliable, and being physically weak would greatly affect the learning of advanced technologies.
The formula for the Genetic Enhancement Potion was complex, but the materials were quite common, with only a few rare materials under the control of the Enforcers.
But with the influence of the Kiramman family, these scarce controlled materials were prepared in less than half a day.
In the chemical biology laboratory of the workshop, Li Lin looked at the ten glass vials neatly sealed on the shelf and fell into contemplation.
The Genetic Enhancement Potion could only be used three times per person, with no effect after the fourth time.
The effectiveness of subcutaneous injection was the best. With just three uses, surpassing the strongest in Marvel, Captain America, Steve Rogers, should not be a problem.
Enduring some pain was nothing, but the problem was that there was a percentage chance of genetic sequence collapse with subcutaneous injection.
And the effect of oral administration was only less than half of that of subcutaneous injection. Three vials of the potion could at most enhance the physique of an ordinary adult by 5-8 times.
After much deliberation, Li Lin decided not to take this risk.
Anyway, there are still plenty of ways to enhance one's physical strength, perhaps enough to rival that of gods.
Risking one's life for the maximum effect of three vials of enhancement potion isn't worth it.
After giving it some thought, Li Lin casually picked up a bottle of grayish-white potion, uncorked it, and drank it in one gulp.
Unlike the subtly sweet taste of the Life Water from Dawn Oasis, the genetic enhancement potion had no taste, but it wasn't like plain water either; it had a slightly viscous texture.
As the cool liquid slid down his throat into his stomach, Li Lin sat in his chair and waited quietly. "Huh? Why don't I feel anything?"
Scratching his head, he looked puzzled. "This shouldn't be... or could it be that I've already been enhanced?"
Li Lin checked his data on the system panel, but there was no change in his health, mana, or combat power.
Refusing to believe it, he went to the adjacent lab, controlled a Storm robot to land on the table, and tried to lift it.
Hmm...
He couldn't budge it.
"It has no effect on me? That's impossible... my physique isn't even comparable to Jayce's, so it shouldn't be like this."
"Or did the potion fail to work because of a manufacturing issue?"
Li Lin went back to pick up another bottle of potion and checked its properties using "Data Mind."
"There's no problem with this either? What's going on?"
Refusing to believe it, he uncorked the bottle again and drank the grayish-white liquid in one gulp.
After more than ten minutes passed, he still didn't feel anything.
"Damn it! Is there something wrong with the way I'm taking it? They clearly said subcutaneous injection or oral administration, so why isn't it working for me? It shouldn't be like this!"
Frowning deeply, Li Lin picked up another bottle of potion, preparing to conduct another experiment and test.
But just as he put on his protective suit, he heard a "knock, knock" on the workshop door.
The rhythm of the knocking belonged to Kai'sa's habit.
Li Lin put down the potion in his hand and went to the door to check the wall clock. "It's already past twelve; time flies."
He shook his head helplessly and opened the door for Kai'Sa.
The girl with her hair tied in a ponytail stood at the door. When she saw Li Lin, her watery eyes narrowed slightly, and an excited smile appeared on her face.
"Li Ling!" Caitlyn shouted in the common language of Piltover, which she had been learning for a few days.
However, her accent was still much stronger than her father, Kassadin's. Li Lin almost didn't recognize that she was calling him.
"It's Li Lin," he corrected her softly.
"Um..." Kai'Sa lowered her eyelids, her face blushing slightly, and switched back to Shuriman, "Sorry, it's hard for me to learn the common language."
"There's nothing to apologize for. You're just not pronouncing it quite right, and besides, you've only been learning for a few days."
"When I was learning my second language, I studied for more than ten years and still didn't learn it properly."
Li Lin smiled and gently rubbed Kai'Sa's head, comforting her with his experience of learning English before crossing over.
"Really...?" Kai'Sa seemed skeptical, "But your pronunciation in the common language is almost the same as what sister Caitlyn said, right?"
"I wasn't speaking the common language," Li Lin changed the subject, "By the way, have you finished your morning classes?"
Kai'Sa pouted, seeming a bit dissatisfied with Li Lin's reluctance to answer her question directly.
However, she didn't dwell too much on it. "Morning language class is over. My instructor won't be teaching me combat skills this afternoon because she has something else to do."
A glimmer of excitement flashed in Kai'Sa's purple eyes, without any disguise, easily captured by Li Lin.
"Well, then let's go out for a walk this afternoon. Piltover's Progress Day is the liveliest day of the year."
"You're the best!"
After all, Kai'Sa was still a child, initially curious about attending classes.
With the increase of boring and tedious knowledge, she gradually regained her playful nature.
"But, we have to eat first..." Li Lin's words suddenly stopped.
Sensing Li Lin's abnormality, Kai'Sa asked, "Li Lin, are you okay?"
In just a few seconds, he went from being normal to looking like he had been exposed to the sun for hours in the Great Sai, with his skin seeming to be as cooked as if it were ripe, emitting visible heat.
"I'm damn... so hot, the potion's effect is kicking in!"
(End of this chapter)