Li Lin descended from the high altitude, taking his time to enjoy the sensation of flight. He circled around the southeastern corner of the Valoran continent where the twin cities stood.
He even ventured across the Piltover Strait, exploring the southern jungle of Kumungu.
Moreover, Li Lin even considered flying to Nashramae to find Sivir, Xerath, or inquire about Kassadin's current whereabouts.
However, even with the current speed of the battle suit, a round trip from Piltover to Nashramae would take about four to five hours.
By now, the whole city must be searching for him. Lady Cassandra should have heard the news and rushed back home. Li Lin decided to tone down his excitement.
It had been over an hour since he descended from the high altitude. Li Lin flew back to Piltover.
By this time, the streets of Piltover were already crowded with people.
Through the holographic display of the mask, Li Lin observed that most people were looking up at the sky, seemingly searching for something.
As they spotted the "unidentified flying object" in the sky, the crowd on the streets erupted with excitement.
Although Li Lin couldn't hear their conversations, judging by the expressions on their faces, he could guess what they were discussing.
With a continuous smile on his face, he only made a brief stop outside and then emitted a trail of flames as he flew towards the northern district, heading back to the Kiramman mansion.
Passing by Caitlyn's room balcony, Li Lin landed just outside her room. He opened the mask and looked inside through the glass door.
"Huh? Why isn't she in her room? Shouldn't Caitlyn be resting?" he wondered, scratching his chin with a metallic squeak.
Just then, a maid's voice came from below in the courtyard, "Mr. Li Lin!"
Li Lin leaned over the balcony's white railing to look down. A maid was excitedly waving at him.
"I finally found you!" she exclaimed, "Are you looking for Miss Caitlyn? She's with Lady Cassandra in your workshop! Lady Cassandra has been waiting for you for a while now."
"Alright, I'll go there right away," Li Lin nodded in response. He ascended again amidst the maid's admiring and envious gaze and quickly returned to the airspace above the workshop.
At this moment, Caitlyn, Kai'Sa, the Kiramman couple, and some representatives from other families, dressed in luxurious attire, were all gazing up at him.
With their respective servants, there were at least fifty people.
"Wow... are they preparing for some kind of gathering?" Li Lin thought as he smoothly landed on a clearing some distance away from them.
Caitlyn was the first to rush over, her movements slightly awkward. However, she concealed it well, and one wouldn't notice if not paying close attention.
Then, she looked at Li Lin with a surprised expression and scrutinized him from head to toe, "What you said to me and Sheriff Grayson before... I thought you were joking!"
"Have I ever failed to deliver on what I said?" Li Lin chuckled, "Why aren't you resting in your room?"
"As soon as I heard the news that you flew into the sky, how could I still sleep?" Caitlyn glanced at him reproachfully, then continued with a complaining tone, "Besides, as soon as my mother came back, she rushed to my room asking about you. Then she said that representatives from other families came to visit and asked me to get up to entertain..."
Before she could finish, the water-like eyes of Kai'Sa flashed with envy and astonishment, "Li Lin! You can fly?!"
Li Lin shifted his gaze to Kai'Sa, "Yes, it's a newly developed technology..."
Then, he lowered his voice, "And progress has been made on the biological battle armor technology. It shouldn't be long before we solve your problem."
Kai'Sa pursed her lips, her expression conflicted, "But... if I really lose this layer of skin, will I lose my combat ability? I also want to fly freely like you..."
"Don't worry, there are always more solutions than problems. Let's discuss this matter later. It's not the time now."
"Yeah, yeah~~!" Li Lin patted her head with the armor on his hand, then looked at the Kiramman couple and the representatives of other families who were coming towards him.
Quickly scanning each person dressed in different clothes, he identified their family emblems.
The representatives of the Midarda, Ferros, Salo, Hoskel, Bolbok, and Shoola families...
Except for Heimerdinger who hadn't arrived yet, or perhaps hadn't arrived yet, the representatives of several council families were complete.
In addition to them, there were also well-known figures in Piltover, such as Cavald, the Amara merchant who invested in Piltover University, and even the Joeyson family, which had many conflicting interests with the Kiramman family, making them one of their arch-rivals.
"Councilor Kiramman, Mr. Tobias," Li Lin restrained his smile and nodded in greeting to the leading Kiramman couple.
"Li Lin, did you really develop a personal flying device?!"
Even the usually elegant and composed Lady Cassandra seemed extremely excited at this moment.
"As you just saw," Li Lin nodded, "based on my tests, the flight status is very stable. I even ascended to an altitude of 30,000 meters."
The representatives of the major families present were all stunned, and then there was an uproar.
"30,000 meters? How is that possible?"
"Our best airships can only fly a few hundred meters above the ground... Not to mention hot air balloons. Even after modification, the highest record is only over a thousand meters."
"30,000 meters... Isn't that reaching the Rune Lands?"
"You've wasted your time reading books. 30,000 meters is nothing compared to flying out of the planet, right?"
"Except for those humans who are said to be blessed by the Star Spirits, even those demigods can't do that, right?"
Some representatives of smaller families had already begun to argue. The representatives of the leading families were more cultured and just curiously observed the battle armor on Li Lin without saying a word.
After more than ten seconds, standing beside Cassandra, a middle-aged man with a decorative mechanical telescopic cane, a middle-parted greased hair, and a large mustache coughed lightly.
The people present instantly fell silent, not daring to say another word, seeming to fear this man, implicitly regarding him as their leader.
He wore a brown coat with a light blue and white vertical striped shirt underneath, and the lower half was a pair of brownish-yellow slim trousers with long boots.
The shoulders of his coat were adorned with statues made of gold, depicting workers building mechanical devices, and the golden metal-trimmed collar was raised high behind his head, as if it were a halo of a deity on Earth.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Abus Ferros from the Ferros family. I believe you've heard of my name," the man's voice was deep but carried a hint of arrogance.
Knowing that Li Lin rarely paid attention to external news and had just returned to Piltover, Cassandra immediately added, "Abus is currently in charge of all external investment matters for the Ferros family. Every investment has been profitable, and we have never suffered losses. He is deeply trusted by Lord Stevan, the head of the Ferros family."
"Jayce received Abus's attention while researching the Hextech Hex Gates and even received a large sponsorship from him."
As I expected...
Li Lin nodded, and with Cassandra's description, he knew the purpose of these people's visit.
"Happy Progress Day, Mr. Ferros."
"Yeah~~ same to you." Abus rubbed his mustache, slightly raised his chin, "Just call me Abus, and I'll call you Li Lin directly. How about that?"
The corner of Li Lin's eye caught the astonished expressions on the faces of the other family representatives, seemingly surprised by Abus's attitude.
It seemed that besides the reputation of the Ferros family, Abus also had considerable influence among the major families.
Given his current attitude towards himself, he should value him quite a bit.
Li Lin reached out and shook hands with Abus, wearing a polite smile, "Of course, Abus."
"Yeah~~ I see you're not a fan of small talk, so I'll get straight to the point."
Abus chuckled, looked back at the representatives of the other families, then reestablished eye contact with Li Lin, his mouth curled up exaggeratedly.
"We're very interested in your battle armor. Would you be willing to accept our investment?"
(End of this chapter)