The negotiation between Li Lin and Seraphine's parents regarding her sponsorship went smoothly.
Seraphine was willing, and combined with Li Lin's efforts to improve the lives of Zaun's people, Mordemore and Clarana had accepted him.
As for reconciling the people of the two cities and leading them to the pinnacle of the world, the two simply smiled and didn't take it too seriously. Whether Seraphine could achieve such heights later didn't matter; Li Lin's "free" sponsorship was already seen as enough.
With their daughter's future secured, they didn't think much further. All that remained was for Li Lin to arrange for someone to take Seraphine to study at Piltover University.
Time flew by. It had been over a month since Li Lin arranged for Seraphine to control her magic at school. The Twin Cities had officially entered the year 218 of Piltover's calendar, and 990 of Noxus's calendar.
During this time, Li Lin had developed various low-power household appliances from Earth and handed the designs to Cassandra to arrange for production. High-power appliances like microwaves and ovens had not been designed yet due to the current power supply limitations in the Twin Cities.
These daily appliances alone would increase power consumption several times, possibly leading to shortages. High-power appliances would have to wait until the Medarda family's Sun Gate dam's hydroelectric generator was completed and operational.
Additionally, Li Lin's Oswald Mechanical Factory, Wells Mechanical Parts Processing and Assembly Plant, and the Old Canned Weapons Factory in Zaun were completed. With the cooperation of Chem-Baron Lenare, who provided the ready-made technology for robot production assembly lines, Li Lin quickly upgraded and improved them. The factories were soon in production, with the first batch of several hundred mechanical sappers completed in no time.
Besides supplying each factory's production operations, Li Lin allocated a considerable portion of the mechanical sappers to support Piltover University's Gaboga Project. Heimerdinger, Jayce, Viktor, Rumble, and other professors and construction teams were stunned into silence. The technology Li Lin currently possessed was already at such a level—how many more cards did he have up his sleeve?
If Li Lin knew what they were thinking, he would surely cry out in innocence. He had already put all his technology out there, except for the combat drones that had yet to go into production. A single mechanical sapper could replace several ordinary workers and work tirelessly 24/7.
With their assistance, the progress of the Gaboga Project increased significantly. In just over a month, the overall framework and skeleton of Gaboga were basically formed. The construction speed and efficiency of the modules each team was responsible for had more than just improved a little.
While the Gaboga Project progressed normally, Li Lin and Heimerdinger didn't put aside the artificial satellite project either. The satellite base and launch site on the southern plain of Piltover's transport river had already started construction. Li Lin sent the first batch of more than ten mechanical sappers to assist there, with more to follow as factory production continued.
According to AI's estimation, the satellite base and launch site could be completed by the end of the year. After that, the construction of the artificial satellite and launch rocket would be on the agenda. These could be built entirely by the almost "omnipotent" mechanical sappers.
By the end of the year, the satellite base would be completed, and the satellite and rocket would be almost ready for launch. As for the possibility of a launch failure, Li Lin had no concerns. The system-produced items were always top-notch. The data for the artificial satellite and launch rocket were highly accurate. In this situation, unless AI made a calculation error, there would be no issues with the launch. But for AI to make a calculation error...that would be almost unimaginable.
As the sun climbed higher, a new day of busy work began. Kai'Sa, having mastered the common language of the Twin Cities and the combat techniques of Piltover's elite enforcers, no longer needed lessons and wasn't at home.
In her free time, she would either accompany Seraphine at the academy or wander the northern district with Orianna. This was a compromise from Orianna's father, Colin, who allowed her to leave the workshop but not cross Piltover Bridge to the southern district. With Kai'Sa's introduction, Seraphine and Orianna became good friends. Occasionally, Caitlyn would join them when she had no cases to handle, forming a vibrant quartet that became a beautiful sight in the northern streets of Piltover.
Li Lin continued to work on recent issues in the Gaboga Project in his workshop. Later, he needed to discuss the capture of Renata with Silco. Piltover's enforcers had concrete evidence of Glasc Industries' crimes, but precise and comprehensive intelligence was needed before action could be taken.
Glasc Industries was a pillar of Zaun, and any mistakes could lead to massive unemployment and unrest. Even though Li Lin assured he could take over Renata's business, Sheriff Grayson was cautious, repeatedly consulting Cassandra and Mel about the operation.
After all, Renata was a ruthless Chem-Baron, and even Silco couldn't deal with her, proving her capabilities. Li Lin didn't know what tricks she had up her sleeve, so he didn't dare directly capture her, fearing she might drag all of Zaun down with her.
Recently, Piltover's enforcers finally clarified the details of Glasc's capture. At Li Lin's request, and out of concern for spies within the enforcers, Sheriff Grayson didn't disclose any action details to anyone except the main participants—Li Lin, Caitlyn, and the councilors. However, Renata seemed to sense the danger and went into hiding, making it difficult for undercover agents to locate her.
This created a problem for the mission. Li Lin arranged to meet Silco to discuss this issue. After finishing his work, he donned his armor and had AI notify his household staff of his departure. As the sunroof fully opened, the plasma jets of his armor fired up, and Li Lin shot into the sky.
He descended along the Piltover Gorge to the upper border market of Zaun, to the building where Silco usually resided. After briefing his men, Li Lin, familiar with the place, took the elevator to the top floor and entered Silco's smoke-filled office. Silco sat in his chair, legs on the desk, a glass of whiskey with ice in one hand and a cigar in the other, his right eye fixed on the new computer screen.
"Have you found Glasc's location?" Li Lin asked bluntly.
"No, that old fox is very cunning," Silco replied, glancing at Li Lin and extinguishing his cigar, his face expressionless as usual. "I heard you mentioned at the Progress Day conference about a device that could leave Runeterra and locate anyone on this planet?"
"You've got it mixed up. The device that can locate everyone is the Miniature Runeterra, another professor's invention at the academy," Li Lin corrected, taking off his armor and placing it in a corner before sitting at the desk. "My device is called a satellite, used for resource exploration and research, not for locating individuals."
"Temporarily," Silco rubbed his chin, a smile appearing, "In just one year, you've reached this level. It's beyond my expectations."
"I didn't come here to listen to your marveling or idle talk," Li Lin said, leaning back in his chair and tapping the armrest. "The longer we delay with Glasc, the worse it is for us."
"Is it possible there's a leak within Piltover's enforcers?" Silco suggested, "You know, Glasc has Shimmer that can make people spill the truth."
"Impossible. We didn't plant any spies in Glasc Industries, and the undercover agents monitoring Glasc don't know about our operation," Li Lin shook his head. "Moreover, Sheriff Grayson hasn't revealed any details about the action. Only she, Caitlyn, a few councilors, and I know."
"That's strange," Silco muttered, frowning. "Could it be that Glasc's hiding isn't related to this at all?"
Hearing this, Li Lin suddenly felt uneasy. Up until now, even Camille wasn't a threat, and although he hadn't fully controlled the Twin Cities, most things were under his command. There shouldn't be any major events... Wait!
Li Lin's breath caught, and a thought flashed in his mind. The chemtech poison leak incident in Zaun, according to the original timeline, was supposed to happen around this time! This was a highly destructive event.
Although the death toll was not as high as the "Great Collapse" from 200 years ago when the canal was dug, the impact on Zaun was profound. Under the influence of toxic fumes and chemical liquids, not only the vicinity of the incident but almost the entire Zaun was affected.
It marked the lowest point for Zaun in the past decade, significantly deteriorating the economy, daily life, and living conditions, making it even more subordinate to Piltover.
In the original timeline, Orianna's transformation into the Clockwork Lady by her father with Hextech augmentation was due to this event. She went down to Zaun to repair the breathing station equipment to help others and gave her own breathing filter to a child, leading to her lungs being infected and corroded by chemtech poison, leaving her critically ill.
Given Renata's ruthless and manipulative nature, the simplest way for her to control Zaun would be to save its people from a disaster. But now that chemtech technology was being replaced by safer modern Earth technology, the original chemtech poison leak incident might not happen. But for Renata...
Realizing this, Li Lin stood up abruptly, startling Silco. "What are you doing?" Silco asked, looking at Li Lin's sudden change in demeanor.
"There's no time to explain!" Li Lin hastily put on his armor, reactivating the plasma jets and rushing out of the office. "Notify all our people to search for any large chemtech poison storage sites in Zaun!"
Li Lin soared into the sky, contacting AI and issuing a citywide search order for chemtech poison. The clock was ticking; he had to prevent a catastrophe that could claim countless lives.
(End of Chapter)