Li Lin quickly briefed Caitlyn in the dining hall and promptly flew to the workshop. Despite Caitlyn's dissatisfaction with his irregular eating habits and nightly toil, she didn't stop him, knowing that it was urgent since Heimerdinger called personally.
Within a few minutes, Li Lin soared to the Piltover Academy.
After more than two weeks of reconstruction, the workshop within the Piltover Academy had transformed into a semi-underground manufacturing plant, nearly two hundred meters tall, with vast interior spaces.
Even though the academy's location wasn't as high as the highest point in Piltover, the Piltovian Council Building, this manufacturing plant was even taller.
Outside the factory gates, Heimerdinger was animatedly discussing something with several different-looking Yordle construction team leaders. Upon seeing Li Lin descend from the sky, he waved them away to attend to his own matters.
"Hey hey hey, come over here!" Heimerdinger beckoned Li Lin excitedly. "I bet you already guessed why I called you here today, didn't you?"
"Is it because the upgrades to Gaboga's weapon systems are complete?" Li Lin chuckled.
"That's right! But..." Heimerdinger hesitated for a moment. "There's something else today. Our research group needs two more members."
"Hmm?" Li Lin sounded puzzled. "But aren't all the qualified professors from the university already here?"
"No no no, it's not the professors from the university, it's scientists from Bandle City... You know them."
Li Lin knew exactly what Heimerdinger meant, but he couldn't help but have some reservations.
"If it's scientists, and I know them... You mean Ziggs and Rumble?"
Rumble, he could understand. After all, they had agreed back in Shurima that Rumble would return to Bandle City to find special materials capable of withstanding nuclear fusion reactions, and his arrival in Piltover was just a matter of time.
But Ziggs...
This guy who only knew how to make bombs, who treated explosions as an art form, Li Lin couldn't help but feel that he was unreliable.
"Oh yes, with their addition, our construction of the Gaboga Mech is sure to..." Before Heimerdinger could finish his sentence, Li Lin interrupted, "Professor, I can understand Rumble, but are you sure... about having Ziggs join?"
He asked cautiously.
After all, just over half a year ago, Heimerdinger had sent Ziggs back to Bandle City. At that time, Ziggs almost blew up the office building with a bomb.
Heimerdinger stroked his beard, looking thoughtful, "But Ziggs told me that he's turned over a new leaf. He promised to help us build the mech with all his might."
Li Lin: "..."
He felt speechless. Just because someone says something doesn't mean you have to believe it...
He feared that Ziggs might tamper with the mech, adding bomb modules, and accidentally blowing up the academy or parts of Piltover.
Better to add your focus-fire flamethrower module.
"Come on, let's go meet them." Heimerdinger folded his arms and turned to walk into the factory.
On the way, Li Lin learned about Rumble and Ziggs' journey to Piltover.
Due to a shortage of manpower at the academy, Heimerdinger had sent people back to Bandle City two weeks ago to call in a few construction teams.
Ziggs heard about the construction of the mech from them, and quietly followed the construction team back to Piltover two days ago.
However, compared to other Yordles, Ziggs was impossible to miss, and he was soon caught by Heimerdinger.
Later, he begged Heimerdinger and swore he wouldn't touch bombs again, and would wholeheartedly help with the construction of the mech.
After weighing the options, Heimerdinger agreed to let Ziggs stay.
As for Rumble, he had just arrived in Piltover today.
He rode Tristy, upgraded by Li Lin to a rare-quality mech, carrying tons of ores that didn't exist in Runeterra, and came to the academy through the portal from Piltovian University.
Upon hearing about Tristy, Heimerdinger didn't even hesitate and immediately invited Rumble to join the Gaboga project.
Initially, Rumble had reservations about getting involved in Heimerdinger's affairs for Piltover and humanity. Additionally, he came today to deliver ore for Li Lin and inquire about when his new mech would be ready.
However, when Heimerdinger mentioned that Gaboga was a gigantic mech designed by Li Lin, standing over a hundred meters tall, Rumble's interest was immediately piqued. He wanted to ask Li Lin about the details.
Of course, with his personality, once he decided to join the Gaboga project, it was pretty much set in stone.
As the two walked to Heimerdinger's temporary office within the factory, Tristy stood nearby, surrounded by a group of Yordle construction teams and professors from the academy. Tristy was fenced off, which was why Rumble felt comfortable letting others get close to it.
Entering the office, Li Lin immediately spotted Rumble sitting in Heimerdinger's chair, his little legs knocking against the desk as he flipped through the notes Li Lin had left there earlier.
Meanwhile, Ziggs sat bored on the sofa, tossing a small round red ball up into the air.
Hearing the door, Ziggs quickly stuffed the ball into his mouth and let out a belch of black smoke.
Li Lin was taken aback, knowing it was a bomb.
However, Heimerdinger didn't seem to notice, as his attention was entirely on Rumble. "Rumble! How dare you casually look through my notes?!" he exclaimed, storming over to Rumble and snatching the notebook from him.
"Cheapskate, with your notes in such a mess, can't you organize them properly next time?" Rumble retorted.
"What do you know!" Heimerdinger retorted, angrily taking the notebook back. "Your notes are all over the place. Can't you be more organized next time?"
"You understand nothing!" Rumble wrinkled his brow, resisting the urge to curse Heimerdinger. He then noticed Li Lin standing by the door and was surprised.
Ignoring Heimerdinger, who was checking if his precious notebook was intact, Rumble walked straight to Li Lin, patting the armor on his body.
"Your armor looks quite different from six months ago," he remarked.
"Mechanics always need upgrades," Li Lin replied with a smile.
"I brought you the ore you requested. It's currently stored in the academy's warehouse. I spent two weeks driving Tristy to dig it up!" Rumble complained, looking dissatisfied.
"You promised me a large mech. Is this it?" he asked.
Gaboga... as if I would make that for you...
"Of course... not," Li Lin elongated his voice. "Do you remember the name of the mech I mentioned to you back then?"
"Um..." Rumble scratched his head, "Was it something like Silver-something Mech?"
"It's the Super Galaxy Mech" Li Lin said in a very serious tone, beginning to spin a tale. "The mech I promised to build for you can fly out of Runeterra. But this Gaboga can only operate within Runeterra... Are you sure you want this one?"
After a few seconds of hesitation, Rumble understood the difference in strength between the two types of mechs Li Lin mentioned.
If he could only choose one...
"Alright, alright, then I'll wait for your Super Galaxy Mech" he nodded, "But you humans have such short lifespans compared to us Yordles. I can wait for decades, but you can't."
Rumble's meaning was clear: he didn't want Li Lin to delay for decades until he died.
"Don't worry, I always keep my promises, and besides, Gaboga will help us accumulate experience in building large mechs," Li Lin added mentally, "Plus, with the 'Gene Ascension' individual enhancement route, lifespan is not an issue for me."
At this point, Heimerdinger had finished checking the integrity of his notes and carefully tucked them into his pocket. He then turned to Li Lin, Rumble, and Ziggs, saying, "Alright, children, let's go showcase the plasma cannon."
(End of this chapter)
The plasma cannon installed on Gaboga's arms served as its main weapon, akin to its primary cannon, so its construction naturally couldn't be sloppy.
Under Heimerdinger's leadership, they first created a small-scale plasma cannon for experimentation. Once Gaboga was nearly complete, they would directly assemble the large-scale cannon onto Gaboga.
As they made their way to the underground blast-proof test chamber, Heimerdinger muttered professional terms like "sequential entropy," "cyclic sequences," and "Vamurinne ring."
It wasn't until they descended to the lowest level via the elevator that they saw a massive energy cannon, three meters in diameter, positioned on the central construction platform. It was being fine-tuned by several humans and Yordle professors.
Inside the blast-proof chamber, a huge power supply mechanism over ten meters tall was installed with hundreds of energy crystals. These crystals were connected to the plasma cannon via thick cables, providing it with energy.
Li Lin opened the Data Mind to check its attributes.
[Plasma Cannon (Prototype Artifact): The most advanced plasma weapon, this cannon is the upgraded version of previous plasma cannons. Its plasma projectiles are even more lethal.]
[Attributes: 5000 health points, 60000 energy, 98 combat power.]
[Ability Effects]
[Advanced Constraint Field: Restrains high-energy plasma, reducing energy dissipation when plasma projectiles fly toward their target.]
[Armor Incinerator: Plasma projectiles are particularly effective against various types of armor but can be blocked by energy shields.]
[Instability: The plasma cannon is still in an unstable phase. Storing energy for more than 5 seconds has a 2%—10% chance of causing unpredictable consequences (extremely dangerous).]
[Charged Cannon: After storing energy for 3—10 seconds, delivers a devastating blow to the target.]
Even as a prototype, it had reached the level of an artifact, possessing combat power comparable to that of a typical deity. And this was before it underwent upgrades from Li Lin's "Mechanical Enhancement" skill.
If it were completely finished, just this cannon alone would be at least of epic-level equipment standards.
"Is the calibration work complete?" Heimerdinger asked an elderly man wearing a single-piece Hextech detection lens, research uniform, with graying hair, looking nearly fifty years old.
"It's almost done. We can start the experiment," the old professor replied.
"Very well. Is the experimental material ready?"
The old professor asked an assistant beside him, who nodded to Heimerdinger. "The marble with the added Hextech compression coating is ready."
"Hmm... Where are Jayce and Viktor? Call them over. We're ready to begin the experiment."
Heimerdinger, Rumble, and Ziggs received goggles and protective gear from the old professor's assistant and quickly put them on with the help of other Yordle assistants.
Li Lin declined these items and instead chose to close the visor of his armor, allowing the AI to measure the energy index of the cannon.
The old professor quickly briefed Li Lin and Heimerdinger on the various attributes of the cannon.
According to their research and testing, storing energy for 3 to 4 seconds was the most reasonable and safe range, which coincided with the display on Li Lin's system panel.
After waiting for more than ten minutes, Jayce and Viktor arrived.
In addition to supervising, they were also responsible for leading the team to build the most important parts of Gaboga's arms. Therefore, they also needed to participate in the development and manufacturing of the plasma cannon.
After exchanging greetings, they didn't waste time with unnecessary words. They immediately put on goggles and protective measures and joined the others in the blast-proof chamber not far away, which had large blast-proof glass.
With a gesture from Heimerdinger standing on the platform, a Yordle assistant pressed the remote control button on the console, causing a compressed Hextech metal-coated marble, five to six meters tall, to slowly rise from the ground.
Once the platform came to a complete stop, Heimerdinger personally pressed the start button on the central plasma cannon's power supply device.
"The power supply device is activated, running smoothly."
"The energy crystal's energy is continuously increasing... Currently at 57%."
"The plasma cannon platform is activated, receiving power."
"Energy supply is normal, and there are no anomalies with the plasma cannon."
"Auxiliary functions are being calibrated... Calibration complete."
"The plasma cannon's safety charge limit is set to 3 seconds."
"The power supply device is ready, and the plasma cannon platform's energy has reached normal charge levels."
"Professor, shall we begin charging?"
Heimerdinger paused briefly, then solemnly gave the order: "Proceed."
"The plasma cannon is aimed, target: Hextech-coated marble."
"Charging countdown: 3, 2, 1..."
In a mere 3 seconds, the plasma cannon's barrel shimmered with a deep blue light, nearly overshadowing the underground space's illumination.
[Warning! Detected potential annihilation energy charging. Should countermeasures be initiated?]
The AI didn't record data on the plasma cannon, so it didn't react to its charging.
"Just measure and analyze energy data; no need for countermeasures," Li Lin swiftly commanded the AI.
As the research personnel counted down, everyone in the containment room held their breath, their eyes fixed on the distant plasma cannon platform through the glass.
"Fire!"
As the cannon reached its safe energy limit, an even more blinding light burst forth, followed by a deafening roar.
Simultaneously, a searing beam of energy shot from the cannon's barrel, instantly annihilating the hex-clad marble hundreds of meters away, leaving nothing behind.
But it didn't end there. Even with just 3 seconds of charging, the plasma projectile's energy overwhelmed the hex-shielded structures in its path, obliterating them.
Within a heartbeat of its launch, before Li Lin could react, the plasma projectile struck the steel-reinforced blast wall over 200 meters away, leaving a massive blackened crater.
The resulting shockwave covered an area of over a hundred meters, devastating all experimental machinery in its path, even shaking the entire construction yard, with tremors felt in the ground.
The people in the containment room gasped, then erupted into jubilant cheers. Unlike the other researchers, Li Lin, Jayce, Viktor, and Heimerdinger, who had been sweating profusely, breathed a sigh of relief.
Even Ziggs was deeply shocked. This plasma cannon's power far exceeded his recent research in Bandle City, where he'd developed a compression bomb named "scientific hellfire," but it paled in comparison.
The terrifying power of the plasma cannon far exceeded their imagination, even at its lowest power.
If fully charged for 10 seconds, its energy release would increase exponentially.
According to the AI's estimates, let alone demolishing Piltover University, it could easily decimate half of the northern city districts in one shot.
Seeing this scene, even Rumble's legs were trembling by now.
He turned to Heimerdinger, whose expression was also grave, and trembled, "Heimerdinger, it seems you guys are much crazier than I thought."
"This... was just a small accident," Heimerdinger sighed heavily.
Jayce, on the other hand, suggested, "I think we need to classify the plasma cannon as an extremely dangerous controlled device and have it guarded 24/7."
"I agree," Viktor hurriedly added, "Moreover, until it's fully completed, we should lock it to a 3-second charge limit, accessible only with a key."
With that said, Jayce and Viktor turned to Li Lin.
Because he hadn't removed his mask and hadn't said a word until now, they didn't know what Li Lin was thinking.
Little did they know, Li Lin was having the AI analyze the current state of the plasma cannon's data, considering how to further increase its power.
This level of energy cannon, fully installed on Gaboga, with a caliber of at least a dozen meters, could potentially destroy half of the twin cities in a single shot.
But compared to ascended warriors or even demigods representing natural elements and laws, it was far from enough, let alone facing the Void in the future.
The plasma cannon wasn't sufficient; electromagnetic coil cannons were only useful against small fry, and even against demigods, they were just scratching the surface. They needed to find a way to continue upgrading...
Li Lin quickly calmed his scattered thoughts and removed his mask, looking at Heimerdinger. He then said something that shocked everyone in the room:
"Professor, I believe we need to further upgrade Gaboga's weapon system."
(End of this chapter)
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