Arcane: Twin Cities Mechanic

The mighty Titan Beast truly shocked Nasus.

Earlier, he had heard about a colossal beast battle that erupted on Gardes Island, where Li Lin piloted Gaboga to fight against Malphite.

Later, following his advice, Malphite had actually gone to the Sun City to seek Azir's help in returning to his original form, nearly scaring away a group of nomadic tribes that were planning to set up camp outside the capital.

Nasushad heard from Malphite about how Li Lin had created a large mech, comparable in size to a Heavenly Ascendant Warrior. However, Malphite had struggled to describe the exact capabilities of Gaboga at that time due to his limited communication skills.

Given Nasus' understanding of the technology from his time with Li Lin, he hadn't paid it much attention.

Even if such a gigantic machine did exist, Nasus had assumed it would only be able to deal with mortal nations.

However…

Looking up at the towering mech that stretched into the clouds—so similar to Malphite—Nasus realized that even if he used the full power of his Ascendant form, his size could barely match half of this colossal machine.

What's more, he could sense a threat from the energy waves that had just exploded from a distance.

As Li Lin flew out from the mech's head and swiftly descended, Nasus, who had grown numb to such spectacles, didn't seem surprised by his ability to fly.

"Grand Scholar."

Li Lin's armor quickly transformed into ordinary clothing. Nasus' scarlet eyes widened slightly as he looked Li Lin up and down, his face filled with an even greater expression of shock.

To put it simply, it was like being "dumbstruck."

Not only was Li Lin wearing clothes that could effortlessly "change material," but his physical transformation was also extraordinary.

"You… how…" Nasus opened his mouth, but the words caught in his throat.

After a brief pause, he exhaled heavily, his voice gravelly and hoarse. "Your transformation is vast. I underestimated your potential—far too much."

"You flatter me, I've simply developed some new technology," Li Lin replied humbly.

Nasus shook his head helplessly. "You're being too modest."

In my current state, I may not even defeat you with magic, let alone in pure physical combat.

It had only been a short time. The powers of the Ascendants came from the divine blessings of the heavens, yet Li Lin, a mere mortal, had managed to use science and technology to attain a physique on par with a god, and even possess a massive mech capable of rivaling an Ascendant's power.

It wasn't that Nasus looked down on human potential, but flesh-and-blood mortals had their limits. To see Li Lin shatter that limit was truly unbelievable.

"The God Emperor of the sands would be just as shocked as I am if he saw you," Nasus said. "He's mentioned you several times during your absence. Especially since your fate seems chaotic and unclear. He could never have guessed that, within just one year, you'd reach the point where you could defeat me."

Li Lin smiled, not wanting to dwell on this topic. "Actually, this large mech was inspired by the Lava Beast, Malphite. He used to be a fragment of the floating fortress, Monolith. I came to Gardes Island to test its performance."

"I know about that," Nasus replied. "Malphite has returned under the Emperor's command and mentioned you. He's currently in Sai Kahleek ."

Noticing Li Lin's brief confusion, Nasus added, "The Queen of the Xer'Sai, Rek' Sai, was indeed killed by me, but the remnants of Xer'Sai are still a threat. 

"Malphite is skilled in underground movement and erasing traces in the void, so the Emperor sent him to the Sea of Bones to deal with the Xer'Sai once and for all."

Li Lin nodded slightly. 

He had anticipated the lingering issues with Xer'Sai and had mentioned it to Nasus before.

To his surprise, Malphite's return had provided the perfect opportunity to eradicate Xer'Sai's threat.

In addition, when the time came to deal with Xerath and the Sword Darkin, Malphite would prove invaluable.

As for Bel'Veth, Malphite had previously mentioned that he would be instantly consumed by the void there, so Li Lin hadn't planned to take him on such a dangerous mission.

Li Lin paused for a moment, as if he had just remembered something, then looked up and asked, "By the way, Grand Scholar, I heard from a member of our Kiramman Expedition team that your brother, Renekton, has been causing you trouble?"

Nasus frowned slightly, and a flicker of flame burned in his crimson eyes. He sighed deeply. "That's true. I had hoped to ask the Emperor to take care of him in one fell swoop, but there are far more pressing matters at hand, and we don't have the time to deal with Renekton."

"I can help you capture Renekton," Li Lin offered without a second thought.

"Hmm? What…?"

"I'm sure you've sensed the power I just tested?" Li Lin half-turned, gesturing toward the Titan Beast.

Nasus paused for two seconds, then nodded.

"That was just one of its basic energy weapons. If we go all out, I'm confident that, together, we can easily defeat Renekton."

Upon hearing this, Nasus raised an eyebrow and fell into deep thought.

Even though he had fallen from grace for over a thousand years and his strength had greatly diminished, Renekton's mind was rarely clear, making their battles somewhat evenly matched.

Azir currently had no time to deal with Renekton, but with Li Lin's assistance, perhaps it would be manageable…

After a moment of contemplation, Nasus took a deep breath and turned to gaze at the Titan Beast in its entirety. "What's its name?"

Seeing that the Grand Scholar had agreed to his suggestion, Li Lin couldn't help but smile slightly. "This beast... it's called the Titan Mech: Beast."

...

Returning to Nashramae, Li Lin had the Titan Mech transform into a planetary drill fortress vehicle, activating its optical camouflage and anti-gravity systems, floating above the town.

He followed Nasus to the office palace of the Nashramae Port Governor, Sadja, to discuss a plan for dealing with Renekton.

It had been over a month since the last fierce battle, in which Nasus, like a divine figure, had repelled Renekton, whose mind was in disarray.

After such an extended period of recovery, Nasus' injuries should have healed completely.

Based on the frequency of Nasus' attacks over the past year, Renekton would likely strike again in a few days.

Li Lin thought for a moment, considering the AI's suggestion, and proposed a combat strategy: Nasus would first lure Renekton out and hold him off while Li Lin, piloting the Titan, would wait at a distance. When the two brothers began their battle, Li Lin would take the opportunity to launch a surprise attack via teleportation, leaving Renekton with nowhere to escape.

The plan was simple because the battlefield conditions could change rapidly, and the same was true for a battle between two gods. At that point, everything would have to be handled spontaneously.

Nasus' only request was that Li Lin not take Renekton's life when he struck.

Once the time was set for the ambush near Nashramae, Li Lin left a few drones with Nasus to ensure constant communication, in case Renekton attempted a surprise attack at some point.

He then disassembled the Titan back into six folding modules, which were teleported back to the Zaun warehouse.

At present, Li Lin had no facility to store his mech, and given his limited liquid assets, he could not afford to build a large, well-equipped base.

After thinking it over, he felt it was time to reveal the impending threat from Bel'Veth to Cassandra.

Beneath the twin cities, there were traces of the Void, which had been cleared by Malphite, but that only addressed the symptom, not the root cause.

If Cassandra were to convene a council meeting and Li Lin personally addressed the threat of the Void, it would be a matter of great concern for Piltover. It was likely that the other four councilors weren't foolish enough to not take self-defense measures.

At that point, with sufficient funding, Li Lin didn't plan to build a base on the ground. Instead, he intended to construct a large space station in orbit.

Not only would this space station provide storage for mechs, saving the time of assembling them each time they were used, but it could also serve as a command base in preparation for future battles against the Void and even act as a refuge for survivors.

Li Lin rubbed his chin, mulling over his future plans. However, soon a new issue arose.

If he exposed this to the council, they would know he commanded a mechanical army powerful enough to easily erase Demacia, Noxus, and flatten Ionia.

At that point, it wasn't just the four short-sighted councilors who might have concerns—Cassandra, Heimerdinger, and Mel could very well express their doubts as well.

Perhaps, however, this would be the perfect time to take full control of the twin cities.

This required careful consideration.

Li Lin shook his head and put the thought aside for now.

The pressing concern was first to deal with Renekton, and then defeat Xerath and the Darkin.

With the video footage of the "Divine Battle," it would serve as a deterrent to the councilors, making them realize that in Runeterra, amidst all these crises, humanity was but a fragile insect. They would have to think about their future and act more cautiously.

In the following days, Li Lin immersed himself in perfecting the interdimensional teleportation device. His goal was to use only four machines rather than needing corresponding machines at both the origin and destination, allowing the system to be activated safely.

By tearing open the subspace channel between the starting and target locations, it would significantly reduce the chance of the enemy directly destroying the teleportation device and causing failure, while also maximizing the use of the Gaboga punch.

With Heimerdinger's personal notes on quantum theory and the AI's assistance, Li Lin quickly completed the first part of the plan, no longer requiring the eight corresponding machines to tear the subspace channel.

The next step was to accelerate the opening of the teleportation gate and prevent the enemy from using the channel to sneak in and attack. However, the one-way teleportation system Li Lin envisioned had not yet been realized.

But he couldn't afford to focus on that for now, as a drone had sent word that there was movement from Nasus.

Renekton had attacked Nashramae, destroying most of its walls before engaging in a fierce battle with Nasus.

Li Lin quickly donned his combat armor and activated the Behemoth's disassembly pack, teleporting to Nashramae's skies to rapidly reassemble.

As Li Lin synchronized with the mech via the neural connection network, drones transmitted the sight of Nasus, in his divine form, and Renekton battling in the Eastern Great Sai Mountains.

The Dog and crocodile gods were now towering giants, each hundreds of meters tall. They wielded polearms imbued with divine power, clashing fiercely with crescent axes that had snapped their long shafts, leaving vicious gashes on each other's divine bodies. But in the blink of an eye, their wounds healed as if they had never existed.

Li Lin narrowed his eyes. This was his first time witnessing a battle between gods. Even though neither of them was at their peak, the chaos and destruction they wrought could still obliterate the heavens.

Without hesitation, he initiated the Hextech teleportation.

The massive fortress war vehicle, which had lost its optical camouflage, materialized out of thin air above Nashramae, casting a shadow that darkened the entire city. This caused the already panicked residents below to descend into further chaos.

However, within four to five seconds, the Titan was gone, vanishing from the bewildered Nashramae citizens' sight.

As the scene shifted, Li Lin arrived at the edge of the battlefield, where the southern peak of the Great Sai Mountains had been wiped off the Shurima continent. Furious roars reverberated, shaking souls, and surging celestial magic spilled across the land.

"Everyone will die!"

(End of Chapter)

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