The next day.
Duke returned to Colin Workshop with an uneasy Jinx. Standing at the entrance of Colin Workshop, Duke gestured for Jinx to ring the doorbell.
Jinx's package was in Duke's hand. Under Duke's encouraging gaze, Jinx mustered her Courage and rang the doorbell.
Ding-a-ling...
As the doorbell chimed, Colin opened the door first. Seeing Jinx, his expression froze slightly, then he cast an inquiring look at Duke.
"This little girl is my former neighbor. Her family entrusted her to me to take care of her and let her learn something here!"
Duke thought for a moment, then added, "Janna also knows about this!"
"If you sneak out in the middle of the night again, don't bother coming back!"
Colin, who had welcomed Jinx in, reprimanded Duke a couple of times. Duke shrugged his shoulders, "Janna instigated it, there's nothing I can do!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Duke's head was hit by Wind. He smacked his lips and didn't mind, walking into the shop.
After settling Jinx, Duke returned to his room, took out the blueprint for the Clockwork Battle Armor, spread it on the table, and gazed at the armor's design, pondering, "It's time to start manufacturing the battle armor!"
....
Five days later.
Colin Workshop, Foundry.
"The energy system should have a self-cycling and overload mode, capable of bursting with greater power in critical moments. Besides that, the energy guidance must also be smooth."
In front of the blazing furnace, Duke repeated his thoughts in his mind while swinging his hammer, striking the red-hot energy unit components on the iron anvil.
Behind him, his Clockwork Battle Armor had largely taken shape. The external armor had been completely cast. Overall, the battle armor's appearance was somewhat similar to Iron Man's suit. The streamlined design of the battle armor fully conformed to aerodynamics, being form-fitting without diminishing its defensive capabilities.
Furthermore, the surface of the battle armor was covered with one interface after another, like ports for connecting conduits.
These were the result of Duke's sudden inspiration, allowing for the addition of external armaments without affecting the battle armor itself.
And the energy source was not located in the chest area, but rather in the shoulder blade area on the back.
Referencing the Mark I's power system, incorporating some design concepts from the Exoskeleton, and redesigning the entire battle armor's power system according to the advantages of Clockwork Technology, Duke also carved runes inside to assist the flow and connection of magical power.
On the surface, it looked ordinary, but in reality, it concealed profound mysteries.
Before long, Duke, having finished casting, quenched the parts from the iron anvil in a special solution. On a table not far from him were some Clockwork creations he had made in his spare time.
These items were products prepared for tomorrow's Evolution Day. Mr. Colin said that the Exoskeleton alone was not enough and could easily be criticized, so they needed to create some products for daily life.
Duke readily whipped up some small gadgets: a Clockwork copper hotpot that could continuously heat, a Clockwork powered bicycle, a Clockwork powered skateboard, a Clockwork powered long ladder, a Clockwork powered hot Water kettle, and other products covering various aspects of daily life like clothing, food, housing, and transportation.
All these items would be exhibited at tomorrow's Evolution Day. Colin was busy with Orianna and Jinx setting up the Evolution Day exhibition booth.
Jinx integrated into Colin Workshop very quickly, mainly because Colin and Orianna were both inclusive people and did not exclude her because of her Zaunite identity. Jinx was doing very well here.
Her enrollment date would be determined after Evolution Day, but a spot had already been secured for her in a beginner class through Viktor.
At this point, Duke could only say that having connections really made things easier!
His Exoskeleton contract had already been signed—the top-tier contract—and the first payment would be made three days after Evolution Day.
The factory that was invested in and built is also under construction.
All Duke needs to provide are the outdated Exoskeleton design blueprints and reports that he already possesses.
Currently, his top priority is to gain Iron Man's approval through Iron Man's personal mission and obtain the mission reward.
He doesn't have much time left!
While the parts were being quenched, Duke walked up to the battle suit. The suit had been increased by a few centimeters based on his height, giving him a better piloting experience.
Pulling the chain to raise the suit's outer shell, Duke took a carving knife to the leg boots and began carving runes.
After his magic talent awakened, his control over runes reached a new level. After quickly selecting the appropriate rune sets, Duke categorized them.
There were rune sets for energy flow, power enhancement, defense enhancement, levitation, and so on.
Duke, who had carved the last rune just in time, retrieved the parts from the special solution and began carving runes onto them.
These were parts for the Hextech Gem's energy system. The runes were more numerous, more intricate, and more complex.
After spending an hour carving runes, Duke took the other several parts, assembled them all, the energy component's overall shape was a pyramid, fully covered in carved runes, perfectly blending sci-fi and fantasy elements.
"Energy system ignition, first attempt!"
Duke, holding a voice recorder he won in a lottery, took out the Hextech Gems and carefully placed them into the pre-set slots.
Once all three gems were installed, Duke connected the wires, then flicked the switch, his eyes intently fixed on the energy system's startup.
As Duke flipped the switch, the Hextech Gems began releasing their energy. The energy diffused outwards through the runes, lighting up one rune after another while also emitting a brilliant blue light.
Duke, with a glint in his eyes, waited for the energy system to fully activate, but at that moment, the energy component began to rapidly turn red and glow under the influence of the magic.
"Component overheating, I overlooked it!"
Noticing the change in the energy component, Duke quickly turned off the switch. The Hextech Gems were immediately disconnected from the energy component, and the runes dimmed one by one.
"I only remembered to adjust the energy output, but I forgot to install a cooling system!"
Patting his forehead, Duke began rummaging through his existing materials and finally pulled out the true ice dagger he had obtained from Benso's general store.
"Unmeltable true ice, with its own freezing effect, it's ideal as a cooling material!"
After waiting for the energy component to cool down, Duke disassembled the unit again and installed a cooling system in the middle. The main body was the true ice dagger, but he had removed the handle, leaving only the true ice.
After repairing the blurred runes caused by overheating, Duke reactivated the energy unit.
In a moment, while the energy was stably outputting, the overheating of the energy unit was also perfectly resolved.
"That solves it, now I can begin the final installation!"
Duke set the battle suit down again, took out the project plan, and flipped through it page by page, checking for any omissions. Once everything was checked, he installed the pyramid-shaped energy unit on the back of the battle suit and began the final finishing touches.
Half an hour later, after finishing the last of the work, Duke stepped back a few paces to look at the battle suit mounted on the stand, and nodded with satisfaction.
The battle suit's faceplate resembled the facial armor of Jhin's Project skin. The crimson crystal, after being polished, was bright and clear. The eye area looked like an unfolded V. The cheek positions had ventilation holes for easy breathing.
The shoulder pads had cutouts for external armaments, and the same applied to the arm joints and gauntlets, though the forearm sections were thicker, and the joint sections were a bit more slender.
The finger areas had retractable claw blades.
The chest plate was carved with the symbol of the Undetermined Head, inlaid with a crystal panel, and beneath the crystal panel was a rune set. The waist armor conformed to the body's curves, and the outer sides of the legs had breaks, with the armor's thickness tapering from thick to thin.
The overall color scheme was red and blue, not the gold and red of Iron Man.
Gazing at his armor, Duke impatiently opened it, eager to test it immediately. In just a few minutes, Duke, equipped with the armor, closed his face mask and released his magic power, imbuing the battle suit with life while also activating it.
The rune set inside the battle suit quickly lit up, the energy system was activated, and the Hextech Gem continuously and steadily outputted magic power. While the rune set received the power released by the Hextech Gem, the internal clockwork mechanism also began to slowly activate.
Click, crunch, crunch...
A faint gap automatically opened on the armor's surface, from which a light white steam sprayed out. Feeling the powerful thrust brought by the armor, Duke took out a pre-prepared target from his inventory.
It was a hard granite block weighing five tons.
Duke, holding the granite block with both hands, exerted a slight force and effortlessly lifted it over his head. However, the ground beneath his feet could not bear such a heavy weight and sank downwards.
Pulling his hands outwards, the clockwork power mechanism operated, unleashing an unparalleled force that directly tore the entire granite block apart. As the crack ran through the entire granite block, Duke stood in place, holding half of the granite in each hand, breathing slightly.
"It's a success! The force output is perfectly fine!"
"Then, next up is the flight test!"
Duke put away the granite, planning to dispose of it later. Looking towards the entrance of the casting room, his eyes gleamed with an eagerness to try.
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