Academy Chronicle (2)

In peaceful days, time flows like slippery loaches, always slipping away from your perception before you know it. Ling Ying had been at Hextech Academy for several weeks, and it felt like returning to her university life. Except for the fact that she couldn't understand a single word of the textbooks, which were like celestial scriptures, Ling Ying even wished she could live like this forever.

"Knock, knock."

Someone knocked on the dormitory door. Ling Ying pulled her gaze away from the book in her hands, The Great Explorer and the Alien Princess, and looked at the wooden door. It was early on a rest day, who could it be? Ling Ying couldn't help but feel curious, but curiosity aside, it was barely 8 AM. As someone who loved to sleep in, Ling Ying absolutely refused to leave her bed, absolutely not!

"Cecilia, why aren't you opening the door?"

Orianna walked out of the bathroom and, seeing that Ling Ying had no intention of getting out of bed to open the door, sighed helplessly. She then went over and turned the doorknob.

"Huh? No one's there?"

First, Orianna's confused voice came from outside the door, followed by a string of bell-like laughter.

"Classmate Cecilia."

Orianna walked in from outside, holding a high-end-looking envelope and... a rose covered in sparkling powder.

"Same as usual, for you."

"Oh, damn it."

Ling Ying sat up from the bed with a look of annoyance. She took the envelope and the rose from Orianna's hand, then, without even looking at them, tossed them into the trash can outside the door.

"Orianna, you need to remember, these men are all scumbags. Don't be fooled by them, understand?"

Ling Ying placed her hand on Orianna's shoulder with utmost seriousness, her words carrying a tone of earnest advice.

"Uh... Okay..."

"Good that you understand."

Ling Ying breathed a sigh of relief and then resumed her normal tone.

"Didn't Jayce and Viktor ask us to come over today? Since we're up, let's go now."

"How are the Flexible Lining and the Elastic Structure Armguard performing?"

"They're quite good in actual testing."

While responding to Jayce, Viktor climbed out of a metal can as tall as a person. He then turned his gaze to Orianna, who was standing nearby.

"Although these minor improvements have almost no impact on the performance of the Deep Dive Suit, according to the improvement requirements issued by the academy, improving... human functionality is also one of the points. Your mastery of ergonomics, Junior Orianna, is truly astonishing."

"Hehehe, earning praise from Senior Viktor is no easy feat."

"Ah, after all, people from Zaun don't praise others much. I told you from the beginning, the Hextech Dolls and Prosthetic Limbs made by Orianna's family are renowned. When it comes to understanding the human body, there are probably few in the entire academy who can compare to her."

"Mm, indeed."

Viktor, as usual, ignored the first half of Jayce's rather insulting remark. He continued, "However, the problem that comes with it is that modifying these two technologies onto the Deep Dive Suit will affect the internal space, thus forcing a reduction in armor thickness. This will have a certain impact on diving depth. If we reduce the original performance for the sake of comfort, it won't be worth it."

"Then why not just build a bigger diving suit?"

Ling Ying, who had been silently observing, suddenly spoke up, startling everyone. Jayce turned his eyes towards her. Well, Ling Ying seemed to read a "Is this idiot for real?" kind of meaning from his gaze.

"The structure of a Deep Dive Suit needs to adapt to the diver's limbs. Making it bigger is meaningless; it will only affect the diver's operation."

Viktor patiently explained to Ling Ying, but Ling Ying shook her head.

"No, that's exactly what I mean. Why must the Deep Dive Suit adapt to humans? You've already thought of things like flexible arm guards and flexible lining. Why not design a mechanical transmission structure to help people control those external equipment limbs? That way, the size of the diving suit wouldn't be limited by the human body shape!"

As Ling Ying finished speaking, everyone fell silent. Even Jayce had a look of "Whoa! What is this?" on his face. After a long pause, Viktor was the first to speak.

"If that's the case, then the Deep Dive Suit wouldn't be controllable by human power alone. As for the power..."

"Hextech Crystal!"

Jayce suddenly exclaimed, his face lighting up.

"Since we're going to install a mechanical transmission on it, why don't we also install a power module? Using a Hextech Crystal to power the entire Deep Dive Suit would definitely be more than enough."

"Mm, Hextech Crystal is indeed a good idea."

Ling Ying nodded.

"And we can expand our thinking further. Since we've already decided to increase the size of the Deep Dive Suit, and the energy from the Hextech Crystal is abundant, we can not only thicken the armor but also integrate some existing systems, such as the Hextech Energy Shield, Breeze Filtration System, Power Jet System, and so on. If there's danger in the deep sea, we could even have it carry a Large Caliber Cannon on its back."

Ling Ying's words stunned everyone again. This time, instead of silence, there was a collective gasp.

"Classmate Cecilia, I thought you weren't... that interested in the field of mechanical engineering."

Orianna looked somewhat exasperated, unsure whether to laugh or cry.

"You're right, it's exactly like that. I was just saying it casually..."

Ling Ying said frankly, shrugging. There was no need to pretend in this regard. After all, in this world, she was truly a notorious underachiever, the kind who needed Orianna's help to complete her homework.

"Junior Cecilia is being modest. The speaker may have said it without thinking, but the listener took it to heart. This is not simply a casual remark. This can no longer be called a Deep Dive Suit; it's an entirely new systematic platform. It seems that we older students are sometimes constrained by the knowledge we possess."

Jayce smiled approvingly, while Viktor immediately grabbed paper and pen from the side and began sketching.

"If that's the case, we'll have to design it completely from scratch. I can find some people from the same department to help with the basic framework. Those subsystems shouldn't be too difficult, but the Hextech Crystal for the power part..."

Before Viktor could finish speaking, everyone present turned to look at Jayce in unison. Jayce felt goosebumps prickle all over his skin.

"What are you looking at me for? I don't have any Hextech Crystals on hand."

"But you can file a report. With your relationship with Professor Stanwick and the others, it shouldn't be too difficult."

"Tch, relationships are relationships, but those old geezers always guard this kind of thing tightly. On this point, they're just like those people in the Piltover Merchant Guild – incredibly snobbish. Besides, even if we want to apply, we first need to come up with a framework and a complete set of technical data. At this stage, where we've only just had an idea, we can only rely on ourselves to solve it."

Jayce's complaint made everyone a little disheartened for a moment. That's right, everyone knew that if you were to talk about who had the most influence in Piltover, besides the families, it would be the academic overlords in various fields. Piltover was a city of technology, and the emphasis on technology throughout the city allowed talented individuals to ascend to positions of power. The current academic overlords of Piltover had mostly gained fame and prestige by relying on one or two signature technological inventions. Having started their careers through technology, they were as sensitive as cats smelling fish to emerging technologies and talented young scientists. They scoured the entirety of Piltover for all sorts of scientific technologies and technological talents, and then claimed them as their own. As they aged, their horizons did not broaden; instead, they became increasingly narrow-minded and snobbish. They held absolute power over the scientific community and stubbornly refused to relinquish it. Young scientists either became apprentices to the academic overlords or remained unknown for their entire lives. Unfortunately, many professors at Hextech Academy belonged to this category. They enjoyed the fruits of technological development while being extremely averse and hostile to technologies that surpassed their understanding.

Ling Ying scanned the crowd and then broke the silence.

"If Hextech Crystals are difficult to obtain, why don't we settle for second best... How about Drained Crystals? These can be bought on the market. And originally, a fully charged Hextech Crystal would be too extravagant to power a set of power armor, but using a few Drained Crystals together for this task would be much more reasonable."

"That is indeed feasible."

Viktor responded quickly, then lowered his head to calculate again.

"If we can design a power supply system that connects several Drained Crystals and uses energy circuits to provide power..."

Viktor's calculations were quickly interrupted. Jayce's eyes lit up as he exclaimed.

"Junior, that thing you just mentioned... power armor? Oh! Right! That name is simply brilliant! Perfect!"

"Oh? Senior Jayce understands too? Ha, as expected, the violent aesthetics of machinery are the true romance..."

Just as Ling Ying was excitedly about to say more, the laboratory door was suddenly pushed open. A middle-aged man with graying hair poked his head in, his gaze sweeping over everyone present, finally landing on Ling Ying.

"Cecilia, please come to my office. There's something I need to discuss with you in person."

"Me?"

Ling Ying pointed to herself, her expression somewhat bewildered. She recognized the man; he was one of the academy's instructors. She just couldn't understand why, ever since she arrived at the academy, she had been like an invisible person. Apart from scoring zero on an exam a few days ago, she hadn't done anything noteworthy. Why would a teacher suddenly want to see her?

"Junior, go ahead if there's something. But hurry back, we still have a lot to discuss here."

Jayce gave Ling Ying a somewhat playful wink. Ling Ying nodded in understanding.

"Then I'll say it first, the design of the outer shell is mine to do."