That night, Duke's experimental workshop.
"Bilgewater!"
Duke, sitting in front of the experimental bench, looked at the flame of the alcohol lamp. The flame continuously heated the beaker on the stand, which contained the egg he had just put in.
"A city as bad as Zaun, I didn't expect my first stop after leaving Piltover to be there!"
"One can only say it's fate playing tricks on us!"
"What do you say, my dear son?"
Duke turned around from the high stool and looked at the clockwork power armor—Vali—suspended by an iron hook.
"No matter what, I will be Father's most solid barrier!"
Vali answered meticulously, but Arrogance let out a displeased roar: "Father will be protected by me!~!"
"And you just stay on the hook!"
As Arrogance roared close to Vali, blue and red lights flashed alternately in his eyes. Duke took out a malt candy and stuffed it into his mouth, "Alright, Arrogance!"
"He is your brother after all, don't be so harsh on him!"
Duke looked at Vali, who was hanging on a hook. As his first suit of armor, Duke had poured more effort into Vali than into Arrogance.
However, Duke had only left him alone for a few days. The moment he returned today, he witnessed a shocking scene.
This guy was actually with seven or eight girls...
The scene was too chaotic; Duke didn't want to say anything.
When Vali and Arrogance were first created, they were as pure as a blank sheet of paper, but with their powerful learning ability, they could absorb all knowledge in a short time. Of course, they would also absorb some not-so-good things.
Vali was just like that.
He had only been gone for a few days, and Vali had transformed from a pristine white sheet of paper into a mango.
It almost made him collapse.
Duke, who immediately told Arrogance to take Vali away, returned to his experimental workshop and then hung him on an iron hook.
"What a headache!!"
Duke clutched his forehead. Vali, seeing the water in the beaker boiling, reminded Duke, "Father, the water is boiling."
"I know, don't talk. I want to be alone!"
"Father, do you also know Jingjing?" Vali's optical sensor flickered with a peculiar light, and his originally rigid tone carried an inexplicable meaning.
"She's a very enthusiastic girl. If you want, Father, I can introduce..."
Clang!!
A screwdriver jammed into Vali's joint. Duke's face was as black as the bottom of a pot. "Say one more word, and I'll dismantle you today."
"Okay, Father, I won't say anything!"
"What a headache! I was supposed to be preparing for the trip to Bilgewater, but now you've messed everything up!"
Duke flicked his hand, and another screwdriver jammed into Vali's joint. Vali looked at the screwdriver stuck in his joint, his optical sensor flickered for a moment, and he no longer spoke.
Arrogance also obediently transformed into his motorcycle form and quietly huddled in the corner, not daring to say anything more.
"Gangplank is a bit troublesome, but he's within the plan. However, The Harrowing in Bilgewater is a real headache!"
"That thing is a life-threatening calamity that starts directly from the Shadow Isles. No matter what kind of existence, as long as it's alive, once caught in it, its soul will be dragged away by the undead, or it will be taken out by a single Q from some lantern-wielding scoundrel."
"If we go there, we must be fully prepared!"
Recalling the horror of The Harrowing in the lore, Duke felt a chill down his spine. And The Harrowing has been going on for so many years since the Shadow Isles was born.
Thinking about it carefully, the people of Zaun, who live year-round in the gray haze, are quite fortunate.
At least, they don't have to worry about the Black Mist surging into their homes in the middle of the night, with their entire family, young and old, neatly arranged.
The Harrowing is the nightmare of Bilgewater, a season of darkness and destruction. Every time it comes, the Black Mist will sweep across all of Bilgewater, and the undead will appear with the Black Mist, taking away all living creatures!
"In a few days, after Jayce and Viktor complete the procedures, we will go to Bilgewater to prepare for the Hexgate test. I don't know how long we'll stay there, so we need to prepare in advance!"
"Better safe than sorry!"
Thinking of this, Duke stood up from the stool and began to circle Vali, who was hanging from the iron hook.
"From the current situation, manufacturing new creations will not be completed in just a few days. From conception to design, and then to completion, it will take at least a month."
"Then it's too late to re-create new battle armor or mechanical life. My only option now is to enhance Arrogance and Vali!"
"Arrogance is already perfect; he can learn autonomously, so I don't need to worry too much. However, Vali can undergo another upgrade, and the items I drew before can now be put to use!"
Duke glanced at his item bar; the remaining prizes from his last ten-draw were all lying there.
Gunblade Tactics, Dr. Octopus Mechanical Arm, You obtained: Vulture Battle Wings, Drone—Hive, Mantis Blade Enhanced Body Design Blueprint.
Gunblade Tactics is a close-quarters combat system inheritance similar to Gun Kata. It emphasizes that each punch is as powerful as a gunshot, capable of the destructive force caused by a firearm after pulling the trigger, making it most suitable for pinpoint attacks.
As for the Dr. Octopus Mechanical Arm, this item comes from the old Spider-Man movie series and can be used as an external device, just like the Vulture Battle Wings.
However, Vali's battle armor itself has the ability to float and fly, so the Vulture Battle Wings are somewhat redundant. They can be modified to add some new functions.
The Mantis Blade Enhanced Body design blueprint is a product of human enhancement modification. It can also be created and appropriately modified to serve as Vali's external armor.
As for the Drone: Hive, Duke looked at the Hive-like drone in his item bar, stroked his chin, and had some ideas.
"Before I start, I'll do a ten-draw!"
Rubbing his hands, Duke sat back down at the workbench, opened a drawer, and pulled out a box. Inside the box were neatly arranged ten gems of different sizes and colors.
Each gem was worth ten thousand golden sea, so ten of them were one hundred thousand.
According to the exchange ratio of wealth to golden sea, one hundred thousand golden sea was enough to provide him with ten thousand wealth.
Ten thousand for a draw meant a ten-draw for one thousand each time!
"Start the draw!"
Duke, having absorbed the wealth, decisively used the ten thousand wealth for the draw. At the same time, he took the egg out of the beaker, cracked its shell, and waited for the draw results while peeling the eggshell.
"You obtained: edman metal (one block)"
"Oh, wow, I have the material for the Mantis Blade!"
Duke peeled off a piece of eggshell, waiting for the subsequent draw results.
"You obtained: Ultraviolet Warhead Design Blueprint"
"This thing is a bit interesting. I wonder if it can penetrate the black mist and cause damage to the undead!"
"You obtained: Spark Fragment"
"You obtained: Interceptor Factory Design Blueprint"
"You obtained: Biological and Mechanical Fusion Technology (Expert Level)"
"You obtained: Brood Fragment"
"You obtained: Winter Soldier Mechanical Arm Design Blueprint"
"You obtained: Symbiote Fragment"
You obtained: Super Electromagnetic Hand Cannon Design.
You obtained: Portable Respirator Design.
"This really is..." Duke finished peeling the egg in his hand as he reviewed all the lottery records. He popped the egg into his mouth and frowned slightly as he looked at his prizes this time.
"Unexpected!"
"This ten-pull actually yielded the most designs, with half of them being blueprints.
The only useful design for my trip to Bilgewater is the UV warhead design. Besides that, all the remaining items are blueprints that require time and funding to convert into combat power."
"The Spark of the Fire shard is a pleasant surprise, but it needs to be handled properly. The Symbiote shard is also decent, but given the Symbiote's unique nature, I'd better not use it on myself."
"However, the most interesting is this knowledge system: expert-level bio-mechanical fusion technology. This can definitely be used to create the second original sin of my Seven original sins, but I still need to study it in detail before I can perfect my idea."
"Aside from these, the Winter Soldier's mechanical arm blueprint can be used for reference to create an external armament for Vali. The Super Electromagnetic Hand Cannon Design is the top priority after Vali's enhancement."
"The portable respirator might be able to have some details added to facilitate underwater exploration."
"As for the others..."
Duke looked at the ten prizes in his item bar, and the prototype of an idea slowly emerged in his mind.
"Leaving the Bilgewater trip aside for now, I know what my next project is!"
Duke looked at Pride beside him, "Pride, perhaps you're about to have another sibling!"
"Father, is that true?" Pride switched to mechanical mode and asked excitedly, "When?"
"It will be a while. What I need to focus on now are the preparations for the Bilgewater trip and dealing with The Harrowing!"
Duke's eyes sparkled, and a confident, enthusiastic smile appeared on his face.
"My upcoming trip to Bilgewater is secured!"
....I'm stuck, it's so painful. I'll continue tomorrow.....
...I need to re-organize the outline and storyline....
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