Mutation for the Poor, Tech for the Rich—But I Want Both! (update)

Click-clack, click-clack—

The sound of a typewriter echoed through the workshop as Link Star rapidly read through experimental reports from another timeline's Singed, transcribing the contents onto paper.

For someone like him, creating a typewriter was child's play. All it took was handcrafting the parts and assembling them.

As for the design? It was all stored in his mind.

His past life as a master craftsman wasn't for nothing, and his childhood passion for dismantling and reassembling mechanical objects had given him a deep understanding of machinery.

He could even build a bulldozer if he wanted to.

A purely clockwork version, of course!

The typewriter continued to clatter away, but Link's vision suddenly darkened as a notification from his mailbox appeared.

[You have a new message. Please check your inbox.]

"Lady Cassandra works fast," Link muttered, finishing the paragraph he was typing before getting up from his workbench. He walked to an open area in the workshop, crouched down, and opened the mailbox, pulling out a large pile of items.

There were experimental tools for alchemical drug production, herbs and materials for creating Shimmer, and metals and ores for crafting equipment.

The items nearly filled the space in front of him.

"The sponsorship has arrived. Time to get to work!"

With a smile, Link organized the materials into categories, set up the alchemical equipment, and then pulled out a new blueprint to begin drafting.

The strengths and weaknesses of the clockwork exoskeleton had been thoroughly analyzed after the memorial service attack.

However, creating a new exoskeleton based on these lessons would take at least three days to a week.

The events of Arcane Season 2 moved quickly, with tightly connected plot points.

Although the show used montages to depict the passage of time, this made it difficult for Link to determine the exact intervals between events.

Without knowing the timeline, he couldn't pinpoint the right moments to intervene.

However, his actions during the memorial service attack had already caused ripples in the story.

First, without the direct impact of the attack, the likelihood of Caitlyn forming her special task force was greatly reduced.

While Caitlyn still harbored hatred for Jinx, her attention would now be focused on Link and Ren due to the memorial service incident.

Link had hinted to Caitlyn that Ren's attack was orchestrated by a shadowy figure. Although he hadn't directly named Ambessa, it was enough to send Caitlyn on a hunt for the mastermind.

Without the task force, the conflict between Caitlyn and Jinx would be delayed.

Jinx would be safer, and with her self-imposed exile and the company of her little hat, Isha, she would likely lay low for a while.

Similarly, without Ambessa's interference, Jinx's raid on Stillwater Prison might not happen.

Singed wouldn't be imprisoned, Warwick wouldn't be released, Ambessa wouldn't contact Singed, and Warwick wouldn't meet Viktor.

In a way, the tightly woven plot of Arcane Season 2 was slowly unraveling.

But even so, Link's time was still limited.

Ekko would eventually discover the corruption caused by Hextech in Zaun, leading him and Heimerdinger to investigate the Hexgate's foundation.

After encountering Jayce, the three would be sent to another timeline through the rift opened by the Rune of Chaos.

This would set everything back on its original path.

So, Link had to move faster!

To compensate for the exoskeleton's current shortcomings, he turned to alchemy.

If clockwork technology represented the pinnacle of mechanical engineering, and Hextech introduced magic and rules to machinery, then alchemy was the ultimate study of natural and biological transformations.

Using alchemy to enhance his body and clockwork technology to arm himself—this was his new approach.

As the saying goes, the poor rely on mutation, and the rich rely on technology.

But as a scientist, Link wanted both!

Putting down his pen, Link looked at the newly drafted helmet blueprint and smiled.

"The design is ready. Now it's time to build the main body and brew the potions!"

"It's a shame there's not enough time for a custom solution. I'll have to use the mildest Shimmer variant with the least side effects."

Link set the blueprint aside and went to light the forge.

Although Singed from another timeline claimed Shimmer was his earliest work, he was clearly being modest.

The Book of Shimmer detailed various types of Shimmer potions, including one that could change a person's gender.

It was no wonder Singed had left Zaun to make a name for himself in Noxus. His skills were top-notch.

One Day Later

Zaun, The Lanes

The Last Drop, Second Floor

Bang—

The door slammed shut as a disheveled Sevika stumbled into the room, a bottle of liquor in hand.

The memories of the meeting she had just attended made her take a long swig from the bottle.

Those damn plague rats, those stupid pigs—they had no idea what unity meant.

They fought over petty gains, tearing each other apart like animals.

Sevika set the bottle down heavily on the desk and picked up a screwdriver, trying to tighten a screw on her mechanical arm.

With only one arm, she couldn't align the screw properly, let alone apply enough force.

It was infuriating.

Nothing was going right!

Thud—

She stabbed the screwdriver into the desk, her breathing heavy. "Why do I have to clean up your mess even after you're dead?"

Staring at the empty chair, Sevika's breathing grew even more ragged.

"Hey, boss, you okay?"

A gloomy voice came from above. Without hesitation, Sevika yanked the screwdriver from the desk and hurled it upward, pinning a swaying blue ponytail to the beam.

"Talking to a dead man now? You've really lost it."

"Are you here to finish me off?"

"Haven't you done enough?"

Jinx grabbed the screwdriver, pulling it free before flipping down onto the desk.

She tossed the screwdriver aside as Sevika stepped back, her eyes darting around as she subtly reached for an empty bottle.

Zaun's liquor sellers might dilute their drinks and inflate prices, but the bottles were sturdy.

One good hit would crack a skull without breaking the bottle.

Jinx ignored Sevika's movements, picking up a syringe and assembling it with practiced ease. She faced the empty chair, her voice filled with nostalgia and self-loathing.

"You're a grown-up now. You shouldn't need me to do this for you."

The bottle slipped from Sevika's hand as she let out a heavy sigh, sitting on the desk with her back to Jinx.

"He never had to do it himself! Every day at this time, he'd send me out to collect debts in The Lanes."

"To build his weapons."

"To negotiate his deals."

"To blow up his enemies."

Jinx let out a soft chuckle. In the dim light filtering through the window, she could almost see the memories of what had once happened in this room.

Back then, she had been so... immature.

Now, she was mature, but it didn't seem to matter anymore.

As Jinx fiddled with the syringe, the light from the window was suddenly blocked by a towering figure.

In an instant, Jinx drew her gun and fired at the glass.

Sevika barely had time to react before the sound of shattering glass filled the room, followed by the flapping of a cloak in the wind.

"Hey, hey, hey—" A voice, neither distinctly male nor female, echoed through the office as a nearly two-meter-tall figure appeared between Sevika and Jinx.

Sevika's eyes widened as she grabbed the bottle, her voice low and threatening. "Who are you?"

"I admit eavesdropping from the window wasn't polite, but shooting at me? That's dangerous."

Link tossed a small bullet onto the table. It was powered by high-strength alchemical propellant, making it exceptionally fast and deadly.

"Spider?" Jinx turned, aiming her gun at Link while tilting her head to examine the metal mask beneath his hood.

"Hmm, Spider—"

Link pulled back his cloak, revealing a metal mask with glowing red compound eyes.

"Not a bad name!"