Arcane: Twin Cities Mechanic

Upon returning to the capital, King Jarvan III immediately declared a week-long celebration, solely to commemorate the fact that the symbol of Demacia—the Justice Golem, Galio—could remain permanently awake to defend the kingdom against its enemies.

Not long after, the elite sculptors of the Durand family arrived at Monument Road as ordered by the king, to assist Li Lin in modifying Galio.

The Durand family, with a lineage older than that of the Lightshield and the Crownguard families, has remained unbroken since the founding of Demacia, making them a respected presence even by the king. 

Although the Durand family does not hold any high-ranking political positions in Demacia, no other family would dare to belittle them. After all, without the Durand ancestors, the Justice Golem Galio would not have been constructed, and Demacia might have been destroyed countless times over the centuries.

Whether it was invasions by the barbarians of Freljord, the annihilation by rogue mage factions, or the occupation by the expanding Noxian Empire... the Durand family can truly be seen as one of the founding fathers of the kingdom. Without them, there would be no Demacia.

When the Durand family's patriarch, Palmer, arrived with his family members, puzzled as to who could awaken Galio, they were immediately stunned by the scene before them.

Where had the Monument Road gone? The towering stone pillars almost as tall as Galio were nowhere to be found. Instead, a towering frame surrounded Galio, and humanoid machines, drones, and various floating high-tech devices, none of which they had ever seen before, filled the air.

At first glance, it looked more like a high-tech temporary outdoor mechanical repair shop, with the massive Galio making it resemble a mecha repair factory.

"By the gods… what in the world is going on here?" Palmer, now an elderly man, trembled, as though using all his strength just to utter those words.

Not just Palmer, but every sculptor from the Duran family stood frozen in place, afraid to even breathe.

Had it not been for King Jarvan III's earlier warning to prepare mentally and his explanation that none of what they were seeing involved magic, they might have assumed this was some kind of steel monster invasion.

As an AI promptly relayed a message, Li Lin, who had been measuring Galio's chest, descended from the sky and landed smoothly in front of Palmer.

This was a man with spectacles perched on his nose, a fine cane in hand, and thick, graying facial hair with hair slicked back. He wore a blue-and-white traditional Demacian double-breasted tunic and aristocratic tailored pants, with golden threads decorating his robe. On his shoulder was the four-pointed star emblem of the Durand family, with a triangle in the center.

His battle armor quickly shifted into ordinary attire, and he respectfully bowed to Palmer, "May the Winged Protector watch over you. You must be the elder Palmer, whom His Majesty the King spoke of?"

After being gently reminded by a blonde woman beside him, Palmer regained his composure and returned the gesture with greater respect, replying, "Yes, you must be Lord Li Lin, the Duke?"

"No, no, there's no need for such formalities. Just call me Li Lin," Li Lin said, embarrassed. 

Despite being a renowned figure in the city of Piltover, the title of "Lord" never sat comfortably with Li Lin. 

"Ah, but you are a Duke of Demacia, granted that title directly by His Majesty. We must respect the nobility and follow the proper etiquette," Palmer insisted.

"You flatter me," Li Lin responded.

Palmer, appreciating Li Lin's humility despite his mastery of high-tech creations, was more than eager to get to the point. "By the way, how do you plan to keep Galio powered? His Majesty mentioned something called 'Fusion Power'?"

His pronunciation was odd, but Li Lin didn't find it strange—Demacian language lacked the vocabulary for such advanced concepts and had to make do with what was available.

"It's called nuclear fusion," Li Lin corrected. "A process where immense pressure induces fusion reactions, creating vast amounts of energy."

He offered a brief explanation, though it was clear that Palmer, unfamiliar with such advanced knowledge and still stuck in the "medieval" stage, wouldn't fully understand. 

As expected, even with Li Lin's simplified explanation, Palmer still appeared confused, understanding only that it was a source of power.

Palmer paused for a moment before turning to look at Galio, who was conversing with the mechanical soldiers nearby.

Li Lin followed his gaze, then explained, "I understand you still have many questions. I can take my time to explain, such as with my mechanical soldiers here."

"If it benefits our work…" Palmer began, agreeing with the need for mutual understanding in a collaborative task.

After a brief introduction, Li Lin explained his various advanced devices, particularly the mechanical soldiers that, aside from their appearance, behaved almost like normal people.

At the age of fifty, Palmer had never heard of the term "artificial intelligence" and couldn't help but admire Li Lin, a craftsman who had achieved so much in just two years.

After about half an hour of explanations, Li Lin had covered everything, including a nuclear fusion reactor about a meter in diameter and height located at Galio's feet.

While the Durand family did not possess the technical knowledge to understand all the complex devices, they found it easier to remember the functions of individual machines, which they could focus on for the task at hand.

Once he had grasped the essentials, Palmer patted his chest. "Just tell us what you need us to do. We will do our best to assist you."

"Actually, there is just one thing I need," Li Lin said seriously, as he got to the heart of the matter. "I need to know where the core of the Durand family's magic-warding statues is located."

Palmer and his family members exchanged uncertain glances, the difficulty evident on their faces.

Creating magic-repelling statues was a complex art, and the technique of bringing them to life was a closely guarded family secret—one that even past kings had never been privy to.

Now, the fact that Li Lin wanted to know the mechanism behind the operation of the petricite Magic Statue was truly causing Palmer some difficulty.

"Please don't misunderstand, I have no intention of stealing the Durand family's secret techniques," Li Lin quickly explained when he noticed their expressions. "The reason Galio was able to develop consciousness must be due to some sort of core. But due to the unique nature of the petricite stone, my technology currently can't scan its interior."

"For Galio to be powered, the energy core must be installed inside him, and initially, it will be placed in his chest. If we don't know where the core that holds his intelligence is, construction on Galio could easily damage the core, causing him to lose his autonomous capabilities."

Palmer frowned in thought; what Li Lin said was indeed one of his previous concerns.

Although Galio's ability to act was only a legend in Demacia, things were not so in the Durand family.

For centuries, countless leaders of the Durand family had attempted to replicate the achievements of their ancestors, creating a petricite Magic Statue similar to Galio, but none of them had succeeded.

The statues they created lacked intelligence and couldn't even absorb magic or move by themselves.

It wasn't until Palmer's great-grandfather's generation that they discovered what the magic statue needed most was a special "core."

This core absorbed countless arcane magic energies and gave rise to the intelligence that became "Galio."

Palmer carried the crystallized wisdom inherited from his ancestors and was the first to design a flying petrified bird powered by magic stones.

Although they lacked intelligence and only followed instincts like primitive machines with fixed programming, they still represented a major milestone for the Durand family over the last few centuries.

Furthermore, creating such a core was no simple task.

If it were removed from the statue, one would easily notice the runic inscriptions etched on it…

In other words, Galio's ability to develop consciousness and act independently was based on this "magic core."

It was ironically fitting that a "forbidden magic" statue—meant to protect through magic—was powered by magic itself.

This was also one of Palmer's concerns.

Li Lin, with his "data-mind" naturally knew exactly what the "life core" that birthed Galio's consciousness was. Essentially, it wasn't much different from the guardian statues found in Shurima's tombs, with the only difference being the material used.

Li Lin wasn't interested in the magic that could bestow "souls" onto "lifeless" objects, as his theoretical research in rune technology already covered such knowledge.

What he truly wanted to understand now was whether the core of Galio would affect the installation of the nuclear fusion reactor.

"If you're worried about magic..." 

Just as Li Lin was about to lay everything out and tell Palmer that he was familiar with rune technology and had no intention of revealing the Durand family's secrets, his voice suddenly stopped, and he turned sharply to look behind Palmer.

"What's wrong?"

Noticing Li Lin's sudden change in expression, Palmer was stunned for a moment, then immediately felt a thick, metallic, sour taste flood his mouth. His face turned pale.

"Magic... magic that even the petrified stone can't absorb?!"

Not just Palmer, but many of the Durand family's sculptors, including Galio, also sensed the disturbance and turned to look towards the direction of the capital.

"Looks like we've got a fight on our hands! Little metal man, we'll talk next time," Galio said as he bid farewell to the mechanical soldier beside him, broke free from the iron frame that was binding him, and suddenly flapped his wings, soaring into the sky.

The swirling gusts of wind kicked up dust, leaving the onlookers from the Durand family in disarray.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Palmer coughed violently from inhaling the dust and, covering his mouth and nose with his sleeve, squinted his eyes as he turned to leave.

To his surprise, there was nothing behind him.

"Eh? Where did everyone go?"

(End of chapter)

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