Arcane: Twin Cities Mechanic

On a moonlit beach, Zoe nestled against Li Lin, who had just confirmed their relationship, savoring the tranquil sound of waves and the cool night breeze. 

Now aware of why Li Lin had hesitated to respond to her feelings, Zoe had grown up, turning into the version of herself she once "disliked"—a young woman.

"Sigh, I really didn't want to grow up!" she murmured, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist and burying her face into his chest. "Who made that rule anyway? It's so annoying!"

Since maturing, Zoe's voice had changed, losing the sharpness of a child's and gaining the vibrant warmth of adolescence. 

Yet her boundless energy and childlike spirit remained untouched.

"No one made a specific rule; it's just there to protect children."

Li Lin gently embraced her, his hand softly stroking her hair. 

In truth, he felt a tinge of guilt toward Zoe, knowing she had waited patiently by his side. Now, he finally had the chance to make it up to the spirited girl who'd stood by him for so long.

Although... there was Caitlyn to consider.

Li Lin sighed quietly, lost in thought. 

Zoe sensed the shift in his emotions, and with a sudden flash of understanding, she guessed what was on his mind. "Hey, if you're with me, stop thinking about other women! If you're worried about Caitlyn..."

Zoe hesitated. 

She knew Li Lin had deep feelings for Caitlyn, and while she wanted him all to herself, she also didn't want to make things hard for him. 

"Ugh..." Zoe clicked her tongue, placing a hand on Li Lin's cheek. "We can take things slow with her~~"

"I'm just thinking about how we could ease her into it."

"Um... maybe you could tell her I forced you?"

"Yeah, right."

Li Lin tapped her forehead gently, his eyes filled with warmth.

Since they were already together, there was no need to hide anything anymore.

"That's unfair to you and could hurt your relationship with Caitlyn. Don't you want to be friends with her?"

Zoe's lips curved into a smile, and a warm feeling filled her chest.

Ah, he's just so charming, considerate, and lovable~~

Seems like my judgment was pretty spot-on!

"I read somewhere that women are most open to things when they're at their most... vulnerable... So why don't we give it a try?"

"Vulnerable?"

Even the "gentleman" Li Lin couldn't help where his thoughts went. He looked at Zoe with a curious expression. "What exactly do you mean?"

"Literally!" A faint blush spread across Zoe's cheeks. "You know... like when you're with Caitlyn!"

"Wait, what?!"

Li Lin paused, but when he realized what Zoe was implying, he let out a soft chuckle.

"You little troublemaker!"

He playfully flicked her forehead, making her yelp in pain and pout. "Can you stop doing that? I'm just trying to help..."

"And that's the best you came up with? During that time?" Li Lin raised an eyebrow. "She'd be mad once she figured it out."

"It's fine~~ By then, everything would be said and done, and it's not like she'd want you to walk away!"

"But... that?"

Li Lin still found it hard to imagine Caitlyn's reaction if they actually went through with Zoe's plan.

But... Zoe's suggestion wasn't entirely off the mark...

What am I even thinking?!

Li Lin shook his head, banishing the mischievous thoughts from his mind.

"We'll cross that bridge later. For now, we have some time to think it over before we head back to Piltover."

Li Lin patted Zoe gently, then stood up.

The nanomaterial in his clothes filtered out the sand that clung to him as he moved.

"Alright, let's head back. We need to apologize to King Jarvan III."

"Meh, I'm not apologizing! I didn't do anything wrong!"

"You disrupted everyone's plans."

"That's only because you went to talk to that big cow," Zoe grumbled, pouting.

"People should respect each other, Zoe. Stop calling Sona that."

"You don't like her, do you? You already have me…"

Li Lin didn't reply, instead giving her a light pat that made her face flush. "Ow! W-where are you touching?"

"Kids who don't listen deserve a spanking."

"Hey! I'm not a kid anymore!"

Sensing Li Lin raise his hand again, Zoe arched back and slipped into the portal she'd summoned beneath her.

In a blink, she appeared mid-air, four or five meters away from Li Lin.

Zoe made a playful face at him, "Not letting you catch me!"

"Oh, really?" Li Lin's lips curved into a faint, unsettling smile that made Zoe shiver and cross her arms. "Well, don't let me catch you then!"

Before his words had even settled, he was instantly covered in a nanotech battlesuit, soaring through the air straight toward Zoe, who wasn't far off.

"Ah!" she squealed, darting through a portal with even greater speed than Li Lin, reappearing at a distance.

Seeing she'd widened the gap between them, Zoe grinned and made another funny face at him.

"You can't catch me! Bleh~~!"

"You little imp…"

Li Lin used his blink function to get closer, but Zoe would always slip through a portal just a step ahead, appearing at a fixed range of ten meters.

"You can't catch me~~!"

Laughing and playing around, the two chased each other through the sky. In no time, they had crossed nearly a hundred kilometers, from the west side of Demacia to the north of the royal city.

Along the way, they carefully avoided any Demacians and patrolling rangers to steer clear of any unwanted attention.

Unintentionally, Li Lin and Zoe wandered into a forest filled with towering, pale-gray stone trees.

Since the core material for nanotech power is primordial crystal, Li Lin noticed a slight issue with his suit's power supply. He called out to Zoe, who was having a great time ahead, prompting her to stop.

When she returned to his side, she pouted with slight annoyance. "Ugh, why'd we wander into this boring forest?"

The "boring forest" Zoe mentioned referred to the Petricite Woods.

Indeed, Petricite is actually a special kind of stone tree.

After suffering from the Rune Wars, Demacia's ancestors discovered this forest, which could suppress magical energy, and settled here.

Though this forest only had pale-gray trees and their yellowish-brown leaves, with no other vegetation at all…

Even so, the grandeur of the Petricite Woods far exceeded Li Lin's expectations.

According to the AI's calculations, each tree here had a trunk diameter of at least five meters and a height of no less than fifty meters.

Some of the ancient trees even reached twenty meters in diameter, with heights comparable to Gaboga, and were nearly a thousand years old.

As Li Lin and Zoe ventured deeper, the trees grew even older and larger.

However, quite a few clearings were marked by tree stumps, likely cut down to build walls or expand homes for the royal city.

"Can these trees regrow?"

Without relevant information in his "Data Mind," Li Lin quietly asked the AI.

But Zoe, standing next to him, took the question as if it were directed at her.

"I don't know; I've never paid attention to this place," she replied with a nonchalant tone.

"So, can we leave now? This place is so boring—I can't even feel any magical energy here… Wait!" 

Just as she was speaking, Zoe's eyes lit up, and she excitedly turned to Li Lin. "Guess what I found?"

(End of Chapter)

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