“This... teleportation?!”

Ivaankov's large face was filled with surprise as he realized that both he and Ginny had struck it lucky. With this device, their chances of escaping had increased exponentially.

“That’s right, it’s teleportation. This is just a model. I don’t know whether to call it good luck or bad luck, but this ship of mine happens to have the parts needed to build this device.

The slow-moving airship and ship can’t leave, but they can’t stop this teleportation.”

What Orlan held in his hand was a model of the Hex Gate. In his dreams, Orlan had experienced various times and places, but the area he lived in was Piltover, where Hextech was foundational.

Originally, Piltover had Hex Gates, which operated by using the energy released from the Hex Core to accelerate airships, reducing travel time.

Orlan had built on that foundation to conduct a new round of research.

Hextech was very special; its energy was limited only by the user's imagination, containing infinite possibilities. From powering machines to producing beams that could cut through the hardest steel, Hextech played a role in countless fields.

Moreover, due to technical reasons, even Hex artisans from the same school would have differences in technique. One could say that each Hex product was unique.

Compared to the original gate, Orlan’s research aimed for direct teleportation, similar to how heroes are teleported to specific locations in games.

He had gone to Bilgewater to discuss business in this area, and due to his confidence in this technology, he brought finished parts with him.

Teleporting the cargo directly to the warehouse would be much faster than moving it from the ship.

“That’s great! In that case…”

Ivaankov seemed to see a bright future ahead, but Orlan immediately poured cold water on him.

“Don’t be too quick to celebrate. I haven’t finished my sentence. Although my research direction is directly teleporting the human body and I have achieved experimental success, stable teleportation requires two interfaces.

At the moment, we have no way to send out the other port, which means we can only teleport randomly. I can guarantee to send someone to a general area. But which island they end up on within that area is a matter of luck.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Orlan appeared somewhat helpless. After all, the purpose of this technology's research was not for emergency escape, and without preparation, there would be certain limitations.

“That’s not a big problem. I think, under the current circumstances, no island could be worse than here.”

Ginny felt this was not an issue. The death rate here was 100%. As long as they could get out, anywhere would be better than this place. Excluding places like the Red Earth Continent and the Navy Headquarters, the survival rate would be significantly higher.

“The second problem is that I need time.”

Compared to the previous unstable teleportation, this issue worried Orlan even more.

At least in terms of unstable teleportation, the horizontal positioning problem had been solved, so people wouldn’t be inexplicably teleported to high altitudes or inside buildings. As long as they weren't too unlucky, they could land safely.

However, it seemed that Ivaankov and the others did not understand why Orlan thought this aspect was difficult.

“Aren’t there ready-made parts on your ship? We can help with the assembly.”

Lifting his arm, Ivaankov seemed to want to demonstrate that he was strong enough to be a laborer.

“Do you think this technology is as simple as assembling a toy? This setup was originally designed for transporting goods, and some modifications are needed for teleporting humans.

Especially the Hex Core that powers this device; it is the source of energy and must be adjusted in its output power to enable human teleportation. Only I can do that.”

Orlan picked up the model on the table and skillfully disassembled it, revealing a blue crystal the size of a bottle cap floating inside.

“This is the core of the device. Just this small piece is enough to drive this dreamlike technology, and the actual object is much larger than this.”

Orlan put away the miniature Hex Core and signaled the two to continue following him. He soon brought them to the ship's warehouse, where the parts for the Hex Gate were stored.

Dozens of large boxes were neatly arranged inside, with even the smallest one taller than Ivaankov.

“The parts outside the core can be handled by ordinary people, but you two alone won’t be able to help much.”

Orlan pulled off the dust cover and opened one of the boxes to show Ivaankov and Ginny the enormous metal components.

The large device connecting two different city-states was significantly larger than Orlan's model, and these Hex Gate parts occupied the vast majority of the ship's space.

Looking at the gear component that was taller than himself, Ivaankov fell silent, while Ginny remained optimistic.

“So besides time, you also need some manpower, right?”

“Exactly. It would be best to have skilled technicians, shipwrights, blacksmiths, or carpenters. There should still be quite a few on this island. I’m not asking for much; they just need to understand the blueprints.”

Teaching them to assemble based on some basics wasn’t complicated. Now Orlan even missed the other crew members on his ship; it would have been much easier if they were there.

But last night during their rest, they had all been sent by Orlan to a hotel at the dock, leaving Orlan alone on the ship to conduct experiments, and now he was all by himself.

“Keep going with your plans. A two-pronged approach would increase the odds, but no matter what, recruiting some manpower is necessary.

No one would willingly accept death here; there should still be quite a few who are willing to fight.”

Taking some potentially useful items from the side, Orlan began to further arm himself. He had a slight fear of being under-armed, which could be considered a hereditary issue.

“Logically speaking, that’s true, but those guys are Celestial Dragons. There probably aren’t many with the courage to resist.”

Ivaankov expressed his concerns. Since the establishment of the World Government, centuries of rule had solidified the position of the Celestial Dragons.

Moreover, according to the information Ivaankov had, the Celestial Dragons would use the lie of granting freedom after three weeks of survival to make their “prey” struggle to escape, increasing their own amusement.

“The false hopes given by the Celestial Dragons might cause many to abandon resistance and willingly evade…”

“The lives of those kinds of people have nothing to do with us. What, do you still want to save everyone?”

Orlan never considered himself a selfless person; he wouldn’t put himself at risk for a group of unrelated people.

Given his capabilities, Orlan also didn’t mind helping those on the other side, provided they shared the same ideas and had similar goals.

For instance, Ivaankov and Ginny were planning an escape; their goal was to leave this place, and at the same time, Ginny and others could provide relevant information about here, naturally forming a temporary alliance.

Subjectively giving up resistance and entrusting fate to the enemy, praying for their mercy.

Orlan viewed this idea as giving up the hope of survival, and he would “respect” such a notion as long as it didn’t obstruct him; he wouldn’t care about those people.

Ivaankov understood this principle as well. Among the slaves, there were those like him and Ginny who were unwilling to accept their fate and took the opportunity to resist, as well as those who had long since resigned themselves to their fate, living like walking corpses.

The current situation was already bleak, and the future time was practically a countdown to death. They couldn’t afford to waste all their time on a group of resigned people.

“If I had the ability, I would really want to do that, but that’s unrealistic. In fact... I think that even if we can get one person to escape, that would be a great victory.”

Slightly reflecting, Ivaankov still chose to face reality.

“Then that’s not a problem. People who aren’t willing to fight for themselves aren’t worth saving. However, your goal is too small; I don’t want to escape so shamefully.”

“What do you want to do?”

“This world has given me such a special welcome gift upon my arrival, so I naturally have to give a substantial return gift in exchange.”

His blue pupils became somewhat profound, and no one could tell what Orlan was really thinking.

“What do you mean by return gift?”

In any case, the term return gift seemed too strange in this context.

“To Ivaankov, this world is just a strange catchphrase. There are many such people at sea, and Ivaankov himself is an example, but the term return gift just doesn’t fit.

Even Ivaankov himself didn’t realize that soon, the term return gift would have a new definition in his consciousness, where a gift could not only bring joy but could also be deadly.”