The Innkeeper

Larry let out a sigh filled with amazement as he finished his breakfast and slowly leaned back into his chair with a clear bulge evident under his shirt. It had been a long time since he'd eaten food that he didn't cook for himself, and to be able to eat so luxuriously was a splendor he had been divorced from for a long time. Fortunately, Marlo had paid for his stay for the next few days, so he should be able to enjoy this for a while longer.

He closed his eyes and enjoyed the gentle winds as it whispered in his ear. But along with the whistling wind, Larry was also listening to the conversations of the surrounding people. Lex had told him how to prevent their conversation from being overheard, but it appeared not many others knew about such features. Larry was learning a lot during his stay here, and it was important that he kept increasing his knowledge. The more information he had, the easier it would be for him to plan for things in the future because, contrary to what Lex thought, by going to Alexander for help, Larry's situation could get a lot worse.

When he told Lex that he suspected his family was hunted for being loyal to the family heads, he was not lying. But at the same time, he was not telling the entire truth. There was a secret he kept close to his heart, and one that might have been the real reason for his family's demise. It was also the reason why, although he could not cultivate originally, he was able to cultivate now. Not to mention, it was also the reason why he could absorb spiritual metals.

But the depth of his secret went a lot farther than that, and as much as he trusted and appreciated Lex, some secrets were better left unshared. His secret, along with this Midnight Inn, gave him the opportunity of a lifetime.

If anyone paid attention to his right hand, they would notice that he was playing with a golden coin in between his fingers. As the coin danced in the palm of his hands, one might have been able to see the signature MI engraved on it, since it was the commemorative Midnight Games coin that Lex had made. It was supposed to be made from an extremely resilient metal, and could supposedly last the test of time, but the coin in Larry's hand already looked dull, as if it had suffered the wear and tear of a million years.

If someone used their spiritual sense to observe him, they would notice every few hours, the smallest conceivable portion of the coin was absorbed by Larry into his body. They would also notice that each time he absorbed a bit of the coin, his cultivation would rise. At this rate, before the day was over, he would break into the Qi training realm.

"Excuse me, is it alright if I clear up the table?" a soft and gentle voice asked Larry, prompting him to open his eyes. It was one of the AI staff, a young woman with blonde hair and spectacular green eyes.

"Haven't I told you before? How can I let you clean up after me? The most wonderful thing you can do for me is not to pick up my plates, but to allow me to accompany you."

The waitress blushed and looked away, unable to maintain eye contact with Larry.

"Little Z says that… you are a bad man, and that I should stay away from you."

"Oh?" Larry said with amusement in his voice. "And what does your heart say?"

"My heart?" she repeated for a moment, before getting lost in thought. Finally she said, "My heart says… that the Innkeeper is a lot more handsome than you."

The waitress quickly picked up Larry's plates and rushed away, leaving the man there wondering whether he should laugh or cry.

*****

When Marlo left, Lex also returned to his room. Now that he had some time, he thought about his future. Someone was hunting him on Earth, but that didn't matter to him because he could simply choose not to return to the Earth. He knew his family would be safe, with Belle having a job with the council, so he could focus entirely on his own tasks.

The Inn had gotten a lot of exposure, so he no longer needed to return to the days of desperately looking for guests to scrounge up some MP. What he needed to do now was develop it. He also needed to raise his own cultivation.

He had decided to blatantly use whatever loopholes he could discover, so he started planning for that as well. He asked the Galactic Sovereign turtle what plants could aid in the cultivation of a Qi training cultivator, but the turtle did not have such specific knowledge. In the end, he asked the turtle to plant whatever plants it could think of that aided in cultivation. But then the issue of seeds came up. Lex could only buy them if the system gave the option, but if it didn't he would have to manually search for them. To cater to this problem, the turtle returned to Nibiru for a while to search for some plants it knew that could provide aid.

The next thing Lex needed to do was expand more and build more rooms, something he was putting off until the games ended. He did not like the feeling of all his rooms being booked - this was an indicator that, despite such a cheat, he could not keep up with demand. But he would have a better idea for how many rooms he required when the extra rush because of the games disappeared. He had already thought of various ways to add more rooms: on the ground, underground, underwater and even in the air - all options were available to him.

Yet another issue was, though he did not need to, he felt bad having his AI work without pay. But at the same time, he could not afford to pay them a lot as he needed to keep expanding which required a massive consumption of MP. He needed to spend some time on the math to analyze his latest earning trend, and create some projection charts for anticipated income growth and expenses to ultimately decide how much he could afford as fixed expenses in terms of salaries.

This was absolutely not some technical vocabulary usage just to avoid thinking of paying his employees, not at all!

Lex groaned. He had too much work to do, and he felt like doing none of it. Suddenly, he felt like taking care of his guests. In the beginning, he used to take care of his guests personally, but lately his staff had been handling everything and he rarely got to engage with any of his guests. He missed the feeling of being a host, and watching his guests amazement first hand.

Suddenly, he decided to put his work away and search for some guests to cater to. He scanned the Inn a few times, trying to see if anyone was doing something interesting. That's when he happened to see a guest that he hadn't seen in a long time, and smiled. He really should welcome his old guests personally.

In front of the Midnight Manor, Blane looked at the changed scenery, holding his girlfriend's hand. The first time he'd come here, he had been dragged in by a zombie along with his brother in arms, Chen. The both of them had their wounds treated by the Innkeeper, and had somehow survived.

He'd had a long journey after that, and ultimately split with Chen to go search for his girlfriend, Iris, who had been taken off planet. It had taken some time, but he finally tracked her down and, after contacting her and letting her know he was alive, had to go through a very long process to be transported onto the same space ship as her.

Today, after so many days, they had finally reunited. Since he first came to the Inn, he had been wanting to bring Iris here, and finally he had the opportunity. But while some things remained the same, the world of the Inn had also changed tremendously.

"The air smells so nice here," said Iris, bewildered. One might have expected that the girlfriend Blane was so in love with was a world shakingly beautiful, but on Vegus Minima there were no fair maidens, only warriors.

The woman who stood beside Blane was extremely muscular, and was garbed in battle gear, despite their change in environment. He had an eyepatch - to help with healing while her body got accustomed to a new implant. Before the implant, she wore the eyepatch to protect her dead eye.

A few lines marked her forehead, and her age showed around her eyes, but none of that mattered to Blane. To him, she was the flower that bloomed in spring, and the honey that tasted sweeter than most resplendent spiritual fruit. He had brought her here because to him, after her embrace, this was the place that brought him the most happiness, and he wanted to share it with her.

"Welcome guest," said the Innkeeper with a fond and warm voice, as he stepped out a shining light. "It has been a while since I saw you last, I hope you have been well."