The Innkeeper

While Lex and Mind Jie were having a conversation in his office, news of the upcoming event had already begun to spread. How could it not, when Lex himself set all the gears in motion? He paid for the event, activated the marketing, informed the workers and distributed responsibilities. But while all the responsibilities and tasks should have gone to his workers, there was one exception that also received orders - albeit, in a more roundabout manner than the workers themselves.

In the cold, dark void of space, a massive vessel moved silently in a straight line. This was an unusually empty region of space. There were no star systems nearby, no asteroids or space rocks, nothing. In fact, this particular region of space was far from everything and near nothing. Even when commuting to regions of space beyond it, there was no reason for a ship to roam these parts without using Hyper-speed. All common sense indicated that there was no reason for this ship to be here, yet it moved forward with purpose.

It was a large vessel, and a keen observer would notice the signs of it being freshly minted. It wasn't just the smooth and clean exterior that had not seen hundreds of years of age that gave away the vessel's age, but also the distinct lack of disturbance it created in the surrounding spirit energy, as thin as it was. This wasn't really modern technology, just that as a ship aged it would become harder and harder to maintain it regardless of the resources one had. Some deterioration in performance was unavoidable.

On the bridge, the commander of this ship wore an extremely grim expression, and though he had his arms folded behind his back in a seemingly casual manner, his fists had been clenched tight.

Silently, and without warning, the ship crossed an invisible veil and disappeared from view to the rest of the universe. Within the veil, though, was a massive space station the size of a small moon. Hundreds of vessels had been parked wherever they found free terminals, and thousands more seemed to hover in space waiting for their turn.

But the new vessel did not wait for a turn, and immediately went to a specific terminal that nobody else seemed to venture near. In the vacuum it was impossible for noise to travel, yet a buzz seemed to fill the area nonetheless as everyone's eyes turned to the ship and in hushed tones whispered, "Booty has returned."

Yes, first mate Booty of the Iron Heart pirates, who had been rumored to have left the pirating life behind to instead become a marketing agent, had voluntarily returned home. This was bound to create a buzz, after all, who didn't know that first mate Booty was the captain's favorite? Yet the news of his betrayal had not had any reaction whatsoever. Now his return sprouted only new rumors. What was really going on?

Booty cared for none of it. He only looked forward as he stood still on a segway that seemed to lead him deep inside Heart Station.

Eventually he arrived in a dark room where he stepped off and bowed towards the darkness, his suede jacket pressing firmly against his chest.

"You have finally returned. Are you here to take my head?"

"Never, captain!" Booty shouted, sweat pouring down his pale face.

"Then why have you returned? I thought you left the pirating life behind. You were too good for it, anyway."

"Captain, I… I brought news! There's finally hope for you… for you to enter the immortal realm!"

A golden key appeared in Bootys hands as he began to explain about the upcoming festival and, more importantly, about the star rank increase. Due to his excellent performance in marketing previously, Lex made a special mention to his workers to give the job to Booty again. Little did he know that instead of spreading the news, he had returned to the real Captain of the Iron Heart pirates. She sat in the darkness, hidden from view. Her identity had to remain a secret at all costs. As if being a pirate wasn't enough, if people were to learn who the captain was, there would be no sanctuary left where the Jotun Empire had influence.

In another part of space, a devil appeared in front of Lorretta, sharing the same news. A breakthrough in cultivation was too great an attraction to overlook.

Elsewhere, Ragnar was reading an emergency report. For once, hesitation appeared in his eyes. If he had a breakthrough, he'd be in closed cultivation for months, if not years. Was this really the time?

In a med center on the galactic battlefield, an injured Alexander received new orders. His efforts had paid off. The Empire would invest in him, and help him re-cultivate from scratch, and his new journey would begin at the Inn.

In the Crystal realm, Roland returned to share the news with Aegis. No matter what his personal decision was, this was not something he should overlook.

On Earth, the oracle Vera Joel was desperate to find a way to return to the Inn, but her jailors had finally caught on and regularly searched her and others to make sure they had no keys. But how could she explain that for her, it was not just about gaining an opportunity, but escaping a catastrophe? If only her visions were more regular.

In the realm Garvitz, some devils had returned to provide a report. Warheil Heil Fednal, the devil solely responsible for creating the zombie demons, smiled. It was an opportunity for his children to grow.

An agent of the Henali who had been stationed at the Inn quickly retreated to deliver the news. Though, unlike the rest, this agent had no urgency. He worked for the overlords of the entire realm. Compared to them, how truly helpful could the Inn's festival really be?

Unbeknownst to Lex, who was going through revelations of his own, his festival that he only used for security was about to be far more successful than he could have imagined.