The Innkeeper

Attendance at the banquet wasn't really necessary for all the workers. It was more or less just a joint vacation for all of them. Yet Lex did not expect many to miss out on it, and indeed there was 100% attendance even just a few minutes after the day began.

The 'banquet' itself would only begin in the evening, but everyone had 24 hours of free time to enjoy themselves. In fact, there were temporary workers found even within the village, so that the workers could for once experience all the services that they were usually offering.

The experience was extremely , as they had never just 'hung out' with their friends in such a manner before.

If Lex were being extremely scrutinizing, he would say that having such an experience would be highly beneficial for them. After all, once they understood what the guests might be feeling as they approach the same services, they could do their duties better. But in truth his only agenda was for his workers to enjoy, and get some time off. Especially now that some of them would be sent away to face untold trials.

The sight itself was quite amusing. Sitting in his office, Lex watched as hundreds of thousands of humans slowly shuffled into the village and began spreading out, murmuring with each other in excitement. Among them, the few non-humans were also clearly visible though they were just as much a part of the crowd as everyone else.

A giant sea creature could be seen, its upper body emerging from the waterways in the village, acting very much like a child about to head to an amusement park. A few peacocks which had evolved to gain sentience and self awareness during the star rank upgrades could also be seen walking majestically down the paved streets.

Young McDonald, Zen, the Sol bird, Fenrir, Little Blue and the turtle walked as part of one procession. Although the turtle was annoyed that it had to spend time away from its garden, it eventually decided to take a look at how everything was going at the village.

A lone Draconian Apostle, Fredrich, could be seen trailing that group, feeling somewhat shy. It presented quite an adorable sight as it had rounded up a lot while cultivating near the Fire temple. As such, it looked more like a round, massive stuffed toy designed to look like a bee than an actual bee.

Of course, now all Inn workers were shy. Captain Cirk, the worker incharge of the massive spaceship, could be seen casually sitting beside Gerard as the old man drove his golf cart. The two seemed to be sharing tales of their own respective vehicles.

Luthor was standing forlornly atop a massive building, looking down at all the workers, as if he had countless troubles worrying him.

Inside a massive auditorium, Z was sitting comfortably with buckets of popcorn around him, watching his current favorite anime, Demon Player. Interestingly enough, none of the popcorn buckets were within his reach. But whenever he reached out with his hand, a few kernels would appear in his hand. The process was not smooth, or quick, but it happened nonetheless. Moreover, the more time he spent doing it, the better he became. One might even think he was training secretly. But no, he was just being a lazy teenager.

Somewhere near a cafe, Velma was excitedly conducting an interview. Although she was not supposed to be working, who could really stop her? As for the target of her interview? It was naturally Harry and Hailey, the newest couple of the Inn. Although Hailey was not a worker, she was Harry's plus one, so there was no problem with her attending.

In another corner, Geeves, the poor tailor, was found collapsed on the ground. Feeling some pity for him, some of the people who had spent the last few days with him carried him to a spa, where he received an excellent massage.

Yet, as much as he had worked, he was not the most exhausted Inn worker. No, that privilege was awarded equally to the members of the Bunny nation. As the permanent workers of the day care, all the bunnies had first hand experienced the endless energy of young children! Even after the star rank upgrade, when the bunnies evolved and grew one level stronger, they could only barely keep up with the kids.

But while the bunnies had evolved from that event, had the kids not done the same? Stronger, smarter and more ferocious than ever before, the kids played as if the very fate of the universe depended on it, and no cultivator was strong enough to face such an onslaught. The bunnies almost even missed the days where they were actually being slaughtered. At least then their suffering would end.

But no matter. They had gained a reprieve, short as it may be.

After watching for a while, Lex suddenly felt a little dissatisfied. The workers were a little tame, and were hesitating in fully enjoying themselves. They had many hours before the actual banquet, so they should be thoroughly enjoying themselves.

With an exasperated sigh, Lex stood up. It seemed like he would have to do everything himself.

He put on his Clark Kent glasses, and changed into his Leo persona, before teleporting over. For a moment, mixed in with the massive crowd, he truly felt how much the Inn had grown. From a mere two workers who only had a one month lease, to hundreds of thousands of permanent workers.

Then, he summoned his secret weapon in his hand, and locked onto a target. Doe, John's assistant, was walking listlessly. Of course he would feel like that. Unlike the rest, it was not one or two days that the Battle Ax had been shut for. John had been challenged to a battle in the Murder trial, and it was still ongoing even so many days later. With nothing to distract him, and no way of knowing how the battle was going, Doe was feeling drained.

Suddenly, Doe's senses picked up on a threat. As John's assistant, how could it be possible that he had not been taught any techniques to defend himself or improve his survivability? He looked up, only to find a pink round ball closing in on him. He tried to move, yet he was too slow and the projectile too fast!

It hit him right in the face, but instead of the hard-on collision he was expecting, he felt the pop of something plastic before a ball of water drenched his face. Before he, or anyone else could understand what happened, a loud sound could be heard yelling, "water fight!"

Tens, hundreds, thousands and then tens of thousands of water balloons suddenly appeared everywhere.

The workers were a little slow to catch on, which resulted in many of them immediately getting splashed. No one saw who made the first move, because whoever it was was moving too fast. But panic immediately set in, and everyone grabbed a water balloon. Then that panic immediately turned to excitement, as the first worker threw a water balloon, and then the second.

Chaos erupted almost immediately, as thousands of workers immediately entered into a massive water fight! Thousands more began running right and left, avoiding getting wet to little success.

The few aquatic beasts that had evolved within the Inn from simple animals, and had become Inn workers, had a natural advantage which they used readily to start launching water at everyone.

But the humans were not to be left behind either. The lifeguards of the Inn immediately began using their spiritual techniques which could manipulate water, and retaliated in full force.

In mere moments, what Lex had originally just planned out as a simple water fight to loosen everyone up and put them in a playful mood, turned into a highly competitive and extreme water war!

In its excitement, Little Blue also joined in! It had also been cultivating, and had constantly been guided by the turtle, and corrupted by Fenrir - who had been corrupted by Lex. It used its newly gained innate ability to summon some water.

Truly, it was only a small amount of water. It was not worth mentioning, really. It only accumulated into a tsunami that was over forty feet high, and appeared out of thin air.

When the shadow of the wave covered the ground, the water fight temporarily paused as everyone looked up to see what had happened.

All they saw before the wave came crashing down was the little whale, clicking and whistling in excitement.

Then, like divine judgment, the wave came crashing down.

But the workers of the Inn were not intimidated. Various techniques filled the air as they hastened to protect themselves, and prepare for retaliation. In the first ever water war, the weak would not survive. They would win, or they would get drenched trying.

The wave crashed onto the ground with a furious roar, and shook the Inn as it did. But suddenly, there was a flash of light, and the water parted, split right down the middle.