It only took a few more hours, but the connection to Nibiru was complete. Lex did not wait any longer and immediately chose to return to the Inn. He had a few things he wanted to do, but the first and foremost was recovering. When went to the Recovery room he found that Marlo was still in his chamber, eating up his MP, not any better than before. Well technically his vitality and spirit had recovered a lot, but was not fully healed. It seemed like it would take much longer than Lex guessed to heal the man. It could be because of the Recovery rooms' low level and Marlo's high cultivation, but Lex paid no mind to that for now.
Without hesitation he lay himself down in a Recovery Pod and allowed the healing process for his arm to begin.
"Hey Mary, how come the Recovery room or Recovery Pod can't fix my tumor?" he asked mentally.
"While they both have strong healing capabilities, they only provide basic healing. There are many kinds of wounds that they cannot heal. Your tumor, for example, is something that needs to be removed from your body, so it does not come under the purview of this kind of healing. Similar to how they could not directly remove the poison from Helen's body, or the zombie mutagen from Marlo. Once you start dealing with higher leveled cultivators, their injuries will carry a hostile spirit energy which is again not something these rooms can heal. For something like that you would have to look out for talented doctors or healers across the universe and hire them. In that case, the benefits the Inn provides will improve their inherent capabilities, but can never replace them. Hiring such people will elevate the services you can provide and increase the prestige of the Inn as well."
Lex nodded, understanding that hiring a worthy staff was an important part of running the Inn. Lex closed his eyes and allowed himself to fall asleep while his hand was being fixed. At some point the numb feeling had faded, but instead of pain Lex felt hollow and drained. He was too afraid to remove his grass bandages to actually look at the condition of his hand, but fortunately it would not be a concern much longer..
A few hours later he was woken up to the notification that his hand had been fixed. He jumped out of the Pod and squeezed the fingers on his right hand, feeling his strength. It still felt a little tired, but at least he was better now. Then another problem occurred to him. The Recovery Pods were right in the recovery room, and anyone could see who was being healed. If a customer ever saw him recovering it would mar his image. He needed to make a few changes, to keep the privacy of his customers as well. For example, Alexander had seen Marlo and recognized him. That was all well, but what if the next person to recognize him was not on friendly terms. He went into the Design Interface and began making changes. Each Pod was put in an individual room, the small change costing him 200 MP. While he was making changes, he might as well add the Mystery Trail as well. While all the additions he'd made to the Inn so far were far away from the main building, he decided to add the Mystery Trial close to it. He flew to the back of the Inn's building and chose a suitable place five hundred meters away.
When he selected the spot for the Mystery Trial, a mound of earth rose up from the ground fifteen meters high and ten meters in diameter. A large, metallic double faced door was fixed on the side of the mound facing the Inn. The door gave off an ancient feeling, as if it had withstood the flow of time for eons, undisturbed and unaffected. Lex frowned a little, and used the interface to make the mound of earth a little neater, and then chose to grow some grass over it. He didn't understand why the door had to be connected to the mound, but he could not remove it.
"How much does the mystery trial cost?" he asked. He had to decide how much to charge his guests.
"For any guest who has used any of the Inn's services, the first entry is free and costs you nothing either. Each consecutive use will cost you 500MP. The Mystery Trial is unique, and you will not be able to buy more of those from the Inn in the future. Its level is also linked to the level of the Inn, so as the level of the Inn increases the trial will give better feedback to its users as well as better rewards. For those whose trials include combat, if they die in the trial they won't actually die in real life so that is an added benefit for those who want to train in combat."
"I understand," he said, turning his attention to the next matter. From Nibiru he had brought back a bunch of seeds. Although he was sure many or all of them may have died tussling about in his backpack while he fought, this might be a good time to set up the greenhouse. There was one catch however. While he was not planting anything too precious right now, he wanted to keep the greenhouse somewhere secure so that guests would not barge in. What if they stole or damaged his goods? He was planning on using or selling whatever he grew, he could not afford to leave them out in the open.
Before he could make any decisions however, he felt someone using a Golden key to enter the Inn. Lex smiled, made sure he looked presentable, and appeared at the entrance of the Inn awaiting his new guest.
From a flash of light two guests appeared, and Lex was surprised to see a familiar face. But before Lex could greet the guest he came to a horrible, awkward realization! He was standing at the entrance of the Inn, right at the end of the stairs that led up to the Inn. His familiar guest, Hugo Laurent, was standing at the foot of the staircase. The problem was, in front of Hugo the second guest was sitting in a wheelchair WITH NO WAY UP THE STAIRS! This was also when Lex realized that most of his guest rooms were above the ground floor AND A PERSON IN A WHEELCHAIR WOULD HAVE NO WAY OF GETTING TO THEM!
It was a good thing that the Host Attire kept his image calm and presentable, otherwise his guests would be exposed to the visage of him blushing in embarrassment.
Still, Lex recovered quickly. Before Hugo had a chance to say anything, Lex quickly accessed the Design Interface and waved his right hand as he willed a ramp to appear beside the stairs, giving the image that he had made the change himself. Hugo froze, shocked by the sudden change, which gave Lex the chance to quickly mentally add an elevator inside the Inn right beside the stairs for guests to use. From the outside no one was able to tell anything had changed at all, and no one was able to see the image of a tiny, floating Mary giggling at Lex's embarrassment. Or at least, the guests weren't able to.
"Welcome back Hugo. I see you've brought someone with you this time, I'm glad the Midnight Inn is able to get your recommendation."
Hugo, who snapped out of his surprise, smiled at the mysterious Innkeeper. "Of course! Your Inn is impressive beyond all of my expectations, even beyond all of my wildest dreams. Who wouldn't want to go on vacation, heal from their old wounds and even elevate their cultivation level while they were at it? There's nothing that can compare.
"In fact, that's why I've brought my boss this time as well. He's been suffering from a disease for a long time, I was hoping that he would be able to be healed as well."
Lex turned his attention to the man in the wheelchair and indeed his condition didn't look good at all. In fact, it could be said that he was almost at death's door. He checked the man's status.
Name: William Bentham
Age: 59
Sex: Male
Cultivation Details: Initial Foundation realm
Species: Human
Midnight Inn Prestige Level: Not yet available
Conditions:
Fatal Spirit Energy poisoning
Report:
The patient is cultivating spirit energy with an affinity that directly clashes with his body's affinity. The more spirit energy he absorbs, the faster the rate of poisoning! The only way to treat the patient is to completely dissolve his Foundation realm and then use the Recovery Pod to slowly heal him. It is recommended that the patient also drinks Botlam's Dew immediately following the dissolution of his Foundation to prevent dying before recovery can begin! Patient is on the verge of death, immediate treatment is recommended!
Lex frowned as he read the report on Will. Spiritual affinity was something he'd never heard of before, he wasn't exactly sure what that meant. He was also confused by what the system meant by saying 'dissolve the Foundation'. Was a person's cultivation realm something they could just give up?
He asked Mary about the details.
"Originally this is something I did not know, but as you've elevated your authority by a few levels I have received the answer from the system. Spiritual energy originally is neutral, but it can gain affinities. For example, if a person is using a cultivation technique that is based on fire, or relies on heated environments or natural treasures that have the fire element, then when that person absorbs spiritual energy, his cultivation technique will give it a fire affinity. That means the spiritual energy that person has stored in his body will have the characteristics of fire, and he can use spiritual attacks based on fire.
"The case with Will is similar. The cultivation technique he is using is based on fire, but his body inherently has an affinity for water. Not everyone has natural affinities, and people who have them can be considered to have special constitutions. As a result of Will's natural affinity clashing with the affinity of the spirit energy he is absorbing, instead of becoming stronger he is being poisoned.
"As for dissolving his Foundation, that is an easy way of describing it. To understand, let me explain to you how the different levels of cultivation work. Body Tempering strengthens the body to absorb spiritual energy within it without being hurt by it..
"Qi training, which also has nine realms, involves absorbing spiritual energy in the body, and then pushing the limits of how much energy the body can store. Each time a cultivator breaks through a subrealm in Qi training their capacity for spiritual energy is increased. But where in the body is this energy being stored? Later, in the Golden Core realm, the energy is stored in the core, however before that the energy is stored in the muscles, tissues and organs of the body.
"In simple words, Qi training only focuses on the quantity of spirit energy that the body can hold. It forces the body to absorb as much energy as possible. Suffice to say, the better the cultivation technique or the talent of the cultivator, the more energy they can absorb. However, this changes in the Foundation realm. The spirit energy that has so far been absorbed by the body is neutral, and of very low quality. In fact, if spiritual energy that is purer or higher in concentration can actually harm the cultivator. The Foundation realm starts building a foundation in the body to sustain higher concentrations as well as quality of spiritual energy. One of the steps involved in this naturally changes the neutral spiritual energy in the body to that of one with an affinity.
"How that works is irrelevant to you right now, what you need to know right now is what 'dissolving the foundation' means. It's a nice way of putting it, but basically if all the muscles and tissue in the body simultaneously sustain enough damage – without directly killing the cultivator – then the spiritual energy in the body will be released and the cultivation realm of the person will drop. Usually, if a person survives such an ordeal, their body is so damaged that they can never cultivate again.
"You should be able to avoid that happening by immediately putting him in the Recovery Pod so that his body heals correctly. However the old man is weak, I don't know if he can survive such a shock. Also, even weak, he's in the Foundation realm and you're in the body tempering. There's no way you can help him 'dissolve his Foundation'. You'll have to get Hugo to do it."
That was a lot of information to absorb, and he had silently been staring at the old man for a bit now. Hugo was starting to get worried, but just as he was about to ask a question the Innkeeper spoke up.
"His condition is complicated. Whether he can be healed or not depends on whether or not you trust me, and are willing to take a risk."
Hugo looked down at the old man with a questioning gaze. Even though he himself had a higher cultivation than Will, the old man's family had been in the cultivation world for centuries and had a lot of influence. Hugo needed his help to find his families murderers, so he really hoped that Will could be healed.
Will, who had been silent so far, removed the oxygen mask from his face and gave the mysterious Innkeeper a weak smile. For some reason, Will felt like he could trust the old man unconditionally. If he wasn't in unbearable pain, he would have liked to have a chat with him. For now though, he would trust his gut and put his life in the mysterious man's hands.
"I have nothing left to lose. We'll do whatever you say."
Lex nodded at the old man's determination. Then he explained Will's problem, exactly as he read about it in the report. He did not know if affinities were common knowledge, and would only explain if asked.
When the old man heard what the issue was, he suddenly came to a realization. It's as if the pains of his entire life suddenly made sense to him, as well as why his condition had suddenly deteriorated. Originally he was going to wait for Hugo to return and see if there was a way for him to heal, but after feeling spirit energy from the key he thought maybe he was getting better and tried to absorb energy from a medium spirit stone. His condition had drastically gotten worse since. He chuckled to himself. He did know about affinities, as well as special constitutions. Who could have guessed that he was someone countless people considered a genius, but he made a mistake right at the first step and chose the wrong cultivation technique.
Lex explained the procedure that Will needed to undergo, and while Hugo was startled Will did not have much of a reaction. He was too exhausted, mentally and physically, at this point. Since Hugo had already bought a bottle of Botlam's Dew, they went directly to the room with a Recovery Pod (RP).
"Eh, are you sure you want me to dissolve his cultivation? Wouldn't it be better if you did it?" asked Hugo, reluctant to hurt Will. He didn't want to use too much strength and accidentally kill him.
Lex shook his head and answered, "I apologize, but I cannot harm a guest – even to help them – unless they break a rule of the Midnight Inn. It will have to be you."
That was the excuse Lex had thought up, and though it was flimsy it would have to do.
Will lay down in the Recovery Pod and Hugo put his hand over the old man's chest. Slowly and carefully he channeled his spirit energy all over the old man's body, till a thin layer of it covered him. Looking in the eyes of Will one last time Hugo gave him a nod, to let him know he was about to do it, and then let his spirit energy attack Will.
In an instant the old man went from being pale and trembling to covered in blood and completely still. Using his fastest speed Hugo chugged the bottle of Botlam's Dew down his throat and closed the lid for the RP.
The RP started working immediately, but the old man lay still and unresponsive. He looked like a corpse being poked and prodded, but Lex could use the system to monitor his status. The old man went to within an inch of his life. To be more exact, his heart stopped beating for a few moments and his brain activity started to decrease, but the Botlam's Dew kept him from completely dying for a few critical seconds. Just because he was in the Pod did not mean he could not die, as was the case with Marlo as well, but fortunately after a couple of minutes he went out being in a critical condition.
At this point the spirit energy was leaking out of his body, his cultivation falling, and the RP was more focused on keeping him alive than healing him. The Botam's Dew, which normally took a long time to show its full effect, had already been used up in keeping him alive long enough for the RP to take over. If nothing unexpected happened, he would survive, though he most likely would have to start cultivating from Qi training again.
"It's okay. He's passed the critical stage. He should be fine."
Hugo let out a breath of relief. He thought he had killed the old man.
Lex left the two alone, the healing process would take a long time and no doubt Hugo wanted to stay with Will a bit longer to ensure he was okay. But instead of returning to previous activity of improving the Inn and considering where to add the greenhouse, he walked in a particular direction. He remembered that he had another guest at his Inn, and he had previously sent her a Saturn Cake. Lex wanted to check up on her, and if the opportunity presented itself learn more about her famous friend – Alexander.
Velma, has Helen's mood improved at all while I was gone?" Lex asked as he walked towards the hills that carried the meditation room. His Host Attire which was in sync with the Inn let him know where all his guests were at all times, so he had no problem locating her in the large area of the Inn. But while normally he teleported directly wherever he wanted, this time he chose to walk. Firstly it was because he was considering a good place to place his greenhouse, and secondly he wanted to understand how his guests felt walking around.
"Her mood did seem to improve when she had the cake, and instead of sulking in one place she's been wandering around the grounds of the Inn. Still, she hasn't interacted with Gerard or I much, and hasn't eaten much food."
Lex nodded as he continued to stroll through the Inn. For now the grounds around the Inn weren't too big, just a few acres in fact, which meant you could see end to end easily. However, walking from one corner to another, such as the Recovery room to the Meditation room, still took a bit of time.
It was fine for him, but he had to keep in mind that not all of his guests could traverse the area easily – such as Will. He twitched his lips, but mentally bought a golf cart from the Midnight market that he parked beside the manor. He then instructed his A.I. to offer to drive his guests around whenever they saw them walking to a specific destination.
Eventually, even with his slow pace, he reached the hills and found Helen sitting in the grass with a couple of rabbits playing around her. She also had one in her lap that she was gently stroking, her gaze off into the distance. She was brought back from her thoughts by the sound of someone approaching, and looked to see the Innkeeper. She had seen him when she had just arrived at the Inn, but since then the mysterious man had disappeared. She had been too preoccupied with her thoughts and had completely forgotten about him..
"Good afternoon," the Innkeeper greeted her, his voice smooth as butter. "I hope your stay here has been satisfactory."
"Yes, it has been great. I wanted to thank you for the cake, it was delicious."
"You're very welcome, it is a delicacy from the Jotun System that is fairly popular. I plan on opening up a patisserie for my guests in the future, but until then it should hold them over."
The Innkeeper spoke softly and calmly, with a warm and easy going presence. He sat down in the grass nearby, and a few rabbits hopped on over to him, as if attracted by his aura. He gently petted them, as if he were meeting an old friend after a long time.
"If you don't mind my mentioning," he said, turning his gaze from the fluffy animal to her, "my staff told me that you haven't eaten much. Although you have been healed from your poisoned state, it has extracted a lot of strength from your body. If you do not take care of yourself then you will fall ill."
Helen blushed, and for the first time in a long time she felt like an admonished child. She felt like she had been behaving like a spoiled little girl, throwing a tantrum at being treated unfairly.
"I will take better care of myself," she said meekly. Helen was not a meek woman – she was confident and strong, and while she gave respect to her superiors, it was not out of weakness but from her upbringing. As someone being raised for political marriage, she was not raised to be only a pretty face but a strong asset and ally for whoever she ended up with.
She was extremely capable and was always treated as such. Even Alexander, who generally treated her very well, knew that she was more reliable than most and so treated her as someone strong and someone who did not need to be looked after. After all, treating someone strong with delicacy was not care but disrespectful.
However, for some reason, she did not seem to mind it when this mysterious man was looking out for her like this.
"I'm glad to hear it," the man said, a smile appearing on his handsome face. "If you have any other troubles, feel free to talk to me about them. Maybe I won't be able to offer you any direct help, but as someone who has been to many worlds and seen many cultures across the universe my perspective is probably different from anyone you've met."
Various thoughts ran across her mind as the Innkeeper made his offer. She was not having a small crisis but one that overturned her whole life. Even though she knew she was being raised for a purpose, she loved her family dearly. Yet she had been thrown aside, and there was nowhere left for her on Earth unless she returned with a new identity. And even if she returned, what would she do? She had lost her direction in life. She did not want revenge, but she also did not know what she did want.
"Thank you for the offer," she said shaking her head, "but this is something I must figure out on my own."
"I understand," the Innkeeper said, getting up. "If you need me, feel free to reach out through one of my staff. If you get bored during your stay, I recommend you try out the Mystery Trial behind the manor – it is something I just added to the Inn. First try is free for guests, so you have nothing to lose and the trials are perfectly safe."
The Innkeeper smiled at her one more time and then disappeared. Helen felt a sense of loss when he left, but she picked herself up and started walking back to the manor. She would eat something, and then she would continue to think. Moping was not her style, but she needed to figure out her new direction in life before she would feel better.
Lex was slightly disappointed when the girl refused to confide in him, but he could not insist on getting her to talk. He had to maintain his mystique. He reappeared at the northernmost point of the Inn and prepared himself for some heavy spending. Spending 5000 MP in the Midnight Market, he bought himself a relatively powerful array that was arranged from trees. As soon as he made the purchase pine trees started growing around, and ultimately covered an entire acre of land around him. Then in the center of the new forest, he chose to purchase the greenhouse for another 425 MP, transforming the land five thousand square feet around him into arable land. After all his expenditure he was left with 11,836 MP. That was still quite a lot, but did it really allow him to spend his MP so randomly?
The answer was, this was not a random purchase. The forest array served an important purpose, which was that it would redirect anyone who entered away from the center without letting them realize. The effect was very simple and did not harm anyone in any way, but it was exactly for that reason that the array could affect even those of a very high cultivation level. This way his greenhouse which was directly in the center of the forest would be out of reach for the guests. Of course, as the owner and controller of the array Lex could choose to allow someone to pass through if he wanted.
What was an array exactly? Similar to how spirit techniques used spirit energy to give rise to different effects, and talismans used spirit energy as well as the complex science of spirit engineering to give birth to seemingly magical results, arrays used natural treasures and spirit treasures to have different effects over a certain piece of land. By arranging treasures, or array flags (spirit treasures that served a single, very specific purpose) in a complex design one could arrange an array that served various purposes. It could be a protective array that stopped incoming enemies or attacks from entering an area. It could be an attacking array that attacked enemies with it. It could even be a spirit gathering array that gathered spirit energy from the atmosphere and filled the area of the array with concentrated spirit energy – a boon for cultivation. In short, it could have various effects and all depended on the user's purpose.
With that out of the way, Lex spent another 2000MP to purchase a permanent A.I. worker for the greenhouse. Despite the heavy cost, the A.I's that Lex purchased could only be human shaped and could have no special abilities, only a certain amount of knowledge regarding certain fields. Lex didn't name this A.I. and instead decided to just call him the gardener, to keep it simple and easy to remember.
He handed The Gardener all the seeds and cuttings he brought from Nibiru and told him to begin planting them, and try to save as many of them as he could. As he watched the gardener begin to work, he came to the painful realization that he may have to hire an actual living person with an affinity or ability for raising plants as the Inn let him know of the various special needs of each plant that was being planted, and they were not simple to say the least.
Lex watched silently as the gardener carefully started digging potholes for the cuttings he had brought. The greenhouse had few special features that greatly aided in the growth of plants. Firstly the soil was filled with concentrated spirit energy, which would not only increase the speed of growth of plants it would also improve their quality. Even common plants grown here would absorb spirit energy. Secondly, the chances of transported plants or plant cuttings dying was reduced drastically.
However this was only the first level of the Greenhouse and the benefits it could provide were limited. It pained him to learn that for more valuable plants, such as those that granted humans extra strength back on Nibiru, he would need to provide special fertilizers and spirit water. Both of those things would cost him a lot of MP. Fortunately, for now he could make do without them.
He told the gardener that he wanted him to focus on growing a lot of the vine Tiffany's treasure. Using the system he could get the proper name for the plant, but he'd decided to stick to the name the little girl had told him.
He was just about to leave the garden when he received another notification.
New Quest: With a garden available in your backyard, it's time to improve the quality of your food. Grow spiritual vegetables for the Inns kitchen
Quest time limit: 2 weeks
Quest Reward: Rare plant seeds.
Quest failure punishment: -1000MP
Remarks: In certain parts of the world common farmers have abs, but you even as a cultivator only have flab! Roll up your sleeves and put some work in!
Lex was incensed! He had abs okay! Maybe not to the level of Instagram models, but he was getting there! Anyway, he ignored the ignorant, insensitive system for now and focused on the time limit. 2 weeks! It was too short, could he grow anything in this time?
"You don't need to worry and just plant normal seeds, they will grow quickly enough. You don't need to even have a large variety at the moment. Even if just a couple of ingredients in a dish are spiritual then it will have a completely different result. Just look for whatever is easily available."
Lex nodded, and decided to make this his first priority. This was a relatively easy quest, he wanted the quickest reward he could get, along with hopefully some upgrades!
He returned to his apartment, already planning on getting seeds with same day delivery, but the moment he returned all thoughts of vegetables were thrown out the window. He was standing in his room, but everything had been overturned. His mattress had been ripped up, his things were cluttered on the floor and his clothes thrown out of his closet. Warily he crept outside his room to find the rest of his apartment in the same state. His first thought was robbery, but that didn't make sense. His tv and gaming consoles, the easiest items to steal, were still there – they were just broken. His furniture was either broken into pieces or ripped through with daggers. Someone had clearly ransacked the place.
He was standing still, trying to figure out what the most appropriate reaction should be. He couldn't report this incident to Bluebird, his token was at home but he was not there during the incident. That could only mean that he had left his apartment without the token. Whether Bluebird would be able to find the culprit was an entirely different matter, they would most likely prosecute him first. For the same reason he couldn't go to the police.
He was still thinking of what to do when he heard his ringtone, and traced the sound to his phone which had fallen underneath his bed. A glance he was able to tell that he had missed a few calls, all from Larry. He picked up and heard an urgent voice from the other end, "Lex? Lex! Is that you? Are you alright? I've been trying to reach you for hours."
"I'm fine," he replied. "But something tells me that you think I shouldn't be."
"I ran into some goons from Ultimate Fighting Fortress, and suffice to say they roughed me up. So did Matilda, and that ended really badly. She's in Bluebird custody right now, and I heard quite a few people were sent to the CCU in a hospital. When you weren't picking up I feared the worst, but I'm being monitored so there's no way I could come to you."
Lex frowned. What did Ultimate Fighting Fortress want with them? Their fight should be with Marlo, and he hasn't even been on Earth in a while.
"I just got back to my apartment, and the place has been completely trashed. I was wondering what happened, it looks like they paid me a visit as well. Do you know what they want?"
"I looked into it. Apparently Marlo has disappeared, and that's caused some people to worry. When he didn't reappear after the Alexander incident in Egypt, some of his enemies started worrying that he was planning a move against him. They picked a fight with his family as well, and I heard there was even an incident with his mother. Someone is trying to provoke him into reappearing. You, Matilda and I are just collateral damage."
"So what now? Won't the Bluebird do anything?"
"You don't understand. He's a very high leveled cultivator, his sudden disappearance makes all the ICPA's nervous as well. They won't directly act against him, but as long as no one goes too overboard, they won't interfere in this matter."
"But God only knows how long Marlo will be gone," Lex said exasperated, for more than one reason. Everyday that former giant stayed away cost Lex MP!
"What are we supposed to do in the meantime? I can't get pulled into a fight like this, I…" before Lex could continue someone kicked in his door and three shady looking men walked into his apartment.
"Well well well, look who's finally returned," said the short man who was in the lead. He was wearing a tracksuit and a few chains and was covered in tattoos. Lex didn't mean to stereotype, but the guy definitely looked like trouble.
"Who are you? What do you want?" Lex asked forcefully. Deep down, he really wanted to avoid trouble. Earth was supposed to be the place where he layed low, without attracting any attention. He didn't mind getting into trouble in other places, but his family was on Earth! He absolutely could not risk them. Before the man could reply, Lex reached into his backpack and pulled out the Heavy Harley. He did not aim it at anyone, but the threat was evident.
The three men stopped in their tracks when they saw the gun, but didn't leave. The short man let out a whistle as he admired the weapon.
"You know, it's pretty hard to get a carry permit for one of those in New York. You must have friends in high places. But that's okay, we just want to be friends too."
Lex eyed the three, still a little hesitant. He wanted to avoid a confrontation if possible. He put the phone back to his ear and said, "Let Bluebird know I have a few guests in my apartment."
He shut the phone and threw it away, his stance still hostile towards the three.
"I'll ask again, who are you and what do you want? The authorities will be here soon, and I'm sure it'll be in everyone's interest if you're not here when they arrive."
The short man was still looking at the gun. "You know, I vaguely recall that Marlo registered one of these guns recently. That's a pretty strange thing, that he would do it himself. He's a big man, he has secretaries for stuff like that – even minions. I wonder, could it be your gun that he registered? You guys must be close."
The short man was smirking now, and looking at Lex with eager eyes.
"I sold him a treasure, in exchange he gave me a weapon. However, that's none of your business. Please leave, before I get agitated. My finger starts twitching when I'm nervous."
"Hey, alright alright. We're leaving," the man said, signaling his men to slowly back out. "But I believe we got off on the wrong foot. We only want to be friends, and have a little chat if at all possible. You know what, I'll give you a call sometime. We'll meet outside, somewhere in public, so you don't need to be nervous. I believe it'll be in your interest as well. After all, you don't want rumors spreading around about yourself. You know the internet is a crazy place, people love cooking up conspiracies about illegitimate children and what not."
"Buddy I don't know if you're saying that I have kids, or that I'm someone's illegitimate child. But someone broke my TV and I'm pissed, so if you don't get out of here right now I think I might decide to keep you till Bluebird shows up."
This time, Lex aimed the gun directly towards the man. The man didn't retort, and left the apartment, giving Lex a wink right before he left. Lex waited a while, and then checked the hallway outside to find it empty. He let out a sigh. Was this the famous 'get into trouble for no reason' protagonist halo he'd read in so many novels?