That day, the Sol-birds in the sky disappeared on the horizon, giving birth to a rare sunset in these lands, and bringing forth darkness that would last for many days. The temperature dropped drastically, so much so that fog started to form with every breath.
The tavern wasn't temperature controlled in the way the Inn was, and the addition of a fireplace was something Lex hadn't thought of at the time of his initial renovations. After considering the situation for a moment, Lex purchased a simple formation to resolve the problem. But, instead of deploying it directly, he had Rick set it up manually, for his guests to see. It would take a few hours to set up, and would only cover the main hall, but that was good enough.
Yes, this was nothing more than a simple tavern. Even the formation for heating was simple.
Unlike the academy, which had Sol-light perpetually all the time, and had well-defined and automated systems for when the light disappeared, the rest of the realm was quite different.
The darkness was absolutely lethal in this realm, in more ways than one. In the absence of light, for reasons unknown, spirit energy would begin to mutate, poisoning anyone who tried to absorb it. Even the Crystal race and Kraven were not immune to this kind of poisoning.
If the darkness persisted, the mutated spirit energy would begin to clump together, giving birth to strange monstrosities. There was no fixed pattern for the kind of evil entity the darkness could birth, and there was even a widely popular theory that the Kravens themselves were born of the dark, due to the black slime that covers their entire body.
The monsters formed had basic sentience, just enough to fill them with avarice for flesh and blood of any kind. Fortunately, the monsters formed were usually weak, and it would take months of darkness to actually give birth to monsters strong enough to actually threaten entire towns. Still, lone travelers, small parties and unsecured outposts of any kind were vulnerable to such monsters, and actually consisted of the main casualties.
These still were just the most common form of danger that existed in the dark. The longer an area suffered from darkness, the greater and more unique the danger would form.
This was why towns and cities in the Crystal realm operated differently based on whether it was light or dark. The single most important difference was that all travel outside the town area would be strictly restricted. Most people were given either paid holidays or had reduced working hours based on their jobs.
There was no danger of mutation or poisoning in the town itself because any kind of light at all would prevent this from happening, so all towns were well lit. The danger, usually, was from the areas surrounding the town.
For Lex, the sudden arrival of darkness actually meant an increase in business. From sailors to haulers, from menial workers to rich merchants, from farmers to landlords, all of them had a habit of enjoying themselves the most during the first few days of darkness. Work hours were reduced, and there was little to no danger from the surroundings.
Of course, not everyone got their time off immediately, but enough people did that Lex suddenly went from an almost entirely empty tavern, to one where all the seats were nearly filled in less than an hour.
The triplets immediately got to work, showing off their skills to Lex. Considering the fact that Lex was still short staffed, he expected them to struggle more in handling the crowd, but their experience of living in a house with 9 other siblings made them particularly skilled in handling a crowd.
He immediately decided to hire them. Which brought him a new challenge, which was he wasn't sure how much he should pay them, for he didn't know what the normal salary was in Babylon. He'd discuss it with Dino later.
The day passed by quickly, and though Lex's tavern was full, it was not nearly as boisterous as yesterday. Lex took this time to acquaint himself with some of the locals, while at the same time spreading the word that he was still looking for a good chef.
As the night was concluded, Lex nodded at himself for successfully getting through the day without any accidents or problems. Yes, he was running a completely normal tavern with nothing excessive or mysterious going on.
Of course, that was only his opinion based on his perspective. Because of the limited time he had spent in the cultivation world, and the unusual experiences he had, he was completely oblivious to the fact that the Midnight Tavern had already developed a certain reputation, with the tavern owner being the most mysterious.
Ignoring the fact that he suddenly moved in and opened up a tavern seemingly overnight, without anyone hearing about it prior to the actual opening, there were still a few things that struck out as odd or impressive.
His behavior under the pressure of an immortal need not be mentioned at all, for it was already understood that that single action marked Lex as someone with a powerful and mysterious background.
The way he was able to converse with Pvarti, treating him as a normal guest instead of fawning all over him also attracted a lot of attention. The timing of him opening the tavern too was suspicious, just in time to receive the Noel brothers.
But these few things were just noticed by the keen eyed. Moreover, Lex knew that not cowering under the pressure exerted by Bertram would attract some attention, but his plan was to solely build up some kind of deterrence against the rowdy and aggressive folk. This was something he was planning on taking time with.
No, what really caused the Midnight Tavern to develop an inexplicable reputation was that the drinks he served were just too good. Even the cheapest drink he served not only had excellent taste, they had yet to give a single person a hangover, and even left many people feeling healthier the next day. No matter how ordinary Lex behaved, just this simple fact was destined to never let him seem ordinary.
Currently, there was no real consensus on what Lex's background was, as the rumors had only just started to develop. What everyone seemed to agree on, however, was that it was unordinary.
The 'everyone' here, though, only referred to the actual customers he had received so far, which was a miniscule number. Many others had only just heard of the tavern, without a significant impression of it.
Just as the last of Lex's guests were getting ready to leave, three such men, who had only heard of the tavern, without really understanding it, entered. As a respectable tavern, the bar and kitchen were not open all night, and Lex was just about to inform them as such, when he noticed the energy in the room change.
His guests, who were getting ready to leave, stopped, their eyes glued to the three men. There was a look of apprehension on their faces, mixed with a trace of pity.
The guests' actions seemed extremely prominent, especially since they were openly looking at the three men, but the men in question seemed not to notice.
The two men standing at the back were large and muscular, while the man in front was short, shorter than Lex even, but his appearance was striking for another reason. He was wearing formal clothing, but his attire seemed mismatched. It was as if his clothes were close to working well together, but the colors were just a fraction away from being cohesive. Moreover, the hat he was wearing looked very odd as well. It was rude to judge or assume, but at a glance, it seemed like the man was trying very hard to replicate the wardrobe of someone from a higher stratum of society, without a proper understanding of what it actually entailed.
Still, none of that had anything to do with Lex, and he was not really one to judge others based on superficial things.
"The bar's about to close for the night," Lex said in a regretful tone. "You can still check into a room though, if that's what you're looking for."
The short man, who was up until now surveying the hall, turned and looked at Lex. He gave a warm, enthusiastic smile, took off his hat and put it on the bar.
"Oh, that's no trouble. I was in the area, and I heard about the crazy party you had here last night. I just wanted to take a look and make some introductions. The name is Elio Ricci."
"Pleasure to meet you Elio, I'm Lex."
"Ai Mr. Lex, you seem very young for someone who owns a tavern, I'm impressed. If you don't mind, I'd like to bring my father here tomorrow to enjoy your hospitality. If there's one thing my father enjoys, almost as much as a mean drink, it's meeting new people and making new friends."
"It would be my honor," Lex replied very simply. So far, Elio had done nothing unusual, so lex would not treat him differently from a normal guest. Yet he was all too aware that his other guests were still frozen in their place, meaning Elio was anything but ordinary.
"Very good, Mr. Lex. Very good. I'll see you in the morning." With that, he picked up his hat and stepped out of the tavern, followed closely by his goons, maintaining a warm smile throughout.
His exit, however, finally allowed the remainder of his guests to relax.
"That was Mr. Ricci's son, Elio Ricci," Naki, the oldest of the triplets, whispered to Lex. "Bakers street is a part of their territory. They take protection money from all the shops."
Lex suddenly understood what he had encountered. Instead of being troubled, Lex was actually excited. Yes, yes, as an ordinary tavern, he definitely had to pay protection money to the local gangsters. Maybe they'd have their secret meetings often in his tavern. Maybe the head of the gang, or, dare he say, mafia, was called the Goatfather like a very famous movie from back on Earth.
Oh yes, Lex was definitely getting excited. His one mistake, though, was that he forgot to hide his excitement, leading everyone in the tavern to look at him oddly.
The planet Nibiru was an extremely energy rich planet, causing it to develop a vibrant and diversely populated world. Not only were tens of millions of different species of beasts found in this world, but they also had incredible strength.
An unexpected result of this, however, was that it became an extremely chaotic planet. Battles happened night and day, and only a few overlords who could control large regions of space managed to bring some semblance of calm to their lands - if they chose to do so.
But in the endless battlefield that was this planet, there was a certain mountain range that gave birth to a very unique environment. The mountains themselves contained hundreds of spirit stone mines, buried deep in their cores. But instead of the spirit stones leaking out energy, as these mines sometimes did, they expanded until they ended up combining with one another. With regions of higher and lower concentration of spirit stones, yet an endless connection of underground mines that somehow managed to form a closed loop, the mines somehow formed a natural formation.
This formation gave birth to a land completely separated from the struggles and strife of the outside world, creating a sanctuary for the beasts living within. Those beasts, living in such an environment for hundreds of thousands of years, evolved without the need for any kind of combat ability.
In such an environment, they flourished, and established entire nations. Among the many such nations was one called the Bunny nation. Populated only by rabbits, some with fur as white as snow, others orange like the light of the setting sun, and others still brown, like a young oak tree, these rabbits were at the forefront of science, technology, art, literature, music and much more.
Such a flourishing nation had many influential rabbits, but none more so than the bunny known as herald for the birth of a new ideology, pontiff Faloofa.
The latest generation of rabbits were not satisfied with living in a cage, and as the voice for these new and heretical thoughts, Faloofa took it upon himself to educate the masses of the kind of preparations they needed to bring to even consider such a pilgrimage. His ideas were just as hated amongst the older population as much as his wisdom, foresight, and thoughtfulness were appreciated by the young.
But before the debate between generations could be settled, fate took it upon itself to provide them with an answer. In the Midnight games, the planet Nibiru won the prize known as Bailey's Vitalizing Dwarf Star Ferment. The single drop of the ferment caused the planet to undergo major changes, as it prepared itself for a rise in its star rating.
All the inhabitants of the planet underwent some degree of elevation in their strength and bloodline, and the environment of the planet underwent some changes as well. The mountain range, already rich in spirit stone mines, underwent an evolution and came to life in the form of Earth giants.
The formation protecting the lands disappeared, and the many nations underwent an upheaval. Many died, simply due to the giants standing up from where they were born, and entire nations collapsed in the earthquakes that followed.
The few survivors were then, for the first time in living memory, faced with the ferocity of the beasts outside.
What ensued could not be called a war, for slaughter and slavery were more apt descriptions. Pontiff Faloofa, during this upheaval, was separated from the Bunny nation. With no idea of his strength, or cultivation level, since it had never mattered before this, Faloofa faced the endless onslaught of madness with his ears held up high.
With kicks that could shatter not just hide and bone, but the very will of his enemies, the pontiff scoured the lands for his fellow bunnies. Over time, the pure white fur became synonymous with terror as he slowly went from surviving, to thriving, to hunting.
Lions kneeled at the sight of his fluffy cheeks, wolves ran in terror at the sound of the hopping hurricane, snakes coiled up under his gaze and, eventually, even the earth giant crawled back into the ground and pretended to be mountains at the sound of his name.
Yet pontiff Faloofa, the bunny wearing only a black bandana across its head, like the hero from the movie Roomba, was not satisfied with his achievements. He did not crave strength; he craved a safe land for his people. No matter how strong he was, the Bunny nation could not thrive if they relied on him alone.
Not to mention, he rarely ever found his fellow countryrabbits. The few he found were filled with fear and covered with scars. He could not leave them alone, for they would never survive.
In the beginning, this was fine, for they were few. But when they grew in number, and word spread that the nightmare Faloofa was trying to protect his people alone, all those who feared him banded together to hunt him down. Unable to exert his strength because he was too busy protecting his fellow rabbits, Faloofa feared the worst.
But then, like a holy blessing from the heavens themselves, at the moment before demise, a shining, golden door appeared. With no recourse, the pontiff led his fellow rabbits into the light, hoping for salvation.
What he found, instead, was the Midnight Inn. Millions of humans, hundreds of thousands of beasts, base animals, all mingled happily and seamlessly without any violence. It was a land that smelled sweeter than carrots, felt warmer than the fuzziest fur, and felt safer than the deepest burrow.
But how would they stay? The projection that appeared before them like a holy deity told them that this was an Inn, and that they could stay as long as they paid. Faloofa had no concept of money, but he had undertaken the gravest of dangers to protect his cohorts, so he was determined to take this burden upon its tiny shoulders.
It was then that, like a holy messiah, a kind and benevolent turtle appeared before them, followed by a whale flying in the air, as well as a lone wolf with fur almost as white as Faloofa's. Almost.
The turtle that had a single horn on its head looked at the refugees from the Bunny nation with kindness in his eyes.
"Oh dear, oh dear," the majestic turtle exclaimed, the rumble in his voice shaking the very ground beneath Faloofa's feet. "You children seem to have a very special bloodline. Would you like to work in my greenhouse?"
When the turtle spoke the words that were sweeter than the best honey, he seemed to be taking on the position of one requesting for help, yet it was the Bunny nation that was saved. The survivors, one and all, accepted the turtle's offer. Yes, the survivors accepted, but the nightmare that Faloofa had evolved into did not enter the hallowed lands known as 'the greenhouse'.
Instead, he made a pact with the turtle. The pontiff would return to Nibiru in search of his lost brethren, save them from the hell that land had turned into, and bring them to this heaven. All the bunnies that Faloofa brought would be hired by the turtle as its workers, tending to its garden.
The turtle accepted the deal and gave Faloofa a golden key to return to this kingdom with golden chariots known as golf carts.
Yet, just before Faloofa left, the fire in his heart reignited, an angel in the shape of a human came to him. Faloofa was a rabbit pure of heart, and had eyes only for other rabbits, but even he had to admit that this lady who introduced herself as Anita was spectacularly beautiful.
She asked the pontiff his life story, as well as the history of Bunny nation. She promised that in exchange for his story, she would personally take care of the rabbits he brought to the Inn.
Enamored not only by her beauty, but by the heart that offered safety in exchange for a story, Faloofa began his recitation of the history of the bunnies.
He told her of the great bunny pope, the first to enlighten the simple minds of the rabbits. He told her of the king, who turned random rabbits in a garden into a nation. He told her of mother Treesap, who brought love and peace to the hearts of the rabbits. He even told her of the rumors of the one true bunny god, his true name forgotten in the annals of history, now known only by his holy title 'Bugs'. He also told her of the nightmare, who had sworn an oath to never remove his bandana until every last rabbit was saved.
When he had told her all there was to tell, he promised her that he would tell her more every time he returned, and she accepted.
Faloofa looked one last time at his fellow rabbits who would, no doubt, take a long time to recover, before returning to Nibiru. So it was written and thusly recorded in the Midnight library, the first chronicle of plaintiff Faloofa, the roomba rabbit.
That night, Lex finally decided to get some sleep. He could have meditated or practiced his techniques some more, but going too long without sleep was still detrimental to him, despite being a cultivator.
Speaking of sleep, Big Ben was still knocked out as well. His new fiance was very concerned about him, if for nothing else then because he hadn't eaten in a while, but Roan, the barkeep, assured her that he would be absolutely fine.
As he got into his bed in the cozy little room he'd designed for himself in the backyard, he asked Mary for an update. Other than the usual stuff, there were only two things worth mentioning.
First was that the Galactic Sovereign turtle had encountered some beasts with a unique bloodline that would aid him in managing the greenhouse, and thus had taken it upon himself to hire them. Viewed only on the surface level, there was nothing wrong with this. In fact, it was even great since the greenhouse was getting big anyway, and it required specialized workers to manage.
The issue with the situation was that even Mary could not directly hire people on behalf of Lex, let alone anyone else. The hiring process required the potential employee to undergo a test generated by a platinum key, and only then would they be acknowledged as a proper employee. Even when Anita and Qawain entered the Inn, and directly expressed their desire to work there, Mary needed Lex to generate the platinum keys.
Yet on more than one occasion, the turtle had shown itself to be an exception to this rule. Not only did it hire itself as Lex's gardener, it adopted Little Blue as a pet,pet, and now it had hired beasts to tend its garden. The turtle, although having only helped Lex with everything he needed, proved itself to be immune to the rules of the system. Or at least, it was able to interact with the system in a way no one else could. Heck, even Lex could not hire someone officially without using a platinum key.
Since Lex was trying to get a deeper understanding of the system, this was something he needed to pay attention to. While he was at it, it would be best if he did some research on the details of the turtle's species.
The second thing was that the date for the Earth Expo was coming up. Miranda, the representative for the council back on Earth, had a huge list of requests for the expo venue and itinerary that Mary required Lex to approve.
With everything else done, Lex went to sleep. Tomorrow would be an interesting day. He would have to pay protection money. He wondered how much was an appropriate amount. He would have to talk to Dino about this as well.
*****
Earth, USA
Anakin Indiana McClane resisted the urge to smile. He had to look like a normal employee, and not attract any unnecessary attention. He had been planning his heist for months, from the first moment he got his hands on a golden key to the Midnight Inn.
He was not some idiot who would pull off a heist, only to get caught later. He had planned this heist in excruciating detail, so much so that he had shaved every hair on his body, put on a wig, and was wearing an artificial skin suit with fake fingerprints. Using modified shoes, he looked taller than he really was, and had especially learnt a spiritual technique to alter his voice.
All of these were necessary, for he wasn't acting as a person he made up. No, he had taken the place of the real employee who worked at this bank. He didn't harm the man, he just put him to sleep with a powerful sedative.
It was easy to get away with using this identity, for he hadn't replaced the bank manager, but the janitor who cleaned the bank.
He did his job regularly, right up until he saw someone heading towards the bank vault. He activated a special talisman he'd bought from the Midnight Inn guild room, and turned invisible. He followed the customer into the bank vault and, instead of robbing the bank, he activated the golden key and entered the Inn. A few hours later, when the bank closed, the heist would begin.
*****
The next day, Lex woke up refreshed and full of energy. After washing up and making sure he looked presentable, he quickly exited his tavern. It was still early, so the street was mostly empty, especially since it was still dark, but fortunately Dino's bakery was open.
After getting a suggestion from him about what kind of salary the girls expected, he brought up a question about Elio Ricci. This greatly troubled Dino, and it was clear that he was hesitant to say anything on the subject, especially since his relationship with Lex was still new. In the end, he said enough to let Lex know that should the Ricci family feel like he owed them money, they would be very open and clear in communicating it. Before then, he should not offer to pay them, as that may actually end up offending them.
With a better understanding of what to expect, Lex returned to the tavern. The streetlight outside was well lit due to street lights as well as lights embedded directly in the streets. There was no room to allow even shadows to form too deeply.
This was starkly different from how things were when either Sol or Frio birds were around. Though the Frio birds brought along with them snowstorms, they gave off an ethereal light that could somehow shine through the snow softly, similar to moonlight. As such, whether it was Sol-light or Frio-light, when they were around, no one needed to be so careful of the dark. An example of this was how you could sleep in a dark room without a night light.
Overall, there was not enough darkness to contaminate the spiritual energy. Now, though, with the town surrounded by the unending void, they had to be extra careful.
After appreciating the beauty of the well lit town, he returned to his tavern. Whether it was dark or light, it did not matter to Lex. After all, the town's security was handled by someone else, and since the town had survived this long, they surely knew what they were doing.
The day seemed slow, not only for the tavern, but for the whole town, as the number of people walking on the streets had visibly reduced.
Around noon, however, things suddenly picked up for the tavern. A small crowd of sailors entered the tavern with a thirst that could only be quenched by the strongest of drinks. After chatting with them a bit, it turned out they were a part of a merchant ship that had to take an emergency break at Babylon after it got dark while they traveled. They would have to stay till some Sol-birds returned.
Lex was especially active while chatting with them, for he wanted to understand what kind of trade the merchants in the area conducted. The answers he heard only confused him and betrayed his expectations.
Time seemed to fly, for Lex had joined a group of sailors on their table and, while conducting his investigation, listened to the various stories they had to share. As interesting as this new group was, however, Lex eventually had to get up, for the guests he was most anticipating had arrived.
Elio Ricci walked into the tavern followed by eight other men, all of them sharing the trait of looking large and mean, while he himself followed another man. Unlike Elio, who had once again attempted to dress formally, the man in the lead made no such attempt. He had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and wore loose and casual pants. His hair was long and messy, despite being tied in a pony, and he was growing stubble that told it had been a few days since he last shaved.
The man looked older than Elio, but in no way did he look old. This was the one thing about cultivation that Lex could not get used to. A person's appearance usually had nothing to do with how much they had aged, so it was often difficult to tell someone's actual age.
"Mr. Lex," Elio said, his tone warm and his smile casual. "Meet my father, Mario Ricci. I told you we'd come."
"Yes, of course. It's a pleasure, Mr. Mario."
Mario, after he was done surveying the tavern, looked at Lex up and down. Finally he said, "no need to call me Mr. Mario, just Mario will do. I'm not like these young kids who pay attention to so many things. Back in my day, respect was in one's eyes, not in one's words."
'What does that even mean?' Lex thought, but did not let it show on his expression.
"In that case, Mario, have a seat. What kind of a drink would you like? I'm sure you'll enjoy our selection."
Before Mario had a chance to answer, however, the door to the tavern was loudly slammed open, followed by a jeering voice.
"Is this the trash heap that's claiming Pvarti spent the night here? How drab. This place is too dirty even for my servants."