Chapter 652 Work
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The 'sun' hung low in the evening sky, painting the Inn in a warm hue. There were a few scattered clouds here and there, but instead of making the Inn seem dull and gray, they made the Inn seem light and airy.
Fresh snow would fall wherever the clouds traveled, though somehow the roads and walking paths stayed miraculously clean. Of course, if anyone tread off the fixed path, their footsteps would be accompanied by the satisfying crunch of stepping in the powdery snow.
As if to match the mood set by the environment, the usual energetic buzz of the crowd of Main street had changed to hushed murmurs.
Though most of the guests did not really need to do so, they were dressed in warm coats and comfy scarves, and carried cups of hot cocoa or coffee or tea wherever they went. Some guests even walked around with large wooden mugs of warm mead, while others munched on fresh, steaming chicken patties, veggie rolls or dough balls.
Though there was no music playing, the ambience of Main street itself resulted in a soft melody that made one seem both cold and warm at the same time.
Yet amidst this coziness, the two teenagers seemed malcontent. While for some, the simple or mundane things such as enjoying an ordinary snow day was quite pleasing, for the energetic and rebellious teenagers it was not enough. They were young and spirited, and were not yet at the stage of life where such subtle things could trigger nostalgia or melancholy.
Or, if one were to simply take it at the words of the girl, they simply wanted a place where they could enjoy solitude. The crowds and hustle and bustle of a busy street left them tense and agitated, unable to relax.
"Excuse me, dear guests. I don't mean to intrude, but I could not help but overhearing that you are unsatisfied with this place," said Lex, as he teleported his projection behind the two.
The kids, much to their credit, were not at all startled by Lex suddenly appearing behind them. Moreover, when they looked at him, there was no significant emotion in their eyes, as if everything they saw or experienced was mundane.
"My sister and I came here to get away for a while," the boy explained. "A traveling merchant sold the key to us and told us that the key would take us somewhere relaxing, where we could have a vacation while our parents worked. But thisโฆ ugh."
The boy seemed too disgusted to finish his sentence. Although Lex did not show it, he was subtly taken aback by the childrens reaction. If nothing else, almost everyone who visited the Inn would at least enjoy the purity of the spiritual energy. Just that in itself was clearly enough to put everyone in a good mood.
Lex was no longer as ignorant as before. By reading a lot of 'general knowledge' available of the Henali portal as well as from documents provided by the emporium, he knew a lot more about 'star ranks'.
It was not a term used only by the Inn, and in fact was a generic unit used across the entire Origin realm. The star rank denoted the energy concentration in any given area. When the unit was first created, it was called star rank because usually in a star system, it was the level of the local star which would affect the quantity and quality of energy in its surrounding planet. But the fact that rogue planets, minor realms, random asteroid belts and even seemingly empty patches of the realm had varying levels of energy, it was then simply used to denote the energy level of a given area.
In fact, Lex had even learned about the various kinds and qualities of spiritual energies that existed in the universe, and why different energies resulted in different star ranks. The simple version of it was that a higher energy level may not always be better, and a lower energy level may not be a bad thing. The good and bad aspects of energy levels all depended on one's cultivation level. Fortunately that was not a concern at the Midnight Inn, for even if the energy level was too high for certain guests, the Inn would automatically ensure that it would not interact with them, and instead the Inn would surround those guests with the optimal energy levels for them.
Long story short, almost everyone who came to the Inn enjoyed the pleasant sensation provided by a purer and cleaner environment. After all, the average star rank across the realm was 1 star. Yet the kids did not seem to care at all. It was as if this was ordinary, or even the most basic requirement which they did not even need to think about.
"I understand that the crowded atmosphere of Main street does not suit your tastes. How about we go elsewhere and discuss how you can best enjoy the Inn."
Lex snapped his fingers, and teleported the three to a cabin atop the Midnight Mountain. There was a small clearing where the view from one side was the bustling village, while on another side stood the magnificent Mountain man, in his seemingly endless slumber. The murmurs of the street had disappeared, giving way to the sound of the wind, traveling over the snow covered trees.
There was a sharp contrast to the busy street, yet somehow Lex knew that even this would not satisfy the children. If it were so easy, they would not have remained unimpressed even at the Main street. That is why, to begin with, he only said they were coming here to discuss what they can do.
And indeed, the children remained nonreactive after teleporting here. They looked around at their new environment, as if to inspect it, yet not much else. Lex could not help but want to learn more about them, so he scanned them.
Name: Khuno Ekkeko
Age: 13
Sex: Male
Cultivation Details: Qi training peak
Species: Human
Midnight Inn Prestige Level: 1
Bloodline: Lycanthrope
Remarks: Please refrain from teleporting away random children - this is not that kind of system!
Name: Cava Ekkeko
Age: 16
๐ญ๐พ๐๐๐๐ถ๐น.๐ค๐ฐ๐
Sex: Male
Cultivation Details: Foundation realm peak
Species: Human
Midnight Inn Prestige Level: 1
Bloodline: Lycanthrope
Remarks: Please be warned, another instance of teleporting minors will result in a complaint to the intergalactic police!
The fact that Khuno was already a cultivator even before turning 15 said a lot about his background. Humans would need special kinds of medicinal fruits and herbs which would prepare their bodies to cultivate ahead of time. Of course, there was also a chance that their bloodline had something to do with their ability to cultivate.
"Better," said Khuno, "but there doesn't seem like there's much to do here."
"I concur," Cava chimed in. "Just because we are on vacation it does not mean we can lay around sleeping and doing nothing. What actual, productive and fruitful work is there for us to do here? Just because we want a break from the stress of day to day life does not mean we can afford to just lounge around."
Lex wasโฆ intrigued by the challenge these kids were presenting. He could naturally tell that they were not being petulant, and instead genuinely could not comprehend not doing some work. Perhaps for them not dealing with whatever they had to endure on a daily basis was already a vacation, so they did not need other events to excite or stimulate them. Instead, they want something productive to do to occupy their minds, while still giving them the feeling of having used their time productively.
Truthfully, Lex could not understand people who had such views about relaxing, but it was true that people who were too used to being productive could not stand wasting time. The Midnight Inn had to cater to all kinds of guests, not just the convenient ones, so Lex genuinely took this up as a challenge.
"Why don't you tell me a little about what you imagine your vacation being like? That way, I can recommend some of the Inns activities or services for you to enjoy."
Khuno shrugged and said, "I don't know. I've never had a vacation. What about you?"
"Me neither," said Cava.
Lex smiled warily. Since they had no experience, having them enjoy their vacation was both easy and difficult. The only real thing that would determine which of those two it would end up being was Lex's marketing skills.
"I have the perfect idea. Why don't you two give it a try? If you don't like it you can always stop."
The two looked at each other and shrugged, coming to some kind of agreement.
"Excellent."
He teleported them over to a new district of the greenhouse, and passed a few instructions to the turtle.
"I'm sending you over a couple of new volunteers. Have them work the newly created cold desert, and ensure they finish planting all the new vegetables. Remember, we have only 6 months to prepare the best produce for the upcoming wedding, so we have to plant the best possible stuff."
Chapter 653 300
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Khuno and Cava were teleported once again, this time finding themselves in a cold and barren land. Due to the fact that they were cultivators, the chill didn't negatively affect them, but it was a lot more biting here than even the snowy mountain they were on before.
Every breath they took in felt biting cold, yet to them it was just reinvigorating rather than uncomfortable. Every breath they exhaled left a long, thick trail of mist.
Yet somehow, besides their misty breath, and the chill running down their spines, there was no other sign of the pervading cold in the surrounding area. There was no snow or ice anywhere to be found. The only sight for them to see was the dried yet grainy soil, and the gray and beige pebbles and rocks littered throughout the area. There wasn't even any vegetation.
If they did not know better, they would assume that they had been sent to some kind of wasteland or deserted area.
Yet as deplorable as the conditions seemed, the children actually seemed to like it - a little. Their bloodlines inevitably affected their behavior and thought process, even if it was indirectly. What this actually meant was that they felt nice and cozy in cold climates, and would be more irritable in warm climates due to the fact that their bodies innately stayed warm.
Now it wasn't their bloodline forcing them to behave irritably in the heat and relaxed in the cold, yet due to the physical feedback of their bodies, they naturally developed such behavior.
This was only one of the simpler and easily identified idiosyncrasies that their family shared. Another one was their usually serious attitude, not to mention their extreme focus on any task or objective. Sure, there were some oddballs in their family here and there, but that was not the norm.
As such, these two who were out on vacation did not really know how to enjoy or behave, and could only think to keep themselves busy somehow. Yet what could there possibly be for them to do in this frozen wasteland?
As if to answer their question, a dark figure appeared in the distance, approaching them. Its movements seemed to be slow, yet the actual speed at which it arrived was surprisingly fast. Moreover, even from a distance, the figure was radiating a dominating and commanding aura - one that their bloodline was reacting to!
That genuinely surprised them, for they had never encountered such a situation. Normally, even if they faced a much stronger creature, their bloodline would only make them more aggressive and ready to put up a fight. This was confirmed by their mother, who had once been in the presence of a dragon - though fortunately for them she did not have to fight it, Yet now, their bloodline was cowering! How was this possible?
Before the kids could fully wrap their heads around the submission emanating from within their very bones, the figure arrived.
It belonged to a turtle, or at least something that resembled a turtle. Its body was massive, causing them to have to crane their neck up to look at its face. A single, curved, gray horn protruded from its forehead, though streaks of purple had begun appearing on it.
"Oh dear, more silly humans," the turtle lamented, though it did not seem too disturbed. Its eternal fondness for picking up strays gave it a very tolerant and mellow personality. And yes, to it, humans were just more strays or pets for it to collect and raise. After all, hadn't it also rescued and protected Lex when he first came to Nibiru? To it, Lex was and still is no different from Little Blue and the rest.
The children, who were finally showing some expression, looked up in awe and reverence. Lex, who was spying on the situation from the Midnight mountain, did not know if he should feel satisfied that he finally broke through and impressed them, or offended that the turtle had elicited such a reaction but not himself.
"I have been told that you little humans want to farm. I will bring you some saplings and teach you how to plant them in this environment."
"What are we planting?" Cava asked, curious.
"And what for?" Khuno asked as well, trying to put up a strong front. He could not accept that his own blood was being submissive before another, and did not want to give in.
"In six months there will be a wedding," the turtle told. "But more importantly, the wedding will also be a conference for immortals. The food that you will plant now will be served at that conference."
"We're growing food for immortals?" the duo asked, startled.
๐๐พ๐ฃ๐๐๐ข๐ฅ.๐ค๐ฐ๐
"No silly humans. This is food for others at the conference. The food for the immortalsโฆ is being grown by me personally."
After that, the turtle did not bother explaining any further, and used a vine made of grass to pull out a small cactus from within its shell. But the strange thing was that this cactusโฆ seemed to be made of rocks, and the only parts of it which seemed like an ordinary plant were its roots.
The turtle showed the kids how to plant it in the ground, which seemed quite straightforward when the turtle did it. This unusual cactus required that its roots be buried to a minimum depth, and had to be planted in an area with lots of pebbles and rocks.
The process seemed straightforward enough, and growing food for a conference of immortals seemed a worthy enough task for them to put some effort into it. After all, regardless of their background, as mere mortals themselves they still needed to respect immortals.
But when they tried to repeat the process themselves, using tools the turtle had given them, they discovered that the seemingly loose and grainy soil was as tough as metal. They literally could not even scratch the surface.
The kids looked at each other dumbfounded, while the turtle only watched silently from the side. Problem solving was an important skill for its pets to learn, so it would not interfere unless they were completely overwhelmed.
Feeling unresigned, the two tried again, this time using more strength. When they failed again, they tried once more while using spiritual techniques to literally attack the floor. Khuno was still not able to produce any significant results while Cava managed to produce a visible indent in the ground.
The repeated failures did not demotivate them, and instead spurred them to put even more effort into their task. The dua activated their bloodlines, which only produced limited visual changes in the two. Both of them suddenly grew more hair on their bodies, though it was not to the extent that it completely covered their skin, and their eyes turned yellow.
This time, instead of trying separately, they both began hacking at the same point in the ground, working together to produce a single hole.
The process was slow, incredibly slow. But at least it had begun.
The turtle shook its head and went away. From what it could see, the kids were more or less playing around in the dirt.
Far away, Lex snickered as he saw the two working relentlessly to provide him with free labor. That's what they got for acting haughty in front of him. No, eh, wait. He meant the Inn was capable of satisfying the request of any kind of guest.
Feeling somewhat entertained, he decided to continue hosting guests for a while, so for the next few hours, random guests who found themselves in slightly less crowded areas were visited by the Innkeeper, unbeknownst to them. Since he never officially introduced himself, everyone just assumed he was just another worker at the Inn.
Eventually, his fun was interrupted by a system notification - one that he had been waiting for!
The workers that he hired for the Inn now included two races: humans and draconian apostles. From those two races, the humans now had the option of three different bloodlines.
The first bloodline, Regalia Bloom, was considered the default bloodline any of his workers could unlock and did not cost any extra.
The second bloodline, Anachronistic Ignition, which was the one Luthor had, cost 350 million MP per worker to give to a new worker, which was quite a bit more than Regalia Bloom.
The third bloodline, Death Counter, also had a massive price bump, coming out at 300 million MP per worker.
But considering the fact that both the newly unlocked bloodlines were extremely impressive, Lex continued to randomly give them out regardless of the massive cost. Yet once he received a summons to war, he had the idea of hiring a group of workers specifically for combat purposes. It was then that he discovered that besides their massive cost, the newer bloodlines also could not be given out en masse, and it required quite a bit of time to summon workers with these bloodlines if all of them had the newer ones.
Still, Lex was not miserly. He immediately spent 90 billion MP and maxed out his limit to hire 300 workers with the Death Counter bloodline. Once they were trained, they would be his new Midnight Battalion!
Chapter 654 Choose To Fight
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From the time Lex chose to hire the 300 new workers to the time they arrived at the Inn, quite a few days had passed. It had long since become Lex's habit to deeply analyze everything the system did, and compare it to its previous actions to determine patterns.
He never had problems ordering a large number of workers before, and the delivery was usually almost instant. So then what exactly had caused the delay?
He could come up with a few different answers. The first and most obvious answer was, naturally, the bloodline. Death Counter was one of the new bloodlines he unlocked for his employees, and it essentially made the user immortal - more or less.
While it was not nearly as versatile as Regalia Bloom or Anachronistic Ignition, it had one simple use case. The owner of the bloodline could hide a single drop of blood anywhere, and if they were to die, they could use that single drop to come back to life at full health and maximum power.
Of course the actual application of the bloodline ability was slightly more complex than how it was stated, but that was essentially the gist of the bloodline ability. The bloodline could do nothing else, but honestly, wasn't that already enough? When compared to the fact that normal employees did not come with the bloodline unlocked, but only the ability to potentially unlock the Regalia Bloom, the difference could be easily identified.
But while the bloodline was the most obvious reason for why there was a delay, it was not the only one. When hiring new staff, the system allowed Lex to input what kind of role he expected to put them in, after which the system would make them more skilled in related fields. That was not to say that the system could directly control their talents, but that it would give each worker a higher starting point in related fields, making it easier for them to start and master their expected roles.
Normally, Lex would put in a general direction, but would not be too specific so as to allow each worker to develop naturally. Only when he was entering the details for Luthor did Lex end up being extremely specific. Well, this time he had also been very particular in the skills and talents of the new workers. As a result, he may have overdone it a little.
He made each worker extremely gifted physically. He made them all quick learners, with an incredibly quick training time when learning combat. Moreover, he made them all incredibly focused, driven, disciplined and hardworking. This was not to mention that he gave them a solid foundation in biology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, statistics and probability, data analysis, pattern recognition, critical thinking and, well, much, much more.
From the very moment they were hired, they knew how to fight, and they knew how to heal. They could construct fortifications, and had the foundation to quickly learn formations to help in offense and defense as well. They could perfectly strategize on how best to assault enemies and enemy strongholds.
In summary, they were pretty cool. But the price of all that 'coolness' might have been their delayed arrival.
Whether the reason for the delay was one of those, neither, or even both, did not really matter. It was enough that Lex took note of the delay for now. In the short while he did not intend on hiring more, for even though he knew it was an important expense, it was also important to take stock of everything as he went along. He could not go around randomly spending 90 billion MP regardless of how much he was earning, or he would quickly end up broke.
So it was best to instead focus on training these new workers. Once, long ago, when Lex had started hiring workers from the system, and had no access to the portal or other organizations, he was forced to rely on the system to get cultivation techniques and spiritual techniques for them from the system.
As convenient as it seemed, it was actually not the best solution. That was because this was only a perfunctory service offered by the system. Once his Midnight Battalion panel started working he assumed he would be able to get more optimal techniques from there, but for now, the Midnight Library would have to do.
Of course, even so, he would not allow them to randomly select techniques from there. As his future frontline force, they had to have the best of the best, while being as lethal as possible. As such, he had Chad, the deputy head of security, work in close coordination with the planning division and come up with a training plan for them. That naturally included what techniques they would train in. Of course, their own personal preferences would have to be taken into account, but since they were meant to be a battalion, their joint strength mattered a lot more than their individual strength.
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.๐ฌ๐ค๐ข
"Welcome to the Midnight Inn," he said, solemnly. "Normally, for new initiates of the Inn, the onboarding process is different. But for you all, it is completely different, as the expectations from you are completely different. You have all been chosen as warriors and soldiers, to be the front line of the Midnight Inn against the dangers and threats of the universe. But at the same time, I do not believe in forcing anyone.
"Ahead of you lies extreme danger, and a difficult and uneasy path. As such, if any of you wish to opt out, now is your chance. Think clearly, for you will not get such a chance again. I will not hold it against any of you if you do not wish to follow this path, and will give you another role at the Inn. But, this is your only opportunity so choose wisely. I will give you all some time to think it over before you have to give me your answer. In the meantime, go explore the Inn. Get a deeper understanding of what it is you will be fighting for, if you choose to fight that is."
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Chapter 655 Don't Have A Credit Card
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Although Lex had expressly hired these workers for the purpose of fighting, and they had a bloodline that was for the express purpose of coming back to life, he did not want to force anyone. Even though he said he wouldn't be giving them another chance later on to quit, if one of them really wanted to, Lex would figure something out.
Besides, he had seen enough of the universe to know that anything was possible. Even if they had a bloodline that could revive them, who was to say there wasn't another bloodline out there that could perfectly counter this ability? Since bloodlines were based on laws, what if they encountered an enemy who had a better mastery of the laws that this particular bloodline was based on? Couldn't they theoretically counter, or even control their bloodline?
Lex didn't have the answer to such questions, but he knew that it was best to give them as much choice in this matter as possible.
He stood there and watched as all of his workers dispersed, but was surprised to find that one of the workers still stood there. His arms were folded behind his back, and his head pointed directly forward. His body was still tense, his shoulders locked, chest held out high, as if he was standing at attention. But for all his posturing, his short height and young appearance took away a lot from the intimidating aura he was trying to portray. He looked like another Z.
"Don't you want to go look around?" Lex asked him.
"No sir!" he replied forcefully. "I know what I want, and that is to fight!"
Lex gave the boy's enthusiasm a nod and asked, "what's your name?"
"Leonidas!" the boy replied, his voice still loud and forceful.
"Well then Leonidas, if you're sure of what you want, go find Deputy head Chad and introduce yourself. You'll be spending a lot of time together in the future."
Leonidas saluted Lex, and then marched off stiffly. It was clear that the boy did not know how to actually march, but that would probably change soon. Lex watched the enthusiastic boy for a while, before his projection disappeared. Back at the Crystal realm, his main body had finally reached his destination. Now he had to figure out the right teleportation formation, and get about using it.
*****
A large, chameleon-like reptile made its way through a busy street. On this planet ruled by insectoids it was not exactly welcome, but the locals did not do much else but give him dirty looks. After all, he already had a reputation here, so they knew not to mess with the Reptilian Dance King!
Chuckling to himself as he thought of his fond memories on this planet, and how his dance moves had brought its leaders to their knees, he kept moving through the crowds until he finally reached his destination: the Infinity Emporium.
The chatroom he was a part of was quite massive, and was quite helpful at times. In fact, it had separate sub-channels for some of the realms. The Origin realm, as it happened, was one of the realms which had its own sub-channel. Within it, some of the more experienced users shared some helpful tips and tricks. The emporium happened to be highly endorsed on the channel.
Although the emporium had not spread to other realms - yet - it was quite widespread within the Origin realm and so having a good relationship with them was quite helpful. The dance king made his way in, only to find a familiar face waiting for him at the counter.
"Powell, my good friend, how are you?" the dance king asked.
"Superb now that you're here," replied Powell, smiling back at him. Powell was, of course, also a chameleon - or so it appeared. It was common knowledge shared within the chat that the race of the shopkeeper one would run into would always be identical to the person walking in. Also, every one of them was named Powell.
How or why such a thing happened had remained unexplained, but almost every person in the Origin realm had used their system detector in the emporium, only to come up with a failed report. That either meant that Powell was not a system user, or his system was so advanced and powerful that their machines were not capable of detecting them - in which case it was better for them to not try and antagonize Powell to begin with.
"It's a good thing you're in a good mood, for I need help in an unusual matter. I need any information you have on a place called the 'Midnight Inn'. At the same time, if you happen to have one of their golden keys, I'll take that off your hands as well."
"Hold a moment," said Powell before he quickly began perusing on his tablet. But his search did not take as long as expected, and his uncomfortable facial expression also told the dance king it was bad news.
"What is it?" he asked, suppressing his growing concern.
"There's a strict ban on all emporium employees. We cater to no business requests related to the Midnight Inn."
The king was startled by this answer, for he had never heard of such a thing.
"Officially, I can't help you," said Powell as he whispered, reaching close to him. "But unofficiallyโฆ I can't help it if you overhear me say that a lot of the 'golden keys' you mentioned have been spotted in and around the Pendal Galaxy."
"Thatโฆ that's over a 100,000 galaxies away!" said the dance king, startled. It seemed like he had accepted a difficult quest. Or maybe not.
"Okay forget the Inn. I need a ticket for the Wormhole ferry."
"Oh, that'll cost you. With the Henali Champions tourney coming up, all intergalactic travel has really jumped up in price."
The dance kind did not hesitate in throwing a brown bag full of crystal coins onto the table. Since not everyone had a credit card, they had to make do with coin bags.