Chapter 721 Audits
In the few minutes after Warheil's victory, a little over 120,000 fights broke out between overly emotional guests. Of course, they did not break out all at once, and they were of varying levels of intensity. Predictably, most of them were started or at least instigated by those who were strongly affiliated with the empire.
A majority of the fights were stopped before the first blow even landed, and each individual was fined and threatened with expulsion if they continued such behavior. Some of the fights between the stronger guests were not so easy to stop and took a couple of moments, which was enough to cause some collateral damage.
Fortunately, no one was really harmed with most of the damage being dealt to the environment. These people were all fined, as well as expelled from the Inn, with a temporary ban of one month.
On that note, Lex was extremely grateful for the ability to ban guests from coming back into the Inn. When he first started out, he had no influence on who could enter the Inn.
There was one particular fight, however, that did threaten to cause massive damage. It was one of the generals of the empire, who was unable to listen to the demeaning dribble of a gloating devil. As a Heaven immortal himself, it would have been tough to control him. Fortunately, Jotun himself put a stop to that fight before it really started.
The countless guards that had been hired once again flashed their aura for a moment to serve as a deterrent, but during such an emotional time, its effect was going to be minimal.
Many guests departed, following in the footsteps of Warheil himself, but many remained to celebrate or mourn at the Inn. Others still decided to explore the Inn a bit, as they were arriving for the first time.
But the Inn, which had the current capacity to provide services other than a simple room to a few million at most, was severely overcrowded. With no other choice, Lex had to spend billions of MP more to create more temporary cities and hire temporary workers to funnel all these guests into.
It had to be said that his very few Draconian Apostle workers, the second race of workers he had, really outdid themselves in such an environment. The more pressure they were under, the better they performed. Moreover, regardless of how hazardous he made the environment in the temporary zones, they were able to cope.
Lex had become too used to running the Inn on autopilot, but during the next two days, he barely got a moment of rest. The Inn was grossly under-prepared to handle such a huge crowd, and not just because of the size of his management team. The low cultivation levels of his workers was a fundamental problem that needed to be overcome, but could not be solved in the short term.
Almost all of his workers were at least in the Qi training realm by now, with those who had gone through at least 1 star rank change at the Foundation realm. But that was it. Almost none had yet surpassed that realm. Unbelievably, Lex was actually looking forward to the time when the Inn would stop accepting guests because he really needed some time for his staff to grow.
With most of his guests at the Golden core realm, and many more at realms even higher, he could only continue to rely on external security for now.
During this time, Lex had spent a rounded figure of 90 billion MP in making temporary cities, hiring more security, and taking care of other miscellaneous issues. The Inn had also once again run out of all the spiritual food they had grown, and so were once again serving only mortal food which the system provided, which was not appreciated by some.
But despite the heavy expenditure, he had earned 200 billion during the same time! That meant, after deducting his expenses, Lex made 110 billion MP! That was not even counting the rent MP he made on the first day.
It was finally on the third day that the number of guests finally dropped below 500 million, and Lex was able to relax. Instead of going to his office, or even meditation room, Lex found himself in his Hot tub room to unwind. He really needed it.
The first half hour, he barely even realized that he was in the hot tub. His mind was still too active, going over the various tasks he had handled the past two days. Unbelievably, besides the fight between the two heavenly immortals, the most popular thing at the Inn… had been the spaceship daycare service! He really ought to give the bunnies running that a raise or something.
But, eventually, his mind slowly relaxed and he was able to free himself from the thoughts of work. Work at the Inn never finished, and there would always be more things for him to take care of. But he had some of his own tasks to do.
Well, technically, he only needed to go get that treasure that mystery man told him about, and maybe check up on Alexander. He was somewhat curious about the details of the poisonous substance he had discovered. If it had made him sick just by being exposed to the air around it, after it was already sealed, he could not even imagine how dangerous it really was.
There was also that event hosted by Vera coming up, the one meant for prophets and oracles, but he did not expect that to be a problem, since he had handled bigger events before.
If only he knew that even as he sat there, relaxing, countless oracles were traveling to the Origin realm from other realms, just because that was where the golden keys to the Inn were available.
After Lex finally felt like he had recovered mentally somewhat, he left the hot tub and went to cultivate. He had already missed two days due to how busy things were, he could not miss another day just because he felt tired.
He continued to absorb the various materials he had gathered, upgrading his foundation bit by bit. Even if he spent hours doing this, when he could actually feel himself growing stronger, Lex never tired of cultivation.
Once he was done, Lex finally went to bed. Although at his level the need for sleep was greatly diminished, after such hectic days all without any rest, even he needed a nap.
When he woke up, he checked the Inn to make sure all was well.Things were not perfect, as he still had around 400 million guests, way too many for the Inn's capacity, but the temporary cities were keeping things running for now.
Since there was no emergency, he decided to head out. Before he returned to X-142, though, he decided to check up on Polebitvy once. It had been a while since Alexander communicated with him, so he wanted to check up on things.
He teleported to the planet, reappearing in the wilderness where he previously left from. A scan of the area with his spirit sense revealed that he was alone, so he tried to contact Alexander through the local equivalent of a phone, something he had kept in his spatial bangle, but discovered that he could not connect.
Lex frowned. This was not earth, and the technology he was using was supposed to not experience any issues like 'connectivity problems'. Something was amiss.
Since his instincts weren't warning him of any danger nearby, Lex decided to first investigate the fort he was previously staying at. Maybe he could learn something over there. Not to mention, he still had not investigated if the local rebel leader was cooperating with the terrorists Alexander was after.
He was not worried his previous identity would suffer any extra suspicion, for he really hadn't done anything or appeared anywhere else on the planet. Even if they tried to investigate him, the rebels would not get anywhere.
*****
Elsewhere on Polebitvy, two men casually walked around as if the planet was not at war. In that respect, they behaved much like Lex. Yet there was also a difference between them. When the two walked through crowded streets or passed by other people, no one seemed to notice them.
One of the men was holding a clipboard and was taking note of various things. But what was strange was that he did not seem to be observing the people or the buildings. In fact, none of his observations seemed to have anything to do with the locals. Instead, he seemed to be observing the flow of energy and its density, among other things.
"Auditor Ripley, as you can see, the Henali have been very careful in maintaining an organic growth of this realm. There are strict laws to ensure the realm grows under the best of conditions."
"Be that as it may, a few anomalies have been detected as of late in this realm. Although I do not doubt you, monsieur Hennessey, or the Henali, the Versalis bank has protocols that need to be followed. But do not fret, the Henali have a stellar reputation. I have no doubt that there won't be anything amiss for me to report."
Chapter 722 Parents trap
John, an old member of the Inn and the local assassin who had not gone assassinating for a very long time, finally reappeared at the Midnight Inn. After months, he had finally won his life or death duel, yet he did not look even remotely happy - but one would have to look past his bloody figure to notice his expression.
His right arm, which he had used to deliver his final blow, had been completely eviscerated, and ended in a stump right above his elbow. While he was missing no other limbs, that did not mean he was unhurt.
Typically, as an immortal, he would have a very strong healing ability, and would not have to go to a common place like the Recovery room, but that is exactly what he did. Or at least tried to do, for his feeble body was completely lacking the once devastating strength it had.
But all was not lost. A member of the security team suddenly appeared next to him, and teleported him right to the Recovery room without asking any questions.
As John's bleeding and battered body was carried in, there was only one injury John was worried about, and that was the injury to his system! He was not sure how it happened, or what his opponent had done, but his system had completely stopped working, and with it the cultivation it had granted John had vanished too. In John's eyes, there was only a hopeless desperation.
As unusual as it was, as one 'immortal' was being taken to the Recovery room, another one was walking out. Ragnar bore no sign of the devastating loss he had suffered, and had healed completely as one would actually expect of an immortal. But just as he was not frustrated or disappointed by his loss, he was not excited about his recovery.
With an even pace, he walked to the Chamber of Secrets, where Emperor Jotun was waiting for him.
"How is everything?" the emperor asked, his voice devoid of an urgency or concern as well.
"As you speculated, Warheil cursed my body. If it is not removed, I will likely turn into a zombie," Ragnar said as calmly as if he was speaking of the weather.
"I'm sorry you had to bear this loss," the emperor said with some genuine emotion in his voice, finally. "But this is much too important. With a curse directly from the source, and one powerful enough to affect an immortal, we can finally find a way to reverse it."
"Just don't fail… again" a third voice interrupted the two. They looked over to find a female zombie avidly reading a book. Gladius, the owner of the book club taking place at the Inn, had finally given her the correct book to read. Reading a novel really was more interesting than plumbing manuals.
She should have reached such a conclusion on her own, but such basic common sense sometimes eluded her now that she had become a zombie.
"Ragnar, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Clarissa Jotun. Like you, she too suffered from a curse that eventually turned her into a zombie. Yet her curse was not from the source, Warheil. So while studying it and attempting to reverse it allowed Clarissa to retain her soul and consciousness, it did not stop the transformation. But we learnt a lot during her transformation. I'm completely confident that now, with your help, and with the information we gathered from her, we will be able to finally find a cure."
"For the betterment of humanity, I do not mind bearing the humiliation of defeat and the threat of a curse. I look forward to ridding the universe of zombies once and for all."
For a moment, Clarissa paused, and looked up at Ragnar. She could not help but admire how good he looked… then she looked down again. Suppressing her urge to eat living cultivators was hard sometimes.
While externally he did not show it, internally, Jotun was quite pleased. While his intention to find a cure for the zombie curse was real, his main motive was to get Ragnar and Clarissa to spend more time together. This is what he called… a parents trap!
*****
Alexander had a grim look on his face as he stared directly at a number of his superiors, as well as the head of his team, Valkyrie. He was under a lot of pressure, but at the same time, he was completely relaxed for he knew what lines he would not cross.
In this interrogation, where he was the one being interrogated, he had been searched and deprived of all his golden keys as well as other treasures. It was so that he would not try and escape to the Inn or cause any problems. Yet they overlooked the fact that he was above level 2 Prestige membership at the Midnight Inn. That meant once every ten years, he could directly teleport to the Inn without the need for a key! To be clear, this was a separate privilege from the one he used to teleport to Vegus Minima, which was the perk he got for being at level 3.
"Like I said, I cannot, nor will I, reveal the identity of my agent. Yet I can guarantee that he was not the one who planted the hazardous material."
"According to the cover identity you created, your 'agent' is only in the Golden core realm? How can he possibly survive and even come back well enough to give a report when none of our agents have survived even coming close? It took immortal level involvement to deduce that there is some extremely hazardous material hidden at the designated site, and even then it was not a clear answer. How can a Golden Core cultivator survive where even an immortal did not succeed?"
Alexander sighed. He did not blame them for being suspicious, but by grilling him they were just wasting time. It would have been better spent trying to identify whatever that material really was. At the same time, a part of him really could not help but applaud Lex for surviving when literally everyone else who came close died. It was an incredible feat.
Chapter 723 All is well, until it isn't
It did not take long for Lex to find his way to the fort which was acting as a refugee camp. He was half expecting to find it destroyed, and the surrounding region embodied in war. After all, when did he ever encounter things that were simple? Moreover, with Alexander's long silence, and his communication device not working, a full planetwide war was only the natural assumption one would make, right?
As it were, no such event was taking place. The fort was operating as usual, and when he tried to enter he was given no extra attention. After all, his casual attitude and overall 'clean' appearance had attracted enough attention last time to make an impression.
He was not even secretly followed as he entered the fort! Spreading his spirit sense carefully, he listened in on the conversations taking place around him to see what the current situation was.
The situation was not exactly ideal as there was still a war going on, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. Fernando, the rebel leader Alexander wanted investigated, had once again led a very successful strike against one of the local garrisons, strengthening their own position while weakening the official governments.
While he was here, Lex considered trying the investigation again. Sure, his 'stealthy' suit that he had manufactured after his defensive suit on its own probably wouldn't hide him from high leveled cultivators, but he was willing to give it a try. Learning a proper stealth technique was still on his agenda.
He decided to try and investigate the very same night. He was also curious to see if the rebels knew about the hidden dangers under their walls. Maybe it was a failsafe they planned in case the fort was ever taken over.
He returned to the same tavern he was staying at earlier, and decided to get some food while he waited.
Lex appeared completely casual, as if he was still getting used to his new realm and had no intention of getting involved with the war. He saw a few familiar faces from when he had previously stayed there, and began catching up with them. Keeping up his covers' identity and relations as important, as he never knew when they could come in handy.
A few hours later, as evening was coming to a close, Lex was sitting at a table with a group of locals, playing a card game. It was both entertaining and relaxing, and could be considered 'work' at the same time. How ideal was that?
All was normal, until Lex felt something strange. It was not just his instincts that picked up an anomaly, but the very energy within him.
The new nameless cultivation technique had explained his existing affinity to him, so he now knew that besides an affinity for 'space' he could interact with laws in general as well. That did not mean he had an affinity for all laws, just that he gained the ability to somewhat interact with them. This in itself was a tremendous ability, as it was something he should not have attained until he became an actual immortal. At the same time, what he could do with it was also very limited and situational.
But, as it happened, Lex encountered just such a situation where his affinity was triggered. Laws were not rare, and existed across every inch of the universe, as far as Lex understood it. He was not too clear about when or how he would be able to interact with laws, but it was definitely not with the laws embedded in the fibers of the universe he encountered everyday.
Yet at that moment, he encountered an anomaly in the laws surrounding where he was. It was that disturbance he felt, using his affinity, that was weakly triggering his instincts.
He looked across the tavern towards one of the walls. Nothing special seemed to be happening there, but as it happened, behind the wall in that very direction a short distance away, two men appeared.
One of them was holding a clipboard, and taking notes, while the other was smiling and pleasantly chatting with the man. They were not doing anything unusual, and Lex could not detect them entirely either.
But his instincts were definitely picking up something, and the feeling was quite ominous. He frowned, and put down his cards. At the table, everyone turned to look at him, curious about what he was doing, but Lex could not be bothered.
"Something is wrong," he warned softly, before quickly departing. The feedback from his instincts was unusual and he could not decide if it was danger or something else he was sensing. He decided to investigate carefully.
*****
In space, above the planet Polebitvy, Jeffery was standing inside a small, invisible ship. He was smiling widely as he looked down on the planet, and whatever he saw made him feel even happier. He wanted to smile even wider, but he physically was limited from doing it!
Suddenly his face distorted, and the grin became even wider as his lips fell off his face. But instantly he returned back to normal, and began patting his face, making sure it was okay.
He couldn't give up his identity as a human just yet, and it took quite a bit of effort every time he disguised himself, so he had to restrain himself.
"Ah, the hubris of the powerful. I love taking advantage of it," he spoke to no one in particular. Then, with a look of reluctance, he turned away. As much as he wanted to continue watching, things were about to get heated. He had to leave this galaxy before someone tracked him down.
"The VIPs are in place. Deliver the welcome present," he continued to speak, though no one else was on the ship with him.
A few minutes later, the ship teleported far away. At the same time, one of the barrels of Void wood hidden under the fort wall cracked.
"Holy shit!" Lex could not help but curse as his instincts screamed death. Teleporting back to the Inn, ironically, was not quick enough since his return was always slower than that of guests. Using his complete strength, and then some, Lex bolted in the opposite direction of the wall.
Chapter 724 Eco-terrorists
There was no explosion. There was no eruption force that could tear open the earth under which the barrels were buried, and there was no clap of thunder to warn those in the vicinity of the impending danger. Yet the danger was still there, and arguably even more lethal than an explosion.
Lex's abrupt escape immediately attracted attention, and all the guards and soldiers immediately focused on him, as if he were some criminal. As soon as he moved, some of the soldiers began moving to intercept him, but was Lex someone easily cornered?
Earlier, he would have relied only on his instincts to guide him, but in this moment, where his body was strained to the maximum amount for survival, he began to notice all the new changes in him.
Regal Embrace was about defense, and Mo's Blessing about offense. Lex decided that he wanted to surpass both, but his cultivation technique interpreted the intent behind his words, and not the words literally. After all, there was a lot more to cultivation than just those two facets, and his technique began enhancing all of them! It was just that, since the changes had only just begun, and there was no opportunity yet, he had not noticed them before.
With his senses strained to their utmost, he noticed the movement patterns of the soldiers just as his instincts began warning him.
He saw where and how the soldiers would block him, even as his instincts began guiding him in a certain direction. Instantly, and for the first time, he realized the flaw his instincts had. Their guidance, while correct, was generic. Comparatively, when he detected all the changes himself, realized the patterns of their movement and analyzed the countermeasures himself, he reached the conclusion that the guidance of his instincts, while correct, were not the most efficient path he could take.
But at the moment, Lex did not have the time to dwell on these things. The sensation of danger he was feeling was getting even stronger, and in fact he could already detect a familiar itch filling his lungs.
He kept running, but before the soldiers could intercept him, he completed the technique In-Law effect, and teleported as far away as possible. Even while teleporting, he did not lose his momentum, and immediately crashed into the side of a hill once he reappeared.
Using only one second, Lex reoriented himself and understood his surroundings while he forced himself to cough until he spewed out some blood tinged with something green. But once the second was over, he continued to teleport. The feeling of danger was still strong!
Back at the fort, the soldiers were alarmed by Lex's immediate disappearance. Within the fort, teleportation was supposed to be blocked, unless through the official teleportation formation. Something had definitely happened!
But what they had not realized was that since the issue was not caused by Lex, but had occurred at the fort wall. When the barrel made from void wood cracked, a green sludge had leaked out. Immediately the earth itself around the barrel began turning to ash, and ultimately the wall as well. The formation lines, which were protected by the sturdy wall, naturally were also eroded, disrupting the formation.
This disruption had only taken a moment, and as it happened Lex had teleported away the very moment it happened. Yet as quick as the erosion that was taking place was, its speed was only growing as more and more barrels cracked. The green sludge continued to spread, but the effects had already begun to influence far off places.
The refugees and citizens in the fort began to collapse where they stood, one after another. The soldiers realized something was amiss, and immediately deployed their defensive techniques. Poisons and bioweapons were nothing to, even to the cultivation world. But it was all for naught, for their demise was only delayed by a fraction of a second.
The auditor and his escort were perhaps the only ones who detected the threat at the same time as Lex, and their reaction had been exactly the same. Horrified, they teleported far away before they turned to look in the direction of the fort.
"What in heaven's name was that?" asked Hennessey, though he did not let his shock slow his actions. Even before he asked, he had already activated a distress signal, and not one meant to seek help from the Jotun empire, no. As a follower of the Henali, his distress signal targeted them directly! Jotun himself might also detect the signal, if he were in the region, but no one else.
"It's Jah'Hah liquid from the Jah'Hel bog realm," the auditor said with a look of disgust and fear. "It's extremely corrosive to any and every realm besides its own. If it's not contained quickly, let alone this planet, this whole star region will be affected. If things develop towards the extreme then the energy development of the entire galaxy will be compromised."
Both Ripley and Hennessey wore looks of disgust, both for very different reasons. Ripley turned and began noting something down on the document attached to his clipboard.
"I'm afraid you have an eco-terrorist problem. Something like this cannot be smuggled in lighty, or by the uninformed. This is no accident. I need to report this to my manager."
Before Hennessey could respond, another figure appeared in front of both of them. The figure was shrouded, so his appearance was hidden, and had no aura at all. Yet neither of them doubted the ability of whoever responded to the distress signal.
"What's the problem?" he asked, his voice echoing in their minds.
"We need to isolate the hazardous material on that planet and prevent its spread. We also need a follow up team to investigate the source of this. Whatever has happened here… and how we handle the situation will be reported by auditor Ripley to the Versalis bank."
The figure was startled at the mention of the bank and turned to look at the auditor. Suddenly the figure launched his aura in full, and overwhelmed the duo with his presence as a Dao Lord!
"You had some remaining contamination on you," the figure mentioned, before disappearing. The barrels of Jah'Hah that had exploded under the fortress, as well as countless other locations on the planet, all suddenly vanished. Although the liquid barely had a few minutes to corrode the planet, its effects were irreversible. Millions were already dead, with hundreds of millions likely to soon follow, not to mention how the environment on the planet would soon deteriorate.
"Contact the local authority," the figure said to Hennessey when it reappeared. "The natives of the planet will need to be evacuated. This planet will not recover."
Both Ripley and Hennessey were surprised to hear the news. It had been a few minutes, at most. Wasn't that reaction too strong?
As if anticipating their curiosity, the figure continued, "the space in the region has been severely compromised. While the corrosive damage from the liquid can be fixed, the damage it did to he space around the planet… can only heal naturally over time. This location has become vulnerable."
As if to emphasize what the figure said, a small portal was ripped open on the planet. A horde of insect-like creatures began to pour out from the portal with no indication that they would stop any time soon. All three of them watched from a distance, since with their cultivation realm it was quite easy to notice such a significant event even from a distance.
"Encountering a wild Minor realm with hostile creatures so soon after such an incident… I suspect your eco-terrorists had planned this in advance. If you'll excuse me, I have to make an emergency report as per bank protocol, but I'll stay here to watch as the situation develops. Please, do not let my presence distract you from your duties."
Immediately after speaking, Ripley activated a treasure which enveloped him in an opaque shield.
Hennessey grimaced upon hearing such news, and activated an emergency contact device of his own. The Henali… will not be pleased. The situation in the Origin realm was about to undergo a massive shake up.
Back down on the planet, Lex finally stopped teleporting as soon as instincts had suddenly stopped screaming at him. He had not been able to sense the interference of the Dao Lord despite his affinity of laws, yet he could definitely detect that the immediate danger had vanished.
Yet now, a new yet familiar danger had replaced it, though this one Lex completely disregarded. He wanted to teleport right back to the Inn and avoid this mess, but at the same time he did not want to abandon Alexander. He made a fist and punched himself in the gut once, causing him to vomit out some putrid, green liquid that had gathered in his stomach.
Instantly, he felt a lot better, yet weaker at the same time.
If whatever the hell that green stuff had affected him so severely, he did not need to imagine what had happened to the others. Chances were, Alexander himself might not have survived if he was exposed to it as well.
He decided… to go back to the Jotun stronghold and check it out. If the situation got worse, he could always retreat back to the Inn.