Hugo Laurent was a self-made man, even though his life had never been easy. But he was not one to make excuses and always worked towards improving himself. Despite his lack of resources and backing, on Earth he was considered a cultivation genius and the rate of his growth drew many eyes. Eventually he joined the Deepwater Brotherhood, an organization similar to a private military that operated on the Moon and accepted various tasks too difficult or dangerous for ordinary cultivators.
It was not the best treatment he could have gotten, but he could accept tasks as and when he liked and had relative freedom, as well as the protection of the Brotherhood as long as he didn't proactively offend someone. During his years working, he built up a small fortune and started a family. With the way things were going, he could imagine himself retiring early and returning to Earth. But when have things ever gone according to plan?
Hugo dismissed his random thoughts and prepared for the worst as the flash faded and he found himself in a new environment. He was wearing synthetic body armor from head to toe and held what looked like an assault rifle positioned across his chest with a bayonet at its end. At his waist was what looked like a pistol, as well as an extremely sharp blade. In a small bag that was hung from his back, he carried emergency medical equipment, as well as a few lightweight items that could prove useful in a difficult situation. He looked like a man ready for war, so he stood out like a sore thumb in his new environment.
He found himself at the gate of what looked like a large estate. It gave off a warm and welcoming feeling, but Hugo would not let that fool him, as he did not let down his guard. Having people drop their guard through a welcoming environment was a common tactic in various minor realms he had visited, though this did not seem like a minor realm. His primary mission in this place was to collect as much information as he could, and his secondary mission was to recover any treasures he could find. Therefore, he scanned the area around him and made sure to memorize even the smallest of details.
Before he could think of doing much else, a mysterious man suddenly appeared before him. Hugo's eyes shrunk in horror as he had only heard rumors of teleportation in very high level cultivators, but had never seen it. He tensed up and got ready for an altercation, but did not make any sudden movements. He did not want to provoke the other without understanding the situation first.
"Welcome to the Midnight Inn, dear guest," the mysterious man said with a smile. His voice had a magical effect and made Hugo want to naturally trust him. But the feeling of wanting to trust him alarmed Hugo even more!
"Be at ease," the man said, laughing at Hugo's tense demeanor. "We are a reputable establishment. We do not hurt our guests. Would you like a tour?"
"Sure," replied Hugo curtly. He let go of his assault rifle and let it hang from its strap, but remained ready at any moment to use it. The mysterious man had an amused look in his eye, but said nothing as he led him towards a manor in the distance.
"The Midnight Inn is an establishment that is connected to many worlds across the universe. We provide our guests with a rare place to rest and relax, away from their troubles. Of course, we provide services other than residence as well. Currently, we only have a small gift shop with a few items from different worlds, and a recovery room to allow guests to heal from various injuries, but over time, we will include more options. By the way, it seems I forgot to introduce myself. You can call me the Innkeeper. I run this small establishment."
The Innkeepers explanation seemed far-fetched and Hugo instinctually felt like it was impossible. How can there be an Inn that connects to various worlds across the universe? Then he remembered that he entered this place by teleporting using a golden key, and that made him a little unsure.
During the tour, when they entered the restaurant, he saw three people sitting at a table being served food by a young lady, discussing in great detail about the history of some place called Vegus Prime. He instantly recognized that two of those people were in the Qi Training realm, but the third man gave him an oppressive feeling like he'd never felt before. Without any doubt Hugo knew this man was the strongest being he'd ever met, but he was just sitting casually eating what looked like a Spinach dish with some Naan. A part of Hugo told him that this was all an illusion, that the Innkeeper was still trying to fool him, but a much greater part told him that he was not qualified to be fooled by such a man.
When he accepted the reality of what was happening, his mindset changed immediately! He dropped his guard completely and paid greater attention to everything around him. In theory, the place seemed like a simple estate, and not even the most impressive one Hugo had seen. But in practice, everything around him made him feel like he was in a mystical place. While walking through the garden towards the recovery room, Hugo instantly realized that his cultivation seemed to have loosened up a bit, and it once again was possible for him to progress. That truly shocked him since he hadn't even been here for thirty minutes!
"I recommend you spend a day in our recovery pod," the Innkeeper told Hugo when they visited the recovery room. "You don't have any obvious injuries, but I can see that you have various hidden injuries in your body that haven't fully recovered and have hampered your cultivation. Once you heal them, you will notice that the speed of your cultivation will increase exponentially."
Hugo thought for a minute and analyzed his situation. Everything he encountered was vastly different from what he expected going into this, but his mission parameters were to get as much information as possible. Using the recovery pod fulfilled and determining its effectiveness fell into that category, right?
Hugo stopped hesitating and pulled his small backpack forward and unzipped it. He reached in and pulled out what could possibly be the most powerful weapon he had ever wielded: Will Bentham's credit card!
"Do you accept cards?" he asked.
"Naturally," the Innkeeper replied.
*****
Lex smiled as he allowed the Inn to swipe the card in Hugo's room. The man didn't even ask about the price, and this was exactly the kind of customer Lex liked the most. Using the recovery room cost the Inn 30MP a day, so Lex had set the price as 50MP. Using the recovery pod a day cost the Inn 150MP, so he set the price as 250MP! As for the ORR, it cost the Inn 1000MP per hour! Lex hadn't determined a price for that yet, and would consider it when he needed to.
The payment was accepted, and Lex led the man to the recovery pod. Above his head, Lex could see his details.
Name: Hugo Laurent
Age: 49
Cultivation Details: Middle Foundation realm
Species: Human
Midnight Inn Prestige Level: Not yet available
Below, this was a unique set of information that only became available after they entered the recovery room.
Conditions:
- Meridians stretched
- Slightly damaged ribs, spine, skull, left shin, left knee, left arm, left hand
- Intestines slightly damaged
- Liver slightly damaged
- Cardiovascular system slightly damaged
Report:
The patient has accumulated various injuries all over his body that never completely healed. The patient will suffer no deterioration in their quality of life, but will suffer from a negative impact on their cultivation speed. If untreated, the patient will never surpass the Foundation realm. Any attempt to cross the Foundation realm will exacerbate the damage to the body and cause the Foundation cultivation to collapse.
Lex was pleasantly surprised when he saw the information, and was quite thankful he had another way to pull guests into the Inn. Furthermore, he was also filled with anticipation: if Hugo decided to rent a room before the two soldiers left, then he would reach maximum capacity, and Lex had a gut feeling that something good would happen if he did.
Lex's smile grew as he watched the fully armored man get in the recovery pod. His luck really was good, and that one key he had left on the train had come in handy just at the right time!