The Innkeeper

Lex clicked on the article to read more. The article was on a small blog site where the author interviewed some people who claimed to be present when the ‘assassination’ took place. According to the unnamed sources, they were present at an auction where an unlisted item was being sold. Supposedly it was a golden key that unlocked some kind of hidden heritage of an ancient cultivator. Alexander bought the keys but before he could get his hands on them he was attacked and robbed, before the assailants escaped the auction house. That was how the event started, and in anger Alexander’s family deployed their private military force and were hunting the assassins all over Egypt. Even the A.D.F. was too afraid to step in.

The article continued to speculate on a few other things, but Lex and Larry both were too caught up in their thoughts to continue reading. Lex knew for a fact that Alexander was alive, so he took most of the article with a grain of salt, but he was thinking about the golden key. It had been auctioned? Which probably meant that Bastet wasn’t the one who gave Alexander the keys, but auctioned them off instead. Did a cultivator at her level run short on money? What was going on?

“This is much worse than I expected,” Larry murmured as he took out his phone and made a call. Unfortunately for him, whoever he was calling didn’t pick up which agitated him further.

“What do you mean?” Lex asked.

“Alexander Morrison, do you know who that is? He’s the heir to Mars. His family literally owns Mars. There’s even some speculation that they’ve already started mining the various moons of the different planets in the solar system as well. There are even rumors that their family is harvesting spirit energy directly from the sun to create cultivators even stronger than Golden Core.Not only is his family rich, they have more Golden Core cultivators than any other force in the solar system. Of course, combined all the other forces are stronger, but who would be crazy enough to ally against them? If someone really has managed to kill Alexander, then things won’t end as simply as a lockdown. This could lead to war.”

Larry continued to make phone calls, but whoever he was calling still wasn’t answering._.

“Don’t put too much trust in this article,” Lex said, aware that Alexander was alive. “This isn’t even a proper news site. It’s just another conspiracy. How can it be easy to assassinate someone that important? He must have been surrounded by bodyguards.”

“I hope you’re right. If this…” before he could continue whoever he was calling picked up and started talking. Larry didn’t speak and only listened. A few moments later he shut the phone and breathed a sigh of relief.

“You were right, the article wasn’t true. Or at least, the part about Alexander being dead isn’t true.”

Lex raised an eyebrow. “You must have some insane contacts if they can tell you about what actually happened. Even Blue Bird hasn’t released a statement yet.”

Larry froze, realizing that he had lost his composure and exposed a little too much. He let out a defeated laugh and his shoulder slouched, as if letting go of a pretense.

“I guess there’s no point in hiding anything. It’s not like it’s much of a secret anyway. The only reason you haven’t heard is because you’re still too new to the cultivation world. Originally, I come from a cultivation family as well – the Dershaw family. We used to own a few spirit stone mines here on Earth, and ran the Dershaw Bank. When I was growing up I even met Alexander a few times. Our families partnered up in various business ventures. Unfortunately, a few years ago there was an explosion in one of the mines. A lot of the elders from my family went to investigate, but never returned. I don’t know the exact details of what happened, but most of the people in my family died that day. Afterwards, a few Sects showed up, saying that the Dershaw Bank had taken loans from them and it was time to pay it back. All the mines were seized and my family was imprisoned. They probably would have killed my entire family, me included, but the ICPA’s intervened. My family was accused of a lot of crimes and banished to somewhere on the Moon. I was left behind because I hadn’t started cultivating yet. So yeah, that’s my story. I still have a few contacts who help me out occasionally secretly, but that’s about it.”

Lex froze after listening to Larry’s story, unsure of how he should respond. He was not expecting Larry to unload something so heavy.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” Lex said awkwardly but Larry waved it off, returning to his energetic and jovial self. “It’s old news, don’t worry about it. Instead of that, do you know what I found out recently? You remember Matilda, she took a couple of classes with us before she started getting private classes. I heard she’s already Body Tempering 4th level. When I heard I was completely blown away. What a woman…”

Larry continued talking about Matilda and Lex smiled warily. This guy…

*****

Alexander continued to absorb the energy in the Core for a few more hours until it was eventually depleted. It took him a few minutes to adjust his state and check his body for any abnormalities. When he finally got up he was exhilarated! The effects of the Core were beyond anything he’d used before.

He left his room and returned to the Gift Shop where Velma appeared behind the counter as soon as he entered.

“Good day, dear guest,” she said, her voice soft and pleasant to hear. “I hope you are enjoying your stay with us. Please let me know if there is anything you need.”

“My stay has been incredible, but unfortunately I have some tasks I need to complete so I need to leave. Is it possible for me to have a word with the Innkeeper?”

Mary, who was aware of everything that was happening in the Inn told Lex, but with Larry in his apartment it was inconvenient for him to leave so he told her to handle the situation. Mary then mentally passed her a few instructions to Velma, who told Alexander, “The Innkeeper is away on some business at the moment. If there’s something I can help you with then do please let me know.”

“In that case, I would like to ask you to take care of Helen while I am away. If she needs further treatment you can charge it on my card, and once she is better please allow her to stay in my room till I come back. I’d also like 5 more Tier 3 Cores, 1 Tier 4 Core and a spare Golden Key.”

“Of course,” Velma said, handing Alexander the 6 cards containing his items as well as the key. The five Tier 3 Cores cost 7500MP, the Tier 4 core 5000MP and the Golden Key 100MP, although since he was technically buying the key directly from the Inn and not from Lex, Lex would get no profit from it. All in all, Lex received another 12,500 MP from Alexander though the young man seemed to think nothing of the cost.

As for charging his card? Even random websites could save credit card information, how could the Midnight Inn not be able to do the same? The query for how would the Inn receive the payments from the bank? It was using an ancient mystical technique called “This is definitely not a plot hole” to carry out the transactions. It left no traces behind and could not be tracked.

Done with his tasks, Alexander promptly returned to Earth. It was deep into the night in Egypt at this point, and the street where Alexander returned was dark. The streetlights had been damaged in the brief battle that took place earlier, not to mention from the arrival of the Titans pods.

Alexander took out a phone from pocket and made a video call. On his screen appeared a young man, though despite his youth he wore a look of experience and maturity.

“You’re back,” the man said. “When your tracker suddenly disappeared I was worried. The Titans have been sweeping the city for you but no one could find you.”

“Yes, I encountered something unexpected. We’re going to have to make a few changes to the plan. I need to come back to Mars immediately.”

“What?” asked the man, surprised. “Are you sure? You’ve been planning for this for years.”

“Yeah Dad,” Alexander said. Surprisingly the young man in the video call was Alexander’s father, though if you consider that when someone reaches a higher cultivation level their aging seems to slow or even stop, it wasn’t that big a deal. “Something big has happened. You can release the news that I’ve been poisoned with some new kind of poison. Also, let a few rumors slip that Helen is dead. As for the details of what actually happened…I better wait till I reach Mars. You should also call Grandfather. I feel like he’ll be interested in this too.”

When Alexander mentioned his grandfather, his fathers demeanor completely changed and he simply nodded, as if understanding that this matter was unordinary.

“Also, have someone look into Marlo’s recent actions. I’ll see you soon.” With that he ended the call and left the area. He seemed completely unaffected by the fact that his previous actions had shaken the entire world. Someone would naturally take care of any fallout.

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