yum

The conversations in the restaurant hushed. All the guests looked at each other, then turned to look at the Innkeeper who stood behind the bar.

"Excuse me for a moment," the Innkeeper said to Slag calmly, as if he was in no hurry, but then disappeared from his place. The resident teenagers, namely Alexander, Helen and Ayesha rushed to the window to peek at what was happening outside. After a few moments, the rest joined them.

Outside, a pale and trembling Gerard stood before an eight feet tall beast that looked something akin to a Liger. Its whiskers were thick and long, waving in the air with ferocity. Its feline eyes stared angrily at the human before it, its fangs exposed threateningly.

Lex quickly looked at its status.

Name: Useless Scrub

Age: 432

Sex: Male.

Cultivation Details: Doesn't matter

Species: Dead meat

Midnight Inn Prestige Level: No

Remarks: Those who disrespect the Inn do not deserve to live!

If Lex wasn't in such a serious situation, he would have chuckled. The system was clearly pissed!

"What seems to be the issue here?" Lex asked calmly. He thought that as the great and noble Innkeeper, he needed to handle the situation maturely and-

"ANOTHER CRETIN! HOW DARE YOU STAND WHILE IN MY PRESCIENCE?" the Liger roared. Its anger lit its fur in a blue flame causing the air to ripple from the heat.

"Calm down, you are-" Lex's speech was cut short by the Liger roaring in anger and smashing its paw towards him. Its claws extended out, covered in blue flames as well. Yet before the claw could even reach near Lex it was stopped mid air by a hand. The hand did not belong to Lex's bodyguard, who would have simply disintegrated the Liger, but one of the ten security guards above the Nascent realm that Lex hand rented for the Midnight Games.

The Liger tried to pull back its hand, but realized it could not. Sensing that the situation may be getting out of hand the Liger tried to retreat, but discovered that its entire body was frozen solid by an extremely domineering aura. It could not move, it could not speak and it could not even initialize its spirit energy anymore.

Looking at the Liger, Lex frowned. Screw maturity, now Lex was pissed. But he did not want to kill the Liger directly, the way the Liger had tried to do to him. No, he was not so easily satisfied. Even if he knew his emotions were running amok, this time he did not try to control them. Sometimes, it was better to let himself feel whatever it was he was feeling.

Silently Lex spent 2500 MP then looked at the guard and said, "I've created a detention room in the Greenhouse. Take this…well it's no longer a guest, so take this deviant and hold him in the detention room. I will join you shortly."

The guard nodded with an emotionless face and effortlessly used his spiritual sense and carried it in the air behind him as he casually walked towards the greenhouse.

"How are you feeling, are you okay?" Lex asked, looking at Gerard. The old man was still trembling, but he tried to put on a brave face.

"I'm good sir, thank you for asking."

"Go to the Recovery room and have Nurse Jubilation check you out. Then take a rest, you've earned some time off."

"Thank you sir," Gerard replied, and teleported away.

Lex looked back at his guests who were peeking from the window and smiled at them, then disappeared as well. In the forest near the greenhouse, a square building had cropped up. It was gray and had no windows, only a single door in the front. This was the detention room Lex had spent 2500 MP making. It was small compared to his other buildings such as the Gamer's Den and the Barbershop because Lex didn't need much out of it. It was a small, reinforced and soundproof building where Lex was planning on interrogating the Liger…sorry, where Lex was planning on interrogating Useless Scrub. The reason it was near the greenhouse was because he didn't want customers accidentally finding it.

Inside the room was simply an incredibly bright room with chains on the far wall, and a chair for Lex to sit in. He waited a few minutes before the guard finally showed up with Useless Scrub who now looked incredibly afraid. It had been trying for a long time to get loose, but still could not move.

"I want to know everything about it. I want to know where it came from, what its background is, what it does, everything," Lex instructed the security guard. While Lex wanted information, that did not mean he was condoning violence or torture. He was angry, not cruel. The security guard was of such a high cultivation level, if he had no methods to extract a truthful confession then Lex would be disappointed. Even simple intimidation should probably work.

*****

Back at the manor everyone returned to their seats, not at all surprised by the outcome. Yet despite that, the mood in the room was much more serious. The beast that had attacked clearly gave off an aura of a Golden Core beast, many of the guests there recognized that. It was the security guard that had most of them confused, he was so immensely powerful but gave off no aura at all. Only Slag saw some signs of what the guards' cultivation level could be, only because of the kind of exposure he had as a Lieutenant. He was suddenly very happy that he left the Recovery Pod early.

"Well, at least we know the upcoming event will be secure," said Will. He was speaking to Hera but his voice was loud enough for everyone to hear.

The man's words immediately caught Slags attention. The soldier immediately made sure he looked presentable before approaching the old man.

"Excuse me, I couldn't help but overhear. Did you say there's going to be an event here? Do you know what it's about?" Slag paused for a moment, before continuing, "Where are my manners? Let me introduce myself first. Lieutenant Slag of the 7th Forward Battalion of the Jotum Empire, at your service."

Slag analyzed the two as he introduced himself. The Innkeeper was a different matter but he was sure he could easily read these two who had a lower cultivation than him. Their lack of reaction at the mention of the Jotun Empire told him they either also had a similarly powerful background or were unaware of the Empire. He was more willing to bet on the latter, which only meant one thing. They were from an uncharted part of the universe. That in itself was very important information.

"My name is Will," said the old man. "This is Hera and little Jimmy. Please, have a seat." Slag took a seat at the table with them and carefully analyzed them without making it obvious. Their cultivation levels were pathetically low, that much Slag could tell even without scanning them with his spiritual sense. For now he was avoiding scanning his guests with his spiritual sense as he felt his host might not like that.

"In around a week's time, the Innkeeper is planning on having an event for the guests of three different worlds, namely Earth, Vegus Minima and Nibiru. In two days, the Innkeeper will release the details of the event so that interested guests may prepare. There will be a cultural portion of the event, as well as a combat one."

"Do you know the purpose of the event?" he asked, slightly confused. Why would half of it be cultural and half combat? And why was the event targeted towards these three planets? What was the Innkeeper trying to achieve? How will it benefit him? Little did he know that Lex's bodyguard was also wondering the exact same thing since he arrived.

When Will indicated that he did not know the exact purpose of the Innkeeper, Slag asked "I am not familiar with Earth and Nibiru. Are they a part of some Empire? Or alliance?" He was hoping to get more information about why these two planets would be selected in addition to Vegus Minima but his question only confused the two. Will and Hera looked at one another, unsure of how to answer. Will was fairly certain that Earth had never contacted any other civilization out in space, so could not join any alliance nor was it under the rule of any empire. The closest thing he could think of was the Morrison family owning. Speaking of the Morrisons…

Will looked towards Alexander and Helen who were sitting nearby. Perhaps it was best if they were involved in this conversation as well. Will himself wasn't so sure if he should share information about Earth to begin with. But he also did not want to completely end this conversation as this Lieutenant could be a great source of information on other civilizations.

"I think I know someone else better suited for this conversation. Follow me," the old man got up and walked towards the teenagers.

"Excuse me, your highness," Will said, bowing to Alexander. "I was meeting with Lieutenant Slag of the Jotun Empire, who was curious about Earth. I thought perhaps it would be better that you answered his questions."

Alexander looked at Will and then Slag. He immediately understood the situation. Foreign civilizations might have ulterior intentions and sharing information about Earth might end up being detrimental. Alexander himself raised the same concern with his grandfather. His grandfather told him that they could stop people for some time, but as more people started frequenting the Inn they would not be able to stop people from talking. To paraphrase what he said next, he should use his advantage to glean as much information about others as he could. The actual phrase about 'stripping and whipping' others Alexander didn't want to think about.

"Please, no need for such formalities," Alexander said to Will, and gestured to them to have a seat.

"Lieutenant Slag, please have a set as well. My name is Alexander."

The Lieutenant saluted Alexander but did not bow. As a proud member of the Jotum Empire he did not need to bow before others, but he was still respectful. This youth seemed to be someone important on Earth and had a very decent cultivation for his age. It was not unprecedented to him, but he would definitely be acknowledged as someone very capable even in the Empire.

"I am not familiar with the Jotun Empire, so please excuse any lack in my etiquettes," Alexander said, taking the lead in the conversation. "Is this your first time at the Inn?" Instead of asking directly about the empire, Alexander asked about how much they frequent the Inn. This would give the other an opportunity to talk a little about himself and introduce information about the empire that Alexander could then use to further the conversation. It was quite fortunate that he began the conversation this way, because in Alexander's mind the empire was perhaps based on a continent, or a planet. It did not even occur to him that it spanned entire Galaxies.

"Haha yes, this is my first time visiting the Midnight Inn. As for etiquette, no need to worry at all, the empire is quite liberal in such matters. After all, with so many galaxies and cultures under the empire's control, who can keep track of etiquettes? Since you are not familiar with the empire, I will give a brief introduction..

"The Jotun Empire is one of the leading forces in the known universe, with control over various galaxies, and a proud member of the Henali alliance. We have a proud history of over 400,000 years and have played a vital role in reclaiming numerous worlds from the grasp of demons."

Alexander did not show any look of surprise or shock as he heard Slag's introduction, though the same could not be said of Will. Not even considering the matter of whether Alexander actually believed what Slag said, the Inn had trained him in the subtle art of not being surprised.

"It is very impressive to be able to maintain control over so much space," Alexander said after a moment of careful consideration. "We on Earth are still gaining control over our solar system."

Alexander's answer was vague, but gave Slag enough detail to let him know the background of Earth. From what Slag knew, there were no inhabited planets outside the Vegus System in its proximity, and if the empire hadn't interfered, it could be considered a planet with a weak population. Based on Alexander's explanation, Earth might not be much better than Vegus Minima. In that case, maybe the Inn was promoting the growth of weak planets.

Suddenly Slag felt enlightened, as if he had gleaned some inner purpose behind the mysterious man's actions. It was not enough to uncover his complete intentions, but it was a start.

"Tell me, Lieutenant Slag, will your empire be participating in the upcoming event?" Alexander asked, waking the man from his reverie. He still did not know if what he claimed was true, but if it was there would be no competition in the combat portion at least.

"I cannot speculate on the intentions of the empire, but I see no reason not to. The Innkeeper has been very hospitable and I'm sure whatever he has planned will be worth the effort."

Both of them were speaking politely and vaguely, but neither of them were lying. Will, who was good at reading people, could understand the subtleties of what was going on, but did not feel qualified enough to participate.

"Tell me, young Alexander, have you ever wanted to explore the universe? You seem like a very talented and bright man, and the empire loves to nurture young talents. If you…"

"You know, at a glance your routine sure looks like that of a kidnapper," a booming voice interrupted Slag, attracting everyone's attention. A lean and handsome man was sauntering through the restaurant door. Without his truckload worth of muscles Marlo looked a lot less intimidating, but Slag immediately felt like someone had their hand wrapped around his heart. It was not the feeling of danger, or an impending threat, but the feeling of impending certain death.

Slag immediately stood up and readied himself for a fight. Even though his instincts were telling him he could not survive a clash, and his mind was telling him that the Innkeeper would not allow a fight, as a soldier of the empire he feared no enemy and shied away from no fight.

'This must be Alexander's protector', Slag thought. 'He must have assumed I have ulterior motives.'

Before Slag could rationalize the situation some more Marlo roared, "I'm a hundred times more talented than my stupid student. If you want to poach someone, poach me!"

With that, the man burst into a round of laughter as he came and sat down at the table.

"Velma, give me food. And lots of it, I haven't eaten in days."

"What would you like," she asked, appearing beside the former behemoth.

"Anything. Everything. Bring me different dishes, and bring me lots of them. I'm not used to being so tiny, I feel uncomfortable. I need to put some more meat on my bones."

"Chef's choice, I understand," she said, before disappearing once again.

Turning back to Slag, Marlo gave a wide grin. He was feeling great today, he had almost fixed the issue with his blood. He came out to celebrate and overheard Slag's introduction. His instincts were telling him Slag was not lying, so he immediately became curious. Earth could no longer satisfy him, he wanted a larger stage. If this so-called Jotun Empire was poaching talents, he would happily volunteer.

"Now tell me Slag, what do I need to do to explore the universe?"

*****

Lex was standing silently in the detention room, looking directly at Useless Scrub. The investigation was much easier than he had anticipated. Faced with a much stronger enemy, the Liger was extremely cooperative. On the question of what planet he was from, the Liger was completely lost. He had no concept of what a planet was.

A few more questions later Lex could safely deduce that it was from Nibiru, as previously suspected. It was an overlord and in its territory it treated humans as slaves or servants. He did not completely oppress them, but only because he discovered that too much fear and oppression would only reduce their productivity. Just because he was arrogant did not mean he was stupid. Humans were the best farmers, miners, carpenters and all-in-all general workers around. It grew up in an environment of the survival of the fittest, and after many years of not only surviving but thriving it became extremely arrogant. Seeing a human standing upright in its prescience the Liger could not tolerate it, as it considered humans beneath it. To be clear, it was not discriminating towards humans specifically. All non-feline animals in its opinions were base creatures. As a ruler, it treated its feline followers extremely well and had created a very intricate society based on promoting its followers' strength. With such a mind and experience, if it had not offended the system and then Lex, the Liger could have greatly benefited from the Inn. But its fate would be very different now.

Lex's anger had already waned by now. His impulsive desire to have the guard kill the beast had also diminished.

Lex looked the beast directly in the eyes as he thought about what to decide. Lex saw intelligence, fear, and confusion. No longer being threatened for his life, Lex thought he would feel guilty if he ordered his death. After all, the situation arose from the beast's ignorance. If he was taught there was a larger world outside the one it knew, and that humans and other animals weren't inherently worse than it then perhaps the Liger would not react that way in the future. Perhaps, the Liger could be reeducated and reintroduced into its world to bring a larger positive impact. These were the thoughts going through Lex's mind. Or rather, his heart.

For in his mind he knew that regardless of the reason, the animal had tried to kill him without a second's hesitation. He could not show mercy to such an animal, now or in the future. So while his heart was still full of reluctance he simply ordered, "kill it." The guard shot a single ray of spirit energy into the Ligers skull, and it died like the Useless Scrub the system had named it after.

Lex had killed zombies before, and wolves. Both of them were in situations where his life was in danger. This was the first time he was responsible for a death while he himself was not being actively threatened, and while his heart was full of guilt, this was a decision he made with his mind. He could allow himself to feel pain over a difficult decision, but he could not allow himself to get into the habit of making stupid decisions out of guilt.

Once the Liger was dead, Lex told the guard to pass the body to the gardener. The body of a powerful beast would probably serve as a wonderful fertilizer. Lex didn't know the exact details of how to use it but he didn't doubt that the gardener or turtle knew how to. Once that was done, Lex stayed in the detention room for a few moments longer, looking at where the Liger was held. Just as he was about to leave, his bodyguard appeared beside him.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?" the bodyguard asked. His voice was deep and smooth, making it very pleasant to hear.

"Go ahead," Lex responded.

"Why do you care so much about the beast? Why did it affect you?" The bodyguard was genuinely curious. In his mind, the Innkeeper was an existence close to itself, otherwise the bodyguard would have been able to view the Innkeepers cultivation. At their level, a lot of things became irrelevant. So then the bodyguard could not understand why Lex was burdening himself so much by caring, or to be more specific, by having an emotional response to killing an enemy?

"I just think it's a pity," Lex said, looking back at where the body of the beast used to be. "It was not a bad leader, and it stumbled upon an immense opportunity by coming here. It could have not only raised its own cultivation but also of all its followers, and exposed them to a much wider horizon than the one they lived with. Yet instead of availing the opportunity, in its arrogance it chose to become my enemy. Even when I tried to give it a second chance, it wasted it."

The bodyguard shook his head. What Lex said was true, the Liger did waste an amazing opportunity, but he did not understand why Lex cared one way or another about the beast..

"It doesn't matter if you understand or not," said Lex, feeling slightly contemplative after the incident. "Your belief or understanding of something only affects how you experience life, nothing else. Whether you believe you are the best, or the strongest, or better than others does not affect the universe at all. It only affects how you perceive the universe around you. And if one day, you encounter someone or something that challenges your belief, how well you can adapt will determine your outcome. The beast believed it was superior to humans, and thus lost the opportunity to better itself using an opportunity provided by humans. Similarly, if you believe that you are the best, you will never surpass your current self since you have already deemed it the best."

The bodyguard quietly listened, trying to dissect what Lex had said. He was attempting to see the relevance or purpose behind Lex's actions using this logic. Whether he would be able to succeed or not didn't matter, for Lex only felt like being randomly philosophical. With his emotions vented, Lex put on a wide grin and returned to the manor.

He returned to the unusual scene of Marlo stuffing his face with spaghetti and meatballs with his left hand and arm wrestling Alexander, Helen and Jimmy with his right. A pale and obviously defeated Slag was standing in the corner, observing the situation. Hera was watching with a smile, and she watched her son finally interact with others. Even the previously morose Ayesha was standing in the crowd, cheering on the kids.

Harry and John had also appeared in the room and seemed to be egging them on. Harry was playing intense music on his phone, as if to set the scene. That made Lex realize he should hire a musician, but he put it at the back of his mind and watched his guests goof off.

He did not know how the situation became like this, but he was suddenly tempted to offer Marlo another job as the resident joker.

Just as Marlo finished his food his right arm came crashing down, defeating the kids without any suspense.

"Who's next?" the now giant wannabe Marlo screamed as he swapped out the empty plate for a dish of lasagna. Lex felt personally offended when he saw Marlo eat the lasagna with a spoon.

Surprisingly, Chen stood up and sat opposite to Marlo, replacing the defeated kids. As he grabbed Marlo's hand, Lily tied a rope around their hands and stood on the side, ready to pull Marlo's hand down.

"I'm going to need some help, who else hasn't gone yet," Lily asked, looking around the room. Harry raised his hand as he hopped towards Lily and grabbed the rope. He changed the music as well, pumping himself up. At this point no one noticed Lex disappearing, and Leo running into the room. Lex's bodyguard simply lost track of the Innkeeper, but did not put it to heart. His job was only to protect the Innkeeper while he was in the Inn. If he left of his own accord, the bodyguard did not need to be bothered.

Leo grabbed onto the rope excitedly as well, asking Harry, " what's going on?"

Harry did not react at all to Leo's sudden appearance and said, "The loud guy sealed his body cultivation and challenged everyone to an armwrestling match. He said he won't use any strength while he eats, but once he finishes you will win the match. The goal is to beat him before he finishes his meal."

At this point Chen started trying to push Marlo's hand down, and the others pulled on the rope. As one of the weakest cultivators there Lex did not expect his contribution to matter, but he was getting severe FOMO (fear or missing out) just standing there watching. The trio pulled hard on the rope and it seemed for a moment that Marlo's hand moved down a bit, but no one could be too sure. Only a few moments later Marlo had finished the lasagna like a vacuum sucking up dirt, and slammed Chen's hand down!

"Next," he roared, though whether he meant the next meal or armwrestler, no one could be sure. Velma hopped towards him and put down a plate of fresh BBQ, politely handing him a fork as well. At this point, almost everyone in the room had already lost. Just when everyone thought that no one would step up, one of the suited guards sat opposite to Marlo. This guard's cultivation was Peak Golden Core, so he was not weak at all. Yet the look Slag gave the guard was one of ridicule.

The people in the room cheered as the new match started, and someone started a chant of "kick Marlo's butt!". Jimmy was the most vocal with that chant, and stood up on a table to watch the exciting match. Hera almost cried, watching her son enjoying the festivity. Jimmy had been so reclusive the past few months, he was finally behaving like a child again.

The guard surprised everyone by putting up a strong fight. Marlo's hand moved down till it was at a 45 degrees angle, but before he could move it down further Marlo had devoured his food and started fighting back. Unlike the previous matches, he was not able to simply slam down the guard, which prompted another round of cheering.

"You're getting weak, old timer," Alexander yelled, smirking at his former teacher. As if to answer Alexander, Marlo started exerting even more strength. His shirt ripped at the bicep and veins started running up his arm. Finally, after a tough fight, the guard was defeated.

A round of booing and cheering took place as Marlo chugged down a jar of mead and slammed it down on the ground. "Next," his roar echoed, prompting Velma to reappear with a plate of deep fried cheeseballs, nuggets, sausages and french fries.

Marlo, like a ravenous animal, set upon the plate without waiting for his next opponent. While everyone waited to see if anyone would step up, perhaps another guard, John casually strolled to the table. In a great show of arrogance, instead of clasping Marlo's hand, he only stuck out a single finger.

"Velma, be a dear and get me that drink you offered last time. What was it called, Pina Colorado?"

"Pi?a colada," she said, handing him the drink.

John accepted the drink with a smile, and looked at Marlo. "I'll give you until I finish this glass to defeat me. By the way, all my spirit energy is already sealed so you don't need to worry about that."

Marlo let out a viscous grin and grabbed the man's finger. The match started immediately, but neither the hand nor the finger moved from the middle. The room was full of hooting and chanting, with Leo participating as well. John casually drank his drink while Marlo hurriedly swallowed his food. The two finished at the same time and after giving each other a dirty look, began using full force. The table cracked immediately, but they continued to wrestle as if the air itself was solid. For exactly 1 second it looked like it would be a tie, but then John smashed his finger down hard, throwing Marlo's body across the room after a crushing defeat. Marlo's body hit a window, and though the window did not break, cracks appeared

The whole room exploded in celebration as almost everyone had been defeated by Marlo. Even Slag let out a smirk. To everyone here, this victory was more dear than if they themselves had won.

The celebration, however, was interrupted by the Innkeepers voice giving an announcement in the room saying, "For broken and damaged furniture, Marlo and John will be fined 300MP each!"

Everyone started laughing, Marlo shrugged it off, but John started scowling! He was the most broke person here!