The Innkeeper

Lex sat cross-legged, wearing an oxygen mask in a tube of a viscous green liquid. His recovery was a lot slower this time around, considering the fact that the Lotus on his back wasn't helping. In the first place, it had helped last time due to a misunderstanding and Lex didn't want to ask it for help again unless the situation was dire. Thus, he was stuck at the mercy of this healing liquid.

The greatest obstacle to his recovery was the poison in his blood. As he expected, his body was very resistant to the effects of the poison, but resistant was not the same as immune. Fortunately, if there was one thing that humans were well prepared for, it was anything related to Kravens.

The green liquid was not exactly comfortable to sit in and caused Lex's body to itch all over. But, for the sake of a swift recovery, he bore the inconvenience in silence, and instead turned his attention towards the Inn.

The first stage of Lady Cosmos finally ended, and a mere 400,000 contestants would move onto the next stage. This phase of the competition was filled with trials that contestants had to complete in small teams. Lex had given Mary 5 million MP to help Audrey form any kind of trials she wanted, and a short glance at the venue showed them clearing some kind of life-sized maze that required ingenuity and teamwork.

The size of the audience for Lady Cosmos had not decreased with the number of contestants, but had rather increased vastly. For the first time, Lex noticed a couple of Earth Immortals amongst his guests at the Inn. They were not mixed in with the crowd, but rented entire small villages and stayed there with their followers.

They could not be considered his average guests, but he needed to upgrade the Inn to better cater to them as well.

Another aspect of the Inn he was concerned about was security. Things had finally stabilized. This did not mean that there were no incidents, but that the frequency of incidents stabilized and that the hired security was working well with the Inns own security to handle things smoothly. In fact, it was while he was monitoring his guards that he noticed something strange.

One of the Security rooms functions was picking up on malicious intent, either towards the Inn or even its guests. This feature allowed them to often prevent an incident from taking place and was one of the main reasons that the Inn had managed to keep the peace. After all, more than once, a guest had approached one of the contestants from Lady Cosmos with the intention to harass or blackmail, and they had been dealt with swiftly.

It was this feature that picked up a certain pair spying on Larry, with the intention of collecting information on him, and harming him once he left the Inn. Since they had done nothing wrong, they were not punished, but Chad, Gerards deputy, sent a few guards their way to 'advise' them to honor their guests' privacy.

This was very routine, and Lex would have forgotten the incident the moment he looked away, but while he was scanning them, he saw something that he had actually forgotten about. Of the pair, one had an unusual status.

Name: *&%error%&*

Age: *&%error%&*

Sex: *&%error%&*

Cultivation Details: *&%error%&*

Midnight Inn Prestige Level: 1

Remarks: This man is pouting with his eyes. Maybe some Saturn cake will cheer him up - and form an addiction that will keep him coming back for more!

Lex frowned as he recalled the last few times he had seen an error message with his scan. First was his unofficial employee, John, and second was the Celestial, who was his bodyguard. They had been enigmatic figures with a mysterious past and unknown origin, so he would understand it if there was something unusual about them that eluded the system. After all, the system had proven that it was not perfect, and there were many loopholes in its functionality.

But Lex had seen enough anime to recognize Japanese when he heard it, even if it was automatically being translated for him. So now the question was, what did these three have in common that could elude the systems scan? Or did they each have separate reasons for avoiding the scans results?

"Mary, I want you to keep a close eye on that guest," he said, pointing towards Souta. "I want you to collect all the information on him and save it for me. While you're at it, compile all the information we have on John, as well as my bodyguard, during the Midnight Games."

Lex made a mental note to consider the cause before turning his attention to other matters. The group of workers he'd hired earlier to plan and design the village had submitted their first report, and Lex took a look at it.

They had proposed many additions to the village, but had also suggested some changes to the already existing design as well. They studied areas with highest and lowest density of guests and tracked their movements, as well as analyzed why those were more or less popular areas for guests.

Things such as attractions, restaurants, parks, and residential areas were generally high density areas, but some were more than others. The reason was the easier flow of traffic. All of Lex's designs had an air of Earth about them, but the best or most common forms of traffic flow were not necessarily the best for other demographics.

The plan they proposed was only the first step in overhauling the entire village - this being only the first because they wanted to study how the changes affected the flow and distribution of guests.

The first change was a major one. Lex, in his pursuit to make the village seem as if it had grown and expanded organically, had placed the various districts slightly haphazardly. The planners proposed small but significant alterations that would make it easier to have a network of roads and paths connected to each area, while at the same time organizing each area into smaller sub-districts.

Furthermore, rather than tile walking paths or usual roads, different species of grass were used to mark different paths. A network of canals was also added alongside these roads in many districts, linking them to the underwater portion of the village.

Moreover, transport through only subways or golf carts and such was also distinctly Earth like, and entirely unnecessary. All transport vehicles were designated an aerial level, and would not obstruct the crowds on the ground. From various silent pods, to booths on ground that would levitate once occupied, to entire small tram like cabins became the main mode of transport. Not only were they extremely quick and silent, through clever use of formations, the level at which all of these vehicles would be traveling became almost invisible, revealing their existence only when focused on.

The random clutter of the city suddenly seemed to take on a more organized look and feel. The massive features of the village, such as the colosseum or giant pagoda, were no longer intrusions, but rather attractions, becoming sufficiently distanced from residential and recreational areas.

Impressed by the detail of their proposal, Lex decided to implement all of it, the complete changes only costing him 3 million MP. Considering the fact that Lex now had 1.1 billion MP, he considered it pocket change.

Next, he looked at the changes they suggested for the floating portion of the village. They believed that keeping the floating portion stationary was a waste, and proposed to turn it into an independent district of the village that could move through the air over the village. Not only that, the floating village would play an integral role in controlling the climate of the village down below.

They replaced the former method of arrival to the floating village and instead created a few terminals through which guests would be brought or taken away. They also reduced the use of glass, and instead added greater elements of nature, making it seem like a paradise, hiding in the clouds.

All kinds of birds made their homes here, so an orchard was also added which would become the designated spot for wildlife.

Lex once again approved all the suggestions without any alterations and, with a snap of his fingers, the system started implementing the changes. The guests were initially alarmed, but then watched in awe as the village moved around them, improving right under their eyes.

The frequent guests took the changes in their stride, but the millions of new guests observed in awe. Some of the workers revealed that this was the work of the enigmatic Innkeeper that none of them had seen, and they all began to wonder what kind of a figure this Innkeeper was. The Immortals especially were alarmed. It was not everyday they encountered a sight that could amaze them.