The Innkeeper

All the systems he had in place would suddenly become overcrowded and overburdened. As much as he liked New York, the crowded subway at peak hour was not something he wanted to emulate.

Besides, there were a few other opportunities for Lex to gain in this situation. After all, this mystical pagoda was connected to a Minor realm he controlled the entrance to. There was nothing stopping him from taking a tour in it himself. But he had to learn more about it first. He had a feeling Marlo was leaving out a lot of information about this pagoda.

"If your only aim is to propagate the strength of the human race, I do not see why you need to prevent others from accessing the realm. If there is a heritage suitable for the human race inside the pagoda, then humans from anywhere can reap the benefit."

"The pagoda does not have any specific heritage lying in wait inside. Instead, the heritage it delivers is designed according to whoever enters. The pagoda I entered in my youth was a part of a sect\'s training grounds. Other than humans, many other races benefited from it, even if they did so nominally.

"But the reason I want to make the realm exclusive is not because I don\'t want to share. When I finally reached the top floor in the pagoda, and passed its tests, the pagoda turned into a normal building and stopped giving out heritages. It is the final heritage that I want to reserve for the human race."

Lex\'s experience with alien races had been vastly out of the ordinary. Everyone he had met from the Jotun empire was filled with immense devotion towards bettering the human race, but back on earth, humans had proved that they weren\'t exactly saints themselves. The history of the earth was filled with horrid cruelty proving that his race was more than capable of being the villain in someone\'s story.

As such, he did not understand their particular devotion towards strengthening their own race rather than following the typical route of reserving the benefits for only themselves or their close relatives. Maybe wars between races were all too common in the universe and he just hadn\'t been exposed to them yet. Or maybe they were just a very altruistic bunch.

Either way, the opportunities provided by the pagoda seemed excellent, and Lex was not about to just give them up. If what Jotun said was true, even those who did not reach the final floor could gain some guidance, this could be the perfect thing to train his own workers.

Or at least give them experience outside of just what the Inn could provide. But first, he needed to learn a bit more about the pagoda.

"How long do you think it will take someone to reach the top floor of the pagoda if it were left open to the public?" he asked.

"That… is not easy to estimate. Since I know the value of the pagoda, I\'ll be sure to send in the best and brightest. But that in itself does not mean anything. The pagoda which I entered was so old, no one knew exactly how long it had been there. I suspect these are all relics from a distant past that have yet to achieve their purpose."

So basically, no one was likely to reach the top floor any time soon. Lex wasn\'t arrogant enough to believe that he could pass all its tests and reach the top - at least not without sufficient preparation. That wouldn\'t stop him from trying, though.

"I understand. Your motive of trying to improve the circumstances of your own race are quite pure and worth commending, but the fact remains that the Inn is currently having an event targeted to the masses. Tell me, other than the pagoda, what does that realm have? Do you know its size?"

Lex immediately felt the tension in the room rise back up, which he wanted, but there was also an unwanted reaction. Lex planned on the emperor trying to bargain or negotiating with the Innkeeper, resulting in him earning a good sum of MP while also keeping a channel open for himself and the Inn\'s staff. But instead of trying to negotiate, Lex felt that the three were already gearing up for failsafe measures they had already planned out.

"We haven\'t done a thorough scan of its size, but an early estimate is that the Minor realm is between one to two million acres in size. The terrain is vibrant and supports some local wildlife, though no beasts or cultivators have been discovered so far."

"All-in-all, it seems like a nice spot for a vacation," said Lex with a smile. "It would be a shame if I give full access rights to just the Empire, especially during this event. After all, if I do that, I would have to do the same when others make similar requests. I cannot favor certain guests over others."

"I understand," the emperor said, assuming he had been rejected. As for negotiating? He had spent a very large amount of time with the Henali. He understood better than anyone else not to think too highly of himself and assume he could ask for favors when in front of beings of such power.

"But, I suppose there is something that can be done. After all, I cannot ignore long time guests either."

Lex looked towards Ragnar for a brief moment before continuing.

"How about this? Since only you have found the realm entrance, and no one else has entered, I\'ll make it so that this realm is exclusive for humans only. I\'ll move the entrance to the Immortal Bastion so that it\'s easier to access. Of course, since I am doing all of this, there is a price."

The three were genuinely surprised by the turnaround and then filled with extreme enthusiasm. The price did not matter, they were in a position to pay. In fact, Lex himself knew that he could at this moment extort a few trillion MP for this and they would not hesitate. But his deep-rooted understanding of the Innkeepers\' prestige, as well as his sixth sense, let him know how crass it would seem to exchange a favor in place of some money.

So instead, he focused on something that would benefit him, but secretly.

"I have already stated that I will not interfere with what happens inside the Minor realms. Since you have requested this as a heritage site for the human race, and the entrance of the site is through the Inn, you will have to provide security for those humans entering for the sake of accessing the pagoda."

He knew how powerful the bloodlines for his workers were. If he was going to be sending them to the pagoda, he had to make sure no one tried to harm them secretly to extract their bloodlines or study them.

Speaking of which, he suddenly had an idea. Maybe he should find a relatively safer Minor realm and try to have the workers colonize it. They weren\'t lacking in any way, but since they were actual, living people, Lex wanted them to have lives outside of the Inn as well. Besides, it would be a good learning opportunity for them. New experiences were an integral part of developing one\'s personality.

The emperor was taken aback by the kind of price the Innkeeper mentioned, but then again it only made sense. The Innkeeper was an excellent host. He would, of course, be concerned about his guests\' welfare.

The group started hashing out the details while they each made plans in their heads about how to move forward.

Back in the race… Lex was doing well, and he was approaching the end. Gerard was in sight, as well as a few other finalists. But his mood wasn\'t all that great.

He had outdone himself to gain so much ground while pulling those ahead of himself back. His incredible intuition had played an incredible role in helping him avoid almost all power-ups as well.

The one he wasn\'t able to avoid however…

Lex turned to his left and gave the black-hooded Xenmas, who was driving right beside him, the look of death. Unfortunately, with a chicken nest glued directly on top of his head with a mother hen sleeping inside of it, he did not look as intimidating. Above his cart was an entire chicken coop, filled with eggs and live chickens - not only distracting him, but increasing the weight of his cart as well.

The moment he found out who designed such an absurd power up, he would… he would… God only knew, but he would do something!