The Innkeeper
chapter-1169

There was one more reason Lex stopped going after clones. In his last two excursions, the security had been amped up a lot. It was not that Lex was afraid of them, but that with the Tourney so close, he didn't want to risk anything. Just a little more time and he could face his tribulation, and then there would be nothing that could stop him.

But until that happened, Lex had to put a stop to his hunting. Speaking of hunting, Lex looked towards Fenrir and Little Blue. The cute little whale had grown up, and somehow become even cuter. Now it just looked like an oversized baby whale with angel wings.

Although Kun Pengs, which is what Little Blue was evolving into, were legendary beings of absolute and unquestionable power, that did not exclude them from being cute. That made it hard for Lex to believe that Kun Pengs were apparently so strong that they were the primary hunters of dragons - at least until Fenrir brought Little Blue out with it to hunt.

Fenrir had formed its own pack, even though none of its pack members were wolves, and had power over them. So whenever Lex encountered clones of Fenrir, the pup would summon its pack.

Little Blue, and Zen, the small patch of sentient grass that was also an Earth Immortal were both in his pack, alongside a rainbow colored peacock, a Magikarpet that evolved differently from the rest of its group, a bunny and a butterfly. The pack was quite comedic in his opinion.

But he was proved wrong when he saw Little Blue's power. Honestly, it put Fenrir, the pack leader, to shame. If Dragons Might was a representation of a dragon's pride, then the force which erupted from its body when it spread its wings with powerful intent was a representation of its magnificence.

Suffice to say the little guy could take care of himself now. It was so much so that Lex included Fenrir and his pack in his plans for Sanguis Pluvia.

"Lex, the president of New Earth is here again," Mary said, causing Lex to sigh. This guy was so persistent. The most annoying thing was that he actually wasn't interested in meeting the Innkeeper, and specifically wanted to meet Lex.

"Alright, fine. I'll go see him," Lex grumbled before teleporting away. There was a very specific reason Lex had been avoiding him.

The guy was too nice and thoughtful. Being around him made Lex feel guilty, as if he wasn't doing enough to help others. But he really was. It was just that no sane person could match that beast.

Lex teleported over to find the president of New Earth, sitting and laughing with a group of his friends. The man was wearing shorts and a T-shirt. Nothing about him or his demeanor indicated that he was the leader of the refugees from Earth, or that he had rebuilt society into something so much better.

"Mr. President, I hear you've been wanting to see me for a while," Lex said formally, attracting the man's attention.

"Oh come one Lex, don't be so formal," he said with a fond smile as he got to meet him.

"Shall I call you Monsieur Beast then?"

"Oh, no need to bring up that old name, my online days are behind me," the man said. "I can help people in other, more direct ways now. And please, call me James, I insist."

"Alright James, how can I help you?"

"Ah, but you see, this is not about me. The reason I've been wanting to meet you is so that I can help you."

Lex raised an eyebrow. That one, honestly speaking, he hadn't seen coming. More than anything, that was an indicator of how mysterious James was that even Lex's instincts could not predict his actions.

"Over the past few years, New Earth has really flourished. After we overcome the loss we all endured, we could finally focus on building the future. With the arrival of our newer generations, who have never even seen Earth, building up the future became even more important, so that it would be a good one. I think it's not too vain of me to admit that we've done a good job, and though a lot of that has to do with us, I think a lot of that has to do with you as well."

"Me?" Lex asked, surprised.

"Yes, of course. The Innkeeper and the Midnight Inn offered us a place to live and survive, but Earth is not the only planet that has suffered such tremendous loss, but it is the only one that has received overt help the way we did. Everyone realized it, and after a while, everyone came to realize that it had to be because of you. Who else could influence the Innkeeper enough to get him to offer us help? We've talked to Harry. He's from Earth and he's a nice guy, but even he knows he does not have that kind of influence."

"So what are you proposing?" Lex asked after a while.

"Well, to be entirely honest, we're not sure how we can help. But recently, more and more of our people have been trying to get a job at the Midnight Inn. Although we've had little success so far, with the Inn reopening, I think it will start hiring again. After all, not so long ago the Inn took in those elves. All I want you to know is that if they start getting hired, the people of Earth stand behind you. We've heard rumors that you haven't joined any of the houses of Midnight. Well, if you want to start your own house, then we will support you."

Lex said nothing, and studied James' face for a moment. The man had imagined so much drama on his own, but then again, maybe from an outsider's view, this is what it seemed like.

Lex could no longer deny that he was one of the most well known members of the Inn, especially after everyone started to guess that the name on top of the guest registry was his. That naturally bred speculation, and now accompanied his newfound infamy as a wanted man, as well as fame for being the most wanted husband among angels, it made sense that people would speculate about him.

Once Lex left a trail of breadcrumbs for people to follow to explain why he spent so much time at the Inn. Now it seemed like he would need to start another trail of breadcrumbs for why he was so influential at the Inn.

"Thanks for your support," said Lex. "Now you should really focus on the Midnight Games. They're about to kick off."

With those final words, Lex disappeared.