The Innkeeper
chapter-1274

Death and Destiny were the two most common forms of hidden battle, and were prevalent everywhere, which is why Lex ended up sensing them so easily. But he got the sense that there were other battles that he was not able to sense - battles that were, ironically, closer to his power level and ability to influence, but were harder to detect.

"Lex, I have some news," Mary spoke directly into Lex's mind. "Once Sekhmet's identity was revealed, whatever means she used to hide her bases across the realm failed. One of Roland's sources, a civ-smuggler, identified a possible high value base, but we do not have any way of getting to it at the moment. It's in the unexplored regions of the Origin realm, and the Inn is not linked to any planet nearby."

Civ-smugglers were something Lex recently learned about. They were basically groups that smuggled entire civilizations or races from their origin planet to another, more habitable one for various reasons. This was a highly lucrative, yet illegal profession due to the immense potential for harm they had.

Lex was about to say that she should share this information with Henali forces and use them to explore the base, but something interesting happened. His instincts told him to keep this knowledge hidden, and that it would yield something interesting if he did.

"Take my identity token and send someone to the Infinity Emporium. I have had them prepare emergency teleportation formations for this exact purpose. Give them the coordinates and send a team over. Be discreet, and be cautious. We don't know what we can expect there. Also, keep this silent for now."

Lex had no idea what was happening with the Dao Lords, or how long they would be. The conflict in the Mirage extended for minutes, to hours, to well over a few days. He was kept up to date on the war around the realm by Mary.

There was good news, and there was bad news. Within the first day alone, over 90% of all Sanguis Pluvia occupation across the realm was destroyed. No one was interested in taking prisoners, so there were few to no survivors.

A majority of all those who were discovered were sent to the Mirage, where the war was being fought with no holds barred, without regard for collateral damage.

The problem was that the projected strength of Sanguis Pluvia was actually much greater than what had been discovered. It was not just Damian who was missing, but a few minor deities with affiliations, as well as countless traitors who the Henali already knew of.

The obvious answer was that they had taken refuge with the Fuegan, but according to reports shared by the Henali, that was unlikely. While the two organizations were acting as allies, they were far from being completely friendly. Taking refuge with the Fuegan essentially meant becoming their slaves or cannon fodder.

Something was missing. Their Damian and the rest had been sent on some mission before all this began, or as soon the slightest anomaly was detected, they all went into hiding. Considering the fact that even Sekhmet's identity had been revealed, Lex did not think there was any point in the weaker forces hiding. In that case, they were probably on a very important mission - at least that's what Lex thought.

It was on the fourth day of combat, right after Lex cleared another planet using only illusions, that there was finally a change.

"Lex I have updates on the base," Velma said. "It was not a base, more like an emergency safe house large enough for an entire army. It looks like it was recently used, and emptied in a rush. They left a lot of their equipment behind, as well as documents and files. It looks like whoever was using it was expecting to come back soon, or maybe they didn't have time to care about these things and just ran for it.."

"Did you learn anything valuable?" Lex asked.

"Two things. First is that whoever was here originally came here searching for something called Glaticus Necropolis, and I feel like this was a very important mission. The second is that whoever was here made contact with an organization called Heavenly Overlords Association, or HOA for short. I think the HOA is responsible for the sudden disappearance of whoever was here.

"As for anything else, the base is still being investigated. I'll update you if I find out anything more."

Lex nodded, though he was pretty sure he already learned whatever his instincts were guiding him towards.

They reacted pretty strongly the moment Lex heard the name Glaticus Necropolis, as if it was exceedingly important. At the same time, his apprehension towards sharing the information disappeared.

It seemed like it wasn't that he couldn't share this information with the Henali, but rather that he needed to get his hands on it first. Chances were high that the Henali might not have divulged this news to him, which aroused his interest.

What was so special about Glaticus Necropolis that merely the name was to be kept secret?

"Go ahead and share this news with the Henali now. If they want to search the base, let them. In exchange, try to find out what you can about the Necropolis or the HOA."

Back in the Origin realm, from where Lex had been sent to the Mirage, a number of beings had surrounded Sekhmet already.

The Dao Lords themselves still had not made a move, but it was also no longer necessary since the pair of eyes were firmly under the golden dragon's control. Moreover, Adamas had appeared, and under Henali supervision, was siphoning away Sekhmet's divine power.

It would not be a critical wound to her. This was only a part of her to begin with. But even the slightest reduction in power of an enemy was worth celebrating.

"HOLD ON!" a voice suddenly boomed, causing everyone to freeze. The voice was tinged with the fury and wrath of a Dao Lord!

The whole reason all of this extra precaution was being taken was so that a Dao Lord didn't use their actual power, yet now someone was doing exactly that!

"SEKHMET WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" The voice boomed once more, and a Henali appeared in the crowd, causing everyone save the golden dragon and Sekhmet to look down at their feet.

In front of them was Hiran Kokan, the Henali Governor General of the entire Origin realm!

"HAVE YOU REVEALED THE NECROPOLIS TO THE UNIVERSE?"

Many there didn't know what he was talking about, but many did. Either way, this much was clear: Hiran was thoroughly furious, and that should never be taken lightly.