The Innkeeper

Chapter 1338  Would you like to participate in a survey

Lex stood awkwardly, with Ripley looking around curiously at the 100 Inn workers who suddenly appeared all around them, looking like starved wolves staring at a lamb for slaughter.

Leading the group of 100 was Ash, the nominal leader of the planning division and former wedding planner. Her real name was longer, but considering the fact that Lex felt he mispronounced it even with the universal translator helping him out, he preferred to stick to Ash. In the end, it was merely a universal translator, not an accent adjuster or something like that.

The point was, Ash was very good at what she did, and after wedding planning she moved onto event planning for the Inn, until eventually Lex promoted her to overseeing the whole department. But she didn't want to get rid of her title as wedding planner, so she was not actually given the title of division head, hence becoming the 'nominal' leader despite being the real one. Lex no longer questioned the eccentricities of his workers, he just took them as they were.

"I think I can say with some confidence that no one in the Inn had any background in nurturing or shaping a realm," Lex told Ripley.

"Yes, I gathered as much," the auditor said. "Though I applaud your willingness to learn, it is not really a subject mortals can touch upon, so if any of you are interested, you can begin your educational journey once you reach the immortal realm."

The last part was addressed to the other workers, who apologized for the sudden intrusion and left. Lex did not miss the sudden determined look in Ash's eyes. If nothing unexpected happened, she would be becoming an immortal soon it seemed like.

"Lex I hope you understand that while I have been assigned a task by the Innkeeper, I can only point out flaws. To actually address and amend the situation will require hardwork and dedication from you and the other workers. You must live up to the expectations of the Innkeeper and make this realm the best you possibly can. As someone who has gleaned a hint of the Innkeepers intentions, I can assure you that more is at stake than you realize."

Lex only nodded as he tried not to display how he felt at the situation. His only real intention had been to get free labor out of the situation while dissuading the Celestial from bringing any friends, so it was weird to have someone else tell him about his own intentions.

"I will make sure to supplement my educational background as soon as possible," Lex said with a determined voice, gaining a nod from the Titan.

"Good. In that case, we will do the realm audit last. I will point out all the flaws that need addressing, and possible suggestions for how you may fix them. Of course, before you do any of that, it's best you get the Innkeepers approval for the changes. It might be possible that he has left certain flaws to facilitate other plans down the line."

"I will not make any fundamental changes without consulting the Innkeeper," Lex said seriously, gaining another nod of approval from Ripley.

"In that case, why don't you first give me an overview of the Inn's goals and objectives. This is obviously no longer just a simple Inn, and it seems like more effort has been put into the entertainment side of things than anything else. Whether that is a positive or not is only something I can comment on once I understand the objective."

"It's quite simple, really," Lex said straightforwardly as he began to walk through the grasslands beside the lazy river. "The Inn is a place of rest and refuge for guests from wherever they may be. As compared to Inns in other places, where one must first enter some kind of civilization to enter, the Inn can be entered from anywhere, allowing guests the convenience of entering wherever they wish.

"It's a place where they can feel safe, where they can lay their worries aside, where the troubles of the world fade away…"

As Lex talked, he had flashbacks to the first few weeks of him having an Inn. Those were stressful days, mostly because of the tumor but also because of how weak lex felt back then. Even so, some of his best memories were from those days. He remembered when Alexander first brought his family to the Inn, how his grandparents had immediately gotten up to no good, while his much more serious father immediately tried to use the Inn as a place to make contacts. He recalled how Helen had tried to get a makeover, secretly hoping to attract Alexander's attention.

He recalled old man Will, who had arrived on a wheelchair, practically crippled. He remembered well how the Recovery pod had healed him, and given him new life and new hope.

He recalled a night when Marlo arm wrestled everyone inside the bar in the manor, while Gerard played the piano. He remembered those two kids from Earth, Haris and Ayesha, who had snuck into the Inn for a date.

"...more than anything, the Inn is a place where guests can just connect and make important memories," Lex finished, a large part of his mind lost in reminiscence, though he was still paying attention to Ripley.

"Alright, well now we will begin our audit starting from one of the focal points of the Inn, the Midnight manor. Do you think it will be an issue if I question some of the guests about what they think this place is like? I myself cannot get an objective experience, but the insight of other guests can be critical in evaluating the success of the Inn."

"As long as the guests themselves don't mind, sure," said Lex, before both of them teleported over.

The Midnight Inn had been split into levels long ago to accommodate the various cultivation realms, though technically anyone could enter any level. It was just that starting from the actual mortal realm, wherein there was no cultivation at all, the price was set exceedingly low at 0.1 MP per night, or the equivalent of $100 a night.

Lex knew that for many back on earth before everything changed, such a price was still out of reach, but for many others it was much more reasonable.

The levels naturally grew, and the prices in each level grew accordingly as the services provided in each level were according to the level. Naturally, a rich mortal could still enter the level focused on higher cultivation realms, though how much he could benefit from them was questionable.

Regardless, as a result of such divisions, certain places within the Inn which were once very popular became less so. The Midnight manor was within an area where the level coincided with Earth immortals. Considering that there were still countless immortals within the Inn, it was still crowded, but Lex intended to raise the level of the manor every chance he got.

Or maybe he'd restrict it using some other means than cultivation level. He had sentimental attachment to the manor, and didn't like seeing it overflowing like a crowded fish market. For now, though, a few thousand immortals surrounded the manor as they enjoyed themselves. If the space weren't so limited, even more would have come here.

Ripley and Lex, both wearing the good old Clark Kent glasses, walked up to a particular immortal who seemed to be engrossed in a book, sitting within the shade of a tree.

"Excuse me sir," Ripley said as they walked up to him. "My associate and I are conducting a survey about the Midnight Inn. Would you mind if we asked you some questions?"

The immortal lowered the book, which seemed to be some kind of map or guide towards the West - whatever that meant - and looked at them. He seemed slightly irritated, so before he could respond Lex chimed in.

"Of course, for participating in this survey you will be rewarded with a token containing 1,000,000 MP which can be used in the betting pool in the Midnight Games."

A million MP was not a lot to an immortal, of that Lex was certain. But an unexpected windfall was always welcome by everyone, and especially if it could allow you to have some fun without suffering any personal loss.

"Of course I can take the survey," the monkey said, doing a forward flip as it got off the ground. "My name is Wu Kong. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Lex smiled, and got ready for Ripley to ask questions, but noticed that the auditor froze. Then, in an unexpected move, he took off his glasses, revealed his genuine appearance, and bowed at a 90 degree angle.

"My apologies for deceiving you, senior. My name is Ripley from the Versalis Bank. I am doing an audit for the Innkeeper. I meant no disrespect."

Lex was confused about what was happening, but he certainly understood that Ripley must know who this Wu Kong person was. In fact, he was probably someone quite senior to make Ripley react like that.

Wait a minute… for Ripley, someone who regularly met Dao Lords, to suddenly react so seriously…

Mary suddenly talked to Lex directly in his mind.

"Lex, be very careful. You might be standing in front of a… a very powerful Dao Lord."