The Innkeeper

Chapter 1380  Stowaways

Jack coughed into his hand as he tried to hide his embarrassment, but there was nothing he could do about it now. The giant bear was deader than dead. Looking at it objectively, all of this was the bear's fault to begin with.

Why hadn't it just shrunk down instead of growing the Jolly Rancher? Now, not only did it not get to ride the shop, but Jack and the rest were inconvenienced as well.

"Everybody, form up! I want to see you all in a line. Form up. I have an important speech to deliver," Jack roared, his loudest yell a quieter than Tiny-Sparkles lowest whisper. But it didn't matter.

His pirate crew suddenly lined up in front of him, though why did there seem to be a few extra members?

There was, of course, first mate Tiny-Sparkles, and Ollie. The baby crystal alligator was there, as well as Bob. But why was there a gnome lining up as well? And why was the gnome's beard 8 feet (2.4 meters) long while the gnome himself was shorter than 2 feet (0.6 meters)!?!

As if that wasn't enough, right beside the gnome was a small bear cub, dressed in the robes of a monk, even going as far as wearing monk beads around its neck! Was this… was this cub related in any way to the massive bear Jack had just killed? Logic dictated that as the most likely answer, but the cup bore no ill will towards Jack, the fairy could sense as much.

But even more than the bear cup, the sudden new addition that attracted Jacks attention the most was the final one! A regular sized hamster, that stood on its one hind leg as well as wooden prosthetic, and was dressed like a buccaneer, looked Jack right in the eyes as if there was nothing suspicious about his presence there whatsoever.

"You guys… we're not really hiring. What are you doing here?" Jack asked, pausing from the rousing speech he was about to give.

"Someone crashed the island where we were imprisoned- I mean, our home fell from the sky!" the gnome said abruptly.

"We wish to see the universe," the monk bear said. "My teacher told me monks eat lots of meat and meet lots of women. As such, I have decided to stain myself with the red sands of the mortal world, and witness such things for myself. Safe passage would be appreciated. I can pay in honey."

Jack looked at the two, and then finally looked at the hamster who looked like a hardened criminal who had lived a long life.

"Kill me or take me, I'm not leaving this ship," the hamster said, and then spit at the ground. But instead of spit, it accidentally spat out one of the nuts it had been hoarding in his cheek. But he was too embarrassed to go pick it back up, so instead he just looked away, his bulging cheeks hanging on either side of his face.

Jack was literally stunned to silence by the shameless display of the stowaways. Just to be sure, he used his intention to gauge the intentions of the newcomers, but it seemed like they genuinely either wanted to join, or had nowhere else to go. Good thing too, because Jack was thoroughly impressed by their shamelessness.

"Well in that case, welcome to the crew!" Jack said. "Everyone else, listen up. We're not playing games anymore. This is no longer the tiny realm we came from - this is a full on mature realm! Do you know what that means? It means there are Dao Lords who are born in this realm! Probably more than one! Compared to all of them, we're nothing. "A random sneeze from a passing immortal could tear our ship apart, and send us to a permanent journey to the depths of hell! Which is why I say to you lads, now more than ever, we need to be vigilant and not act carelessly! We need to be-"

The remainder of the island in the sky started to crash all around them, suddenly forcing Jack to take control of the Jolly Rancher, and began dodging the debris!

"Anyway, to cut the long story short, we have a sacred mission!" Jack screamed over the sound of falling island debris. "You see, someone has cursed all fairies, but I'm determined to be the first fairy Dao Lord! For that, we're going to find the most chaotic, crazy place in this realm, find someone who can tell me how to lift this curse, and probably shift the balance of a universal war by staging a comeback of the fairy race!"

"I know just the place captain!" the hamster said, before spitting on the ground once more. But this time, instead of a nut, the hamster accidentally spat out a longsword. The awkwardness of the situation caused a momentary silence, where even the explosions in the background seemed to pause. "There's a black market in the Jamu region of Red Lily County, just a few lightyears away from our current location. Rumor has it that a shaman exile from the Dryad race practices there. She might have an answer for you."

"Great, set sail immediately!" Jack said, flapping his wings to produce fairy dust so that the Jolly Rancher could fly faster.

"Captain… the ship doesn't need sails to fly," Tiny-Sparkles said, but as always, his statement was ignored.

Manned by a crew of pirates- cough, no, good guys. Jolly Rancher, the ship, was manned by a crew of good guys who knew nothing about ships, but that didn't stop them. Under Jack's guidance, the ship set out for its destination, though fortunately they had only gone for a few hundred miles before the hamster remembered that they were going in the wrong direction.

The massive ship should have been quite conspicuous, but Jack was not brainless. He used his fairy magic to turn the ship invisible, though admittedly it would only be invisible for people at or below his level.

Yet as it turned out, that was not really a problem. Though compared to the fairy, the ship was absolutely massive, compared to the realm they were in, the ship was tiny. Jack was beginning to feel like their plan was not completely destined for failure, when he was forced to take his first detour.

After all, he finally discovered a trail for one of the items written in the blueprint for the Midnight Castle. Collecting the necessary materials to build the castle had turned out to be much more difficult than what Lex guessed, so once they got a lead for one of the materials, they were forced to take a detour.

"Amitabha, is that the red sand of the mortal world?" the bear cup asked, looking over the side of the ship.

"Well, you're not wrong," said Lex as he leaned over the side. "It definitely is red sand. I just don't think it's the same kind you're looking for."

Beneath them was a massive desert with the sand stained red, though even from afar Jack could feel the immense aura of negativity from down below.

"That sand is red from blood," said the gnome.

"Don't be ridiculous. Blood would start darkening after so long," said the hamster.

"Don't you be ridiculous. How can cultivators' blood darken? That is the blood of mortals that does that."

"Who said cultivators' blood can't darken? If mortal blood can be oxidized by mortal air, then the immortal air of this realm can oxidize the immortal blood of this realm."

"It's hard to argue with that logic," murmured Tiny-Sparkles.

"Oh lawd-" Bob began, but this time Jack stuffed a jawbreaker into his mouth.

"Whatever it is that's causing the sand to turn red, it's clearly coming from there," Jack said, pointing to a massive, gaping hole in the sand far away. "As responsible pirates- I mean, as responsible good guys, it's our job to restore this natural ecosystem and set things straight. Full speed ahead!"

While the whole crew discussed the red sand, down below the deck, in a room, Ollie was glaring at the baby alligator.

"Don't you dare," the Shadow Talon threatened, hiding a treasure chest behind himself. The room was littered with countless crystalized treasures already, each of them emanating a powerful spiritual energy, enough to entice even immortals. But neither the Shadow Talon, nor the alligator cared about those.

They, instead, were focused entirely on the last treasure chest.

The alligator snapped its jaw, as if complaining that it needed a chew toy. It was, after all, teething, and wanted something to scratch its gums with.

"I'll scratch your gums with a dagger if you come close," Ollie threatened.

The two continued to argue, unaware as the lid of the treasure chest behind them slowly opened, and a golden goose peeked out, to see what the situation was like. Upon seeing that the other two were distracted, the goose carefully lifted the lid of the chest, and stepped out.

The entire process was soundless, but the moment the goose touched the wooden floor, the wood started to turn into gold. Up above, Jack, who was connected to the ship, immediately noticed something awry.