The Innkeeper

Chapter 1458  Treasure is treasure, cursed or not!

He remained confused about what he sensed, true, but it did not bother him. Could that mean Lex had already formed in Dao Heart? If taken a step further, could he already have discovered his Dao, and it turned out to be related to Time? Was it so overbearing that he had to seal the memory of it until he was stronger?

Lex always knew he was a proverbial badass, but this was a little too much, no?

Lex allowed himself to daydream a little longer, before coming back to reality. He did not actually think he had a Dao Heart or that he discovered his Dao. Instead, he felt that having fused a Dao level ingredient into his body had given him a level of immunity to it.

What he couldn't figure out was why did the thing deep within the ocean resonate with his sealed memories?

If Lex boldly speculated - and it was indeed a bold speculation because he was wholly unqualified to ponder things related to the Dao - that within that ocean was the Dao that Bedford had discovered, then did that mean Lex's memories actually had something to do with the Dao?

"Thank you, Bedford, for your guidance," Lex said, even going as far as bowing a little. Although he was sure that Bedford had tested him in some way during that process, he still wanted to thank the Artica. Not only had it given him some insight into the path of the Dao, he had given Lex a hint as to what was hidden in his sealed memories.

From start to finish, Lex and the others had not introduced themselves, nor had Bedford asked. It was because, instinctively, they felt that lying to the Artica was not a good move. For a race that highly admired an upright moral character, lying would cause their relationship to sour. It was better to just avoid the topic altogether.

However, now, for the first time, Bedford felt as if this human with the immense amount of positive Karma was actually worth befriending.

"You need not worry about it at all. It has been a long time since I've met anyone, let alone got along with someone so easily. Considering that I am not allowed to leave, I expect it will be a long while until I can meet someone again. Just take this little guidance as a thank you present for adding a little color into my usually monotone routine."

Lex smirked.

"Don't be so pessimistic. With the Expo happening, I'm sure you'll meet all kinds of interesting people."

Within the Folklore realm, at that exact moment, the undead Loch Ness monster, a.k.a Nessie, was swimming for her life, or for her death. Whatever. She was trying to run. But it was to no avail. The baby crystal alligator swan through the deadly waters of the River Styx completely unbothered and with astounding speed.

"Oh lawd, my fur is getting wet!" cried Bob, the first Dramacat ever born, from where it was stuck within the visible bones of Nessie's neck. It was desperately trying not to fall into the creature's stomach, but that was causing it to get wet from the splashes of water from the river. Was living truly worth such disgrace? It hadn't decided yet.

"Dammit, someone shut that cat's mouth before it says something dangerous!" yelled Longbeard.

"Something like wishing for a fish rising out of the river as large as a mountain?" Pebbles asked, bitterness in his voice.

Despite the crew's best efforts to keep Bob's mouth shut, it wasn't possible all the time. During those moments where the Dramacat could speak as it wished, it would say something incredibly unlucky. Unfortunately, it always came true. Wishing for a fish while on the River Styx summoned an undead Nessie which promptly gobbled Bob up.

"Dammit! Didn't the Captain say that Bob was supposed to be as powerful as a Deity? Why is he so useless?" Longbeard questioned, yet no one answered.

Jack himself would have answered, if he was not busy single handedly fighting off an undead pirate crew. As it turned out, having a duck that could create limitless gold was a very attractive pet for pirates, even if they were undead ones.

Pebbles, Longbeard and the very sullen Monk were riding one of the gold Gravity Eels which had its chain connected to the alligator, who followed the escaping monster. As it turned out, entering the water was not such a good idea, as it would cause one to become an undead.

Only some very rare materials, and a few exceptionally powerful beings could tolerate this water. As it turned out, Nether Lily Gold could ignore the effects of that water. So could the crystal alligator, for unknown reasons, as well as the Jolly Rancher.

Of course, with the ship it was obvious that Captain Jack had personally strengthened it. They had all seen it happen over the course of their journey. Nether Lily Gold was a rare and valuable material, and could resist external influences, so it made sense. The thing that no one understood was why the crystal alligator, as well as that accursed duck, could casually swim in this river!

What was worse was that wherever they swam, they caused the river to slightly crystallise or turn to gold!

"This is all my fault," said Tiny-Sparkles as he watched the chaos unfold from the crows nest of the Jolly Rancher. "I doubted the captain when he said that we could handle the river of legends. Who knew traversing the river was the easy part? Taking care of the crew… now that was an impossible task."

As the tiny unicorn sighed, he also shot out a rainbow beam at one of the nearby pirate ships, causing a massive explosion of spiritual energy, burning right through the undead.

"Dammit Tiny-Sparkles, I've told you not to destroy the loot!" yelled Jack as he sprinkled fairy dust laced with sneezing powder on the undead pirates. As it turned out, causing a zombie pirate to sneeze out their brain was a very effective way of killing them.

"Captain, the treasures cursed!" the unicorn lamented. Unfortunately, cursed or not, treasure was treasure, and Jack didn't want to let go of it - mostly because he wanted to fill up the empty rooms in his ship. Its current state was too embarrassing.