The Innkeeper

Chapter 2153: You don’t have the stomach for it

Lex made no mention of the fact that Mei was a peak Celestial Immortal elf warrior who owned, and in fact had established, an independent army which had since contracted itself to the Henali. The difference between mercenaries and independent armies was the cohesiveness and unity of an army, not to mention clearly defined structural hierarchy.

Basically, they both could be hired but an independent army was still much better than some mercenaries, not to mention that their perception was also much better owing to their loyalty to the army, as compared to the somewhat selfish nature of mercenaries.

He only took a moment to review any information he had about Mei and Paul. The unlikeliness of their relationship made it so that Lex had to make sure she did not approach him with ulterior motives. At a glance of their interactions, it did not seem like that was the case, but he would need to see her in person to judge for himself. Lex was no longer afraid of confronting even peak Celestials if need be.

"The question now is, how can we reach the Tsu galaxy? Even if we reach the galaxy, finding where she is in that galaxy will not be an easy task," Lex said as he continued to read through the information available on the Henali platform.

He could ask the Henali for help, but the chances were that they would ask, in return, to use the Midnight Inn for strategic purposes in their war. While that would be a source of massive income for Lex, it would directly involve him in the war that he was trying to stay out of.

"Can’t the Innkeeper just teleport us to the Tsu galaxy?" Paul asked, somewhat confused. Lex looked at him, and sighed internally. Yeah, one would expect that the Innkeeper should be able to do something like that.

"This war spans more than just the Origin realm, Paul, and a lot of forces are keeping an eye on the Innkeeper. He has his reasons for staying uninvolved," Lex explained. "Sending us here, where no one will notice his actions, is one thing. Sending us to the main battlefield might make people think he is sending reinforcements for the war."

He continued to search the Henali portal, but it was unlikely that he would find highly confidential information there. After all, it was easy to access. To get information about how to travel across the Origin realm, he’d need to talk to someone.

Lex sent back the phone to the person he took it from, and read the mind of some of the passing people to find out who was in charge of the planet he was on. That wasn’t such a big secret, but the issue was that due to the ongoing battle outside the planet, the location of the planet’s leader could not be confirmed. He would definitely be moving around, possibly even participating in the fight itself.

Lex paused, and almost considered just teleporting to Tsu galaxy himself. How hard could it really be? He had carried out a mass teleportation to the Midnight Inn when he was much weaker than his current self.

Lex took out his Karmic bead and tapped into Paul’s karma related to Mei and checked. Then he let go of the idea. The issue wasn’t of being able to do it - Lex could definitely travel from one of the Origin realm to another via teleportation or travel via karmic string. The issue was that it would take months.

Since Mei was too far away, Lex began to check the location of some of his acquaintances.

If he could find Fahad or Noor, the Celestial Immortal Henali that he knew, then things would be a lot simpler. Unfortunately, they were all quite far away.

There was, however, one acquaintance relatively nearby who might be able to help.

"Alright, I might have a solution. Let’s go," said Lex as he hid his and Paul’s faces with a technique similar to the Masked Tyrant, making the identities hidden. Then he grabbed Paul and teleported to the edge of the formation that surrounded the planet. All teleportation through the formation was restricted, so he needed to exit it manually. Fortunately, the formation did not stop anyone from leaving - it was only entering which was restricted.

Though they entered space, Lex was not affected by it at all. Paul had a protective shield all around him, so he wasn’t affected either.

As soon as they left the formation, Lex used the bead to allow himself and Paul to travel through the karmic string, into the darkness of space.

"I think I’m going to be nauseous," said Paul as his mind struggled to understand how he could exist in the form of karma, traveling through a karmic string. He could not even understand why he could speak.

"That’s impossible. You don’t have a stomach right now," answered Lex. "Just look out at the stars. How often do you get a chance to explore the universe like this?"

Paul did his best to stargaze, but unfortunately the thought of not having a stomach made him even more queasy. Lex did not blame him. Not everyone could be as mentally tough as Z, Luthor’s and the others. Paul had already shown his courage when he volunteered to go search for Mei on his own.

As it turned out, the planet Lex was in the same galaxy as a Celestial Immortal Lex had once met, long, long ago. To be more specific, Kenta Haru’s adoptive father, a Celestial Immortal elf, happened to be nearby. While Lex didn’t necessarily have a close relationship with the elf, it was decent.

Moreover, since his adoptive son ran a restaurant inside the Midnight Inn, he had visited on occasion, and had a pretty decent impression of the Inn. Getting some help from him was entirely possible - at least, as long as he was free.

Considering the state of the Origin realm, it was entirely possible that he too was busy fighting.