The Innkeeper

Chapter 2432: Snake stereotype

Although fear gripped her entire being, being looked at by Oaka strangely made her feel reassured. If someone so much more powerful than her wanted to harm her, it was unlikely that he would try to talk to her nicely, right? They could directly just do whatever they wanted.

Even Nemo seemed to agree with her, considering that he too felt afraid of the snake merchant. It was strange. Other Celestial Immortals could not intimidate him the way the mere presence of this merchant could.

Seeing that nothing was happening, Liz slowly scooted out from under the sofa and sat opposite to the snake, ironing out the wrinkles in her clothes as she did.

"I would show you my wares, but I left them back at my shop," Oaka said as he let out an awkward laugh. "These days, the things that are selling the most are deals, which is a shame because many of the items in my shop will expire in a few months."

Though Liz still felt intimidated, her mind was racing as she tried to find her way out of her predicament.

"What kind of deals are you selling then? Anything I might be interested in?" Liz asked, keeping up with the conversation.

The snake used the tip of its tail to rub the area under its mouth, almost as if it was rubbing its chin while in thought.

"Well, I can offer you a few generic deals, but it would be a whole lot better if you either told me about yourself and your interests. If you’re unwilling to do that, there’s a way to anonymously check what deals I can offer you. You simply have to place your hand over this crystal ball and think about what you want most. I won’t learn any actual details about you, but I’ll be informed of all the deals I can offer you that are relevant to your needs or desires."

Liz looked at the snake, and then at the orb. She could not help but wonder if it would be a bit speciesist or stereotyping if she operated under the assumption that the snake was out to harm her.

"Try the orb, I have a good feeling about it," said Nemo whose eyes shone with excitement.

Despite Nemo’s excitable personality, he was extremely reliable regardless of how ridiculous his desires were.

Oaka glanced at the tattoo on her cheek but said nothing. Instead, he merely pushed the crystal orb towards Liz so that she could easily reach it.

She glanced at the snake, pushed away her concerns about stereotypes, and placed her hand on the orb. Her eyes closed on their own, and without her even realizing, Liz began to think about all the things that concerned her most.

She thought about her family, she thought about the Midnight Inn, about Nemo, about her cultivation and many more things she never even knew she valued. The taste of a fresh apple pie, the smell of freshly baked bread, the taste of warm milk with a massive dollop of honey, grilled fish marinated in butter and lemon... okay so most of it was about food but that was mainly just because she hadn’t had a decent meal since she ventured out on this mission.

She did not feel time pass at all, for she was solely focused on thinking about everything she cared about.

When she opened her eyes back up, she found that Oaka was placing an entire feast on the table in front of her, a particularly noticeable look of pity in his eyes.

"Oh, are you done already? Please, have a snack while I present you with the offers. The food is free, so don’t worry about it," said Oaka.

Before Liz could even pretend to say no out of formality, Nemo jumped out of her cheek and began chomping on the calamari!

"Dish ish very goosh, thanksh yoush!" Nemo managed to utter in between bites, its size literally growing with every bite it ate. The food was all normal, mortal food. There was no spiritual nourishment in it - he was only eating for the sake of eating. That did not, however, stop him.

Liz froze as she stared in horror, and then quickly grabbed a drumstick before Nemo ate them all. She wanted to remain polite, but Nemo was genuinely eating so fast that it put immense pressure on her. She merely gave a thankful glance at Oaka before she began eating!

The fact that Nemo was eating them meant that they wouldn’t harm her either - she did share many of Nemo’s immunities after all.

Oaka shook his head, and then sat back down before pulling out two files and placing them in the air in front of Liz.

"I have a number of deals I can offer you, but I think these two will be the most relevant to your current needs. Actually, even I myself don’t know the details of what’s in the folders yet, so feel free to look through them. Only if you wish to pursue this deal can you share its contents with me and we can move forward. Otherwise, you can simply discard the files and no one will ever know their contents."

Liz very reluctantly looked away from the alfredo pasta and glanced at the files. She knew that if she didn’t eat the pasta now, Nemo would get to it first. However, logic prevailed over her gluttonous desire, and she grabbed one of the files.

She was shocked to learn that the file talked about a war ongoing between the Midnight Inn and a mysterious immature realm owner. Her hunger died completely as she quickly went through the file that briefly mentioned the state of the war, and then gave much more emphasis on how Oaka could help, and what she would need to pay for such services.

The help he could offer was great, but the price was much greater. She couldn’t accept it at all. She’d rather go there and help out personally.

Yet now that she knew what one file contained, she quickly grabbed the other one and opened it.

This time, she was stunned as he wrote down the details of Lex’s fight with another Sovereign. Helping him out was also expensive, far, far beyond what she could pay. However, there was nothing stopping her from offering up her own deal to Oaka as well based on all the help he offered in this file.

Liz put down the file and channeled all the diplomatic training she’d received in Ventura.

"I have a counter offer," she said, discarding both files so that Oaka would never know what was in them - assuming he had told the truth.