The Innkeeper

Chapter 2485: CSI

"Has it been confirmed?" asked a Celestial, one of the sitting members of the Celestial court. In truth, it was a redundant question, but he had to ask anyway.

"Yes," responded a general of the Celestial army. "The Primordial Queen has managed to revive the Lord of Moonlight, but ever since then there is no record of their location. The Primordial Garden was already difficult to locate, but now our sources indicate that it has further entered a state of lockdown, whereas no one can freely navigate the Dream realm anyway.

"For whatever reason, the Lord of Moonlight has made no contact with the Celestial race or the Humanoid alliance since his return. Moreover, a number of factions across the universe have switched their allegiance, becoming members of a new Moonlight faction. That includes the fairy race from the Humanoid Alliance, who have had all karmic connections to the alliance severed."

The court member suppressed a sigh. While others could only speculate, how could he not know why the lord had not contacted them? Wasn’t it simply because they had been looking away from the crimes of the alliance members, giving tacit permission for their misdeeds?

But the universe was far more complex now than it was in the old days. It was not easy to take such a hardline against so many races.

Still, while that was unfortunate, it was not the greatest concern in the universe right now.

"And what about the Dream Arena? Have we confirmed reports about it?" the court member asked.

This time, the general hesitated before answering.

"There’s no way to confirm for sure. The Arena disappeared alongside the Primordial Queen. However, it was more or less confirmed that the ritual which brought back Lord Lunareth caused the arena to crack and fracture to some degree."

The court member shook his head, worried by the news rather than reassured.

"Cracked, not destroyed. That means her purpose with it is not yet complete. Combined with the confirmed news that she has countless Dao Lords imprisoned in a state of dormancy to use them to produce Dao Essence, this spells trouble."

The worst part was, no one could do anything to stop her. Fortunately, considering that she revived the Lord of Moonlight, they could at least rest assured that her intentions would not be dishonorable.

"What’s the situation on the Primals’ side?" he asked, causing the general to feel even more troubled.

"It’s not good. The Primary realm is facing some unknown changes. A near infinite horde of undead has appeared, and while the horde is not troublesome for now, the issue is that they’re unable to trace its origins.

"They’re also overseeing the changes being applied to the universe and compiling their observations. Besides that, they’ve published a ranking of 2999 remaining Mature realms in the universe, as well as clearly marked the owner of each realm. Oh, and it appears the 3000th position has been reserved for the Origin realm which is in the process of completing, or has already completed its tribulation to become a Major realm. The exact details are unclear."

The court member inevitably sighed as he thought about the situation of the universe. Countless Dao Lords across the universe had died during this previous upheaval, and among the remaining ones a majority belonged to Sage and Elder races.

The balance of power of the universe should have been suddenly skewed, and it was - just not in the way that was expected. Of the non-Elder and Sage race Dao Lords, most were revealed to be members of the organization known as the Dao Congress which served only the Primordial Queens interests. Moreover, even among the Sage and Elder races, many turned out to be members of the Dao Congress.

Overnight, it seemed like the Primordial Queen had set herself up to be the Queen of the universe itself. Who the hell could compete against her now? Especially since her self imposed imprisonment within her realm had ended?

Unfortunately, it was far from so simple. As the de facto leaders of the Humanoid Alliance, they were aware of secrets that belonged not to their race, but their faction. Just as the Primordial Queen had spent countless years waiting in silence while she prepared for her big moment, Mother Nuwa had also been preparing in silence.

The number of secrets she held were, naturally, unknown to him but he did know that she was preparing for something. The way she had hidden temples placed strategically across the universe, the way every major event seemed to have nothing to do with her, yet each one also brought her a small, tiny benefit that most never realized. Everything pointed towards the fact that she too was gearing up for something big.

It wasn’t that she had a big plan that bothered the court member, but the thought that he did not know how many others there were in the universe like her, who had been plotting and preparing for something in secret.

The court member was about to give out some instructions when a messenger burst into the room, ignoring all barriers and formations. He wore the uniform of the CSI - Celestial Secret Intelligence, a secret intelligence agency whose sole priority was to focus on the protection, welfare and growth of the Celestial race, and all matters related to it.

"Emegrnecy message from Avalon," the messenger said, glaring at the general to ensure he didn’t try to peek at the message for the court member.

Owing to the urgency and possible severity of the situation, the court member said nothing and immediately opened the message, and then he was stunned. The message was very short.

’The Queen of Avalon’s Dao fluctuations have been detected in the universe. She must have found a way to return from the Nether!’

The court member was stunned, unsure of how to react. Why did she return at this time? Why? It was literally the one time where everyone was staying secure within Major realms to avoid any disasters. That meant that unless she was discovered within one of those Major realms, the Celestials would have no way of finding her.

Even a suicide squad dedicated to locating her would be pointless because... where in the universe would they search?

Far away, deep within the Midnight Inn, Mary’s eyes flickered as she heard a strange, dull tapping, and a distant sound of arguing.

With great difficulty she opened her eyes to a scene she could have never predicted. Almira was tapping on the glass of the chamber within which her body was stored, while Vinei was trying to explain to her that this was a bad idea, to no avail.