The Innkeeper

Chapter 2503: Better to live in denial than live stressed

Lex frowned deeply as he continued to read the crystal given to him by Romulus. He began to understand why the qilin who was usually so jovial was in such a terrible mood.

The Cosmic Ascendance Spectrum was unusual enough, but that was far from all he had discovered. On an individual level, the Spectrum was something he could find ways around. Lex himself had experienced numerous occasions where he was cut off from the Cosmic Ascendance Spectrum. Thus, for Romulus it was not so concerning that there was some kind of secret stele collecting fortunes from the myriad races.

That naturally meant that there were other issues as well. Romulus had no idea what information the Innkeeper knew and what he did not, so he had listed some of the more critical things he’d learned as a show of good will. Moreover, it was also a probe of sorts. If the Innkeeper had anything to do with the things written in the crystal, he may act differently.

Considering the fact that Romulus had no idea what he had missed, and who he could or couldn’t trust, it made sense that he would test everyone.

Thus, there were two more critical pieces of information on the crystal that Lex didn’t know what to do with. The first thing he noticed, upon his return to Vael?n, was that the laws of the universe had grown in an unusual manner. Most laws were normal, and their growth was a reflection of a state of the universe. Some, however, had odd gaps or spaces that didn’t make sense based on how the universe existed.

That was not all. As someone who spent a lot of time inside the Gilded Hollow, Romulus recognized the laws of Pentagal anywhere. The odd mutations in the laws were identical to certain laws in Pentegal.

The reason that was strange was because even if Vael?n was absorbing the remnants of Pentagal, it would make its laws and resources its own. It would not blindly and randomly mimic certain laws. The fact, then, that this had occurred meant that someone or something had made a conscious effort to pollute the laws or universe such that some of Pentagal’s laws would be recreated here.

If this were true, and Romulus had no evidence that it was, the news was extremely dangerous, for the only ones who would attempt such a thing were the natives of Pentagal. The fact that they were able to do this undetected meant that they had perfectly infiltrated the universe.

These mutated laws within Vael?n would give them a tremendous advantage against locals, for the natives of Pentagal clearly had a more mature understanding of how to use their own laws. Vael?n and its natives could not yet replicate the kind of power and abilities those from a mature universe had.

This was disturbing news, and yet it was no immediate danger at all. In fact, most of it was mere speculation so it was merely something to keep in mind.

It was the second thing that bothered Romulus the most! The presence of the Universal Mandates was clearly and strongly linked to being he claimed were ’unnatural Archons’!

Once again, his time in the Hollow paid off, for he had had the privilege and opportunity to experience and observe the portions of the Hollow that had Archon level materials, items, treasures, legacies or whatever else it was. His understanding of this next realm was incredibly mature.

He did not share those details in the crystal, but stated that he had felt a Universal Mandate disappear when Destiny died.

The problem was... the mandates were not even restrictions on the natives of Vael?n at all, but instead seemed like means to restrict Vael?n itself somehow!

There were too many ambiguities, but Romulus was certain that none of these things could be done quietly or secretly. That meant that early in the Enlightenment Age, around the time he left or maybe even before then, all the most powerful beings and organizations of the universe must have done something together. There were some secrets that they all shared, and those secrets affected the entire universe.

Finally, Romulus ended with the small, and totally insignificant piece of information that upon exiting the Hollow, he could still sense the presence of Pentagal somewhere in this universe. Previously, Romulus was of the opinion that the Gilded Hollow was basically the remains of Pentagal, compressed by Vael?n so that it could slowly but surely be absorbed.

But only after coming out could he confirm that it was merely a part of Pentagal, and not all of its remains. There should still be significant portions of it somewhere in existence within the universe because hints of its aura were spread out all across the universe - undigested aura that had leaked from somewhere.

Lex closed his eyes, rubbed his temples, and then crushed the crystal. All these secrets were far, far beyond his level. Whatever secrets there were, whatever conspiracies, Lex was too far away from them at the moment. Even if they affected him directly, he could only ignore it for now.

For now, he would pretend as if all of this didn’t exist. After all, it was better to live in denial than to live every day feeling extremely stressed!

His personal focus, instead, should be on increasing his own current strength, and handling his personal affairs. Everything else he would leave to those stronger than him to deal with. Fortunately, Lex knew that there were at least some supremely powerful beings in the universe who weren’t totally corrupt and detestable.

Unfortunately, they had not been able to form an alliance, but maybe that was for the best. What he had was Romulus’ good will, and he didn’t even need to maintain some facade to keep it. When the time was right, Lex could call in a favor if he really needed it.

Was there anything else he needed to deal with urgently? He was going over the list of things in his mind when he noticed that Liz had returned to the Inn alongside Z. More importantly, she had a very familiar aura on her, and it seemed like she was looking for him.