The Innkeeper

Luthor seemed to have the situation handled, but Lex took a tour of the area on his own anyway. Truth be told, he currently had a much easier alternative to solving this issue. He could use his authority to seal the Minor realm up. But in the event that some other Minor realm invaded later on, he would not be able to do the same.

That is why it was best to set a precedent beforehand for handling such issues themselves.

Lex took some of the weapons that were being used by the invaders, who were a race that identified themselves as Berkin. The weapons were guns that looked like they had come out of a scifi movie or video game. He shot a few rounds and was impressed by the super heated bullets.

It seemed that the Berkin, if nothing else, had impressive technology. If their empire behaved, then there could be a great precedent for trade. He could already imagine Chen and Lily taking advantage of their technology and selling it in their shop - though he imagined sales would be down for the foreseeable future, at least until the Inn opened back up.

In fact, if their technology was really good, he wouldn't mind adding some of it to his Inn. Considering the new, massive scale of the Inn, transportation across its territory was going to be a concern.

The easiest option would be to set up numerous teleportation points for guests to use, but with the system having closed down the addition of new formations for the time, it would have to wait. More conventional means of transportation would be needed.

After he had sated his curiosity, Lex teleported away. He had no free time, but he did not notice that after he left, every single one of the Inn workers looked towards where he had been last.

By now, everyone of the workers knew that Leo was Lex, and that he had saved the entire battalion with a little help from Cirk. Although it was obvious that he was not the strongest worker, it was generally accepted that his strength was above most of the workers.

For even him to suffer such an insidious wound on his hand meant that the dangers of this new realm could not be understated.

Lex, completely oblivious to the fact that he had caused the other workers to be more cautious and less overconfident, turned his attention to one of his latest born workers.

He was standing in the building which was formerly used to connect to the Henali portal. It was no surprise that the portal was not working, since they were no longer in the realm and were not connected to it anymore.

What was surprising to learn was that the machine which had been altered by the system to connect to the portal anonymously was actually run and operated by a hidden A.I. Now that the original A.I. no longer had access to it, a new A.I. had been born within.

"Does this mean you can create a new network for the Inn? Like, our very own internet?" Lex asked as he looked at the machine. It was strange to talk to something that had no obvious face. But through a mic and some speakers, the A.I. could talk back.

"I don't know how to do any of that. Maybe after I read all the data saved locally I'll learn how to do so, but my processing power is woefully lacking. If you transfer me to a machine with greater processing power, or maybe upgrade my existing one, I can speed up. Otherwise, it will take me a little over two years to just finish parsing the existing data."

"I'll see what I can do, but for now you should begin learning what you can. A couple of years is not bad. Prioritise information that can help you build our own network. That could be really helpful."

"Got it," the A.I. responded.

It was surprisingly easy to work with and direct, compared to all the other newborns, which Lex was grateful for. He also sent a message to Luthor asking him to find out if there are any computers in the Berkin empire, and if so what are their specifications. It would be quite convenient if he could get his hands on some decent hardware.

He was somewhat intrigued by the idea of having his very own Midnight network. It had not occurred to him before, but now that the idea came to him, it felt like he would be really missing out if he didn't get one.

If he could then manage to spread this network across this entire realm, then it would be extremely useful in collecting information and knowing what was happening everywhere.

Just as he was musing on the possibilities, he froze, as he had another idea.

What if he didn't disclose that the network was his? What if he just helped it spring up overnight, and secretly just watched everything from the background?

Effectively, it made no difference. The idea was the same. But he liked the element of mystery and intrigue. In his opinion, even the Inn should have been shrouded in mystery, unknown to the world, instead of openly advertising it to every living being. That way, the few guests who stumbled onto it would experience a wondrous adventure into the unknown.

The more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea. He'd make the network an integral part of society, with the convenience of effectively communicating and transferring data over long distances instantaneously. He'd also put up the facade that it was perfectly secure, with no data leaks.

But in truth, he'd have access to all the information. Lex nodded. Now he was thinking more like the billionaire that he really was. Sometimes, it was alright to spoil oneself and indulge in a little evil conspiracy here and there. It was good for the soul.

He oversaw a couple more emergencies before he was finally ready to search for the resin. He really hoped that this would work.