The Innkeeper

Lex had left his apartment with the intention of jogging, but currently he could be found doing pull ups with the widest grin possible. It was still early in the day, around 6 am, so there was no one around to see him, otherwise people would either be extremely wary of his grinning face or would stop and spectate. Why was he grinning? It was because of how amazing he felt doing the pull ups. What's the big deal, he already knew he had become more fit so why was he suddenly so excited about his strength again? The answer was simple: he was doing shirtless pull ups, completely showing off his abs!

In his entire life, although Lex could not have been called fat or obese, he was never nearly fit enough to have visible abs. Now however, they had appeared naturally despite his increased appetite since he started cultivating! He thought he was over his initial excitement of becoming stronger, but that was untrue! Time and time again he would encounter a new situation that would overwhelm him. Currently, he was daydreaming of a montage of himself doing insane things, wearing a leather jacket but with no shirt so he could show off his abs while he listened to epic music. He knew that if anyone saw him it would seem like he was showing off, but so what? He was definitely showing off, and he was definitely doing it on purpose! Ah, it felt good to be able to show off.

"Your two new guests are waking up," said Mary, appearing before him. She was blushing as she tried to keep a straight face, but every few moments she would glance at his body. Suddenly, Lex was more embarrassed than excited.

Lex stopped and coughed, pretending to clear his throat as quickly put his shirt back on.

"Good morning warmup," he mumbled, just loud enough for Mary to hear. She didn't show any reaction, as if it were a matter of fact. The air hung with awkwardness for the few minutes it took Lex to return to the Inn.

In the Recovery Room, Brother Chen and Blane had woken up but they were incredibly groggy. They lay flat on their backs in the Recovery pods, staring up at the ceiling. The pods were filled with dense spirit energy, several times higher in concentration than the outside, that the pod was using to accelerate the healing process. On their own it may have taken a few more minutes for the two of them to collect themselves and gather their thoughts, but when a man appeared suddenly before them he drew their attention and woke them from their trance.

"Welcome guests, to the Midnight Inn," Lex spoke with a warm, charismatic voice. "You were quite badly hurt when you arrived, but fortunately we were able to save your lives. It'll be quite a while though, before you've fully recovered."

"What? How?" Brother Chen asked in confusion, trying to get up. The last thing he remembered was facing the tier 3 zombie when a floating golden door appeared. Before he could get up though, a loud commanding voice filled his ears.

"Be calm!" Lex, who had used some of the power of the Host Attire, put a little bit of pressure on Brother Chen so that he would lie back down, and stop moving. Just the simple attempt at getting up had already torn open some of his newly healed wounds, causing him to start bleeding again.

"Be at ease, we will not hurt you. You must be confused, surely, but I will answer all your questions. Try not to move too much, however, as you have not fully recovered and it would be a shame to delay your complete recovery."

Brother Chen and Blane both, who were still recovering mentally, realized their physical condition. Under normal circumstances they would have already died, it was best not to push their luck.

"I do not know what happened before, but when you arrived you were being dragged by a rather rude fellow who had no interest in being a guest. Naturally, upon his misbehavior he was punished accordingly."

Lex spoke in a relaxed voice, but when the two realized that this gentleman in front of them had casually taken care of a tier 3 zombie they were horrified. How strong was he?

"You may not be familiar with the Inn so let me introduce you to it. The Midnight Inn is a refuge for the weary traveler of the universe, a place where you may rest and enjoy before continuing on your journey. It is a place filled with both pleasures and opportunities for you to avail. It is a place where you can meet friends and comrades from across the universe, and see beyond the only horizon you once knew.

"As for me, you may call me the Innkeeper. Your planet, Vegus Minima, is a newly connected one that has access to the Inn, but one of many across the universe. I must congratulate you on being the first guests from your planet to the Inn."

Both the soldiers froze as they processed what they heard, but quickly Blanes eyes shone with excitement.

"Can you access other planets?" he asked, his voice filled with desperation as well as expectation. "Does that mean you can take us away from Vegus Minima?"

"I'm sorry, we do not provide such a service at the moment. Perhaps in the future it might be a possibility."

"Please," Blane pleaded, "our planet is overrun by zombies! People die everyday, we can barely survive!"

Lex felt a tinge of guilt, but he quickly suppressed it. First of all, it was not in his capability to help, but even if it was, God knew how many planets out in the universe were undergoing such crises. If he became so strong that he could govern the universe in his hand maybe he would consider bringing peace across the universe, for now he had to focus on his own survival. Sympathy was good, but not when it put him on a path to self destruction.

"Dear guest, try to understand," Lex spoke politely yet firmly. "This is an Inn for the heroes of the universe, we provide safety and opportunities for those who are fated - but even so nothing is free. I accepted you as guests under our Pro bono wing, but if you want to avail more benefits from the Inn it will be up to your own capabilities."

Blane and Brother Chen were both disappointed, but dared not beg the mysterious Innkeeper for help again. He had already helped them tremendously by healing with and curing them from the mutagen - a fact they took for granted Lex was able to do since he could access planets across the universe. Furthermore, they were slightly inspired; when Lex said it was up to their capabilities, it was a polite way of saying that it depended on how deep their pockets were - HE NEEDED MP - but the two mistook his meaning. The fact that he talked about heroes and opportunities in the same breath made them think he was hinting that the Inn would provide them with a chance to solve the problem, but ultimately they had to solve the problem themselves. No one would do something for others for free, it was already a blessing that he was willing to help them at all.

"We understand," said Brother Chen. "Thank you for the help you've given us, please let us know if there's any way we can repay you."

Lex smiled - that was a better attitude. "No need to be so formal, helping guests is my duty. But while I have you here, and since you can't leave the recovery pod for a short while, why don't you introduce your planet to me. I can't help you guys directly, but maybe I can think of a few services that might be helpful to you."

Their eyes shone with hope, and the two soldiers began introducing their planet to Lex. The history of Vegus Minima was a long one, but the zombie pandemic had occurred from before the two soldiers were even born so they hadn't received any formal education on it. Despite that, what they knew was plenty for Lex to be amazed at.

Vegus Minima was one of three planets that had been occupied in the Vegus solar system, and was the smallest one. The other was called Vegus Magnum and was the largest, while the world that humans in that solar system had originated from was called Vegus Prime. Theirs was a civilization based on technology, which seemed to be much more advanced than that of Earth. They had no cultivation system in the sense of the cultivation that was followed on Earth; they used to grow their strength via genetic enhancements, and then used spirit energy to further strengthen their genes.

That had since changed as the zombie pandemic made it impossible for the people to manufacture overly complex machinery, as most countries and cities had since been destroyed. The three planets had been disconnected for a long time now, and it was unknown what the situation on the other two planets was. Humans lived a more nomadic life now, forming temporary villages or towns for a few years at most before stronger zombies would notice them. Or at least, that's how the soldiers had lived their lives. If there was a place with the strength to deter zombies and protect their citizens long term, it was far away from the continent they had lived on. As for how they cultivated, that had also changed.

No longer able to rely on advanced technology, the people now relied on what was called zombie cores, found in the brains of zombies, and used its special nature to strengthen their bodies. It was still spirit energy, but of a different kind. That was to say, while they could use normal spirit stones to strengthen their bodies as well, it would not have the same effect as using zombie cores. The strength of the zombie cores corresponded to the zombies strength, with tier one, two and three being equivalent to Body Tempering, Qi Training and Foundation respectively.

The two soldiers continued to tell Lex whatever random information they could think of for a few more hours, before ultimately they became too tired and Lex asked them to rest. As he left the Recovery room, his eyes were filled with a capitalist gleam as he thought of all the possibilities.