The Innkeeper

Chapter 1019 Blackmail

Chapter 1019 Blackmail

The Rhinocentaurs felt like laughing. Were they even in a position to reject any single offer? Clearly, Lex could pressure them however he wanted and they would most likely obey. After all, no one would want to be locked up, unable to move for years on end without anything to do.

Not to mention... if they were given free reign to roam around in the Inn, they could share information about it on their groupchat and hopefully increase their chances of a rescue somehow.

"Can you... share the specifics of the deal?" they asked hesitantly. After all, Lex couldn't expect them to agree to the deal without knowing the details, right? Fortunately, while Lex was fully ready to take advantage of them, he was not sadistic about it.

"It's nothing too difficult, or major. Just share one piece of news from somewhere else in the universe everyday. It has to be a significant piece of news, not something random like little Timmy broke his first tooth or something along those lines."

The Rhinocentaurs froze. Although it was not stating this out loud, wasn't this more or less accusing them of having the groupchat! No, wait, there was no need to jump to conclusions.

"Is there... some kind of inter-realm portal or news network available? Or perhaps some information merchants? A universal outlet of some kind?"

"Naturally not," Lex said, as if it was the most obvious answer. "The borders of the Midnight Inn are shut down, and no one can come in or go out. It is the same for any regular means of contact outside."

"Then... then how are we supposed to share news from other realms?"

"Hey, I already said that I won't ask how you do it. That also means it's none of my concern. Do not worry, when you share the news we will have means of knowing whether you're telling the truth or lying. This deal is also separate for both of you, meaning each of you will have to deliver a piece of unique news from the outside universe. As long as you can do that, you can be free. How does that sound? It's simple, right?"

A silence hung between them as neither Lex nor the Rhinocentairs spoke. How was this simple? This was the height of unreasonableness! Unless... unless he already knew about the groupchat!

The most ingenious thing was that by saying he wouldn't ask how they got the news, he had created a way for them to deliver it without exposing the chat. But if they did, they would indirectly reveal it. While such a situation would not cause them to suffer any backlash, as there was always room for misunderstandings, it scared them even more than the thought of being tortured.

So the Midnight Inn was... aware of the groupchat, yet at the same time did not hesitate to blackmail the two of them? Was it really such a significant force? Did they really not fear retaliation?

It had to be known that while what they said was true, which was that high level cultivators don't covet systems, they also said that systems allow cultivators to grow stronger much faster. That meant that there were more than just a few experts in their groupchat - including Dao lords!

The last few days with his powers left him feeling slightly nervous as he was hoping to prepare as much as possible. At a certain point, he even stopped to wonder why he was feeling this nervousness when he had gotten so used to dealing with catastrophes and unexpected issues.

The only reasonable answer he could come up with was that, much like John, he had built a subconscious dependance on the reliability of the system. Now that it was going away, even temporarily, he could not help but become agitated.

But he found such a glaring weakness in himself unacceptable, so he forced himself to confront the feelings head on. It did not really help, but he continued to do it nonetheless.

Eventually, though, the time eventually came. His Host Attire was about to lose its powers.

He did not perform a grand goodbye, or make his departure known. Besides Mary, no one knew when he took it off and the Innkeeper disappeared.

Until he healed the system, he would be the Innkeeper no more. It was a strange thought. He was too used to being the Innkeeper. Even though he acted as Lex much longer, he somehow felt that his time as the Innkeeper was always more impactful.

But the truth was, underneath, he was always Lex. It was important to remember that, lest he develop some kind of split personality!

He absorbed the Lone assassin system as well, just before departing. Even the familiar interface of the system, which would stay with him despite the Host Attire powering off, disappeared. It would return once his system absorbed the other one. Hopefully he would get a big percentage boost, considering this system was C+ which was a very high rank.

He teleported back to the sealed domain and looked at it.

"You ready to look for the entrance, Pel?" he asked.

"Master, I've been thinking all this time. It's highly unusual for this domain to not have multiple entrances. It's a basic requirement to keep the domain functioning. But I realized, that was only the case if the domain was natural and self sustaining. If someone else set it up purposefully, and are powering it themselves, then there is no such requirement."

"What does that mean? That there might not be an entrance at all?"

"Well, we will need to investigate. But, I have some theories about who, or which race, could achieve such a thing."