The Innkeeper - Chapter 2246: What to do?

Chapter 2246: What to do?

A golden shooting star, made of raging dragon flames, shot through the Dream realm, alerting quite a few people. Many stayed far away, well aware that something like that wasn’t something they could easily overcome. Many, however, also tried to trap the shooting star, wondering what kind of treasure or secret it held.

However, any who came even close to it were burned by the awesome might of the dragon fire. As if that was not enough, the flames also seemed to trigger some kind of karmic backlash for all the negative karma they had accumulated. Many died right on the spot, and the few who survived were gravely injured.

The star, due to how prominent it was, also attracted the attention of a few Dao Lords even though they were not in the area. However, a quick sweep of the star told them to mind their own business. The shooting star was wrapped up in the karma of the Midnight Inn, the Henali, the Humanoid Alliance and the Primordial Garden.

It was as if whoever launched it was afraid that others might not realize the background of this star, and so wrapped it in those karmas prominently, daring them to try to touch it.

The shooting star, guided by a thick, unbreakable karmic thread, traversed the entire Dream realm before boldly breaking into the space of the Dream tavern, and heading straight for Z.

Lex had not aimed for Anita or Qawain because he could not be sure where they were. Only Z had never left the tavern since he decided to look over its defenses, which is why he had aimed for him.

Just as expected, Z was sitting atop Little Blue, watching over the Dream tavern when the golden shooting star shot through the space, attracting his attention. The only reason he didn’t try to stop it was because he sensed Lex’s familiar aura on it.

The shooting star suddenly lost all its flames and turned into a small cot, covered in blood.

Z’s pupils constricted as he suddenly grabbed the cot and looked inside to find Almira completely unharmed and asleep, with a small barrier around her within the cot as well, as if for additional protection.

While she was completely safe, the same might not be true for the sender! Instead of opening the cot, he immediately retreated to the Midnight Inn and summoned not only Anita, sending her news that Almira had been found, but also called all the high ranking members of the Inn.

He even requested the presence of the Innkeeper and Mary.

Considering the seriousness of the summons, they all gathered quickly – including Velma who had been within the Artica realm.

Thus, in the matter of a few minutes, all of them stood inside the room with only a few notable exceptions. The Innkeeper had not come, which was not out of the ordinary. He was busy often enough that his disappearances did not bother anyone.

But considering the seriousness of the matter, one would think he would come. His absence, thus, troubled everyone as they looked at the blood covered cot. Yet it troubled Mary most of all, who could guess why the Innkeeper had not arrived. After all, half the blood covering the cot… belonged to Lex.

As if that was not enough, they could all see that his blood had turned black, as if corrupted or corroded by a powerful poison.

They all looked, but did not speak. They did not know what to say at all. After all, it was always Lex saving them from trouble. When was the last time they had seen Lex get into trouble? They could not remember.

Z even pulled out the bean Lex had given him, and noticed that while it still remained in his possession, it was no longer filled with the same mysterious energy that it previously had. It was as if the bead had gone dormant.

In fact, that’s exactly what happened. The moment Lex had fallen asleep within the dome, under Daekol’s influence, the karmic clone that had sent Almira away had vanished as well. Moreover, while the Karmic clone bead he’d given Z had disappeared, it seemed to lose its connection to Lex, turning into nothing more than a simple ornament.

“What do we do?” Z finally asked, unable to bear the silence any longer. A part of him hoped that this was just another test – a trick by Lex to force them to grow stronger, like he had done in Abaddon.

His instincts, however, told him otherwise.

“The Innkeeper previously instructed that as soon as all the members kidnapped by the Dream realm return, the Dream tavern is to shut down,” Luthor said, his tone completely devoid of emotion. His thoughts could not be discerned by anyone as he wore the perfect mask to hide his emotions.

Gerard frowned, and then sighed.

“We do not know the Innkeepers plan, and since he is not responding, we should listen to his previous commands. However, since he was also the one who allowed the Henali and the Humanoid Alliance to use the taverns for one year, we cannot close the Dream tavern before that time period is up.

“Let’s use that time to find out what happened. Someone has to know something. We can decide what to do after that. Hopefully, during that time, the Innkeeper will come back and give us proper direction on what to do.”

Mary did not say anything the entire time, because she had been trying to reach out to Lex via the system. However, no matter how she tried, she could not. In fact, she could not even appear by his side, as she had been able to do from the very first day.

It was clear that something had happened to him. She could only hope they would get some answers soon, or that Lex would find a way to save himself as he always did. The fact that the system had not shut down meant that he wasn’t dead yet.

As for any hope of being able to rescue him… none of them here were even remotely strong enough to face any challenge that could thwart Lex. Maybe if they asked the Humanoid Alliance, or the Henali…

She needed to think. She needed to come up with a plan. The problem was, she had no idea where to even start looking.

“There’s news from the Humanoid Alliance,” said Velma suddenly, attracting all attention. “They sensed the presence of a very prominent Agent of Chaos – one with a very high bounty, placing him near the top of the Dao Prevention list – a list compiled to eliminate potential Dao candidates who pose a severe threat. That agent… seemed to be caught in a fight with Lex when his presence was briefly detected.”