Chapter 2500: This can’t be a coincidence

Lex looked towards the puppet he had gotten from Daekol. He could use that to go find Belle - it was the one task he was sure he would have to do himself. In fact, he was planning on doing that, which is why he was already looking into how to activate it.

But there were a few things he needed to do more urgently, and looking into the teleportation issues was just one of them.

Lex took out the scale given to him by Romulus and sent it to his Innkeeper projection. If there was only a limited amount of time left before Dao activity had to be ceased, then the alliance between him and Romulus needed to be made as quickly as possible.

It was a risk, to be sure. But Lex intended on finalizing an alliance without letting the latter enter the Midnight Realm. As a powerful Dao Lord, who had no serious connection to any existing Major power or race, he was one of the safest Dao Lords to form an alliance with.

But doing so would also carry a lot of risks, so before activating the scale, Lex took out a notepad and began writing down some rules for the Innkeeper.

Although Lex had a lot of experience dealing with Dao Lords, that was absolutely no reason to become over confident. If he was going to form an alliance, which was his intention, then he needed to be more careful than ever before.

To start with, the most important thing to do was to maintain the Innkeeper’s sense of mystery and prestige. That was the one thing that couldn’t be compromised at all. To do that, it was best to reveal as little as possible so that he didn’t accidentally say something that seemed correct to him, but was obviously incorrect and something a being of that position should have known.

There was also a problem. While Romulus would have possibly no major backing, it was possible that he had hidden, powerful enemies. Forming an alliance was not something Lex had the power to hide, so he would need to have him hide it somehow, while also making him lie low.

Lex also needed a decent reason for why the Midnight Inn might want to form an alliance. In fact, if the reason wasn’t good enough it was better to not form an alliance. After all, one of the reasons why the Innkeeper had remained so mysterious was because no one knew what he was doing and what his background was.

Yet Lex also didn’t want to miss out this opportunity. He was strong now, yes, but thousands of years later he’d be even stronger. Although he did not know much about what might happen, common sense dictated that when the universe grew into its next phase, and the new era arrived, there would be countless new opportunities abound.

Hidden deep within Lex’s eyes was, for once, not fear or caution, but the fires of ambition. This was a once in a lifetime - no, once-in-a-universe’s-lifetime opportunity, and Lex had no intentions of giving it up. To make the most of it, Lex was not going to rush into the Dao realm - that was too dangerous considering his aberrant cultivation path. No, he was going to do something far safer and much more likely: he was going to aim for the ability to fight Dao Lords without reaching that realm!

Up until now, Lex would have never entertained such a thought. It was too dangerous, and merely even thinking as much was something he did not allow himself to do lest he make a mistake. But things were different now. Eclipse had, with her own actions, proven that everything people considered impossible were merely... caution advisories.

So, to make the most of this possible alliance, Lex had to set things up such that as soon as the Dao dormancy period was over, he could reap some benefits.

Lex continued to make more notes, drafting a guide for himself that carefully threaded the line between provoking death and giving up opportunities.

Once he was finally satisfied, Lex read through his notes a couple more times before allowing the notebook to fade from existence. To begin with, it hadn’t been real. It was merely a projection he conjured up - a projection that, when empowered with his Primordial energy, bordered on turning into reality itself!

After thinking about it for a moment, Lex dismissed the projection and appeared inside his office with his actual body, and submitted ten entire Dao items to the system to provide it an abundance of energy. Facing someone as powerful as this, within his own domain, he needed to ensure that the system could run at its optimal state to avoid any unexpected circumstances.

Lex, as the Innkeeper, activated the scale, and watched as it shone and morphed into Romulus - not in the humanoid shape he often took while talking to Lex, but in his true form!

He appeared in front of the Innkeeper like a living monument of ancient majesty, his body covered in overlapping scales that seemed to change colors between obsidian black and dark gold. A long, flowing mane of silver-white fur, deep golden eyes and antlers of the same color gave him a face that looked like it belonged to an old legend - and in a way, it did.

What Lex didn’t know was that as Romulus stood in front of the Innkeeper, his heart trembled internally.

The timing of this summons... it was too perfect to be a coincidence. Had he been summoned even a moment earlier, or a moment later, he would have thought that the timing was a coincidence. But no, this Innkeeper summoned him at the exact moment where Romulus encountered a massive, unbelievable secret.

It was so shocking that if he hadn’t been summoned at that exact moment, he might have done something foolish. The Innkeeper had practically saved his life!

"Your reputation does not do you justice, Innkeeper," Romulus said as he bowed softly, not at all bothered that this Innkeeper wasn’t the person Lex had been standing next to in the fog. Since Lex worked for someone as powerful as this, it only made sense that he often encountered other powerful Dao Lords. Yes, that was totally normal.

Lex, meanwhile, had no idea why Romulus was saying as such, but he let not a single distracting thought appear in his mind. Instead, he remained dedicated to the persona of the Innkeeper, to the point where he lived in the reality of the Innkeeper, instead of merely acting.

It couldn’t be helped - it was the influence of his Dao Intentions. Since he was behaving as the Innkeeper, then he actually became the Innkeeper in mind and spirit, eliminating any gap that may have once existed in his performance.

"Please, be at ease. There’s no need for such formalities," said the Innkeeper as he stepped aside from his desk for once, and came out to sit face to face with Romulus. It was a great honor.