The Innkeeper

The first day of briefings lasted ten hours, after which Lex and the rest were sent back so that they could rest and absorb the information. For immortals, ten hours was far from enough to tire them out, so in reality the break was so that they could discuss and contemplate amongst themselves and their teams how they would proceed.

Lex, too, had things to think about. For the majority of the briefing, Lex discovered that he found the laws and rules made a lot of sense and were fair, but when accumulated together, such fairness somehow turned into an extremely constrictive environment.

The rules for the locals and guests were not the same, and it was fair that the guests should not make life difficult for the locals. But the impression that Lex got from his first briefing was that the Artica race was extremely protective of themselves and their realm, and did not actually want anyone coming in, but were forced to accept them.

Despite their many, many restrictions, Lex could already tell that for better or for worse, the Artica realm was destined to be incredibly popular - if interrealm travel to and from became convenient.

Like every other Major realm in the universe, the Artica realm had some unique treasures and materials that could only be found within it, but much more important than anything was the fact that it could allow certain people to completely ignore bottlenecks!

Of course, it was not so straightforward, as whichever cultivator wished to skip the bottleneck would still need to face the Challenge Realm. But even if the Challenge Realm had a 90% fatality rate, which it did not, Lex could imagine cultivators from all over the universe who were stuck at bottlenecks somehow finding a way to arrive at the Artica realm.

Heck, if the Artica realm had not straight out banned anyone trying to use their realm to enter the Dao Lord realm, Lex could imagine that countless Celestial Immortals would have already migrated over.
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Lex found the whole thing quite interesting, and it gave him a few ideas about his Midnight realm as well, but nothing he could implement at the moment.

The thing that caught his interest the most, however, was the ambiguous dangers of the Artica realm. They were hinted upon multiple times, but never clearly expressed.

One of the reasons, as far as Lex could gather, that the realm was such a cohesive force was because the entire realm faced some kind of imminent and ultimate danger that was so immense that only through complete unity could they survive it.

What that danger was exactly had not been mentioned, only that the bank and the Artica race would ensure that there would be no incident of that danger being exposed at the Expo.

But for all the unfriendliness that they were showing within their own realm, the Artica race clearly had plans to spread throughout the universe at a fast pace, already having occupied dozens of smaller, immature realms around their own.

From what had been briefly mentioned, those external satellite realms were being developed to serve as centers of trade, where the Artica realm would ally with other forces in the universe.

"Did you learn anything interesting?" Lex asked Gerard and Velma once they returned to their homes. Though they had been together, they had not conversed much so there was a chance either of them had learned something, through their own means, that they might want to share.

"I can speculate, but nothing concrete," said Gerard. "Based purely on the information we've been provided, I can venture a guess that the relationship between the bank and the Artica race might not be as great as we've been led to believe. If it were, then the rules would not have been so stringent, and the bank as well would not have emphasised that they would not speak out on anyone's behalf. It indicates a certain lack of confidence, or perhaps that they do not want to strain their relationship asking for unnecessary favors.

"I also believe that their realm might have been infiltrated by others before, and caused a certain amount of chaos, hence their extreme vigilance towards outsiders. If these specific details are of importance, then to know more we would need to learn about the details of the first few interactions the Artica race had with the rest of the universe, and how that played out."

Velma nodded, and then spoke up as well.

"A lot of the people in the hall did not take the threat of the Artica race too seriously, and not because they're overly confident in their own background. Instead, it's because while the Artica race might be a threat to any one of them individually, it is impossible for them to take on all of them together. It seems like there is an unspoken agreement between them to pressure the Artica race together. Chances are, this is a probe, and the reason the bank so clearly absolved itself of any responsibility is because it is expecting this, and wants to see the Artica race's reaction."

"So much for being on the same side," Lex muttered as he dissected the bank's behavior. On the surface, it seemed like the bank was allying with the Artica race, but from what he gathered it was also pressuring it to allow the Expo, which would then indirectly serve as an opportunity to test their capabilities and their behavior.

It was an open conspiracy, but the thing about it that made Lex the most uncomfortable was that if the bank was willing to do such a thing to their so-called partners, why were they being so nice to the Midnight Inn?

Or was it just that they hadn't made their intentions clear yet. After all, the bank had likely been working with the Artica race for hundreds if not thousands of years. They had taken their time to spring this trap.

With the Midnight Inn, things were just getting started. It was a testament to his immense self control that he did not frown. The Midnight Inn was getting involved in deeper water than ever before, and the danger that he now needed to juggle was even greater.