Biasanya, saat berhadapan dengan entitas tak dikenal, hal pertama yang Lex lakukan adalah memindai mereka. Mengindari pindaiannya kini mampu mendeteksi orang hingga ranah Celestial, hal itu jauh lebih berguna.
Sayangnya, pindai Sistem tidak pernah bekerja pada orang lain yang memiliki Sistem, jadi Lex harus mengumpulkan semua informasi relevan sendiri, yang untuk beberapa hal tidak terlalu sulit. Bahkan dengan pengalaman Lex yang sangat terbatas tentang planet hidup, ini pertamanya bertemu, dia bisa memberitahu bahwa planet di depannya memiliki kultivasi sendiri, dan berada di, jika tidak dekat, puncak ranah Celestial. "Selamat datang tamu, di Midnight Inn," kata Lex. Berpura-pura tenang di hadapan entitas jauh lebih superior yang mampu dengan mudah membunuhnya justru membuat Lex merasa sedikit nostaligik. Sudah cukup lama sejak dia melakukan hal seperti ini.
"Aku adalah Innkeeper, pemilik tempat sederhana ini."
Lex tidak melanjutkan. Biasanya, perkenalan awal diikuti beberapa baris lain yang membantu mengarahkan pemikiran target ke jalur yang diinginkan. Masalahnya sekarang, dia tidak tahu bagaimana planet ini memasuki Inn, apa niatnya, dan apa yang bisa Lex tawarkan.
"Aku Ereboth yang Tak Terpuaskan," ujar planet itu akhirnya, setelah beberapa detik keheningan. "Apakah kau benar-benar Innkeeper? Dari... dari..."
Seharusnya Lex tahu reputasinya mendahului. Dia bertanya-tanya pencapaian mana dari banyak pencapaiannya yang telah sampai ke dunia sadar. Apakah Midnight Games, yang menyapu sebagian besar Alam Asal? Tindakannya hampir membunuh sebuah Dewa? Kerja samanya terbaru dengan Henali? Atau mungkin...
"Apakah kau Innkeeper dari komik Midnight Inn?" tanya Ereboth dengan semangat. Untung Lex sudah lama menguasai seni pengendalian diri, atau kekecewaannya akan terasa nyata. Bagaimana dia tidak tahu komik itu? Velma menulisknya di bawah nama samarannya dan mempublikasikannya di portal Henali. Komik itu begitu sukses sehingga dia, sebagai penulis, mengembangkan pengikut kultus dan mendapatkan banyak calon suami yang tidak menginginkan selain menikahinya. "Daripada bilang aku Innkeeper dari komik," ucap Innkeeper, suaranya tenang dan sabar seperti biasa, "lebih akurat bilang komik itu tentang aku."
Planet itu bergeming terlihat, penuh kegembiraan.
"Wah, aku tidak bisa bilang seberapa besar fansku!" seru Ereboth yang Tak Terpuaskan. "Meski Henali mengurungku di penjara, mereka cukup baik meninggalkan koneksi ke portal Henali agar aku tetap update berita terbaru. Bayangkan betapa membosankan dan monoton abadi saat kau dibatasi ke satu galaksi di mana tak ada yang sehebatmu."
Ereboth bicara nada gembira dan ceria, tapi Lex jauh dari Innkeeper lemah di masa lalu. Ranah kultivasinya bukan satu-satunya yang tumbuh, begitu pula berbagai kemampuan dan instingnya. Dari kata-kata Ereboth yang sederhana, seperti mengeluh betapa membosankannya tak ada yang sesingkatnya, Lex merasakan kehausan darah yang luar biasa. Faktanya, setiap tindakan yang dunia itu lakukan, setiap kata yang diucapkannya mengungkap aura tersembunyi, tersembunyi dari semua kecuali yang paling observan.
Lex tidak percaya pernah bertemu siapapun dengan begitu banyak darah di tangannya seperti Ereboth. Sekali itu mungkin tidak benar, tapi dia pasti belum pernah bertemu siapapun dengan keinginan tak terpuaskan untuk membunuh sebanyak planet ini. Dia absolut tidak bisa menganggapnya enteng.
"Kemonotonan juga peluang untuk melatih diri," ucap Lex, tidak benar-benar bilang apa-apa. "Aku yakin yang seperti kau menemukan cara mengisi waktunya."
Lex butuh celah. Dia butuh planet itu mengungkap sesuatu tentang dirinya, atau mungkin niatnya. Dia tidak bisa sembarangan bicara soal Sistem, apalagi memintanya gunakan otoritas superiornya.
"Hehehe, nah aku dapet beberapa camilan di sana-sini untuk mengisi waktu," kata Ereboth, bentuknya tiba-tiba berubah. Daripada tetap dalam bentuk planet tertindas, dia berubah jadi penampilan manusia, mirip Innkeeper, dan akhirnya duduk di depannya.
"Bicara soal camilan, Innkeeper, aku baca sesuatu menarik di komikmu. Aku penasaran apakah sama di realita. Apakah benar... sekali Inn diserang, kau tahan penyerang di Inn sebagai tahanan?"
Meski Ereboth bicara sopan dan tersenyum, Lex langsung merasakan kebencian yang sangat besar dalam kata-kata planet itu. Faktanya, sekarang dia duduk di depan Lex sebagai manusia, ekspresinya lebih mudah dibaca, dan tidak menyenangkan.
Ada juga fakta Lex sendiri sudah baca semua komik yang Velma tulis — hanya untuk memastikan dia tidak membocorkan rahasia, dan sama sekali bukan karena dia suka baca komik tentang dirinya bertindak keren. Tak ada di komik yang pernah mengintip Inn menahan tahanan. Itu akan ciptakan citra buruk Inn, dan Velma tidak akan lakukan hal seperti itu. Lagipula, kalau tamu baca kalau Innkeeper bisa memaksa menonaktifkan kemampuan mereka keluar Inn, mereka pasti tidak akan merasa santai.
Sebelum Lex bisa jawab, Ereboth lanjut.
"Daripada tahan tahanan di Inn, bukankah lebih baik kirim mereka ke tempat lain? Mungkin dunia penjara yang proper? Aku tidak tahu apakah kau tahu, tapi Henali mengirim semua narapidana hukuman mati dari seluruh ranah kepadaku untuk... ditangani. Kau bisa lakukan hal yang sama."
Tiba-tiba Lex merasakan sesuatu yang tidak pernah dia rasakan — minimal sebagai Innkeeper! Dia merasakan dirinya dikunci oleh indra spirit jahat! Meski muncul dengan aura Dao Lord, Ereboth berani mengunci ke arahnya!
Normally, faced with an unknown entity, the first thing Lex would do was scan them. Considering that his scan was now able to even detect people up until the Celestial realm, it was much more useful.
Unfortunately, the system scan never worked on others with systems, so Lex would have to gather all pertinent information himself, which for a few things wasn't difficult. Even with Lex's extremely limited experience with living planets, this being the first one he had met, he could tell that the planet in front of him had a cultivation of its own, and it was at, if not near, the very peak of the Celestial realm. "Greetings guest, to the Midnight Inn," Lex said. Pretending to be completely calm in front of a considerably superior entity that was capable of easily killing him actually made Lex feel slightly nostalgic. It had been a good while since he had done something like this.
"I am the Innkeeper, owner of this humble establishment."
Lex did not continue. Usually, the initial introduction would be followed by a few other lines which would help guide the thoughts of his target along the lines that he wanted. The issue right now was, he had no idea how this planet had entered the Inn, what its intentions were, and what Lex could possibly offer it.
"I am Ereboth the Insatiable," the planet eventually said, after a few seconds of silence. "Are you truly the Innkeeper? From the… from the…"
Lex should have known his reputation preceded him. He wondered which of his numerous feats had reached the sentient world. Was it the Midnight Games, which had swept a good portion of the Origin realm? Was it his act of almost slaying a Deity? His latest cooperation with the Henali? Or perhaps it was…
"Are you the Innkeeper from the Midnight Inn comics?" Ereboth asked with a hint of excitement. It was a good thing Lex had long mastered the art of self control, or his disappointment would have been palpable. How could he not know about those comics? Velma had been writing them under her pseudonym and publishing it on the Henali portal. The comics had become so successful that she, as the author, had developed a cult following and had gained many suitors who wanted naught but to marry her. "Rather than saying I am the Innkeeper from the comics," the Innkeeper spoke, his voice calm and patient as ever, "it would be more accurate to say that those comics are about me"
The planet trembled visibly, filled to the brim with excitement.
"Oh man, I can't tell you how much of a fan I am!" Ereboth the Insatiable exclaimed. "Even though the Henali locked me in my prison, they were nice enough to leave me a connection to the Henali portal so I could stay up to date with all the latest news. You can imagine how boring and monotonous eternity gets when you're restricted to a single galaxy where no one is as strong as you."
Ereboth was speaking in a jolly and jovial tone, but Lex was far from the weak Innkeeper he had once been. His cultivation realm was not the only thing that had grown, so had his various abilities and instincts. From Ereboths seemingly simple words, such as exclaiming how boring it was no one else was of his level, Lex felt an immense amount of bloodlust. In fact, every single action that the world did, every single word that it spoke revealed an underlying aura, hidden to all but the most observant.
Lex did not think he'd ever met anyone with as much blood on his hands as Ereboth. Actually that might not be true, but he'd certainly never met anyone with as much of an insatiable desire to kill as much as the planet. He absolutely could not take it lightly.
"Monotony is also an opportunity to temper oneself," Lex spoke, not really saying anything. "I am sure one such as you found ways to occupy yourself."
Lex needed an opening. He needed the planet to reveal something about itself, or perhaps its intentions. He could not randomly talk to it about systems, let alone ask him to use his superior authority over it.
"Hehehe, well I found a few snacks here and there to munch on to fill the time," Ereboth said, its shape suddenly beginning to change. Instead of remaining in the form of a suppressed planet, it transformed into the appearance of a human, similar to the Innkeeper, and finally sat down in front of him.
"Speaking of snacks, Innkeeper, I read something interesting in your comics. I wonder if the same is true for reality. Is it true that… once the Inn is attacked, you keep the attackers locked in your Inn as prisoners?"
Although Ereboth spoke politely and with a smile, Lex immediately sensed an immense amount of malice within the planet's words. In fact, now that he was sitting in front of Lex as a human, his expressions were even easier to read, and they were not pleasant.
There was also the fact that Lex himself had read all the comics Velma wrote - simply to make sure she did not reveal something best kept secret, and not at all because he liked reading comics of himself acting cool. Nothing in the comics had ever hinted at the Inn keeping prisoners. That would create a very bad impression of the Inn, and Velma would never do something like that. After all, if guests read about the fact that the Innkeeper could forcibly shut down their ability to leave the Inn, they absolutely wouldn't feel as relaxed.
Before Lex could answer, Ereboth continued.
"Instead of keeping your prisoners captive within the Inn, wouldn't it be better to send them elsewhere? Maybe a proper prison world? I don't know if you know this, but Henali sends all its death row convicts from across the entire realm to me to… take care of. You could do much the same."
Suddenly, Lex experienced something he had never felt before - at least as the Innkeeper! He felt himself locked onto by a malicious spirit sense! Despite appearing with the aura of a Dao Lord, Ereboth had dared lock onto him!
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