Dalam sem mikrodetik setelah Ballom mengetahuinya, Innkeeper membudai di Dao Mist, sebuah konferensi dipanggil dan diadakan. Bukan semua anggota, tetapi banyak anggota paling penting dari Humanoid Alliance hadir.
"Innkeeper secara publik memproyeksikan dirinya membudayakan di Dao Mist. Saya belum pernah melihatnya secara pribadi, karena masuk ke Midnight Inn bukan hal yang saya inginkan risikonya, tetapi saya percaya proyeksi itu tidak boleh palsu. Dao Mist harus benar-benar ada, atau tidak ada tetap ada poin untuk memproyeksikannya secara publik. Yang kita perlu ketahui sekarang adalah… siapa yang telah dia berlehaskan, dan bagaimana?"
Ketenang publik menyelimuti ruang konferensi tersebut, sementara semua hadir meresapi berita yang mematikan itu. Harus diketahui, meskipun banyak perang di berbagai realm di seluruh alam semesta sedang berlangsung, kematian seorang Dao Lord saja sudah menjadi masalah besar.
Secara relatif, tidak ada perang besar yang sedang berlangsung di seluruh alam semesta. Ada beberapa perang kecil, tetapi dibatasi hanya satu perang per realm. Sangat jarang sekali satu perang menjangkau dari satu realm ke realm lainnya. Karena itu, penanggulangan Dao Lord yang sebenarnya adalah hal minimal, jika ada saja.
Dalam sejumlah serius, lebih mudah untuk mengunci atau menangkap seorang Dao Lord daripada membunuhnya, sehingga hal itu lebih umum terjadi dalam perang. Jika terjadi, Dao Lord yang ditangkap akan dibayar paksa kembali ke organisasi asalnya, dan mereka akan berelegasi untuk tidak mengulang konflik yang sama.
Semua ini menuruti pemahaman diam yang menyebar di seluruh alam semesta. Jadi sekarang, melihat seorang Dao Lord saja yang telah membunuh banyak Dao Lord, lalu mempublikasikan diri dengan Dao Mist untuk budayakan adalah sebuah pernyataan agresi paling brutal pada era modern.
"Energi Karmanya tetap tak berubah. Tidak ada Dao Lord yang diketahui telah pergi," serong seorang Langit, dengan kebingungan.
Ballom mengingkar. Ia berkomunikasi dengan Iblis di Midnight Inn dan memanggil kembali lebih dari satu juta orang dari mereka ke Garvitz. Kemudian, dari memori lebih dari satu juta Iblis, ia mengekstrak citra Innkeeper duduk silat, tubuhnya ditutupi kabut. Lebih pentu lagi, ia juga menangkap memori dari apa yang terasa aura dari mereka.
"lebih dari satu juta memori memakainya konfirmasi. Setidaknya untuk saat ini, sebenarnya dapat dikatakan bahwa Innkeeper dikelilingi Dao Mist yang sebenar-benarnya ada. Itu hanya berarti satu. Dia bisa menyembunyikan rezultasi karmic pembunuhan seorang Dao Lord."
"Jangan membuat kesimpulan tergesa-gesta," berkata seorang Elf, suaranya gemetaran dan penuh kebingungan. "Ada penjelasan lain untuk ini. Harus ada."
"Laporan mendadak dari Versalis Bank kepada semua pemangku kepentingan," mendadak berinterupsi seorang Penguin, memegang sebuah surat kabar. "Bank mengakui Midnight Inn…" ia membekukan, lalu mengangkat mata ke Ballom dengan keheranan.
"Suasa telah diajukan gerakan untuk mengakui Midnight Inn sebagai Pangkuban Kekuasaan Innkeeper! Ada gerakan juga untuk membuka cabang bank baru yang akan dibahas. Resolusi berdasarkan gerakan tersebut akan dipublikasikan dalam laporan keuangan giga-tahunan berikutnya. Suku Primal telah dihubungi untuk mengonfirmasi tuntutan sebelum gerakan diserahkan ke pangkalan."
Setiap Dao Lord di ruangan itu memandang ke arah penguin itu, lalu memandang ke arah Ballom. Ballom, di sisi lain, sudah mengambil uPhone-nya dan langsung menelepon anaknya Lilith dari melintasi Void.
"Halo, ini Lilith yang sedang bicara," serunya suara yang manis dari sisi lain. "Ini adalah ponsel pribadi saya, dan saya tidak mengenali nomor panggilan ini. Siapa ini dan bagaimana Anda mendapatkan nomor saya?"
"Lilith, ini adikmu," kata Ballom, untuk pertamakalinya dalam serangsangnya hidup menyebut dirinya seperti itu. "Kapan Anda berencana untuk menikah dengan boyfriend Anda itu? Saya tidak muda lagi, dan saya ingin bermain dengan cucu saya sebelum ulang tahun bilion berikutnya."\\n
Sempadakan tenang menyelimuti ruangan tersebut ketika mereka mendengar suara Lilith yang segera putus. Mereka kemungkinan telah memikirkan itu sebagai panggilan kolusi.
"Maaf, para tuan," kata Ballom. "Saya perlu menanggapi urusan pribadi."\\n
Ia menghilang, pergi untuk mencari adiknya dan menetapkan tanggal pernikahan.
Bersamaan dengan itu, di seluruh alam semesta, banyak yang pertama kali mendengar tentang Midnight Inn – karena kabar tentang Dao Mist belum tersebar, tetapi hanya akan ada amannya sebelum ia tersebar.
Namun, mereka di dalam Midnight Inn tidak tahu tentang ini, dan tidak peduli. Saat Innkeeper membuka matanya, semua makhluk hidup di dalam realm Midnight merasakan sesuatu yang berat menjulur di dada mereka. Itu seolah pandangan Innkeeper bisa langsung melihat, bahkan memengaruhi, Karmanya mereka.
Tidak, bukan itu. Itu seolah seluruh Karmanya sendiri telah berhenti bekerja, menyajikannya di hadapan Innkeeper, siap dimanipulasi sesuai keinginannya.
Beruntung, perasaan itu hanya berlangsung sebentar.
"Seperti yang perlu terjadi,
Within one microsecond of Ballom learning news of the Innkeeper cultivating in Dao Mist, a conference was called and held. Not all members, but many of the most important members of the Humanoid Alliance were present.
"The Innkeeper is publicly projecting an image of himself cultivating in Dao Mist. I have not seen it myself, for entering the Midnight Inn is not something I want to risk, but I believe that the projection should not be false. The Dao Mist should be real, or there would be no point in projecting it publicly. What we need to figure out now is… who has he killed, and how?"
Pin drop silence filled the conference room as everyone took in the shocking news. It had to be known that, despite many realm wars going on across the universe, the death of a single Dao Lord was a big deal.
Comparatively speaking, there were no major wars going on in the universe. There were multiple smaller wars, but they were confined to one war per realm. It was rare for a single war to extend from one realm to another. As such, any actual Dao casualties were a minimum, if they occurred at all.
In all seriousness, it was easier to seal or trap a Dao Lord than kill one, so that was the more common practice in wars. If that happened, the captured Dao Lord would be ransomed back to their original organization, and they would refrain from reentering the same conflict.
All of this was according to a silent, unspoken understanding that spanned the universe. So now, to see a single Dao Lord having killed multiple Dao Lords, and then to publically use Dao Mist to cultivate was akin to the most brutal war declaration in the modern age.
"The Universal Karma is unchanged. No known Dao Lords have perished," said a Celestial, with confusion.
Ballom frowned. He communicated with the Devils in the Midnight Inn, and called back over a million of them to Garvitz. Then from the memories of over a million Devils, he pulled out the image of the Innkeeper sitting cross legged, his skin covered in mist. More importantly, he also captured their memory of what the aura felt like.
"Over a million memories confirm it. For now at least, it can basically be confirmed that the Innkeeper is surrounded by real Dao Mist. That only means one thing. He can hide the Karmic repercussions of killing a Dao Lord."
"Don't jump to conclusions," spoke an Elf, his voice jittery and filled with disbelief. "There are other explanations for this. There has to be."
"There's an urgent report from the Versalis Bank to all stakeholders," a dwarf suddenly interrupted, holding a newsletter. "The Bank is recognizing the Midnight Inn…" he paused, and then looked up at Ballom in shock. He continued to speak, but his voice became unusually high pitched.
"A motion has been submitted to recognize the Midnight Inn as the Seat of Power of the Innkeeper! There's also a motion to open a new bank branch that will be discussed. The resolution based on the motion will be published in the next giga-annum fiscal report. The Primal race has been contacted to confirm the claim before the motion is presented onto the floor."
Every single Dao Lord in the room looked towards the dwarf, and then looked towards Ballom. Ballom, on the other hand, had picked up his uPhone and directly called his daughter Lilith from across the Void.
"Hey, this is Lilith speaking," a cute voice spoke from the other side. "This is my personal phone, and I don't recognize the calling number. Who is this and how did you get my number?"
"Lilith, this is dad," Ballom said, for the first time in his long life referring to himself like that. "When are you planning on marrying that boyfriend of yours? I'm not getting any younger, and I want to play with my grandchildren before my next billionth birthday."
A stunned silence filled the room as they heard the sound of Lilith hanging up the call. She likely thought that it was a prank call.
"Excuse me gentlemen," Ballom said. "I need to attend to a matter."
He disappeared, off to find his daughter and set a date for the wedding.
Simultaneously, across the universe, many were learning about the Midnight Inn for the first time - mainly because of the Banks newsletter. The news about the Dao Mist had not spread just yet, but it would only be a matter of time before it did.
Yet those inside the Midnight Inn did not know about this, nor did they care. The moment the Innkeeper opened his eyes, all living beings within the Midnight realm felt a weight fall upon their chest. It was as if the Innkeepers gaze could directly view, and even affect, their Karma.
No, that was not it. It was as if all of their Karma itself had stopped working as it presented itself before the Innkeeper, ready to be manipulated according to his will.
Fortunately, the feeling lasted only a short moment.
"What an event it has been," the Innkeeper said, his voice echoing through space, affected by the mist. Lex did not know it just yet, but his System was also recovering, as well as being affected by the Dao Mist. The changes were not drastic just yet, for Dao Mist did not actually contain any Dao. Even so, it was one of the most nourishing things in existence - if only because of its long term effects.
"These games, as we call them, are not games because we sit in seats and watch the competitors from high above. We are not lording over others, acting superior. In fact, we, who observe, are merely spectators for those valiant warriors who play with the strings of destiny, and weave their own story.
"Treating Fate as a game, and playing with it as we wish, that is the essence of the Midnight Games. This time around, we had entire armies fighting for the right to improve their lives, and in the process, cleansed a realm of some malediction. Their valor, their sacrifices, their bravery, all of them are things we will never forget!"
Of course, as Lex gave this speech, he had already forgotten everything, because three subway sandwiches away from him, a wild weed was growing, and it was developing the aura that belonged to the Dao.
The problem was, when he tried to run, the weed looked at him angrily, so Lex had no choice but to continue sitting, and continue absorbing the mist. Oh right, he was also giving a speech.
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