"Aku harus jujur, aku tidak tahu harus berharap apa saat datang ke Inn ini," kata Celestial itu kepada rekan separuhnya. "Tapi pasti bukan ini. Lihat ke atas. Kamu melihat hujan itu? Itu Esens Fragmen Mawar. Biasanya ditemukan di realm baru yang banyak vegetasinya. Diduga membuat realm lebih subur, meskipun belum pernah terbukti. Aku belum pernah melihat sebanyak ini. Biasanya menguap ke dalam realm lama sebelum kebanyakan orang sempat menemukannya."
"Apa hubungannya dengan lelangan?" tanya rekan itu, sama sekali tidak tertarik pada hal lain.
"Oh, jangan bilang kamu tidak sedikit pun penasaran dengan Midnight Inn setelah semua kabar yang kita dengar di Aliansi Humanoid," kata Celestial itu. "Belum lagi, fakta saja hujan Esens Fragmen Mawar ini sendiri sudah menarik. Ini teraforming realm yang nyata di depan mata kita. Seberapa sering kamu bisa melihat hal seperti ini? Aku habiskan tiga puluh dekade untuk tesis S2-ku tentang Alterasi Lingkungan Realm, dan satu-satunya referensi yang kupunya hanyalah proyeksi hipotetis dan model buatan A.I."
Rekan itu menatap Celestial dengan ekspresi muak yang dalam, lalu kembali menatap lelangan, dan mengangkat kartu plaknya untuk menawar. Mengangkat tanpa menyebut harga berarti dia menawar jumlah minimum. Dia benar-benar ingin mendapatkan Kompos Belalang itu. Meski namanya begitu, benda ini sebenarnya bisa memaksa degradasi material apa pun yang dimasukkan untuk dikomposkan.
Meski efeknya sederhana, kegunaan di dunia nyata sungguh menakjubkan! Itu bisa mempercepat pembentukan material dari jutaan tahun jadi ratusan ribu tahun saja! Dibandingkan air hujan mawar aneh yang tidak dikenal, inilah yang dia pedulikan.
Celestial itu menggelengkan kepala dan kembali menatap ke atas, mempelajari cara hujan itu larut dan efeknya pada lingkungan sekitar. Pengamatan jangka pendek seperti ini tidak akan memberikan hasil nyata. Kalau dia bisa duduk di sini mempelajari pengaruh hujan ini selama selusin dekade ke depan, barulah dia mulai mengerti detailnya bagaimana hujan ini mempengaruhi realm baru.
Percaya atau tidak, peluang seperti ini langka di alam semesta, meski realm kecil banyak sekali. Jumlah realm yang berkembang tapi kemungkinan tidak mencapai kematangan penuh sebenarnya sangat besar. Tapi kondisi di masing-masing beda sekali, dan akses ke sana biasanya sulit sehingga tidak sepadan.
Saatnya, Celestial itu ingin pergi ke realm berkembang milik perusahaan yang tidak sepantasnya disebut. Aplikasi visanya ketat sekali, meminta seluruh riwayat perjalanan 50 juta tahun terakhir dan semua afiliasi dengan fraksi berperang, niat menjalani tribulasi, dan banyak lagi sehingga dia menyerah. Sama sekali tidak sepadan.
"Baiklah, aku anggap kau yang urus lelangannya, jadi aku pergi dulu untuk misi lain," kata Celestial itu, yang dibalas rekan hanya dengan erangan.
Celestial itu memutar bola mata, lalu menarik aura sepenuhnya, dan memanggil salah satu pekerja Inn. Meski kelihatannya dia hadir untuk lelangan, itu hanya dalih. Sebenarnya Aliansi Humanoid mengirimnya dengan misi lain — yang tidak boleh diketahui orang lain, jadi dia harus menunggu hingga lelangan dimulai.
"Tuan tamu, ada yang bisa kubantu?" kata pekerja yang datang — manusia realm Nascent biasa, tapi dia tidak terganggu sedikit pun oleh status atau tingkat kultivasi Celestial itu. Fenomena menarik yang diamati Celestial di Midnight Inn. Hampir membuatnya ingin menghabiskan beberapa abad di sini mempelajari perkembangan manusia dari lahir hingga dewasa, lihat bagaimana lingkungan bebas tekanan mempengaruhi perkembangan psikologi mereka. Sayangnya, dia sedang bertugas.
"Tolong antar ini ke Innkeeper," kata Celestial, menyerahkan surat sederhana. "Beritahu dia ini dari Aliansi Humanoid. Dan rahasiakan urusan ini antara kita, ya?"
"Tentu," jawab pekerja, mengambil surat dan teleportasi pergi.
"Teleportasi di Inn ini menarik," komentar Celestial. "Mereka tidak memanfaatkan hukum ruang, dan tidak meninggalkan jejak sama sekali. Sangat nyaman untuk misi rahasia."
Rekan Celestial itu mengerang, tapi tidak bicara apa-apa. Karena sudah lama bermitra, mereka kenal kebiasaan masing-masing. Satu total akademis, bermimpi jadi peneliti di universitas, dan satu lagi brutal praktis, hanya peduli pada hal yang benar-benar bisa dipakai dalam hidupnya. Sayang buat Celestial, dia belum memenuhi syarat untuk posisi peneliti di institusi bereputasi. Bekerja untuk aliansi akan memenuhi kredit papan universalnya though.
Beberapa menit kemudian, pekerja yang sama kembali.
"Innkeeper meminta kehadiran Tuan," katanya. "Kalau mau, aku bisa bawa Tuan langsung ke kantornya."
Celestial mengangguk, dan menyerahkan diri untuk diteleportasi, langsung ke kantor Innkeeper. Dia tidak bisa terlihat di tempat lain, jadi harus diteleportasi langsung ke dalam. Dia mendengar biasanya memasuki kantor Innkeeper melewati semacam ujian. Celestial tidak bisa menahan rasa penasaran bagaimana ujian itu bekerja.
Tapi dia tidak sempat merenung lama karena muncul langsung di kantor, tepat di depan Innkeeper yang sepertinya menunggunya.
"Innkeeper, semoga Tuan tidak keberatan aku mengganggu," kata Celestial, membungkuk rendah.
"Tolong, buang formalitas ini. Duduk. Aku cukup penasaran mengapa kau pikir aku bisa membantumu dengan tugasmu."
Celestial duduk sebagaimana diperintah, dan mengeluarkan surat lain — yang harus disampaikan dengan tangan sendiri.
"Aku yakin ini menjelaskan semuanya."
Innkeeper tersenyum terhibur, mengambil surat dan duduk di kursinya. Dengan lancar, dia mengeluarkan pembuka surat dan membuka segel lilin — yang berisi aura seorang Dao Lord.
Celestial menelan ludah, dan sekaligus tidak bisa menahan tatapan ke pembuka surat itu. Dia bertanya-tanya terbuat dari apa.
"I have to say, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I was coming to the Inn," said the Celestial to his partner. "But it certainly wasn’t this. Look up. Do you see that rain? That’s Rose Fragment Essence. It’s usually found in newborn realms that have a lot of vegetation. It is theorized that it makes realms more fertile, though it’s never been proven. I’ve never seen so much of it before. It usually evaporates into the realm long before most can even encounter it."
"What does any of that have to do with the auction?" the partner asked, not even remotely interested in anything else.
"Oh, come on, don’t tell me you’re not even the slightest bit interested in the Midnight Inn after everything we’ve been hearing down at the Humanoid Alliance," the Celestial said. "Not to mention, just the fact that it’s raining Rose Fragment Essence is interesting on its own. This is blatant terraforming of the realm right in front of our eyes. How often do you get to see something like that? I did a thirty-decade thesis for my masters on Realm Environment Alteration, and the only thing I had access to as research were hypothetical projections and models created by the A.I."
The partner looked at the Celestial with a deep, nauseated look, and then turned back to the auction, and raised his plaque card to indicate that he was bidding. Raising without mentioning the price meant that he bid the minimum amount required to bid. He really wanted to get his hands on that Locust Compost. Despite its name, the item could actually forcefully degrade any material added to it for composting.
Although the effect was straightforward, the realworld utility of it was mindblowing! That could basically speed up the breakdown of materials from millions of years to mere hundreds of thousands of years! Compared to some stupid, unknown rose rain water or whatever, this is what he cared about.
The Celestial shook his head and turned back to look up at the rain, studying the way it dissolved and the effects it had on the surrounding environment. Such short term observation would not yield any real results. If he could sit here and study the influence this particular rain had over the next dozen decades or so, only then would he begin to grasp at the finer details of how it affected a newborn realm.
Believe it or not, such opportunities were rare in the universe, despite the abundance of smaller realms. The number of realms that were developing but likely wouldn’t reach full maturity was actually absurdly large. But the circumstances in each of them were so different, and getting access to them was usually so difficult that it wasn’t worth it.
One time, the Celestial wanted to go to a developing realm owned by some company not really worth mentioning. The visa application for it was so stringent, it asked for all travel history for the past 50 million years and all affiliations with any warring factions, intentions of undergoing any tribulations and so much else that he just gave up. It totally wasn’t worth it.
"Well, I’ll take it that you’re handling the auction then, so I’ll head off to do the other mission," the Celestial said, to which his partner grunted.
The Celestial rolled his eyes, but then withdrew his aura entirely, and summoned one of the Inn workers. Although it looked like the Celestial was here for the auction, that was just a front. In truth, the Humanoid Alliance had sent him here with another mission - one that he could not let others know about, so he had to wait till the auction began.
"Dear guest, how can I help you?" said the worker who came in - a mere Nascent realm human, yet she remained completely unbothered by his status or cultivation level. It was quite an interesting phenomenon he’d observed in the Midnight Inn. It almost made him want to spend a few centuries here studying the development of mortals from birth to maturity to see how an environment free from pressure affected the development of their psychology. Unfortunately, he was on the clock.
"Please deliver this to the Innkeeper," the Celestial said, handing over a simple letter. "Let him know that this is from the Humanoid Alliance. And keep this matter between us, will you?"
"Of course," the worker said, before taking the letter and teleporting away.
"The teleportation in the Inn is so interesting," the Celestial commented. "They don’t utilize any space laws, and they don’t leave any trace either. It’s quite convenient for covert missions."
The Celestials’ partner groaned, but didn’t say anything. Since they’d been partners for so long, they were well aware of each other’s quirks. One was a total academic, with dreams of becoming a researcher at a university, and one was brutally practical, only caring about what he could actually use in his own life. Unfortunately for him, the Celestial hadn’t yet fulfilled all the criteria to take on a research position in any respectable institution. Working for the alliance would help fulfil his universal exposure credits though.
A few minutes later, the same worker reappeared.
"The Innkeeper is requesting your presence," he said. "If you’d like, I can bring you right to his office."
The Celestial nodded, and allowed himself to be teleported away, directly into the Innkeepers office. He couldn’t afford to be seen anywhere else, which is why he had to be teleported directly in. He’d heard about how typically entering the Innkeepers office required crossing some kind of trial. The Celestial couldn’t help but wonder how the trial worked.
Yet he didn’t have time to ponder for too long as he appeared directly in the office, right in front of the Innkeeper who seemed to be waiting for him.
"Innkeeper, I hope you do not mind my intrusion," the Celestial said, bowing deeply.
"Please, disperse with these formalities. Take a seat. I’m quite interested to hear why you think I would be able to help you with your task."
The Celestial sat down, as instructed, and pulled out another letter - one he was supposed to deliver with his own hands.
"I believe this should explain everything."
The Innkeeper gave an amused smile, before taking the letter and sitting down at his chair. Smoothly, he pulled out a letter opener and removed the wax seal - the one that contained the aura of a Dao Lord.
The Celestial gulped, and at the same time couldn’t help but look at the letter opener. He wondered what it was made of.
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