Chapter 1435 — Chapter 1435 Plots within plots
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The constant uses of her did not at all confuse Lex. It was obvious that 'her' would change upon who was using it. Just like Bagheera used 'her' to refer to Mira, his girlfriend, Gerard also used 'her' to refer to his own girlfriend: Lilith.
Lex looked at the piece of paper, and saw some words written on it.
'The Versalis Bank and the Humanoid Alliance have recently had a falling out. They've been confronting the Celestials, and have started funding businesses that are anti-Angel interest. Be careful not to get targeted.'
Lex frowned for a moment, and tried to evaluate his situation. He wanted to determine if he and the Midnight Inn were involved in a plot from the very beginning.
Although the Midnight Inn often claimed to be a neutral organization, one could not ignore that most of the workers were humans, and most of the guests were Devils. Moreover, with his recent involvement with Sekhmet would have put the Midnight Inn on a lot of peoples radar.
Even if others believed his claim to neutrality, at least Ra, Sekhmet, the Sanguis Pluvia and now the HOA that backed Sekhmet would be anti-Midnight Inn. If that were the case, it would be safe to assume that, whether he knew it or not, the Midnight Inn had been pulled into the schemes of universal level organizations.
He wasn't suspecting Ripley of plotting against them. There was simply no need. Ripley merely did what he thought was good for the Inn due to his sincere reverence of the Innkeeper, but that did not mean that the bank backing him had no thoughts.
If they were already making moves against the entire Humanoid Alliance, which Lilith had actually written as the Devilish Alliance but Lex's translator read as the Humanoid Alliance, then moving against a few mere Earth Immortals would hardly even require much precaution. In fact, it might be a good way to gauge the thoughts or capabilities of the Innkeeper.
For better or for worse, it was best to assume that they were already caught within someone else's scheme. On that thought, Lex was immediately tempted to escape back to the Inn. No matter how strong he was, any random Celestial Immortal could squash him like a bug, not to mention the numerous Dao Lords these organizations had.
But it was exactly because he was being plotted against that Lex couldn't leave. For reasons he did not quite understand, he could interfere in matters pertaining to Dao beings without being influenced or detected. If there was any hope of uncovering and resolving the plot, or plots, against the Midnight inn, it would have to rely on him.
Moreover, he really needed to raise his exposure now more than ever. Although at a glance it seemed like the bank had a good relationship with him, even giving him the Void Aegis, who knew what their true intentions were? What if the Bank wasn't even the one plotting against him, but someone else?
He needed to raise his awareness of the forces in the universe as well as how they operated, or else he wouldn't even know who or what to protect himself from.
Suddenly, it felt like a lot of the pressure Lex felt in his early days of cultivating had returned.
With a grave expression, he turned to look at Gerard and Velma. Fortunately, unlike his early days, he was not all alone. He had partners who were not only skilled in their own right, but had formidable connections and sources of their own.
"The situation has changed," Lex spoke to them, using his spirit sense. "I can now conclude that someone is making use of us to probe the Midnight Inn. On appearances it may seem like that previous attack might have been targeting the bank, but there's no reason why it couldn't also have been a convenient way to test us out, or to test out if the Innkeeper would help us.
"If we hadn't managed to protect ourselves from that attack, and returned to the Inn, that may have given the probing party some insight into the Innkeeper's abilities."
Gerard's and Velma's expressions turned serious as well. They did not mind going on vacation and enjoying themselves, and even being attacked during the journey did not do much to dampen their moods. But there was no way they could tolerate a threat towards the Midnight Inn!
"What should we do? Do you think we should return?" Velma asked.
"No matter what action we take, it would be revealing something to the observing parties. At this point, I think what's best for us is to study the situation as best as possible, and learn as much about the universe at large, without getting pulled into this fight by the bank.
"Remember, the Innkeepers approach is not to singlehanded control the Inn, or else he would never need us to run errands or manage security. He is nurturing our strength, and we cannot do that by running away. We need to face this situation head on, and gain as much as we possibly can.
"At the same time, we need to gain a deeper understanding of the positions and stances of all the organizations we meet. For example, according to Liliths note, the bank is making moves against the Humanoid alliance, but the Inn is not officially affiliated with anyone. Does that mean they want to sway us, or perhaps coerce us to stay away from them?
"What about others? In fact, even within the bank, opinions may not always be the same. In summary, we need to be wary of others, while gaining as much for ourselves as possible. No matter what, a probe is only a probe, and no one is directly falling out with the Midnight Inn just yet. After all, if the bank develops a reputation for attacking potential clients, they will lose a lot of business, so they have to protect us now that we've passed the first hurdle. But we also can't rely entirely on them for help."
The three of them continued to discuss their plans moving forward, for this vacation was no longer a simple one. At the same time, Lex reached out to Mary and asked her to have the Rhinocentaurs provide him more information regarding and relating to the Versalis Bank, as well as the New Age Expo.
What was the point of having the equivalent of a universe gossip channel if he didn't use it when it was needed?