Chapter 1518 — 1518: Cooperation

Wu Kong stared at the Innkeeper, waiting for his reaction to the news. What Wu Kong had just revealed to the Innkeeper was a secret of astounding proportions that, if revealed, could shift the entire balance of power in the entire universe.

Wars would be fought, realms would exchange hands, entire races would go extinct or rise up to power. Yet the insufferable Innkeeper merely nodded, as if he was waiting for the story to continue!

"Aren't you surprised?" Wu Kong finally asked, unable to hold back. "The whole universe is speculating whether the Mother is alive or dead. She has not openly acted or appeared for entire ages, making her current status one of the greatest mysteries of the universe. Are you not surprised to hear that she personally gave me such a command? Me, a Beast, a thief, with no affiliation to the Humanoid Alliance or even the Path of Order, got a direct order from Her. Are you not surprised?"

The Innkeepers smiled widened, ever so slightly, before he calmly spoke.

"I do not usually concern myself with things happening outside my Inn, or the affiliations of my guests. But I am pleased to hear that the Mother expressed an interest in my Inn. If she ever needs to rest or take a vacation, we would be most honored to host her."

Wu Kong wanted to rip his own hair out, but refrained from doing that. What kind of an answer was that? How could he be so indifferent?

Wu Kong stopped thinking about it, and instead just focused on the discussion.

"Anyway, like I was saying, I was sent here by the Mother. She had taken notice of the Inn already. As a bastion of human talent, it could not escape her sight. But recently, things took a drastic change. I do not know the exact details, but the reason she sent me here was to serve as a protector for one particular worker at your Inn."

"Oh? Is there a particular danger to one of my workers that I don't know about?" the Innkeeper asked, finally showing some emotion on his face. But even then, it seemed more like mere interest rather than deep concern.

"As far as I know, not really. More importantly, no one can know that I am here to protect a particular guest. I must protect him in silence, and if anything were to happen to him or the Inn, then I have been ordered to save him."

"I do not understand. If there is no real threat, what's the point of sending you? More importantly, from what I understand, you have not been very covert about your presence here. Certain entities may already be on their way here to confront you. Wouldn't that mean attracting attention towards the Inn, instead of away from it? You're bringing more danger to your target, from what I can see."

"I am naturally not here with my real body, so you do not need to worry. No one will waste any real effort in trying to catch one of my clones - not to mention I have already spread thousands of my clones in other public areas across the universe. It is not worth the hassle of offending me just to capture one of my clones - that too from this Inn while there are countless clones available in numerous easier to reach areas. In such a situation, my presence here will actually keep needless trouble away.

"I must admit, in the beginning, the reason I revealed myself was to test your response. Even now, I cannot see your intentions in gathering so many humans and having them work under you. What is the point of having so many Devils as guests? You tread a dangerous line, and you do it so openly.

"Personally, it was my intention to maintain the status quo for as long as possible. Even the Mother made no mention of you, so I wasn't sure if you could be trusted. But then… then I saw Zarek's sword arts come back to life in the hands of one of your workers, and then I finally noticed. It was hidden from view, but if you know what to look for, it was easy to determine. Almost all of your workers are clones of the first few generations of humans.

"Being clones is not enough to give them the same talents and skills as the original, but you have somehow elevated their personal talents and potentials to such a large degree, all so silently and openly, yet somehow without arousing any attention. Within your Inn, I saw the seeds sowed of the return of the Human race to the peak of the realm.

"At that point, no matter what your intentions, even if you are raising them just for the sake of having good workers for your Inn, I could no longer ignore you. I think… it would be best if we come to some kind of understanding, and actually work together. As long as my connection to the Mother is not revealed, it is not impossible for us to cooperate on certain things."

"I appreciate the effort you've taken into protecting one of my workers, but you have not exactly told me who it is you're supposed to be protecting, and why they need protection. Furthermore, I don't see how learning of a sword technique that Z learned forced you to reveal all this to me, or what it is you want to cooperate on."

"How can I not have this conversation with you after learning about Zarek's sword technique? Before their fall, humans were one of the most industrious and militaristic races in existence, posing a grave threat to the enemies of the Humanoid Alliance. Learning of their imminent return on a universal time scale means that I either stand to benefit or suffer a loss based on my affiliations.

"This is a very real potential threat that no one can ignore! After all, the easiest time to kill a Dao Lord is before they become a Dao Lord, and merely show the potential to be one. Of course, a handful of talented humans are not going to change the fate of the universe on their own, but if they can raise the ranking for humans on the Cosmic Ascendance Spectrum, then universe-wide talented humans can begin to take advantage of the difference.

"As for the exact identity of the worker I am to protect, I think, for various reasons, it is best if I do not specify. You can rest assured that I will not interfere in their duties or daily life, and will carry out my protective duties in silence, without raising any suspicion. A large part of that will be by just making the environment of the Inn safer.

"I know that you are not interested - or at least, do not seem interested - in the affairs of the universe at large, but that does not mean those from the universe are not interested in you. Your reputation is too fresh, and largely untested. Even if you have the ability to protect yourself, others don't know that, so they will try to probe you. But, with me around at the Inn, there's no Dao Lord who'd be willing to enter the Inn.

"After all, it's a well-known fact that I will steal something from any Dao Lord that I meet. Just my reputation alone will keep the majority of all Dao Lords away from your Inn. I suppose that's not the best thing for business, so I apologise in advance.

"As to your last question, even I do not know why I need to protect my target, and from what threat. All I know is that if the Mother has deemed him worthy of protection, then there must be something spectacularly significant about him. In fact, it is entirely possible that he alone can cause the return of the Human race to its former peak."

The Innkeeper gave Wu Kong a perturbed look.

"It's not very nice of you to scare away potential guests, although I suppose you're technically not breaking any rules of the Inn if your mere presence here is causing other Dao Lords to stay away.

"Moving on, I find it a little absurd that you're here to protect one of my workers, but don't want to reveal the identity of who you're trying to protect. I suppose as long as you do not disrupt any Inn activities, it is not a big deal.

"Finally, if you want to cooperate with the Midnight Inn, it is not something I am averse to. But first we need to discuss the exact details of what that cooperation entails. What exactly do you want from the Midnight Inn, as a part of your cooperation, and what exactly are you willing to offer?

"I must emphasize this strictly before we discuss any matters - the workers of the Inn, no matter their race or how talented they are, are absolutely not available for some kind of race reclamation mission. I will not be sending them to fight any wars, nor am I going to be sending them to any missions unaffiliated to the Inn. However, if you want them to host an event or plan a party, then we can talk."