The Innkeeper

Chapter 2341: Group project

Lex felt a lot of different things at that exact moment as he displayed the image of the flower. Regix, the floating orb that had kidnapped him via his system and promised to teach him whatever he wanted if he could complete a quest for him, wanted something called the Double Yin Death Metal Rose.

When he told Lex about it, he claimed that he already had the Double Yang Disaster Rose, and wanted the other one. At the same time, he gave Lex a lot of information on this particular flower, not only allowing him to recognize it easily, but also be able to transport it without issue.

Mithon’s description of how the Redwinged Bull died upon touching the flower reminded him of it, but the chances of it being the same were too low, right? On the contrary, it was exactly because this was the Gilded Hollow that Lex suspected it might really exist here.

When he had met Regix, the orb had told him that as far as he was aware, there was only one Double Yin Death Metal Rose in the entire universe, and that it was hidden within the Nether.

But did the Gilded Hollow count as being in the same universe? He wasn’t so sure. However, because it was a remnant of another universe - at least, as far as Lex could tell - it made sense for another one to appear.

Or not. Lex wasn’t sure exactly what the qualifications were for a Double Yin Death Metal Rose to appear, but there really might be a chance for it to appear here. Of course, even if it really appeared, Lex had not decided whether he was going to pursue it or not.

Regix wasn’t exactly the most trustworthy glowing orb, and helping him may have dire consequences. Someone or something that could affect every system in the universe? Even if Lex wanted to learn from him, allowing him to return to the universe was too dangerous.

Lex had no intentions of helping him at all unless he himself reached the Dao Lord realm. With that said, apparently the Double Yin Death Metal could relieve very powerful curses. If that was the case, he might be able to cure the fairies from their curse, or at least cleanse his own body.

Mithon looked at the lone, black flower, and then nodded.

"Yup, that’s the one," she answered without hesitation. "We call it the Death Rose, on account of how lethal it is. But no one else has been able to find it ever since. Or, well, if they found it they kept it a secret or died. Who can say?"

Lex nodded, having confirmed that this really was the flower that Regix was looking for. Even if the flower itself wasn’t a high priority for him right now, it wouldn’t hurt to keep an ear out for more information regarding it. After all, if he found it, he could keep it until he needed it. But if he couldn’t find it, and eventually ever needed it, the Nether would be his only other option.

"What other resources do you know about?" Lex asked.

Mithon, who hadn’t noticed anything strange at all, answered happily.

"There’s the Red Ribbon, a type of leaf that is completely transparent except for a red line that runs through its center. This one is kind of famous because everyone is always looking out for it. They say eating a Red Ribbon gives one enlightenment on a random law to a massive degree.

"I’ve never had one, but I know a guy whose sister had a Red Ribbon and mastered the law of resistance. Oh right, but that law of resistance wasn’t from Vaelûn, so she blew up when she tried to use it. Quite unfortunate."

Lex was stunned. Why did it seem like... all the precious resources ended up killing people?

"Then there’s the Fist of Orion. That’s a type of rock that grows in the shape of an old fellow in the stronghold called Orion. That can freeze time within an enclosed space until its energy runs out."

Lex was stunned. Finally, something that didn’t threaten to kill the user, and a time related treasure at that!

"There’s also the Purple Smog Cloud that can devour anything..."

Once Mithon started to talk, she didn’t stop at all. Maybe it was a side effect of not speaking for countless years, but she shared any and all the information Lex asked about treasures, greatly expanding his catalog of the Hollow’s treasures.

Of course, the process wasn’t quick. But they weren’t short on time either. After all, until they found either a waygate, Truth Crystal or Memory Sphere, they were stuck together.

Yet one day, Lex suddenly stopped and landed on the ground, his expression turning somewhat solemn. Seeing such abrupt actions by the human senior, Mithon was startled, but didn’t dare to interrupt, and waited for the senior to speak on his own.

Lex, meanwhile, was completely focused on his karma. He had been accumulating good karma by absorbing the resources from here, not that it had any real effect on him at the moment.

What concerned him was a different kind of thread that had suddenly bound itself to him. It almost felt like a Karmic string, except that it was strange and alien to him. He’d never seen anything like it before.

His first guess was obviously to assume that this was the equivalent of the karmic string of Pentagal, the other universe. What he didn’t understand was why it had suddenly latched itself to him now. It wasn’t like he had done anything different - he’d been devouring resources for years already.

He needed to understand it quickly, because from the string Lex could sense a distinct feeling of danger, as if his life was now at risk.

Carefully - very, very carefully - Lex probed the string to learn more about it, but as it turned out, such caution wasn’t needed.

The moment he probed it, he learned why the string had appeared. 1 unit of resources in total had been devoured from across the Gilded Hollow, although he didn’t know how much 1 unit really was.

All he knew was that the string provided further feedback as well. Once 100 units of resources from within the Gilded Hollow were devoured in total, an inescapable, absolutely lethal retribution would target them. Oh, and since there was now a retribution string attached to him, he would be facing retributions quite frequently.

Lex frowned. This was not good news. He’d known it since he was in high school - the thing that would get him killed one day was a group project.