The Innkeeper-Chapter 1476: Casually making money

"There is no one size fits all answer for such a situation," the Rhinocentaurs said. "The answer can generally be determined by looking at a couple of things. The first would be the kind of ability used by a system. For example, if a target is being tracked by a system, which is relatively a loose connection, then there is a chance that the target can escape the system’s grasp.

"If the ability is more of a core function of the system, such as a beast tamed by a taming system, then it is much more difficult, if not entirely impossible to escape its grasp. The only possible way to get out of such a situation would be to use another system’s ability to counter it. But then the second ability would have to somehow perfectly negate the ability of the first system. It’s not like any random ability would work.

"The second thing to look at, when trying to negate a system ability is the rank of the system involved. The higher the system ranking, the harder it is to avoid or remove. For example, I once heard of a guy who got marked as a repeat customer by a B ranked system.

"Later on, that seemingly insignificant acknowledgment led to that person’s identity being compromised, and he was assassinated. The person involved was a Heavenly Immortal who was adept in camouflage, and yet he was easily recognized by a system user."

"So you don’t have any means to hide from a system’s detection?" Lex asked, seriously studying the two rhinocentaurs. He had long suspected, and practically confirmed that they were somehow connected to a group of people who hunt systems and system users.

Heck, Lex even thought about the possibility that the Rhinocentaurs, as well as everyone else in their community, were under the influence of an even stronger system.

These were things he could not confirm, but he could take advantage of. Their insight already proved invaluable. It made sense that the type of connection mattered. For example, Lex would not be happy if he found out one day that Inn employees could suppress their connection to the Inn, then it would be devastating.

In a lot of ways, that connection was just as much a protection for the workers as it was for the Inn. It kept them from betraying the Inn, which would be pretty important in a situation where any Inn worker was kidnapped.

He was also fairly certain that the Go board he was a part of was a pretty central ability of a system - if it indeed was caused by a system. Still, it was good to be sure.

The two Rhinocentaurs looked at each other, and remained silent for a bit, almost as if lost in contemplation. Of course, Lex was certain that they were secretly communicating somehow. Eventually, though, one of them showed an extremely pained expression, and then took out a cloak from his spatial ring - or at least it appeared that way.

"This might work against some weaker systems of level C and below," the Rhinocentair said as he handed Lex. "It also depends on the ability."

"How does it work?" Lex asked as he grabbed it, and immediately began studying it using his left eye’s ability and his own spirit sense. Unfortunately, if there was something extraordinary about the cloak, it escaped his notice - which he supposed was the point.

"The user just needs to wrap it around their body and channel some energy into it, and it should begin working. Just remember, it hides from preexisting system abilities, it does not defend from new ones."

"Alright, thanks. Would it be fair to assume that if you manage to get your hands on a system, you might be able to get your hands on better equipment to hide from other systems?"

The two Rhinocentaurs turned pale, though that was highly unusual due to their thick, grey skin, yet they didn’t confirm nor did they deny anything.

"Alright, you guys can go for now. If you need anything, you guys can contact me. If you make enough of a contribution, I’ll see about getting you a system."

Lex made it sound like getting a system was as easy as hopping down to the supermarket, which both impressed and intimidated the Rhinocentaurs.

They didn’t understand. In the groupchat, every senior member was a big shot in the universe, wielding astronomical power. Some of those seniors seemed to control powers which, on the surface, seemed even more powerful than the Inn - not that they were in any position to judge how strong the Innkeeper was.

But what they didn’t understand was that with the systems clearly granting so much power, why did the Innkeeper, and even Lex seem so dismissive of it?

They didn’t even consider for a moment that either of those two might have systems of their own. They were too dismissive of systems, almost as if the idea of using a system was insulting to them. It did not even remotely cross their minds that Lex, or perhaps the Innkeeper might be in control of one of the strongest systems in the universe!

Lex sent the two rhinocentaurs away, and then wrapped himself in the cloak to see if he felt a difference.

He did immediately sense that he was suddenly very well hidden. The feeling was similar to, but not exactly like being inside the Chamber of Secrets. There was something about that place that could keep secrets completely hidden, even from the Innkeeper.

Yet when he closed his eyes and visualised the Go board, he could tell that the connection had not even been weakened, let alone severed. If anything, being inside the Midnight Inn did more for weakening the connection than anything else.

He thought back to the Rhinocentaurs comment on using another system’s ability to hide from a system’s ability, but couldn’t think of anything that might help him in this case.

He tried putting on the Host Attire, tried hiding in the Chamber of Secrets, and a few other random ideas he got, but nothing seemed to work.

Instead, he had the feeling that he was making decent progress towards putting another piece on the board rather than hiding from it. Speaking of which, just as Lex was experimenting, another white piece appeared on the board, in one of the lower levels. Explore hidden tales at novelbuddy

It was a regular piece, and Lex couldn’t understand the relevance of it, especially since it did not affect him in any way. Yet he dared not dismiss it either.

For a brief moment, Lex considered trying something with Divine energy. That unusual energy, which could even create miracles, might do the trick. But it was also a finite resource, and Lex didn’t think it would work.

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He wasn’t in a desperate situation just yet, so he didn’t try it.

Instead, he diverted his focus on something else. He contacted Vera, and asked her if there were any oracles who wanted to get their souls cleansed. She was still upset about losing her abilities, and she nagged him a bit, but eventually she helped out.

As it turned out, there was quite a massive list waiting for him. No one wanted to bother him, despite being quite desperate themselves, for they didn’t want to end up provoking him somehow. If he decided that he suddenly didn’t want to help because the oracles had been annoying him, then they would regret it forever.

Although such a thing wouldn’t really happen, it wasn’t as if the others knew that.

So, he asked her to connect him to some of them, and began cleansing their souls. Within their souls, many of them had smell specks of shards of tribulation lightning, eating away at their very existence.

Those whose lightning shards weren’t too concentrated only suffered excruciating pain, while others had their actual souls devoured by the lightning constantly zapping them.

Lex himself found the lightning shards to be quite a tonic. It was like a nice, soothing massage, helping him relieve the tension in his muscles. But, since there wasn’t any actual benefit, Lex gathered most of the shards, put them in a bottle, and put the bottle in the Gift Shop.

It wasn’t everyday that one could buy lightning in a bottle, so he priced it quite high, at 100 million MP per small bottle containing 10 shards and 90 specks of lightning.

Lex was mentally prepared for the bottles to stay in the Gift shop for a very long time, and so focused entirely on helping the oracles. Yet within only a few minutes of putting them up, the bottles disappeared.

That was one of the benefits of having millions of people at the Inn visiting for the games. There was a large variety of them, and they all needed various things.

But after putting up only a few bottles, Lex had to stop. Most of the oracles who wanted this service didn’t live inside the Inn, and a message would have to be sent to them.

Lex briefly considered meeting the angels to help out with their wings, but his intuition was warning him against meeting them. So, with no other excuse to keep him there, Lex finally brought out the ticket to the Seraphim Resort.