"Is this all real?" Marlo asked the question that seemed obvious.
"Yes," said Lex, his expression extremely serious. "Moreover, their backgrounds out in the universe are not simple at all, otherwise they would not be kept prisoner like this on a planet like Earth that has lacking spirit energy. Other than constricting their cultivation, they're essentially free, which is probably where the oversight occurred, allowing these people to treat Earth as they wished."
"Heh," Marlo said with a half smirk, looking at Lex with amusement in his eyes. "Are you explaining that to prevent me from taking any action myself? You know lad, I've been alive for a minute or two. I've lost good friends, and I've lost the opportunity to kill longstanding enemies. Regardless of whoever they may be out in the universe, here on Earth they'll be my b*tches!"
Lex shrugged and said, "as long as these people stop creating problems for Earth it's good enough for me, but at least if you give it to Fernanda it'll be a good way of gauging her reaction. I'm not used to Earth suddenly having an owner, but if it has one it's best to at least understand them first."
Marlo did not immediately answer as his mind churned, going over the pros and cons of various decisions. Regardless of much time he spent at the Inn, it was an essential truth that his foundation was based out of Earth. To stay at the Inn, he needed to pay, and his source of income was indubitably linked to the planet.
Moreover, after the recent Earth Expo, Earth's economy was undergoing a boom. Everything was progressing at a rapid pace, and a new space race had already begun to reach the other planets in the solar system. Others, instead, were planning for mining operations out in space, with the ultimate goal of building massive satellites and space stations around the planet.
In fact, based on the history of Earth and humanity, many expected that the rich and powerful would have all their attention focused on their own personal growth, and the weak and helpless would once again be forgotten, except when it was time to shun them.
But a mysterious organization by the name of Rose Society had appeared overnight with seemingly unlimited resources and reach, and changed the world forever! Rehabilitation centers, homes, schools, colleges, trade schools, farms and more were suddenly provided by them, and they began attracting all those that could not help themselves. In a mere three weeks, a very large portion of homelessness disappeared, for all those willing to move had been relocated, provided with excellent living conditions considering they had not asked for anything in return, and were already training them to reenter society, under the care of the society, of course.
No one knew who was behind the society, regardless of how much they tried to dig up the details, and no one understood what the society's purpose was in doing this. No one, at least no one with significant power, believed such a large organization was truly altruistic.
Regardless, all of that was irrelevant in the face of those whose very purpose it was to create chaos. If those 'prisoners' were not handled, all the progress Earth was making would only become a setup for a larger conflict later.
Despite himself, marlo ended up asking, "What do you plan on doing if you find Fernanda's reaction… lacking?"
Lex shrugged and said, "What can I even do in that case? Maybe I could kill those prisoners myself, but that would not solve the problem which is that Earth is under the ownership of a callous leader. Maybe, in that case, it would be time to consider changing who has control over the situation. I've heard good things about this Jotun Empire, maybe we could invite them to visit the planet."
Marlo did not comment on Lex's plan, and simply stated that he would deliver the binder to Fernanda. Without the copious amounts of pain he felt at every moment distracting him, Marlo was actually a very disciplined and sensible man. Unfortunately, years of being crazy under the influence of his pain had made it somewhat of a habit, and the wide grin on his face after Lex left indicated that he was about to do something crazy again.
Lex, on the other hand, had already stopped thinking about the matter. It wasn't as if he didn't care about his home planet, but rather that he had too many other tasks to deal with. But also, on some level, when he left his home behind and moved into the Inn, a part of him started treating the Inn like his home, and Earth as just another planet the Inn was linked to. As for his family back on Earth… Lex shook his head. For a while now, he had done his best to avoid thinking about them. In fact, it was precisely after he removed his tumor that he subconsciously started avoiding thinking about them at all.
It was not very difficult, for he was swamped. There was one task, especially, that he had been thinking about for a long time. He had been searching for some race or some unique guest who had an innate advantage in this field while completely ignoring those already available and with sufficient skill for the role.
He was thinking specifically of his quest to start a news service he got back in chapter 162… -no, eh, of the quest he got back when Earth was undergoing civil war and he was desperate for news about how things were going.
He had been thinking that he needed to find someone with an innate skill or ability to collect information. Now that he thought about it, if he ever encountered someone with a newspaper system he would be perfect for the role, but there was no point in completely putting off that task until he ran into someone like that - especially when he had someone as skilled as Velma.
Her ability to gather information had genuinely surprised him, and it went far beyond the scope of general information available to the public. She was sifting through information so hidden even the upper echelon of Earth itself had been unaware, not to mention what she told him about Nibiru. Considering these were only 2 binders, he couldn't even imagine what the hundreds of other binders contained.
She was more than qualified, he just had to now give her the tools required to do the job well.
Lex teleported back to his office which he was growing incredibly fond of, and summoned Velma back. She showed up excited, with another binder in her hand, but before she could begin, Lex started speaking.
"Velma, I am genuinely impressed by your ability to collect information and have reevaluated your role at the Inn. You've been placed in upper management because of how long I've known you, and your deep understanding of the Inn, but I see now that this is not where your skills are best put to use.
"For a while, I've been interested in starting a news agency, and I think you'd be perfect to run it. What do you think? I'll give you full control of how you want to run it, and monitor your performance. Then, as your operations finally begin, I can continuously give you feedback on how you can improve."
"Yes!" she blurted out filled with immense excitement, while in her mind she could only think of one thing - the gossip column!
"Excellent," said Lex with a smile and, after a ridiculously long time, finally completed the quest by designating Velma as the head of the news service.
Quest complete!
Reward: Midnight News building!
Without hesitation, he put the Midnight News building on Main street, once again contributing to the most unique street at the Inn.
He teleported himself and Velma over to inspect the new building and check out all of its features. It was a long, rectangular building with only the ground, first and second floors. The ground floor was a public area, with dozens of counters where guests could come in to purchase specific news.
Lex went through the functions of the building in his head, and began sharing them with Velma.
The most common feature of the building was its ability to publish newspapers instantly, and have them appear throughout the Inn instantly. On the first floor, there was a records room as well, where a single copy of every newspaper ever published would be recorded for posterity.
Other than that the building had an interview room, where any lie told by the interviewee would immediately but discreetly alert the interviewer. As much as Lex was hoping, the building lacked any function to detect huge scoops, and searching for and retrieving news would completely be up to the journalists hired at the building.
There was, however, one feature that greatly excited Velma though Lex did not exactly see the charm. It was the advice column.