Once Lex eventually returned to the Inn, he put the containers full of rocks in the storage area attached to his apartment. He had purposefully created a large storage space where he could place items that he wanted to keep safe.
Taking a single piece of rock, Lex first ran an experiment. He stared at it with his left eye, and began writing down anything that came to his mind. Regardless of whether it was a random thought, observation, guess, or feeling, Lex began to write it down.
While his left eye could provide him with a lot of additional information, he didn't really understand most of it. It was time he began to understand his own body a little better. Of course, that also entailed revising some basic biology while also keeping in mind that the science he had studied on earth seemed to be limited to the absence of spiritual energy. If certain laws changed in the presence of spiritual energy, then nothing in his education had prepared him for that.
Still, after some basic revision he was reminded of the fact that it wasn't his eyes that actually 'saw' anything. His eyes were only tools to capture the light and send the information to the brain. So basically his left eye was an upgraded tool, while his right eye was a normal one. Maybe if he wanted to completely understand the information from his right eye he had to upgrade his brain, but he had no interest in trying any such thing.
The rock, dark gray, was oddly shaped and jagged, as if it had been broken off. Yet it did not have any of the obvious traits of a sedimentary rock, such as layering or small sediments of different nature.
There were no signs of other minerals embedded within the rock, and it seemed as if it was purely made of a single element. That in itself was an incredible feat, as far as Lex knew.
He was no geologist, so he didn't bother focusing on any of that. He only focused on the feedback his eye gave him.
The longer Lex stared at it, the more he began to feel as if this 'rock' was not a natural formation. Other than its shape, which could be attributed to be the result of mining, everything about the rock started to seem perfect. After a few minutes of staring at it, Lex finally put it down and looked at the list.
There were a few random thoughts he'd written down about how the rock could be possibly used. Now it was time to verify it.
As usual, Lex put the rock in the Gift shop as an item to be sold, and read its description.
Orion's Scale piece
A small piece broken from a single scale of a race of beasts known as Orion. Known as the assassins of the beast word, these creatures are almost impossible to detect through normal means as every part of their body has some camouflaging effect. The scales, while incredibly sturdy when the beast is alive, become relatively vulnerable to heat and can be easily shaped at high temperatures. The scale piece retains a portion of the beast's camouflaging ability.
Well, it seemed that Lex was horribly wrong about the rock not being natural, but among his notes were noted down the facts that the rock could easily be shaped at high temperatures. He put the rock back. He didn't currently have a use for it, but that didn't mean he wouldn't have a use for it later.
Currently, he was free. He was waiting for the council to get their servers up and running once again - a thing in which he could offer no help. He also kept up to date with the information on the war as the council was receiving it, and the situation wasn't good at all.
On average, it seemed like the 'civilian' robots that Lex had faced had the strength equivalent of a peak Foundation realm expert.
While it was not so bad to hear, Earth was severely lacking in the number of foundation realm experts. Worldwide, the number of Foundation realm experts capable of fighting was barely in the tens of thousands, yet such a force had now focused on Europe alone.
Lex released a sigh. Where the hell was Fernanda and all those people she represented anyway? Not that Lex cared much for them, but surely they couldn't afford it if all their 'prisoners' actually became alien slaves, right?
His personal hologram popped up suddenly and delivered some news to him that brightened up his mood. Alexander had finally sent him the message. He wanted to trade.
Suddenly, Lex froze. It had apparently completely escaped his mind to check up on the Morrisons and Mars. Was it being attacked too? A quick scan on the Inn told him that no, Mars was completely fine. In fact, even earth's moon remained uninvaded. The only problem they were having was contacting Fernanda.
Lex shook his head, and teleported away.
*****
On the noble battlefront, Belle was sulking by relentlessly fighting against the Fuegan and ignoring the family representatives sent alongside her. Her mood was off because, of course, no one had forwarded her death threats to their ancestor and she knew for a fact that she was powerless to actually change anything.
Even her father, who had an unusually remarkable mastery of the law of swords, could not face off against the family alone, let alone their ancestor.
But she was not satisfied with that excuse. Excuses were for the weak and helpless. She just needed a plan. As always, she would come up with one - it would just take a little time.
The Feugan she was fighting suddenly retreated much faster than she could follow, leaving her once again without an opponent, which was extremely irritating.
Before she could find one, however, one of her escorts appeared near her.
"You have new orders. Earth has been invaded by the A.I. alliance. You have to rescue a few high profile prisoners who are hiding there before the invasion is complete and earth is lost."
Belle, who was originally in no mood to cooperate with the family, suddenly stopped.