Lex had approached Dr. Charles with the intention of creating a strong impression on him, and getting him to take refuge with the Midnight Inn. But, from the very first instant, things had not gone the way he expected. It seemed like even without putting in any effort, the man had been thoroughly dominated. After all, he dropped to his knees and called Fenrir grandpa!
That was a feat Lex had not been able to accomplish even as the Innkeeper, let alone as Lex. But all jokes aside, although Charles did not end up having a system, the man clearly had some secrets and unusual experiences. After all, he had directly called Fenrir by his name, and even addressed him by it.
It was not so surprising that someone could guess Fenrir's name, for Lex had directly named him after his bloodline, but so far Charles was the only one who had had a significant reaction to his pup. Even if Lex was not interested in him for his medical knowledge, his familiarity with his pup's bloodline, and possibly even origin, made it so that he had successfully aroused all of Lex's attention.
"There is no problem with such a name," Charles responded, having once again regained his composure. "It's just not everyday that one takes on the name of a bloodline. It's very unoriginal."
"So are you saying your… grandpa did not do the same?" Lex asked, seeming as if he was completely calm and not in any rush at all. In truth, Lex knew that the sooner they left this planet, the better. The warning level from his instincts were getting very close to the level where Lex would leave without any hesitation.
"I misspoke," Charles responded, refusing to comment on the matter. Some matters were best left unsaid, because he could not come up with a reasonable explanation for his answer. Was he supposed to confess that he knew and had met the real and original Fenrir?
Lex pondered for a minute, but then decided there would be plenty of time to question the good doctor at a later time, as long as he joined the Inn.
"This planet is about to face a great danger, much greater than the one it is currently already facing," said Lex, based completely on his guess. "You can try to evacuate through the empire, but I have a quicker solution for you."
Lex threw a platinum key at the doctor, who caught it immediately. He sensed a familiar aura from the key, but he could not place where exactly he had felt it before. Regardless, the aura it gave off was worth speculating over.
"I work for a place called the Midnight Inn. We cater and host guests from all across the universe. I've seen your medical skill, and I think you're good enough to recruit. If you crush the key, you can take a test to see if you too can become a member of the Inn."
At this point, Lex threw a golden key towards him too.
"But, of course, joining is not mandatory. If you do not wish to join, you can simply leave this place by crushing the golden key. You'll be teleported over to the Midnight Inn, where you'll be able to escape whatever disaster is about to fall here. Of course, if you visit normally, you'll just be an ordinary guest, and you'll have to pay for your stay."
With that, Lex decided to leave. One way or another, Charles was coming to the Inn. Based on his behavior, Lex could see that he lacked the courage to endanger his life for very long. Moreover, although it seemed like Lex gave him the choice of whether to work at the Inn or not, the reality was that that was not the case.
If he visited as a guest, he would only be able to stay for a limited time, as he would eventually run out of MP. Then he would have to return to this planet, and based on how Lex saw things proceeding, it was unlikely the good doctor would want such a result. So, in the end, whether he used the platinum key now, or later, Lex was sure that ultimately he would end up using it.
When he returned to the Inn, Lex finally breathed a sigh of relief as the sensation of impending danger finally disappeared.
"Mary, I have a potential new hire coming in by the name of Charles. If he joins, have him treat all the poison patients. I have no other solution for the poison for now. If there's an emergency that requires my attention, wake me up. Otherwise, just manage things till I wake up."
He passed on a few more instructions before he teleported away to his private Recovery pod, got in, and went to sleep. Although it seemed like he was fine, the amount of pain he had tolerated was truly driving him to the verge of insanity. There was almost nothing that could prevent him from going to sleep, and finally escaping his pain.
An hour or so after Lex appeared, many soldiers also teleported over to the Inn, all in a bad condition. The situation on the planet had truly deteriorated, and it was far worse than anything any of them could have expected. Simply speaking… a massive tear in space had opened up, and had engulfed the entire planet teleporting it away!
Such a scene was unprecedented and completely unheard of, and only the few who had evacuated to the Inn, or used the teleportation formations in advance to escape had survived.
A day later, news finally spread as experts from across the realm approached the area and conducted an investigation. The insects that they had been fighting seemed to have been specifically bred for a single purpose, and surprisingly that purpose was not to fight. Their blood contained an unusual material that rapidly deteriorated the stability of space, considering that space in that area was already vulnerable in the
first place.
It seemed like… to erase his traces, the mastermind behind the 'eco-terrorism' act had decided to remove the entire planet.
Of course, he had further compromised the environment in the process as well, as the massive tear in space was now leaking chaos energy directly into the realm.
As for what would happen next, no one knew. But the situation was far from over, as no one seemed to be able to trace the terrorist 'Jeffery', including the Daolords dispatched by the Henali!