The Innkeeper

Although the sight of an elf, a mysterious being wearing a devilish mask and a human walking through the base, should have seemed out of place, in actuality, that was far from the truth. There were hundreds of races Lex had never seen in any room they crossed, and each of them was being led by an elf.

The second indicator of something unusual should have been the cold, nearly oppressive aura Lex was giving off, despite the fact that he was only targeting the elf with Domination. But once again, given that this was a place filled with soldiers and warriors, nearly everyone was displaying their aura. Regardless of whether it was weak or strong, fiery hot and icy cold, none of the soldiers shied away from displaying their worth through their auras. It was an unspoken form of communication.

Moreover, amidst the millions that were moving around the base, neither Lex nor Cirk were close to being the strongest, so no one suspected them at all. Besides using Notorious Anonymity to hide his face, Lex did not really make any effort to hide his identity or actions either. Moreover, he was sure that while many would be unable to peer through the facade of his devilish mask, there were too many in this base who could see through it.

He was completely prepared to have his identity revealed. It was not even a concern for him at this point, more of a formality that he was just going along with.

Cirk, who had no idea what 'Leo' was planning, remained completely composed, and followed his lead perfectly. He did not show any hesitation or doubt about Lex's actions. A part of that was from his steady personality, but a lot of it also was due to the unwavering trust he had in the other members of the Midnight Inn. If the Innkeeper had trusted him, then there had to be a reason for it.

The elf took the duo away from most of the crowds as they entered the inner sector of the base, where only those with sufficient authority would be allowed to enter. Soon he was led to a room that read 'Resource Coordination' where a number of elves were sitting in their respective areas, working on what Lex could only assume was their version of a computer.

The elf led Lex to a very specific cubicle, clearly belonging to another elf that he knew.

"Bairel, what are you doing here?" asked the elf in the cubicle, clearly alarmed to see the latter there. He immediately noticed Bairel's bewildered state and turned his attention towards Lex and Cirk.

"Who are you? How did you get authorization to enter here? This is a secure location!" the elf said, clearly flustered to see others here. Although he did not cause a commotion yet, his voice was quite loud and accusatory. He was not used to seeing others besides his direct superior while he was at work.

"That is not your concern," said Lex dismissively, extending his Domination towards the new elf. "What is the status of the planet BGY-987? Check and give me the latest update."

The elf, who was only in the Foundation realm, was clearly oppressed by Lex's aura even besides being frightened by the sudden intrusion. He hesitated for a moment due to the fact that this was clearly a breach of protocol, but the confident way in which the masked figure dismissed him gave him doubts. What if the man was someone with a high post? It clearly made sense, given how at ease he was. Moreover, it would also explain how he so casually strutted into a secure location.

So, despite his clear awareness of the discrepancy with his current situation, the elf hesitantly turned back to his computer and began checking up on the computer. How was he supposed to know that the reason they walked in so easily was because the first elf, Bairel, had used his own authority to bring them in, something he clearly wasn't supposed to do.

The group stood there silently as they waited for an update. A few others in the room noticed them and became concerned about the odd situation. But given their low cultivation levels, instead of investigating on their own, they quickly reported the situation to their superior. If there was a problem, it was not their responsibility to face it.

"Sir, according to the latest update, conducted 47 minutes ago, everything is within expectations on the stated planet. Combat with local entities is taking place, and is expected to continue for another 10 days. There have been no requests for reinforcements, so they are managing with only the initially allocated forces. They have been giving clear and detailed reports on their updates regularly. Would you like me to pull up those reports?"

Lex frowned. It looked like whoever was targeting the Inn had even breached the alliance. But that was fine. He was never planning on getting help from them in the first place. In fact, it would be helpful if they kept out of his way.

"Pull up the location data on that planet, as well as the best routes from here to there. Cirk, come and see if you can understand this."

Since the elf had already obeyed Lex once, doing so again became easier and had less hesitation. He immediately started pulling up the highly confidential data, which was the star map inside of the cosmic cloud! This was updated live by the alliance and was based on their own discoveries within the region.

Mapping the cosmic cloud using telescopes and other long distance observation methods was impossible due to severe interference, so the value of this map was inestimable!

Just as Cirk was studying the data, a very large, dark figure approached the group.

"What the hell is going on here?" the figure asked aggressively, exuding an aura that far surpassed Lex. "Who are you? How did you come in?"

The group froze under that aura - all except Lex, who only turned and looked at the figure evenly.