The Innkeeper

The words on the envelope seemed to be growing bigger and bigger in the dragonlings eyes. They were two simple words, but the power contained within them encompassed his mind and body, petrifying him where he stood. Yet none of the aura actually leaked out, so all the elves looked out at him curiously.

The two strangers had already left, exiting as simply as they entered, after causing an unprecedented scene within the alliance headquarters. There may have been many deals and manipulations in the shadows and hidden from sight, but never had such a thing been done so openly.

Even the weakest elf in the room could sense that the repercussions of this would go far and wide. The background of that man must be far from simple if he, alone, had the confidence to confront the entire alliance based on nothing but its name. Most of them had never heard of the Midnight Inn before, but they would not forget it easily. As for the few who had, they quickly associated it with one of the newer battalions that had joined their army: the Midnight Battalion.

Among other things, what they were most famous for was that despite going to multiple battlefields, they had yet to lose a single soldier despite their low cultivation levels.

Hesitantly, as if unsure of his actions, one of the elves came and tapped the dragonling on his shoulder.

"Sir, are… are you going to report them to the higher ups?"

As soon as he was tapped, the dragonling broke free from the power in the envelope. He shuddered visibly, then turned around and ran at full speed, without caring for his image.

The elves in the Resource Coordination room were left confounded and unsure of what to do. Ultimately, they could do naught but sit back in their seats and get back to work as if nothing had happened. 

Meanwhile, Lex and Cirk walked evenly as they followed the elf Bearlin to the hangar as if nothing had happened. Truthfully speaking, this was already panning out better than most of Lex's plans. He was aware of the fact that it would not be so easy for him to get the information on where the battalion was, or what was happening around it.

He also did not expect any help from the alliance. Silently procuring the information and leaving before they could react was the best solution. The envelope he had given to the dragonling was also one of the contingencies he had planned.

The worst-case situation would be if he had to be forceful in not only procuring the information but also in leaving. Although he had thought of a way out of that situation as well, whether his plan would be successful or not would be completely up to luck.

"What's the situation Pel? Do you sense any restrictions on us? Anyone monitoring us?" Lex asked his ring silently. Relying on the ring's massive wealth of knowledge was one of his precautions. Although the ring had lost many of its memories, it would often be reminded of the relevant information when it was faced with a new situation.

"There were a few restrictions placed on us the very moment we entered this place," the ring informed. "But those are only for standard tracking and simple monitoring. Everyone has them."

"Update me if there are any changes," Lex said. He did not show any urgency, but he knew that currently they were in a very precarious situation. As soon as reports of what happened in the Coordination room reached one of the higher management, even if the base itself was not locked down, Lex and Cirk would at least be arrested pending further investigation. Or, it was more apt to say that they would try to arrest them.

But, as unbelievable as it was, they did not encounter any issues all the way until they entered the hanger. The elf walked in normally, but both Lex and Cirk could not help but take a moment to take the sight in.

The biggest ship they had seen so far was the massive one flying over the Midnight Inn, but in the hangar there were countless ships of the same size, and many ships even larger. There were millions of soldiers of various races climbing into the various ships in a very orderly fashion.

Moreover, the ships would not just randomly start flying and take off. There was a very strict sequence of events for each ships take off, lest they damage not only the other ships here, but the various soldiers as well.

Once all the required personnel were loaded onto the ship, the platform it was parked on would detach, and then move the ship into a queue of waiting ships ready to leave. Once it was a ship's turn, it would be taken to an isolation formation that would prevent any of the released energy, heat from the rockets or thrusters, or any other harmful substance that leaked during its takeoff period from affecting the rest of the base or the others.

The mere hanger, one of many, was unimaginably large, and Lex could not see the ends of it. Many of the ships here had lengths of hundreds of miles, though he immediately noticed that it was only the smaller ships that seemed to be leaving for now. All the larger ships were parked, and showed no signs of being prepared for departure.

Moreover, just besides the ships and soldiers, the hangar was filled with countless machines of war that far surpassed anything Lex had ever imagined. Tanks and mechs seemed so ordinary and mundane in comparison. His Fancy contact lens seemed to know all of them and kept labeling each one for him to see. But Lex only gave that first initial moment's worth of attention to the massive fighting force collected in front of him.

He turned to the elf and said, "take me to someone who can expedite our departure. We have our own ship."