In three batches of 100 million workers each, Lex brought in new workers to the Inn, with each being introduced at the start of a month.

There were a few benefits of getting workers from the system: Lex could give them the exact knowledge and skillsets he required from them if he wanted them to undertake specific tasks, or leave it at random if he didn’t have anything in mind.

Specifically deciding what skills to allocate to 300 million workers was a tall task – fortunately, Lex was only lying down in his Recovery pod, and had about a month to do 100 million, so he took the time to make the extra effort.

With the sudden influx of new, mortal workers bought from the system, Lex noticed something he hadn’t paid too much attention to before. As mere mortals, their expression of their traits as individuals was at a minimum. It wasn’t completely lacking, but they were more concerned about the Inn, and their tasks at the Inn.

It reminded Lex of back when he first started. Originally, he hadn’t even noticed that Gerard and Velma were real people with real interests and personalities, assuming they were robots or something. It couldn’t be helped considering that the system labeled them as A.I.

To be fair, since the system was inputting their skillset and knowledge bases, it could be said that all the intelligence that they had starting out had been artificially put there. What was even more curious, though, was that over the years, the system changed that, no longer calling them A.I. workers, but simply workers.

Lex took that as a sign that as the system repaired itself, it was fixing its many operational flaws.

But more curious was that as they cultivated, their personalities started to become more prominent. In fact, it was only after Z became an Immortal that he acknowledged his origin, clearly aware that he had been made from scratch by the Innkeeper. Before that, none of the workers had directly referenced their origins before.

It seemed that cultivation loosened some invisible shackle that the system placed on them to keep them good workers. Of course, being a registered employee through the system made it so that it was very difficult for them to actively harm the Inn through means Lex did not fully understand yet, but it was a clear indicator that as their cultivation levels increased, they would need more than system brainwashing to keep them loyal to the Inn.

Fortunately, Lex had always focused on nurturing a very homely and happy working environment for all his workers, paying them salaries, giving them an entire Minor realm to develop on their own, and all the freedoms that they wanted.

It was also kind of nice to know that, at least after becoming an immortal, any relationship he had with the workers was genuine, and not because they had been programmed to be cooperative or amiable.

All of that aside, the addition of hundreds of millions of new workers did not go unnoticed in the Inn. Their arrival made things a lot easier, but also created a lot of additional work unrelated to actually hosting the Inn.

These workers were considered the third generation of workers, with Gerard, Velma, Z and a few others being considered the first generation. Luthor and those that followed him were considered the second generation, and this sudden huge influx was considered the third.

Getting them all settled, introducing them to the systems and lifestyles adopted by workers, whether it was living inside the Inn or their own independent realm, as well as the concept of Houses.

Joining one of the four main houses brought a deep sense of identity to the workers, helping them connect not only to the Inn, but the other workers in their houses as well.

“Hey Mary, isn’t it about time I get more options for workers? I’ve had the same bloodline and even the same types of workers for so long. Some options would be nice. I wouldn’t say no to hiring dragons directly from the system.”

Although his last line was a joke, the question itself was genuine. Yet before Mary could answer, Lex got his answer in the form of a notification.

New Notification: All system enhancements can only occur through quest rewards. Current quest issuance has been temporarily suspended due to mismatch between host strength and Inn operational level. Please increase strength to resume quests, or manually enable quest issuance through confirmation process.

Lex raised an eyebrow. Was the system on talking terms with him now? Then again, with the system repaired by 51%, it did make sense that it should be easily able to do this.

“Alright, forget that. How can I get a maximum strength Butter Knife? If it’s through quests, I’ll take on a quest right now!”

New Notification: A maximum strength butter knife can be acquired by upgrading existing system issued butter knife. A quest completion rating of SS+ also has a possibility of issuing of providing a temporary upgrade to butter knife. The extent of the upgrade will depend on the specific quest completion ranking.

Lex looked at the notification, then turned his attention to his most recently completed quest.

New Quest: The Midnight Inn has been publicly challenged, the stage has been set, and the performance is ready to air. Cooperate with the Cold Brood Empire to host the Dance Off to win the hearts and minds of all people. Also, win the competition. (Completed)

Quest ranking: S+ (Impressed countless Celestial Immortals and attracted the attention of some Dao Lords)

Quest Reward: Velaris Dominion

Remarks: Not bad for someone with two left feet. At least you maintained some dignity and didn’t rely on a pole.

Velaris Dominion (Consumable)

A powerful cologne which attracts feelings of loyalty and awe by those exposed to it. The scent resonates with surrounding laws, causing the user to be favored by the realm and any surrounding spirits.

The description for the cologne was simple enough, and Lex hadn’t had an opportunity to try it out yet. Even so, as a reward for an S+ ranking for a quest, he expected that it would be highly potent. It was unfortunate that there was no way of obtaining more. Once he used up the entire bottle, it would be gone forever – or at least until he found some way to recreate it, or get more.

But more than that, Lex focused on the standard. It seemed merely attracting the attention of a Dao Lord was no longer enough for a very high ranking. He would need to put in some work to get a very good quest ranking. That was for later, though.

He did not do anything at the moment because he didn’t want to take on any additional tasks at the moment.

A few months later, the time dilation around the mountain finally faded. A total of 1272 years had passed within, indicating that the time dilation within hadn’t been at a fixed rate, and the flow of time varied at various times.

Lex might have studied the phenomenon at any other time, but he didn’t. All his attention was focused on the Karmic bead. He was surprised that he hadn’t been disturbed by the Go board ever since it tried to do something while he was dancing as the Innkeeper, but that couldn’t change anything now. The bead was complete.

Lex and Orin climbed the crystal volcano, covered in cracks internally as if it was on the verge of shatter, and descended into its depths, only to find the transparent bead, floating in the air.

“It’s almost done,” Orin whispered, mesmerized by the sight. “All it needs now is to bind to the Innkeeper. This… this will be my greatest creation ever!”

“Your greatest creation so far,” said a warm voice from behind him, as the Innkeeper emerged from the shadows behind Lex and Orin. “I have no doubt that you will continue on to make even bigger and better creations from now on.”

Orin only humbly bowed, not negating the Innkeeper. Of course, he still doubted he’d make anything greater.

It was not a matter of having more experience, or learning more. The Karmic Bead, on its own, had no power at all. It was nothing but a glorified piece of slingshot ammo. Yet the true worth of it lay not in its inherent power, but in its ability to act as a conduit for Karma. In essence, it was as strong as the person wielding it. In the Innkeepers hands… Well, it need not be elaborated.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll take things from here. You two should rest up. Orin, for you, as a reward, I’ve left a number of valuable ores in your home, as well as some forging manuals gathered from around the universe. Consider it a reward for your hard work. Lex, for you… well, why don’t you just follow me.”

With that, all three, Lex, the Innkeeper, and the Karmic Bead, disappeared from the volcano.