Chapter 1614: Rack and Molty

The Innkeeper

Lex was not dead - though through no effort of his own. It was just that, within this specific zone that divided the inner and outer jungle, the fundamental laws of the universe did not function.

Even though Lex was an Earth immortal, and all round badass, his existence still depended on the functioning of laws - the deeper, more esoteric laws that he could not yet sense, nor influence through his tenet.

As such, the moment he entered that barrier, his body, which was dependent on those laws to exist, stopped existing. Yet he lived. That was because the nature of the soul was such it - on an absolutely fundamental level - did not rely on those specific laws to exist.

That put Lex in a state of existence that was in an unusual limbo. Instead of entering his soul state - which is how he would have entered the barrier if he had known about how it functioned - Lex was in a state of being and not being.

He was without a body, and therefore without a soul since his two were merged, and yet his soul continued to exist - though not in any state he understood.

Lex was in one, very specific location at any given point in time, and that point could be anywhere at all throughout the entirety of the barrier.

If Lex hadn't accepted that the universe was a lot more abstract that he previously thought, and that things did not necessarily have to function according to what he used to think was basic logic, then the state of his existence would have caused his mind to break.

As it was, he had developed a certain mental resilience, which meant that his mind was only slowly crumbling apart instead of breaking abruptly and entirely.

The problem was, he couldn't do anything, nor could he think. Or maybe, he had all his thoughts happening all the time. He wasn't sure.

There was not a single ability that Lex had, nor a single experience he had previously gone through which could help him in his current predicament. Just as he had felt, right before crossing the veil that indicated the beginning of this barrier, he was dealing with something far outside the scope of his power and understanding.

That didn't mean there was no solution.

Without a single thought, or maybe through the processing of millions of thoughts, Lex innately felt that one of the fundamental purposes of this barrier was to keep out anyone or anything without a soul. As long as he had a soul, he had the basic requirement to pass through it. He just needed to figure out how.

While in this state, he was not aware of Jack, nor was he aware of his System, or anyone inside the Inn. He was only aware of whatever was inside the barrier.

It was akin to a universe on its own, and a surprisingly stable one at that. It seemed that in the absence of those fundamental rules that dictated how the universe worked and existed, the universe would still continue to exist, but in an entirely different way.

Lex closed his eyes. No he didn't - he didn't have eyes. Yet through the intention of closing his eyes, he isolated whatever senses he had, sensing as little of this universe as possible.

He felt that, right now, his mind wasn't strong enough to accept this way of existence. If he began to get used to it, then once he returned to the outer universe - the one where the laws worked - he would forever be unable to adapt. He would develop mental problems, and feel like he was in a universe where he didn't belong.

Then, at some point, Lex realized that he had done something. He shut off his senses through his intentions, which meant his other intentions might have an effect as well. So, naturally, he built up the intention to leave this place, yet that did nothing.

He summoned in himself the intention to retreat. Nothing happened.

One by one, he cycled through his intentions, always staying true to himself, never being deceitful in his intentions.

It was kind of funny. His existence in the outside universe depended on him lying and bluffing, yet he never felt like he was being deceitful, which is why he could stay honest even here.

Finally, after cycling through many intentions, when he finally summoned the intention of going to go save his friends, a change occurred.

"What the hell are you doing, Rack?" a young, annoyed voice asked. "We have no bodies! What happened to our bodies? I have school on Monday!"

"Don't worry Molty!" responded an older, hoarse and slightly drunk voice. "This isn't the first time I've been a disembodied voice. I can fix this."

"How are you going to do that, huh?"

"Through science, bitch!" Rack answered enthusiastically.

"Hey wait, Rack. There's someone else here as well. Did you accidentally teleport someone else here?"

"..."

"Rack!"

"Don't think about it. Let's just go back."

"I don't know about this Rack, we can't just leave someone here. Look, he just wants to save his friends!"

"..."

"Rack, why aren't you saying anything?"

"Okay, fine. Sheesh. Just blame me for being a good guy, always saving the day. I swear, can't go a single day without saving someone's ass."

Lex felt something. It was nausea.

The next thing he knew, he was on his knees, vomiting, barely holding himself up. It had been a while since Lex felt this weak. Yet the odd thing was that he also felt incredibly strong - stronger than he had ever been.

He could physically feel his Karma adjusting itself. His Karma, which was in a huge imbalance, was swiftly correcting itself.

Lex had a feeling that something had happened. He had done something, but he couldn't remember. Fragments of memories from his time within the barrier kept coming up, yet each time they came, Lex vomited them out as if they were physical things.

The crazy part was, the vomiting actually worked. He was slowly losing all his memories of what had happened within the barrier, and it was fortunate too. Just the memory of how it felt to exist in the absence of those fundamental laws…

Lex shuddered, and then collapsed, completely spent. At least he had the presence of mind to fall to the side, instead of in his own vomit.

In front of him, the V.A.N. stood silently, as if judging him.