Chaos' Heir

Chapter 1385: Invasion

Garret was quite a smart man. He had earned the title of prodigy of the Bizelli family many times over.

To a certain extent, Garret had also grown used to Khan’s shenanigans or, at least, he could read between the lines, understanding the impossible truths his Prince was trying to convey.

Khan’s concern about Coravis’ scanners couldn’t possibly be meaningless, especially since it stretched to the outposts placed on the path toward the Nak’s home world.

As well as the mission seemed to have gone, complications must have happened, and Garret immediately connected the dots when a mess of warnings flooded his interactive desk.

The alliance among the species in the regulated universe was still in its infancy. On paper, every force was on board and willing to help with the imminent war.

However, proper joint channels, structures, and more had yet to form, especially since the definitive proof about the Scarlet Eyes’ existence had only arrived recently.

Garret only had access to a relatively extensive but superficial joint cluster of scanners and security devices across the regulated universe. Many interspecies authorizations were still missing, preventing immediate awareness of any strange event that might happen.

Yet, Khan’s force was nothing if not resourceful and diverse, so that incomplete security array could already give Garret a general idea of the regulated universe’s state.

Moreover, the event was so widespread that even a far worse version of what Garret had access to would have been enough to notice that something was catastrophically wrong.

The warnings that reached Garret’s interactive desk were hard to read. The data didn’t follow any preestablished patterns, but there were records of similar instances in Khan’s forces. Actually, only one observed event fit those criteria.

Energy signatures similar or straight-up identical to what had unfolded when Khan and Liiza were still flying toward the Nak’s home world played in hundreds of different, seemingly random locations all across the regulated universe.

The space twisted, similarly to when teleports unfolded, but also differently, generating unique consequences. Nothing arrived. Holes opened everywhere in the very fabric of the universe, solidifying and acting as paths toward locations the scanners couldn’t identify.

That had been enough to fuel Garret’s warning, especially since one of those gates was above Earth, but the widespread event didn’t stop there. If anything, that was merely the beginning.

The fact that the scanners couldn’t see inside the gates was irrelevant. The problem was that powerful entities that tech struggled to read were approaching their edges, probably planning to come out.

The word "attack" felt too limited at that point. The interactive desk depicted a full-scale invasion, and Garret couldn’t even begin to fathom what it would mean for the regulated universe. Still, it wasn’t his job to do so.

The images on the red holographic screen changed again. Garret and his office disappeared, replaced by the same data that was causing his worry. A new star map appeared under the gazebo, allowing Khan to see what was happening without voicing additional orders.

The Thilku’s colors painted most holograms red, but the star map didn’t need any help with that. Hundreds of scarlet spots afflicted its ethereal fabric, flagging the many locations where those strange events were unfolding.

The star map also had data above it, highlighting how the events matched the energy signature recorded when the two black alien scouts had intercepted Khan and Liiza. The Scarlet Eyes were invading the regulated universe, but Garret’s software failed to spot any meaningful pattern in their attack.

"List the locations," Khan ordered, and the star map changed, transforming into a list of known planets and areas afflicted by that sudden event.

Khan couldn’t tinker with the holograms from his end of the call, but Garret compensated for that inability to interact with the data, scrolling through the list of locations for him.

Earth stood out among that list for obvious reasons, but Khan also spotted Cegnore, as well as an endless series of locations that didn’t make any sense. The latter had no strategic value and wouldn’t give any advantage in the battles to come, often being in the middle of nowhere or even actively distant from known, occupied areas.

If the Scarlet Eyes had truly wanted to launch a sudden invasion to destabilize the regulated universe, they could have chosen far better targets. There didn’t seem to be any limit to where they could appear, so their teleports made no sense whatsoever.

Nevertheless, luckily for Khan, he was no scientist. Reason and data couldn’t find an answer to that random behavior, but he could, especially after inheriting crumbles of the white-azure spinning sphere’s knowledge.

The Scarlet Eyes didn’t care for wars. They had a singular goal, a simple, widespread target. They wanted to obliterate and devour anything that had to do with the mana, but there was an entire side of the universe filled with different iterations of that energy.

That fearsome enemy could either progress in an orderly, systematic manner, gradually obliterating the regulated universe piece by piece, making sure that nothing escaped.

Or, the Scarlet Eyes could prioritize specific locations that featured what they truly cared about. In theory, Khan would take the crown there, but the Emperor’s aura was supposedly keeping him hidden.

Therefore, the Scarlet Eyes had probably gone for the second-most-priority targets, something Khan could identify. Something Khan had been in the past.

"They are chasing Nak’s remains and potential heirs," Khan realized.

Cegnore had been colonized, but its underground maze of tunnels and rivers was immense. The Thilku Empire probably didn’t have the time, manpower, or desire to clean them out completely, leaving traces of the Nak’s infection that the Scarlet Eyes could sense.

The same went for Earth. Khan had always known that the planet had Nak’s remains in some hidden labs under the control of criminal organizations or secret forces inside the Global Army. He had only stopped looking for them since Princess Rebecca had solved that issue for him.

Instead, the other, seemingly random and meaningless locations probably were additional secret labs or planets similar to the one with the twisted vegetation Khan had burned to the ground.

"Cegnore is gone," Khan declared. "The infection is too deep. They’ll raze the planet down to its core."

Khan straightened himself up, standing on the table. He hadn’t liked uttering those words, but they were true. Cegnore didn’t even have anyone who could delay that invasion, and it would take time for anyone of the Scarlet Eyes’ caliber to get there, making the attempt to save it pointless.

"But if I appear on Earth," Khan continued, "They might switch targets and go after me instead."