Chaos' Heir

Chapter 1475: Clans

The blackness of space surrounded Khan, enveloping him in its cold, deadly influence, attempting to extinguish the very flame of his life, only for his body to resist it easily.

In a certain sense, that deadly environment was also strangely comfortable for Khan. Liiza had rewired his brain to connect cold with coziness, but part of that feeling came from his genes, creating quite the conflicting experience.

Khan obviously didn’t dwell on that known internal conflict as he flew through the endless blackness, approaching the reddish dot in the distance. He had been at his father’s tomb just a few hours ago, recalling how small his world had been back then, only to end up traversing the universe without ships or other vessels now.

That ability was so distant from the realm of mortals, or living beings in general, that Khan could only consider himself a monster and feel lucky for that.

After all, only a monster could hope to deal with the universal threat the allied side was facing or the challenge Khan was about to tackle.

The reddish dot expanded as Khan advanced through a mixture of innate flying abilities and releases of mana. He was unbelievably fast, faster than any ship, so that distant item soon revealed its true face.

The dot transformed into a brownish-red planet no bigger than Earth, but Khan’s increasing vicinity also revealed new colors only his bright eyes could see.

Strange waves of faint energy pulsed out of the planet, expanding and dispersing past its orbit to envelop that celestial body in a dim halo.

That halo was too faint for scanners to pick up, but it was also chaotic enough to interfere with their inspection. It was a crude but effective planetary cloaking technique that prevented any long-range study unless specific machines were employed.

Of course, that crude technique was nothing compared to the Great Old One’s waves of investigative mana. Khan could spot it without needing to concentrate, and the same went for looking through it.

There was also something else Khan could do, which he felt would be appropriate to announce his arrival. After all, it would be impolite to drop down uninvited and by surprise, and politics were all about appearances.

Earth wasn’t the only place where celebrations were unfolding, which was surprising due to the widespread calamity that had befallen the regulated universe.

Still, while Earth’s party had the newfound interspecies political alliance to celebrate, Chigoilara and the aliens gathered on its barren lands feasted for far more selfish reasons.

Orlats from every background had gathered in a specific quadrant, setting up a rudimentary but massive and chaotic camp on its barren, dry land.

Tens of fires burned all around that gathering, fending off the darkness of the night, shining over the countless ships randomly parked everywhere.

Makeshift tables and seats also filled that crowded stretch of land, attracting many bystanders who cheered and shouted at the gambling or other activities unfolding there.

A few Orlats had even set up makeshift shops, selling all kinds of wares amassed during their travels.

Disorder reigned supreme, promising to stretch and intensify even further. Ships were converging on the quadrant from all over the planet, wanting to multiply the hundreds of attendees at that wild and loud party.

However, there were a few exceptions to that general disorder. Some Orlats were in charge of cooking meat and other food over and around the fires, even distributing it all across the camp.

The same went for the aliens in charge of booze. Many groups had brought their own, but some Orlats still crossed the vast encampment multiple times, refilling the dry cups and tables.

Still, the more glaring exception to the disorder was on the single stage placed at the relative center of that gathering. That was the only place not crowded since it only featured a handful of Orlats sitting at a single rectangular table, leaving much unused space.

“[I have to say],” One Orlats on the stage with more earrings than cartilage on his pointy ears exclaimed while slamming his metal cup on the table. “[Chigoilara isn’t such a shit place in times like this].”

“[Are you drunk already]?” Another Orlats at the table, with a big metal ring hanging from her long nose, mocked. “[It’s been five years since we last met, but you are still the same lightweight]!”

All the Orlats at the table exploded into loud laughs, including the joke’s target, who delivered a swift reply. “[Are you butthurt my clan’s loot is twice as yours]?”

“[You were just lucky]!” The nose-ring Orlats scoffed angrily. “[Merth 290 isn’t as easy to raid as Milia 222]!”

“[Those are losers’ excuses],” The Orlats with ears cramped with earrings laughed. “[Pick a better place to loot next time].”

“[You kept my clan out of Milia 222 all these years]!” The nose-ring Orlats shouted, standing up while pointing her cup at the other alien, spilling some of her booze.

“[It sounds like your clan isn’t worth much then],” The earrings Orlats snickered.

The female Orlats was about to jump on the metal table to rush at her offender when the alien in the central seat stood up, forcing her to restrain herself.

“[We have all plotted against and robbed each other more times than we can count]!” The central Orlats shouted, attracting the entire table’s attention. “[And we will resume to do that in time, but not now].”

“[Who made you leader]?” An Orlats with a series of piercings acting as his left eyebrow asked. “[You stayed on Chigoilara for so long you forgot how the universe works].”

“[It’s precisely because I stayed on Chigoilara that the clans can use it as a warehouse],” The central Orlats declared. “[Or did you forget who gave you all the idea to gather here instead of seizing all the loot for myself]?”

“[That was a solid lead],” The nose-ring Orlats admitted, sitting down, “[But don’t go around asking for alliances. My clan will always follow riches, but we won’t share].”

“[As if you anything worth sharing],” The earrings Orlats insulted.

“[Enough]!” The central Orlats shouted before the bickering could resume. “[Instead of squabbling like amateurs, we could be working together to seize the greatest loot there is]!”

The statement quietened the other Orlats. Some pretended to drink, while others crossed their arms, but they all waited for their fellow alien to resume speaking.

“[The universe is in disarray],” The central Orlats claimed, “[And things will get worse. Places we could have never approached before are now open for the taking. We can steal it all and spend it before anyone notices it].”

“[And I suppose you want to keep everything here],” The eyebrow Orlats guessed, “[On the planet only yours and a few other clans have stayed behind to manage].”

“[Do you know of a better place]?” The central Orlats asked. “[Do you know of a better warehouse with the capacity to hold what’s within our grasp]?”

The silence returned. Clearly, the central Orlats wanted cooperation, but that species had never been good at that. Yet, they might be able to compromise when it came to the universe’s riches.

“[This is our chance to elevate all our clans]!” The central Orlats continued. “[To elevate our entire species! We could become the rulers of the very universe]!”

A deafening, thunderous noise followed the Orlats’ declaration, seemingly wanting to enhance its spiritual might. However, the noise only startled the alien and everyone else at the party, who lifted their heads to discover that the dark sky had turned purple-red.