Chaos' Heir

Khan couldn't help but stare at the data recovered from the Nak's remains. That star map was the best clue in his possession, making it the closest he had ever been to finding the Nak. However, there were problems.

First, that data had come from a single underground graveyard. Chuwei could have more of them, making the discovered flight paths only a fraction of what the planet held.

Also, most ships in the underground chamber were damaged, limiting what the makeshift lab could retrieve. The mainframe had rebuilt pieces of missing information, but chances were the Nak had converged on Chuwei from more than four routes.

Nevertheless, Khan felt a surge of chilling excitement rising through him. Chuwei could hold more information, but those retrieved flight paths already pushed Khan's mission past what he had managed to gather throughout his life.

Exploring the four paths might take a while and could lead to planets like Chuwei or worse versions. After all, the closer Khan got to the Nak's source, the older the clues would be.

Yet, the opposite was also true. Khan might find better clues at the end of those flight paths or even something far superior. He didn't dare to hope for it, but one of those routes might bring him directly to the azure star system.

A proper scouting team would stay on Chuwei, summoning greater forces and manpower to investigate its whole surface and underground world. Still, Khan was alone. He wanted to be alone on the mission, so he decided to leave the planet immediately.

'It's not like Chuwei is going anywhere,' Khan thought, tinkering with the console to search for more information. 'Besides, how long would it take me to find more remains without the natives' help?' Experience more content on My Virtual Library Empire

Khan absentmindedly browsed through the data, sending anything relevant to his phone to have more backups. The information needed more work and planning, but lingering in the underground chamber any longer was basically asking for trouble.

Eventually, Khan turned off the console and started dismantling the makeshift lab, arranging everything carefully. Still, a warning signal resounded at the edge of his senses, interrupting his work.

Khan froze for a single second while countless thoughts rushed through his mind. His eyes darted left and right, inspecting all the equipment around him. His brain performed calculations at record speed, and a curse died in his throat when the results arrived.

'Curse my rotten luck!' Khan shouted in his mind while opening the console and retrieving the circular chip. He hurriedly stored the mainframe and glanced at his bag, only for tremors to reach the underground chamber.

Khan's brain translated the tremor into a shout, and the words "[Potential Heir]" echoed in his brain. Part of the chamber's surface also stretched forward, turning into a sharp spike that flew at him.

The spike wasn't dangerous, not for Khan, but he couldn't fight. The makeshift lab couldn't survive his chaos, so he seized the mainframe and console and shot toward the partially closed opening in the ceiling.

Time wasn't on Khan's side, and his hands were tied, so he headbutted the debris, diving through it to resurface as soon as possible. Luckily, most of the vast cavity was still open, and the partial lid was brittle, so his physical strength was enough to create a hole.

Khan unleashed part of his destructive area only after returning to the surface. He made sure to focus on the sand, worried the exposed tools in his hands would suffer under his element. Yet, the mass of lifeforms kept chasing after him, and the desert soon churned under its control.

Chuwei's lifeforms were probably planning to give birth to something huge again, but Khan didn't linger in the area to witness it. He rushed ahead, shielding the mainframe and console with his aura and cape while flying at full speed toward his ship.

The acceleration left the strange lifeforms behind, but Khan didn't dare to relax. He cut through the sandstorm, eventually reaching his ship before dealing with the various safety measures he had activated.

The manual deactivation of the ship's seals stole a few minutes from Khan, and entering the vehicle didn't improve his situation. He didn't waste a single second reinserting the mainframe and turning every menu on, but the scanners showed concerning scenes as soon as they resumed functioning.

Khan wasn't an easy target to follow, but Chuwei's natives had peculiar abilities. Their perception was incredible, so Khan's incredible speed failed to make them lose track of him.

Reactivating the ship had given Chuwei's natives time to catch up with Khan. The scanners showed incoming anomalies in the form of humanoid storms or simple flowing sand. They would arrive before the vehicle could escape their range, so Khan decided to be a decoy.

"Set off!" Khan ordered, approaching the ship's side doors. "Engines and shields at full power! Leave the atmosphere and wait for my signal!"

The ship's unmatched quality also applied to its auto-pilot, so Khan crossed its side doors without worrying about its performance. The vehicle closed and set off on its own, but Khan had already disappeared by then.

A purple-red explosion of sparks and lightning bolts immediately unfolded, spherically expanding as the ship began to leave the desert. Some lumps of that destructive energy touched the mana shield, and cavities opened, partially exposing the vehicle to the sandstorm.

Nevertheless, the ship kept rising, ignoring any obstruction on its path. Its hull endured the sandstorm before the shield returned at full power, protecting it once again. The vehicle could leave Chuwei's atmosphere at that point, and Khan lowered his glowing eyes only after confirming that it was safe.

'What a mess,' Khan sighed, a terrifying scene unfolding in his vision.

Four titans stood on the desert below Khan. Two were made of raging storms, one of sand, and the last was a mass of all kinds of debris. Khan could even spot pieces of ships inside its dense fabric.

The new threats were no weaker than the previous, but Khan didn't have to indulge them. His ship had already left, and he was in the sky. Those titans couldn't prevent him from escaping even if they tried.

However, Khan didn't leave. Instead, his presence filled the environment with intense violence, making many surrounding spots explode into pillars of sand. He pitied and understood Chuwei's lifeforms, but they were pushing it now.

"I played it nice due to your condition," Khan announced, sparks accumulating and growing in both his palms, "But you breathed one time too many without my permission."