Chaos' Heir

Khan looked up, his eyes searching for the edge of Coravis' atmosphere to stretch into the space beyond. He recalled what he had experienced while floating in that dark expanse, and those sensations returned without requiring any specific process.

Some of the distant echoes in Khan's mind grew louder and closer when he looked in a certain direction. Pointing his glowing gaze at another area quieted them but intensified others. Calling them memories probably was too much, but Khan knew those sensations carried an unfathomable amount of knowledge.

That was great and priceless but also problematic. Khan didn't forget how the torrent of images had threatened to make him lose his sense of self, and that danger wasn't gone. His mind was as resilient as they came, but the Great Old One's memories featured issues he couldn't take lightly.

Khan was a human. He was a Tainted one, and he had even been tainted twice, but his organs couldn't escape the limits of their programming, not too much, at least.

The two transformations had significantly increased Khan's limits, but his brain remained incomparable to the Great Old One's. His body might have gained some of its innate traits but didn't seem to have inherited its mental capacity.

To make things worse, the Great Old One had accumulated those memories throughout millennia, so Khan couldn't expect to absorb them instantly. That was too much for his inferior and unsuitable brain. He had to tackle the matter carefully, or he risked losing his sense of self again, maybe forever.

As dangerous as the situation was, Khan couldn't help but feel that his profits had been massive. Sure, he had become even more inhuman. He had also come close to dying and had received permanent marks to remember the experience. His foreign memories were a constant threat to his consciousness, but his gains compensated for all that.

After visiting Blue Moon colony, Khan had been worried he would have to spend years exploring the quadrants to find valuable information. That was superfluous now since his mind already held all the knowledge he could desire. Khan only needed to scour it carefully.

The inherited innate abilities were also promising. Khan had only uncovered one, but the Great Old One's species had to feature far more. That ancient creature wouldn't have been so proud otherwise, and its fellow specimens wouldn't have been able to become quadrants' overlords, either.

Khan might not have inherited much, but the ability to fly was already priceless. All his martial arts would benefit from it, and Khan could probably push them past their tested limits now.

Even if Khan failed at that, turning aspects of his martial arts from active to passive would significantly boost their power. Not needing to waste mana and mental energy to fly would allow him to focus entirely on other parts of his techniques, namely their explosive might.

Khan could even survive far longer in space now, fixing one of his greatest weaknesses in that seemingly hopeless journey. Exploring the universe had just become far easier and way less dangerous, removing part of the otherwise necessary reliance on technology.

Ultimately, Khan felt strong, incredibly so on top of that. He couldn't really explain it, and his physical appearance didn't change. Still, something told him his sheer strength and resilience had increased, probably affecting an issue that had started to become unbearable.

Khan had finally started to master the Transcendent Step's advanced forms, but his body was lagging behind. Those superior, incredible techniques were still too much for his muscles and joints. Khan was sure his legs would adapt to that pressure through a combination of training and the toxic substance, but that conditioning probably wasn't necessary anymore.

Of course, most of that was still theoretical and unproven. Khan only knew much had changed and had to be tested and uncovered. However, one thing was clear. Continuing the journey in that condition was unwise, and he didn't really need to for the time being.

The trip was dangerous, and Khan couldn't face it when he didn't know what his body could do. Chances were that his new abilities could hinder him, messing up his performance and pushing him into avoidable risks.

Also, the untapped foreign memories gave Khan the perfect opportunity to take a break. He would learn far more from them than from mindless exploration, and the answer to the four routes found on Chuwei could very well be among them. Studying them was dangerous and could take time, but Khan could do that while adjusting to his new body.

That wasn't all Khan could do in the meantime, and looking at the boundless sea below filled his mind with ideas. Nott Station was a good checkpoint but remained a simple space station. No matter how many improvements, that structure would have limits, limits a planet didn't have.

Khan shot down at full speed, disappearing from his previous position. His newfound ability tried to talk him into changing his way of flying, but he pushed it aside for now.

The White Mouse crew didn't dare to move after Khan's disappearance. Clifford and the others had taken Khan's orders literally, cleaning the gory puddle before returning to their spots while waiting for his arrival. Ten minutes had passed, and the return of the suffocating pressure reset that clock.

Khan reappeared before the open, shabby ship, and the crew gasped, throwing a series of furtive glances at him before lowering their heads. Clifford was no exception but mustered a weak "My Prince" in the middle of that tense silence.

"Do you have enough fuel to reach Nott Station?" Khan asked without stepping into the ship.

Clifford truly didn't want to interact with that fearsome warrior, but his crewmates were too unreliable to leave that job to them. He lifted his head to glance at the bridge, slightly leaning back to check the holographic screen.

"We might, My Prince," Clifford replied, lowering his head again. "We'd cut it pretty close."

"You can leech off of mine," Khan announced. "Wait here."

The suffocating pressure disappeared alongside Khan. He flew after the second source of synthetic mana, quickly returning to his ship. His genetic signature disengaged the security measures, unlocking it and allowing Khan inside.

Khan didn't have spare Thilku uniforms and capes but had stored a series of simple changes of clothes. Yet, he remained naked for now as he headed for the bridge, using his control desk for communications since he had lost his phone.

"Message for Baoway," Khan said, sitting on the pilot's seat. "I need a new phone and a set of Thilku uniforms. Have them sent to Nott Station."

Khan fell silent, but the channel remained open. He had much to say but wanted his orders to be precise.

"Have Nott Station send a few teams to Coravis," Khan continued. "They only need to keep eventual criminals away until my family's forces can occupy the planet."

"Blue Moon colony also needs a renovation," Khan added. "I've taken control of the White Mouse pirate crew. They'll work for me for five years and need a better home."

Khan had thought about mentioning the big snake but didn't know how to describe such a strange creature, so he would wait until his family's team reached Coravis to address the issue. In the meantime, he had something else in mind.

"And put me into direct contact with Abraham," Khan ordered. "Tell him I want to know more about terraforming."